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Celebration and a Beast Sheikh

So, here it is, the eve of my two year Calliversary. I will never, ever ever forget that morning, December 1st 2009, when I got the email from my editor asking if she could call me and chat about the manuscript I had on submission.

I had done three rounds of revisions, and had been waiting to hear back on that last round for four and a half months. I had dreamed about The Call. I’d had fantasies about it while washing my hair. Actually getting it seemed surreal and for the rest of the day I kept looking back over those emails to make sure it had really happened. I had really been offered a two book contract. It was real, and I wasn’t just going to wake up and find out it had all been a dream.

Fast forward two years and I’ve been contracted for 15 Presents, completed and sold 12 (I have three left on this contract) and have 7 books on release. Two of those books were USA Today Bestsellers, one for two weeks running. It’s all a bit more than I can believe.

*pinches self*

Not dreaming, what do you know? O_O

I’m so very blessed to get to do what I love. And I do love it, so much!

These past two years have been incredible and this next year is looking just as packed full of win. I was able to start work on my first duet, which are two linked books about a royal family, and I did my first novella! With every book I learn so much and I’m always SO excited to start the next one.

And speaking of books…It just so happens that today I got author copies of my January release Hajar’s Hidden Legacy! (Some of you may know it as Beast Sheikh, which is my affectionate name for Zahir, my scarred up hero.) I’m feeling so chipper and in the mood for celebrating that I would like to give away three copies to my lovely commenters! I will mail books to ANY country so no restrictions there.

Just comment for a chance to win!

And if you don’t win, or feel so inclined, you can buy Hajar’s Hidden Legacy from Mills and Boon UK starting…now!

And if you like, you can read some fun, behind the scenes info about Hajar’s Hidden Legacy over in the Behind the Scenes section of the website!

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Black Moments

Hero Torture and high stakes. I’ve talked about that a lot on this blog. Because, you know, I’m sadistic and I enjoy it.

The alpha hero is a staple of the Presents/Modern line and I think one of the major attractions to these strong heroes is watching them get the rug pulled out from under them.

They arrive on the scene so strong, so confident, so utterly in control. As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Of course, it’s not just heroes. Heroines need to be broken open too.

I sound mean, and I am.

When you’re writing a romance, the focus is on that central relationshiop. The romance between the hero and heroine. All throughout the story, you’re working on building that relationship.

My first editor, Jenny, talked about it like the ebb and flow of the tide. It made for a very clear picture in my mind. You have the waves coming in and pulling back. The wave comes in, it recedes, but each time you’re gaining ground. And that’s how I’ve come to look at the building relationship between my H and h.

I think as you’re establishing this rhythm, you’re working toward taking it to the Happily Ever After. But before that happens, you need your black moment. (We will not be abbreviating black moment here. Because I have two nurses as CPs and whenever someone writes it as BM I have to listen to them cackle…)

The black moment is that dark point before dawn (the HEA). When it all seems completely lost and hopeless.

Because this is the moment when it’s all on the line. The chips are down. Balls to the wall. Some other cliche. You get the idea.

In a lot of ways, it’s like breaking a bone so that it can heal right. It’s that moment when every last bit of the facade is falling away from both characters. And one or both of them isn’t ready for this to happen.

A revelation has come that they weren’t ready for. Issues are needing to be released that they aren’t ready to let go of. Feelings have surface that they really, really can’t deal with.

An effective black moment goes all out. It cuts to the truth of the issues. It doesn’t mean the characters tell the truth, but the black moment is often the thing that helps them discover the truth. That they’re in love. That they’re afraid. That they really, really can’t live without the other person.

So here is my list for you. Seven Habits of Highly Effective Black Moments:

1. Do not pull your punch. You know what I mean. Your hero is backed in the corner. Everything is about to be lost. He’s clinging to the last shred of his shields, a desperate attempt to save himself from pain but…oh, you don’t want him to say that. That’s mean. Let him. If you have to pull back later, do that. But put it ALL out there, at least at first. This is the black moment, not the misty gray moment.

2. Don’t bring in a random plot device. “And then she went driving in a jeep. No. She has a Jeep. What I didn’t mention her Jeep? She HAS ONE. She went driving in it now she’s in peril and she crashed it and oh the hero has woe!” As a reader, that stuff makes me feel cheated. The black moment should come from the conflict that’s already there. Not something introduced late in the third act*.

3. You must break them. Like Dolph Lundgren, you must. What do they fear the most? Find that, and take them there. Make them face it. If your hero is afraid he isn’t worthy of love, force him to confront that.

4. Make them change their thinking. That’s one reason the black moment is so painful. Your characters have to change, and it’s likely they aren’t ready to yet. Change is hard. Your heroine needs to let go of her control and allow herself to love the hero, but she can’t yet, because she’s too afraid. The black moment will bring about a change in her thinking. It will bring her to the point where she’ll have to draw a new conclusion, or stay where she’s at. Bringing about that real, genuine change in character is what will create a believable HEA, so this is a REALLY important one.

5. It’s the baking soda to your vinegar. Like those volcanos you made in fifth grade science. It takes something that was already there and forces a major reaction to happen. Maybe you’ve been adding pinches of baking soda all along (really, you should have been) and that black moment is when you dump the whole box in and it all goes to HECK. That leads in to…

6. Make sure it needed to happen. If you have a well constructed conflict, the black moment will be a necessity. That moment has to occur to effect change, and change is needed for your h and H to find their HEA. That dark moment should force them to examine themselves, their perceptions and their feelings. It should be an integral part of the story and the conflict.

7. Make the HEA count. You’ve brough them through hell and back. If the black moment was the worst of their relationship, of the characters, the Happily Ever After had better be the best of them. The black moment happened before they were ready to let go and find love, and now they have it!! So give us real, believable happy with the characters we know and love. Not with perfect happy clones, but with our h and H, who came through all those trials to find love with each other.

Now…go forth and break those characters, people.

*again, it’s all in the execution. So consider this a gross generalization. I’m certain there are exceptions. There always are.

The Petrov Proposal

I got Large Print editions of The Petrov Proposal in the mail today! (February 2012 US!)

That means I got to see the cover copy for the first time.

And now I’ll share it with you!

Breaking the Russian’s rules!

The first time Maddy Forrester heard her boss’s mesmerizing voice barking orders down the phone, she knew he was a force to be reckoned with. But nothing prepared her for the sight of Aleksei Petrov. He is the last thing Maddy needs, but the first thing she wants!

Aleksei is determined not to mix business with pleasure, but he struggles with the irreistible sparks his feisty secretary ignites in him – she’s a problem he does not want.

The proposed solution? One unforgettable night to fulfill their every wicked desire.

Oh I love the line about wicked desires!!! 😀

It’s true, this is a pretty wicked book. Maddy and Aleks had their own ideas about how things should go…and I was along for the ride.

On a side note, not that it matters much…Maddy isn’t Aleksei’s secretary, she’s his event coordinator. 😉

Affirm me!

There are essentially two types of creatives. (I am stereotyping and making a blanket statement here..but hey, there’s a reason people do that. It’s simpler.) There are those who believe every idea they have is straw spun into gold. If you unrolled all the hubris coiled up inside them it would stretch around the globe three times and be visible from space. But we’re not talking about them. Cuz I am not them. Most writers I know, unpublished, published, NYT bestseller published, don’t fall into that category.

Most writers I know (and me) have skin made of paper. We’re nervous, quivering masses of insecurity wandering around the Coolest Club Ever (writers!) wondering how in the world we got let in, and wondering when someone is going to realize we’re there and throw us out.

It’s so easy for those of us with true, genuine insecurities to stand along side the highway of the interwebs holding a cardboard sign that says: AFFIRM ME.

And then we get it! An editor asks for a full MS, you get The Call, your debut comes out and you get your Very First Review and it IS AWESOME!!! You start to feel like you’re covered in glitter and light. You become Sally Field.

It’s addicting. The temptation to seek out more of that affirmation is intoxicating. You do things like google your own name. All the time. (*cough* not that I do, I’ve just heard that…you know, some people do that.)

I think, deep down, the insecure writer thinks “I shall store all this up! All these compliments. I will eat them like a bear readying for hibernation and grow a layer of security fat that nothing will penetrate!!’

The problem with that lies in basic author math. (It’s math, which means you can’t argue with it or make creative answers. At least that’s how all my math teachers told it when they graded my papers)

It doesn’t matter how many nice things you’ve heard, how thick the blubber of ‘I am awesome’ has layered on, one well placed YOU SUCK can pop you like the overinflated balloon you are. A rejection, a bad review, a letter from a reader telling you that you’re a sexist.

And then there you are, deflated. Down. Certain that everything you write sucks. And this, mind you, can be the progression of one day!!

So I ask: Why do we do that? Seriously, why? There is value in the proper type of criticism, particularly when it comes from agents and editors. Criticism that can be used, applied, should be taken, and taken in the spirit it was intended.

But sometimes setbacks deserve nothing more than to be ignored. I’ve come to the conclusion that all I can do is write THE best book I can every single time. A book I love, a book my editor loves. I can’t make it perfect for everyone. And there is no comment on earth that should change my feelings for the product I’ve produced. Not so I can fill up on hubris, but so I can continue working and writing without doubt crows looming overhead.

The same goes for you. All of you! Why give the power of how WE feel about ourselves, our work, over to someone else? This isn’t a call for everyone to grow bigger egos, so don’t mistake me. But I think it’s a shame to put so much stock in the opinions of strangers. To allow a rejection, a bad review, to make us look at something we worked hard on, were proud of, as something less than it was.

That doesn’t mean believing every word written is diamonds and gold coming from the tips of our fingers either. But why should you have to feel like an impostor? Why should you have to feel good about what you do and your skills one minute, and convinced you’re horrible the next? Show me a doctor, or barista who feels that way through out the workday.

I was a barista for quite a few years, and sometimes I made crappy drinks (not on purpose) and sometimes I got orders wrong and had to remake the drinks. But I was confident that I knew my job and that I was good at it, even if there were hiccups. Why can’t I have that in this part of my life?

On a good day, the way I try to look at it is this: I do the very best I can every time. Maybe I could do better now, maybe I would do it different now, but that doesn’t make what I did was bad.

We have to be able to find pride in our work on our own terms, and not give that ability over to someone else. Not ask for permission to feel happy with what we’ve done. Giving the power to others is like opting to live on a roller coaster. And living on a roller coaster can cripple your work. That’s so NOT OKAY.

This is all easier said than done. I don’t blog about it because I’m so good at it, but because I struggle with it. Because I’m guilty of letting outside feedback, good and bad, mean too much to me. Of letting it affect how I feel about myself and about a book.

This really makes me want to look in a mirror and say: I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.

Musings and My Thanks

I happened to mention over the weekend (On Twitter, on Saturday night while I watched The Oregon Ducks pwn Stanford) that I’d heard M&B had received some negative feedback about the cover (and one would assume the content…not the story but the hero and heroine and the fact they were of different races) of The Highest Price to Pay.

Twitter, I said, because I talk to Twitter, wouldn’t it be nice if they heard the positive things I’d heard? Because I have. I have heard nice thing, after nice thing about that book from people who come from all different countries and backgrounds.

I figured maybe one or two people would go to the trouble to contact M&B. But no! Lots of you did. I can’t even COUNT how many of you did. It ended up on Tumblr, and on Facebook, and on blogs. And I am so stunned and blessed by the outpouring of support.

I think we’ve effectively shown just how in the minority those with an issue regarding the hero’s race are and I am PUMPED about that!

So thank you, so much. Really.

That leads to my musings which are unconnected in some ways. It’s come up a few times in conversation and on the nets about the heroes in Presents/Modern being wealthy. Some people expressed a distaste for it (which is fine! Diverse likes and dislikes make the world go round, after all).

But it got me to musing about why we generally write a wealthy hero in Presents.

First of all, the Presents hero is the alpha male. He’s the leader, the best in his class. He’s very often pulled himself up from nothing, and if he lost it all tomorrow, he would have the tools to gain it all back again. He’s in control and he’s generally a Type A personality. Which naturally puts him in the position at being THE BEST in his professional life. (his personal life is another matter!)

I was also thinking that the wealthy hero appeals to that same thing in readers the playboy hero appeals to. A playboy hero can, and has, had whoever he wants. And yet suddenly he meets the heroine and it’s not enough. He wants HER and the fact that he could have anyone else has become meaningless.

Wealth, I think follows a similar line. He’s the man who can have anything, and yet when he meets the heroine he sees how lacking his life has been. That ultimately his money, his power, don’t make him happy and don’t fulfill him.

(We could go into other ideas about the fantasy of being cared for, and having a man who has the means to do it, and that’s certainly valid too)

As a writer I certainly find it interesting to deal with a man who has everything materially but is so damaged emotionally. His problems aren’t solved by the material and often, they’re magnified.

So that’s me, being thinky before 8am. Egads.

Thank you all agian for you support. For reading my blog, and my twitter and my books. You guys make it happen. 🙂

Zen and the Art of Writing Short

I lied. There is no zen. I am many things, but zen is rarely one of them. Unless there is a zen practice that touts eating cookies, watching sitcoms and wailing to all and sundry about your problems. Cuz I do that.

But I will talk about writing short. Well, writing short contemporaries anyway, but if you write other sub genres some of this may still be able to be tweaked to apply to you.

I write short. It’s what I do. I write a 50K word novels and in the grand scheme of things, that is short.

Right now, I’m working on my very first novella and it is going to be 15K words. And that is REALLY short. So as I try to apply what I know about writing in general and condense it more than I already do, I thought I would remind you (and me) about the things that make short books successful short books.

When you write short, the one thing you do not want to sacrifice is emotion. You can cut out extra characters, extra scenes, but do NOT cut the emotion. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve read shorter books where the writer was trying to squeeze in the same amount of action you might find in a novel that’s twice as long. Subplots and secondary characters, and a scene that’s only there to be amusing and doesn’t advance…well…anything!!

With a category length book, or a novella, each scene has to count. It has to advance the plot, the character arc, the central romantic relationship. (advance it, or pull it backward, but it was to serve a clear purpose.)

Other people do it differently, but the way I’ve chosen to execute my 50K books is to keep it dual POV. Hero and heroine only. This helps me keep the focus on them. And in a book that short, the focus really needs to be on them. I find this a simpler way to ensure it happens, which is why I choose to do it that way.

As a reader, I feel cheated when I feel like I didn’t get the story of the hero and heroine. When I read romances (and that’s pretty much all I read…) I want the romance. I want the emotion of the romance. I want it more than funny vignettes about their childhoods. I want it more than cute scenes with the heroine and her BFF. That’s not to say these things don’t ever work in category or novella length books. It’s always about the execution. But if you find yourself battling time constraints, I move that it’s those things that get the chop.

Short doesn’t mean less emotion. It doesn’t mean less character development. It means a tighter focus on that central element of the story, which, in a romance, is that relationship between the hero and heroine.

Very often in category romance, the internal conflict is the key focus while external becomes more peripheral. This allows for that strong emotion, and it helps keep your leads on the screen together.

Also, very often in category, the hero and heroine work those internal issues out together, rather than with the help of side characters. This, again, is about keeping the focus in tight. The black moment is often more successful when it stems from the internal conflict (that ‘breaking point’ we talked about in the character torture post), not a big misunderstanding or the sudden appearance of zombies. (Unless you established that the zombiepocalypse was coming…) The resolution is also more successful when it comes from the hero and heroine, and not with too much pushing from outside influencers.

And now, I shall do a Maisey List. One which I shall be referring to as I try to apply all of this to…*gasp* 15K words.

1. Less words, not less emotion

2. Less words, not less romance

3. Minimize those extra characters

4. Keep the focus on the hero and heroine

5. Make sure each scene affects the hero and heroine’s relationship in some way

6. Major turning points should be triggered by the characters’ conflicts

7. Googling David Gandy can help you out of a slump

Okay. I’m gonna keep that list handy and refer to it while I work on the Jilted Sheikh and his Runaway Heiress. (FYI, the fact that the hero is a sheikh is based on a twitter vote…behold, your power!!)

High Stakes, Tortured Characters and My Untouched Hero

First off, I am delighted to share with you that my Untouched Hero (book one of my currently titled Kyonos Royals duet) has sold! (This makes Presents #12, egads!) I also submitted #13, and book two in the duet to my editor yesterday so am right back on the waiting train!

Julia Broadbooks, Alexa Fiennes, Tina Vaughn, and I were discussing my love of hero torture yesterday in connection with the sale of Untouched Hero (yes, he’s untouched in THAT way…). Because of course, he’s a hero I’ve tortured but good. An honorable man who has deferred his own pleasure in order to the right thing and now finds himself desiring the one woman he truly cannot have.

I’ve discussed my love of character torture a lot on this blog but I’ve only just realized what’s truly behind it. (No this isn’t a Freudian self-analysis where I come to the conclusion that I wish to own thigh-high leather boots)

It’s about creating the highest stakes possible for the characters. I’ve always termed it character torture, but I think that’s the root of it. Making the situation as high stakes as possible to help the reader invest.

Adham al bin Sudar from The Inherited Bride is sort of my original tortured hero. He’s scarred, he’s damaged, and when he finally starts to love another person, she’s the one person he shouldn’t love. That adds tension and drama, and the best part is, it comes from the character! (*warning, this post becomes slightly spoilery in regards to Inherited Bride, so if you don’t want it spoilered at all, don’t read in too much detail. :x)

It works for Isabella, also of Inherited Bride, as well. She is head strong, and she’s running out of time to explore that part of her nature. Already the stakes are high for her. If she doesn’t seize this last moment of freedom, she’ll never have any. Then she starts to fall for the man she’s at odds with, the man she really shouldn’t want, and the stakes get higher.

I think that process of character torture helps enable that in a MS. Their conflict, past and present, sort of collide, and then as the book moves on it increases, challenging them to face the thing they want to deny most, putting them in the situation they most wanted to avoid.

It’s the literary version of putting them on the rack. With nipple clamps.

But it ends well. I promise.

Thinking of it this way, it sort of builds to the point where it has to explode, which is what brings us to the black moment. When a character has been pushed too far, challenged to a degree they aren’t ready to handle.

For Adham, that moment is when Isabella says she loves him. He is not ready for it. Not necessarily to say he loves her, but to receive love when he feels unworthy of it. It’s only when he can deal with those issues, when he’s ready to resolve them, that he can have his HEA and I can take him off the rack. I left the nipple clamps. (I KID. I DID NOT. There were no nipple clamps. eesh.)

So there is a method to the madness of character torture. One that goes beyond the fact that many writers have a slight sadistic streak.

If you would like to see more hero torture, check out my current UK release The Argentine’s Price. And if you’re in the US…wait for my Feb release The Petrov Proposal. Where there is much torture indeed. Er…high stakes. Yep. That’s it, high stakes! *halo*

Paranoia Jones and My Attempt At Rational Thought

My altar ego is out in full force. Paranoia Jones is in the building. I mean paranoia like whoa. Like, every time my email chimes I jump like a scared little rabbit. I think it’s a common affliction for us easily spooked and needy writers.

You might even know the drill. You finish polishing up your MS and HOT BISCUITS it is AWESOME. It is the Best Thing You Have Ever Written. More than that, it might be the best thing anyone has ever written. Twain? Amateur. Hemingway? Drunk amateur. You, you’re the real deal.

Then you take a deep breath…and you hit send. And the countdown begins. The longer you wait for a response, the more convinced you become that your MS transformed itself from the literary equivalent of golden unicorn tears into a fire-breathing soul-destroying suck demon that burned the editor/agent’s retinas who had the misfortune of opening it. Yes, in your mind, your MS has become the Ark of the Covenant and your editor has become the Na…eek. That analogy just broke down. Anyway…melting eyeballs.

This is basic author math. Confidence + Submission + Time = 14 1/2 Pints of Ben N Jerry’s Chubby Hubby in one sitting.

Paranoia Jones is also particular susceptible to Doubt Crows. 

Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve weathered the submission path many times, paranoia can happen. Doubt crows can start pecking at your brain. It makes it hard to write. It makes it hard to not snap at your family. It makes it hard to do much of anything but sit in front of your inbox and eat cookies.

But paranoia doesn’t have to win. More importantly, it can’t. Because, for many writers, this is part of it. You put it on the page, all of it, blood, sweat and tears, and sometimes it’s still not enough. It’s a part of the gig.

So before Paranoia overtakes me completely, let me give you a few Rationally Minded Points for when you’re feeling like…well, like my friend Paranoia Jones up there.

1. Your MS is the same MS it was when you sent it. That part that made you cry? It doesn’t suck now just because it’s been sitting on someone’s desk for a while.

2. Longer wait times are often a better sign. Rejections are often quick and painless. For the person writing them. MSs that have potential take longer to evaluate.

3. Rejection isn’t the end. Rejection can be a chance to learn, a chance to grow. If nothing else, it’s a chance to practice picking yourself up and brushing yourself off. There will always be more MSs. There are more publishers. More editors. More chances.

4. Revisions rock. I’ve never EVER wanted to go back to the original version of a book. If my editor thinks it could be stronger, than it could be stronger. And even if it’s more work, it will be work that’s well worth it. Because you want to put out the BEST FREAKING BOOK YOU CAN EVERY TIME. Yeah, boy. (<— this was spoken like Flava Flav in my head. I think that might make it less cool… o_O)

5. Doubt Crows aren’t real. It’s just your subconscious being a jerk. Tell it to shut up. (SUCK IT, DOUBT CROW!!)

6. Keep writing during the wait. It helped me get to the point where I could handle the revisions my editor gave me on that first MS. That experience of constructing a MS from beginning to end was essential. (even though I will not be submitting those MSs…ever. They taught me TONS)

7. Editors, Agents etc do not say nice things about your work to salve your ego. If an editor or agent requested something from you, if they take the time to say nice things about your writing in a revision or rejection letter THEY MEAN IT.

8. You’re good enough, you’re smart enough and gosh darnit, people like you.

Those were my Rational Thoughts. I’m all out of them for now. If you can think of any more…feel free to leave them below. Or just share your paranoia.

I’m off to try and take my mind of my continued waiting. *puts on hat* *eats cookies* *sings* Bah buh duh buh bah buh duh….

No Tricks, Just Treats!

The Argentine’s Price is hitting UK shelves this week (and Kindles!) and it’s also landing in Australia on Mills and Boon Australia’s website!

I’ve talked about this book before. It was my very first reunion story and writing two characters who had a past together, and a lot of living in between that and the start of the story presented its own unique challenges.

It was important to me that their brief connection all those years ago was something that shaped them and their expectations of life profoundly.

There are people who come into our lives, even for brief amounts of time, who can change the way we think. Change the course of where we’re going. They can be people who come in softly with kind and gentle words, or people who burst in with violence. They can be an acquaintance or a dear friend.

I liked a boy in high school (who didn’t) and I liked him for a lot longer than I should have (and who hasn’t been there?) especially considering he didn’t treat me very nicely! (And unlike Edward he wasn’t a vampire or anything so…no excuse.)

Now, this boy and I didn’t have a real relationship or anything, he just caused me a lot of emotional turmoil. But at the end of it all, I had an epiphany: I did not deserve to be treated that way. I didn’t deserve indifference. I didn’t deserve someone who played with my emotions. Who talked to me one day and not the next.

And I changed my standard, then and there. I knew I wanted more. I remembered having that realization and looking at a friend of mine and thinking, now he treated people, everyone, whether they’re nice or not, with true kindness. I need someone like that.

Reader, I married him.

But I digress.

That interaction with that stupid high school boy, gave me a new insight into what I really wanted in someone I was looking to have a relationship with. In a way, he changed my life. (if you’re reading this, boy from the past, you probably know who you are. Don’t grow a big head.)

All that to say I was quite taken with the idea that these two people could meet briefly and have such a powerful effect on each other. For Lazaro, the relationship left him with a broken nose and a resolve to never be at the mercy of anyone ever again. For Vanessa, it marked the moment she chose to stay on the safe path, and not deviate from it. And she’s spent the past twelve years wondering what might have happened if she would have taken a chance.

Now she’s taking antacids just to get through the day as CEO at her family’s failing company. That’s where Lazaro comes in. 😉 He offers to save Vanessa’s business, but it most certainly comes with a high price tag.

Treat: The title of the book comes from a line in the first chapter. 😉

One of the things I really, really enjoyed in the writing of this book was how much pent up longing Lazaro and Vanessa had for each other. They’ve never forgotten each other, and they’ve spent years wondering what might have been had they followed through with the attraction they felt back then.

And that brings me to the Australian cover! I adore the UK cover, but there’s something about the expression on Lazaro’s face on this cover that is just perfection to me. The way his eyes are closed as though he’s savoring touching her. As though he’s thinking ‘finally, after all this time.’ *sigh*

Also, I think he’s dead sexy and that doesn’t hurt either. 😉

The Argentine’s Price will be on UK Kindle and shelves Nov 1st, and on Mills and Boon AUS the same day!

Dual Survival: Two Methods…One Result

There’s this show on television here in the US (it was likely ripped off of a show in the UK…we do that.) called Dual Survival. It takes two men and drops them out in the middle of nowhere (a la Bear Ghrylls, who I KNOW we stole from the UK…) and they have to survive the elements while awaiting rescue.

The twist on this show is that one of the men is trained in military survival techniques, while the other has studied Native American survival techniques. Of course, part of the show is that they’re as opposite as two people can be in method, approach and hairstyle. (Crew cut! Braids! Hilarity ensues!)

My husband was watching the show the other day and it really got me thinking. Not so much about surviving by killing a porcupine with an oar and eating its heart raw, but about method.

The show is about people with vastly different ideas on how to survive in the wild. But the end goal is the same: Survive.

So to with writing (you knew this was coming!). There are many different methods, some poles apart in execution, yet at the end is the same goal: A manuscript.

Different methods work best for different people, and some methods aren’t advisable for everyone. Case in point, the more natural survivalist is able to go without shoes in freezing conditions, because he’s studied the difference in people’s feet from back before shoes, and has trained himself to be able to do this. He does NOT recommend that everyone do this. In this case, people need to do like Army Man and keep their boots on.

But it works for Nature Man.

Plotters and Pantsers are easy opposites to pick on. But then you have the plotsers. Who, I guess for the purposes of out Dual Survival analogy would be standing between Army Man and Nature Man, with big thick muk luks playing the lute and eating rations from a can.

Plotters plot. And they do this in all different ways, to all different degrees. They may have charts and synopses and story boards done before they ever sit down to write a word.

Pantsers write and figure things out as they go, again, to different degrees. Both of these methods are fine, and I’ve used both depending on the MS. Some MSs, I have in my head from moment one. Beginning to end, character arc. (And by some I mean 2. 2 out of twelve isn’t bad, right?) while others require more…feeling around.

The method is different, the goal is the same. And the goal can be accomplished using those two very different approaches.

This is true, not just in the actual construction of a manuscript, but in the planning of your career. We all have different needs. Different expectations. And those are going to be served in unique ways, even if the ultimate goal is the same.

So many times on the big wide interwebs you see people touting a one-size-fits all approach to things, but that’s just…well, it’s ridiculous to be honest.

Not everyone needs to sit down a write a synopsis before they write the book. Some of us would rather poke ourselves in the eye with a pen. Still, some of us do it anyway. *cough* but I digress.

The point is this: We might go about it differently. We might plan our careers differently. But in the end, we’re all survivors. Er..writers. We have the same goal, just different methods.

And if there’s something I’ve learned from Dual Survival it’s that…both methods work. But I would want waterproof boots.

Winners!

Sorry, I’m a day late picking winners because my husband got home yesterday after a week away! I was distracted. 🙂

I’ve chosen two winners for The Argentine’s Price and they are…

Rebecca Thornton and Jane O’Reilly!

Send me your details via contact form and I will mail the books to you!

In other news, I’m furiously working at revisions on Untouched Hero. Fun fun stuff!! I’m adding more sexiness and chemistry. I have the best job evah! 🙂

The Heartbeat of the Book

The heartbeat of any book, whether it’s category romance, single title romance, or other genre really, are the characters who inhabit it.

Much is made of the high-octane conflicts and glamour in Presents, but I think the real key to it is having those conflicts grounded. To have them be universal issues that the reader can really feel.

Have we all lost our family to a gunmen when he invaded out royal palace in North Africa? No. No we haven’t. But we can understand the fear and pain of losing people we love. Of being hurt again.

We aren’t all princesses running from an arranged marriage, but we can understand the desire to be loved for who we are.

The root of the conflict, even if it’s set against a backdrop of luxury, is accessible.

In The Petrov Proposal, Aleksei is a man who has put his life on hold due to grief. His life was changed so suddenly, so painfully, when his wife died that he hasn’t managed to figure out what to do with his life since. After throwing himself into a bottle for a while, he decided to throw himself into work instead, and he became the head of the world’s leading jewelry design house.

Aleksei designs jewelry, and yes, he’s a billionaire. But beneath it all he’s a grieving man who can’t quite find the way forward.

I think that’s the really important thing to remember about character and conflict. You can create these fantastic, bigger than life characters, but keep it grounded to that it resonates with the reader.

I will draw winners for The Argentine’s Price on Friday, so if you want in on that, enter in the New Voices post below!

I’m also using this post to shamelessly unveil my North American cover for The Petrov Proposal. (I LOVE this cover!)