Kerrin Hearfield

Google Reader

2012-01-23T07:15:00.000+13:00

Do you or don't you?
I hadn't used this, as i just follow my fav blogs using the links to the side of mine. But after Leah Ashton's insightful post on the ease and how to, i am now using Google Reader!

Have a look at the post and if you haven't signed up, i suggest you do!

Writing Tip: Characters Secrets

2012-01-20T14:04:00.000+13:00

I've just read an awesome post by fellow kiwi as-yet-but-so-close unpublished author.
I love Jackie's blog, she is so honest and she gives the best tips that she has learnt on her very rocky journey!

This post is about the BIG secret that your characters have, what seems to be the surface conflict. Jackie describes it so wonderfully potentially being the thing that drives the story and character, but what would happen if you the author revealed the big secret earlier is in the story?
You them have room to explore the deeper issues associated with the big secret. Have a read of her post and tell me what you think!

I've recently begun editing my Price of Passion (Billie and Cooper) story. Billie has a secret, and it's not until the end that Cooper finds out, but i have always wondered what would happen if she told him near the beginning? It is a wonderful opportunity to explore their deeper conflicts!

What about you? Do your characters have secrets?

What's your colour?

2012-01-15T06:42:00.000+13:00

At the moment we are redecorating. We have been wanting to do this since we moved in Feb 2010.
We started with the kids rooms which have been finished...well, except for the windows and doors! (we like to do things backwards)

Now, we are painting the hallway, lounge and dining (they are pretty much all linked up). This was stemmed from my son and I both being frustrated with the mess that his wardrobe is always in. We decided to build in shelves at either end, with one end having a short bar and a shelf for shoes, under which we will put a basket for his soccer ball etc.
As my husband wants to paint the inside the same as the rest of the house we have ended up choosing colours.

We started with 4 white colours - then i promptly discovered i actually hate white walls! In some houses it works but generally when i walk into a house with white walls i feel a bit uninspired. There's no personality.
I understand that white is clean and modern, but it's not me.
We love our colours. So after my scowling all afternoon husband went back to the paint shop for more samples and came back with 4 creams.
Now this is me! It feels warmer, not so stark or prestine. I am not a tidy person - though every now and then i hate mess and just have to have things organised. I have organised mess! (mostly)
And two young children, an 8 month puppy and a cat, so prestine is not our house!

This got me to thinking about how other people feel about colours, what makes them choose the colours they do, what colours would present my characters and why.
We are actually going to use the same colour in one of my favourite pictures that i used in a scene for my story The Price of Passion, it's the greeny brown on the walls. Resene Mondo! I'm very excited about this!

So, colours.
I love bold, bright colours that represent the personality of the people in the house. But then i do love autumn colours which to me are so warm and inviting. So earthy tones too.

What colours do you like for decorating? How do you choose?

Keeping track of notes!

2012-01-09T16:37:00.000+13:00

So, over the weekend i booted up the laptop and got ready to edit the story i wrote two years ago, The Price of Passion.
The problem with having it been so long ago that i wrote it, i had forgotten the real conflict of the characters, the real reason they did and said things and not the surface stuff.
I knew i had notes somewhere...

Not on the laptop. Um, maybe the USB?

No! Darn. Hmm okay, on the Mac then.

Yep there they are! So i dutifully copied the folders to the USB and put them on the laptop.
Only to realise i hadn't converted the documents to .doc and couldn't open them. Doh!

Back to the Mac, convert all files.

Back to the laptop, find what i wanted and then realise my time was up.

Time for preparing dinner.

*sigh*

So my big writing tip is to keep all your writing current and updated to all your devices, laptop, USB, home computer, iPad etc. It will save you your writing time when you have to go search for it!

It may be a good idea to copy and save documents at the end of each week. Or maybe even every day if you write a lot!
Besides, it's good to know you have ALL your writing stuff backed up multiple times just in case one of your devices goes capoot! (shock horror that that should ever happen!)

Happy New year!

Happy 2012!!

2012-01-01T15:14:00.000+13:00

I've been on holiday with the family in Wellington and have been a bit out of touch internet-wise.

Some big things happening personally this year:

i'm turning 30 in June and my husband and i are resolved to lose lots of weight (at least 15kg each!).
Hopefully i will complete another WIP this year and maybe have my last years one self-pubbed on Amazon - or maybe subbed again!

What up for you this bright new year??

Busted...

2011-12-15T11:30:00.000+13:00

My goodness i have been very remiss on the blog the past few weeks. Crazy with final stuff for kids' school and kindy things, knitting (i've taught myself and am now addicted!), and getting ready for the drive to Wellington for the Christmas period!

On Dec 6 Nicola Marsh's new contemporary romance hit the shelves!
Busted in Bollywood is an eclectic mix of contemporary romance/romantic comedy/chicklit/women's fiction. Think 'Sex and the City' meets 'Eat, Pray, Love.'
This story is written entirely in first person narrative by the leading lady Shari Jones.

This fantastic book is available from Book Depository (free worldwide postage!), Barnes and Nobles, Amazon and Kindle.

For those you love a humorous romance with a good dollop of culture and heaps of food, this is the novel for you!

Here is the blurb:

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else's.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend's whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she's mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that's when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn't so far away?

Go on, get yourself a copy today!!

Conflict or GMC

2011-12-06T07:01:00.000+13:00

GMC?
I've heard this acronym a few times during my blog hopping.
Briefly it means Goal Motivation Conflict.

All our characters come to the story with their own backgrounds, battle scars and inner conflict.
Well, they should do anyway, to make your story and characters believable to your readers.

Kate Walker in her 12 point guide to Writing Romance (excellent book!) tells us that the most important element of conflict is internal, the stuff that goes on in the character's head, the stuff that gives reason to their thoughts and actions. As a writer we must use this internal conflict so show character growth, how they change in order to achieve their HEA.
Kate explains (p 43) that the emotions involved in the characters internal conflict, affect the character's thinking, but they are unaware of them.
The internal conflict comes out when the Hero and Heroine meet and clash, this forces them to each face their own fears or inner demons.

I realised after writing a good 5k of my Status Quo story that i didn't really have a good handle on my characters conflicts.
So using what i've picked up during my blog hopping i tried to break them down.

Goal: What the hero/ine wants
Motivation: Why they want it
Conflict: If the hero/ine wins the other loses.

For me (and i could be very, very wrong!), on examining my characters and some of the books i love, i've found two sets of GMC for each character. (I think this was brought about by the character questionnaire on Nicola Marsh's website!)
The first set is the clear goal and reason that we are given right at the beginning of the story - should be within the first few pages of meeting each of them.
Then as we read, we discover a deeper Goal and motivation - which to me is stemmed from the conflict of the first, but at a deeper layer.
Have i lost you?

Okay, a bit of behind the scenes look to hopefully help explain this!

So in my story Emma wants Matt. They have been best friends for ever and she has been in love with him for just about the same amount of time. But when they kissed on New Years, it was made plain to her that they were made for each other. He stirred her blood in a way no other man had come close to. And that's what she wants.
So Emma's initial GMC is
G: To have Matt,
M: She loves him and he stirs a passion in her she wants for life.
C: they are best friends and she could lose him by insisting on this.

Then as the story develops we learn that deep down Emma's goal is to love and be loved with a passion and foreverness otherwise missing in her life. Her motivation is from how she felt in Matt's arms, how they are together doing mundane things. Her conflict, is that she may just not be good enough for the type of love and passion she desperately craves, after all her parents seemed to forget about her once they started their separate lives.

So, tell me. Do you think i've completely missed the point, or overcomplicated it?
How do you work out your characters conflict and motivations?

Bolly-Bites

2011-12-04T07:24:00.000+13:00

Nicola Marsh is stopping by to give us a tasty recipe from her new novel Busted in Bollywood out on December 6th!

Thanks to Kerrin for inviting me to pop in as part of my BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD blog tour. I was thrilled she enjoyed the book and gave it a glowing review!

BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD is a contemporary romance/romantic comedy/chicklit/women’s fiction novel. Think ‘Sex and the City’ meets ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’ With food. Loads of food!

For anyone following this tour, you’ll know I’m sharing my love of food, posting Indian recipes for dishes taken from the book in my BOLLY-BITES.

I’m hoping you’ll stock up on spices and cook up a storm alongside me!

Today’s BOLLY-BITE is a drink Shari becomes hooked on in Mumbai.

(This is my dad’s version.)

MASALA CHAI

Ingredients (makes 2 cups)

1 cup water

1 cup milk

3 tspns black tea leaves

4 cardamoms

2 cm cinnamon stick

4 peppercorns

2cm-thick slice ginger

Sugar to taste

Method:

Peel the cardamoms. Pound (in mortar and pestle) or grind (electronic gizmo) cardamom pods, cinnamon and peppercorns to a powder.

Place water and milk in a small saucepan. Add the ground spices and ginger. Bring to boil.

Add tea leaves when starts to boil.

Boil 1 minute.

Strain liquid into cups.

Add sugar to taste.

Hope you’ll join me for more tasty Indian BOLLY-BITES coming up. For details of recipe stops on the tour, check out my blog.

There are so many different teas on the market these days.

To be in the running to win an E-book of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD, leave a comment about your favourite type/brand of tea. More exotic the better!

Thanks so much for the tasty recipe Nicola, and thanks for stopping by :)

USA TODAY bestseller Nicola Marsh has published 30 books with Harlequin Romance and Presents series, and BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD is her first mainstream contemporary romance with Entangled Publishing.

She loves chatting with readers and you can find her:

Website: http://www.nicolamarsh.com

Blog: http://nicolamarsh.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/NicolaMarshAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NicolaMarsh

RFW: Snowed in!

2011-12-02T07:55:00.002+13:00

Another great theme from the Romantic Friday Writers group. Click here to check out other participants stories :)

It was cold. So not what it should be at Christmas.

What the bloody hell are we doing in this frozen land at this time of year. Stupid business trip making us leave the heat of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

"Gerry? Honey, here's a nice hot chocolate."

I couldn't help the scowl, but i did offer thanks as Mike handed the steaming mug to me with his usual smirk. Kills me every time.

He wrapped an arm around me as he snuggled under the soft blanket. "Don't sulk love." He simultaneously squeezed my thigh and kissed my cheek, a move that caused waves of heat to bloom inside me, warming me before i'd taken a sip.

"Just think of it as the perfect opportunity to warm each other up."

His devilish grin, slightly lopsided caused an answering tug to my own lips.

I love this man to distraction. And he knew how to push all the right buttons. Even the ones his snaking hand was already making a start on under the blanket.

Spluttering in shock as his frigid fingers touched the skin just below my bra i did my best to save us from being scalded by the contents of my mug. "You are incorrigible!"

His lips, warm and oh so soft trailed a path from my ear to my collarbone in excruciating slowness. "You love it."

I did. I loved the way he could get me out of a grump. How he bought me steaming hot liquids. How he put up with my moods. How he knew just how to touch me.

"Can you please wait a minute." I didn't even try to mask the giggle that escaped as his lips followed a path of their own design and his evening stubble tickled the tops of my breasts.

"Why wait when you're all warm and ready to melt just as the marshmellows did." The blanket was now tangled between our bodies, wedged under his thigh pressed solidly between mine. I was no longer cold and no longer needed the hot cocoa to warm me. Just him.

My man.

"You're sweeter than marshmellows." His mouth closed over my breast, soaking the thin satin and thrilling me. Taunting me, leaving me humming for more.

I moaned in protest when he lifted his head and looked at me, his blue eyes nearly eclipsed by the passion in his irises. "Sorry we ended up stuck here. In a week we'll be back home."

"It doesn't matter." I pulled him to my lips and feasted on all the goodness, the love that was on offer. It didn't matter. Not when he was here with me.

Show, don't Tell. Not so easy is it?!

2011-11-28T07:21:00.001+13:00

Well i learnt something during my blog hopping last week, largely propelled by Rach Writes post on physical telling, which then linked to another great post detailing it further.

Did you know there is something called Physical Telling? No?
It's where you add a physical reaction to your story when, usually what the character says should indicate what their possible, or even probable!, reaction is.

eg, "Did you know Jill's pregnant?" Sarah smirked.
My mouth could have hit the floor. "No! To who?"
(the mouth reference is the telling, where the dialogue following it is doing the showing.)
I think what this has shown me (and it's probably not the best example!) is that it is often okay and acceptable to leave some things to the readers imagination.

It is also a good idea to balance your telling and showing through dialogue and interiority (didn't even know that was a word!) - or, internal dialogue. With the interiority you can't show, it's unnecessary as you are in the character's head anyway, so it's the perfect time for the telling!

I get confused with this showing and telling stuff, and i'm sure i'm not the only one. Do you have any showing/telling rules or lessons that you have come across and want to share? Please!

Music that Inspires

2011-11-25T09:24:00.001+13:00

I am absolutely in love with a song at the moment. When i saw the video clip it cemented that love.
Okay, so it features snips from Breaking Dawn part 1 but that is not the only reason i love it.

To me it inspires the best romantic feelings. Of having waited and finally possessing the one you love.
Of eternal love.
Of being afraid to give yourself to someone so completely, but then knowing, just knowing that this is the person who is meant for you.

Yep, it's A Thousand Years by Christina Perry.
Enjoy!

There are lots of writers out there who create musical playlists the represent the mood or feelings of their WIP, have this playing as they write them.

For The Price of Passion i had Closer by Ne-Yo which represented my heroes feelings perfectly, and for Billie it was Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis.

A Thousand Years has so much scope for me at the moment - it is representing Emma and her motivation in Saying No.

What song has inspired you recently?

Fancy an Indian feast?

2011-11-22T10:44:00.000+13:00

Nicola Marsh is going a Bolly-Bites blog tour, where she will give out fantastic recipes for the Indian dishes featuring in her new book Busted in Bollywood!
She's given her first recipe on her blog today, a Lentil Soup and man i can just smell the aroma....

Nicola will be dropping by here early December for give us another recipe, but check out her blog to find all the Bolly-Bites (recipes!) as she does her blog tour!

A taste of India

2011-11-16T07:37:00.005+13:00

I've just finished devouring Nicola Marsh's ARC for Busted in Bollywood.
As the title suggests it has all the flavours of a Bollywood movie: the sights, the sounds, colours, the food, and drama.

I loved following Shari's journey of re-discovery, both of herself and her heritage. I especially loved the flavour of all things Indian that Nicola Marsh weaved though this story.

So much so that i have an urge to find recipes and create the fabulous dishes Shari experiences. I think i'll even be renting a Bollywood movie to try to catch the same excitement.
This is a story not to be missed!

If you like Nicola's flirty style, mixed with exposure to another culture, you are in for a real treat. And luckily you don't have to waited too long! December 6 is the release date, go here to order!

Get-to-know-Me!

2011-11-14T07:58:00.004+13:00

I'm part of the Romantic Suspense group from the Campaign. To tell you the truth i haven't really done much about it, except join in on the challenges (though i somehow missed one!).
I plan to do much more and actually talk with and share writing with these people.
Click here or the picture in the sidebar to find and get to know some of the wonderful people in the writing community!

Well, here is getting to know me!

1. Name two [romantic suspense] authors who inspire you
Hmm, that's a tricky one because i have many favourites, and they probably aren't categorised as Romantic Suspense, though they have elements in their writing! The main two with the suspense element in their writing would be Julie Garwood (historical romance) and Karen Marie Moning (paranormal romance). It's funny because i don't write either of those genres!

2. How did you start writing in your genre?
My daughter was 6 weeks old when i began writing my first full length novel, Secrets and Lies (see the page titled Work in Progress or WIPs). It took me a year but i did it. I've always liked stories that have the suspense/intrigue factor, coupled with romance and it's a winner for me! So that's what i wrote. It's a good story, but it needs a LOT of work to make it great!

3. You've landed a meeting with your dream agent. Write a one paragraph pitch to sell your novel to him/her. (No more than four sentences)
Gabrielle Devine left the man of her dreams on the brink of their wedding. 2 years later she comes back with information about the raids and killings that have plagued the country for the past year; information that Wayne is not interested in listening to, especially when it comes from the woman who broke his heart, the woman who betrayed him. Gabrielle is determined to prove she is right, even if it means revealing the truth of why she'd left him. But will Wayne listen and believe before the ultimate deception tears everyone apart?

4. Sabotage or accident- which would put your female lead through and why?
Either works for me, it would depend on the heroine. But instinctively i want to say accident. You can tell so much about a person from how they react to/deal with what's happened.

5. Plotter or Pantser? Who are you?
Oh, that is the question! The story i described above was done entirely in plotter mode. When i'd finished it, i was bored, 'cos i knew everything that was happening.
So all my subsequent stories are a bit of a mix. I have key plot points that the characters have to reach, but their path to them is completely pantser!

Hope you've enjoyed learning a bit about me. Make sure you check out some of the other suspense writers out there!

Research or not to research...

2011-11-07T07:36:00.000+13:00

A writing tip; kind of!

Now, i'm not a huge fan of deep involved research.
I'm too impatient and just want to write the damn story and fix details later. But i will look up stuff if i know it's going to be quick and won't detract from my writing time.

Seriously, my drafts are littered with notes saying "research how to make bath salts", or "find out the history of...".

It's funny though, because i'm a stickler for detail, and perfection. It's taken a long time to let go and just write the first dirty draft without agonising over the correct word to describe. Yeah i have notes for those too :)

Because when i sit down to write, that's what i want to do. I don't want to get bogged down with trawling the internet for the exact right stuff. No, that would be called Research Time.

Recently i have spent the last two of my writing sessions in research mode. I sat down and told myself that if i want to get any further with my writing, i actually need to know a bit more information. So it was research time.
Guess what? I love it!
I got so involved that i've ended up with pages and pages of history relevant to my fictitious Principality, trade routes, flight paths, politics, pictures of villages, castles, roses... lots of stuff.

I have a friend who loves to research and we have always joked that she can do the research and i'll do the writing - for the both of us! But we both sat there on Friday and researched together. It was great bouncing off ideas (which of course sparked more research!), and i really think our writing is going to be the better for it.
Readers are sticklers for details too. I take that from my own personal experience as a reader ;)

Don't get me wrong, if i come across something that needs more research whilst during 'writing time', there is a note/comment in the ms. I'll go back to it during 'research time'.

My plan is that will help flesh out the story, without detracting from my creative flow. Because that's what the first draft is for, right? Getting the story down so you have something to work with later.

What are your thoughts on research? Do you find it encroaches on your writing time, how do you work around it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

What's your brand?

2011-10-31T07:13:00.000+13:00

Some of you may be asking, "A brand? Huh? I'm a writer!"
And i say, yes exactly!
Your writing is your brand, not your tag line.

Rachelle Gardiner, Literary Agent has an excellent post on Branding.
Simply;
1. Your brand is your genre
2. your book is more important than your platform.

Her advice, spend more time on your writing and your target audience, not your brand.

Check out her great post here for more details!

NV: The Top Four!

2011-10-28T08:56:00.000+13:00

The Top Four has been announced!

My favourite didn't make it but i'm going to have a read and vote for the best - i find it very interesting that none in the Contemporary category made it through!

Busted in Bollywood

2011-10-26T07:34:00.000+13:00

I've just read a snippet from Nicola Marsh's upcoming book Busted in Bollywood, out on Dec 6.

I love her writing, fresh, funny and very good i am so envious of her way with words!

Click here to read the snippet, but i've also put a handy link on the right sidebar :)

The Beta Hero

2011-10-24T08:41:00.001+13:00

This is the hero that doesn't start out as the hero of the story. Or the writer indicates that he is, but the heroine doesn't see it!
Perhaps a best friend of the hero or heroine.
Someone who is always there, maybe as shoulder for the heroine to cry on, the man to offer support as she goes through her disastrous relationships.
The guy who loves her just as she is, but she doesn't know it!

Raquel Byrnes has an excellent post, using Sweet Home Alabama as an example and goes into much deeper explanations. It's awesome. She calls this guy the Bad Boy with Potential.
I see him as the Beta Hero. Not as dominating or successful as the Alpha Male, but with many alpha qualities that quietly come to the fore. Qualities that have us truly rooting for him. The galant knight who doesn't stand in the spotlight - that's not his thing.

Nicola Marsh has an awesome article on her site giving explanations about the differences between the Alpha and the Beta hero. Things like, Beta heroes are more laid back, but the Alpha is driven; Beta's seem to be able to express themselves better than the Alpha - (possibly to do with that laid back attitude!).

To tell the truth, i've always preferred the Beta hero in the movies! Maybe that's because we are made to realise very early in the story that he is the true hero? Hmm.

My hero for my story with Matt and Emma, he has been the beta hero for most of Emma's life, before the story starts. The difference is that she has always loved him. (Maybe she has been the beta heroine? Hmm, that bears some thought!)

What do you think? Have any good examples either from your own writing or fav books or movies?
What the qualities you like best in a hero - Beta or Alpha!

RFW: Whispers

2011-10-22T16:36:00.000+13:00

From my Princess story (still in early draft form!)

“Why are those people staring at us?”

Max felt a jolt of awareness shoot up his arm as her fingers threaded through his. He glanced at the various townspeople who were indeed staring at them.

What to tell her?

He shrugged, trailing a glance over her figure before turning his best grin on her. “Probably just admiring what a great pair we make.”

Tori smiled and small spots of colour flamed her neck and cheeks, but she looked at the starers. “As nice as that is, I don’t think you’re right.”

Max watched her line of sight and noted she squeezed his hand a tad tighter when one lady pointed and leaned close to her elderly companion.

Perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea to bring her here yet. Someone could say something and completely blow their plans.

“The lady at the shop stared at me like she’d seen a ghost. I had to ask her twice.” He’d seen that too.

He tried to brush it off, shrugging. “Maybe you look like someone she knows.”

“Maybe she knew my parents.” His step faltered and he spun Tori in a circle to cover it.

“I doubt it. They are just astonished to see me with such an enchanting woman.”

She laughed throatily. “You make it sound like such a rare occurance.” Tori paused then smiled crookedly at him. “Just enchanting? Not beautiful?”

Relief mixed with the heady shot of desire through his veins at her barefaced question. “So enchanting just looking at you makes me wish we’d stayed at the castle.” Grinning when she shyly tucked a stray curl behind her ear he bent close and felt her shiver as he brought her body into contact with his. “How can I think of anything else when you look at me like that?”

He obliged her upturned mouth and allowed himself to indulge briefly, running his hands possessively up her sides and moulding her to his body. As much as it had been so wrong to accept her proposition, he wasn’t going to regret it. He’d never felt this happy since the tragedy that had uprooted this wonderful country. She was his anchor, his purpose even as she was the puppet.

Breaking away before he forgot himself and where they were, he placed a kiss on her pert nose and lead the way, pleased he’d diverted her from any possible complication.

400 words exactly: MCA (Minor critique only)

Check out the other entries here!

25% off!

2011-10-20T15:05:00.000+13:00

I'm not one to let go of a deal - especially when it means the books are cheaper than in the store and i can chose a nicer cover!

Nicola Marsh has two new books coming out early 2012. With 25% off at book depository it's the perfect chance to try her if you haven't already. As her tag line says, her writing is flirty fiction with flare and believe me, you won't be disappointed!

Go pre-order them now!

Show not Tell : Campaign Challenge

2011-10-19T07:41:00.001+13:00

Third Challenge for the Campaign. (i think i missed the second one!)

Check out the full details here

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post shouldshow:

that it’s morning,

that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach

that the MC (main character) is bored

that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting

that something surprising happens.

Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses. AND include these random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise." (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them). .

Here's my stab at it!

Through amber tinted sunglasses, Jodie watched the determined surfers tackling the rowdy waves. Stupid wastopaneers. The rising sun seeped into her skin making her all droopy and blah. Wasn’t supposed to be so hot this early.

Shifting uncomfortably to a shady spot on the hot sand she blew out a breath, ignoring the synbatec buzzing close by. Not even the slight breeze could dispel the feeling that she could be doing something so much better than soaking in the sun, being bitten by the tiny, hungry bloodsuckers hidden in the sand. Anything.

Why did I come here? Hate the beach. Can’t swim so no point in taking a dip. Can’t be bothered doing anything else.

Inhaling the salty air and ending on a sigh, the sharp tang of something tacise hit her nostrils. Geez, what died?

Wind rustled through the tall palm leaves above, dappling the sand around her, ruffling her limp, damp hair. Worse. It propelled the stink from behind the tree right into her face.

Bleark! Covering her mouth and nose with a sweaty palm she lifted her sunnies and peered through the leaves. Breathing through her teeth and willing the lumpy, salty taste at the back of her throat away, her toes searched the hot sand for her jandals.

The shiver caught her unaware, her skin pebbling painfully. Bending low and lifting the surprisingly cool leaves with one hand, she toed the brown clump. Hissing, the hairy flesh shifted as the flies covered the hole her toe created.

Jodie jumped back retching, all thought of breathing carefully gone.

Stomach pitching wildly she turned away focusing on the crashing waves and the unaware surfers.

How the hell am I going to tell Michelle?

word count: 282

Did i show? Tell me where i've told and let me know where i need work!

Feedback Sandwich, Critiquing

2011-10-17T14:03:00.001+13:00

I was going to blog about something else today - a writing tip about conflict probably, but came across a disturbing post from a fellow Romantic Friday Writer.
She had been given rather bad, negative feedback on her Friday piece.

So, i'm going to talk about critiquing.

My husband is a newly appointed manager and has been doing lots of reading about how to be a good manager. He told me about a 'feedback sandwich', something that i have since read from Nathan Bransford's blog and also from my fellow RFW.

Our writing is rather personal. We spend a lot of time working at it, getting the feelings right, the characters, the conflict, the descriptions, and if you're like me, work painstakingly hard on perfecting dialogue!
We value feedback from fellow writers and readers. This helps us grow as a writer. IF the feedback doesn't completely destroy our confidence and make us feel like we obviously shouldn't be writing!

So the sandwich.
We all want to hear about the things we haven't done right, but isn't it wonderful to be acknowledged for something we have done well at?!
So, start with a positive. It could be something simple like, i really enjoyed the imagery you have evoked through the heroine's tears. Or, your writing voice makes me smile!

Then some POSITIVE advice. An example from one of the comments from my New Voices piece:
i think your writing is strong, and there's lots of potential in this story. but i wanted a little more context (about where they are/why they are there, besides a weekly date). i wanted a little more backstory, but just enough to prick my attention. you also change POV from him to her in the middle, which can be done successfully (yours is pretty close), but it demands more from the reader. nora roberts does it, but new writers (me included) don't have as much leeway with editors. keep writing. you obviously have skill, and your characters are passionate. i'd read more!

Then end with another positive.

As the above example shows (and i am aware that it may not be the best example!), they have started with something positive: my writing is strong. Then some advice: my POV change may have been a bit jarring but i'm close! And final positive: my characters are passionate.
I am left feeling good about my writing, what one person things i have achieved but may need to work on something else, followed by another positive. It's not as bad as it could have been!
(And it is always important to remember that you can never please everyone. What one person likes another dislikes, so too for publishers. It is for your consideration only.)

How do you critique other writers? Do you have advice to add?

New Voices round one results!

2011-10-14T08:37:00.001+13:00

The results are in!
With not 20, but 21 finalists.
Good luck to the winners, i hope you get heaps of experience out of the consultation with mentors.

For those who didn't get through - don't give up! If you wake up every morning needing to write, have to stop the car to write down that flash of inspiration and go to bed with a notebook and pen beside the bed, well. You are a writer and if you keep writing, you will get where you want to go!

Pitching your story: a contest!

2011-10-11T07:39:00.001+13:00

Ever written a 1 or 2 sentence description of your completed story? No?
Well get started!
Entangled Publishing are seeking submissions and Nicola Marsh has a competition.

Pop over to her blog and follow her (if you haven't already), then pop a comment under the post with your pitch, the title, your name and the story word count to be in the draw!

Up for grabs is a first 5 pages critique from Entangled Publishing editor AND from Nicola Marsh herself!

If my story was completed, i'd be entering, so don't miss this opportunity!
Nicola has also included links to some great blogs for advice on how to write a successful pitch.
Do it!

Writing Tip: Children in Romance

2011-10-10T07:04:00.000+13:00

Do you have a favourite book that features an adorable child as a secondary character? Or maybe it's a precocious pre-schooler?
A man totally undone by a little baby is just so sexy - and i have heaps of photos of my own hero with our children to prove how much i love that :)

Loveliness aside - the children in your romance story should not be the focus of the story. They are only secondary characters and should not detract from the main story - the romance!
How about using them to further the romance? Having the H and h co-parent, or fight over one?

What do you think of children in a romance story?

My favourite one is from a historical romance by Julie Garwood, The Secret. This story is my all-time favourite and in this story, it starts with two little girls and how they meet. Both connect over a bee and one of the girls attempt to save the other from the bee. The language is so wonderful and totally childlike!
I really recommend you read it!
But aside from the children at the beginning, one of them is the heroine of the story - obviously older! So in this case, children as the main character really works.

In another, yes another Julie Garwood fav, Ransom, the main character Gillian saves a little boy. This further's her character. The child is the secondary character and his role is to show the main characters strengths, and quite possibly their weaknesses.

Mills and Boon have a great post on children in romance. Check it out, but don't forget to let me know what you think of children in romance novels and the roles they play.
Do you have children in your own story?

Romantic Friday Writers - Rock Candy

2011-10-07T07:50:00.001+13:00

After reading through the description given as a prompt for this weeks theme, and doing some research, i've decided to go with my own interpretation of Rock Candy!

"Geez, look at the size of that rock!"

"Tor, that is amazing."

As her friends exclaimed over the shiny bit of rock candy on her ring finger Tori couldn't help the fearful gulp that rose in her throat.

Whenever she'd dreamed of an engagement ring, it has been a small thing. Small, elegant and inconspicuous. Not at all like the heavy, huge rock Max had slipped on her finger that morning.

Monique seemed to catch on to her mood and twined an arm around Tori's and covered the hand with her own. Tori gripped her friend's hand and plastered a smile on her face.

"It's nice. It is. It's just-"

"Not you."

Tori's sigh wavered and she caught herself before letting the barrier drop. It was wonderful at times to have friends who knew you so well.

Monique rubbed Tori's back and she leant her head on her friend's shoulder, unable to take her gaze from their joined hands, which covered the symbol of something that should have been the best thing in her life. She was engaged.

Monique released her grip and turned the giant diamond until it glinted in the sun. "At least, you'd never lose it." She laughed, "You'd know right away if it was gone. The glare from the sun would be the first warning."

Tori shook her head, "No, it would be the loss of the weight." This time she couldn't stop her laugh from turning into the choking sob.

"It's okay, Tor." Lizzie put her arm around Tori and her friends hugged her from two sides.

"How can it be okay?" She stared at the symbol of love and forever and felt instead the weight of duty and entrapment.

Tori felt, rather than saw her friends look at each other behind her head.

"I'm sure if you told him-"

"No." Interrupting her friend before she could continue, she shut off her own wishes. Again. "It's part of who i am. Who i will be." If only it wasn't all about duty, and about the love and passion they'd shared instead. "It's tradition."

348 words. MCA

Writing Tip: Sex scenes!

2011-10-03T07:30:00.000+13:00

Yes i said SEX.
If you read romance, and i assume that you do, you know what you like to read and what you don't like to read - and again i'm assuming you don't like the porn version of sex scenes filled with all the dirty details.

You love Romance, which means sensuality in the sex scenes. You need to write more about the emotions and what is going on inside the characters head.

Here is a great post from the Mills and Boon website by Flo Nicoll last year for the New Voices comp, but no less relevant today! So, Let's Talk about Sex and remember the emotion, not the gritty details ;)

Fab Comment

2011-09-30T13:30:00.000+13:00

Over at the New Voices competition, i've just read an awesome comment about Emma and Matt's first chapter:

Congratulations on posting such an amazing first chapter! This is definitely in my top ten and I'll be shocked if you don't make it to the top 20.

I'm a serial POV changer and yours didn't distract me in the slightest. I like the hints at conflict you are giving and love the way you started. I don't think I've ever read a book where the first line is a proposal of marriage, great hook!

There really isn't anything I can say I disliked about the chapter. My only gripe is that chapter 2 isn't available to read yet :)

I agree with a lot of the comments that have been made on my chapter, but isn't it nice to have someone like your writing, just the way it is!

Thanks Aimee Duffy :)

Busted in Bollywood - cover reveal!

2011-09-27T11:00:00.005+13:00

Wow, look at this new fabulous book from Nicola Marsh! Releasing soon, December 6! so be sure to check out her website then to buy a copy! - just click on the street team icon on the right and it will take you straight there!

BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD

Doesn't it just look awesome!
Here is a blurb:

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?

And, a sneak six sentence look at the book that Nicola posted on her blog on the weekend!

Between Anjali’s sniping at the family and Rita’s dossier, I gathered the Ramas were rich, very rich. And by the size of their newly white-washed two-story house, they were loaded. In a country where real estate was at a premium, these guys had a monopoly on space, their house taking up a quarter of the block.

“Nice place,” I said, smoothing the chiffon of my kameez and hoping all the drama training at high school would count for something in the hours ahead.
“All pomp and show.” Anjali’s glare at the house would’ve exploded bricks if she’d had superhuman powers. “A fat cow needs a big barn.”

I love Nicola's voice so i'll be sure to grab a copy! Will you?

(edited: Oops, this isn't a YA! My bad, sorry Nicola!!)

Introspection vs Dialogue

2011-09-26T07:37:00.000+13:00

So, over the past few years i have come to realise what my writing style is, which is an essential part of your writing career, in my opinion.
I've also come to realisation that my style is not what i like to read in other books!
Weird huh?!

So, i really enjoy writing the characters internal thoughts and feelings and struggle quite a bit with dialogue.
When i read, i usually skim through this part and get right to the dialogue!

So, slowly i have been trying to write more dialogue and less introspection - which for me is very tricky!
However, i write the introspection first, as this comes naturally for me, then i take a step back and try to write the same stuff through dialogue, through both POV's until i feel it clicks.

Another way, is to write the entire scene using only dialogue - this way you need to try and get emotion and thoughts across through the characters voice first, then you can layer in a bit of introspection and what the character is doing, eg hand gestures, frowning etc.

All the writing advice out there has told me that more action through dialogue is more readable and more liked than the thoughts stuff - which i tend to agree with when i'm reading! It's something like 60% dialogue, 40% introspection.

Do you have difficulty writing dialogue? How do you combat it?

My Entry is up!

2011-09-23T14:18:00.000+12:00

Just in case you've missed it - i have a link to the left which will take you straight to my chapter 1! Have a read and please let me know what you think - comments and feedback will make us all better writers ;)

I've entered, have you?

2011-09-22T10:58:00.000+12:00

I've just hit submit on my entry to this year's New Voices competition! I just have to wait for them to load it, then i'll put a link to my chapter 1 in the side bar.

This year my entry is a best friends to lovers theme, starring Emma McCarthy and Matthew Jackson Dean.

Emma is inspired by Blake Lively and Matt by Jeff Dean Morgan.

Emma is sick of the status quo - denying her deep passion and love for her best friend, so she proposes! Matt, on the other hand, doesn't want to lose the only solid thing in his life. The only thing that keeps him from going over the edge and succumbing to his tortured past. By demanding he acknowledge the passion between them, brought on by one fatal kiss, will Emma lose her best friend?

Writing Competition is open!

2011-09-14T13:30:00.001+12:00

Those of you who entered New Voices last year will be hyped up and already know about the competition that started on the 13th.

For those of you who don't: Mills & Boon have a competition to find new voices. There are mentors, judges and readers even have the chance to comment and vote for their favourites! With 3 rounds to find the winner, and some fantastic prizes, it's a great way to get feedback on your writing and maybe, just maybe get published!

I entered last year with my story about Billie and Cooper.
This year? I'm trying to polish the first chapter of Matt and Emma's story. But this will have to wait until next week. I have an assignment due on Monday and my daughter is having her 4th birthday party this Saturday!

Go here for more info and to enter!

First Campaign Challenge

2011-09-09T10:37:00.001+12:00

Firstly, welcome to all my new followers! I hope i get to visit your blogs/sites in return soon, if i haven't already :)

On to the first challenge:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)

The door swung open and Tori held her breath. Heart in her throat she slowly let her breath out and watched it ruffle the lone spider web in the otherwise clean interior cavity.

Obviously this passage was well used. Or at least kept in an inhabitable condition.

Her footsteps echoed on the flagstones under foot as she carefully started through. At a junction she stopped and chewed her lip while she considered. Straight ahead got darker, and to the left there were little lights recessed into the wall close to the floor. Decision made, Tori head for the lights.

Passing ten lights she came to another door, wider than the one leading from the portrait hall. Placing her hand on the door she had a sudden shiver as the damp air in the tunnel blew towards her. Voices behind the door bolstered her courage. The housekeeper must be here.

The door opened with only a slight effort, without a groan of hinges as she’d expected. Stepping onto the plush carpet and facing the full window drenched in morning sun, she glanced to the right.

“Welcome, child. I’ve been expecting you.”

With a distant thud she heard the door shut behind her.

201 words! A snippet from my Princess story, this part hasn't been written yet, but has got the juices flowing :) My entry is 334 Go here and like it!

RFW Heart Stopper!

2011-09-03T20:54:00.001+12:00

Great opportunity with this theme for Romance.

So come on all you RFWers, let's dance to the rhythm of romantic music. Let's see that setting sun and feel those heroic arms about us. Maybe you've got a holiday romance going down, or perhaps it's a beach party and there's a heart stopper of a guy there and, you're drooling!

Whomever sets your heart pulsing let's hear about him. ;)

So, from my Princess story, meet Maxwell Rosenthall:

Instinctively she inched closer to her mother and glanced at the fourth man.

Compared to the other three he stood relaxed, his weight balanced slightly on his left leg. His suit was a darker grey that somehow exuded unrestrained power. Tori wondered why he would need bodyguards. The fabric of his pants, though not fitted, showed clearly the strength in his long muscled legs. His jacket, wide at very broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist that just showed the strength in his torso more clearly. It was clear to her he would be able to handle himself.

Her perusal and musings were stopped in their tracks when he spoke. A rich rumbling British accent, tinged slightly with the lilt of Ireland. It flowed through her so quickly, warming her suddenly cold body, settled the spinning in her tummy to that of a calm lap against a sandy beach. She felt safe and absent of fear.

Why would a man’s voice affect her so much, especially one she’d never heard?

“Ma’am. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Her mother stepped forward and accepted his greeting with a little smile, a slight flush tinting her pale cheeks as she curtsied. Curtsied!

Kissing her cheek, the man held her close and said something in her ear that made her mother break out in a proper smile. He released her and when Tori tore her fascinated gaze from her suddenly happy mother being enfolded in her husband’s bracing arm, she was arrested by the deepest pair of blue eyes. The gentle lapping in her tummy, stilled and lay quiet as she drowned in their depths. The dark blue with hints of gold, as his strength had done had her at peace, safe and protected, like she was home.

Why then was her heart hammering so hard she was sure everyone could hear it, or at least see it trying it’s darndest to explode from her chest. Drowned as she was in his bottomless eyes, she vaguely saw a curtain of soft dark waves framing a strong face, a long straight nose and thin lips.

Book Review: Nicola Marsh

2011-09-01T14:01:00.002+12:00

Buy it now!

I bought this story yesterday after i noticed on Nicola's blog (Romance, Rumours and Rogues) that this story was out for 0.99c on amazon kindle! She'd given a teaser to this on her blog either earlier in the year or end of last year, and i've wanted to read the whole thing ever since!

You all know that i LOVE Nicola Marsh's work. It's fresh, lively and i would so love to be able to capture her magic in my own writing (i'll just have to keep practicing and find my own!).

Fox and Lee are two very strong characters. You only have 7,200 words to get to know them, but on the last sentence i felt that i did know them. At least enough to anticipate what could possibly happen next!

Fast, hot and sizzling, with nowhere-to-run desire, this is a story you will devour in a few minutes. I only wanted more!

Here is the description from Amazon:

A Victorian Police Special Ops team leader joins forces with an Australian Defence Force Tactical Assault Group expert who specializes in biological warfare to stop an imminent chemical threat.

When the threat becomes personal and the body count mounts, they find themselves locked in a safe room, where they discover their sizzling history takes little to ignite.

(Previously published in The Mammoth Book of Special Ops)

Don't you just love how strong they both are!
Go, on buy it! It will certainly not disappoint!

Write Campaign

2011-08-28T16:13:00.000+12:00

Hi all!
I've joined the write campaign set up again by Rach Harrie!
I've joined the Romance/Sweet/Contemporary/historical group, and the Romantic Suspense group.
I look forward to visiting your blogs, adding you to my blog roll so i'm kept up to date with you all, and perhaps one day sharing some writing and helping with criticing (if that's what you'd like!).

Writing Tips: Climatic scene mirroring the Opening scene?

2011-08-24T17:15:00.000+12:00

Nicola Marsh went to the Romance Writers of Australia Conference and she has shared some of the things she learnt or heard.

During her blog post on writing style, ie, linear or scene writer, she gave this little gem:

In Bob Mayer's "POV & VOICE" session, he mentioned this:

"don't worry about the opening scene. Write the book. The climactic scene should mirror the opening scene therefore you can come back and write/rewrite the opening scene."

What do you think of that? Have you written the closing scene of any of your stories that mirrors the opening?

I guess it's a way of showing closure, or that the characters have gone through a change from the beginning to that final scene.

It is intriguing and i kind of like it! May have to try this for my Princess story as i can see a great conversation for that one ;)

Romantic Friday Writers: Confused

2011-08-12T07:07:00.002+12:00

The latest RFW topic. (Sorry i've been absent - have had many readings and an assignment for my diploma!)
From my Princess story, in chapter 1. Enjoy!

“Mum? What’s wrong?” Quickly she sat on the bed beside her, pulling her into a hug as her mother had always done for her. Tori was so worried when she saw her mother’s face sad and twinkling in the afternoon sunshine from shed tears. She’d never seen her mum cry, she was so private with emotions like that.

Elizabeth laughed self-consciously, wiping her elegant hands across her daughter’s cheeks. “Oh, nothing. Just being sentimental.”

Tori followed her mum’s gesture to the small box beside them on the bed. She hadn’t seen it as she’d rushed to give comfort.

Vaguely she recognised it. Tracing her fingers over the rose pictures torn from magazines and pasted onto the box, she realised it was the box she’d once found while playing hide and seek when about seven or eight. Looking at it caused a faint buzzing in her mind, as well as the flash of photos.

“This has old photos in it, right?” Mum wasn’t paying attention.

“Your feet were so tiny, we’d had to have these made several times before they fit.”

Her mum picked up the yellow booties and cradled them gently in her hands, but Tori was pulled towards the box, the buzzing growing louder, the lid half covering the contents. She wanted to see the inside. Needed to.

The photo she’d remembered was near the top, the people in it sitting stiffly on a large couch with thin legs and covered in a flower patterned upholstery. Tori automatically straightened her hunched shoulders to copy the pose of the woman, central on the seat. There was a hint of a smile on the woman’s lips, despite the stiffness of her pose, and Tori knew this lady was kind, softly spoken. It wasn’t mum though. Mum’s hair was mahogany. The lady’s hair was clearly blonde. Tori had a flash of sudden clarity that threw the picture into complete colour rather than the antique orange tinge. The lady’s hair was so pale it was nearly silver, and her vision knew it glinted brilliantly in the morning sun.

“Who is this?”

Word count: 348!
Code for critique: MPA (Minor Points acceptable)

Book Review: Gaelen Foley

2011-08-10T11:19:00.000+12:00

I have just finished the last book in Gaelen Foley's Knight Miscellany series, and it is fantastic! Set in the Regency period these seven stories are by no means the run of the mill Regency stories! Each one is so different.

Each has such an interesting plot and delightful characters i couldn't put any of the books down until they were finished!

Check out Gaelen's website for more information, and you MUST read this series if you love Regency novels!

On her website she ask:

Who's your favourite Knight Brother?

Is it the mysterious and coolly controlled head of the clan, Robert, the Duke of Hawkscliffe from The Duke? Or one of the irresistible twins—sly and sexy Lucien, the ex-spy in the Lord of Fire, or deadly Damien, the soldier from Lord of Ice?

Their spunky sister Jacinda Knight brings another bad boy into the family in Lady of Desire, while her best friend, lady’s companion, and honorary Knight “sister” is a bookish bluestocking hotly pursued by a decadent, aristocratic adventurer in Devil Takes a Bride

Rakehell Alec lives on the edge in One Knight of Sin, while wild Jack, the black sheep of the family, is running guns for South America freedom fighters in His Wicked Kiss.

I cannot chose my favourite - i love them all!

To critique or not critique...

2011-07-27T14:36:00.000+12:00

I've sent Billie and Cooper's story to my writing friend for feedback and she has been picking it apart. Line by line she is telling me where, as a reader she is lost, confused or if something just doesn't work.
Is it helping? Um, yes!

The way she has done it, with constructive feedback and even with examples of rewording, she is showing me where my weaknesses are and how i need to strengthen my story.
Mostly, it has to do with my characters. At the end of chapter 3 she has said there is nothing to make her love either character. Like, yes, but love with the driving need to keeping reading. No.

And that is the point. Every story needs to have compelling characters, something about them that makes you the reader relate or want to root for them.

So, after a bit of a sulk, i've gone back to the beginning and picked apart my characters and the story to make them stronger.

The best part? By helping me she has told me it has made her more aware of her own writing. She is learning from helping.
I found that critiquing Nicole's story that it made me think more about mine, the structure, characters, conflict, even the choice of words about my own writing.
Critiquing teaches you so much about yourself, both as a reader and a writer.

The challenge for the writer is to take the feedback, either made by someone else or by themselves while giving feedback on other writers work, and make their writing better for it!

So, this post could really be a writing tip. Take the time to critique someone else's writing - preferrably in the same genre that you write, but that isn't essential. It will help you become a better writer.

Nicola Marsh giveaway!

2011-07-14T08:18:00.000+12:00

My absolutely fav Mills and Boon author, Nicola Marsh, is doing a massive giveaway! 7 of her fabulous books!!
Visit her blog for entry details to get her awesome "fun flirty fiction with flare!"

I have a few reviews of her books on my blog, so have a browse to find out why i like her stories!

Introducing Raquel Byrnes and her novel, Purple Knot!

2011-07-11T07:19:00.000+12:00

Raquel Byrnes lives in Southern, California with her husband of sixteen years and their six children. She considers inspirational fiction a wonderful way to minister to others. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-your-seat pace. Her first book the Shades of Hope Series, Purple Knot, releases on June 3rd from White Rose Publishing. You can visit her at her website: www.raquelbyrnes.com and her writing blog, Edge of Your Seat Romance.

As part of her blog tour to promote her book and writing, Raquel stopped by here. Sit back and have a visit with Raquel!

What would you be doing if you couldn’t write?

I apprenticed for a pastry chef when I was first married and I think I’d go back to that if for some reason I couldn’t write. European pastries are my favorite!

If you could trade places with anyone who would it be?

With my son, Noah, just for a day. He has autism. He’s high-functioning and doing great, but I’d love to see the world as he does.

Many writers think of writing a novel long before they actually do it. Was there something that pushed you to finally get it started?

I had a bunch of notes in a journal from an experience with a friend of mine. All the worry and hope from those days called to me for a story. I found a way to convey those feelings through a novel idea I’d been playing with for some time.

What is your favorite genre to read?

I do like a good romance, but I’m also a huge fan of the police procedural. Cop dramas really get my imagination going.

Are you a procrastinator or self-motivated?

Maybe too self-motivated. My husband has to remind me to take a break when I’m really on a roll. He helps me with balance in my life.

Would you consider your writing style more of a designer or a builder? Meaning do you give your stories plenty of room to unfold their own way naturally, or do you build them one step at a time?

Both really. I have a solid structure of what and where and when. Then use the framework to let the who push the story. I outline to the hilt and then often deviate from that outline in a big way. It’s kind of my security blanket.

Describe for us your perfect hero/heroine.

I think someone I would spend time with in real life. Would I have coffee with this person? I spend months with characters that are flawed but ultimately redeemed and I like how they think. A perfect heroine is someone who has a heart for God and trusts Him no matter what.

Do you use setting as another character or simply as backdrop?

More and more so setting and weather have become like characters in my novels. Especially when the setting is new or very different from where the character is used to it can be very effective as a sort of antagonist.

What do you find hardest to write, beginning, middle or end?

The beginning is hard for me because I don’t have that intimate knowledge of how a character will react or what they will say yet. Once I’ve been with them through some conflicts, it gets easier and then the story just rolls.

What story element is usually first to come into focus for you? Plot, characters, theme?

I like to think of a plot first. Then I figure out the worst possible personality to face that conflict. It makes for very interesting situations.

What draws you into a story?

The love aspect. It’s tough to weather conflict as a couple. I find it fascinating to see how two people manage to not only survive, but thrive in a situation that would blow others apart. It’s the push and pull of indecision and insecurity or past experiences that may be affecting the relationship that ultimately hook me.

Have you bought a book based solely on the back cover blurb?

Yes. That is how I usually buy books. Do I feel compelled to answer the questions on the back cover? Did I get hooked on the premise?

What do you love to hear from your readers?

I like to hear them talk about the characters as if they go on after the novel. I love being asked if I plan to bring them back. If a reader misses a character, got so involved that seeing them in another book is exciting, then I’ve earned my keep.

Thanks so much for stopping by Raquel! Good luck with your future writing and sales for your current book, Purple Knot. (available on Amazon now!)

Purple Knot Blurb:

A killer strikes. A love rekindled. A life-altering choice. Reyna, returns to the life she fled to solve her best friend's murder. Forced to join with her ex-fiance, James, as their romance relights, so do the memories of the tragedy that tore them apart. Can they stop a killer before it’s too late for a second chance at love?

Forgiven - Romantic Friday Writers

2011-07-08T19:43:00.000+12:00

click to read other entries!

This is a snippet from my story The Price of Passion:

“What do you want?”

“I only want to say that I love you.”

To say she was floored is an understatement. It was the last thing she expected and it felt like a punch in the face.

“You’ve got to be joking,” she knew her laugh sounded shrill and desperate, didn’t care. “An hour ago you didn’t want to see me again. You kicked me out of my home, want to take my baby and now you say you love me?” She’d been wrong. Pain slashed at her chest so hard she hugged herself to stop it from bleeding outside her skin.

Warm, rough but gentle hands framed her face and she couldn’t, just couldn’t move away as Cooper sought her eyes with his own.

“I’m not joking.”

She couldn’t get a read on the truth. His eyes were wide and shimmering with things she’d only dreamed she’d see, desperately wanted to see. Didn’t want to believe, in case he was playing with her.

“I don’t believe you.” She hated how out of breath and pained she sounded. If he kept this up she was going to have another panic attack, and she’d believed she had them under control. Ha! Nothing was in control when it came to Cooper.

“I’m sorry, Billie. Sorry for not trusting you, for not believing in you. You’re the most honest woman I’ve met in a long time, and I wasn’t ready to trust, to risk.”

Did she dare believe it? “But?”

“Now I am.” He drew her towards him, one hand on her shoulder and other splayed on her neck, his face close enough to see the white tips at the end of his long eyelashes.

“I shouldn’t have kept the baby from you-”

Cooper kissed her finger. “I understand why you did, and I admire you for taking the chance to tell me of your love, even in the face of my rejection. Even now for forgiving me.” He hoped that was what was happening. Everything, the past two weeks of his anger and feeling betrayed, her admission of love today and his harsh negation of it, the realisation of his love for this bold, honest, striking woman, left him in a confusion of feeling that impossibly boiled down to doubt. Had he blown it?

“I forgive you, Cooper. I love you.

Mills & Boon = bad. WHAT?

2011-07-08T16:58:00.000+12:00

This morning on the way to playgroup, i heard something astonishing on the radio.
The presenter read that a study has shown that Mills & Boon gives readers a rose-tinted look at love and relationships, and that it is bad!
Seriously?
All the M&B's i've read have realistic heroes and heroines struggling with real-life problems and facing real-life and often painful consequences, and demanding the best from the person they love.

I found it interesting that Kate Walker and Donna Alward both had posts about an article in the Telegrath. Both are writers for Mills and Boon.
Check out their sites (click their names) to read what they have to say!

I am in agreement with Donna and would love to know what books the reseachers or the journalist has read to base their facts on. Personally i think that readers are well aware of fiction and real-life, no matter how life-like the romance novels they read are!
Sheesh!

p.s - still looking for critiquers/readers for my story. The help will be much appreciated!!

Critiquers/ Editors wanted!

2011-07-07T10:51:00.000+12:00

I have decided to post my story - The Price of Passion (see WIP's page) - on Amazon.
But, i need to get a few critiques and/or edits to make it sharper and less generic.
Is there anyone out there willing to do this for me?

It's 50,000 originally aimed at mills and boon. So it's a very internal conflict driven story, with hardly any plot. I like it, but it does need some work.

Let me know and once it's up on Amazon i will give critiquers/editors a free copy of the final work!

Send me an email and i'll wing the WIP your way for your much needed help!
Cheers

POV: First or third person? Or, both!

2011-07-04T05:40:00.006+12:00

I write in third person. For me it's just easier, gives me the way to hint at what the other character is thinking by describing their reactions from the main characters POV.
I have tried writing in first person, and it just doesn't sit with me.

My friend Nicole, has written her book the Arrival in an interesting mix of first person and third person. She has had many comments on how confusing it is, so you shouldn't do it.
Here is an article about how to do it, and that you can do it.

Nicole's way is not to change POV per scene but rather most of the characters have their POV in the same scene to give the reader and interesting and new way of broadening each scene.
I will admit that at first it was a tad confusing. I had told her the same, not to do it! But she was firm in her choice and i applaud her for that. I am by no means a professional, and after a few chapters it actually all came together.
That and the interesting story!

What do you think of switching from third person to first person in a single work?
If you've read Nicole's book, The Arrival (It's free on Amazon, so there's no excuse!) how did you take her interesting style?
What is your POV preference - both writing and reading!

Book Review

2011-07-02T18:30:00.001+12:00

This month i read a fantastic book by Kathleen Givens (who sadly passed away!). I love historical romance. My favourite historical author is Julie Garwood, but i was spellbound by this story.
A strong woman who i aware of another destiny, she marries a man who betrays her, but is in love with an Irishman who will stop at nothing to have her by his side.
Powerful, evocative and so passionate - i was lost in this story. It's too bad i won't (and other readers!) get the next installment and find out what happens to Margaret's sister and if they find her brother.
I compel you to read this book - it's beautiful!

From RITA Award winner Kathleen Givens comes a magnificently conceived, intricately detailed novel that brings to vivid life the tumult, adventure, and passion of thirteenth-century Scotland, when Norse invaders laid claim to the land and its people-and an explosive clash of cultures, politics and personal pride changed the world forever.

1263: On Scotland’s western shore, the village of Somerstrath prepares for the joyous wedding of Margaret MacDonald, the laird’s daughter. But a dark storm of bloodshed and betrayal is closing in, as a merciless band of Vikings roams the seas. Margaret is determined to hold her clan together and to locate her abducted younger brother. Can she trust the noblemen from King Alexander’s court, who insist that only by adhering to a betrothal conceived for political gain will she find safety? Or should she trust an imposing half-Irish, half-Norse warrior? Gannon MacMagnus alone offers her hope of reuniting her family and vanquishing the barbarous Norsemen. In whom should Margaret entrust the fate of the rugged, magnificent land she calls home?

(from kathleengivens.com)

Royalties

2011-06-30T12:54:00.000+12:00

It has been brought to my attention that Dear Author has an interview with Harlequin about their changes to the royalty system. Have a read!

I find it really interesting that an author gets so little for their work!
I understand that authors have to pay the cost for cover artists, marketing and publishing, but still - the publishing company gets heaps, money they wouldn't get without the authors work in the first place!

What is your opinion on it?

Friday Writer

2011-06-24T16:10:00.000+12:00

This week's theme is Love Hurts! Click on the image to go to the Romantic Friday Writer site for details!

This week your MCs have a dilemma to solve. Maybe both MCs are facing a crisis point in their relationship, and one or the other decides to resolve the problem in the only way they know how. Perhaps an MC has chosen to confide in a third party, their advice invaluable. Or, a misread/misdirected text/email has caused angst, heartache and bitterness, where a simple explanation can heal a fast-breaking heart.

From my Princess story. I wrote this for a blog post a while ago - sorry, i haven't had a chance to write something new!:

He'd used her. To gain access to power he'd actually done as she'd asked, changed her world, her whole perspective on sex, love, everything. And he'd had another agenda all along.

The pain in her chest was crushing and she bent over clutching her heart, gasping for air.

How could she have been so stupid? She'd let down her guard, let him in and he wasn't what she'd thought.

But it had all seemed so real. The looks, the touches, the words. But that's all they'd been. Shallow reflections of what she'd always been looking for, wondering, had thought she'd found.

But her first theory had been right. Fairytales were for books, not real life.

It crushed her, devastating her with the sharpness of his betrayal. With the discovery of the world's biggest lie.

How could he do this to her? He'd said he cared for her. Every look, touch, every time he'd spoken to her his eyes had been filled with... oh, she was a fool. She'd probably imagined the soft affection in his eyes.

He'd taught her that sex could be fantastic, mind-blowing. But for him it had been a means to power.

And for her? For her it had been everything. She'd given him her heart and he'd taken it, enmeshed it in his lies and now she was broken.

With a deep breath Tori steeled herself. Like hell she was going to take it lying down. She was through being treated like a non-entity by men.

Rising from the damp grass at the edge of the lake she ignored the chill in her jeans and strode with increasing purpose across the Castle estate to find him.

Click on the image above to see what other Friday Writer's have written!

Would you pass up a free book?

2011-06-20T13:16:00.001+12:00

No?
Well neither are hundreds of other people!
The Arrival by Nicole MacDonald is FREE on amazon in kindle!
If you were unsure if you wanted to buy it before, now is your chance to get it for free - nothing lost, if it's not your thing. But, i can tell you that you will enjoy it!

The Blurb:

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress. Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain. Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'. Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize.

Go on! Grab your copy today, and don't forget to help Nicole out by posting a review on Amazon, or drop by her blog and tell her your thoughts!

And, if you like it, you will be pleased to know Nicole has nearly finished her first draft of the sequel The Awakening!

Holiday = unproductive writing-wise

2011-06-19T21:15:00.001+12:00

So i've had three weeks holiday between semesters and you'd have thought i would have capitalised on the opportunity to write? Right?!

Nope. For the first week, i read three books on my TBR (To be read) pile. Second week i did a bit of housework (a very little bit!), and read two more books.

And this week that's sped by superfast? I DID do some writing, but only on Monday. After fluffing about reading what i'd previously written and making some minor changes, i think i managed about 600 words.
But, i did some critiquing. Have read through some of Nicole MacDonald's second book in her trilogy, and people! It gets so much better! Promises the same unique POV style that is only Nicole, more tension, more fantastical animals, more twists, more everything! I am prowling my inbox for the next part!!

Tomorrow starts my last week of the break, so i am going to write everyday! Then send off my stuff to critique partners and friends for feedback so far.

What do you do when you have a break? Write, read? Nothing?
Sometimes it is great to do nothing. I think i was mostly trying to stay away from the computer. My early childhood study course is online - we have to have a presence every day, so yeah. I was getting away from the computer. But, back to it this week...

Birthday Winner

2011-06-13T15:51:00.000+12:00

Okay, so after putting the names into the hat for another draw....

Francine Howarth please contact me for your prize! kerrinhearfield AT hotmail DOT com

My Birthday...and Winner!

2011-06-08T13:47:00.000+12:00

Subservient Husband you are the winner of my mystery present! Woohoo! Please email me at kerrinhearfield AT hotmail DOT com with your address!

I had a fantastic day. I treated the ladies at playgroup with some yummy carrot cake muffins complete with cream cheese icing.
Then after dropping my daughter off to a friends' i went shopping! Just for me!
This is so rare. Usually i wistfully glance at the things i'd love to browse through/try on whilst shopping for the kids. So with birthday money burning my bank account i had a blast! A few tops, pair of boots and some bling later...
I returned home at the same time as hubby. We went cake and wine shopping, rented a dvd then picked up the kids (My fantastic friend had both my kids after school and kindy!).
Oh, i felt so spoilt!

Birthday - and a contest!

2011-06-01T08:37:00.000+12:00

It's my birthday in 6 days (June7) and i'm excited!

I always feel like a kid when it's my birthday and i don't care that i'm going to be another day older!
The kids are excited and have been making me cards for a week now - i'm going to have so many lovely things to put away - and i hope i don't have to cook dinner on that day.

Do you like birthdays? Yours?
What's the most memorable birthday you have had?

I'll check the comments right up until the 7th then draw out a random winner for a special surprise from NZ! (Will obviously contact you for address!)

Inspiration is all around us

2011-05-23T13:40:00.000+12:00

Yeah, my son brought home a careers book from the library and it had some awesome jobs in there from Forensic Scientists, botanists, Entymologists and a stack load more.
Then i had an idea with the Entymologist career, that snowballed into a fullon outline of characters conflicts and their life aspirations - i love how tiny things can create the best ideas! I know i'll work on this idea as soon as i have finished my current WIPs!

Have you had any great inspiration lately? Was it from something tiny or huge?

The Arrival, only 99c

2011-05-18T08:00:00.001+12:00

Yeah i'm promoting my friends book for two reasons:
1. It's a really great story!
and 2. I want to win the chocolate from her competition!

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress. Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.

The Arrival, follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain. Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'. Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize.

Click on the image in my left side bar to be taken directly to the Amazon for kindle page! Or click on the image in this post.

Here Comes the Bride

2011-05-17T11:10:00.000+12:00

My daughter is fascinated with Weddings at the moment, and of course Princesses.
This morning we watched my wedding dvd and oh! the memories :)
Then of course we had to pull out dress and have a try on - it's too big, but nothing a little altering couldn't fix! I plan on wearing it for my 30th. I'm going to have a theme party.

My dress is made in empire style, much the same as the dresses in Pride and Prejudice.
Our wedding was 6 years ago, and very casual. We got married in my parents backyard, with all our friends taking photos in lieu of a photographer. It was lovely!
Listening to our vows (which we wrote ourselves!) was wonderful and funny. We have changed so much but are still very much in love.
I really do have my Happily Ever After - of course with all the bumps and bruises and kisses that go along with it!

My daughter has a dress up wedding dress, i have no idea where my mother in law got it from - it's too short to fit her tall frame!

What do you remember about your wedding?

Writing Tip: Write a little every day

2011-05-11T13:33:00.002+12:00

Yep, even a sentence. That way you are getting some words down, practicing your craft every day.
If you are a serious writer - and i bet you are! - writing something every day will help you develop better as a writer, not to mention getting your word count up, however slowly it may be!

Do you write a little every day?

Get The Arrival At cut price!

2011-05-04T14:09:00.000+12:00

Wow, this is not to be beaten!!
Four girls, sick of the lack of men in their lives cast a spell and it propels them to another world...to their destinies and soul mates? Buy it at the bargain price of 99c!!

Click the image below to get it from Amazon on kindle.

What profession do you give your heroes?

2011-05-03T16:28:00.000+12:00

A study has been conducted on Harlequin novels for the professions women seem to prefer to write, and read about. Check it out here

My heroes professions to date have been/are:
Realtor
Heir to a tribe (historical)
Game Developer
Bodyguard/Member of Parliament

My heroines:
Artist
Head of Administration for the ChildCare
Student/Princess
Warrior(!!)

Do tell me what professions you like to read about for your heroes - and heroines!
And what do you write them as?

Book Review - a double!

2011-04-28T19:53:00.001+12:00

Well, i've read two fantastic books this month and i just couldn't choose which one to tell you about - so i'm doing both!

Walk on the Wild Side by Natalie Anderson (NZ author!!!) writing for Mills & Boon Riva.
This is HOT! I love how the heroine Kelsi is so unconventional. And I mean in looks! Jack is of course to die for, but this doesn't detract from the specialness of this story. Instead of giving anything away, here is the blurb from the back cover. And. GO and READ it!!

A fling with sinfully hot champion snowboarder Jack Greene isn't Kelsi Reid's normal behavior.but one glimpse of his wicked eyes has Kelsi throwing caution to the deep blue sea (along with her clothes!). After all, who better to go crazy with than a man who deserves a gold medal for his prowess on the slopes and in the bedroom.? Then Kelsi crashes down with a terrifying bump - of the baby kind. They couldn't be worse matched - Jack is Mr. Right-Now, while Kelsi craves stability. But it's hard to keep your feet on the ground once you've met the man who turns your world upside down..

And the second book is:

Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice writing for Mills & Boon Modern Heat (Sexy Sensation in Oz and NZ)

This story had me on the edge of my seat! I have never read a story where the man pleasures a woman just for that - her pleasure! And i mean without him culminating the act!
Then the story that built from it, WOW! I love the fact that SHE saves HIM at the beginning. A nice simple twist that leads to so much more.
The blurb:

Honed, handsome, and needing the kiss of life...

Millionaire entrepreneur Ryan King is mortified: he's just been pulled from the ocean by a pretty female lifeguard! Why, after months recovering from a horrific motorbike accident, did he get back on his surfboard? For the same reason he wants a hot, wild woman back in his bed - to prove he's the same man he was before...

Maddy Westmore is shocked to find that this half-drowned, totally gorgeous surfer has her body humming! She always ends up getting used - maybe this time it's her turn to do the using? It's the short, sizzling affair they both need - until their dangerously addictive liaison careers out of control...

Now, i just LOVE the covers of these books - new modern covers. But they aren't available on the shelves here in NZ so i had to order them from the 'net. You can order them from either authors website (click on their names above as i've linked it to their website!) or the book depository or your fav online store - just search through the titles and choose the cover you MUST have!

These are both awesome authors, both have joined my auto-buy list!!

Invaluable friends

2011-04-27T13:38:00.000+12:00

Having organised a playdate yesterday for my kids turned out to be very fruitful for my muse.
This playdate was with a friend, who also happens to be a budding writing. We discussed our current WIPS and she detected a weakness of motivation or reason in my story about friends with benefits.
Discussing deeper reasons for why my heroine does what she does, and my heroes refusal has cemented their conflict, their past and hopefully their HEA.

Don't you love friends who you can discuss your writing with, and they 'get' it?!
I only hope i'm as much of a help to her as she is to me!

Show not Tell - Final Crusader Challenge

2011-04-23T10:00:00.002+12:00

Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge: In 300 words or less, write a passage (it can be an excerpt from your WIP, flash fiction, a poem, or any other writing) that shows (rather than tells) the following:

you're scared and hungry
it's dusk
you think someone is following you
and just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: shimmer, saccadic, substance, and salt.

Click the link above to read other entries!

Stumbling like a drunk against the cold stone walls, tripping over things without substance, I fought to control myself.

She was coming. Had to keep moving, the light shimmered ahead in the doorway like a beacon from Heaven. Heaven before me, hell behind.

The fear clutched at me, tightening my lungs, constricting my heart. Hardly any breath, unsteady legs, stinging salt of tears and sweat trickling into my mouth. Not good enough. The energy was sapping rapidly now, my stomach a gnawing knot of emptiness.

The dimming light, warmth from the sun dying, proof the third day was ending.

Keep going, must keep going.

Resting against the freezing stone wall for a nanosecond, my eyes doing a saccadic dance between the beacon of salvation and the echoing footsteps in the dark. The damp seeps into my pores, fills my nostrils with the stench of my own fear. Not like this, please. I don't want to die.

The echoing steps come closer, a rapid staccato on the concrete ground.

With a strangled cry my legs move of their own accord, pulled by the invisible cord of instinct to safety. Nearly there. If only my legs weren't so wobbly. Damn it, run!

200 words! What do you think?

Searching the inbox

2011-04-20T08:27:00.000+12:00

About 8 weeks ago i submitted The Price of Passion to Embrace books, an epublisher.
At the end of the allotted 6 weeks they informed me it would take to get back to me, i hummed and hahhed, bit my nails and sent a nice email asking about the status of my sub.
Got a very nice reply apologising for taking so long and to expect a reply by the end of the following week.

Last night i checked my email and there it was.... . I spent a good ten seconds considering not opening it until morning but then curiosity got the better of me.
With one part fear (If it was an acceptance i knew i'd have a whole lot of work ahead of me! If an R, what if there was no feedback for why?), and one part excitement (If it was accepted, my dream would be partially coming true - would still prefer to be published in book form), i opened it.

I got a very nice R.
It was full of constructive feedback such as that i didn't use enough dialogue (something i struggle with!); i had resorted to a cliche with my heroines actions; i have good punchy writing but at the wrong times - i need to slow the pace down at crucial moments, not gloss over the important stuff!
But, the editor said i am readable have a good voice, i just used the wrong conventions.

Now i can take this two ways (there are probably more but i'm trying to keep it simple :D):

Use the feedback and re-write Billie and Cooper's story, or
Use the feedback and apply it to a different set of characters

I think i'm tending towards the second as i have done all i could (at the moment) for Billie and Cooper, and i have other stories on the go. So i'll plod on with those, with the feedback in mind and submit something else when i'm done!

What do you do with your feedback?

Writing Tip: Writing to a method

2011-04-19T13:08:00.001+12:00

I started my first novel Secrets and Lies by plotting it out. By the end of it i found that it was difficult to write because i was bored - i already knew how it was going to end and what happened next! So my subsequent novel, The Price of Passion i wrote follower the pantser method - writing by the seat of my pants and letting my characters lead me!

But, i think if you have a careful mix of the two, a general brief outline and maybe a few key scenes mapped out, this can help directionise your story whilst still giving you the chance to let your characters lead!

So, i'm testing this theory with the below method but being brief for my new single title - Suddenly Royal!. But i think it's well worth having a look at other methods and using them to your own writing style.

TEN STEPS TO THE SNOWFLAKE METHOD (courtesy of Nicole MacDonald at Damsel in a Dirty Dress)

Step One – Write a one-sentence summary of your novel. The best summary sentence is one that includes a reference to the character who has the most to lose and the thing he or she wants most to win.

Step Two – Expand your sentence into a full paragraph. In this paragraph, you should include the story set-up, each disaster, and the ending. You can decide the cause of each disaster, whether it is internally caused or brought on by external circumstances, and include those details as well.

Step Three – Next, your characters. For each of your major characters, write a one page summary sheet that includes the following:

The character’s name

A one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline

The character’s motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)

The character’s goal (what does he/she want concretely?)

The character’s conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?)

The character’s epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?)

A one-paragraph summary of the character’s storyline

Step Four – Expand each sentence of your summary paragraph from step two into a full paragraph. All but the last paragraph should end in a disaster. The final paragraph should tell how the book ends.

At the completion of step four, you should have a fairly concise one-page skeleton of your novel. (Don’t sweat it if it’s longer or shorter than one page. The point is that you are taking your seed of a story from step one and growing and expanding it.)

Step Five – Write a one-page synopsis of the story from the point of view of each major character. (For more minor characters, you may want to write a half a page.) This step may seem tedious (and it can be time-consuming if you have a lot of major characters,) but it will really get you into the heads of the people who will give your story life. You will begin to see where they agree and where they clash. While plot is always important, honestly drawn characters are what make us lose ourselves in a novel.

Step Six – Take a fresh look at your one-page plot synopsis from step four and expand it into a four-page synopsis. One way to approach this would be to expand each paragraph from step four into its own page. This step gives you the chance to find the complexity in your story, discover new plot ideas that may have been inspired by your character explorations in step five, and weave in subplots. By keeping it to four pages, you can also easily identify plot holes or problems with the story’s logic.

Step Seven – Expand your character summaries from step three into full-blown character charts. Make sure that you not only know each character’s motivations and goals, but also the smaller details, such as the one thing they would grab before running from a burning house, or the person who has been the greatest influence on them. This is the step where you make sure your characters are fully alive in your mind.

Step Eight – Take the expanded synopsis you created in step six and make a list of every scene that needs to be written to tell your story. If you’re adept with spreadsheets, creating one for this task will allow you to use the columns for details such as setting and POV character. For those of you who like to hold your writing in your hands, index cards will work just as well.

Step Nine – Using the scene list, write several pages of narrative for each scene. If you choose to add in dialogue, that’s fine. By the end of this step, you’ll have a miniature rough draft of your book.

Step Ten – Write your first draft!

Writing Tip: Writing Time

2011-04-16T10:18:00.000+12:00

In this busy time of study, kids homework, sports, housework etc, one writing tip i'd picked up during blog hopping has been glaring at me.

It is essential for the development of your craft, and indeed your sanity if you're anything like me and have to write!, to block out days or mornings or what ever time you can get on your calendar, and STICK TO IT!

Let people know that your writing time is not a negotiable hobby, but is important to you.
At the moment i've found it hard to do this as unfortunately everything else has been more important.
But, a friend and i are now getting together one whole day a week, the kids play together and we sit at the table with our laptops and immerse ourselves in our writing. It's not enough time really, but it is better than none.

How do you carve out precious writing time during your busy lives??

Describe This

2011-04-12T08:22:00.000+12:00

As he slanted his talented mouth over hers, she saw the flash then heard the loud crack of the fireworks bursting in the sky, matching the rhythm and boom of her heart. Being held by him, kissed by him was like a fireworks display all on it's own. She was certain when she closed her eyes, the burst of gold shaped like a dandelion was the passion she felt welling inside her, and not in the sky as the crack and boom suggested.

Your turn!

Patience and a Writing tip

2011-04-06T11:46:00.000+12:00

Um, okay. So i submitted The Price of Passion to embrace books and have patiently (read checked emails every day!) for the allotted 4-6 weeks for a reply. Yesterday was the end of 6 weeks....
Do i send an email and ask how they are going, will this garner an instant R? And if i do send an email WHAT DO I SAY?
I've always heard back within time frames so have never had this happen before! I'd love some advice.

Writing tip: Keep detailed notes.
Have you ever come across a story you are really enjoying and halfway through the hero has different coloured eyes?

I find it hard to keep track of small details like that, though not usually for the MC's!
On my christmas present laptop my husband installed microsoft office which has onenote. It has awesome pages and tabs great for organising my study notes, so i thought....why not use it for writing?
And it is fantastic! A new page for characters, plot etc, each with tabs within the page for different characters, key scenes....
It is making it so much easier to find things at a quick glance, rather than having to read through an entire word document for the bit I want!

So the tip this week, is to keep detailed notes that are quick to find!
Have a great day :)

Describe this

2011-04-05T12:24:00.000+12:00

Sorry i'm late! I'm bogged down with an assignment due midnight tonight, and i'm going to need most of the day!

Okay, we have a balloons over waikato festival every year and this is a photo my husband took of the dawn parade.
Have a shot at describing it, stretch those writing muscles ;D

As the dawn crept through the lightening sky, giving the landscape dark shape, a lone balloon drifted just above the trees. It's soft glow from the burners, it's shape thrown into contrast against the blueing bakdrop. Silent, still, lovely.

okay, now it's your turn!

Monthly Book Review

2011-03-31T07:08:00.001+13:00

I was given this from a close friend to read. It reminded me of the books i used to read about the wild frontier, devouring the information liberally spread throughout the story that depicted what life was like way back when, following their struggle with life and love...and this book didn't disappoint!
With 4.5 stars on amazon it is highly deserved. Rich with description, vivid in the emotions you feel along with the characters, the pages just fly by. And, *spoiler alert* i loved how the author didn't just kill of Clementine's husband so she could have the man she wanted!
I really appreciated the depth of emotion Ms Williamson put her characters through to get to where they did, and me along with it. Read it, you won't be sorry!

Here is the back blurb:

Clementine Kennicutt, a ladylike New Englander, aches to leave her home and her oppressive father. So when Gus McQueen, a cowboy with laughing eyes and big dreams, presses her to elope with him to his Montana ranch, she is ready. But nothing has prepared her for the harsh realities of frontier life, or for the unpredictable hankering of her heart--and least of all for the fact that almost from the first moment she sets eyes on Zach, Gus's dashing, ne'er do-well brother, she knows he's the one she was destined to love. Brought up to be a lady, Clementine determines not to let the frontier--or her marriage--defeat her. She devours life, befriending the town prostitute, defending Indians, and suppressing her heart's desire, until Zach forces her to face him and make her choice.

What have you been reading that has evoked strong emotions in you?

Editing - love it or hate it?

2011-03-24T07:12:00.004+13:00

Found this wonderful blog post in my inbox yesterday and it puts a whole new spin on editing, and loving it!

Check it out here!

Thanks Larry Brooks for letting Therese share this with us :)

Writing Tip today

2011-03-23T13:43:00.001+13:00

Sorry, this weeks tip is short and to the point. I'm swamped with impending assignments and readings!

Just keep writing!
If you have hit a road bump in your story; just keep writing. It will come back to you.
If you don't have any inspiration; just write, you will soon find some ;)

So with that VERY short tip, i'm off and will hopefully get time for my own writing later tonight!

Just keep writing!!

eBooks and self-publishing are the way to go!

2011-03-22T22:07:00.000+13:00

Wow, one author recently turned down half a million dollars to self publish!

Check out this discussion with Joe Konrath for the details.

Really makes me want to go ahead with my vague idea to self epublish!
What do you think??

Sunset in Fiordland

2011-03-21T08:49:00.000+13:00

Sun Set in the west - Photo by Chris Hishon. This photo is taken at the entrance of the fiord from the M.V. Mariner doing its over night cruise of Milford Sound. Chris Hishon is the skipper.
http://www.fiordlandlocalnz.com/gallery/photos-of-milford-sound.aspx

Okay, sorry about the pic quality, but you get the idea :)

I'll start off with my description, please share yours!!

Proudly glowing just behind the jutting mainland, the golden orb sets the sky alight with a burnished light, it's rays creating shafts of yellow and gold through the dimming sky and casting a dazzling light on the gently rolling water.

Inner Dialogue

2011-03-16T07:33:00.001+13:00

For Wednesday's Writing Tip i am again prompted by the fantastic K M Weiland (see left side blog roll to find her website).

She lists five ways that internal monologue are great for your story;
1. Lets your characters think
2. Shows personality through word choice
3. Shows personality through how the character views the world
4. Illustrates character arc
and she cautions to do these by
5. Choosing the best way to punctuate thoughts without stopping the reader flow.

I love internal monologue, this is one of my writing strengths, and weakness. I get so into my characters that i find it difficult to get them talking, to pace the story and make it more alive through their spoken voices and conversations.
But this helps me get to know them deeper, to great that page turning quality we all want. I just have to learn to pepper it in with speech!

What do you think of internal narrative? What is your writing strength or weakness?

Describe this

2011-03-15T07:43:00.000+13:00

A day late, but i think i can be excused!

So today's image is of a beautiful little Lane, here in my hometown of Hamilton, New Zealand.
Have a go at describing it and i'll post a random description on thursday!
Sorry, after making the image bigger, it isn't all that clear! But have a go anyway.

Here's mine:
Terracota paved pathway in a quaint little alley. Wrought iron posts with hanging signs depicting the stylish and gorgeous wares in their stores. Like a whole new country in the middle of a busy city district this is a place to spend time and waste time. Charming hanging baskets of flowers and old school oil lanterns on the walls, now electric.

Well, i suck at descriptions so show me your best!

Broken Heart blogfest

2011-03-14T10:13:00.000+13:00

My first blogfest, and amidst reading for my diploma if thought this would break up the pace nicely!
So here is my entry with a scene of less than 1,000 words:

"the basic idea is to write about a heart breaking or one that is already broken. Show us the wretched emotions, the anger, depression, fear, whatever happens after the happy honeymooon lovey-dove V-day stuff is over and all that is left is a broken heart."

He'd used her. To gain access to power, he'd actually done as she'd asked, changed her world, her whole perspective on sex, love, everything. And he'd had another agenda all along.
The pain in her chest was crushing and she bent over clutching her heart, gasping for air.
How could she have been so stupid? She'd let down her guard, let him in and he wasn't what she'd thought.
But it had all seemed so real. The looks, the touches, the words. But that's all they'd been. Shallow reflections of what she'd always been looking for, wondering, and had thought she'd found.
But her first theory had been right. Fairytales were for books, not real life.
It crushed her, devastating her with the sharpness of his betrayal. With the discovery of the world's biggest lie.
How could he do this to her? He'd said he cared for her. Every look, touch, every time he'd spoken to her his eyes had been filled with... oh she was a fool. She'd probably imagined the soft affection in his eyes. He'd taught her that sex could be fantastic, mind-blowing. But for him it had been a means to power. And for her? For her it had been everything. She'd given him her heart and he'd taken it, enmeshed it in his lies and now she was broken.

Well, when i'd started this i'd hoped it would be something separate from any of my three WIPs. Turns out my Princess story just won't be banished, even for a blogfest!
Hope you've enjoyed my snippet!

Have fun with yours if you have joined!!

when inspiration strikes

2011-03-12T22:47:00.000+13:00

I have a love hate relationship with inspiration.
When i have the time to sit down and write i don't seem to have that inspiration and it turns into a hard slog until i finally get into the groove, and then my precious time is up!
But when i've got that inspiration it's just as i've gotten into bed and think i can finally sleep, or i'm in the car on the way to school drop off, or watching a movie spending some quality time with my husband... I love that inspiration because i can get a few thousand words down with a minimum of fuss, but it's always at the wrong time!

I did maximize my writing word count in January by having three WIP's on the go. Yep, 3! When inspiration struck it was for either of the 3 and i just went for it, and got the most word count (collectively) that i have ever.

What do you do with your inspiration? Do you have more than one WIP on the go? When does inspiration usually strike for you?

Authorial Voice

2011-03-09T08:16:00.021+13:00

Do you get confused or totally bewildered when you read/hear the comment "voice"?

What is this "voice" other authors and those in the industry keep talking about?

How i understand it, it is the way you put sentences together, the emphasis you put on certain parts of writing, the total overview that is totally "you" whenever you write.
You know your writing is fake when you are trying to emulate someone else, but when you have it right, the words just flow and are all from you. This is your voice.

From Wordplay, K.M Weiland tells us:
"Sometimes an authorial voice is something we consciously produce, but usually it’s just a natural manifestation of our inner voices. Everything we write—whether we’re crafting a text message or trying to mimic a foreign dialect—naturally occurs in our own unique voice."

From her fabulous book 12 point guide to writing romance, Kate Walker says:
- it's your own particular style, the way you tell your story
For more tips visit her blog

How would you describe your "voice"?

Mine is quite intense, i seem to thrive on the characters deepest darkest fears/emotions and making them live/voice them. Yep, my writing it kind of intense but that is where the passion comes from!

Describe this

2011-03-08T08:31:00.001+13:00

I thought it may be an interesting feature to test our writing skills by trying to describe pictures.

I think we'll start with this one, the heroine of my story is called Billie, played here by Catherine McCormick.
I've chosen this one because i am having a hard time describing her hair do.

So, let's have some fun and see how creative you can be! I'll post some of the descriptions on thursday for you all to comment on!

Making your Characters Suffer

2011-03-02T10:16:00.001+13:00

From a blog i follow, Word Play by KM Weiland, i thought you may like to read this post.
It shows how evil we are - and have to be - to our characters to create page turning quality in our stories.

It's all about conflict and frustration and not giving our characters what they want until either they have grown, or you are at the end!

Have a read here! and let me know your thoughts!!

Crusader Challenge lie

2011-02-26T10:02:00.000+13:00

I love Jane Austen and Regency themed stories, though my absolute favs are medieval - Especially written by Julie Garwood.
I DO bite my nails!
I do think bunny rabbits are cute and like all baby animals.
I DON'T like fuliguline! Didn't even know what that word meant, i had to look it up!

Well done, Witless Exposition for guessing!!

First Crusader Challenge - yep i'm a bit late to the party!

2011-02-25T16:06:00.000+13:00

so the challenge is: In 300 words or less, tell us:

· one secret
· one lie
· one interesting quirk
· one annoying habit
· one of your best character traits, and
· one of your favourite things in the whole world.

The post can be in any format, including poetry (for those poets among us), but must include the random words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade” (tee hee).
Finish your post with something along the lines of, “I may have revealed something about me that isn’t strictly true, can you guess what it is?” (this last bit isn’t included in the word count). And don’t forget to tell us the answer in your next post!

So i am a graduate with an English literature degree and i just love to bloviate about all the best authors out there that have paved our literature course. I especially love Jane Austen and have a love for Romance reads with a Regency theme. And if they contain anything to do with fuliguline, it just makes it better.

But, if i find i am lost in the pages of a story my nails are cut to the quick, not by a blade but my teeth.

One of my favourite things in the whole world are baby animals. Yes even the bunny rabbits! The cute cuddly things with giant feet and can be pets - so adorable!!

I would love to be able to write a story set in the Medieval period. I can't get enough of the stories set in this era, however i'm too lazy to do all that research! I only hope my heroes and heroines make others drift away as i do whilst reading these stories.

I may have revealed something that isn't strictly true. Can you guess what it is? (It's not hard!)

I've hit send, again!

2011-02-22T14:19:00.001+13:00

Not wanting to give up on Billie and Cooper i have just hit send to Embrace Books, an e-publisher, set up by Jane Holland, author.

Man, now i'm nervous! Counting down for six weeks now!!

Character Interview

2011-02-20T15:08:00.001+13:00

Do you interview your characters to try and get a better idea of them? Discover what makes them feel and do what they do?
I discovered some really great questions to 'ask' my characters from Nicola Marsh's site. Take a look.

So i used her questionnaire to get to the root of Billie and Cooper's characters, but i've never done an interview.
I'm a shy person - overcome this by being a tad too loud and exuberant! - and the idea of an inteview makes my palms sweaty.
But last night i had a very real image of Matthew Jackson Dean, the hot hero with a troubled past, in my latest untitled WIP, walk in the front door and sit on my couch, ready for questions.
So i jumped out of bed, and furiously typed our interview.

Here it is, let me know what you think when you've done reading it! If nothing else, it was actually lots of fun to write. It has also revealed to me a lot about where the story could go, and what has happened to make Matt the way he is. Next i'll try Emma, if she wants to!

Me: Welcome Mr Dean. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

Mr Dean sits back in the couch crossing one ankle on a knee, one arm thrown casually over the seat back the other hand tapping on his expensive but practical plain shoes.

Mr Dean: Call me Matt

The flash of white teeth makes me blush and stutter.

Me, I nervously tuck a strand of neat hair behind my ear: Ah, right, Matt. Um. Tell me a bit about yourself

Dean: You wanted to speak with me. Shoot.

Again his smile has my thoughts scattering. Geez pull it together Kerrin!

Me: Ahem. Yes. So, how did you get into game designing.

Matt visibly relaxes, his restless fingers stop tapping on his shoe and relaxes, wrapping around the top of his foot.

Matt: Well, you know.
Shrugs. Smiles.
Matt:I played a bit as a kid. Wanted something better.

Me:Better? As in bigger car chases? More blood and guts?

Matt shakes his head, calm grey eyes turning shuttered: No. More action.

His stare is very unnerving. I feel a line of unease in my spine.

Me: More action? How?

He shrugs and shifts his denim clad butt on the cushions, fingers start tapping again.

Me: More fighting? Flying?

A quick tightening of the jaw, flash of something in his eyes.

Matt: You ever played Wii, Kerrin?

Nervous giggle (I’m the interviewer!)

Me: Wii? Yes. Though there aren’t enough action games. Seems to be dominated by fitness stuff.

Eager nod, eyes lighting to a fascinating silver

Matt: Exactly. My games get you off the balance board and fighting. Arms, legs, head. Whatever you want to do.

I’m still fascinated by the liquid silver of his eyes. I love a guys eyes. Did I mention he’s very hot? His intent, excited stare has elicited zooming butterflies and I have to remind myself I’m happily married!

Me: So, um, you mean like karate, ninja type fighting?

He leans forward, elbows on knees, his face, covered with his 4 o’clock stubble, totally focused on me.

Matt: Yeah, with a bit more. If you want a gun, you hold your hands like one.

He points his finger at me pistol style

Matt: You want to get bloody knuckles.

He holds them up and his expression is so fierce, makes me gulp and wonder where the fierceness came from.

Me: Why fighting games? Why not car chases.

He sits back abruptly and I feel an instant loss of his focus as his gaze wanders to the window.

Matt: Prefer to use my fists.

I gulp, suddenly my throat is dry.

Me: Do you have much experience?

Sharp eyes pinpoint me and I try really hard not to call back my question

Matt: Using my fists?

I nod. He nods

Matt: Yeah.

Strong silent types. I think I prefer my men to talk. I need to find out why he has experience, I think it may help with his story.

Me: Um, were you like a bully, or did you go looking for trouble?

I really hoped not. He had the type of face that as a child would have been adorable. It was adorably sexy and rugged looking now.

Matt: It found me.

Eyes turn as cold as a stone in ice.

Why do I have to know?

Me: So you had to defend yourself?

Long. Silent. Stare.

Me: from who?

Did he hear me? It came out as a whisper. I want to know, but I don’t.

Matt turns his gaze to the window again, rubs a hand over his chin and I hear the scratch of his stubble.

Matt: Dad.

Shocked silence. Why would his own father want to beat up on such an adorable boy?

Me: Ah, your mu-?

Matt: Died. Put up with too much and finally gave in.

Anger there. At his dad, or his mum for dying and leaving him defenseless?

Not going there. Chicken.

Me: Did you have any friends.

Ah! A smile, full and instantly clearing the shadows in his gaze.

Matt: Yeah. Emma Wakefield. Lived next door and was the sweetest, friendliest girl. Made me talk even when I didn’t want to. Biggest brat I’d ever met.

Wistful smile as he gazed at his past.

Me: You still keep in contact?

His fingers of the hand on the back of the couch, start to play with the seams.

Matt: Yep. Live a block away from each other. Meet every Tuesday for a movie.

Aw, that’s so nice! But why the agitation?

Me: So, just friends? Ever been anything else? Ever wanted there to be?

Fingers still. His gaze sharpens but I don’t think he’s seeing me.

Matt: No.

His eyes though, they flicker from liquid silver to ice rock and back again. An internal war.

Me: Oh. She married?

Matt: What? No, no. Married.

He says it with a grimace. Okay, so she’d not married.

Me: You’re in a relationship.

Matt frowns at me like I’m an idiot: I don’t do relationships. They’re messy.

But he’s had a relationship with Emma for years. Has a date every week.

Me: Your friendship with Emma could be regarded as a relationship.

Oh he didn’t like that one.

Starts pacing all over my little lounge so fast I’m about to ask him to slow down.

Matt: It’s not supposed to be that way! We’re friends. I don’t want anything more.

I heard the question at the end, even if he didn’t say it.

Me, gently: She wants more?

Matt freezes: Asked me to, marry her.

My heart speeds up, oh, this gotta be good!

Me: and?

Matt shakes his head, fists his hands in his short dark curls (I told you he was adorable as a child!): It’s not going to be like that. Even if…

He trails off and I hear the longing, the possibilities.

Matt: No. She’s my friend. I need her to be my friend. Always.

Me, gently: Friends have a way of making the best life partners.

Matt: Not me. She’d be wasting her life on me, wasting her dream of having a family.

Oh dear god, what have I gotten myself into?

Me: Well. These things have a way of sorting themselves out. I’m sure if she sees you just want to be friends she’ll find someone eventually.

The ice rock stare has me blinking. So he doesn’t want to be more than friends, but he hates the idea of her being with anyone else. Interesting.

Me: Well, thank you Mr Dean, Matt. Good luck with your fight games.

Matt swallows and takes a deep breath. Takes my offered hand and smiles sheepishly: Sorry about that.

Me: No, no. It’s okay. Really.

I have heaps to work with. Now to get an interview with Emma….

Matt: Have a good day.

He’s already thinking about something else as he absently bids me farewell, probably Emma

Sigh. Oh to have those eyes turning to silver for me…oh wait, I’ve already had my HEA. That’s why I get to pry into others’.

Bernard Pivot questions

2011-02-18T12:36:00.000+13:00

For just a bit of fun, and to get to know me/you, post it on your blog too - but answer the questions with your own!!

(don't click the image it doesn't work :))

Okay, here's Bernard Pivot's famous questionnaire:

What is your favorite word? facetious - though i haven't yet found an appropriate time to use it in my writing or everyday conversations!
What is your least favorite word? um, don't have one.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? a beautiful sunset, a lovely song on the radio, the dappled colours whilst walking through a bush track
What turns you off? "Muuuum!"
What is your favorite curse word? bugger! (i say it way too often!)
What sound or noise do you love? kids playing quietly, the birds singing in the trees, "i love you"!
What sound or noise do you hate? crying, fingernails on a black board (thankfully haven't heard that since school, though it still gives me the shivers just thinking about it!)
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? A policewoman!
What profession would you not like to do? child doctor or child lawyer - just couldn't hack it!
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "We've been waiting for you, glad you could join us."

Giving it another go!

2011-02-16T12:25:00.000+13:00

So, despite getting that form R from SYTYCW, i am charging ahead and editing Billie and Cooper's story to try and make it "stronger". I may even consider either submitting it to Embrace Books, or Carina Press, two ebook publishers for consideration.
Or do as my friend Nicole did, and upload it to Amazon.

I just can't let this story go, and would love to have it out there for all to read!
Do you think i should just give it up?
I am working on two other ideas as well, so it's not like it's the only story in my gambit.

What would you do?

Blog Crusade

2011-02-09T18:35:00.003+13:00

Join the crusade to get more blog followers and eventual readership for your stories!
Go to Rach Writes now and join!

Voice and characters

2011-02-01T21:09:00.002+13:00

Kate Walker has a fantastic post all about Voice on her blog. If you've ever wondered what it is and how to get it, she divulges the facts. It's hard but it will come to you if you are true to yourself as a writer!

I couldn't help but feel, maybe that was the main reason for my submission being "not strong enough"?!
I'll have to keep trying to get my true voice in my next ms's!

And, yes i'm still reading Kate Walker's fabulously helpful book 12 point guide to writing romance. I've just finished the chapters on Hero and Heroine, and it all comes down to, again, being true to character. Don't make your hero an arrogant pig that will suddenly realise he loves the heroine and all his horrid behaviour is suddenly forgiven. And don't make your heroine a wimpy virgin. Give her some spine, something to make your readers absolutely love and believe in her (and him for that matter!)

I'm absent this week, well for the next two weeks. I'm on my two week practicum for my early childhood degree - i get to play with the toddlers! I mean i am learning how to link theory to practice ;)

Good luck finding your voice, and creating true, believable and honourable characters!

Submission result

2011-01-26T09:05:00.000+13:00

Well, i opened my email this morning and there was an email from ucanwrite.
My heart stopped then sped up and i waited for oh, a whole five seconds before opening the email with bated breath - just maybe they'll have said they like it, or if not they like my voice and want to see something else...

but no:

Thanks so much for submitting the first chapter and synopsis of your story. Our editors reviewed the submission with care. Unfortunately your story was not strong enough for us to consider further. Good luck with your future writing endeavors and thanks for entering our challenge!

:( It would have been nice to have gotten a bit of feedback on WHY it wasn't strong enough.
Maybe they don't do that, but it is frustrating that i don't know what i did wrong so how can i stop from doing it again with another story?

Well, to any of you out there lucky enough to get a "we love it", congratulations!

I shall not give up, no siree. One rejection can not stop the need to write!

At 0.99c it's a steal!

2011-01-19T14:41:00.002+13:00

And a really good story - no i'm not biased!
Take advantage to the temporary price drop and discover a new voice!

go to Amazon and type the arrive birthright trilogy.

Points of View

2011-01-19T10:20:00.000+13:00

Which character do you find the easiest to write?
Is it from the perspective of the leading lady, or the hero?

It occurred to me this morning, that i seem to find the hero's perspective easier to write from.
Could it be because their feelings and conflicts, aren't simple, but less complicated than a woman's?

Or it could be, i'm remembering a conversation i had with a friend and fellow writer, that we know, as women, what we want in our ideal hero, and it's easier to write him based on that? Throwing him roadblocks and watching how he deals with them, in the way we would want our ideal hero to cope and overcome any obstacles.

I've also found it easier, when first constructing my character's conflicts, to construct the hero.
The female always ends up being too complicated or her conflict unclear and murky.
I hadn't even figured out what Billie's true conflict was until i'd completed the first draft! And that was even after character interviews and countless pages on figuring out personality and background.

So, whose point of view do you find it easier to write from?

Inspiration overload

2011-01-17T10:53:00.000+13:00

I'm talking about too many ideas for stories and starting too many of them!
I should be studying, or reading my new readings for my Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma.

But what have i done this month? I've started THREE new stories!
One is a single title idea i've had for a very long time, with lots of notes and scene snippets stuffed into a folder.
Two are category romances. One is my first ever idea for HM&B that got abandoned when i had a scene for Billie and Cooper flash in my head; the other is a brand spanking new idea about best friends, with one in love with the other!

Oh dear.
Now, as i've promised my husband (and myself) that i will focus entirely on my studies this year, i am going to try for a reward system.
For every day that i do one or two readings and the requirements for my online discussions for the course, and do a bit of exercise (My new years resolution is to lose weight!), i get to sit down and write whichever of the stories demands the most at that time - which inevitably will be the evening.

Yesterday this worked. I went for a run while the kids rode their bikes beside me to the park and home. I did two readings in the afternoon. I even managed to sweep under the couches and finally take a few boxes out to the garage, thereby de-cluttering our house but cluttering the garage.
After some t.v time with husband, at 10pm i turned on my laptop, snuggled under my duvet and typed away until 11:30pm.
I felt so good!

So today, my plan is much the same: clean those amenities, do two readings and walk with the kids to the park - legs are sore from run yesterday!
Then tonight, hopefully i will get out the laptop again and enter fiction world!

The only thing that is missing: Reading for pleasure! I'm going to have to try to find time for that, because that is my downtime. Any ideas where i could fit that in, without compromising my writing time?

Writing tip

2011-01-13T21:23:00.002+13:00

K M Wieland on her blog Word Play has a great post about using There as a passive verb and how, by getting rid of it in your writing, by rewording your sentence, you make it more vibrant and assertive! Check it out here

Introducing Nicole MacDonald

2011-01-07T08:00:00.051+13:00

Now that she is a published author, Nicole has kindly let me interview her about her story and her writing process.
If, after the interview, anyone has any further questions, leave them in the comments and i'll ask her and then post the answers in a new post!

Hi Nicole. Wow it must be a great feeling having your book, The Arrival, first of the Birthright trilogy, out there for sale. What's it like seeing your name in 'print'?

Scary *grin* and exhilarating, I am very proud of my book and really hope others love it!
Now, just a few questions about your writing process.
Where did you get the idea for a love spell-gone-wrong fantasy story?

I met my soulmate a month before I turned 19. It was a big shock as I'd firmly intended on being single until I was at least 25 *lol* and I still tease Glenn that he 'ruined' all my plans. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way now but I kind of began the story like a 'what if' I hadn't met him till then. And then with my somewhat wacky imagination it took flight into The BirthRight trilogy. It's definitely not like the actual events in that sense *lol* but the feel of the book is.

The characters, well the girls, are based on your friends right?
What do they think of the way they have turned out and are the characters very similar or just loosely based on your friends?

Sian, Kassandra and Laura are based on my real friends, Sian, Sandra and Laura. Sian and Sandra I've known for years and are amongst my very close friends. I'd met Loi around a month before I began writing The Arrival and I needed a fourth character. So the character Laura is visually inspired by my actual friend but the personality is more created. Sian's character is very similar to her, so much so that when I read aloud to her she often said the line before I did *giggle* it spooked her out a little. Sandra's character Kassie is more out of my head too as in real life Sandra is 40+ (not that you'd know it ;p) and married with two girls but I had to have her in the book. She is a real character in real life and gives me lots of material to work with *grin*
All the girls like their characters and are eager to see what happens next.

As am i!

How long has it taken you to get from typing that first word to the posting on Amazon?
Any tips for other writers to help with this process?

It's taken around 18 months. As it's my very first novel there were a couple of months in the beginning when I totally slacked off because it was still 'just for fun'. I got serious about it, probably 8 months in, when I'd plotted the story out more and had realised it was a rather exciting concept.
My biggest piece of advice is ignore the stats and just do it. Lots of unhelpful people will delight in pointing out the odds but really, if I considered the odds in life I'd probably never get out of bed in the morning *grin* So just do it.

Why did you choose ebook over book format for publishing? And did you find it easy?

Well originally I wanted my book to be published by a 'proper' publishing firm and I did get interested parties when I sent out a bunch of query's (on a *cough* first draft - DON'T DO THIS!!). Then I stumbled across Joe Konrath's site and was rather horrified to learn that if 'traditionally' published I'd only get 17% of all profits. For the amount of work I was putting in that didn't seem fair at all. So self-publishing started to float about in my head, but I wasn't brave enough to announce it at that stage.

The actual publishing process on Amazon is straight forward. It's just the formatting the e-book that isn't. That was a HORRIBLE process and I've since added a page to my blog titled 'formatting an e-book for dummies' to help others in that position out.

Ooh, i'm going to check that out! It is shocking how low a percentage we get for our own work.

Where did you find help/did you need help with the publishing?

I did have some help from Kimberly at booknook ( hitch@boonook.biz) and if you can afford to pay someone (around $150-200) to format it I recommend her hands down. I found her via twitter when I tweeted for help *grin* I also found plenty of sites with information but they were a tad technical for me, so that's why I put the page up on my blog.

Do you think, during the process of writing The Arrival, you have grown as a writer?
What have you learnt about your process or writing style?

Hell yes! Prior to The Arrival I'd written a 2 page story. That was my longest ever. The Arrival is around 300 pages (a4). I can't believe how much I've learned in 18 months. Learned and survived. I thought the multiple re-writes might kill me *lol* but you quickly learn that each re-write gets better so it's worth it.
I've learnt I'm very much a plotter. The sharper my plot is the better I write. I'm an avid researcher and require images for stimulation and to keep the picture in my head. I actually drew blueprints for the castle in the story. So I could understand where everyone was. That was tedious!
I've learnt my writing style is quite chatty and that I always look to the light no matter how dark the situation. It did require a big re-write (8th re-write) as it was too 'light' but that's okay. Now I know how to add tension and stress *grin*.
I've also learnt I LOVE to write. No matter how often I think 'you should take a break' I never do...

Part of the fun of being a writer - we are always thinking about it, if not actually writing!

Thank you so much for answering my questions. Good luck with the sales and writing the next installment!

For more information about Nicole's fantastic book and her writing journey visit her blog, or her BirthRight Trilogy website.
If you buy her book (and believe me, it's a good one!) please leave a review, either on her blog, my blog or the Amazon site itself. There is a picture of Nicole's book on my right sidebar, if you click it, it will take you straight to Amazon and her book :)

Happy reading!