This weeks challenge for us Romance Writers Weekly members comes from Carrie Elks: “Stephen King famously said that it's necessary to 'kill your darlings' when editing your work. Do you have anything you had to remove from a book that you're still proud of? Or something that embarrasses you so much it will never again see the light of day? If you're feeling really brave, share some of it with us!” If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! It is often a single image that inspires me when I am thinking of ideas for new stories. For my novel “No Life But This”, that image was a young woman spinning a globe, longing for excitement and adventure. Many of us have done this – watched the world blurring by, then tapping it with one finger and saying “There, that’s where I’m going.” My heroine, Abigail, does exactly that, and finds love on the tiny, little known Portuguese island of San Miguel, Azores. After I’d written the manuscript, I sent it out into the world of beta readers. And almost every single one of them said they enjoyed the book once the romance got going, but that it started soooooo slowly. So I tightened up the beginning – and more readers said exactly the same thing. In the end, I hacked off about five chapters, before I finally found what I feel is the right place to start the story. But I still have a soft spot for the original opening scene. It was this image, this atmosphere, that sparked the entire story. Maybe a reader doesn’t need it, but as a writer I think I needed to put it into words, so that the rest of the novel was infused with the thoughts and feelings I wrote about. Here it is. Abigail's fingers bumped gently across the globe. The surface was irregular, as if it truly was a miniature world - Everest shrunk to the height of a fingernail, the waves of the oceans smoothed to an infinitesimal roughness. Its high gloss finish glared where the light from the floor lamp struck it. I’m so glad I had a chance to share this scene with you! Now I invite you to move on to J.J. Devine and see what darlings she’s had to “kill”.
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Do you like to read romance novels? Would you like to meet new authors, and learn more about your favorites? Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all...about our writing of course! Every week we'll answer the same questions. Once you've read my blog, the link below will direct you to another. Feel free to ask more questions or make comments.
If you've linked here from Ronnie Allen's blog, welcome! How do you find the appropriate setting for the story, or does it find you? For my first novel, MOUNTAIN FIRE, I figured I'd have enough trouble with the mechanics of writing and plotting, and didn't want to add to my struggles by using an unfamiliar setting. So I plunked that novel right in my hometown and the surrounding area. CHEF D'AMOUR (contracted, release date TBA – whee!!!) takes place on the set of a reality show in Vancouver, BC. Again, I am familiar enough with Vancouver to be comfortable writing about it, and my television background made the behind-the-scenes fun. NO LIFE BUT THIS (completed, but lying fallow) takes place mainly in the Azores, a small group of Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic. My husband's family is from there, and we were lucky enough to visit in July 2013. It seemed the perfect location to set a story about a young woman breaking out of her shell and learning to live adventurously. Manuscript #4 is once again set in my hometown. I guess what all that means is I prefer to write about settings that I know! What is your support system for your writing? Family, friends, other writers? All of the above! My husband is my greatest support. He is the one who bought my laptop so I would quit whining about writing and actually sit down and finish something. He has read all my manuscripts, and when he says he likes something I trust him, because we've worked together for more than 25 years and we have no problem telling each other the truth. My oldest daughter is also a writer, and she loves to help me plot, especially early in the process. My parents are so proud of what I've done, they tell any and all who ask about my books. It can be hard to meet other writers, especially in my relatively small town. But the Internet is a wonderful resource, and through that I've met all sorts of writers willing to provide support – including those of Romance Weekly! What is the worst writing advice you ever received and how did you deal with it? I really can't say I've had bad advice. Of course, maybe I just don't know it yet, because the results of the advice haven't come home to roost, but I don't think that's the case. All advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. What worked for one writer isn't necessarily going to work for me. I love discussions and case studies and examples, and I think if you do enough research, learn enough craft, you'll be able to discern bad advice from the good. Thanks for joining me on Romance Weekly. I invite you to visit Dani Jace and see what she has to say this week! Do you like to read romance novels? Would you like to meet new authors, and learn more about your favorites? Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes and tell all...about our writing of course! Every week we'll all answer the same questions. Once you've read my blog, the link below will direct you to another. Feel free to ask more questions or make comments.
If you've linked here from Nina Mason's blog, welcome! Here are my answers to this week's questions: How does your writing impact your inner life? Writing makes me happy. I always enjoy the process of putting words on paper in a pleasing order, although sometimes plotting can make me tear my hair out. When life gets in the way and I fall behind on my word count I try not to be too hard on myself. But every once in a while I don't write because I'm lazy, or I can't bear the thought of the blank page. On those days my conscience berates me. It's what I imagine skipping school (not that I ever did that) feels like. You can't enjoy playing hooky because you know what you should be doing. I guess it boils down to this—I am happier at least trying to write than I am if I don't do it at all. How do you hope your books affect your readers? I want my readers to enjoy my books. It's that simple. I read for fun and entertainment—I want my readers to feel that way as well. Every once in a great while I will read a book that is supposed to challenge me, or make me a better person, or help me see the world in a different way. While it is also possible to enjoy reading those kinds of books, more often than not they make me feel inept, incompetent and insensitive. I am not writing to change the world. But I am writing to change one person's mood on any given day. Hopefully reading my book(s) will make that person feel just a bit better on a bad day, or reaffirm their enjoyment of life on a good day. Has anyone ever told you your book changed their life? If so, how? Short answer – no. But reader comments have changed my life. A man at work read MOUNTAIN FIRE and sent me a lovely note praising my determination and commitment in writing it. I thought it was fabulous that he could see the work that went into simply completing a manuscript. My sister sent me a text after reading it, saying how proud she was of me. And my editor for CHEF D'AMOUR commented on one short scene where my heroine's grandmother is talking about her late husband. My editor's husband passed away recently, and she said I had described it perfectly. That really touched me. Thanks for joining me on Romance Weekly. I invite you to visit J.J. Devine and see what she has to say this week! One of the most amazing things I've discovered since starting to pursue writing romance seriously is the incredible support from other writers. I've met dozens of them online, and all have been unfailingly helpful and encouraging. Just last week I joined a blogging group called Romance Weekly. Each week we will answer three questions that give you a behind the scenes look at our writing—and give you a chance to discover your newest favourite author! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comments.
Thanks to those of you who've linked here from Carrie Elks' page. Here's my first post—and don't forget to link to the next author in this fun relay! 1. Who is your favourite author in your genre and why? There are so many wonderful contemporary authors that I love to read. But if I define “favourite” as “the author that made you see things differently about reading and writing romance” it would have to be Susan Elizabeth Phillips. SEP has been writing for decades, but I only discovered her a few years ago. I've since searched out all her titles and read them for both enjoyment and as a lesson in how to do it right. She is amazing at invoking emotions and making her characters flawed yet fascinating. A great example of this is AIN'T SHE SWEET. I didn't like either the heroine, Sugar Beth, or the hero, Colin, all that much to start. But they were such great, strong characters that I had to find out how they redeemed themselves. 2. What is your favourite book by them and why? I'm not a crier, when it comes to books or movies, at least. I can always keep that one step away from totally immersing myself in the emotions of the story. Not with SEP. She's made me tear up more than any other author. I remember the wrenching sense of loss she made me feel during one especially sweet scene in THIS HEART OF MINE. So, again, going with theme of “favourite” being a book that changed me, I would choose that one. THIS HEART OF MINE is book 5 in SEP's Chicago Stars football team series, and tells the story of Molly (half-sister of the owner) and Kevin (quarterback). One night together results in Molly getting pregnant. To avoid a public relations drama, they get married—extremely reluctantly. And then Molly has a miscarriage. The way their relationship grows is so organic, so compelling, that I hated to put it down. 3. What about their style inspires your writing? I want my readers to feel as invested in the lives of my characters as I feel with SEP's characters. There are so many sub-genres of romance—paranormal, suspense, inspirational, YA—but all of them are defined by the characters, the people, in them. It's extremely difficult to describe how SEP does this—I'm sure it's mostly gut instincts that cannot be taught—but I also love the mechanics of her writing. Her descriptions are lyrical, her sense of pacing exquisite. Reading any of her work is a master course in writing. Continue visiting with Romance Weekly Writers! Click here to learn how Susan Peterson Wisnewski answered these questions. I've always been a voracious reader. But because I truly enjoy re-reading my favourite books, I have probably read fewer authors over the years than other many readers. In most cases, I would rather re-read a book I know I will enjoy than take a chance on a new author. I know what I like, and if I don't see the possibility within a few pages—by which I mean less than one chapter—I stop reading. I know, I'm mean, but there it is. Once I've found an author I love, I'm single minded in tracking down all their books (thank goodness for inter-library loans). If the author writes a series, or has a big back list, I'm thrilled! I have a long list of fail safes, in a mix genres, including but not limited to:
When I decided that writing romance was something I was serious about, I started to look for new authors. This was partly as research—how can you write a genre if you haven't read as much as possible?—but it was also because I'd exhausted my favourite authors book lists. In the last three years I've discovered:
I still go back to my tried and true friends, but not as often as I used to. That's another reason to thank (or blame on) my e-reader—it gave me a huge new library to explore! January 9th will be the one year anniversary of the full access release of Mountain Fire. It's been an interesting year! I have a second manuscript being submitted to publishers, a third manuscript with beta readers/critique partners, and a fourth manuscript percolating. I attended the Surrey International Writers Conference and had a blast, took some online courses through Romance Writers of America, and am doing my best to blog consistently as well as build my online platform. There is so much still to learn and do. While being published is fabulous, the work certainly isn't done on that book. Readers can be hard to find, especially when you are brand new writer with a small press. Want the honest truth? I've made slightly more than $300 in the past year on Mountain Fire. I compare it to one week of groceries for my family of five. But making money wasn't the point (although it would be a nice side benefit). Finishing the damn book and getting it out there was the point. And now that it is out there, I can build on that. I recently read a blog post by Kristen Lamb that says many first time authors spend too much time promoting that one book, and not enough time writing. According to her, the magic minimum number (in either self or traditional publishing) is three. It's cumulative – when a reader likes your first book, that's great, but they don't have the option to buy others, because they just aren't out there. But when they like Book Three, there are two more they can pick up. So Book Three helps to sell Book One and Book Two. Before Mountain Fire was released, one of the ladies at work asked how I would determine success for it. Just getting it published is a success all on it's own, but in monetary terms I told her $1000 would be a good benchmark. To be honest, I was sort of thinking $1000 in one year, but, hey, live and learn. Sure, I probably could have done more promotion, more blogging, more guesting. But just because I didn't, doesn't mean I still can't. Mountain Fire is out there, and even though it was published a year ago it is still brand new to those who haven't discovered it yet. All I have to do is keep writing, keep blogging, keep working, and maybe I'll hit the $1000 mark yet! Honestly, I'm doing my best to blog every Sunday. But I just can't seem to get in the groove. It might be that Spring seems incredibly late here in Northern BC. This morning is gorgeous, but yesterday we woke up to 2 inches or so of wet, slushy snow. Like everyone else, the weather affects my mood, and some days it just doesn't seem worthwhile to get out of bed!
I will be guest blogging over at Just Romantic Suspense for the next two Sundays, so I'm going to be include those posts in my weekly schedule. Maybe after three weeks in a row, I'll be in a routine and keep it going. Because I seem to be thinking a lot about it lately, I'm planning my first post around weather. Does the weather affect what you read? Does the weather in the book you're reading affect your mood - both about what you are reading and in your "real" life? I'd be interested in getting some comments from you before I write the post. Let me know you're thoughts on weather in books you enjoy. Other than Pi (that's 3.14 repeating, not blueberry) about the only science-thingy that sticks in my head is “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Google tells me that is Newton's Third Law of Motion. Actions and reactions are also the building blocks for compelling writing. The action can be big—blowing up a building—or it can be small—stealing a kiss from the girl next door—but the next step of the novel is based on the reaction to that action. A finished work also garners reactions. Very few writers do so strictly for their own enjoyment, keeping their work buried on a hard drive or in a drawer. Writing is meant to be shared. It is a way of communicating. I've been very pleased with most of the responses to MOUNTAIN FIRE. Even a few negative reviews have made the whole process seem real—only a published author gets bad reviews on Good Reads and Amazon! And the support of my friends and family have been absolutely wonderful (Thanks, Traffic Ladies!). I also laughed until I cried over the following message I received from a cousin of mine: Hey Brenda - another first for you....your book has been banned from a school! (lol - not really, but close). I got a note from the teacher at my son's school today letting me know that his reading material was not age appropriate and was causing a bit of a stir because of a very suggestive scene. He's been asked to put it back in his backpack and bring it home. I guess he was so excited his 'aunt' was a published author that he brought your book to school to show everyone. LOL! Negative reviews and banned from a school...cool!
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