The Journey Continues

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-11-20T02:30:00.000-08:00

Woof...I missed a few weeks because I've had the 'pleasure' of having to work more hours and, honestly, I've been exhausted! The early morning shifts (anywhere from 5 to 6am) are the hardest because they completely mess up my body clock. Anyway, despite having another this morning, here I am. Thank goodness for the ability to pre-set the post time!!

I'm happy to announce that Arctic Destiny, my paranormal, multicultural novella has been accepted by Ellora's Cave for publication! So, in honor of that, here are the first, unedited, six sentences of that novella. Hope you enjoy it, and please stop by the other wonderful authors on the list at Six Sentence Sunday.

“My God, Finn…”

Her scent was what registered first. A hint of vanilla, mixed with a light floral note that always made him think of sunshine. The sound of her voice only added to the agony, and he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look, to confirm she was just another figment of his imagination.

The others’ constant, almost unintelligible chiding was bad enough. Right now the thought of seeing her, only to lose her again, was more than he could bear.

Reading, reading...loving every minute of it!

2011-11-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

I've been blessed this past year, and one of the many great things that has happened to me is that I've found myself with the time and ability to read more. Time, because I have about an hour's commute three days a week and ability because I have an e-reader I can take with me on the bus! Unfortunately when I'm at home I find myself needed to work and sitting at my computer I feel as though I should be writing, so my e-published reading had diminished. Now, I'm buying more books and discovering a number of books and authors I'm excited about. Not to mention re-discovering favorites from before!

One of those favs is Mina Carter, who I discovered a while back but had sort of lost sight of. I liked her plotting style, character's snarky humour, kick-ass heroines, and just the flow of her work. When I saw she had a release with Samhain Publishing, Reaper, I was all over it like a cheap suit!

I was not disappointed.

It was a short book, but packed with action, heat and great characters. I really like the way she world- and character-builds. She gives enough information for you to understand what's happening without boring the socks off you with every minuscule detail. And, best of all, her heroine is the Reaper...what could be more kick-ass than Death?

I'm not a reviewer, so no rating from me. Just the honest opinion that if you like gritty, sexy reads, you may want to check this one out.

XXX Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-10-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

This week my newest release, What the Mistress Did, came out from Samhain Publishing and I'm really excited. I've had a couple of very nice reviews for it (one here) and am all set to work on the sequel during NaNoWriMo which both scares and excites me. It's been a few years since I participated in National Novel Writing Month and I know it's gonna be a haul. This is the busiest time of year for one of my day jobs (yeah, I have two LOL!) and I'm going to have to push to make it, but it'll be fun and productive, so I'm in. Lady Marianne Gillingham has further adventures to take part in, believe me!

This week, I'm giving you another little snippet of What the Mistress Did, and it's XXX, like most of the book. Hope you enjoy it, and please drop by some of the other participants in this week's Six Sentence Sunday.

Marianne is having an encounter with her lover, David, while his wife Annabelle watches from hiding.

Stepping to the side, I align myself so as to see his profile and tickle the crop over his arse. “Take your cock in your hand,” I command. “Stroke it. But do not spend, or I will send you away immediately.”

David groans but does not hesitate, and as his fingers encircle the engorged flesh, I commence the flogging.

Oh, how the sheer carnality of it fires my blood.

Obsession of the worse kind

2011-10-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

We just moved, yet again, and I just finished cleaning the old apartment. I now remember (as though I ever really forget) why I hate cleaning so much. I become completely obsessed with it. Every little spot must go. Even though I know they are going to paint before the next tenants come in, I was compelled to wipe down the walls in my son's old room because apparently he had to prove ownership every time he entered the room by marking the door and walls with his hands. Oh, and did I mention using scissors to snip out tiny blobs of grease on his carpet? All mothers of skateboarding sons, beware! Invest in an area rug for your sons' rooms. Changing the trucks is messy work!

Anyway, I spent the entire day cleaning, and honestly could have spent another couple of hours on it. Very, very strange, the change that comes over me when I'm cleaning. I'm totally invested in it. I don't think about writing. There's no plotting, day dreaming, nothing but cleaning, and planning what to clean next. I clean things that I don't even think are on the list of things they want cleaned before you leave, and that's a pretty comprehensive list. It was a long, ugly job, and I know it would have gone smoother if I was more inclined to clean that way regularly, but I'd really rather name the dust bunnies than vacuum them up. Besides, it's so much easier cleaning an empty apartment.

The only other time I become that obsessed with anything is when I'm writing, but even that isn't as single-minded. Good thing I only get like that when we're moving--on average once every two years--or I'd have no time for anything else!

Happy Sunday Six!

2011-10-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

LOL! We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and I'm still feeling the effects! Welcome to my little corner of Six Sentence Sunday and please browse the other authors participating today by going to the list here.

Today I'm featuring a snippet from my upcoming erotica release, What the Mistress Did.

Lady Harrington has received a visit from her ex-lover's new wife, who has a--shall we say--a most unusual demand.

Love? How can she mention that word to me, wield it like a sabre to slice away my carefully constructed lies? How dare she expose my pain and shame to the open air, as though remarking on nothing more than the colour of my hair or the style of a dress?

Words of repudiation rise to my lips but find no release. I want to tell her to go, but something holds me back.

Does she know the risk she takes, coming to me, trying to put herself into my hands?

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-10-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, this week has flown by. I was battling the after-effects of a bad cold and fighting with the end of Arctic Destiny, which just wasn't meeting my expectations. I think I have it sorted out now, and hope to have it out the door by the end of the weekend :) In honor of that achievement, I thought I'd share a little more of this story. My CP describes Finn as one of my "tortured" heroes and one way of torturing a man is to show him the love of his life and then make her beyond his reach. I so evil...

Make sure to check out some of the other fabulous offerings through the Six Sentence Sunday website, and have a great week!

There was nothing he wanted more than to surround her, hold her as close as he could and never let her go. The enormity of those feelings, the sheer devastating power of them, made it hard to breathe.

Tasha stirred slightly. “You okay?”

He realized he had wrapped his arms around her, was squeezing far too tightly, and loosened his hold. “How could I not be, having you here like this?”

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-09-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

I have a horrid cold and will spend most of today sleeping, I think. But here is another tidbit from my WIP, now tentatively called Arctic Destiny...Make sure to check out all the other SSS participants, the list is here.

In this scene, my H/h are savoring being back together...

He realized he had wrapped his arms around her, was squeezing far too tightly, and loosened his hold. “How could I not be, having you here like this?”

A soft chuckle greeted his response, as though she didn’t believe he meant what he said. “It does feel good, doesn’t it?”

Good wasn’t how he’d describe it. Words like amazing, beautiful, perfect came to mind, but he didn’t contradict her, just savored the sensations, breathed in her scent as he rubbed his lips along the soft slope of her shoulder.

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-09-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! This week I thought I’d give you a little taste of my short story, Rescue My Heart, which can be found in the Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance anthology, being released on October 11^th. I was so very pleased that a reviewer at Publisher’s Weekly called my story “powerful.” While I don’t usually read reviews, I was glad I clicked through to that one!

I hope you enjoy this snippet and make sure to check out all the other great Sixes posted by the talented authors.

In this scene Beatrix, Duchess of Palisadoes, has been granted her dearest wish, under the very worst of circumstances.

I am lost, as though broken from the tether of my life and floating away—a casualty of a hurricane-force wind. Not even the now-vague memory of Hardwick’s presence can lessen my pleasure at being surrounded by the touch and scent of the two people I love best. Lust is the physical manifestation, the only one I dare express, but my heart sings to have received this one chance to experience their attentions.

Forcing myself to break away is the hardest action I have ever taken, but if I do not I will forget all in their arms, and my plan will go awry.

Pulling back, I look across at Hardwick. His gloating, lascivious stare causes a chill to trickle down my spine.

THE Daisy Harris is in the House!

2011-09-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased to welcome Daisy Harris, who has a new release today--Studenstein. Okay, I don't know about the rest of you but the title alone = #winning, and I can't wait to dive into this one. Daisy promised she'd tell us a little about the world of her "steins" and this is what she had to say about her Love-Bots and their world.

Hi Anya! Thanks so much for having me on the blog. I’ve decided to talk a little bit today about just how I came up with the wild and wacky world of my love-bots.

In the first installment of my Love-Bot series, Lust After Death, I created a new breed of humans—re-aminated corpses who don’t decomposed and can be programmed to behave in any manner the builder desires. My “steins” can be soldiers, industrial workers, lab rats, or sex-slaves. They’re the perfect sub-human creatures, built and used for the whims of man, but with the hope of free-will.

Part of the impetus of this world was the idea of technology interfacing with human consciousness. I live in Seattle, land of gadgets and megabites. My kids routinely tell each other to “pause” things like board games. A term once used for videotapes is now applied to real life—as if our existence were like a film on a screen. That we can either start or pause at our whim.

It wasn’t hard for me to imagine a mind run by computer chips. After all, so much of human communication now takes place with pixels and images. Many of my steins can interface remotely, sending text messages, or even full-on fantasies to another stein’s mind. These communications can be downloaded onto a server, or relayed for future use.

The other aspect of computers I used for my steins is the concept of “original programming.” My steins can be reprogrammed, but most are built with an initial operating system that they just can’t delete (at least without losing all their memories.) One of the biggest challenges facing my steins is whether to accept their original programming or attempt to change it.

Everyone knows how it feels to be “hardwired” with certain behavior. Some things from our youth we can’t seem to shrug off no matter how hard we try. For my steins, the issue of self-determinacy rises to the forefront. Can they be something other than what they were built for? Do they even want to change? And what will they have to give up if they break from their original programming?

Well, I started exploring those questions in Lust After Death, and approached them with a whole different pair of characters and problems in Studenstein. Check out the blurb below!

Thanks Anya! It’s been a blast. J

Blurb:

A man built for sex… A woman who wants more…

Freedom fighter Shani Brown is determined to drag the ungrateful Royce back to her team in Seattle. Despite his denial of mistreatment, she wants to give him a chance at a better life. Due to her horrific past as an unlicensed love-bot, Shani never plans to have sex again. But Royce’s makers punish him remotely with crippling pain. His only escape is to orgasm. Never one to turn her back on a job, Shani soon finds herself servicing him—and soon after, caring for him.

Love-bot Royce Harden wasn’t looking to be rescued, especially not from the San Francisco BDSM club where he was having a perfectly good time. But rescued he was—by a hellcat bent on delivering him to her people. As Royce starts to trust Shani, he begins to dream of freedom. But freedom comes with a price. Royce must face his vanity, his makers, and even the loss of his sexual upgrades if he’s going to be the man Shani deserves.

Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of two by immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn’t sure if she writes erotica. Her paranormal romances start out innocently enough. However, her characters behave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris’s dismay, the sex tends to get completely out of hand.

If you like science-y subplots, fantastical creatures, and red-hot chemistry, you’ll love Daisy Harris. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and at www.thedaisyharris.com.

Blog tour, full steam ahead!

2011-09-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm all over the blogsphere, so come by and visit!

· Amy Ruttan!

· J. Rose Allard!

· Cristal Ryder!

· Michelle Miles!

· Stephanie Julian!

And I'll be doing a giveaway of Beyond Prudence at Michelle's Ye Olde Inkwell! Hope to see you then!

A wonderful surprise!

2011-09-12T04:58:00.000-07:00

There have already been a couple of reviews for Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance but I had to share this one in particular. I was so surprised and squeed like a pre-pubescent girl, but the absolute best feeling was seeing my husband's reaction. If there was ever a doubt in my mind (and there hasn't been) that he is my greatest fan, that would have cured it.

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-09-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Time for Six Sentence Sunday once again and, since this week saw the release of Beyond Prudence, here’s another snippet to whet your appetite! Thanks once more to the ladies of SSS and make sure to drop by and check out the other participants.

“I dream,” he continued, his voice a low rasp of desire, “of you above me, taking me, your hair a curtain between us and the world.”

The air stilled in her throat, her entire body trembling at the thought of having him beneath her, at her mercy.

“Would…?” She paused, licked her suddenly dry lips, and tried once more to speak. “Would you truly like that?”

Will shuddered, nodded, eyes flashing in that special way she’d come to recognize and, in one of the greatest understatements of her entire life, Prudence whispered in return, “I think I would like that too.”

Yeah for release day hangovers!

2011-09-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

Release day for Beyond Prudence was such fun...seeing the book come out, sneaking peeks at Twitter and blogs when the boss wasn't looking, wishing I could be home to do happy dances. Thanks again to Passionate Reads and Lynne Silver for hosting me, and all the Tweeting etc. that ensued.

Tuesday will be better, since I'll be home late morning to do the rounds of all the blogs I'll be visiting. Hope to see you all there! And next Friday I'll have my first blog guest, THE Daisy Harris whose next book, Studenstein, will be released. She'll be here to talk about the world of her steins and give us a sneak peek of the book.

See you all tomorrow for Six Sentence Sunday!

Tripping the blog fantastic

2011-09-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

I’m blogged out, and it’s only Wednesday! On Friday September 9^th, (only two days from now!) Beyond Prudence will be released from Ellora’s Cave! You can read an excerpt here and watch the trailer here. In honor of this wonderful event, I’ll be tripping the blog fantastic between release day and Tuesday, September 13^th. Maybe even beyond! Who knows? Strange things can happen when you enter the blogosphere! I hope you’ll all come to visit at one of the stops, learn a little about me and Prudence, hear how it all came to pass and maybe even win a copy of the book!

On Friday, I return to where it all started, the Passionate Reads blog, with the story of how Beyond Prudence came to be. I’ll also be visiting with Lynne Silver, where I’ll reveal who I’d do if I could have my pick of Steampunk characters.

Next Tuesday, I’m here, there and, oh yeah, everywhere.

· Amy Ruttan! with an exclusive excerpt

· J. Rose Allister! with a recipe

· Cristal Ryder! with another exclusive excerpt

· Michelle Miles! where I answer that wily lady's questions

· Stephanie Julian! where you can find the philosophy according to Prudence et al

And, I’ll be doing a special post at the Uninhibited History blog, run by history geeks Amy Ruttan and me. That poor little blog has been quietly waiting for us to devote some more time to it, and that’s my intention as the summer of crazy comes to a close. The blog tour’s gonna be exhausting…no, not really, since the hard graft is mostly done. It should be fun instead. Hope to see you there! And, for the heck of it, I'll embed the video as well. I love it so!!

Blurb:

The mysterious device in Prudence Hastings’ basement could be the answer to her prayers, if she could just figure out what it is. Needing William Foreman’s help, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to gain it. Even putting aside her dislike of machines and volunteering to test the risqué apparatus he’s developing for the Acolytes of Concupiscence.

Will’s expecting a lightskirt for a test subject and is horrified when he realizes the tempting woman he just debauched is very much a lady. But despite his best intentions, something keeps drawing him back to her, and it isn’t just the thought of discovering the inner workings of her uncle’s last invention. Unlocking their passion is turning out to be a far more pleasurable, if dangerous, job.

Beset by desire, automatons, secrets, an unintelligible maid and the danger of utter ruin should their association become known, Will and Prudence haven’t a chance in hell of remaining unscathed.

Fire up the boiler, open the sluices and take cover. Something’s about to explode…

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-09-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my corner of Six Sentence Sunday! I'm getting to the end of my WIP, tentatively called Arctic Curse (although I think I prefer Arctic Light, and either would work). It's paranormal, set in Manitoba, near the town of Churchill, which is known as the polar bear capital of the world. It's just after midnight here in London, Ontario, and I'm posting this before I go to bed, because later this morning I'm going to my first ever Powwow! I'm very excited, and hope to have some pictures to share.

In this six sentence snippet the heroine, Tasha, is re-learning what it means to have the hero, Finn, back in her life. I hope you enjoy it!

“Shh, sweetheart,” he whispered, his hands trailing slowly over her hips and thighs. “Let me take care of you.”

Shudders chased over her skin and she yearned to cry out again, demand satisfaction, but when he played the game this way it was even more thrilling, so she forced her body to stillness. Yet, even knowing what was happening, the wave of longing his words inspired was still a little shocking. Only with him was she content to let him do whatever he wanted to her body. Only he could demand she be quiescent and passive, tied down and helpless—his love slave—and make her crazy with need.

Tick-tock!

2011-08-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

I didn't participate in Six Sentence Sunday this week, just because I'm desperately trying to finish a sub with an August 31st deadline, as well as put together a couple of blog tours--my first ever. I'll be back next week though, maybe with a snippet from this very WIP!

Anya

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

This week I got the release date for my Steampunk romp, Beyond Prudence, which is now posted on the Ellora's Cave coming soon page, so I thought I'd share a snippet! This week's six gives a hint of poor Will Foreman's state of mind after his first encounter with Prudence Hastings. Please enjoy my offering for Six Sentence Sunday!

Good Lord, his state of undress was the least of his problems.

He’d strapped Viscount Murchbanks’ daughter to an erotic machine, took liberties with her person and then spent all over her. He’d be lucky just to be shot for his temerity. Since the Black Years when so many, rich and poor alike, had perished, the gentry had been even more obsessed with reserving their women for men of like status. If the viscount ever learned that his daughter had been cavorting with a man like him, all hell would break loose.

But it was all that blasted woman’s fault—not that it made the outcome any different.

I MADE IT...!

2011-08-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Through the week, that is, and what a week it was! I put my Dad back on the plane for Florida :(, got my release date for Beyond Prudence (September 9th, o_O!), had scads of family hanging around and just today got a sneak peek at cover goodness, which, unfortunately, I can't share yet! :D
I'm such a tease...
I also have a date to look forward to with my husband tomorrow, so we can celebrate our anniversary. (Love you honey!)
But for now I'm here alone at home (looks around, wide-eyed, and listens to the blissful quiet) working on a little sump'n/sump'n and just enjoying this sensation of being all by myself, which is something I need like a cat needs a human to boss around and haven't had in, oh, about a month!!
So, I'm going back to work, savoring the P&Q and gearing up for the weekend. I'll be putting together a blog tour to promote Beyond Prudence, and posting a snippet for Six Sentence Sunday this week.
I'm so excited!!

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-08-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, the last week has flown by, and here we are, Sunday again. This week I thought I'd give a taste of my up-coming Samhain release, What the Mistress Did written under my erotica pen name, Anya Delvay. This was one of those books that almost wrote itself, and kept surprising me at each turn. I'm a pantser by nature, but recently I've been working with an outline, just so I don't write myself into a corner and have to waste time trying to figure out how to get out of it. With this book, the heroine, Lady Marianne Gillingham, went about her in search for lusty revenge, and took me along for the ride. I hope you enjoy the following, which happen to be the very first six sentences of the book!

Anya

Such a delectable morsel.

Standing in front of the fireplace, fingers knotted into the sides of her skirts, Miss Annabelle Frasier tries to stare me down. The generations of aristocracy in her lineage allow a credible effort, but it isn’t enough. No matter the careful styling of her wig into a powdered coiffure fit for a queen, the width of her panniers or richness of her accoutrements. To me she is a fledgling, sweetly young, trying wings not yet adult enough for the journey attempted.

The sight of her moves and angers me, stirring feelings I never imagined experiencing under such circumstances.

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-08-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

It's time for Six Sentence Sunday again, and I thought I'd continue to give a little taste of how Claire and Xavier's relationship develops in Breaking Free.

Xavier Westbourne would be a gentle lover, she thought, until passion overcame him. Then perhaps the beast dwelling in all men would come alive, taking over and driving him to roughness, releasing him from control, throwing them both towards and over the edge of passionate madness. She licked her parched lips, and was rewarded with a sound emanating from deep in his throat—the sound of the beast stirring. With another shiver, a delicious spasm of expectation suffused her entire body.

“Perhaps I shall, Mr. Westbourne.”

She pitched her voice only high enough to reach him, seeing him exhale, as though he had been holding his breath.

Falling Hard

2011-08-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

I already love my new Kobo e-reader, because now I'm finding time to read even more than usual! But, can I tell you, the best part so far has been reading JK Coi's Falling Hard. I almost missed my stop reading on the bus one morning...
I'm hoping for the next book in the series soon (hint, hint, JK)

Six Sentence Sunday!

2011-07-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

This is my first foray into SSS and I thought I'd start with a snippet from Breaking Free. Hope you enjoy it!

Leaning down towards her, his voice deepened slightly. “I came back for another reason as well.” He paused, brown velvet eyes sharp on her face, poised to catch any nuance of reaction. “Come to the opera with me tonight.”

Temptation in all its finery—resplendent, decadent, and to be resisted. Claire bit her lip to stop from giving in, saw the curve of his lips deepen into a near smile.

I'm over at...

2011-07-30T05:02:00.000-07:00

...the Long and Short Reviews blog party today. They're celebrating for a month and giving away amazing prizes. I'm at the Whipped Cream site, so come on over, and comment for a chance to win!

Birthdays are awesome!

2011-07-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I like to think mine is, anyway. I finally got a Kobo e-reader as a gift from my husband and father! I'm so excited...but does it have to take fifty-billion hours to charge the darn thing??? I wanna play with it!

When I first thought about buying one, I had an hour-long commute and I thought it would be the ideal time to read on an e-reader. Then I switched jobs, and my commute was only about ten minutes. I decided not to bother getting one, since I would be reading mostly at home, and have no problem reading on my computer. Now, I'm back to that hour-long commute again, and can't WAIT to whip out my e-reader on the bus.

What with everything I've had in the works, there are a couple of books in particular on my TBR 'pile' I've been DYING to get a chance to read. One is Falling Hard by J.K. Coi. The other is Incarnate by A.C. Ruttan (who also writes as Amy Ruttan. As A.C.'s critique partner I read Incarnate when it was in its infancy, and really want to read the finished product!

It'll also be cool to load my own books onto my reader and, when I meet up with a romance lover, whip it out to show them!

Yeah, I love me some birthday surprises!

Slowly, I inch my way back in

2011-07-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

My Dad is visiting from Florida and, although he's only been here for a couple of days I think he probably feels a little neglected! I've been working on some blog posts for the wonderful Long and Short Reviews' anniversary party this weekend, and retreated to seclusion to get them done. Poor Pops...I did offer him ice cream, though, the last time I went out to the living room. And he has the Hubster and our eldest for company. I'll make it up to him...promise!

Everyone's invited to the anniversary party, including me. Yeah!

You can find me at the Whipped Cream blog on July 30th, all day (until my daddy takes the T-bird away). Come by and comment on all the posts to be entered to win some great prizes--B&N Nook! WiFi Kindle! Gift cards! Exclamation points!

Wait, no. Those are freely available to anyone not afraid to look overenthusiastic.

Like me...

I'll have some random musings (with me, what else could you expect?) and excerpts from my books, as well as some teasers on upcoming releases.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there *throws confetti*

Full Circle

2011-07-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Life seems to like doubling back on itself.

My grandfather, Walter, would never turn back once he left a place, even if he'd forgotten something. He said it was bad luck. Thankfully, I resisted taking on that particular superstition, since I'm terribly forgetful at times, and I'd have to go out without my keys, or purse, or whatever, if I refused to turn back once I'd left home. I never knew Walter, but I sometimes wonder if he felt the same way about going back to times, issues and lessons learned in the past? Would Grandpa be horribly annoyed if he found himself having to go back once he'd moved on from a particular person, place or thing?

I'm thinking sometimes we need to go back--to revisit old situations, maybe even re-live them--because we didn't get the whole or right lesson the first time around.

Right now I'm watching someone I love go through something I experienced in my own life, and at first it was frustrating--like watching a really bad movie and knowing how it was going to end, because you've seen it before and really didn't want to have to sit through it again. Then I realized it didn't have to end the same way. That person is different. The people around him are different to the ones I had around me at the time. And even if it does pan out in a similar way, maybe he needs to learn, the way I did, just what life is capable of throwing at you.

I also think I never did learn the lesson I was supposed to learn, so I'm learning it now, along with him. I'll let him be my guide, rather than visa versa, since clearly I wouldn't be a very good one.

We'll make it. I have faith in him and, certainly, a great deal more faith in myself than I had before. Together, we'll get through it.

Shake, stir and see what comes out

2011-01-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

What do Steampunk, a modern-day Realtor, a megalomaniacal cat and a tortured Viscount have in common? They're all elements of various stories fighting for my attention! No sooner have I settled in with one tale than another starts clamouring for me to get back to it.

Luckily for me, crit partner Amy comes to the rescue again. Hearing about the Passionate Reads pitch contest, she dared me to enter. I did, with a pitch for my partially completed erotic Steampunk novella, Beyond Prudence. So now, no matter what else I'm tempted to get into, that particular book has to have first dibs on my time. I'm afraid Ellora's Cave editor Grace Bradley will actually be interested, and I won't be ready.

Fear really is a great motivator...

If you have a moment, please do pop by and vote for me! Voting on the pitches opens on January 8th, 2011 and ends on the 15th.

WOOT - Breaking Free Giveaway

2010-07-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

I just got the best email from Vivien Dean, saying she and her writing partner, Pepper Espinoza, are doing a giveaway of Breaking Free at their Jamie Craig LiveJournal site. Vivien says she picked the book because of the cover but hopefully she'll enjoy what's inside it as much LOL! All you have to do it leave a comment to be entered for the giveaway--

And because I can't resist, here's the cover again :-D

Release day!!!

2010-07-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Release day, and I was stuck in the office having to smile and pretend I really, really didn't want to be doing a jig and shouting, "Breaking Free is here!!!!" It's like watching your child graduating College and, with that beautiful cover, graduating summa cum laude. It's on sale now over at Samhain Publishing (excuse me while I scare the heck out the husband, kid and cats with a scream of joy.)

Since I haven't posted it here before, I thought I'd share the trailer for Breaking Free, and let you know I'll be guest blogging next week over at Amy Ruttan's. Speaking of Amy, I want to say "Happy Release Day!" to her for tomorrow, when her novel Enemy Enchantress will be released by Eternal Press.

I hope you enjoy the trailer, and my latest book!

Breakin Free...YEAH!

2010-07-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hooray!
I just got the final copies of Breaking Free!!

I’m so excited that this book is finally going to be released. It was the first erotic romance I ever wrote and, although it’s gone through extensive and repeated re-writes over the last five years, it’s still one of my favourites.

There’s something about Claire I really love. She’s worldly, having seen and done more than many women would ever want to, but still maintains a core of honour and basic goodness. It would be easy for her to become jaded—she has no illusions about the consequences of her past—yet she’s determined not to give in to sadness or regret.

And what’s not to love about Xavier? His past is riddled with sadness, with regret. He’s never experienced love really, yet there is a part of him that knows it exists, even if not for him. How could he resist Claire’s offer of passion—of a chance to experience all the warmth and eroticism she has to give?

I just had to share my excitement and show you my cover, which I think is absolutely gorgeous!

The menagerie of the mind

2010-07-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

I haven’t blogged in a coon’s age, and while there was a part of me wondering why I wanted to start again—add one more item to the to-do list—there was another chomping at the bit. Life has been a whirl of crazy activity the last couple of years, with a couple of moves, a couple of new jobs, and a lot of asking, “What do we do now?”

I’ve swung from depression to elation, determination to confusion, and every other emotion one can think of along the way. There’s nothing like seeing things falling apart around you and having to hang on for dear life to put you through the emotional wringer. The only two constant mental processes tying all of that time together were best described by my friend Amy Ruttan as visits from the Plot Monkeys and Doubt Weasels.

No matter what else was going on my writing was never far from my mind, but how I felt about it depended on which part of the menagerie was visiting. I LOVE hearing the Plot Monkeys chattering and yammering. They always have interesting snippets of ideas, crazy but somehow viable ideas for new stories. When the Plot Monkeys come to town suddenly you know that, despite what you were thinking the second before, there really are a whole host of stories still waiting to be told. They’re fickle beasts, easily distracted, and you have to be careful they don’t clog your head with so many ideas you spend all your time researching and none writing. But if you can latch on to one idea, hold tight and get the story told, you have something to work with.

Unfortunately, after the Plot Monkeys go scampering off to harass some other writer their distant cousins the Doubt Weasels usually move in. These guys are dour, full of doom and gloom. They’re the equivalent of the friend who goes to the amusement park and spends the entire day predicting when and how the equipment will fail while you’re on the rides, and what you’ll sound like as you fall, screaming, to your death.

Sort of takes the joy out of the day...

If I’m lucky the DWs wait until I’m finished the story before slinking in through the door. Even though hearing them gossip and moan about how slim the chances are any publisher will acquire the “drivel” you’ve subbed is demoralizing, by that time the die is cast. If the weasels arrive while I’m still working on the book, there’s a good chance it won’t get finished until I can evict them again. It’s just impossible to get much done with all their Doomsday predictions whispering in my head.

So, with the help of friends, family, chocolate and a couple glasses of wine, the Doubt Weasels must be vanquished before further work can be done. Unfortunately, sometimes then the Plot Monkeys come charging back in. That’s why my “Unfinished Work” folder is bulging with snippets of ideas and half-done stories, and why I’m so grateful and happy to have three books coming out in the second half of 2010.

Take that, Doubt Weasels!

And, in honour of Canada Day, enjoy this video, filmed right here in my home town!

Long Dry Spring into Summer

2009-07-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

I’ve always been the kind of person who tries to keep their mouth shut if I don’t have anything relevant to say, and it’s felt like I’ve had mental amnesia for the last few months, and this blog has truly suffered. If there is anyone out there who, in the past, has followed it, I sincerely apologise.

This is supposed to be a writing blog. I’m not a particularly ‘private’ person...in fact I’d go so far as to say I’m quite capable of telling people far more than they want to know about supposedly private things. However, the journey that brought me to the point where I even WANTED to blog was taken on the road to publication. I didn’t think it fair or particularly wise to share more intimate details of my life in general with the world at large. My life is intertwined with so many other people’s—my husband, children, friends outside of the writing world who have no need or wish for wider publicity—I didn’t, and still don’t, think it would be right.

So what happens when my life outside of writing takes a left at WTFville? I find myself with nothing relevant to say about writing, stop blogging for a while and hunker down, trying to get a handle on it. I even sometimes stop writing, although that is a painful and rather depressing place to be. I take my hat off to the bloggers who always seem to have something interesting to impart. Me? Sometimes I just have to keep my mouth shut, so as not to cross the line into the forbidden territory of sharing stuff no one on the internet really needs to know.

Having said all that, I have to say I’m slowly getting back to a place where writing is at, perhaps not the forefront of life again, but certainly closer to pole position. I have some exciting news I’ll be sharing with my blog readers soon, and next month I’ll be the wrangler for the Samhellion, the Samhain author’s official newsletter. The theme for the month will be History and Research...right up my alley!

So if in the past you’ve been a reader of my blog, and wondered why I fell off the edge of the earth...can I tell you, WTFville is not the kinda place I would wish for anyone to have to visit. It’s too damned easy to get lost going through there, and sometimes feels like you might never get back out. But sometimes, just sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train.

A Hint of Wicked is, well, wicked!

2009-06-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

With all the craziness, I missed my good friend and critique partner, Jennifer Haymore’s release date for her Regency set, A Hint of Wicked.

My bad!

Okay, to be honest, I’ve enjoyed this book from the very first time I saw it as a beta reader, and I’m thrilled beyond words to finally see it in print. I'm also so very happy to see I'm not the only one who appreciates Jennifer's amazing plot and prose. She's garnered some amazing reviews. And yes, you can eat your heart out...I have a signed copy of this gorgeous and enthralling tale in my grubby little hands.

Now I’ll be pestering the author to get the sequel, A Hint of Scandal, finished...
*cracks whip*

How things change!

2009-05-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

So I went to visit my pal, Franny, of ParaNovelGirls and what does she do? She not only feeds me delicious things I shouldn't eat, puts me up for the night, introduces me to her gorgeous family and lets me hear a fox in the wild for the first time (VERY FREAKY when it's at two in the morning, on a full moon night) but when I was leaving she gave me a bag of books.

So what? I hear you ask.

A GARBAGE BAG OF BOOKS.

Yeah, you read right, a garbage bag...

I could see the look on my husband's face when I walked in with it but, bless him, he said nothing. I was on hiatus from writing, and reading is just as good in keeping me mellow (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it).

That bag of books ranged from newer releases to some older stuff, and it's the older stuff that made me realise how things have changed in the last number of years, and also how true it is that you can get away with breaking some of the writing rules.

First I read a couple of old Nora Roberts books, Truly Madly Manhatten (2003) and part of the Donovan Legacy series, Entranced (1992). I'll be the first to admit I haven't read a Queen Nora in a while, although I have read several in the past. What did I learn from those older books? Nora Roberts head-hops- a lot - or used to anyway. But the only reason I noticed is because I'm a writer too. I never gave it a second thought when reading BD BW (Back in the Day, Before Writing). What Nora Regina has is the ability to tell a damned good story, and that reinforces what I've believed for a long time: a great storyteller trumps a great technician every time. I don't think it means I, or any other writer, can get away with sloppy craft. Just that if you have the gift of being able to pull the reader (read editor or agent, first and foremost) completely into the tale, maybe you can get away with some of the writing habits touted as 'verboten.'

Or is it that with so many of us striving for the few publishing spots, publishers/editors/agents can now be extra picky? Hmmm....

Another book I read was Donna Kauffman's The Legend MacKinnon (1999) and the first thing that struck me, as I read the back blurb was, "Why wasn't this a series?" Series seem to be all the rage now. Then I laughed to myself. I'm one of the people who really sees both sides of the issue, even though I don't like this particular trend much. On the one hand it's great for a writer/publisher to have a series of interconnected books coming out at intervals, hopefully with the readers salivating for the next one. On the other hand, what the hell is wrong with a stand-alone book? Sometimes I really just want something I can read all the way through without any unresolved questions. I also think some authors just don't know when to quit and series go on far too long, becoming either predictable or too complex.

And it seems a shame when I hear of a book being rejected by a publishing house because they can't figure how to make it into a series. Not everything should be a series...some books are grand just as they are. (And no...it wasn't one of my books that was rejected that way! Such a cynical world we live in, I thought I'd just say...)

Sure, Ms. Kauffman might have been able to expand the three interconnected stories in The Legend MacKinnon into three books. There was enough plot there, although the timeline would have had to be severely altered. But would it have been as much fun to read? Probably not.

Word Power

2009-05-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

I've been on a self-enforced and necessary break from my keyboard but, like any other addict, I just haven't been able to stay away from loops and feeds. Getting my fix of reviews, commentary and snark just never gets old. People, with all their myriad complexities, are facinating. And scary. The sneaky bitch-assery they do to get their point across blows my mind. The fact that they think they're being clever, even when the true intent shines through like a beacon, makes me chuckle. The overabundance of anger evident in some posts just makes me sad. I definitely don't subscribe to the "If you don't have anything nice to say" school of thought, but I also don't subscribe to the 'let me rip you a new one' school either. For me moderation, or a clearly defined style of snark, work a lot better.

And please note I said 'snark,' not vitriol/rage/destructiveness.

Whether we like it or not, words have power. Whether we like it or not, our opinions are simply that--OUR opinions. Just because I don't believe something to be right, or even true, doesn't mean someone else who holds the opposing opinion is necessarily wrong. I learned that a long time ago, forced into the realisation by circumstances and my wise grandfather's words:

"There are three sides to ever story; yours, mine, and the truth."

And often the truth resides in the gray areas we don't want to inhabit or even examine. In this hard-edged world people seem determined to be the blade, the stabbing point, the bludgeon. Slice, dice, obliterate the "enemy,"; be heard by screaming the loudest, even if what they're screaming is opinion, unsupported by anything other than conviction that they're RIGHT, DAMMIT! Often there is no hesitation, no apparent urge to temper a response, even though it will cause pain, escalate conflict, make someone else feel small or stupid. Debates aren't won that way; they're destroyed, and in the destruction is also lost the chance to listen, to learn and to grow.

Goosebump making diversions

2009-04-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

I write about love...so I thought this was appropriate. Bob knew the true international magic of music, and I can't watch these videos without feeling choked up. The following video is even more poignant. Halle Salassie's words are as timely and important today as they were when he spoke them in front of the UN..."Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and perminently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war..." While I love the whole idea of Playing for Change, I will admit to loving, above all else, Bob's version of 'War'.

Out of the mouths...

2009-04-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have to admit some of the conversations I have with my son could very well be classified as unconventional, and this one ranks right up there with the best of them. First, a little background...my son is fifteen, and quite mature in many respects. He's also a thinker, given to coming out with pronouncements so clear sighted I wonder why he isn't doing better than he is in school! I should also tell you I don't hide what it is I write from him, although he's (obviously) not allowed to read any of it.

So...I'm cruising the blogs and happen to mention to him the growing popularity with m/m romances, many of which are written by women, for women. He looks at me for a long moment, then shrugs. "I can see that," he says, to my surprise. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Well," he replies, "How different is that from all the girl-on-girl stuff men write?"

That blew me away, because honestly I'd never looked at it that way before. But he was right, and looking at it from that angle, it became logical and very understandable.

Then he grinned and added, "Of course, there is one major difference. The stuff you guys write probably has to have a plot."

After I finished laughing and picked myself up off the floor, I decided I wasn't going to make any inquiries into his obvious familiarity with porn...making a fuss would be, I think, rather hypocritical!

My apologies to LOLcatz

2009-04-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist...meet Mo.

Blame it on the gremlins

2009-04-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

After seeing thorough chastisements in all the places where people have been expressing disgust at Amazon's latest stupidity, including being told we're paranoid, spouting off without having the facts, seeing bogies where none exist, etc. the only response from the corporate behemoth is the old saw about all of this being a "glitch" which will be remedied soon.

If we (romance writers, and erotic/GLBT writers in particular) are simply throwing conspiracy theories around, I know which group I'd propose as the power behind this act, just to shit-disturb. Who suffers most from egg on their face when authors like Erastes and Alex Beecroft threaten to challenge the 'tried and true', being put out by the usual suspects, on the best-sellers list?

Unfortunately, that's just my late-night, over-active, insomnia stressed imagination at work...but damn, that would be fun. Disillutioned as I am with the workings of the world, I have to look for my amusement where I can find it...

I'm preparing to be tickled even further tomorrow, as the PR machine at Amazon churns out spin to try and recover from this friendly fire incident. I feel rather sorry for 'Ashlyn D', who replied to Mark Probst's inquiry. Girlie, you're probable gonna get thrown under the bus by management, with a big sign saying "Scapegoat" hanging around your neck.

That's the way of the world...and frankly it sucks.

Crazy people, crazy times

2009-04-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just when you think "civilization" has moved past the blatant bigotry of the past, Amazon makes you realise sheer stupidity and ass-wipe prejudice hasn't died: it was just waiting to find a powerful, fucked-up jackass corporation to lead the charge.

In a move of monumental ridiculousness, Amazon has stripped sales figures and rankings from a wide selection of books they deem to have "adult content." To put it into context, they have decided to to exclude GLBT, erotica and some romance novels from their rankings, which converts into those books not showing up on best seller lists and even on searches done within Amazon. From what I have been able to glean, the main thrust of this book banning exercise is to get all books with any mention of gay, lesbian, transexual or bi-sexual relationships out of the public's view.

To experience the ridiculousness of what they are doing, please visit Meta Writer, for their list of books that have had their sales ranks removed. I'll quote one thing, of the many, that caught my eye in that list. Regarding the stripping of sales rank from The Well of Lonliness by Radclyffe Hall, there was this brief note: "(the only "sex scene" in The Well of Loneliness consists in its entirety of the words "And that night they were not divided.")"

Frankly, no matter how you look at it, it's censorship, pure and simple, with a thick, nasty overcoat of bigotted prejudice.

Sarah, from the Smart Bitches website, has created a new definition for Amazon Rank and it says it all far better than I ever could.

I'm not the combative type, but Amazon is really starting to piss me the hell off. I keep picturing Bezos as The Brain, with the guy who suggested this fuckery as Pinky, saying, "Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?" and Bezos replying, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky--try to take over the world."

Amazon...you're gonna have to go through a bunch of us first.

Not so funny ad rant

2009-04-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Anyone else notice the preponderance of goofy men in television ads? Whether oblivious, stupid or silly, it seems to me there are fewer and fewer “normal” men being portrayed in television advertising. Jackasses abound. One builds a deck in his living room as a way to avoid responding properly to, “Honey, we need to talk,” another is so intent on his hamburger he fails to hear his wife say she wants to try for a fifth child. There is the office yoghurt stealer, the slightly demonic looking red-head who seems pleased to inform his wife they will, indeed, one day have arthritis, and the two dads having the late-night snack, sobbing to each other about crying babies.

I’m getting really annoyed. The numb-nuts who runs into his sliding glass door was bad enough, but this is getting truly aggravating.

I love TV ads. They’re like the cartoon strips of television. My son and I have spent many a happy hour yucking it up over them (poor soul inherited my sense of humour) but I’m finding less and less of them to enjoy. The Ikea ads amuse me. My co-workers had to get used to occasionally hearing me say, “Start the car! Start the car!” at the end of a shift. No matter what I’m doing I can’t help stopping and watching the kitchen ad with the guy raging in the background and the Antonio Banderas-like voice over. Those are funny. The people look normal but not cartoonish. In most other ads the men fall into two categories: the bumbling fool or the too-cool-for-normal-guy-with-buckets-of-money. How f***ing sad is that?

Ads have tropes too, but what are the advertisers trying to say with these doofus ads? “Women, if you’re married to or dating the guy who wears expensive cologne, drinks $40-a-shot liquor, or drives the $40,000.00 car, then good on you. If not, we know you’re married to an idiot—and you are the real brains behind the outfit?” What ever happened to the idea of partnership in marriage and relationships?

Even in the world of romance writing we’ve come to the point (ab-awesome covers notwithstanding) where we realise we need to make our heroes and heroines more accessible to the readers. I wonder if that was the tack advertisers were trying to take...if so, for this viewer anyway, they’ve missed the mark by a mile. There’s enough bashing, both male and female, going on in the world without them jumping on the bandwagon. Funny is one thing, but these ads make men look like a bunch of absolute losers. Its swung so far I can’t even find them amusing anymore—just enraging, and saddening too.

Blog wandering

2009-03-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

Since I've confessed to my growing blog habit, I figured it might be fun to occasionally talk about some of the blogs I find interesting. It's a big ol' blogsphere out there, but that's half the fun of it...

In the blog vein, I discovered a blog called “The Red Brick Store,” where writers of the Mormon faith have banded together to offer advice and support to each other on their writing journeys. First let me say, I don’t belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the way I found this blog is fairly typical of my strange blog wanderings.

A fellow author posted on a loop saying she had just gotten a somewhat unusual review, along with the link to the blog where the review (or perhaps anti-review) was posted. I was curious (what’s new, right?) and went to the blog to check it out.

I was a little surprised by the post, and frankly by the Samhain author and her actions which lead to the post too, but that’s perhaps another story altogether. Sufficed to say, I thought such archaic notions of gender held by the author had gone out with the Ark. Anyway, the end result was that I found the blog refreshing and interesting (although not enough to add to my growing RSS feed list) and, as is my habit, decided to see what other blogs that blogger liked. And that eventually led me to The Red Brick Store, and the reaffirmation of something I’ve long believed—that our differences, one human from the next, simply serve to emphasise our similarities.

At the Red Brick Store they talk about the difficulty of being true to both their religion and also their artistic visions. They elucidate the difficulties of forging a new literary path within the confines of the Mormon culture. Support is offered to each other as they individually struggle to find the time, and give themselves permission to find that time, to write. A post by Lisa Torcasso-Downing called, 'My House is a Mess' made me both smile and want to cry. She could be my secret twin, separated by distance and culture, nurtured into a different reality but my soul-mate by nature and desire and need.

The bloggers at the Red Brick Store are bound by their faith, and while I can’t join with them in that respect, I hope they won’t mind my following along with their journey. It isn’t much different from my own, although driven by different forces, but that’s another tale to be told another time.

My Blog Obsession

2009-03-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

So I finally broke down and started subscribing to feeds because I kept finding all these fascinating blogs I wanted to go back to over and over again. Now, I know many of you are thinking either, “What’s the big deal?” or “Why did you hold off?” and I can’t blame you. It makes sense to subscribe to a feed if you often read the blog, but the reality is I get obsessed with things if I’m not careful. Bad enough to waste time checking my email five-hundred times a day, but to add feeds to the mix? The time wasting possibilities become endless.

Case in point...I started with maybe five feeds I read on a regular basis. Two weeks later, there are thirteen blogs in my list, and a couple more I just haven’t remembered to add. The possibilities just keep expanding. I’ll be posting every now and then on some of the things I’ve discovered during this around-the-world-of-blogs tour.

P.S Reminded of those missing blogs by writing this post, I went back to add them—added one and found another that wasn’t on the original list...I’m a lost cause.

And Amy Ruttan was wondering why I don’t Twitter???

So which are your favourite blogs? I’m open to suggestions. Give me more to waste my time on!

Small rant...really...just a little one

2009-03-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been trying to spend a bit more time cruising the blogs, just to see what people are saying and keep up with industry news and views. It’s also a good way to show support for other writers, although I don’t often comment. Seems to me I should have something interesting or informative to say before saying it, or the post is about something I really relate to. Otherwise I just browse and enjoy the variety of opinions and subjects.

For the most part I’m amused and entertained by what I come across but occasionally I have to stop and wonder about what the person posting was thinking, and it usually has nothing to do with subject. Here’s the thing...

Most of the blogs I read have something to do with writing and many are posted by writers. There’s no excuse then for the typos and poor regard for grammar I occasionally come across. In fact it’s downright silly. And I’m not talking about a single typo or strange sentence construction. That’s not a big deal. No, it’s the “I’m just dashing this off willy-nilly because I feel I should post today” blog entries that aggravate. Even worse when the writer is guest posting on someone else’s blog. Then it goes from silly to downright RUDE.

Come on! Just a little foresight will have any writer with the “who cares?” attitude to blogging giving their heads a shake. Sure, maybe the number of people who know your name as a writer right now are substantially less than you want, but who knows when that will change? Blogs are forever, as those given to making idiots of themselves find out the hard way. There have been a number of blogs shut down after their owners or moderators have committed what turned out to be extreme internet faux pas, but somehow those final crazed posts just don’t seem to go away!

A sloppy posting isn’t the same as a net-tantrum or cyber flounce, but why chance turning a prospective reader off by publishing what can be considered to be an example of your worse work?

Phew!

2009-03-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, one large project out of the way for the time being, and I'm celebrating with a libation and a quiet night, frankly too brain-dead to do much more. There are so many things I've had to put on hold the last few weeks, and so many obligations for the upcoming weeks, I'm beginning to wonder when I'll be able to put in a concentrated stretch of writing.

I'm getting realllllll antsy.

It puts me in mind of Maureen McGowan's blog post on Drunk Writer Talk, when she asked, 'what are you willing to give up?'. Honestly, I'm not sure what I have to give up now, but if I have to find something and excise it from my life to be able to continue writing, so be it! I re-discovered television in all it's varied glory this past week as I was sewing, but will happily go back to my couple of 'must sees' hereafter. Unfortunately I discovered sleep is a must-have...my already suspect brain goes to complete mush without it!

Tomorrow I'm off to the library with the youngster, who needs to do some research, so I'll take my trusty computer and settle in there for a while.

Perhaps it's the advent of spring, or just the right time, but there is a sense of anticipation bubbling inside me, as though something wonderful is just on the horizon. I received my goodie bag from Cassandra Curtis today and the contents seemed to align themselves with this feeling. I got a wonderful Strength talisman (which I'm wearing now, and intend to continue to wear) and a money spell! Hope they both work...

Speaking of the talisman: I got the best compliment ever from my son, who, after hearing what it represented, said he thought Cass picked the perfect one for me. Long may he continue to think of me that way!!

Comfort Food for my soul

2009-03-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Where my husband works there is a small library of books in the employee’s lunch room and the other day he brought home a real treasure: a collection of three of James Herriot’s books. This is a blast from my past. Because of Mr. Herriot’s evocative writing I wanted to be a vet. The life he described seemed like Nirvana to a young animal lover, especially one who grew up in a city and longed for country life. Unfortunately when I finally got a job working in a veterinary clinic I discovered not even James Herriot’s descriptive powers had done justice to the smell. I also discovered an aversion to hurting the animals, which is often necessary to be able to help them.

Still, re-reading these books has been a real treat and reinforced something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. As a writer I have to be aware of my surroundings and engaged with the world. James Herriot didn’t begin writing his books until after more than twenty-five years of being in Yorkshire, yet the stories show a remarkable recall of situations, personalities and details. Without his powers of recall and description those books would have been a dry, perhaps slightly humorous, relation of facts. Instead they are a rich, warm, laugh-out-loud or bring-tears-to-your-eyes recounting of a journey scattered with characters well worth becoming acquainted with. Even after all these years I’m still riveted and the old longing reasserts itself. I want to run off to Yorkshire and become a vet.

Of course, being an unrepentant animal person who has never owned a dog or cat that was anything less than a crazy personality, these books appeal to me on so many different levels. But even if you have no interest in animals at all, they are well worth reading for the characterizations and descriptions of the landscape, people and dialogue.

For me, reading his books is like eating a favourite comfort food—satisfying, uplifting and just plain good.

Taking a Break

2009-03-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

I took a break from my crazy great-coat sewing session yesterday to attend the live chat with artist Kim Reale Johnson, hosted by the Facebook group Red River Writers. Kim paints, and her range of subject matter intrigued me—landscapes, Ukrainian Easter eggs, and interpretations of old photographs—so I went along to listen in on how she developed as an artist. It was a lot of fun just to sit back with a cup of tea and listen to what she had to say. I might even take up her suggestion and experiment with oil painting...although when I’ll have a chance to do that remains a mystery!

That suggestion of Kim’s came when I asked her which of the various media she thought was most forgiving for someone who just wanted to explore their artistic side. I have a few painters in my family, but I can’t count myself in with them. I’m okay with sketching, even did well enough to pass my senior high-school art exam, but realistically fine art isn’t my forte. Not that I don’t love it. On the contrary, I think I love it all too well, and hate the fact that I could never produce what I envisioned each time I started a piece.

Impatience? Yes. Perfectionism? Probably more than a hint of that too. Both really bad attitudes to take into a painting project. I also stayed away from oils, feeling somehow intimidated by them for some reason. Perhaps because they were my grandmother’s medium of choice, or was it that time I got too close to one of my sister’s paintings and got red oil paint on my favourite green-and-white gingham dress? I recall my mother being quite angry about that...Who knows...

Anyway, I think for the time being I’ll stick to writing and sewing, and the occasional craft project. I have the arrival of Kim’s piece to look forward to (I won a beautiful autumn scene she was giving as a gift!) and no time to even scratch my head just now, so it’s all a moot point at the moment. The twin-pack of canvases I have stashed in my garage will go unused, although I'm now forced to wonder if somehow the hand of Fate was in play when I saw them on sale and, without any thought of what I would do with them, bought them!

Death of a Pantser

2009-03-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve always been a pantser—starting with a basic premise, whether a character or situation or dilemma, and just writing. For a long time it worked for me just fine. Yes, on occasion I found myself abandoning a concept partway through because I’d lost interest in the story, or had written myself into a corner, but for the most part it was great.

Recently, however, I’ve begun to think I may have to make a change in my writing habits, and it corresponds, I think, to a change in my way of life.

When I started writing I was working at the mall, in one of those retail jobs that consisted mainly of standing around for a good part of the day doing mindless chores. I also took the bus to and from work. All this waiting, either for the bus, customers or even a hamburger at lunch, gave me ample time to plot the next scene, twist or plot point. By the time I got home, I was ready to sit at the computer and type away.

Well, that’s all changed. I drive to work now, am back to working retail but in a capacity that doesn’t allow for mindless standing around, and have taken on a job sewing re-enactment clothing. I still try to plot mentally as I’m doing other things, but it no longer works the way it used to. The activities I’m involved with now take up too much brain-space. I even had to stop trying to plot when I’m driving since I almost crashed one day, lost in thought, trying to decide which way I wanted to take my latest tale.

I wish I could think the problem lay somewhere else, or could be solved in another way. I’ve always said to my writing buddies that plotting was like writing the story twice and by the time I got to the end of the plotting process I was too bored with the story to try and write it out. Thinking about it though, writing is kind of like knitting a sweater. Sure, you can, if you want, simply start with your wool, a pair of needles and an idea and take it from there. There may be problems if you get halfway through and decide the pattern you created isn’t working out the way you wanted, or you realise you’ve forgotten to shape for an armhole. Then you have to pull it out and redo it, or put it down without finishing.

It’s so much easier to start with a pattern.

Yeah—whatever.

Although logically it sounds like what I need to do, I’m still resisting. It just doesn’t seem natural. I’ll give it a try and see...maybe there’s some happy medium to be found? I’m going to start with my friend and fellow writer Amy Ruttan’s suggestion—write a synopsis first, add some plot points, and THEN write the book...

I’ll let you know how it works out!

Ranting author here

2009-03-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I pick up a book the other day and start to read. It’s a literary novel written by a prominent Canadian author and nominated for a very prestigious literary prize. By the time I finished skimming through it (I couldn’t bring myself to read further than a few chapters in) I was depressed, upset and, yes, a little angry too.

Isn’t it amazing that the literary devices genre writers are constantly criticized for using—the big misunderstanding, great whopping gouts of backstory, the sacrifice of communication for description, etc.—constitute genius in the hands of literary writers?

Firstly let me make it clear—I have no beef with literary novels. There have been a number I thoroughly enjoyed and they remain as keepers on my book shelf. Between their covers I found beauty and clarity of language that made my heart sing. The message transmitted by the worlds those authors carefully constructed was worth hearing, and holding on to. Not all of them were cheerful, or even uplifting. In fact there can be a special kind of emotional pain so intense as to be almost sweeter than any joy imaginable. The moment you are forced to confront your worse fear, your deepest shame, the most tightly held secret in the safety of another’s narrative is worth re-visiting.

Having said all that, I have found the same sense of wonder, joy and emotional satisfaction in genre fiction too. There are sci-fi and fantasy novels, thrillers, mysteries and romances that I will never part with, because the stories found within their covers struck the same types of emotional cords as the above-mentioned literary offerings. A great writer is, IMHO, no less great because he or she chooses to pen a romance or thriller. The ability to take us outside ourselves, make us suspend all tightly held beliefs and simply hang on for the ride, laughing, crying, screaming and, yes, on occasion creaming our panties, is not limited to those “lofty” few who swim in literary waters. In fact, in recent years I’ve found far more genre novels worth keeping than literary.

Just because a book contains a mish-mash of self-consciously overdone (and self-congratulatory) prose and imagery does not, in my eyes, make it a work of genius. If an author feels the need to be so esoteric you have to scramble for a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopaedia (or all three) every two paragraphs or so, then something’s wrong. The object is to keep the reader in the moment, not lead him or her off on an unscheduled tangent.

Likewise it seems strange to me a piece of fiction can be lauded as an emotional tour-de-force, and yet leave me completely and utterly unmoved. I consider myself an author’s dream reader. I am open to everything—willing, no downright eager, to plunge into the world between those covers—anger, pain, joy, lust, heartache, love, hate, WHATEVER...bring it on. Just don’t bore me, or go into such minutiae my mind wanders off to other, more important things, like flossing, or laundry.

And the comments above are aimed at all writers, no matter the genre.

In the end though, what really made me angry is the realization that really good genre novelists will never be offered the kinds of prizes, awards and accolades some of these literary hacks (YES I SAID THAT BAD WORD) are. While the elite few are enjoying their grants and retreats, compliments of governments and snooty endowments, where are the incentives for genre writers? Where the encouragement and offers of help to allow them time to grow and develop? Where the respect?

Funnier yet, when you realise which of these two groups makes the bigger economic impact, selling the most books, creating the bigger cash flow. Genre fiction keeps publishing, even in its mostly archaic state, viable. Genre fiction is, and will continue to be, in the vanguard of the publishing revolution now taking place.

Not all genre fiction is good. Not all literary fiction is either. All I wish is that there was a more of an admission of those facts, and people would stop looking down on very good authors in favour of others, less deserving of the praise just because they are considered "literary".

Wow...just Wow

2009-03-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Having a spin through the internet, I came upon a review of a newly released book. It was, IMHO, a well-balance, well thought out review that went into a great deal more detail than many other reviews do. No, it wasn’t all complimentary. In fact it was decidedly mixed. Instead of leaving well enough alone, the author chose to jump to her own defence.

Wow…just Wow.

Now, all authors repeat after me:
I WILL NOT COMMENT ON BAD REVIEWS.

You can’t be a part of the writing world without someone telling you, overtly or indirectly, that you’re doing something wrong. It’s not only human nature, but a product of the fact we are all different people. Books that I have liked have been horribly panned by reviewers; others I thought were a pile of s**t were lauded to the sky. Reviews are, by their nature, subjective. Besides which, each of us have ready-formed likes, dislikes and pet-aversions. One man’s meat is another’s poison and all that crap. Accepting that will lead to a happier, healthier life and public image.

The author in the case I’m talking about ended up looking like a jackass…

When a reviewer says she/he didn’t like a book we’ve written, or gives a so-so review, what should we do? Best bet, I think, is to get off the internet, turn off your computer. Go for a walk, scream cry and pout if you like, but in the privacy of your own home. This does not include pouting on your blog, which is the equivalent of undressing in your unfenced front yard. Do whatever you need to release the tension—anything but reply! Perhaps a restrained, “Thank you for your review” is appropriate but anything more can only make a bad situation worse.

Believe me, I know the urge to strike back. I know it well, and very, very personally. Even now, writing this post, I have to hold back from giving voice to a rebuttal aimed at a reviewer’s comment concerning something in The Pearl at the Gate. “I can use it as an illustration of how reviewer’s prejudices can unnecessarily colour their comments,” that little must-always-be-right voice whispers in my ear.

Get thee behind me, thou feelings of being unnecessarily put-upon.

I still think that comment was ridiculous. I still want to shout it out to the world and say, ‘Everyone, back me on this. Is this or is this not the most asinine reasoning, ever???’

But I won’t.

Why? Am I chicken-shit?

Maybe…but I also have a well developed sense of self-preservation.

And a louder voice is reminding me that everyone has a right, in my world anyway, to their own opinion.

Very important, that.

Anya Revealed...sort of

2009-02-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

So, the ladies at The Long and Short of It asked if any of the Samhain erotic writers would be interested in being interviewed for their Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Review site, and I said yes. The questions were really fun, and I had a blast answering them, but when I realised they wanted a picture to go with the interview, I was stumped.

I don’t like having pictures taken. My driver’s licence could belong to a hardened criminal, the photo is so bad. My hair is in that in-between stage where there is nothing to be done with it except find ways to con it into believing it can behave. I hate studio portraits even more than candid...

...Okay, I think you get the gist.

Maybe one day I’ll be forced to give in and get a really nice picture taken of myself for publicity purposes. In the meantime, please meet Anya Avatar (top left), who will be standing in for me in any situation where my image is requested or needed. She’s the version of me I like to portray to the world...a little sassy, fun and smiling. Please note the red dress and shoes (it’s my favourite colour despite (or because of?) the fact my mother didn’t much care for it) and the hair that looks sort of stylish instead of just out-of-control!

My son was candid enough to point out I seem to have, um, exaggerated a few attributes (I’ll leave you to guess which) but I stuck my nose in the air and told him that was what artistic license was all about.

Damn these young know-it-alls. I hope I live to see him have a bunch of kids who are just like him!

Diversions

2009-02-22T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well, as you can see from my dearth of blogs, I’ve been like a chicken without a head for the last few weeks! The Evil Day Job is one reason. My sideline of making re-enactment clothing is another. But the biggest problem has been my addiction to reading...

I finished a sub a couple weeks back and sent it off. It usually takes me a few days to move past that and get back to writing, so I decided to indulge in some reading in the meantime. As much as it hurts not to be reading all the time, I rarely pick up a book when I’m writing. Being immersed in someone else’s words/world tends to color my thought patterns and divert me away from my own work.

I didn’t realise just how much I missed the magic of sinking into a good book until I started on my TBR pile. It all began with Steig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a hardcover copy of which I picked up at my local community centre for the grand price of one Canadian dollar. I’d heard of it a while back and wanted to read it, so I couldn’t resist. After all, it was in brand-new condition!

Reading it was bittersweet, because I found out that Steig Larsson died right after he delivered the edited version, and two of the planned sequels, to his publisher. Sounded rather like a lyric from Alanis Morissette’s ‘Ironic’, until I read he was overweight, driven to working 20 hour days and had a 60 cigarette-a-day habit.

The book was intriguing, once I got into the rhythm of his prose. His style is slightly stilted—a little formal—and it took getting used to. I also found his characters a little cold, but was willing and able to put all that aside and just enjoy the book.

So that whet my appetite, and thank goodness I read quickly or nothing—no work, no cooking, no NOTHING—would have gotten done over the past few weeks. I finished my orgy, my gluttonous read-fest, with Greenmantle by Charles de Lint. Can I tell you...if I ever was going to go Fan-girl over anyone, it would be over him? Greenmantle grabbed me, held me, rocked and shook me, and now, having come out on the other side, I’m ready to go back to work. Reading one of his books is, for me, like a day at the spiritual, emotional spa. He’s washed me clean, and I can go forward into life once more.

Phew!

CAPA Winners announced today!

2009-02-14T09:28:00.001-08:00

Yea! It’s the day that The Romance Studio will be announcing the winners of the 2008 Cupid and Psyche Awards. A bunch of the nominees have posted on the CAPA blog site with excerpts of their books. So take a “stroll” over and happy reading!

And once again, good luck to all the nominees...Christine, I'm rooting for yah, babe!

Movie deux

2009-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I said I, who hardly ever watches movies, sat through two in a row. The first I happened on by chance, and watched because there was nothing else on at the time. When I realised the second one, The Wedding Date, was coming on, I warned my husband (for whom no movie is complete without bombs and explosions) he was going to have to find alternative entertainment.

Truthfully, I had seen it before, was eager to see it again, would watch it right now if I knew it was coming on. If I were the buying movie type, I’d own it. Hey, come to think of it, I still might buy it.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a classic. There are no profound messages to be gleaned from the plot. What it is that attracts me (besides that glorious glimpse of Dermot Mulroney’s ass) is the dialogue and the interaction between the characters. Debra Messing captures every nuance of desperate avoidance, every iota of wanting to please everyone all the time. We share her despair at her family circumstances, the love/hate relationship we can only truly experience with those we hold most dear.

And the secrets...think of all the secrets you think you hold, how those secrets would impact your family. Now imagine the only one who actually doesn’t know exactly what is going on is you.

What a horribly lonely place to be.

Some of it was overdone. If my sister were as overtly disgusting as Amy Adam’s character I’m afraid one of us wouldn’t have made it past adolescence. But in making her selfishness and need to be better, prettier, more attractive than her sister so blatant, we are forced to acknowledge one of the many forces that drive family relationships. We even feel sorry for her in the end, when all we wanted was to strangle her initially. There-in lies the subtle genius of the movie.

The less subtle genius of the movie can be found in Dermot Mulroney. Frankly, he could park his slippers under my bed any night. There were a couple times I felt just like the cousin, T.J., when she said, “Oh God, I think I just came.” The man, quite honestly, is HOT! And one of the things I really like about him is that he’s not ‘pretty.’ Brad Pitt is pretty. George Clooney is pretty. You look at them and are immediately aware of just how almost perfect they are. Dermot Mulroney, on the other hand, is a little rough. His features are irregular. He’s shorter than many women would want. But, man, he pushes all the right buttons. Even if I didn’t enjoy the movie for any other reason, I’d watch it for him.

Favourite scene? When he backs her up against the car and makes her feel like the sexiest, most beautiful woman in the world. Keep your eyes on his hands and I dare you not to feel hot and bothered at the end.

Favourite secondary character? T.J. (played by Sarah Parish), who reminds me of a couple of my favourite relatives and has the personality I’ve always secretly wanted.

If you have a taste for romantic comedies this is a good one. Popcorn and a friend to laugh and comment with during the flick will make it perfect.

Journey down Memory Lane

2009-02-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

I’m not a huge movie person. I enjoy them, when I get around to watching them, but it’s not something I will go out of my way to do. Having said that—I recently found myself watching two movies in a row. I had the flu and my brain just couldn’t seem to get into writing gear, so I was flipping around, trying to find something to watch on TV. None of my usual shows were on, nothing seemed interesting, so I ended up watching ‘The Wedding Singer’ with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

Okay, not a keeper, but it was fun. I’m a child of the 80’s, so it was amusing to me to see all the imagery from those days. His band-mate, who dressed like Boy George, was particularly funny to me, since (dare I admit it) we all tried to dress as close to that as we could, some with more success than others! When he began to sing the pre-Emo Emo anthem of my time, ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?’ I sang along.

I also loved the fact that the guy at the airport counter had his hair done a la ‘Flock of Seagulls’. An obvious image, but fun none-the-less.

What I realised at some point along the line was the way I was drawing lines from the past (as portrayed in the movie) to the present. Adam Sandler’s ex-girlfriend, who was willing at the end to ‘get over’ the fact he was a wedding singer instead of a rock star, could have been the inspiration for Bowling for Soup’s ‘1985’. Boy George was Emo before anyone knew what Emo was. Don Johnson and Miami Vice may have faded from popularity but just the sound of the theme song still brings it rushing back to mind...and men in loafers without socks still look unfinished. LOL!

Just another indication that the more things change, the more they stay the same!

The Long and the Short of it

2009-02-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

The guidelines for Historical Undone, the new line of e-shorts offered by Harlequin, states, “If you've always wanted to write for Harlequin Historical, but were daunted by the length, now is your chance to submit something shorter!” Now, far be it for me to take issue with this submission call, but when I first saw this my instinctive reaction was, “Yeah, right”!

Truthfully, the differences between novel and novella writing are, in my humble opinion, huge. And it’s not just all about length either. The inference a writer, especially a novice writer, can and probably will draw from the Harlequin guideline is that writing a shorter piece is a much simpler and easier task than writing a novel.

To quote ‘Q’ from Star Trek TNG, “Au contraire, Mon Capitan!”

I've written both and writing a romance novella may be a faster process, if you are lucky, but it is not simpler or easier. In fact it’s damn hard work, especially if you’ve never done it before or if your first attempts at writing were, as is the case with most of us, full length novels. And if you look at the structures of both novels and novella with an eye to comparison, you can see why.

Both romance novels and novellas are expected to have a beginning, middle and end. There must be a couple brought together by circumstances, kept apart by conflict and, in the tradition format with its obligatory happily-ever-after ending, finally united against all odds. Whatever the setting and background, the writer must draw the reader in, get them to suspend disbelief, allow them to feel they are actually there, in the story, with the characters. The readers must at least sympathize with the heroine, but preferably should understand and completely empathize with her. They should also, in a perfect world, fall in love with the hero. Most importantly, the writer must come up with a great plot and tell a damned good story; one that satisfies the readers at the end.

These things do not change between novels and novellas, but there the similarities end. In the novel, which can have a length of between 65,000 and 120,000 (or more) words, the writer is free to introduce a plethora of secondary character, sub-plots and situations that reveal everything the reader needs to know about the hero and heroine and their circumstances. Entire pages can be devoted to descriptions of the clothing, landscapes, minor characters, events and minutia that bring the surroundings to life. The characters can undergo change gradually, and that change can be precipitated in a variety of ways, including fairly long periods of time away from the main setting. Although rather frowned on nowadays, the writer has time, space and leisure to introduce all the backstory necessary to bring the reader up to date.

Anyone who has made any kind of study of the novel as an art form will tell you there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of ways to express the hero/heroine’s journeys. But each of these methods, tricks if you like, take the one commodity in short supply when writing a novella.

Words

The length of a novella is something much debated, but let’s for our purpose here use the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America definition, which is between 17,500 and 40,000 words. In that number of words, a writer must do everything expected of them as set out above, but without the frills and furbelows with which novels are often adorned. Everything must be pared down, sparse, tightly woven—especially the plot. There is no space for elaborate convolutions, tangents or right angles. The plot must be simple, yet enthralling, and each and every word, situation, circumstance and conversation in the piece must be ruthlessly surveyed to ensure it is not only necessary but essential to that plot. Description must be crafted in as few sentences as possible, yet must also fire the reader’s imagination. Secondary characters are a luxury, and can only be allowed to survive if they too are essential and carry the plot forward in a way nothing or no one else can.

In short, a novella is not a short novel, no matter what the name may imply. It is a totally different beast; one that must be attacked in its own discrete way and that can go horribly wrong if approached with the same mindset needed to write a novel.

Now, to go back to my original point, having gone through the differences in writing a book 65,000 words long and one only, say, half the length.

Harlequin Historical Undone is for short stories between 10,000 and 15,000 words.

That is less than a quarter of the length of a 65,000 word novel, yet the same rules as for novels and novellas apply when it comes to characters, plot and expectations.

Does it seem as simple as it first sounded now?

February, when a woman's fancy turns lightly to free stuff...and chocolate

2009-01-31T18:57:00.000-08:00

For the first time since I moved to the ‘Frozen North’ I’m excited about February! It’s cold out, with huge piles of snow everywhere (we’ve had a near record-breaking six feet of the white stuff already this year!), but things are actually heating up in my writing life. There’s my Valentine’s Freebie, Cupid Be Mine, which will be released through The Samhellion tomorrow, February first. Yes, Freebie--as in do not pay for this short story, or any of the other stories that will be released between now and February 16th! And there’s The Samhellion’s Valentine’s Swag Hunt, now officially underway (note the graphic to the left.) If you’re not participating, you should! Lots of great prizes are on offer. If you haven't already done so, you can subscribe to the Samhellion here.

To top it off, The Romance Studio CAPA’s will be announced on Valentine’s Day. Truthfully, I’m not expecting to win (have you SEEN the authors I’m up against???) but there’s still that little spark of hope, the tiny whisper in the back of my mind saying, “You never know...” LOL! I’ve been around the block too many times to be horribly disappointed if I don’t win, but it’s still exciting. Hopefully anticipation doesn’t kill me in the meantime!

I’ve also just finished a new short, which is a bit experimental and therefore both exhilarating and scary at the same time. Now that I’ve mumbled over it, polishing and primping, it’s time to try and find that baby a home...And, while it goes out into the world, it’s back to work for me. Lots of stuff waiting for me to get back to them, and I’m eager.

Almost as eager as I am for Spring...

And good luck to all the Swag Hunters!!

The Samhellion Newsletter

2009-01-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

For anyone who likes a little free stuff, you should sign up for The Samhellion, the Samhain writer’s newsletter. Every month it contains articles, free short stories, recipes and an interview with one of our host of interesting writers. The Samhellions are a fun group, and the newsletter reflects the diversity that makes Samhain one of the leaders (in my humble opinion, THE leader) in e-publishing.

And this is a great time to sign up for the newsletter. Over the past holiday season subscribers were given access to free shorts from 30 (yes, I said 30!) Samhain writers. The Freebies were so popular, they’re doing it again. In honour of Valentine’s Day there will be another 16 free shorts on offer, one per day, starting January 31st! Since the December holiday shorts are still available also, you’ll have 46 short stories, from sweet to super sexy, to enjoy.

My short, “Cupid Be Mine” will be released on February 1st, 2009, and I hope readers enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

So, what are you waiting for? Go on…sign up! You can do that here

Hurray for Jane

2009-01-27T07:38:00.000-08:00

My name is Anya, and I’m a Jane Austin fan.

There, I’ve said it.

In a world where everyone and their grandmother will jump on any bandwagon rolling by, I’ve kept my adoration of JA close to my chest. There are so many reasons to love her, including her wit and style, her characters and ability to pull you into a time and place so you feel you are there, the laugh-out-loud moments. All of these, and so many others, make her novels worthwhile reads. I read both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility as a teenager. Not even having S&S as one of my final examination books could spoil the pleasure.

I’m also generally speaking, a purist. Movie adaptations generally leave me cold. I’d rather read the book.

HOWEVER...

...Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Need I say more?

There is one particular scene I absolutely adore, and when I get to a point in my career where I can successfully get a moment like that on to paper, I’ll probably run screaming down the street in glee. Hopefully I’ll not have been writing commando at the time.

Scene: In the withdrawing room, at Pemberley. Elizabeth Bennett has just finished playing and singing, and sits at the pianoforte speaking to Mr. Darcy’s sister, Georgiana. Elizabeth compliments Miss Darcy on the fineness of the instrument, and is told it was a gift from her brother; a gift she is quite sure she does not deserve. Elizabeth reassures her on that point, saying she is quite sure if Mr. Darcy deemed her deserving of such a fine present, it must be so, for,
“...as you know, he is never wrong.”

At that moment, Mr. Darcy looks across the room, only to find himself the focus of the two young ladies attention. He freezes, his eyes flicker from one to the other, and in his face can be seen a sensation we all have, at one time or another, felt.

They are obviously talking about him. What are they saying?

You can see his lack of confidence, only marginally tempered by hope.

In the film the moment is fleeting. If you take a sip of your drink you will miss it. To the story itself, it is a major turning point. Darcy is portrayed as all that is proud, a man supremely confident of his place in the world. In that one swift moment, we see the transformation of his character to a humbler place more clearly than any soliloquy could have told.

I love it, and for me there can only be one film Darcy...just watching him walk away from Elizabeth in the garden at Pemberley is enough to make me sigh. Of course, his prior dip in the pond is artistic license at its height, since it doesn’t appear in the book and Jane Austin probably rolled in her grave when they added it in. But even a purist like me can appreciate, greatly, Colin Firth in a wet linen shirt, breeches and riding boots!

(To see a really nice shot of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, entitled “IBM, Ideal Breeding Material” click here.)

Rock On, E-Publishing

2009-01-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

It’s an exciting time to be affiliated with a really good e-publishing firm. The world is changing, and publishing too is in the midst of a massive overhaul. Business as usual just isn’t cutting it anymore, and smart people are actively looking for new ways to publish and deliver books to the people who want them. I may be biased, but to me e-publishing, and companies like Samhain, are not just the wave of the future, they’re the wave of NOW.

I still have to put up with people saying things like, “Soon you’ll really be published,” although I’ve had the pleasure of two releases. It’s just ignorance, so I stifle my annoyance and tell them that I already am published, and leave it at that. Then I read an article like this one, in Time Magazine on-line, and realise irrespective of those views, I’m probably on the right track. Sure, it would be nice to be able to say I have a NY contract with Avon, or Berkley, or one of the traditional publishing houses. But there is a part of me that would rather not deal with issues like massive returns and bogus sales numbers.

Besides, there is news like Lorelei James topping the movers and shakers list at Kindle, which makes us romance writers know the readers are out there, and they’re following the trends. Instead of a book in every hand, how about an “E-reader in Every Hand” campaign?

And for all you readers interested in what the most popular books were at Samhain this past year, the best covers, etc. make sure you join us for the Sammie Awards! It’s gonna be a blast!

Oh Canada...free thyself

2009-01-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

Canada, like most other countries, is a mass of contradictions, but it’s almost schizophrenic when it comes to sex. Years ago, when I still lived in Jamaica, I used to spend a lot of time at Negril during the summer months. For anyone not familiar with the island, Negril is a resort town at the western tip. Nowadays it’s a tourist trap, undistinguishable from any other tourist trap despite the ‘seven miles of white sand beach’ the brochures boast about. Back in the day when my aunt ran a small club and lived in a wooden house on the beach, Negril was quiet, undeveloped, and a haven for pleasure seekers looking for something good to smoke, a little mushroom tea, a place to get wild, or all three.

I saw a lot of getting wild there, and a lot of the people whooping it up were Canadians. I’ll never forget the story of my aunt covering her daughter’s eyes as two elderly French Canadians, having just got off a bus, decided to have at it right on the beach—in broad daylight. Somehow, in the midst of all this letting loose, I got the impression Canadians were pretty liberal.

Privately they are—swinging and swapping and enjoying themselves mightily—but publicly it seems if you don’t really talk about sex, your virginity grows back.

I recently received my copy of February’s Chatelaine, the premier women’s magazine in Canada. Obviously, if somewhat obliquely, aimed at a Valentine’s Day audience, it was full of love and romance, Canadian style. Inside was an article called, ‘Burn after reading’ subtitled ‘Racy reads for cold nights’. Being a book junkie and, of course, an erotic romance writer, I went straight to that page. They listed three books; none by Canadian authors, only one of the books written in this century (two were published in the 1960’s) and one of them, which will remain nameless, I read when I was in my teens and even then found to be lacking in style and substance.
I just shook my head.

There is a plethora of writing talent in Canada, and yes, that includes writers of erotic literature. I’m not saying Chatelaine should have gone off the deep end—I’m sure if they listed some hard-core erotica they would have lost a good half of their subscribers—but I’m also sure with a little research they could have found some suitably subdued, mildly titillating books written by Canadians. Failing that, how about some more written in the 2000’s?

In trying so hard to ignore the fact that Canadians actually have a wild side, this magazine seeks to perpetuate the image of “Canada the Good” and frankly looks quite silly doing it.

(In researching this post, I came across some really interesting sites, including an article at writersblock.ca titled ‘You said Beaver’, a blog post from 2002 outlining the slow but inexorable defrosting of Canadian literature. This, of course, led me to a mass of other sites, but I’ll leave you to do the surfing on your own! Just like with sex, the anticipation and discovery is half the fun...)

And now for something completely different...

2009-01-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

Writer and Vice president of the London Writer’s Society, Kevin Love, recently sent me a link for his latest project http://www.weloveaikido.com/ and I just had to share. The website, with text by Kevin and illustrations by Jon Oaker, is an introduction to Aiki-DOH!-Ka, a somewhat inept although always enthusiastic practitioner of the martial art Aikido. I found it hilarious, perhaps because a few years ago I took Kung-Fu and can totally relate to poor Aiki-DOH!-Ka’s incompetence, and his determination to stick with it.

For those unfamiliar with Aikido, it is a Japanese martial art and the name is sometimes interpreted as ‘The Way of Harmonious Spirit’. Practitioners are called Aikidoka. Aikido concentrates on grappling (rather than kicking or punching) and re-directing force, both to defend against attack and try to minimize damage to the attacker.

That’s the ideal...but perhaps the most famous practitioner of the art is Steven Seagal of movie fame, who certainly didn’t seem to worry too much about not hurting the bad guys. Of course that was only on the screen, so it doesn’t really count. What you might want to do however, if you ever get a chance to watch one of his movies, is take note of the absolute fluidity of Seagal’s movements. Aikido is beautiful when done properly and he knows what he’s doing.

Having done that, go back to http://www.weloveaikido.com/ and the genius of Kevin and Jon’s creation becomes evident. Aiki-DOH!-Ka is the embodiment of each of us who, without great natural talent and knowing we’re probably going to get hurt, put ourselves out there over and over again—and after falling flat on our asses, lie there laughing.

As Kevin said, “If we didn’t laugh at ourselves, life sure would be dull.”

Words to live by indeed...

It's EVERYWHERE!

2009-01-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

While doing a spot of research I came across a website called Game Design Central. The owner of the company, Keith Meyer, has recently released a book entitled, Getting Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design, aimed at helping young designers break into the competitive board game industry. There was a brief excerpt; suggestions for the five things newby designers should avoid saying when drafting introductory emails and cover letters or making telephone contact with game companies. Being nosy, I had to click through to that page. By the time I got to number one of Keith's five phrases I was roaring with laughter. If you take out the industry specific details they were some of the pet peeves literary agents and editors talk about all the time.

With Keith Meyer’s kind approval, here is his list of ‘The 5 Phrases You Should Never Use’, with my comments after each...

5. “This game will be the next Monopoly”

For the writing industry take out Monopoly, put in ‘Twilight’, ‘Outlander’, ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ or any other best-selling book title of your choice. And, according to Keith, because of Monopoly’s scope, this claim is even bigger...more along the lines of ‘Lord of the Rings’ along with its entire franchise, and ‘The Hobbit’ thrown in for good measure. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than have that kind of hit.

4. “This game will sell (or make us) millions”

Keith Meyer says in his notes this shows not only hubris but a decided lack of knowledge of the industry. The chances of everything in the universe being in just the right alignment for a board game to become a runaway best-seller of that magnitude are small and extremely hard (almost impossible) to predict. Sound familiar, writers???

3. How can I be sure you won’t steal my idea?

I’m not even going to comment on this, except—HAHAHAHA--which is what I said when I heard an agent say a writer had asked her the same thing!

2. My game is highly educational.

This, Keith explains, is not a bad thing to say, unless it is untrue. The players having to add the numbers on a pair of die and move the right number of spaces doesn’t mean it teaches math skills! This is analogous to claiming a book is spicy, inspirational, funny, erotic or any other number of descriptors, when it isn’t. Of course educational (which he defines as “working with current curriculum course plans”) is a great deal less subjective and easier to quantify, but research into the line or imprint you’re targeting will usually show what they are looking for. Trying to fit a manuscript (or a board game) into a niche it hasn’t a hope in hell of filling is just plain silly!

And, the number one phrase you shouldn’t use???

Wait for it...

1. “I’ve played it with all my friends and family, and they love it!”

(Anya falls off the couch laughing, unable to continue the post)

The Power of Theme

2009-01-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Strange the things we remember from childhood and teen years. People who can tell me where they were on a particular date back in 1982, or more embarrassingly, where I was, amaze me. I have very few solid memories of my younger life, not because it was particularly horrible or anything like that, but more likely because even then my head was in the clouds. So when a piece of poetry I had first read many years ago recently came to mind I was a little surprised a) that I remembered it and b) where I remembered it from.

My mother was a committed Mills & Boon/Harlequin reader and I would often raid her stash. As a quintessential pack-rat she was in possession of books from way back when. One day I picked up a Mills & Boon from some time back in the ‘60s. I hope the author, should she ever come across this post, will forgive me for neither remembering her name nor the title of the book (although I think it was My Old Love Came). I do, however, remember the story was based on a poem I somehow memorised but had to Google yesterday to find out the writer’s name!

I made another garden, yea,
For my new love;
I left the dead rose where it lay
And set the new above.
Why did the summer not begin?
Why did my heart not haste?
My old love came and walked therein,
And laid the garden waste.

A.W.E. O’Shaughnessy

Who knows why it popped back into my head after, oh, probably twenty-five years. What it did tell me however is how powerful a book’s theme can be. That Mills & Boon is long gone, but the theme, and the poem it’s based on, has lingered in my scatter-brained head all these years. That’s pretty impressive, especially in light of the fact the only other poem I think I can recite on request is Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.

And for anyone wondering, the old love came, but the new (and true) love won out in the end!

BTW, Blogger wouldn't let me use the ampersand between 'Mills' and 'Boon' in the labels. Thought I'd mention it, in hopes no one will fuss me for not using the company's full legal name there!

Corollary

2009-01-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

As a quick corollary to my previous post-

I wrote a short piece a few days ago, went through the gamut of emotions, including the slight depression as I hit 'send' and wished it all the best. But the compulsion to keep looking at it, seeing if there was some way to make it better, lingered. So, giving in, I opened the file one more time, and started to read...

Suddenly the story didn't seem as compelling as before! Don't you wish it was like that in life when you break up with a boyfriend/girlfriend/lover, that as soon as you know it's over, you can look at them and think, "Why was I so into them in the first place?" LOL!

I still love the story, but now I can move on...

One other thing...I just got my icon for being a CAPA nominee. I still can't believe The Pearl at the Gate was nominated and grin everytime I think about it. Here's the icon!

Isn't it bee-oo-ti-ful??? :-)

Obsession

2009-01-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

The relationship I develop with each story I write seems to be almost the same as I would have with a lover. The first rush of “meeting” the characters and the thrill of getting to know them excites me, giving me the impetus to put their adventures down on paper. I think about the story all the time, wondering what’s going to happen next. No matter what else I’m doing the characters, like an absent lover, are constantly on my mind.

Sometimes the relationship seems to falter, and the lover is put aside with the hope that, perhaps when the stars are in proper alignment, the relationship can continue. Sometimes I know it won’t, and there is a sense of loss, of failure, but after the sadness wanes, I move on (faithless hussy!). There can also be a time when I hate the book or novella, usually during prolonged editing or at those moments when I have to fight though a blockage. But that dislike is similar to feeling a lover is being difficult but the relationship is still worth saving, so you persevere.

The worst time for me is when the story is finished, and I know it’s finished. That is, for me, a time of mourning. Even if it is rejected and needs to be re-written, or accepted and has to be re-edited, the moment when I feel I’ve finally captured what I wanted will never come again. I’ve come to recognise this and instead of trying to jolly myself out of it simply accept it, ride it out.

Eventually I hear the call either of a new love or an old one waiting for me to come back, and the excitement, the obsession, builds again. Ahhh, love!

First lesson learned for 2009...

2009-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

...always write your blog post in Word first, so that when the computer goes ca-boom, you'll have it saved!

I usually do, but tonight, having had a good writing day and some really nice soup, I was feeling cocky. Lesson learnt...cocky doesn’t work for me!

The original blog post was better, but now the muse is tugging like the dickens at me and I really want to get back to writing that boiling hot love scene I was building up to. So this post will be shorter...did I hear a sigh of relief??? LOL!

Firstly thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the people who bought The Pearl at the Gate in 2008, and a huge shout-out to the reviewers at The Romance Studio, who nominated it for a CAPA!! I was a little surprised to see it in the Historical category rather than the Erotic Historical one, but hey, I’m just so chuffed they nominated it at all! The full list of nominees can be found here, on their site, so go by and check it out.

That novella really got my writing juices flowing again, so I’m hard at work on some re-writes and other stuff. This will be a year where I concentrate a bit more on promotions and getting out there, so I hope no one gets tired of seeing me around and about. I’m also trying to get the historical blog a group of us were discussing last year up and running. It’s a really exciting group of writers involved and hopefully they’re still interested and we can get going. I find myself drawn more and more to the historical and fantasy side of writing, although I love doing a really hot contemporary on occasion. I think this year I’ll be concentrating more on the historical, but you never know...the muse (in my case an old witch with an evil cackle and not much clothes) will have her way!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. All the very, very best for 2009, and remember—don’t cry for yesterday, for it is already gone, but live today as though tomorrow may never come!

I Join the King's Royal Yorkers

2008-09-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was a banner day for me. At last I donned my shift, pocket, stockings, garters, petticoat, bed jacket, apron and bonnet (Kady stole my fichu to stave of sunburn, or I would have had that on too!) plus a pair of leather buckle shoes to follow the drum!

The King's Royal Yorkers (modern version) is a re-enactment group based on the original regiment of loyalists formed in Canada to fight against the rebels during the American revolution. The gentleman who petitioned to be allowed to form the regiment, Sir John Johnson, lived in the Mohawk Valley in what is now New York State. He was a loyalist, and paid a heavy price for his loyalty to the Crown. Forced to flee his home, he made his way North, into what is now Canada. The rebellious Yankie Doodle Dandies had already pushed north but had been rebuffed, and the loyalist went on the offensive. They were a highly effective fighting force, and played a large part in keeping Canada free from the rebel forces determined to take over the entire North American continent.

This of course is the much shortened version, and doesn't truly begin to explain the hardships, triumphs and eventual defeat of the King's Royal Yorkers. For a comprehensive outline, please visit the King's Royal Yorkers regiment page and have a look at the other pages too. I must state though that the Yorkers were not defeated in battle, but by diplomacy. At the end of the war the Mohawk valley was in Loyalist hands, and they lost their homes via the Treaty of Paris. Canada could and should have been even bigger than it is now...

Hopefully I'll soon have a couple of pictures of the Thornhill Parade to share with you, and this winter I plan to kit myself out completely, including making myself a pair of stays! WOOT! I'll let you know how that turns out!

Be Still My Heart

2008-09-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than reading a phrase or passage that just makes your heart sing?

In need of comfort and inspiration, I turned to a couple of old favourites, the Lady Whistledown anthologies (The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown and Lady Whistledown Strikes Back). Now, with champion writers Julia Quinn, Karen Hawkins, Suzanne Enoch and Mia Ryan, you know you’re in for a treat. The star-crossed (or maybe I should say society-crossed) Regency lovers in these two books are enthralling, which is why the books survived my harsh pre-move purge. (I’m still crying over that loss. Book grief is insidious!) But Suzanne Enoch provided me with a moment that resonated so strongly I had to share. The following lines from The Best of Both Worlds, in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back made me catch my breath, and fall in love:

He smiled slowly, unable to resist running a finger along her cheek. “You are a challenge. And please don’t blame me because a shipload of very stupid men looked at you once and declared you uninteresting. I looked at you twice, and I saw what you are.”

Color crept up her cheeks. “And what is that?”

“Mine.”

OH, MY...

If I were the swooning type, swoon I would. I could picture it, like a scene from a movie, and it moved me to go into my husband’s office and kiss him on the top of his preoccupied head. His grunt of acknowledgement only made me smile.

Now I remember why I read romances, and why I write them. Maybe one day, if I’m good and faithful to the craft, I can give a reader that same feeling. Oh, I hope so, because that’s what it’s all about.

September...already???

2008-09-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

It feels like just last week I was grumbling about the fact that winter wouldn't go away, and suddenly here we are in September again. I noticed a couple of little trees with bright orange leaves and "cut mi eye" (a rude, exaggerated turning away) at them. I actually like Fall, but I'm just not ready for it right now.

There's something very evocative about the end of summer. The fall flowers, with their deeper tones and hardier blooms, seem to be saying, "You have to be tough, as well as decorative, to be at your best at this time of year." They are the last hurrah before everything dies back and Old Man Winter throws his snowy robe around the land. I always get a little more introspective, more contemplative, the cooler the weather gets. I find myself looking into the woodlots and gardens as I drive by, my imagination drawing me in, picturing what it would feel like to run between the trees. Sometimes I pretend I'm being chased, heart pounding, desperate for a place to hide. Other times I'm a part of the woods, a nymph or goddess (usually a goddess...I like the fringe benefits!)

When I feel there isn't another word worth writing left in me, and I'm wrestling with the 'whys' and 'hows' of being an aspiring author, those flights of fancy give me a much needed lift. Inspiration is all around us, thank goodness!

Up, Down and Sideways

2008-08-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

So we moved, arriving in the new town to the strains of Flogging Molly's Irish Drinking Song. Now, we're neither Irish nor heavy drinkers, but somehow, after what felt like months of packing, throwing stuff away, giving stuff away, and still not being able to get everything into the truck, a refrain of "Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight, HEY!" seemed appropriate. A good stiff shot of rum, followed by a knock-down, drag-out brawl seemed in order. But, of course, all we did was unpack, snipe at each other a bit more, and then pass out from sheer exhaustion.

At that point, I hadn't written a word in about three weeks. I get mean when I'm not writing. Bob Marley said "a hungry man is an angry man" and writing is food for my soul, so it stands to reason that I was tetchy.

New town, and the start of a two week visit from my Dad, all in little more than a week. New business for my husband and the job search for me. New school for the fifteen-year-old. The two eldest children, both at the age where they are beginning to build their own lives, decided to stay in the old town. I miss them, and they miss us, especially the nineteen-year-old, who lived with us right up until the move. Frazzled didn't begin to describe the family dynamic.

Two rejections on novellas...a sub where I forgot to use my email letterhead, and didn't send proper contact information. I felt like a dweeb, and couldn't help wondering if it were all over. How, I wondered, do you build a writing career if you aren't writing and can't get an acceptance and can't even remember the basics, like sending your address on a submission?

LOL! Enough wallowing! I love my new town. The rejections weren't the "You suck, go away" types. They were the "I want to see these again if you want to expand and rewrite" types, leaving the door open. I re-sent the sub, knowing it wasn't the best possible first impression, but hey, I'm human, ain't I? But, best of all, I'm writing again, and the ideas are flowing again, and projects I've put aside are clamoring to be finished again. The sun is shining and one of my best friends in the world lives right next door. The house, at this particular instance, is quiet.

What more could I ask for...

Holy Hot Reviews Batgirl!

2008-08-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Pearl at the Gate continues to surprise and delight me with the reception it's receiving. As well as the great reviews at MBaM and from Mrs. Giggles mentioned in my previous post, it also got two more wonderful reviews; a 5 Heart (!) one from The Romance Studio (read the review here) and a 4.5 Star from Manic Readers (read that review here).

I take my hat off to all reviewers. On the surface, as a voracious reader, I think it would be a great job. Under that though is a sea of difficulties. The number of books released each week is daunting; every writer wants a review, and wants it NOW; and each writer hopes above all to get a positive review, which can't always happen. Reviewers are people too, with their own tastes and preferences, and what they offer the public are their honest opinions.

Adding to the problem is the fact that writers also are people too, who get their feelings hurt when someone doesn't love their "baby." I know a positive review with even one caveat can make me feel like I'm under attack...fragile ego indeed! I'm forced to give my head a shake and remind myself everyone has a right to their opinion and, indeed, I would fight to the death to support that right. Get over it, and move on. Like Tom Hanks said, "Crying? Is she crying? There's no crying in baseball!" He may as well have been talking about writing. This business is not for sissies.

But every now and then a good crying jag can really clear the head!

Pearl at the Gate: the little novella that could...

2008-07-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! When the Pearl at the Gate was released from Samhain Publishing on June 24th, I have to confess I was worried. My Editor, Laurie, had classified it as erotica, rather than an erotic romance, and I had just seen a discussion on the Samhain Cafe loop where some of the ladies said they had no interest in erotica, because of a lack of plot and emotion. I was gutted...First and foremost I see myself as a romance writer. Emotion is central to everything I write. Seemed to me, from that conversation on the loop, there were a bunch of people who wouldn't even give Pearl a chance because of the tag, 'erotica'.

Well, imagine my shock and intense pleasure when I saw two wonderful reader reviews at My Bookstore and More, got an 85 out of 100 from Mrs. Giggles, who makes no bones about her dislike of novellas in general (too short, with usually not enough character development, from what I gather) and saw Pearl rocket up the Top Ten Best seller's list, all the way to number 4!!

Okay, Laurie, I confess...you are an Editing Goddess. Remind me not to doubt you again!

The dreaded back story

2008-06-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I started reading The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, while simultaneously re-reading Sense and Sensibility, and it struck me...both books start with a positive plethora of back-story. Jane Austin makes sure we know the set-up of the family long before she gets to the present situation and their move to a new location. Anne Rice could be said to intersperse the present between long chapters purely concerned with the past. And, you know what? I didn't have the urge to flip through or jump ahead. Not one thought of, "Oh, good grief, just get on with it, will you?"

So, that left me sitting there, wondering...what's all the fuss about with back-story? Judges in competitions and critique partners are always saying, 'too much back-story' even when you try to pare it down to the minimum. I've been guilty of that myself, telling my own crit partners to cut back on the back-story and scatter the pertinent bits around the rest of the story as needed. We've been brainwashed into believing back story=bad and terse present action =good. But the truth is that sometimes back story works, sometimes it doesn't.

As writers we try to find a host of ways to sneak the history of the characters into the beginning of the story, feeling the reader will be lost without it. We introduce key players and then have them go through the kind of mental introspective most of us only have at times of great loss or upheaval. That can grate, especially if the present action is abruptly cut by four pages of what the character was like from age zero on. Worse if they somehow find the time to do all of this in the equivalent of a nano-second. Or sometimes we start the story far in the past with a prologue, then cut to the present. I sometimes like that (and confess to using it on occasion) but the trick is to make sure the prologue is the actual start of the story, and chapter one the continuation. Often the prologue consists of information the writer really could have put in later, and in doing so upped the tension to boot.

In some cases the reader would be completely at sea without some back story, and we need to give them a foundation to stand on as we build the tale for them. There are types of characters who simply scream for a real introduction, because there would be few chances to elaborate on them later. Loners and taciturn people come to mind, since one of the most effective ways of introducing back story later is in conversation with others. In other cases, we really could just make the effort to find places and situations that allow us to bring the past in to the present.

I guess it's all a matter of what will work for the story but there's one more perspective to take into consideration. Unless you plan to self publish, you need to produce what will attract the attention of publishers and I've always maintained that I, as a new and aspiring writer, can't expect to get away what Anne Rice or Jane Austin can. If culling back story and re-working the book will get me the sale, then that's what I need to do. As long as my voice still comes through and I'm not cranking out homogenized, boring stories, I'm fine with it. When I'm as popular as Anne and Jane, I can more blatantly break the rules!

I'm baaack

2008-06-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well, that was a heck of a hiatus! I've been slogging away at work and on a couple of subs, plus getting ready to move from one town to another. Blogging fell by the wayside for a while, but I'm finally coming out of the fog.

I'm very excited that my next novella, The Pearl at the Gate, will be released on June 24, 2008 again from Samhain Publishing. It's the story of Roake Barbenoir, who has everything a man could possibly want, wealth, social status, and the perfect Regency wife, Jenesta. The daughter of a Viscount, Jenesta is all he could hope for in a helpmeet, calm, capable and innocent. Yet Roake longs to shatter the very characteristics that first attracted him to her. In his dreams he is her demon lover, taking her to heights of passion he knows could frighten and repulse the gently raised Jenesta. He will do anything to protect her tender sensibilities.

With one act of defiance, Jenesta shatters Roake's resolution, discovers passion beyond her wildest imagining and risks losing the very thing she craves - Roake's love.

This is a very HOT, very explicit story, not for the faint of heart. Maybe one day I'll write something I can send my old Auntie as a gift...but this ain't it. See the new cover and read an excerpt at the Coming Soon page on the Samhain Publishing site.

Happy reading!

Slow down, I'm getting dizzy!

2008-03-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

It’s a very exciting time for me, on a number of fronts. As I mentioned in a previous post, Samhain Publishing graciously offered me a second contract and a tentatively early release date. I won’t say what that date is, because it can still change, but I really, really appreciate the faith they’re showing in my work, and the professional way they conduct business.

Knowing that they hope to slot me into the release line-up fairly quickly, they promptly sent me all the paperwork necessary to get the ball rolling. That included the first edits, which I just as promptly did and returned. Hey, if my editor, Laurie, is willing to make the effort, how much more willing should I be?

Working with Laurie has been great. Having never had more than magazine and trade articles published, I was dreading edits on my first novella. Magazine edits can be brutal. There is a finite amount of space magazine editors have to work with. Even when they give you a word count, and you stick to it, the piece can still be cut to accommodate photos or side bars. I like logic in my writing—point A leads to Point B, which leads to Point C, and so on. When my editor cut chunks out of my pieces, it also cut the thread of the story in places; and left me feeling it was no longer really my work.

Not so with Night of the Cereus. Laurie sent the manuscript to me with her comments and suggestions, and asked that I accept or reject them. If I wanted to reject them, she asked that I let her know why. That wasn’t the end of it. Instead, that was the beginning of the dialogue. There’s something so satisfying about being able to give an opinion and find out it’s been listened to and even if it isn’t taken on board, you’ve been told why.

I also appreciated Laurie not trying to put words in my mouth, so to speak. If she felt there was something missing, she would say so, perhaps even going so far as to explain what she wanted, but I was given the option as to how to fix it. I can’t speak to how other editors work, but to me this is ideal. I don’t know how I would like getting a manuscript back with new sentences stuck in, instead being asked to make the change. Everyone has a distinctive voice and even one sentence in someone else’s could conceivably stand out like a hooker in a monastery.

So, my second release is in the works, and I have a few more projects on the go. Life is one big rollercoaster at the moment, but at least this is a long weekend. Hopefully that will allow me a nice whack of writing time. So many stories, so little time! Happy Easter all, and Journey On!

All love should be like this...

2008-03-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I promised myself to stick to subjects more or less to do with writing. After all, I'm no movie star or international woman of mystery. My life is pretty prosaic in the grand scheme of things. I'm breaking that rule today, just because my heart is so full there is nothing else I could blog about this week.

I lost a very dear member of my family this week, my beloved dog, Skipper. To many people this might sound silly...after all, he was just a dog. Yet, he wasn't 'just a dog.' Skipper was a personality. He disliked most men, although he adored my husband and son. He was a great athlete, could run like the wind and jump higher than any other dog I've ever owned. He was a coward and was known to pee if frightened badly enough, but he was a loud coward, so he served his purpose in the watch-dog department. Skipper was an international traveller, having left Jamaica with us to settle in Canada, My husband forgot that many civil servants leave their sense of humour at home, and told the customs officer at the airport Skipper was a "Jamaican Bush Dog," and to date he has the distinction of being the only official member of the breed.

Yet, there was so much more. Skipper was a happy dog. He almost always had a smile on his face and his tail was always wagging, often in what we called 'helicoptor mode'; going around in circles and almost blinding the cats. He was the kind of dog who sensed when you weren't at your best and came to rest his head on your lap. He greeted us at the door, leaping straight up in the air so you could see almost his entire body through the glass at the top. You knew if anyone stirred in the house by the sound of his tail beating a tattoo on the floor or wall. He could charm food out of anyone except me...most of the time. Sometimes those liquid brown eyes were truly irresistible.

My daughter summed it up best. She was away when the decision was made that we could no longer be selfish and hold on to him, when he was obviously so ill and in such pain. When her father told her what had happened she said we made the right choice because, "he was so sad, and he was never sad, ever," before he got ill.

He was never sad, ever. What a wonderful epitaph. All love should be as happy, forgiving and selfless as that which he gave to us. We miss the love and the joy he brought to our lives and always will.

Uni-sex Erotic Romance

2008-03-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

A friend suggested I do an article about why men should read erotic romances; or why men would or do read them. Really now—if men read erotic romances, I’m willing to wager it has more to do with the erotic and a lot less to do with the romance! To me, it was a no-brainer. There’s sex in them there books, and most men do so love sex. And if they’re not actively looking to have it, they’re probably quite happy to be reading about it.

It actually brought a very interesting fact to light though; one that bears some thinking about in my own life. When I wrote my first book, my loving Hubster read it from beginning to end. He made constructive and useful comments and suggestions concerning plot, characterizations and structure. Even now, with that book shelved, awaiting a possible (complete) overhaul, he still talks about it and asks when I plan to go back to trying to get it published. He honestly seems to love that book. That book was a historical romance, with no overt sex involved…

When I made the shift to writing erotic romances, my husband’s style of editing underwent a dramatic change. He no longer offered constructive criticism on anything, except the sex scenes. I would ask him if he thought a characterization in the story rang true, or if a plot twist was surprising enough, and his response would be a blank stare, accompanied by a bewildered, "Huh?" This was usually swiftly followed by a lewd and lascivious suggestion involving my need for additional research and his availability to be my guinea pig.

That’s when I realised he wasn’t actually reading the stories, he was simply skimming from one sex scene to the next…

So, to respond to my friend’s contention that men should read erotic romances, unfortunately in my house the opposite is happening. My Hubster hardly gets a chance to read my work anymore, because, damn it, I need constructive criticism, not a roll in the hay, which all I’ll get from him.

So, if he wants to read erotic romances, even mine, he’s gonna have to buy them like everybody else! Mind you, I may slip him one every now and then. After all, a writer really shouldn't neglect her research...

What’s going on with Anya?

2008-02-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Besides the usual crazy round of work, family, nursing the dog (my baby’s not well, and is now officially the most spoiled dog in North America), here’s the latest…

Night of the Cereus excerpt now on-line
I’m so happy to see the excerpt for Night of the Cereus up on-line. I guess for more established writers it isn’t that big a deal, but for me it seems HUGE. Reading my own words on the Samhain Publishing web site makes it all suddenly official.

Exciting News!
I’m so excited…I just got offered a contract from Samhain for another novella! I won’t say anything else just yet, except that it’s historical, a little dark, and very, very hot! Stay tuned for news on the release date.

Plans
Well, I’m going to set up a couple of writer’s bios pages on the internet, and I’ll be interviewed in March by Amy Ruttan for Six Degrees of Sexy. That’ll be a hoot! I’m trying to carve out specific times to interact more on the internet, but it seems to me that the times I can go online, there isn’t a heck of a lot going on! I don’t think my boss would appreciate my using his time to further my writing aspirations…

What I’m working on…
Torn between two lovers…(picture me singing. Actually, please don’t. I couldn’t carry a tune even if you gave it to me in a paper bag!) Right now I have two projects that I’m working on, and one simmering in the back of my mind, fighting to be put down on paper. That third one is the spoiler. It’s jumping up and down, waving its arms in the air, shrieking and hollering. I have a sneaky suspicion it might win and get some air time this weekend. I’m also doing an editing job for a friend, and have a crit job patiently waiting in line too. After my brief hiatus between November and January, it’s nice to feel pleasantly overworked in the writing department.

What I’m Reading
Last night I rushed home to buy Shifting Passions by Xakara, and then devoured it in one sitting. It was amazing. Great characterizations, motivations, and sex. I just wish it had been longer! I’m still promising to get back to The Kite Runner, but honestly, when I’m writing, it takes precedence over my monster TBR pile.

And that’s about that. Talk to you again soon!

Journeys Through Seduction--Night of the Cereus

2008-02-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Life’s a trip: sometimes down a dirt road that seems to lead nowhere; other times down the yellow brick road to Oz, with our heart’s desire at the end. Of course, with cosmic irony in play, the dirt road often leads to Oz, and those yellow bricks take us nowhere but around in circles.

How can we tell the difference?

Usually we can’t, especially when we’re concentrating on simply putting one foot in front of the other. Or blithely skipping along, sniffing the poppies and not keeping an eye out for the open manhole covers! But that unpredictability gives life a certain flavour, whether bitter or sweet, that would be lacking if we could see the future. It holds true for work, play, school, every facet of our daily existence, especially relationships. Today’s ecstasy can be tomorrow’s heartbreak; last month’s knock-down, drag-out, argument can be the breakthrough leading to understanding, compromise, and growth.

In many of my stories the characters believe they have found their own personal truths and are set on a specific path. This is who and what they are—take it, or leave it. Decisions are made based on the knowledge they possess of themselves and the world around them. But life is a journey taken into the fog of the future, usually without even a glimmer of illumination, and when paths cross and personalities collide, anything is possible. Throw in sexual tension, seduction and surrender, and sometimes the explosion is enough to spread light for years to come.

In Night of the Cereus, Marcus and Melanie truly think they have it all together. He’s finally taking the next step as an artist; she’s content with the life she’s created for herself. Neither feels pressure to be in a relationship and, if they were, neither would logically choose the other. In fact, at the beginning of the book, Mel would rather be boiled in oil than get involved with an artist. Then, when they admit the attraction and decide to do something about it, each believes it’s only about sex.

Of course it isn’t. Instead it’s the beginning of a journey that starts with sexual seduction and leads them into the uncharted territory of each other’s heart.

And what a journey that turns out to be!

Night of the Cereus will be released on March 25, 2008, by Samhain Publishing and you can view the blurb (and the hot cover!) on the 'Coming soon--Night of the Cereus' page.

Plot-aholics Unite!

2008-02-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

My husband complains writer’s brains are too complicated. Why, he asks, can’t things naturally flow from Point ‘A’ to Point ‘B’ without all the convoluted twists and turns? Why, he accuses, isn’t anything ever simple?

Yeah, right.

I can only think it’s a thinly veiled indictment of yours truly, since the Hubster loves complex spy-vs.-spy or suspense novels. Besides, what would be the use in a book without plot twists? No matter how hot the sex, handsome the hero, or feisty the heroine, if the plot is lacking, so is the book. Then there are no gasps of disbelief, unexpected bursts of laughter or welling of tears. In short, there would be no fun. No fun in reading, and none, whatsoever, in writing either.

Whether you call them plot devises, plot twists or simply plot, without it literature falls flat on its ass. Now, I have to tell you, I’m the person who covers their face when the effluvium is about to hit the fan during a movie or TV show. And it doesn’t have to be scary stuff, in the traditional sense. Embarrassing or shocking moments do it for me too. And if a book can sneak one of those up on me, make it so I don’t see it coming, figuratively not giving me a chance to cover my eyes, I love it all the more.

Let’s face it, we know when we pick up a romance there must be a happily-ever-after. If there isn’t, then it’s not a romance. And we’re told, ad nauseam, there are limited plots for writers to work with. With that in mind, a writer has to be able to inject the unexpected into their stories, just to keep the reader interested, and invested, in the tale.

One of the best examples I can give of a twist that snuck up on me was in Molly O’Keefe’s Undercover Protector, published by Harlequin Superromance. That book kept me up until one in the morning during a time when I sorely needed my sleep! But the best part was when she threw in a plot twist that literally had me flinging the book down on the bed and running out of the room shouting, “Molly, you didn’t! Molly, you COULDN’T!”

She did, she could, and man, I love her for it. Molly had me from the start with that story and kept me there with her ability to introduce new strands into the tapestry of the tale as she went along. By the end it was oh, so satisfyingly complete.

As both a romance novel and novella writer I’ve learned to approach the two sub-genres a little differently. In the longer format I have the luxury of using secondary characters and sub-plots to provide the twists. In the shorter format I find the same effect can be achieved with something as simple as a smile when the reader is expecting tears or rage, or a light-bulb moment at an inopportune time. You have to keep your characters true to how you’ve written them, but real life is hardly ever predictable, so your characters shouldn’t be either.

However, there will always be a certain level of predictability in romances. Two people meet, fall in love against the odds, or remain in love against the odds, and end up promising to stay together. Bless the writers who take that straight-forward formula and turn it into a delicious twisty pretzel for our enjoyment!

And can I add that Molly’s latest release, Baby Makes Three, is right up there as what I classify as one of my favourite non-traditional romances? I might have to use that one in a future post about characterization...something else Molly does sooooo well!

Why Romance?

2008-02-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

Sex is great. It can be fun or intense. It releases endorphins and gives you that glow. It’s natural, an instinctive urge. Yet, although many women nowadays are far more open about their desire, both for having sex and for reading about it, I think it’s also safe to say that when it comes to books romances still rule. And not just the erotic romances, although they’re my personal favourites, but romances in general. We may like it sweet or raunchy, naughty or full of intrigue, outside the box (or the bedroom), sometimes with more than two people, or with same-sex couples but most of the time we demand the ‘happily-ever-after’ ending. Let’s face it, the sex may get you all hot and bothered but it’s the resolution, the knowledge of the couple travelling on together, that satisfies the soul.

I think that, just like sex, the urge to want things to work out between couples is instinctive. Anthropologist Desmond Morris explained it by saying pair-bonding has developed in our specie as a survival technique. Man is not a solitary animal. To thrive we have to interact and cooperate with each other. Pair-bonding allowed the men to go off hunting, assured that their women, who remained behind, would remain faithful. They also no longer had to think of their companions as competitors, but could concentrate on working with them. For their part, the women would be assured that whatever their mates brought home was for the benefit of the family unit, instead of having to share with that hottie-hottie in the next cave.

Of course things have changed, with women working as much as men, but it’s still basically the same. We have the same needs, the same urges—the changes are simply geographical. The jungle is the office. Bringing home the bacon means a stop at the supermarket instead of killing a wild boar. The hottie lives in the next apartment or works in the accounts department at hubby’s company. Or at the wife’s company. We constantly hear stories of infidelity and destruction of the pair bond. Unfortunately that seems to be a part of the way society has evolved.

But when we read, it doesn’t have to be that way.

When we pick up a romance we want to see two people, soul mates, finding answers in each other, even when they didn’t know there were questions in their hearts. In the world the author has created we seek the triumph of right over wrong and reassurance that everything will be perfect, or as close as possible to it, in the end. Maybe it’s a higher standard than we sometimes hold ourselves to, but it seems to be what we crave, what we dream of. And we want it to last, which is why we end the books where we do, leaving what happens after to the imagination. Without romance, both the real-life and the made-up, the world would be a very boring and perhaps chaotic place.

So long live the romance, both between book covers and between our bed sheets, and let’s live our own happily-ever-after, in whatever incarnation we can!

Queen of the Night

2008-02-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

The Night Blooming Cereus, also known as the Queen of the Night, is a desert plant and part of the cactus family. For 364 days (365 on leap years) it really isn’t much to look at. In fact, some people consider it to be downright ugly. It’s scraggly. The leaves and stems indicate its relation to other cacti but they’re flattened and seem almost sickly. It’s a rather unassuming shade of gray rather than a healthy looking green. The Cereus plant I remember had twined itself around the truck and lower limbs of a Poinsiana tree, and for the majority of the time it looked one short step away from death.

But once a year, on a moonlit spring night, the Cereus would more than make up for its previously slouchy, lack-lustre, appearance. On that night the tuber-like buds unfurled into huge, glorious, creamy blossoms and released the most unbelievably hedonistic scent into the warm night air. My aunt, who owned the plant, would make an event of it, and that one night of the year it was guaranteed I would be allowed to stay up late, even if I had school the next day. We would sit on the veranda, the small ‘whistling toads’ chirping in the background behind the adults’ voices and laughter. Aunty June would keep the lights dim and the Cereus blossoms, stroked by the rays of the full moon, took on a soft otherworldly glow. And weaving its way into and around everything was that heady perfume. It was magical, a moment out of time.

The Cereus hides its true beauty, only revealing it when the time is right. There is nothing contrived about the moment when the blossoms unfurl. Instead it is natural, primal. In Night of the Cereus, when Marcus and Melanie first meet, the scent of the Cereus provides a backdrop for seduction. For one night the restraints they customarily operate under are released and they experience passion as sweet, as deeply intense, as the scent of the flowers. Instinct draws them together and a chance encounter blossoms into a night of sex so overwhelming neither will ever be the same. But Marcus and Melanie each have secrets that could destroy their fragile connection, and just as the beautiful Cereus blooms wither in the morning light, so could their newfound love.

Warning! The night and the man aren’t the only things that are hot in this novella. The sex’ll make you want to turn on the air conditioner, even in the middle of winter!

What am I doing here again?

2008-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Born in Jamaica, transplanted to the ‘Frozen North’, writing has been a dream of mine for a long time. It remained only a dream until a few years ago when the simple truth occurred to me—I couldn’t become a writer if I didn’t write anything. A dedicated history buff, I happily penned two monster (and monstrous!) medieval novels before realizing I really had no clue what I was doing. It was the first of many such moments; when I had to decide what it was I wanted out of writing. Up until then it had been nothing but fun. Was I willing to put in the work necessary to actually get published?

I guess you can figure that the answer was, “Yes.” It was hard—it still is. I pictured the life of the writer being one of the secluded artist, toiling, sweating, crying, bleeding to get the right words on to the page, then happily sending the perfect, completed manuscript out and getting on with the next. Perhaps after a short break to pat herself on the back, eat a couple pounds of chocolate and sip a libation, or three.

I was so far off the mark I was in a different universe.

I had to learn the craft, then figure how to break the rules so that my ‘voice’ could come through without totally cheesing off readers. Then I had to figure out where, if anywhere, my work fit, followed by trying to convince editors I would be an asset to their organization.

I also discovered (to my horror) that I needed to market myself. A website at least. Preferably in conjunction with chats and blogs and appearances and talking to booksellers. For a behind-the-scenes type of person, it’s a real stumbling block. I’ve worked hard to get over my natural shyness but the realization I needed to ‘get out there and mingle,’ even just over the web, fills me with trepidation.

Yet here I am...writing my very first blog post and wondering, 'what am I doing here again?' Oh yes, connecting, communicating, trying to work up the courage to actually market my novella, 'Night of the Cereus', published by Samhain Publishing, which comes out on March 25, 2008.

Did I distract you, make you wonder what the heck a 'Cereus' is? Good...that's my marketing plan...the sneak attack! Come back soon and read my next post. I'll tell you about the Night-Blooming Cereus, and how this amazing flower fits in with my book. In the meantime, love a little more. It's easy, and keeps people wondering what you're really up to!