Go ahead...ask me anything!

I haven't done one of these in a really, really long time. It's "Ask a Writer" time! With all my recent news and changes, I thought I'd put it out there for the week. If you have any questions about writing, being published, the publishing industry, my writing, process, path to publication or books specifically, here's your chance. I'll answer anything (within reason :)). GO!

Revisions ARE like brain surgery

I'm deep in edits for book 1 of my paranormal romance series. I mean, DEEP in edits. Some of the changes meant I had to disconnect some of my scenes, change the transitions. When I write, the rhythm of the book is extremely important to me and when I mess with that...I have to ensure I build it back up again so the flow is seamless. It's as if I need to make sure those fine emotional threads aren't thinned out too much throughout, that they hold firm and don't let the external plot overshadow them too much. I know. It's weird. I'm weird, because I love this process. I love to finesse with a book, I love to review words and phrases to see what could be made better and I love getting to spend time with my characters again. And although it's not "hard", revisions really are like fine, delicate, intricate brain surgery LOL.

Oh, and by the way? The book just got bumped to an August release. Yay!! And I hope to actually have a title soon...

Wanna know what an author does when...

...she has sick kids home from school? Whimper. A lot! That didn't help much so I had to find something else, something that allowed me to be somewhat productive. I'm revealing it all here. Well, it's what I do anyway :).

Coming Soon!

Well, Septemberish... The first book in my new series will be out around that time frame and I thought I'd start sharing a little bit about the series and the book. Although not too much 'cause I'm evil like that :).  I don't have a series name yet and the first book's title will also be changing, but I'm currently in edits and I can't wait for it to be out. The first book kicks off a paranormal romance series with an overall story arc about regaining hope, re-establishing trust and loyalty, reclaiming glory and seeking redemption, the themes in each of the books. They're fast paced, action packed and hot. If I do say so myself LOL. The relationship and emotional journey of the characters are still my first and foremost as each book deals with a couple struggling to come to terms with who and what they are and how they fit, especially with each other. Oh, and there are no vamps, weres, dragons, ghosts or angels in sight. This is something a little bit different, but grounded firmly in the contemporary world, which I love so much.

Look forward to sharing more of Seth and Devon with you soon!

Overused Words

Every writer probably has a group of words they tend to overuse in their writing. And that group could be large or small. Me? I seem to use God and f$%k a lot in each of my first drafts. Yeah, interesting combination, right? And then I have what I call "local" overused words, or words that are overused only for a particular book. I blame my characters for it. Totally. When I write, the characters become very real, actually they are real to me. As such, they have specific mannerisms, ways of thinking, moving and talking. I tend to write the book so a phrase or words that are very character specific end up being used a lot. My current manuscript? Nix. I seem to be using that a lot. "he nixed that idea" or "nix that". LOL. It fits with the tough, aggressive, in-your-face feel of my hero, but it's something to watch out for.

I'm always surprised to read a published book and pick up on them because I spend a great deal of time during the editing process to ensure readers wouldn't be aware of this issue. I recently read a book where the heroine's eye color was mentioned so often, it pulled me completely out of the story. The hero was always gazing into her "violet hued eyes". It kinda ruined the mood for me in several scenes.

As a reader, have you ever noticed a book that had overused words or perhaps a phrase? What were they? If you're a writer, what words do you have to watch yourself with :)?

I'm spreading myself around today!!

I haven't been out on blogs a lot lately. I've been, you know, trying to write!!! Today, though I'm at three places and they were all really fun to do. So, where can you find me and what am I gabbing about?

1. Book Junkie - this was a really fun interview. I'm talking about my favorite scene to write from POINT BLANK, my favorite book from a reader perspective and the kind of hero I like. That last one probably won't surprise anyone :). There's more spilling as well!

2. Ju Dimello - Ju has been a long time online friend and I was so thrilled to be able to visit with her. I'm talking about how I got into writing and  I'M GIVING AWAY A BOOK!!

3. Passionate Reads - I'm talking about endearments in romance. I think a lot about this for my stories. What? 'Snookums' doesn't do it for you? How about 'stud muffin'? Come by and share your thoughts about your favorite!

Hope you stop by!

Want to know about my writing process?

I'm over with Micole Black today on her blog.. She asked me some really great questions about my writing process, heroes and advice for aspiring authors. Come by and say hi!

Inspiration. It's a funny thing.

Writers get asked all the time where their ideas come from. At least I do. I've blogged about this a couple of times here and elsewhere, but I thought it would be fun to break down a book and share some specifics of just how ideas and some of the elements end up in books. Let's take my latest, PLAY ME.

The name Gabe - this has been in my 'names I like and would love to use in a book some day' file for a long time. It's one of those names that get mentally tagged when I hear or see it and know it would make a great character. Of course it helps that I think it's just plain masculine and hot for a guy!

Setting - PLAY ME is set in LA. It's not described in detail because it's not really critical to the story, but the beach area and Lily's house is one I used to walk, ride or drive past regularly. I loved living in LA. Of course, I could get to/from work and do all the activities I enjoyed by staying in my neighborhood and off the freeways. Also, living in LA you're constantly aware of the dangers of the city and those 'do not go under any circumstances' areas. It was always a fear of mine that I would take a wrong turn and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, I could have described everything about the setting in minute detail in the book, but it's not important to Gabe and Lily's story. It is important for me though when I write to be able to clearly picture the setting so this is why I often set my books in places I've lived. Luckily, I've lived in many wonderful, interesting and varied places and traveled to many, many more!

Ironing scene - I hate ironing. Actually I don't iron. I'd do anything to avoid it. I'll even not buy an item of clothing if it really does need to be ironed LOL. I have this wrinkle releaser product I use and try and fold everything directly from the dryer. That's how I 'iron'. I get a kick out of a guy ironing. Sorry :). Just me having some fun while I was writing.

Panties Gabe wants Lily to wear - Shhh, don't tell anyone but I have these pair myself LOL.

The 'declaration' scene - I had written this scene, but it just didn't 'feel' right to me. I tweaked it. It still didn't sing. I polished it some more. It was missing something. I was browsing a Victoria's Secret catalogue and BAM I had the element I was looking for for that all important scene. For those who don't know, Victoria's Secret is a large lingerie chain very widespread here in the US. I can't really give any more detail than that about what it was that I saw and used because it's kind of a spoiler, but I had my ending when I finished browsing that catalogue!!

And for the rest? I'm not really sure. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my imagination, I guess. I just hope where ever or however it comes, it doesn't stop anytime soon :)!

The WIP is well underway

I had a little bit of a slow start to this WIP. I had to spend some time getting to know the characters first. For me, if I know who they are, the story flows. I've made great progress on the story this weekend which is unusual. I typically write more "new" words during the week and tweak over the weekend. Yes, I work every day on something writing related :). I also don't have a title for this one yet. Another difference. By now I've usually settled on a title and I'm tying the theme into the book. This one, I'm kinda still waiting for it to hit me. I have to say, I like it when I know there's a surprise in store for me. So...I thought I'd share a couple of quick snippets from the WIP. It's a bit of a mess at the moment, but that's how I write. I call it writing 'all over the book'. I have something sitting in every chapter, every scene. Description, dialogue, scene outlines, it's all in there. Jumbled. I kind of do a mind dump of everything I know is going to happen, roughly in the sequence it'll occur and then when I'm ready, I go back and actually 'write' it. Some scenes are more 'written' currently than others, but I thought I'd pull out a couple of favorite parts of mine so far. I'm really enjoying the sparks that fly between Nash and Lexi! ENJOY!

     “What’s your name?”
     She lifted her chin ever so slightly. “Alexis. My friends call me Lexi. You? You can call me Alexis.”
     Ouch.



      “You tattooed a guy’s name on your ass,” Nash breathed.
      “No. I paid someone else to do it. And it’s not on my ass. It’s on my hip.”
      “Just have to wonder about your judgment.”
      “Yeah? Well my judgment’s been known to suck. I’m here with you aren’t I?”

I'm thinking about posting a snippet from whatever page I'm working on from my WIP each Wednesday on the blog. Good idea? Not?

Ah...January? Where are you?

Did you blink and miss it? I must have. January just flew by for me. Perhaps it was because I took a spur of the moment vacation and the hope that I could settle into a routine again after the madness of the holidays just flew out the window. Anyway, it's a brand new month, I have no trips planned (that I know of yet :)) and I'm ready to sink my teeth into something new. I turned in my latest book yesterday. Sigh and yay!! It required me to lock myself in my writing cave to wrap it up. The waiting and nail biting begins, but what to work on now? There are so many characters vying for my attention. I could pick up Cole's story from PAY UP. When I started to write that book, I hadn't intended to leave an opening for another story, but Cole just became so real. And I have just the woman for him :)! I could go back to an idea I had in January. It did distract me from my book at the time and it's nicely laid out. It's got a hot military guy :). I could browse my ever bulging "ideas" file. There's some great stuff in there. OR I could run with a shiny, new, exciting idea that struck me this morning. Decisions, decisions... So much to write, so little time!

2010...it's a wrap

2010 was an amazing year for me. I became published for one, realizing a dream, even if it was a fairly new one :). I gained a tremendous amount of experience with the craft of writing as well as understanding how the publishing industry works. Sort of LOL. And I made wonderful friends, some I've never even met in person!

So...2010, what did you teach me?

• Writers are just so friendly & supportive towards other writers. It really is an amazing community to be a part of.
• I really can tell people that I write hot & steamy romance and the sky won't fall in. Really :).
• I'm a bit lazy. Yep, I can term it being a perfectionist, I can call it procrastinating, but I have a tendency to be lazy if I can get away with it. There. I said it. The first step is recognizing the problem, right LOL?
• I actually like blogging and social networking. Who would ever have guessed that?
• Publishing is a changing and evolving industry and it doesn't look like that's going to stop anytime soon.
• Marketing and promotion is a bit of a crap shoot. You never really know what works or doesn't. You kinda make the best educated choices you can and hope for the best!
• Sadly, the romance genre is still looked down on by people in the 'literary world' and the public in general, despite the incredible sales figures.
• Writing is hard and it's work and it's solitary. Even though I love it and intellectually I knew it was hard, I think you have to live it to really get that on an emotional and spiritual level. It's not for everyone.
• Being published feels just as amazing as I thought it would.

I haven't firmed up all of my goals for 2011 yet, but thought I'd share the highlights of my thinking for the coming year:

• Read more! My reading has really dropped off lately and I feel like it could have an impact longer term. I'd like to get back to my favorite authors. I've missed them. The good news is that there is a huge backlog waiting for me.
• Attend the RWA Nationals conference in NY, possibly RT and probably RomantiCon. There's nothing quite like networking (aka partying) with other romance authors.
• Turn in 4 - 5 ebooks - hot & steamy contemporaries!!
• Finish 2 category length manuscripts that are in progress.
• Flesh out the outline for my first paranormal series and draft the first book. This story just won't give me any peace, so I have no choice.
• Revamp the look & feel of my website and blog. It's long overdue, right?
• Add new segments on my blog. Stay tuned!
• Query agents.
• Stop dicking around so much on the Internet :).
• Become Twitter Queen. Well, perhaps not queen, but at least use it more effectively. See point above ;).

Happy New Year to everyone!! Wishing you a year filled with good health and happiness and much reading--romance, of course!

I wrote a Novella!

I didn't mean to. I mean, when I thought about my 2010 goals, I wasn't planning to write a novella at the beginning of the year. I was browsing the submission information online for an epub and saw the details on the calls for submission. BAM! An idea just popped into my head. It was simple, short and the whole thing just seemed to outline itself. It wouldn't let go, it was so compelling. So I wrote it. In 7 days. I was amazed at how easily the words flowed, the word count I managed each day and how - exciting it was! I could come up with an idea, outline and write it to completion within 2 weeks! It was a heady feeling. I usually labor through a full ms until I think everything is perfect, but there's a certain freedom that comes in writing a short story compared to a full ms. Plus, I had a 'deadline' to work to. It had to be done and submitted by a certain date so I had to let it go. I don't use a lot of detailed description in my writing. It's not my style. I like action and dialogue to tell the story rather than describing it to the reader. A short story kind of forces you to write this way because you only have so much room to move to introduce the characters, get the reader invested in them, get all the conflict right and tell the story! It was liberating, empowering and wholly satisfying. I'm not sure if it was any good yet, but I think the experience was educational and well - inspirational really to get me through the next full ms I plan to start this month. After this, I definitely think I'll be writing another one - probably sooner rather than later!

How important is 'position' in love scenes?

OK, so I suppose I mean sex scenes. Or love/sex scenes. I tend to put a lot of thought (A LOT) into how and where they 'do it', particularly the 'position'. I mean, is it frenzied and out of control and up against the wall or something tender and sweet and 'I got all night' lovin in a big soft bed? Perhaps it's spur of the moment. Maybe it's a seduction. Possibly they've just met or alternateively they've known each other awhile. Maybe this is the first time they've been together or they could be long term lovers or even friends with benefits. There are endless possibilities and their personalities and prior experience that also comes into play. Should the sex be vanilla, kinky, sweet or playful and how does that translate to 'position'? Or is this not really that important? Is it the emotion and conflict and furtherance of the story for these scenes that is important and the mechanics really secondary? What do you think?

What I've learned so far...

I was thinking today (substitute procrastinating when I should have been writing) about what I have learned so far on my writing journey. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it because I still learn every day, but I have learned a lot. Now, many of these things might be obvious to others and of course I don't profess to be an expert on anything, but thought I would share those that have been my ‘ah-ha’ moments so far:

• There's a hell of a lot of competition out there! There are many wonderful writers in varying stages of their careers all vying to be successful authors in this genre. Oh, boy! There is obvious awareness of those very successful, well known authors but the ranks of the newly published and aspiring have many incredibly talented writers.
• There are a lot of preconceived ideas about readers and writers of romance. BTW, I am not fat, ugly, unmarried or sexually deprived as one moron seemed to think was an accurate description of the women who read romance!
• Romance writers are BIG readers of romance. I’m not sure why this didn’t occur to me before. I transitioned from reader to writer as many have and continue to read. I don’t imagine I’ll ever stop but I've been surprised to learn how prolific some of the writers out there are in terms of reading. Where do they find the time??
• I’m not as crazy as I sometimes think. Other writers hear (their characters) voices too. Thank God for that one.
• Writing contests are not just for winning. I’m a competitive person and will be the first to admit if I enter a competition I aim to win. I’ve found the most value I’ve gotten out of a contest is to have been ripped to shreds in regards to the feedback I’ve received. Bring it on because I am a better writer because of it.
• Twelve months aint nothin in this industry. In fact, it’s a drop in the bucket when you’re talking about trying to get published if you take into account the publisher wait times and turnaround and the schedule to get published if you even manage to get a contract.
• You need a tough skin. If you don't have one, get one. If you can't then you have to learn how to take feedback and criticism in a way that doesn’t send you curling into the fetus position. You’re entering a career where this will never go away.
• Romance writers are some of the nicest people I’ve come across so far. Not nice as in ‘sugary sweet’, but nice in a ‘willing to spend their time, share their expertise and lend their support and encouragement when it’s needed’ way.

 

I'm struggling with ... too much sex

Who would have thought? I've stripped my book down and it really is a bit too much. I went through a recent Blaze novel last night and tried to calculate the 'amount' of sex in the thing. Kinda harder to do than I thought but it was enough to conclude that I better strip, scale back, or simplify a couple of my scenes. God forbid I bore any reader with too much sex! My scenes are hot (at least I think they are) and there are things that are revealed about the characters throughout these scenes (it's not just sex for the sake of it), but I think for a couple of them I should come up with another way to demonstrate them.

So, how do you 'de-sex' a story?

Where did summer go?

I woke this morning to crisp, chilly air and a stiff, downright cold breeze. We shivered, we complained and we realized summer really was gone. OK, so I live in Miami and it dipped into the 60s last night. Even though it is still expected to reach 80 later today it still struck home; summer is over. Yeah, yeah, I know. I probably have limited sympathy from almost everyone out there but when you've been experiencing record temperatures in the 90s for so long, it takes a body awhile to adjust.

I have hopes it will be ideal writing weather because I've hit a flat spot in my book that I need to fix. There's too much sex for one. I may have gotten just a little carried away. Or my characters did. I need to back it up some so that they can learn a little bit more about each other first, but my hero wants to get down and dirty right away. It works for him but I think I need to keep some tension going until a little later in the book. The problem is when it's cold, I think of bed, and when I think of bed... Oh, well, hoping for a productive week where I can do some rearranging to keep the tension building and the conflict ongoing through to my HEA.