This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Leslie Hachtel asks: If you could have lunch with any (living) author, who would it be and why? This is a tough one for me. There are lots of amazing authors out there, but I’m not sure if I’d want to risk losing the mystery by actually meeting them. You know how you feel when something you've looked forward to doesn’t live up to its potential? That’s what I worry about. I’d hate to ruin my enjoyment of an author’s books by a disappointing experience in real life. That being said, I think I’d like to meet Jill Shalvis. Her romances are funny and sweet (with plenty of heat, though!) and from what I’ve seen on her Facebook page she seems like a pretty down-to-earth person. Kristan Higgins also looks like someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously and would have some funny stories to tell! But in many ways, the authors I’d most like to have lunch with are other independent writers who are dealing with the same issues I am – getting noticed in the sea of self-publishing, struggling to work a “real” job while keeping up with writing, honing our craft in order to be better writers. While I have an awesome online community of just these kinds of writers (mostly through Facebook) there’s something special about being in the same room and talking face to face. How about you? Which author would you like to have lunch with? And do you have the same reservations I do, or would you not worry about that at all? Be sure to visit A.S. Fenichel and see who she'd like to do lunch with! Have you seen this, yet? The new cover for RESERVED FOR YOU (formerly Chef d'Amour). What do you think?I'll be releasing the updated book soon. If you want to find out first, sign up for my newsletter (there's a form on the home page of this website). It's where I share special news and bonus features about all my books.
0 Comments
This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Dani Jace set the challenge – and a true challenge it was, for me at least! We’re one day away from Halloween. Have you ever seen a ghost or witnessed something paranormal? Received a sign from a loved one in the hereafter? If not, share the oddest thing that’s ever happened to you that you can’t explain. My life must be very boring. I cannot think of one thing that fits this topic! And it’s not that I’m a complete skeptic, either. While I don’t 100% believe in ghosts or parapsychology, I don’t totally discount it, either. There is too much that cannot be fully explained by the knowledge the world holds at this moment. So, because I can’t really participate in this blog hop, I’m offering a giveaway! After you’ve taken part, don’t forget to head over to A.S. Fenichel, whose next on our hop! GIVEAWAY! I will give you one of my books for FREE, simply by doing the following: In the comments below, tell me about a time where you experienced something unexplainable. Or, if you’re like me and don’t have that story to share, tell me whether you believe in the supernatural or not. There are no wrong answers! Once you’ve told your story, let me know which one of my books you’d like to receive: Mountain Fire, Chef d’Amour, When Time Falls Still or No Life But This. I will send it to the email you use to comment with. Then, I have only one more request. Today is my birthday – so while I’m giving you a gift, I’d love if you could give me one in return. Once you’ve read the book I send you, please leave an honest review at your ebook retailer or Goodreads – or better yet share it on Facebook or Twitter! I look forward to reading your comments! Happy Halloween! The wonderful Carrie Elks has set this week's blog hop topic: The new fall TV schedule is here - what are you watching and why do you love it so much? Does what you watch influence your writing? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! For someone who works in television, I watch very little of it in the evening. That's usually my writing time, after a full day of work dealing with actually operating a small market TV station. Recently Mr. C and I have been streaming The Killing – a very well done police drama based on a Danish book but set in Seattle and filmed in Vancouver. How's that for global? We're also huge fans of The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, even though they are losing a little bit of the zing they had in the first few years. My biggest vice when it comes to TV, though, is The Voice. It's great background for writing – I can keep up with both without too much trouble. I love the dynamic between Adam (le sigh) and Blake, and am quite impressed with Miley so far. And as far as I'm concerned, Alicia Keys is just amazing no matter what she does. I can't say my television viewing influences my writing too much. I am loving The Killing because of the great character development, but I'll never be able to write comedy so the sitcoms are strictly for fun. One of my books is based on a reality show, but nothing like the voice – Chef d'Amour is more a combinations of Iron Chef meets The Bachelor. What does Jenna Da Sie watch? Find out here! There's still time to Send a Little Love to someone touched by breast cancer! Visit Romance Has a Heart and pick from more than 100 authors and 2000 books! This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Lyra Parish asks: When you release a new book, do you have a release day tradition? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel,welcome! Well, this is going to be short and sweet. The answer is – No. I think one of the reasons I don't have any traditions is that two of my three release days have been scattered over months. My first release, Mountain Fire, came out on Kindle Unlimited on October 1, 2012 – but in e-format and print on January 8, 2013. My most recent release, When Time Falls Still, was released in print a few weeks before its April 4, 2016 e-book release. Only Chef d'Amour was released all at once. I suppose I could have had two celebrations for each release – after all, there's no law against that! I think I need some ideas on how to celebrate a new book - maybe S. C. Mitchell does something exciting. See his blog here! For the month of October, I am part of a wonderful initiative. Visit the website of Romance Has a Heart and send a little love - and a great read - to support a survivor, patient, caregiver or family member who has been touched by cancer. More than 100 authors have donated more than 2000 books - including Kristan Higgins, Nalini Singh, Grace Burrows, Romance Writers Weekly members and alumni - and little old me! Five copies of When Time Falls Still are available for to send to someone who needs an extra bit of love in their life. Today on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop, Carrie Elks ask:
How do you choose the location for you books? Do you pick somewhere you've already been, or do you research creatively, using Google and other methods to find the perfect spot? If you came here from S. C. Mitchell, thanks for hopping along. Interesting post from a sci-fi romance writer! I read for the experience – to be able to live in another character's head, in their time, in their place. I can't help but feel a little extra "squee" whenever I read about a place I've been – or go to a place I've read about for the first time. My daughter and I spent a week in London, and we walked in Hyde Park, visited Trafalgar Square, took a ferry on the Thames, roamed the Tower of London. All places I'd read about in either contemporary or historical fiction. It made the experience that much deeper for me. The same thing when my husband and I visited New York. All those places I'd read about – right there, in front of me, in REAL LIFE!!! When it comes to my own writing, I kept that in mind. I've set 3 of my 4 novels in, or at least partially in, my home town. I could have come up with a fictional name and still used the same place, but I wanted to celebrate where I live, and maybe even introduce it to a few new people. The novel that is only partially set where I live is also set in the Azores, where my husband's family is from. But I was lucky enough to visit that amazing group of islands in 2013, so was able to imbue that novel with the sights and sounds of my own experience. I do find Google Maps and Google Earth amazing resources, however. My second published novel, Chef d'Amour, was set in Vancouver, and while I've certainly visited often I don't know it that well. So it was great to be able to check transit schedules and road maps, and to use street view to be able to add a sense of intimacy. Thanks for taking this little trip with me! Now on to A.S. Fenichel to see how she chooses her locations. On this week’s edition of Romance Writers Weekly blog, Jeanne McDonald asks: “What is one of your favorite quotes from your book(s). Explain the reason why it's your favorite and its significance to the story and characters.” If you’ve joined me from Fiona Riplee, welcome! When I first read this topic I was like pffft – easy peasy! I’ll use the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice. I think it is one of the most perfect sentences ever written in the English language, and so beautifully encapsulates, in an ironic way, the entire theme of the book. Excellent! Then I re-read the topic and saw the word your. A favourite quote from one of my own books? This easy task now became almost impossible. And not for a good reason. Not because I have so many favourite quotes that I don’t know where to start. But because I cannot think of one off the top of my head. Not a single one. So now I’m scrambling. How to fulfill this week’s assignment? I start off by decided which of my two published works I will chose from. While MOUNTAIN FIRE is close to my heart because it was my first book baby, from a distance of years it is easy to see things I should have done differently. So that leaves CHEF D’AMOUR. My next step was to think of my favourite scene in that book. This is a bit easier. Jemma has just had a disastrous first day on the job, including an accident with a tray full of squid that end up draped all over her. Then her car won’t start. The only person who offers to help is Paul, the sexy chef and reality TV star she’s already had the displeasure of meeting. He insists on driving her home, and despite her sour mood he finds her intriguing and different. At the end of the chapter he drops her off and heads on his way. The last sentences are: “The car seemed oddly empty without her prickly presence. The smell of squid kept him company the rest of the way home.” Now, these words should not be immortalized in bronze and mounted in Westminster Abbey. But I can remember writing them, and thinking how they were the perfect way to introduce Paul’s attraction to Jemma. She is not going to be an easy woman to love, and yet he misses her only moments after he leaves her. And describing the unpleasant odour of squid keeping him company gives a unique sensory image of the difficulties she will bring him, while showing that he will greet these troubles with cheerful good humour. I don’t know – am I crazy? What do you think? But don't stop here! Be sure to visit, Carolyn Spear, as she's the next stop on our hop today. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a comment. Enter now through MAY 10th, 2015 (MOTHER'S DAY)! Grand Prize is a $100 Amazon giftcard. 2nd and 3rd prizes are $20 giftcards. Plus you could win one of 14 prize packs full of great titles from the Romance Weekly authors! Xio Axelrod says:
Readers always ask "How much of yourself do you lend to your characters?" Here's your chance to answer. What traits do your characters have that come from you? And if not you, someone in your life. If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome. And I apologize right now for the vagueness of my post today - my head is stuffed from a cold, and I'm not thinking very clearly. But I didn't want to miss out on the this week's hop, so I did my best. I think it’s impossible for any writer NOT to include a little bit of themselves in every character they write. Writers are, after all, only one person (although most of us have a lot of voices inside our heads!). So no matter how hard we try, bits of our personalities have to creep in. I’m a “tell-it-like-it-is” type of person. I don’t suffer fools gladly and I employ the use of sarcasm on a regular basis. Most of my characters have these traits in some degree or other. My meekest heroine, Abigail from NO LIFE BUT THIS, has hidden those feelings for most of her life, and it was fun to write about her breaking out of those habits. Of course, as a romance writer, I write from the male point-of-view as well. I watch my husband, father, brother-in-laws, and try to really see how they react in certain situations. Again, it’s not that I am putting those people in the book. I am simply using them as a model on how my character should act. I also use real-life experiences in my stories. CHEF D’AMOUR takes place on the set of a romance reality TV show. While I have never worked on a show exactly like that, I have worked in television production for more than 25 years, so have a good grasp on what goes on behind-the-scenes. How much of herself does J.J. Devine put into her stories? She’s your next stop on the blog hop! This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Victoria Barbour wants us to dream big. If our most recent book was being produced for Hollywood, who would we cast for it? If you’ve joined me by Eden Ashe, welcome! My most recent release, Chef d’Amour, has prickly, fiercely independent Jemma dealing with an ill grandmother, a jerk for a boss, and the dangerous attentions of Paul Almeida. Kiera Knightley’s sharp, strong features immediately come to mind. Jemma sports a short haircut, as well, except that her bangs are longer and dyed a vibrant pink. As for Paul, one Google search for dark haired actors came up with Wes Bentley, and he’s just right. This is Paul’s “TV” look – he’s the sexy bachelor on the romance reality show where Jemma works. When he’s running his own 5-star restaurant he’s more formal, but I’m sure Wes could pull it off!
This week's assignment is from me! J I wanted to know how my RWW pals choose the setting for there books. Do they draw on real life, or make it all up?
Welcome to those of you joining me from Jeanne McDonald! In some novels, the setting can almost be a character itself. I just recently read SOPHIA’S SECRET (or THE WINTER SEA) by Susanna Kearsley, and the whole book revolves around the setting – it simply couldn’t have happened anywhere else. (It's very good, by the way...) As a reader, I love to read stories set in places I’ve been – New York and London come to mind. And if I haven’t been to the location, reading about it can certainly pique my interest – Australia is on my bucket list for a number of novels I’ve read. While I don’t mind stories set in fictional settings, I often have trouble believing that those places (often small towns) have the variety of personalities, businesses and drama that are depicted. My first published novel, MOUNTAIN FIRE, is set in my hometown in Northern British Columbia for a couple of reasons. One – tackling a novel was scary enough that I didn’t want to have to think about the location. I wanted to know exactly where my characters were at all times, and what that place looked, smelled and sounded like. Two – the suspense revolves around a grizzly bear poaching ring, and Northern BC is definitely a good place for that! I ventured a bit further a field with my second novel, CHEF D’AMOUR, but just a few hours down the road to Vancouver. While I work at the TV station in my hometown, the kind of reality show that forms the backbone of CHEF D’AMOUR needed a much larger, cosmopolitan market. But again, I stayed within an area I was comfortable with. The trend has continued with my third and fourth manuscripts – one set on the Azores, which I have visited, and the next set back in my hometown. If other readers are like me, it may spark their interest in visiting a part of the world they haven’t seen. Now hop of on over Leslie Hachtel and she how she uses setting. It's that time of year - when even us non-bakers enjoy creating lovely treats for holiday parties! This week on Romance Writers Weekly, we're swapping cookie recipes. Get ready to copy/past an entire cookbook of favourites! If you've joined me from Xio Axelrod, welcome! This recipe is from one of my all-time favourite cookbook series, Company's Coming. They are a lovely, light, less sweet alternative to the rich, decadent desserts usual during the holiday season. Wonderful with coffee or tea! Pineapple Cookies ½ cup margarine, softened ½ cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar ¼ tsp nutmeg (My daughter's note in our recipe book says that half of the above 2 ingredients is plenty) Cream butter and first amount of sugar together well. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and pineapple. Add flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Mix second amount of sugar and nutmeg together. Sprinkle on top of unbaked cookies. Bake in 375F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen. Now it's on to Sarah Hegger to get yet another great cookie recipe!
|