The HEA Cafe

I don’t know if any of you are guilty of this or not, but when I start tinkering with something, it’s hard to stop. Even when I dress my four-year-old daughter, I’m always adding a little headband or maybe a ribbon or adding a sweater. And yesterday, before sending galleys back to my publisher, I had to call Chessie, my critique partner, and quiz her about a single word. Do I scratch it out? Do I leave it in?

The kicker is, I don’t think our books will ever be as perfect as we want them to be. There will always be something to adjust, tweak, change or think about way too hard. To the point where I almost drove right past the UPS store last night and kept my galleys for one more day. After all, they’re not due until tomorrow. I could have overnighted them today. Taken one more look, thought more about that one word.

So how do you tame your “perfectionist” streak when it comes to your writing? Or do you? Does the same drive that makes us crazy also improve our work? Or do we just need to stop overthinking, stop the car and let our books go?

Not Trump, the entrepreneur. Maass, the agent.

My local RWA chapter–Southwest Florida Romance Writers–hosted Donald Maass for a one-day workshop a few weekends back. I’d read his Writing the Breakout Novel over a year ago and found it interesting and workable. But like many of you, I’ve read a lot of how-to write books. Maass’ was interesting and workable but nothing significantly new.

Still, a chance to see the man in action enticed me. I heard he does a good dog-and-pony. He does. He’s pithy, personable and dynamic. (He also has a New York sense of humor that worked fine with me but I think may have been a tad off-putting for some non-NY/NJ-ers in the audience.) I’ve also heard that if  you get one workable idea from any book or workshop you attend, it’s worth the money.

I did. He was.

His workable idea–for me–was this: after you finish writing your first draft manuscript, print it out, go to the middle of the largest area of open space in your house, and toss the pages in the air. All of them. Let them fall where they may. Then sit on the floor and read pages at random, adding tension to each and every page.

Sound nuts? I thought so too at first. But he’s dead-on. Reason being, we read our manuscripts in page by page order. Again and again, as we write the story. Our minds get attuned to upcoming conflict (because we put it there) and we may be assuming or reading in more tension than is actually written.

Reading the pages out of order confuzzles the writerly mind. It makes you look at each page as a stand-alone entity. It makes you examine each page to see if you have tension.

What’s tension? To The Donald, it’s emotion. It’s immersing the reader into what the character is fearing, wanting, lusting for.  “What is the most powerful emotion felt in this scene?” The Donald asked in his wry New York accent. “Build details around that emotion.”

Still thinks it’s crazy? The Donald purloined pages from trembling victims in the audience and read scenes out loud. Then he changed one or two things adding emotion. And gosh-golly-dang, if they didn’t come out that much stronger.

And here I thought I’d heard–and read–it all. I hadn’t. Give The Donald’s idea a toss. It works.

~Linnea

SHADES OF DARK, the sequel to Gabriel’s Ghost, coming July 2008 from RITA award-winning author, Linnea Sinclair, and Bantam Books: www.linneasinclair.com
 
Something cascaded lightly through me—a gentling, a suffused glow. If love could be morphed into a physical element, this would be it. It was strength and yet it was vulnerability. It was all-encompassing and yet it was freedom. It was a wall of protection. It was wings of trust and faith.
 
It was Gabriel Ross Sullivan, answering the questions I couldn’t ask. Not that everything would be okay, but that everything in his power would be done, and we’d face whatever outcomes there were together.

It’s my day to blog, and while I’d love to sit here and type fabulous and uplifting comments about writing and life in general, I can’t.  The Devil’s Daughter (pictured here) is due to be released in less than 2 months, and I’ve been furiously writing the sequel, Dancing with the Devil, due out in December.  I’m this close (picture me pinching my finger and thumb together) to finishing. . .I can smell it. . .and I’m consumed by that feeling of pushing through until it’s done.

Nothing else matters, not food, not drink, not the kids. . .LOL. . .okay, well, I’ll stop to feed and water them, but that’s it.  It’s full on until the last word is written, so please excuse me for doing a drop and run, but if I stop now, I’ll lose my momentum and then the next time I blog here, you’ll have to listen to me whine. 

:)

Here’s to happy endings!!

It’s hard to believe that it’s already February, and that KISS OF FIRE, the first book in my new Dragonfire series, will be on sale next Tuesday. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for Quinn to head out into the world. The cover for KISS OF FIRE is so fabulous - I’ve had a postcard of it on my bulletin board since July and it’s staying there!

Looks like I’m not the only one who is crazy for Quinn - here are a couple of early reviews:

Five Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies!
“From beginning to end KISS OF FIRE held me enchanted. Over the course of an entire day all I could do was sit and read. Quinn Tyrrell was not a typical hero for me. He was solitary. He wasn’t that thrilled with being a dragon. He basically wanted to be left alone to live his life alone. His destiny came in the form of a tiny human named Sara who rocked his entire world off its foundation. While Sara and Quinn were destined mates, it took more than a few mere words to make Sara a believer. I have to say though, she bucked up under pressure and became the Seer she was meant to be. The fact that she and Quinn fell in love? Icing on a very powerful and fire breathing cake.

Deborah Cooke has definitely made me a fan. I am now lying in wait for the second book in this new and extremely exciting series called KISS OF FURY whose hero, Donovan, is introduced in KISS OF FIRE. August really needs to hurry!”

Read the whole Junkies review here.

Four and a half stars from Romantic Times!
“Deborah Cooke, aka bestseller Claire Delacroix, dips into the paranormal realm with her sizzling new Dragonfire series. With a self-described loner as a hero, this heroine has to adjust to her new role in the supernatural and establish bonds of trust. Efficient plotting moves the story at a brisk pace and paves the way for more
exciting battles to come.”

Woo HOOO! Read the cover copy on my site and click through to an excerpt here.

If you’re curious about book #2, KISS OF FURY, the excerpt and cover are up for that, too.

And now, I have to get back to writing KISS OF FATE, book number three.

Deborah
Visit Dragonfire online
Visit Château Delacroix
Alive & Knitting Blog

In the last year, the RWR (Romance Writers Report) has published letters to the editor with complaints of romance books having too much sex and foul language. Critics have said they don’t want to see beyond the bedroom door, and they consider authors who use foul language as being challenged individuals when it comes to finding words that better convey emotions.

For those individuals who prefer a more sedate book, please note that the market drives the demand for certain types of books. To make a living one MUST make accommodations based on what’s driving sales. Instead of sniping at fellow authors, sit thee down and write the good book as my friend Claire says. The same to protesters of foul language.

Writing romance isn’t something we can do in a vacuum. We need to either incorporate our reality into a book, or at least present an accurate picture of the past. We need to write what readers believe is realistic, and there are many romance readers who believe that sex, foul language and/or both is a vital component of a romance. With all that in mind, I do think some of the protesters have a valid point. There can be too much sex and too much foul language. Now before you tackle me on that, please note that I write erotic romance. I write carnal sex scenes in my romance works. I also use “foul” language. But here’s what some writers and readers don’t understand. Too much of something is a bad thing.

When writing sex, the writer needs to understand that it’s the sexual tension the reader wants. They want build up or at the very least a really good reason for the culmination of sex. Readers on the other hand need to understand that what they see as “too much sex in romance” is really a sign of poorly developed sexual tension and/or characterization. So instead of ranting about there’s too much sex in romance, start ranting about the lack of characterization or sexual tension. There is a big difference. In this humble writer’s opinion, it’s not that there’s too much sex in romance, it’s that the sex in a lot of romance is simply underdeveloped sexual tension and/or character development.

I applaud sex and foul language in romance when used appropriately and not repeatedly. And I believe that’s the biggest part of the problem. I think it’s the repetitiveness in so many romances that irritates readers. They just don’t realize it. The issue of foul language can be viewed the same way. For a character or scene the use of “foul” language can be quite appropriate, but too much makes for repetition and the words lose their impact. There’s nothing more powerful than the F-word used at a point in the story where that’s the only word that will do. But using it every other line reduces the word’s impact. The same goes for using words like clit, clitoris, penis, etc. These throw me out of the read. (I’m continuously asking myself if the majority of women really use those words when they’re making love to their significant others? Maybe some do, but I’m willing to bet a lot of women don’t. In fact, they’re more apt to be a little more base. *grin*) For me those words don’t ring true. They don’t sound realistic in the context they’re placed..

And that’s what this post is really about. Realism. Is the sex realistic, appropriate and written into the story at the right point in time for the characters drawn on the page? Is the language used appropriate for the specific moment in the story? Has the writer avoided the issue of repetitiveness with both the sex and the foul words. Sex and foul language are integral to many good books. But when it’s overdone, it’s like overcooked beef — it’s dry and far from tasty.

Monica Burns is a multi-published erotic romance author. Her current release, Mirage, is receiving rave reviews, including a Top Pick from Romantic Times BOOKreviews and a “scorching” review from Sylvia Day.

Monica’s next release is Dangerous, a paranormal from Samhain Publishing. Visit her website for more information. http://www.monicaburns.com/BookshelfDangerous.htm