How To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice !

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

5. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks,Write 'For M@riju@n@ '

6. Finish All Your sentences with'In Accordance With The Prophecy.'

7. Skip down the hall Rather Than Walk and see how many looks you get.

8. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

9. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go.'

10. Sing Along At The Opera.

11. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.

12. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You have a headache.

13. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

14. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

15. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

I'm partial to #11. What's your favorite insanity?

The Donald Maass Writing the Breakout Novel Workshop

OH MY GOODNESS AM I TIRED!!!

What a workout. If you have an opportunity, take this workshop. He's a great speaker and there will definitely be something you will take home.

If Donald Maass isn't appearing at a workshop near you, get his Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook and do the exercises. There's tons of great stuff in there.

If I had to summarize what I learned, I could do it in 2 words. DIG DEEPER. You may think you've done all you can. This man makes you go further. It's both scary and thrilling.

Now, of course, I'm not writing breakout fiction. I'm writing category romances. Or, as I'm now worried, I'm writing abreviated single titles. ACK! Nothing to do about it now. I've got an editor request. But I'm already bracing myself for the R and thinking about all those changes I can make to turn it into a big book. It has a big book feel in a little package. Of course, the idea of attempting ST is daunting. I don't really read them. Oh, I mean I have read them. But mostly it seems like the BIG GIRLS write them. You know who I mean. The ones everyone raves about. The ones who cut their teeth in category and soared onto New York Times fame. And it's not a cute, perky book. It's dark and filled with hurt and healing. Oh well, no guts, no glory.

So, for tonight, I've decided to go see a movie, then I'm headed home to sleep (I just hope I can--thoughts whirling, you know how it is).

If you wonder why you're not published, here's why

Lynn Raye Harris on Loving Revisions

For those of you who don't know her, Lynn Raye Harris was the Instant Seduction winner. Her prize was her very own editor for a year. Now, before I got any further, let me say, this was a MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT because there were over 600 entries (I was 3 of those) and her winning entry was like WOW! It totally fit the tone of Presents and the writing was great. That being said, it was only a first chapter.

No matter how many contests you enter, final and maybe even win, it is only a small bit of your writing that the judges have to go by. Like a query, these get your foot in the door. The biggest part of the challenge lies in the second half of your novel.

When you read Lynn's blogpost, you will see that she has just turned in her 2nd round of major revisions. She has not sold her book to Harlequin. It is still not to the point where it is ready to be purchased by them. Think about that. If not for winning the IS contest, was the promise of that opening chapter of Lynn's strong enough to survive 2 revision letters? In my experience, I don't think so. There are way too many queries, partials and fulls awaiting an editor's attention.

I don't know about anyone else, but Lynn's post made me go back and take a long, hard look at my WIP.

Have I gone deep enough into my character's emotional issues?

Have they talked about why they're at odds with each other?

Have I built the emotion?

Do they have an emotional connection?

Are they in love or lust?

Are they learning things about each other? (At this point the heroine knows NOTHING about the hero, hasn't asked, he hasn't volunteered and instead of going back and fixing it, I'm going to make it part of their conflict as I go forward.)

Are they rethinking their goals from the beginning of the book?

Are they laughing as well as fighting? (BTW--there is no laughing together in this book to chapter 8.)

See, what's funny to me is there are so many published authors that I don't see doing this. Or is it that they did it for their first book and got lazy?

What about you? Have you dug deep into your story? Or does this seem like way too much work?

Today's goal: Preparing current WIP for Donald Maass' workshop tomorrow.
Yesterday's achievement: Wrote 1000 words in historical (bad girl-I really should be working on the short contemporary that's been requested)
What I'm grateful for: Pam McCutcheon was at Seekerville today demonstrating the value of the Portable Plotting Board. I came up with a version on a spreadsheet for current WIP. Pretty cool stuff.
Quote: "Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time." -Marabel Morgan, The Electric Woman

Tone

What sort of a tone do you write?

Dark?

Humorous?

Sexy?

Do you write in the same tone you like to read? Or do you choose a different style? On your bookshelf, do you read more authors published by one house versus another, or are you all over the board?

Why are your favorite authors your favorites. And don't give me the old, because they write a good story. What about them appeals to you?

I like:

Fresh ideas--I can't imagine being an agent or an editor, frankly, they must weep with joy when something really great crosses their desk.

Quirky secondary characters--These are something I don't do well. Thinking way back, I recall a historical where the heroine's relative rhymed everything. Another one where they spoke in famous quotes. Kim Harrison has a 4 inch pixy that I absolutely love and a hormonally charged female vamp roommate that perpetually poised to pounce. Jim Butcher created an infamous magician's spirit (from the 1500's or so), named Bob, that helps Dresden.

Witty dialog--Nothing like a little humor to lighten a dark book.

Sexual Tension--Stephanie Laurens does this very well.

Dark heroes--Torture them please! Did anyone catch The Mentalist on CBS Tuesday? Mid way through you find out his wife and child were killed by the serial killer he's been pursuing. Five years later, he's still sleeping in the master bedroom where he found them, on a mattress placed on the floor below the killer's smiley face calling card. Great stuff.

How about you? What's a must have for a great read?

Today's Goal: While the fire's hot, keep writing the historical
Yesterday's achievement: 1000 words
What I'm grateful for: I'm attending Donald Maass' workshop this weekend
Quote: "Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long."-Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)

I'm a libra and I don't make decisions well

This photo was shot in India. I think it perfectly illustrates how my mind works. There are always about a hundred thoughts zipping through my brain, twisting, racing, sidetracked, out of control. Warning: What follows is a sense of what I go through on a daily basis.

I really want to get published. I know there are a lot of you out there who want the same thing, but are you obsessed with it? Really obsessed? Do you haunt the internet in search of news or insight? Do you write because you love to or do you have an eye toward the market and a career?

The reason I ask is I've been working on my short contemporary WIP and chewing on what I'd like to do next. I have a pretty strong idea for a fantasy, and I've been noodling an urban fantasy as well. Everybody tells you to write what you love. Well, the truth is, I like to write all kinds of things. My reading intersts range from Romance (Contemporary, Series, Historicals--mostly Regency era) to Fantasy/Sci fi to Mystery, Thrillers (espionage mostly) to current literary works to Horror to YA. I don't read much non-fiction or Women's Fiction, but other than that, I'd say I have some pretty varied tastes.

So, if I have a wide range of things I could write, it seems to make sense that I pick something where the market isn't completely oversaturated. So, I'm back to thinking about historical romance set in the Regency era. Regency is always hot. There seems to be an interest in sexier stories (I can do that). So, yesterday, I brainstormed a series of 4 books, each featuring a widow.

For the first book, I'm resurrecting something I started quite a few years ago and never finished. I got bogged down in the suspense aspect of the story and lost my focus. Now, with all I've learned over the last 2 years, I have a renewed interest in the characters and the story. I'm going to start it in a different place. It's going to have a quirky tone. It's going to be a lot hotter. And I'm going to wrap in elements of a cozy mystery into it. The last item will be the biggest challenge I think. The whole thing works in my head--sort of. It needs more fleshing out, as do the characters.

I'm going to aim to put it into the Golden Heart. Not sure if I'll enter it or not, but I needed a date to shoot for. I don't think it will final. The opening will probably be too rough, but if I can get it finished, then I'll have something different to toss into the publishing ring.

Today's goal: Critiquing for a friend
Yesterday's accomplishment: Finished Ch 8 of WIP (actually, it was done Monday, but I made changes Tuesday and again today. But now, I think it really might be done.
What I'm grateful for: The ability to change gears.
Quote: "Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent." -Scott Adams (1957 - ), Dilbert, 10-26-07

What I did with my weekend

At some point on Thursday my forward progress on my current WIP got derailed. I'm not sure if it was that the regular job was frustrating or because I had parent info night at my daughter's school on Thursday that kept me from working that night or because the scene I'm working on is pivotal and I'm afraid I won't do it justice or if it's how I feel as if I'm not where I'd hoped to be at this point in my writing career.

So, I decided to take a little break and go shopping for new clothes, color my hair, get it cut and have a head shot taken for the New Jersey PYHIAB Conference. Then, I went to my favorite used bookstore (The Book Corner in Woodbury, Minnesota) and stocked up on all the urban fantasy she had. And I spent the rest of the weekend on the couch reading.

What I learned: Wow, there are some really good writers doing urban fantasy. Every book was 1st person. The two I read had a dollop of romance. From what Dawn told me, her readers are sick of Paranormal and wish the publishers would do something else. So, my question is, how long is the paranormal stuff going to stay hot? I think vamps are on their way out. I think shapeshifters have slid in to fill that spot. The two books I read this weekend had witches as heroines. What's next?

Well, playtime is over. Back to the WIP. My goal is to have it done by Saturday, September 27th. That means 1 chapter per day. Not sure that's doable, but we'll see.

Today's goal: Finish chapter 8
Yesterday's accomplishment: Got my headshot done.
What I'm grateful for: Dawn at the Book Corner.
Quote: "If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all." -Anna Quindlen

Tension

I'm working on Chapter 8 (of 12) on my 2nd draft. This is the window in the book where my hero and heroine have stopped fighting (external conflict is a moot point) and they are busy falling in love. I hate this part of the book. It's the dreaded middle where it sags and limps along and all sorts of tender emotions sweep in to change them into better people. Blah, blah blah.

Kidding.

Well, only partially kidding. This is where the book's pacing tends to slow. The characters are more introspective. This is a great place to put backstory. This is where nine times out of ten if I put down the book and am not be intrigued enough to pick it up again, the author has failed to instill enough tension in the scenes that follow the hero and heroine making love for the first time. Sexual tension ebbs.

And if you pay attention, you'll find the longer it takes for the hero and heroine to make love, the more likely there's not enough internal conflict to sustain the book.

Yesterday, I returned the entries I judged for the Finally a Bride contest. This particular contest is interesting because the entries must have finalled in a contes, but not won. With this in mind, I expected a higher quality of writing and I wasn't disappointed.

That being said, I did notice one thing lacking in 3 of the 4 entries. Tension.

In preparation for attending Donald Maass' workshop next weekend, I bought his workbook for Writing the Breakout Novel. I glanced through the workbook last night, paying special attention to the exercises that help increase the book's tension.

Here's one of his exercises: As briefly as possible, write down the novel's overt and outward central conflict or problem. What would make this problem worse? Write down as many reasons as possible. Now, what would make this problem worse yet?
What circumstances would cause the protag to fail to solve the problem?

This exercise will show how the stakes can be raised. If the stakes are raised, can tension be far behind?

I've dug pretty deep into my current WIP. But after reading this exercise, I had to wonder if there was further I could go. The answer is yes.

Here are three pictures that are filled with tension, yet nothing is actually happening. Tension can come from the anticipation of trouble. How can you worry your reader?

Today's goal: work on chapter 8
Yesterday's achievement: I received my preliminary scores from PASIC Book Of Your Heart Contest. I got 34&35 (out of a possible 35).
What I'm grateful for: A huge boost of confidence from above.
Quote: "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value." -
Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)





This one's my favorite.

See the baby giving the huge python a bath. Yikes!

Scenes

Yesterday I got back my entries from the 2008 Maggie Contest for Bound By Duty. This was its first contest and it was in a very early stage of development. I often toss in WIP early on to see if I'm on the right track. I gotta remember in the future, to look for contests that don't require a synopsis. My ending was rough (I'm still not sure how to handle things) and I know I lost points for that.

One of the judges helped me a lot by pointing out that the hero changes in the middle of the scene. Originally the story had a little different plot. The hero was in full pursuit of the heroine and that's what this little scene showed. Later, however, I changed the storyline, making him refuse (mightily) to give into the feelings for the heroine. Unfortunately, because this scene was so yummy, I left original pursuit angle. He comes onto her. For what follows later, this doesn't work. So, I changed the entry into the kiss. She backs him into it, instead of the other way around. What he said, she now says. It syncs up with the storyline and the tone for the rest of the book. Nothing is lost in the scene, in fact, I think it gains some momentum.

Have you ever done that? Switched who says what in a scene to give it a completely different flavor?

Today's goal: Finish chapter 7
Yesterday's accomplishment: Fought with hero and kept him from changing mid book.
What I'm grateful for: Good advice
Quote: "Everything passes. Everything changes. Just do what you think you should do." -Bob Dylan (1941 - ), "To Ramona"

CHARACTER: moral excellence and firmness

Today, I'd like to discuss CHARACTER as defined above from Webster's dictionary. In the R for The Heart of the Negotiation, my heroine's character was one of the reasons citing why the book was rejected. That's understandable. She has some questionable motivation in the book (went to work for our hero in order to spy on his business for his chief rival), and saying that she made her huge mistakes because she wanted to keep her ex-lover's (aka: chief rival mentioned earlier) affections isn't really a good excuse for her behavior.

She knows what she did was wrong. She is forced to make a moral decision in the end, and she chooses to do the "right" thing instead of the "easy" thing. Obviously, I wasn't able to get down on paper what was in my head or I might have pulled off her character arc better.

I knew going in that having a heroine who was on the shady side might cause problems, but I LOVE it when a character does things in the beginning that we might not approve of.

This weekend, I watched an episode of The Closer. Brenda fascinates me because although her intentions are good (put murders behind bars) sometimes she crosses the line and causes damage to others in order to achieve her goals. In this episode, she sends a guilty man (who won't confess his guilt, but we know he's guilty) to county jail under another man's name, knowing that he will be killed. As they marched this evil man away, I was shocked that she did this and that she got away with it. What does that say about her character? Not good things as far as I'm concerned. What does it say about my character that while I'm not sure I could have done what she did, she's become a bit of a hero to me because of what she chose to do?

I find it interesting that in the series line I read most often (Silhouette Desire) that the heroes are allowed to blackmail and take revenge for wrongs done against them. The heroes can lie, compel the heroine into bed, force them into marriage, threaten to take away their child, etc., and no one questions their character. Why is it okay for men to behave badly, but not women?

How about you? Do you prefer your characters squeeky clean? If not, how far are you willing to let them stray from moral excellence and firmness?

Today's goal: Finish chapter 6 of Bending
Yesterday's achievement: Finished judging my FAB entries
What I'm grateful for: Insurance company is not going to total my car. YIIPPEEEE!!!
Quote: "Character is what you have left when you've lost everything you can lose." -Evan Esar (1899 - 1995)

Remembering 911

I stole this image from Janet Reid's blog. It was such a gripping and beautiful rendering of all we loss seven years ago that I simply had to have it here. I'm pretty sure not a week goes by that I don't think about that tragic day. The sadness and anger has a place in my heart that I believe I will always carry. And it's a burden I don't wish to put down.

A wonderful 9/11 book recently published is Touching History by Lynn Spencer. She is a pilot with ExpressJet and spent three years talking to fellow pilots and collecting stories about their experiences in the skies on that tragic day.

And the next day...

Okay, today I received back my partial from the Desire pitch. Diana wasn't interested in seeing more, but she wants to see the full for Bending to Blackmail. Okay, my head is officially spinning.

And later that same day...

Well, I just got the full back from Susan that she's had since December. I've been expecting it back so it's a relief. And so it's on to the next project. I have requests for 3 other books, it's just a matter of which is the strongest.

Cracking the publishing biz is only a matter of time. And persistance.

I'm grinning like a fool

There's no better cure for writer's block than good news! Last night I found out I received a full request on Bound By Duty. The request came from a contest final. Needless to say I'm very excited! And I need to get my ass in gear to get the book finished before the end of the month. Keep an eye on my progress meter to see if I can stay on task.

Today's goal: finish the FAB judging.
Yesterday's accomplishment: I got a request for a full!!!
What I'm grateful for: See above.
Quote: "Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing." -Phil Jackson

Appreciating La Femme Nikita

I recently joined Netflix because I wanted access to old television shows that I can't afford to buy on DVD and new shows that I can't watch because I don't have extended cable. One of the shows I loved, but couldn't watch on a regular basis because I didn't have cable back then, was La Femme Nikita. I had watched enough to get the gist of the show and recall the characters, but I saw no more than 5 episodes per year.

The reason I bring this show up is because of the complexity of the writing. For those who've never seen it or have no idea the gist, the basic premise of the story is that there is a secret government agency that recruits people on death row (scooping them up, then making it appear that they've been put to death) to go on covert missions to keep the country safe. The tension in the show comes from the plight of our heroine who wasn't guilty of the murder she was convicted of, and who is now forced to become a killer for the government or she will be "cancelled." She is the figurehead for "humanity" on the show where the rest of the people appear to be ruthless, killing machines. But are they? Yes. But as cold-hearted as they appear (and it can be pretty scary most of the time), every now and then you see a chink in their armor. Seeing the vulnerability exposed even for a moment is shocking and increases the tension surrounding the rest of what they do.

But it's so subtle. You really have to pay attention to appreciate the nuances of the show. I mean, we think Nikita's partner, Michael, is as cold as he can be, but he's also in love with her (we know this because of the smoldering glances he sends her way sometimes and some of the hints we receive from other characters), but he will manipulate her emotions with a straight face (often in an attempt to save her without appearing to do so) and make you love him and hate him in the same episode.

To give you an idea how subtle this show is. Last night Nikita had to decide whether to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to a new recruit. Thumbs down means the girl is cancelled. We come back to how incredibly sweet Nikita is. She hates all the killing, and has her heart wide open for every hard luck case that crosses her path. She's really conflicted about the girl. She asks her co-workers for their impression of the girl and gets conflicting feedback. So, she goes to Michael for advice. Now, we know Nikita is in love with him (and fighting hard against it) and we know that he's been flirting up a storm with the new girl which drives Nikita crazy. So, of course, she's going to want to think the worst of the girl because Michael's attracted to her. But Nikita doesn't want to be responsible for the girl's death.

What's a secret operative to do?

In the end, she gives the girl a thumbs down (the girl enjoys killing a little too much). And then Nikita finds out that this decision had already been sanctioned, and it was Nikita being tested. If she'd failed, she would have been the one canceled. We conclude the show with a long lingering look between her and Michael across the room. Of course he knew what was going on. Of course he helped sway Nikita against the new recruit by flirting with the girl and making Nikita jealous. But nothing is ever said to this effect. You need to come to your own conclusion.

So, my question to you is: Could this sort of subtlety find its way into one of today's romance books? I don't think it could. I don't think the romance genre can appreciate sexual tension that doesn't involve touching. What do you think?

Today's goal: Start the FAB judging
Yesterday's accomplishment: Started reading Magic Burns (urban fantasy)
What I'm grateful for: Finding inspiration in many places
Quote: "It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety." -Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)

Internal dialog

The voices in my head are missing. Lost. Gone. Most people would probably consider this a good thing. As writers, we know this is hugely frustrating.

My WIP languishes. Flat. Boring. Bits and pieces of scenes, impressions, descriptions. It's like driving toward the horizon, seeing it, but never being able to reach it. It won't last forever. The voices will come back, stronger than ever, but for now, my head is silent.

So, I'm reading. Listening to other people's voices, hoping that mine comes back soon.

What do you do to get the voices back?

Today's goal: 1000 words
Yesterday's achievement: 50 pages read.
What I'm grateful for: It's back to school time.
Quote: "Writers have two main problems. One is writer's block, when the words won't come at all and the other is logorrhea, when the words come so fast that they can hardly get to the wastebasket in time." -Cecilia Bartholomew

Happy Labor Day

I spent mine engaged in no labor at all. I read my current bookclub selection, I watched La Femme Nikita with my daughter and stopped for dinner at McDonalds. Nope, no labor at all.

This weekend I had no internet, no TV and had to borrow a couple of books from my daughter. I gave her The City of Ember and A Wrinkle In Time. Believe it or not, I'd never read the latter (1st published the year of my birth) and so many people rave about it. As a long time fan of fantasy, I can't believe I never read it. Both books are great in different ways.

Last week I listened to an interview with Jim and Shannon Butcher this week, they both citing enjoying books that let them escape into the story without noticing the writing. All the books I read this weekend (no romance at all) let me do just that. The writing seemed so effortless. The stories just flow from one plot point to the next. Do you struggle to get past the writing and just enjoy the book, or is it just me?

How was your weekend? Productive or relaxing?