Welcome to 2018, and the first Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop of the year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Here in Northern BC we had very cold weather (even for us) which brought beautiful bright blue skies, so it was a worthwhile trade off. Three turkey dinners and numerous family visits later, it’s time to get back in the swing. Leslie Hachtel starts off this year with an oldie but a goodie: Let’s talk about your New Years’ Resolutions. If you joined me from S. C. Mitchell, welcome! I’ve been seeing a lot of TV interviews about resolutions recently (shocking, I know!), and there seems to be a recurring theme this year – make them achievable! While this may seem like common sense, I totally get why we all need a reminder once in a while about making goals that are within our control. Bear with me, here. I will be taking a long and roundabout route to my resolution, and will be sharing some honest details about my writing career, but I'll get there. For years and years, I had a goal – finish a book. I didn’t even have a particular book in mind (I started many during those years that have been lost in the mists of time). I just wanted to say I’d written a book and it was done. And I did. In 2011, I finished Mountain Fire, and, of course, my goals changed. Now I wanted it published—and I wanted to write more books. I’ve achieved both of those goals since—and my goals changed again. Now I want to make money selling my books. Like many authors, I also have a full-time job. This means I have a limited amount of energy to put into writing, editing, publishing, and promoting my books. Unlike many authors (it seems) I need a full 8 hours of sleep and a decent amount of downtime, too, so this limits my writing and its related work even further. Even so, I still achieved a respectable amount last year. I finished my sixth full-length manuscript and gave that first draft a full edit, as well as revised Mountain Fire and handled its re-release since I received the rights back in October. What I didn’t achieve was making a profit at my writing. I have to admit, that started to weigh on me. This isn’t a hobby for me. I want to make a career out of this. I don’t have to be rich and famous, but I’d like to make enough money to have it be my “retirement job.” You know, the one that supplements our savings, keeps me active and involved, and makes me feel good. Did I put as much effort into my writing career last year as I could have? Maybe not. Will I try and do better this year. Again, I answer—maybe not. And this is where we get to my New Year’s Resolution. I need to have a career/life/writing balance that works for me. And if that means writing comes third some days, then so be it. And if writing comes third, then marketing and promotion comes even further down the list. And if you don’t market and promote, you don’t make sales. That’s something I’ll just have to live with, and learn to accept. Which, to be honest, nine days out of ten I am perfectly fine with. But those tenth days can be soul-searchingly tough, sometimes. My New Years Resolution, then? To remind myself I write because not writing is not an option. I feel better about myself every day I put words on the page, even if they’re bad words, even if there are few of them. Will I still worry about making money at this? Of course I will. Like I said, it’s not a hobby. But I resolve to remember the reason I write. Because I love it. How about you? Do you have a plan or a project that isn’t quite coming together the way you’d hoped, and yet you can’t put it down? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Then be sure to hop on over to J.J. Devine and see what challenges she's set for herself this year!
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Anyone else have the Barenaked Ladies song playing in their head? No? Well, here you go: You're welcome. :)
This week on Romance Writers Weekly, we get to dream – and dream big! Leslie Hachtel asks: If someone handed you a million dollars, what would you do with it? Did you join me from J.J. Devine? I hope you left a comment on your thoughts of how she'd spend her money! My mom calls extra money that happens to fall into your lap "mad money." You're not supposed to spend it on essentials – you're supposed to splurge, or buy something utterly ridiculous. Once she found a twenty-dollar bill, and bought this amazingly ugly jumpsuit with big baggy pants and a florid print. It made us all smile to see her in it. I guess that was the point! I wish I could be as creative as the BNL with their million dollars, but I'm too boring for that. I'd probably do what most people would – pay off debts, make sure some was invested wisely, shared with family and charities. But then? The rest would be mad money. And that might be the hardest to spend of all. The thing is, I'm not much of a shopper. Retail therapy is not something I engage in. If I need something, I shop around, then buy the best I can at the best price. But I've never been the type to go to the mall on the weekend just to by things. And I've always been torn over "need" and "want." Yes, I "want" nice clothes and sexy shoes and elegant bags (LOTS of shoes and bag!) but do I "need" them? No. So, the first thing I'd do is take a certain amount of mad money and hire a personal shopper (maybe Stacy or Clinton from What Not to Wear? I used to love that show) and have them outfit me with a complete wardrobe. That would take the stress out of it for me! You might wonder why I didn't pick buying books as my first mad money spend. That's because, while I'm getting that new wardrobe, I'm also building a sunroom onto my house, and I am outfitting that sunroom with shelves. Then I will be buying books to fill those shelves. I'd buy first editions of my favourites, because I'd love to be able to collect valuable books, and be sure to fill the holes in series I already own but don't have a complete set of. I'd search for the bindings that match the ones I already have, even if the ones I own are in paperback, because I like sets to be seamless, and the books I already own I love, even if they are tattered and torn. Travel would be in there somewhere, too. I'm very luck to have already visited many wonderful places in the world, but there are so many more to discover. Now all I need is someone to give me that million dollars! I wonder what Jenna Da Sie would spend her money on! Hop on over and see! This week's topic on Romance Writers Weekly is short but sweet. Leslie Hachtel asks: Describe your perfect day. Wow – there's so much to consider in these 4 simple words. What is perfect? And how could any day be perfect unless it never ended? After all, knowing something is coming to an end is bittersweet, and colours the whole time leading up to it. Another point to consider – is this perfect day how I'd like to spend the rest of my life? Or is it just a gem to enjoy every once in a while? Appreciation for anything good often comes from "the bad times." As I write this, I am sitting outside on a clear, warm day, with the sound of the pond's waterfall trickling. If our winters weren't so cold and dark, would I be enjoying this moment as much? Maybe not. So I don't think I'd want my perfect day to be every day. It would be full of simple things. It would start with a sunny morning, just warm enough to sit outside while I have my first coffee (made by my husband, of course) but with a freshness to the air that makes me feel rejuvenated. After a light, delicious breakfast (maybe fresh strawberries on cereal) I would sit down to write for three or four hours. I usually only have a chance to write an hour or so each day, squeezing it in between chores and errands and work, so this would be a true luxury. Also, I think every day is better if we feel we've accomplished something useful or creative. The afternoon might involve a long walk with our dog, at one of the beautiful trails in the area. And then I'd make a gourmet meal for dinner, which would be attended by family and friends. I like to cook, so that's why it's part of my perfect day. But the way to make it truly perfect would be to have the kitchen magically clean itself. I don't like to clean, and it wouldn't feel right having others clean for me on my perfect day, so the mess would just have to disappear in a poof and swoosh. The day would end with conversation, music and games. Our family loves to play games of all sorts (usually cards) and it is a wonderful way to spend time with people. We'd have snacks and drinks, and laugh a lot, and maybe dance a little to some classic hits from the eighties and nineties (because after all, that's the best music, right?) What would your perfect day be like? Would it be to stay at home like mine? Or are you more adventurous and extroverted? I'd love to hear from you! Once you've dropped me a line, be sure to head over to the instigator of this blog, Leslie Hachtel and see what her day would be like. This week on Romance Writers Weekly, it was my turn to set the topic. As my mind is very busy with plans for a trip I am taking soon, to visit Belgium where my mother was born, I came up with this one: Are you interested in genealogy? Have you traced your family generations back? If so, how far have you gone? And what fascinating stories have you discovered? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! As you might have guessed by the topic, I am interested in geneology. I find it fascinating to think of all the ancestors who have come before me, and love to ponder what their lives were like.
I haven't done a lot of research myself, but I have gathered what other members of my family have discovered together into a keepsake book. On my father's side, I have names going to the fifth generation back from myself, and on my mother's side, the sixth (If I'm counting right). My three-times Great Grandparents on my father's side were both born in 1793 (she was actually almost a year older than him, as she was born in January and he in December). The same grandfather on my mother's side was born in 1799, and I have his parent's names, but no dates for them. As I mentioned, my mother was born in Belgium, and her family emigrated to Canada after World War II. Oddly enough, the legend is that the first relative on my father's side to come to Canada also came from Belgium, but he arrived here in the early 1800's. It's those sorts of stories that I find interesting. Maybe my parents are actually related many generations ago! On June 1, we are making a trip I have hoped to do for a long time. My parents, my husband and I are going to visit the family still living in Belgium, in the Antwerp area. We've met a few of them over the years, as they have come to visit us. And my parents have been a number of times. But I've never gone, and while I wish I could have made the trip with my grandparents, better late than never, and I am really looking forward to it! What family stories do you have to tell? Do you like looking back, or are you more a "forward to the future" kind of person? Let me know in the comments! Now hop on over to the lovely Jenna da Sie and see what she knows about her ancestors. This week on the Blog Hop, S.C. Mitchell invites us to remember when… Think back to that day you first decided you were going to write a book/story. Tell us about what led you to start putting those first words on the page. If you joined me from Dee Kelly, welcome. If not, be sure to hop all the way around so you don't miss her great post. I know it's not original, but I can't remember when I didn't want to be a writer. I've always been a voracious reader, and I'm pretty sure it grew out of that. But if I think very carefully, it might be possible to pin down the first times I thought "Maybe I can do that, too." Anne of Green Gables is one of my absolutely favourite series. As a young Canadian girl, it was awe-inspiring to learn how famous the red-headed imp from our smallest province was. And that the story had been written by another Canadian woman – well, it opened my eyes to the possibilities. I should also make note of my Grade Seven teacher. Brother Ivan (I went to Catholic school) was feared throughout the lower grades. But he was one of those teachers that was demanding but fair, and most students who found themselves in his class also found themselves learning well and joyfully. He assigned many, many creative writing exercises, and I can still remember how proud I was the day he suggested I try and get one of my short stories into a magazine. If he thought I could get paid for my writing, who was I to contradict? I was in my forties before I achieved my dream of publishing a novel. But since then I've added two more to my list, have another waiting to be published and a fifth in revisions. I know longer want to be a writer – I am one! I wonder how Lyra Parish found the courage to send her stories out into the world. Find out here! Be sure to make an extra visit to my blog tomorrow, as I'll be revealing the cover to RWW member A.S. Fenichel's newest romance, Foolish Bride. Stop by, won't you? This week on the blog hop, I'm asking the question! I'm asking my Romance Writers Weekly pals: Describe our perfect writing space/retreat. Do you need hustle and bustle or peace and quiet? Coffee shop or secluded cabin? When I think of my perfect writing retreat, the first image that comes to mind is a small cabin on the shores of a lake with a mountain view. As I live in Northern British Columbia, I wouldn't even have to go that far to find it! I love to write outside, and there's something about the sound of water that I find soothing yet inspiring. I'd make myself a cup of coffee and sit on the porch, and just let the creativity flow. The only problem with that idyllic scene is that it is so opposite to where I normally write that I'm not sure if I'd still be able to get my job done. Normally I write with in my living room with family life going on around me. So having only peace and quiet and no distractions may actually prove to be a distraction! I wonder what Leslie dream writing retreat would be? Find out when you hop to her blog here! Writers love to imagine things – obviously! This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Jenna Da Sie wonders:
If you inherited a plot of undeveloped land, what would you do with it? Now, this questions just begs more questions. Is the land near the ocean, or have a lake, creek or river running through it? Is it in an urban or rural area? Does it have trees or is it cleared? Is it the size of a city lot or acres and acres? Is it near where I currently live or far away? See what I mean? Such a simple question, but what a great way to get the creative juices flowing! I think that is what would determine my decision on what to do with the land. If I could see it's potential, if looking at it inspired dreams of what could be done with it, I would keep it. My husband and I have talked about buying waterfront property for years, so if it was on a lake the decision would be very easy. But even if it wasn't, I think I would hold onto it for a while and see what possibilities might unfold. Undeveloped land is kind of like a blank computer screen – it begs me to make my mark on it. I wonder what Victoria Barbour would do with her undeveloped land? This week's challenge comes from Victoria Barbour. She asks: If your life was a romance novel, what subgenre would it be, and why would your hero be amazing? Also, what would you call it? Can you write a blurb for it? If you joined me from Kathryn Renard, welcome! There's no getting around it – the genre of my life is strictly contemporary. No ghosts or dragons, spies or assassins, dukes or duchesses in sight. And while angst-ridden lives make for the best romance novels, I am very thankful that mine is generally happy and fulfilled (I say "generally" because I am superstitious – don't want to jinx anything!). The reasons my hero is amazing are legion. We met at our local TV and radio station broadcast centre more than 28 years ago, where I was a writer/producer of commercials and he was the production cameraman. We still work together today, although our roles of changed. In fact, he's now the General Manager, something I am very proud of! We are often asked how we can live and work so closely together. I won't speak for him, but as for myself – I can't imagine life any other way. At work, I respect his talent, skills and dedication, and at home – well, he's my best friend. Here's my shot at the blurb that would best describe our lives leading up to our engagement. Too practical – or cowardly – to try and make a living as an author, she backs into a career in broadcasting. When she's offered a job at her hometown's small television station, she takes a deep breath and dives in, despite the fact she's only been trained in radio. He's fascinated with television production, and has already worked his way up from a part-time control room job to cameraman. But his dreams don't stop at this northern town's minor market station, and a newbie producer who doesn't know a white balance from a rack focus isn't going to stop him. Neither of them are looking for an office romance. Then why does working together feel like something so much more? I guess because it was more – as evidenced by 25 years of marriage this May. That wasn't as hard as I thought it might be! But Marc Stevens, whose up next, might have a bit of a challenge – considering he's a fictional character. How does a made up man write a blurb about his real life romance? Check it out here. Today on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop, J.J. Devine asks: What inspires you? Music? Reading? Movies? People in your life? Situations in life? What gets you motivated to sit down and write? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! A great way to get inspiration is to ask "What if?". I saw a sports blooper where an NBA player trying to save the ball ran over a waitress delivering beer to courtside seats. What if he's horrified by what he did? What if he seeks her out afterward to apologize? What if she's a single mom who despises the whole professional sports scene? What if there are sparks neither of them can ignore? Long road trips inspire me. I'm usually in the passenger seat, so I have lots of time to dream and wonder. Signs are great for discovering new and unusual names. In fact, my hero in When Time Falls Still, to be released this spring, was named after "Justice Motorcycle Repairs."
When it comes to being motivated to sit down and write, a bright and warm summer day calls me into the backyard to write in the sun. Alternately, a cold and snowy winter's day gets me snuggling with a blanket on my knees and my fingers on my keyboard. For most days, however, I need my inner voice to guilt me into writing. I'm with all the other writers who have said "I don’t like to write, but I love having written!" I can enjoy my day so much more when I've finished my daily quota! How does S. C. Mitchell get inspired? He'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!
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