The HEA Cafe

Here is the first page of the last of my Texas Star of Destiny series books:

Her Abundant Joy by Lyn Cote Final book of Texas Star of Destiny series
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:
for the end of that man is peace. Psalm 37: 37

Chapter One
Texas, April 1846
Gazing ahead through the pouring rain, Carson Quinn tried to take a deep breath and couldn’t. Searing tightness in his chest reminded him–he hadn’t been able to blot out the images. Images the past week with Blanche had blistered into his mind, knotted around his lungs. Late on his second day in the saddle, all he was looking forward to was a hot bath and a warm bed at one of Galveston’s inns, comfort for his body if not his spirit.
Draped within the dismal mist, he nudged his horse to churn quicker through mud and murky puddles over the last half-mile into the seaport. Amid the jumble of buildings, strange people clogged the streets. He pulled up on his reins. Something had happened here. Something out of the ordinary.  Something that might force him out of his own misery into the misery of others.
People huddled under dripping trees, under canvas, and standing under the overhanging roofs of stores, everyone drenched.  Rainwater funneled down his leather hat as he steered his horse through the throng. Those who peered up at him looked pale, forlorn and sickly. They weren’t dressed like Texans, or even Americans—
He inhaled a shallow breath. He still thought of Americans as separate from Texas, from him. But Texas was part of the US now. Had been for over two months. Who were these people?

Tagline: Can a beautiful young widow find peace in the arms of a Texas Ranger?

What do you think? I think she could try!

I believe many readers think romance authors channel themselves into their heroines. Me, I like to channel myself into my villains. When I’m reading my finished books, I truly believe there’s little of me in my heroines (though my heroes are always somewhat like my husband).

Right now I’m writing about Daphne Farnham in the early 19th C. To get the right feel for Daphne I’m trying to channel Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday, Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and every ditsy, screwball heiress from the classic comedies of the 30s and 40s.

I’ll know more if this is working for me when I run the manuscript past my beta readers, but I have to say that writing about women pirates (Pirate’s Price) and tough con-artists (The Bride and the Buccaneer) was a snap compared to Daffy Daphne, and I’ve never been a con artist or a pirate!

Writing about an airhead whose life revolves around fashion and parties is difficult because I occasionally find her saying something cutting and sarcastic, and I have to stop and say, “No, that’s not Daphne, that’s Darlene.” Daphne is sweet and likes to draw rainbows in the borders of her correspondence. Darlene, not so much. Daphne thinks the key to happiness in life is having the proper accessories. OK, Darlene likes the proper accessories too, but she doesn’t obsess over it!

When I’m writing scenes in Daphne’s POV it’s a challenge, but I have to admit, it can also be fun trying to think to myself, “What Would Daphne Do?” I want to push myself to do things differently, to make each of my novels stand out. If I can pull it off with Daffy Daphne and Dr. Murray in Castaway Dreams, then I’ll feel like I’ve succeeded.

And to celebrate, I’ll make a big bowl of popcorn and watch Bringing up Baby.

Happy Mother’s Day 2010!

Since the focus of my personal blog is Strong Women, I celebrate with Mother’s Day with an all month special, MEGA May! I celebrate by asking readers to share their own family stories of strong women.

This year only two readers have so far shared their stories. Tuesday was Shirley from Mississippi and later in the month Edna T from South Carolina will pay tribute to their mothers. I have room for more if you have a story about a beloved mother, grandmother or daughter, let me know! You can email them to me at l(dot)cote(at)juno(dot)com

This year three brave men are going to pay tribute to their wives, authors Thom Lemmon, Harry Kraus, and Jeff Gerke. Also authors, Betsy St Amant, Linda Goodnight, Cheryl St John, Ruth Axtell Morren, Sharon Dunn, Stephanie Grace Whitson, Irene Hannon, Marta Perry, and Elizabeth Johnson will be sharing stories.

MEGA May is the only month where I ask authors to donate books for a HUGE once a year prize. Drop by this month and share a story or comment and your name will be entered to win the MEGA May basket of books and goodies.

So don’t miss MEGA MAY!–Lyn

There’s something about spring that gets me thinking about how I can do things differently, about finishing projects and starting new ones, and making new plans. One of the things I haven’t been doing this past year is posting to the HEA Cafe, but that’s about to change.

My new spring plan is to get here once a month, maybe more!

So, today – since I’ve been AWOL for a while, I thought I should bring you up to date on what I’ve been doing all this time. I’ve been writing, which is good – and the bonus is that now I can show you some results.

First off, I have finally found a way to tell Rosamunde’s story. Many readers wrote to me after the Kinfairlie trilogy was published, complaining that they didn’t know Rosamunde’s fate. She had been trapped in the realm of Faerie in book #2 of that series – obviously I had expected there to be more books, so I could save Rosamunde and give her an HEA but it didn’t work out that way. This year, though, I published a short story in the MAMMOTH BOOK OF IRISH ROMANCE. You’ll find Rosamunde’s story there, entitled “The Ballad of Rosamunde”. And yes, she finally gets her HEA. Here’s some linky goodness.

Secondly, my fallen angel series is coming to its conclusion. This is a finite trilogy, set in the future – a pretty grim future, actually – about 100 years from now. The world is post-nuclear but pre-Apocalyptic, things are going badly, and the angels are volunteering to shed their wings in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. These books are romances, each one featuring one angel and the mortal woman (this isn’t really a spoiler, is it?) whose love persuades him to stay on earth. The series started with FALLEN, then GUARDIAN, and book #3, REBEL, will be out in September of this year. Aren’t the covers gorgeous?

My other series, Dragonfire, just keeps on going. I’m having huge fun with my shape-shifting dragon heroes, so that’s fine by me. Dragonfire #5 is called WHISPER KISS and will be released in August of this year – it’s Niall’s story. #6 is Rafferty’s book and is called DARKFIRE KISS – it will be released in May 2011. There will also be an additional novella about the Dragon’s Teeth Warriors this July, which will be released as a Penguin eSpecial – more about that on my blog here.

Also, more Dragonfire news – there will be a Dragonfire YA series launching next year, which focusses on the coming-of-age of the only female dragon shapeshifter – Zoë must be the new Wyvern, except there’s no one to teach her how to use her powers. She has choices to make and skills to master – this trilogy will also include the resolution to the story of Sophie (the last Wyvern) and Nikolas. More about that on my blog, here.

Phew! You can see how busy it’s been! I also was the writer-in-residence at the Toronto Public Library last fall, the first time they’ve ever hosted a residency focussed on the romance genre. I did create a blog for the library about writing and publishing romance, including some guest posts every Friday – here’s the link, although it will display the latest posts first. You might want to scroll back to the first post and read them in order.

I hope you’ve been well this past year or so, and look forward to chatting with you again next month!

all my best

Deborah Cooke
also writing as Claire Delacroix
blogging most days at Alive& Knitting

On my blog and website banner, “Strong Women, Brave Stories” sttates my brand. What does that mean to a reader?

Branding is a complex concept. First, it has to do with what it is about my writing which sets me apart from other writers. But second, it also causes me to think about what my reader-needs or wants or who my writing appeals to. The first is relatively easy, but the second is more difficult.

The first part (see above) should be clear to any author after 5-10 books (though some get it much earlier). I think that “brand” develops as a writer gets into her stride. But the author must be writing the kind of book that really reflects HER DISTINCTIVE VOICE. My voice comes through most clearly in my historical sagas.

In my historicals, I always have a crusading heroine who is passionate about something. I call her a heroine ahead of her time. I also have a multicultural cast since I find that this brings natural conflict and because American history isn’t monochromatic. Finally, I always make sure my historical detail is accurate so I immerse my reader in the historical setting and period. At the end, I always write a Historical Note so that the reader will be able to know what I made up from the actual historical events.

Tom Morrisey, another author, helped me understand the second part–what my readers want. He asked me several questions about my “ideal” reader (the person most apt to buy my books), things like what kind of shoes she’d wear, where she would go on vacation what is her fave food and why. This helped me understand that my “ideal” reader is a woman very concerned with social justice, with human dignity. So my crusading heroines, my strong brave women, would be right for her. This part takes thought.

Some authors believe a tagline or signature line is the same as a brand. It isn’t. Most of the taglines I see don’t really mean much because they are so general. I think everyone saw them being used by a few and just decided that it was to be a description of one’s type of writing.

As you can see, it is so much more. I would suggest beginner’s drop taglines until they really understand what their writing essence is and who it appeals to. Tom doesn’t do workshops on deeper branding but Randy Ingermansson does. His website is http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/. Drop by and click Tiger Marketing on the right column for some ideas.

My tagline gives only the most important part of my brand—strong women who take on injustice with bravery. If a writer chooses to have a brand, do it right. Otherwise, don’t bother. Just a tagline does less than nothing for you and for readers.