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I'm doing a double-take again this week on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog. I am the Production Manager at a small market television station, and one of the programs we produce is called QuizMe. Think of it as Jeopardy for elementary school children. We shoot fifteen half hour episodes over three days, and those three days are this weekend, April 22 to 24. So I'll be a wee bit busy, and won't have time to join the usual hop. But the topic was so interesting I didn't want to miss it, so I'm giving you another two-fer this week!
This week's topic is posed by Leslie Hatchel: What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned about writing? Who did you learn it from? I have learned so much about writing in the last few years (and am still learning, of course) so this was a bit difficult for me to narrow down. One of the simplest tricks I learned was to watch out for sentences that start with "There was…" For example: "There was a house on the corner of the block, standing forlorn and neglected, hiding behind a ragged hedge." I learned to get right to the meat of the sentence: "On the corner of the block stood a forlorn and neglected house, hiding behind a ragged hedge." So now when I'm editing I keep a wary eye out for "There was…" sentences and zap them where they stand! Next week's topic was suggested by A.S. Fenichel: Where is your favorite place in the world and why? Share some pictures if you can. Does this place wind up in your books? Feel free to share more than one. See what I mean about it being fun and interesting? Mr. C and I love to travel, and we've been lucky enough to visit some amazing places. It would be hard to narrow down a single one, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites in photos. Check them out below. I do put locations I've been in my books. For one thing, all but one of my books have a tie to Prince George, my hometown. And the one that doesn't is set in Vancouver, a beautiful British Columbia city I lived in for a couple years and visit often. NO LIFE BUT THIS, my most recent release, is set mostly on the Portuguese Island of Sao Miguel, Azores. Mr. C's parents emigrated from there in the 1950's, and we visited in 2013. While it wasn't the best vacation (my mother-in-law fell and broke her hip our second day there and spent the two weeks in hospital) we did at least get a chance to explore the culture and island. I'd love to hear about your favourite places to go. I may even find some to add to my bucket list! And once you've done that, be sure to hop over to Leslie Hachtel and see what writing advice she thought was the best. 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! 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! I'll post something more in depth about the Surrey International Writers Conference next week, but I thought I'd give you a taste of what it was like. There were three workshop and/or panel blocks (with multiple choices in each block) Friday and Saturday, two more on Sunday, keynote speakers at every lunch and dinner, and chances to meet agents, editors and authors. There were workshops for writers of children's fiction, romance, sci-fi, non-fiction and more. It was hard to decide which to attend, so I decided to see the presenters I wanted to see, regardless of what the topic was. I heard much I had learned before, but hearing best-selling authors reiterate what I'd discovered on my own made those lessons that much more credible. In many cases they took the nugget of knowledge I already had and expanded it further, which was fabulous. The weekend was a tad overwhelming, to say the least. For a while I felt as if I needed to scrap all my writing and start over, but I'm talking myself off that cliff. Sure, my manuscripts need work, but I'm hoping it is just a few (okay, maybe several) tweaks here and an upping of tension there. I've acquired some great hints and tips on how to do just that. For now, I'm sitting in the Vancouver Airport waiting for my (delayed) flight home. And itching to get writing. Only five more sleeps until SIWC opens!! On Thursday morning a good friend and I will take the nine hour drive to Surrey...and the next morning it begins! I've never been to a writer's conference before, so I'm very excited to experience everything possible. I fully expect to be exhausted by Sunday afternoon. I plan on taking in every workshop I can, meet many, many people, and soak in every scrap of information available. I've signed up for a Pitch Session with Nephele Tempest and a Blue Pencil Session with Jane Porter. It will be amazing to connect with people in the industry, but I am already nervous about doing so. I have two finished manuscripts to pitch, so I'm working on their blurbs, which is very tough - how do you encapsulate the feel, the drive, of a 70,000 word manuscript in two short paragraphs? And for the BP session writers are allowed to bring three pages of work to discuss with the author. Three pages out of 400? How to choose? I'm trying to keep it all in perspective. While this weekend is a great opportunity, for me and many other writers, it isn't the be-all-and-end-all. Having a professional critique 3 pages of my work is a bonus, regardless of what 3 pages I decide on (I'm probably going with the first 3 of my third manuscript, but who knows?). And meeting with an agent will be a great learning experience, no matter what happens in the future. Although a girl can dream, can't she? Fingers crossed... I am pleased to welcome Christine Elaine Black as the very first guest on my blog! Christine is also published with The Wild Rose Press, and last Friday she was gracious enough to interview me on her blog. I thought it only fair to offer her the chance to answer her own questions...and here she is! CEB: Hello everyone. I’m thrilled to be a guest of fellow writer, Brenda Margriet, today. Thanks for having me. BM: What draws you as a reader to the romance genre? CEB: I’m drawn to the romance genre as a reader mainly by historical romantic fiction. There’s something about visiting another time and place that once existed but has vanished into the mists of time that fascinates me. I love learning new facts about history, so the genre fulfills those aspects plus I enjoy romance intertwined with a compelling tale. BM: In your books, 'historical' means waaaayyy back – to the time of the Romans. Most of the historical romances I've read go no further back than the Regency era. It's amazing how romance suits every time and place. What do you find is the most difficult part of writing a love story? CEB: The difficult part is to make the reader care about the characters and their issues as much as the writer. We know as the creator of the story that our characters have all the elements to make us fall in love along with them but relaying that on paper is a challenge. It’s easy to get caught up in the story of the hero/heroine and forget touches of thrilling romantic moments that make our readers melt. BM: Is creating a book title easy for you? Tell us about the process. CEB: Titles are tricky things. They are designed to capture the attention of a potential reader and convey the essence of the book. My original title for MAXIMUS, book I of the Imperial Desire series was… Maximus. Strong roman men and the women who love them is the central theme of my books. Add the element of desire then I have the final choice for the book and the series. BM: I really struggle with titles. I even asked for help from the readers of your blog, asking for suggestions for my next book. I encourage anyone reading this to go to Christine's blog and give me a hand – you could win some swag! On to the next questions - Do your characters love the direction you take for them or do they have other ideas? CEB: My characters go in all kinds of directions, especially the men. As I write a scene I find them doing and saying things I never imagined. It often works out for the best as my inner muse ultimately guides the story. I trust the process and write as much as I can before reviewing the work to decide if major tweaking is necessary. Maximus surprised me at the end of the book but to reveal more would require what they call a spoiler alert!! BM: Any tips for writers that you’d love to share? CEB: Yes. Get some work out there and get some feedback. I joined a few author sites to see what my fellow writers had to say about the industry and receive general feedback. One of the best things about writing today is the huge amount of resources available at our fingertips. I can’t imagine doing this without a computer, a group of online friends and the greatest thing… the online submission process. I must give a shout out to my publisher – The Wild Rose Press - who are a fantastic organization giving many romantic authors the opportunity to publish their work. BM: I have also enjoyed my experiences with The Wild Rose Press. The advent of e-books has certainly opened the doors for a lot of first time authors. Where can readers find out more about you? CEB: They can check out my blog, website and Facebook! BM: And now for the fun part - tell us about your next book. CEB: Yay! Coming soon is TAURUS, book II of the Imperial Desire series. The news of a release date from The Wild Rose Press is due any day now. I’m pleased to have the book cover to show you today along with the blurb. Rebellious and strong-willed, Kalliassa flees a political betrothal arranged by her brother, the emperor of Rome. She runs to the one man capable of preventing the match - her brother's sworn enemy. Unwittingly, she throws her fortunes into the hands of a man pledged to destroy Roman rule. Taurus, proud Governor of Panua, would do anything to provoke the emperor, even ruin an imperial sister. But Kallie is like no woman he's ever met and she tests his strength of will and his solemn vow to end the reign of her family, forever. Can true love overcome lust, lies and deceit? And here is the cover and blurb for Maximus, which is currently available! Carissa Valeria distrusts the handsome soldier who rescues her reckless son from plunging to an early death. Recalling the man's heartless treatment of her from years ago, she itches to even the score, but her son hails the rescuer as a hero. When he becomes her neighbor, her son's friendship with the soldier threatens to uncover old secrets and place her family and her heart in danger.
Exiled to the countryside by the Roman emperor, Maximus is confounded by the brittle countenance of the woman he's willing to befriend. She's afraid, and he's determined to find out why. But helping Carissa and her son means confronting the guilt of his long-forgotten past and stirring the silenced passion in his heart. Can Maximus win Carissa before fear and revenge tear them apart forever? Thanks so much for joining me on my blog, Christine! Best of luck with your writing!
I am sitting in a warm ski lodge, working away on two manuscripts and this blog while my son and his friends speed down the slopes.
I've been known to strap on skis and give the hill a try, but my best friends wouldn't call me athletic. I did stagger through a 5K "run" about a year and a half ago, after months of training. But I haven't stayed with it. I kept waiting for that "high" that runners say they get. It never showed up. I do get a "high" from a lovely turned phrase, the perfect verb, the sentence that says exactly what I want it to. That's probably why I don't mind revising too much. The "Find" function is my friend when I'm cleaning up my first draft. I scoured the web searching for lists of “weak words” (that, really, almost, etc), compiled them, and saved them. Then, while I was writing, I paid attention to the words I use as crutches (I'm very bad with 'just' and 'only') and add them to my list. Now that the manuscript is done, I use "Find" to trace those weak words. Often I find I can simply delete them, but I'll rewrite as necessary. I find this process quite soothing. It feels so good to purge those useless, soft words and make the story tighter, better. |