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Coffee, Tea…or an Alpha Male Who Owns The Largest Chain of Coffee Houses in the World?

I’ll take the third one! And so did my editor. 😉 The Coffee Magnate, who has no title as yet, has sold!

*does a small, dorky dance*

I really, really, really loved writing this book. I’ve always had a thing for friends to lovers books. (Maybe because my husband was my friend, and boss, before we started dating!)

I knew it would be a challenge to write a friends to lovers for Presents, but I really wanted to give it a try, and thankfully, my editor was willing to go with me on the journey.

When I went to contract in January, I was asked that one of the books be able to fit in with the One Night In… mini-series. Meaning that the book would be centered around one passionate night in the location of my choice. Beyond that I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted.

I knew I wanted to do something coffee related, since I’m an enthusiast, and Lisa Hendrix suggested Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’d set a book in Thailand before (My current North American release MARRIAGE MADE ON PAPER, which is actually a part of the 21st Century Bosses mini-series) and I was really excited to set another book there, since I find myself very inspired by the natural beauty and architecture of that country.

I had my coffee magnate hero, Zack, and it seemed only right that my heroine, Clara, make sweet treats, to go with the coffee. 😉 And Zack and Clara go together as well as a red velvet cupcake and a vanilla latte. (And those two things go well together, trust me, I did my research for this book. LOL. Cupcakes were consumed. Coffee was had.)

Zack and Clara are business partners and best friends, and when the book opens, it’s Zack’s wedding day. To another woman. Unfortunately, things don’t go exactly as planned. Zack’s wedding is set to be the event of the year, and everyone who gets an invitation comes. Except for the bride.

Zack’s wedding might be off, but he still plans to go on his honeymoon. And he’s decided to ask Clara to go in his absent bride’s place…platonically, of course.

But the romance of Chiang Mai makes platonic very difficult.

The book has a tentative May 2012 release date for the UK and it will be a part of the One Night In series. 😉

*streamers*

I’ve pitched a Presents Duet to my editor and I’m about to get started on the first book!

Quoth the Doubt Crow: You Suck

It’s that time again! That time where I submit a manuscript I’ve done revisions on and I’m forced to *wait* and find out if I have OH HOLY CRAP messed up, or if I’ve done a reallyreally good job.

For some reason, I have a hard time distinguishing between OH HOLY CRAP messed up and reallyreally good job in my work. I thin that’s pretty common. But that inability to judge between the two leads to a whole lot of nail biting and angsting and, yes, cookie eating.

And before one knows it, one has a hoard of doubt crows descend down upon then ready to feast on the scorched remnants of their writerly soul. Leaving said writer, a quivery, treacly mass of goo and blech. (Side note, do you know why there’s always room for jello? Because is blobby formless mass. As am I, post submission)

I think, and I said this on the New Voices facebook page, that whether you’re on submission 1 or submission 50, some variant of this is still present.

But I did want to offer a glimmer of hope too. Because yes, I still feel skeered when I submit. I still wonder if I turned in an actual book or if I just wrote the word ‘Thor’ 50K times to meet word count and I dreamed all those fabulous things like character, plot and elephant rides.

BUT when I think back to that day I put my Very First Manuscript in that envelope and sent it across the pond, I remember how it felt. I was certain I would get a rejection. I was nervous. I was excited. It was all new and shiny and amazing.

And it’s still so many of those things. It feels new, and shiny and exciting, and yeah, scary, every time. But there are a few things that time and experience have given me. The assurance that I’ve done it before. And one of the biggest things: If it is a mess, I know now that I’ve honed the tools to fix it.

Because I *have* submitted books and had them come back to me saying (in a nice way) ‘keep the character names and that little bit of the set up and chuck the rest’. And that’s HARD and I always hope that’s NOT what I get back. But if I do, I don’t have to be afraid of it either.

None of us want to put something out there that could have been fixed, if we only would have put the work in. None of us want something published that could have gone from good to great if we just would have taken revisions on board.

Which means, as much as I get all skittish and frightened and occasionally have to be lured out from beneath the sofa with a Kit Kat bar while I’m waiting, none of the possible outcomes are really all that bad.

So yeah, as I said, sure the insecurity sticks around, but it does change. There’s a sense of empowerment in knowing you DO have the tools to make a MS work, and that what it takes is an objective eye and a willingness to put the work in to make it all HAPPEN. Every round of revisions, every submission, ever rejection, is adding to your tool box, giving you more control every time you start a new MS. And that’s a Good Thing.

Having said all that, here’s hoping one round of revisions was enough and I will be doing the double rainbow flying pony happy happy fun dance.

Oh, and also, I’ve decided this should be the writer’s theme song. 😀

New Ideas and Inspiration

I know I’ve said it before, but inspiration is everywhere. I find I get little snips of ideas from all kinds of things.

Newspapers, reality TV, a dance routine, a song lyric. Just recently I got an email from JetSetter (I subscribe to all kinds of naughty things…for research, you understand!) with glamorous vacation packages to locations I’d never even considered using in a book before!

It just confirmed for me that inspiration, seeds that can grow into new books are everywhere.

I’m getting started on my 12th Presents, still waiting to hear back on the 11th. I find myself just as excited to write this was as I was to do the first eleven.

Another plug for writing what you LOVE, too. As a reader, I find it so refreshing to get lost in a Presents. As a writer, I feel the same way. Creating new characters, new conflicts, new locales…it’s a thrill for me.

And I never know where a new idea might pop up!

Keep your eyes open. Inspiration is everywhere!

Process

You know how there are people who like to run? And they can run…pfft…I dunno…twenty miles in a day and they feel GREAT. I would feel…DEAD. Then there are the wonderful housekeepers, who love to bake pie and make bread and sweep the floor and at the end of the day they feel GREAT. I would feel PERSECUTED.

Because people are different. The pace we move at, the activities we enjoy and find fulfillment in are different. Writing, and the writing process is no different.

There are people who love plotting, people who love the act of writing, people who love research, and people who love all of the above. There are those who write sloppy first drafts, those who write clean first drafts, those who write five drafts. There are those who feel accomplished after writing five hundred words in a day, and those who feel accomplished at 5K words in a day. It’s subjective. It’s personal.

And even if you don’t understand how someone else’s process works for them…if it works…they probably aren’t doin’ it wrong. It doesn’t mean YOU are either.

I’ve seen a lot of debate on fast writing/slow writing. People who write slow should be faster, people who write fast will burn out/write crappy books.

I HATE that. Because it is, again, subjective. Remember the runner? I can’t run a lap without feeling exhausted so in my mind, when someone says they’re going to run twenty miles (heck, two miles) I think…that sounds like death served with WHAT ARE YOU THINKING sauce smothered over the top.

When those people think of it? They think of the high, the endorphin rush, the satisfaction. The fact that they’re doing something they love.

Same with writing speed. If the thought of writing over a thousand words in a day makes you feel like you want to die, then don’t do it. And don’t think you have to, as long as you can make deadlines. But understand that someone who has a higher word count thresh hold may feel the rush of satisfaction after getting a high count, not exhaustion. The tortoise and the hare is a fantastic story. It doesn’t always apply.

Just like someone with a high output has no right to assume someone with a lower count ‘could do better if they tried’. If they are doing it, and they are happy, then it’s RIGHT.

That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to try and find new ways of doing something if you don’t feel like your process is working for you, that doesn’t mean don’t ask questions. But one thing I’ve noticed is that if you ask authors a question about process, you’ll get ten different answers. It doesn’t mean nine of those answers are wrong, it means that different things work for different people.

Now, my process, or your process, may change in the future. Because just like people are different, people also change over time. It stands to reason process would too. Mine tends to be slightly different with each book.

So why am I talking about this? Because I want you to know that as long as your process works, as long as you feel happy with it, you don’t have to worry that it’s not the same as someone else’s. You don’t have to take every piece of advice you’re given. So what if someone can write a book in four weeks and it takes you eight. If you’re happy and you know you would feel completely stressed trying to do it in four, and it would steal your enjoyment…then don’t do it.

If you love to story board, and use visuals and your writer friend doesn’t…maybe your writer friend even says they never use celebrity pictures because they find it harms their characterization well..fine. You do your visuals if they work for you. They don’t have to. Neither of you are wrong.

Isn’t that freeing?

Write happy, my friends!

Covers and Stuff!

Well, have been in the revision cave getting The Coffee Magnate’s book all sorted out! In the meantime, I have Big Stuff happening!

First of all, MARRIAGE MADE ON PAPER is out in North America today! I hope everyone who picks it up enjoys my Presents take on a romantic comedy. 😉

And yesterday, I got to see the cover for my UK November release THE ARGENTINE’S PRICE. So here’s a little taste of what you’ll find in Vanessa and Lazaro’s story…

It’s time for the housekeeper’s son to collect his dues…

Lazaro Marino will stop at nothing to reach the top. He’s climbed his way out of poverty, but there’s still one thing that’s been denied him: entry into the highest echelons of society. And blue-blooded heiress Vanessa Pickett is the key to unlocking the door to all that he desires…

With her business in crisis, Vanessa is desperate. A marriage proposal of the utmost convenience will give both Lazaro and Vanessa everything they need… But, for Vanessa, this deal with the devil comes with a startling price…

I don’t think there’s a book I can say I didn’t adore writing, or one that didn’t present its challenges. But this was my first reunion story, my first where the hero and heroine had a shared past. It was neat to have a hero who had changed so much in his pursuit of wealth and status, be put with a heroine who knew who he was before any of it. It was also my first book where revenge played a part in the plot. *evil grin*

This is the beginning of my Fall release storm! LOL. I’m going to try and keep up with everything…but in the meantime…REVISIONS AWAIT!

Natural Instincts

Your gut knows stuff. It knows that chocolate is awesome, and that tempeh is highly suspect. It knows that roller coasters were not intended for humans, since it climbs into your throat, both on ascent and descent.

Your gut* lies to you too sometimes though. It does to me. I’m thinking of ‘gut’ in the visceral sense, while instinct is something more cerebral-ish (for the purposes of this post anyway!)

Sometimes I’m writing and my gut sinks. And it tells my brain…no. This is stupid. And my brain is like…but can I try this? And I feel sick, and unsure, and completely insecure.

My name is Maisey Yates, and I have a problem trusting my instincts. My instincts, quite frankly, tend to scare me. They lead me to throw a Vegas wedding, references to an Elvis impersonator and a heroine using a leopard skirt and black tank top as a wedding dress, into a Presents.

They lead me to put my hero and heroine on elephant back and send them out into the Thai jungle to spend quality time at a waterfall.

BUT NO. (I shout)

*stamps*

NO NO NO!!! That’s weird. It won’t work. (I know it won’t, because my stomach has slithered down my leg and landed somewhere in my toes.)

*closes eyes and sort of halfway writes it anyway*

*presses send*

*waits for email telling me I have officially gone off the deep end*

In my head, it goes something like this:

Editor: Maisey…are there elephants in your manuscript?

Me: *gulps* Uh…no. No…couldn’t be elephants. Very large gray mice. Yep. That’s it.

*end scene*

In reality, my talk with my editor this morning went like this:

Editor: I loved that scene with the elephants and the waterfall. Can you do more of that?

Me: O_O

*end scene*

And that’s the same thing that happened with the Vegas wedding (which appears in GIRL ON A DIAMOND PEDESTAL)

It also happened with an element in HAJAR’S HIDDEN LEGACY, and…well, several other books several other times.

The problem is, I tend to doubt myself. I don’t believe my inspiration is really all that inspired and then, quite a few times now, those scary scenes have been the standout elements to my editor.

Those scenes that gave me that sinking feeling, that ‘this will never work’ feeling, have been some of my most successful.

Because somewhere, beneath the crap implanted in us by the EBIL DOUBT CROW, we do know how to write a book. The problem with *my* gut is that insecurity tends to run the show. When I go strictly off of emotion, I can really tie myself in knots.

But if I relax, if I give my inspiration a chance to get onto the page, if I try something that seems crazy, sometimes that’s when I end up with my best work.

That doesn’t mean everything’s perfect, or that everything I, or you do, will be perfect. (Far from it! I have Coffee Magnate revisions!)

But it’s worth taking chances, it’s worth pressing through the fear, to write things and SEE if they work. You might be surprised.

I sure have been!

*stalks off to revisions cave*

*for lack of a better way to describe this, I’m assigning the term ‘gut’ to…my feelings basically. Emotion and the physical blech I get when I doubt myself.

What to Write?

Since I submitted Coffee Magnate to my editor on Monday I’ve been fiddling around with a few different ideas and mostly just hanging out and indulging in post-submission lethargy. Sloth was definitely the order of the week.

Due to the upcoming New Voices contest I’ve been thinking a bit about picking the line you want to write for. Or the sub-genre, if you’re aiming for single titles.

I can’t remember who said it (bad me) but I remember one of the authors saying on a board back before I was published, that if you were aiming for a line at Harlequin you should try to imagine writing thirty books for that line. If you can’t fathom it, it might not be the right line for you!

I remember thinking…excellent! Because I can’t imagine NOT having new Presents ideas. I love the line. I connected with it instantly as a reader. At the time, I had no concept of what ‘voice’ was, or how to identify if mine was suited for something. I wasn’t hooked in with the online writing community in the way I am now, and I confess, I was green as grass.

When I first wrote what was later titled HIS VIRGIN ACQUISITION when I was twenty-one and knew nothing and no one. I hadn’t even heard that great chestnut about imagining writing thirty books for the line. I chose Presents because I loved it. Because I had ideas for it. Because the idea of having my name on a cover for a Presents excited me like nothing else.

I was lucky, in that my voice happened to fit the line I enjoyed the most.

Now, my second favorite line, and my absolute favorite sort of single title…it Historicals. I love them. I glom them I’m not writing. But it would be a struggle for me to write them! I do love deep and dark conflict, which you certainly find in Historicals, but I think I also have a very informal writing voice that really lends itself to contemporary, and a Historical might squish to many of my strengths. I also can’t ever think of ideas for them. I try. And then I get tired and pick up one of Tracy Ann Warren or Eloisa James’s books. Because that’s much more fun than writing my own!

A passion for the line or genre you choose is important, because it’s not necessarily easy to just hop lines or genres once you’re ‘in’ so it’s certainly important to be happy where you are/

I love the deep, dirty angsty stuff, which you all know, but also like to write comedy, which has a small place in my Presents but is definitely something I keep on a tight leash. So, for me, to a certain extent it was about playing to certain strengths so that I could fit the line I wanted.

I decided, going into my MS, what line it would be for, and made sure I fulfilled the promise of that line.

So deciding which direction you want to go in has a lot of factors to it. There’s voice, there’s passion, there’s concept.

So hopefully that helps give you an idea of where you should try to aim your MSs, if you didn’t have one already! 😉

I’ll just be in the corner eating cookies, praying for good news to hit my inbox.

In Which I Talk About the Coffee Magnate and Self-Editing

So, the Coffee Magnate has been sent to my editor for a thorough pummeling…I mean read through. After which I’m sure THERE WILL BE BLOOD!! *Cough* I mean, thoughtful revisions.

I think I learn something new with every MS (because I have LOTS to learn!) and I think I learned a lot on this one, even pre-revisions. First off, I think I actually hit a level of competent self-editing. Not level Grand Sparkalay Amazeballs or anything, but, y’know, I had SOME sense of self-editing.

That’s been a struggle for me in general, because I tend to get very lost in the MS as I write it, and I start losing perspective. I know most everyone does to a certain degree but I feel like after writing the MS and giving it a couple of reads I end up like DID I EVEN WRITE THIS IN ENGLISH!!!??? Then I hit send filled with WOE and BLAH because I have on clue if I even Wrote A Book or if I Wrote Something That Would Be More At Home on the Back of a Cereal Box.

The whole writing of this MS was different in some ways. First off, I basically chucked the characters into bed from the get go. It was the wrong thing to do, and it’s what led to the self edits. So I did this thing where I threw them into a physical relationship too early and as I went along, I started really seeing that.

This MS was a friends to lovers story, which I’d never done before, and it presented some unique challenges. The getting-to-know-you wasn’t present. So it was bringing a close relationship into a different kind of close relationship and that made the structure all sorts of different too.

Which is why I rush on the bedroom scene. Partly. The other part being general impatience on my end. 😛 But I realized I needed to SHOW a bit more of the relationship that I knew they had in order for the step Into The Bedroom to mean something to the readers.

Cue me going back and adding scenes. Then I continued on with the book and realized I needed more before they kissed for the first time. *goes back and fixes*

And on and on it went with this MS. I was writing these really dramatic scenes that I essentially hadn’t laid the foundation for. So that meant dashing back to the beginning and building it Real The Heck Quick so that it didn’t fall over.

Normally I write beginning to end without leaving scenes out, and really, I didn’t leave scenes out on purpose, but this was still a different process for me. I really enjoyed it in the end though, because I felt like I hit these really key emotional scenes, and I was then able to go back and write TO them and make sure I had the proper set up.

We’ll see if this process actually worked out, but I had fun with it, and I think it was one of those valuable growing/learning experiences.

Oh, and now I get to start dreaming about my new hero…Russian bodyguard anyone?

What the Kids Are Callin’ It

Sooo….I got this thing. I think the kids call it a ‘Tumblr.’ Not quite sure how it all works yet, but there are pictures of hero inspiration, some clothes and already a drawing with a unicorn, so if you’re inclined to that sort of thing you might want to check it out!

Maisey Tumblr of Random and Awesomesauce

And…teach me how to use it.

Getting Down to the Truth

I always think of writing a MS as a journey. There’s the linear part of it, beginning to end. And then there’s the descent down into it, deep into the characters, and to the, for lack of a better word, truth of the MS.

Because there’s your surface set up. Your plot. Then there’s the outer shell of a character. I’ll use my coffee magnate as an example.

He doesn’t do relationships. Of course, that begs the question: Why doesn’t he do relationships?

His answer to you would probably be: Because it’s too complicated. I don’t like emotional entanglements.

But why, Mr. Coffee Magnate? (We might press)

He would probably glare at you, a but annoyed, some of his charming veneer slipping a bit. “Because I’ve had enough emotional drama for one lifetime.”

Ah-ha!

So, you don’t want the drama then, Mr. Coffee Magnate? Do I have that right?

He might shift uncomfortably in his seat at this point. “Sort of.”

Well, we ask him, what if you fell in love?

He would give us one of his infamous icy glares at this point. “I won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t let anyone mean everything to me.”

And there we have a real answer. And it’s one you really won’t get out of a character right at first, because a real person wouldn’t give it to you right at first. A person may not really know why they don’t want to fall in love, or they might, but they don’t carry that reason right at the surface.

So up front, in the beginning of my Coffee Magnate MS, you have this man who seems sort of charming and unshakable, capable of warmth and friendliness, but without a lot of deep emotion behind it. But down beneath that is his protection, the real hard, armored cover he keeps locked tight over his heart. And the reasons for that protection.

When you uncover it all, he’s a man who’s afraid, because he’s been hurt so badly. That’s the core truth of his conflict, and essentially, of his character. That’s what he has to heal from, that’s what he has to overcome. Not ‘I don’t want a relationship because it’s too complicated’. But the deep, underlying cause of that statement.

As I said at the beginning of the post, this isn’t something you’ll have laid out in the first few pages or even the first few chapter, not necessarily. Because it’s going to take some digging to get the heroine to see it, it’ll take digging to get the hero to see it.

But don’t forget to do the digging into the character. I think that’s what makes a character three dimensional rather than flat and cliche. It gives weight to the decisions the characters have made, it makes it cost them to find their HEA. And that makes for a more rewarding read!

I’m getting close to typing The End on the Coffee Magnate and this song by Adele has been fueling the angst. Please do enjoy!

Life and Other Dangers

It’s never safe to blog when you’re feeling emo and generally blah. I’m doing it anyway though. I’m having one of those perfect storm moments when hits in confidence come before a bad review and a hard day with kids. And I’m feeling right sorry for myself. Charming, right?

Things I feel like doing today:

1. Melting into a puddle

2. Hopping in the car with ladybug girl up there and driving off for a while

3. Eating a tub of ice cream while wailing about how tragic it all is

Today is hard mainly because my Danger Baby is sad and I don’t know why. I don’t know how to fix it, and a kiss doesn’t seem to be enough.

Usually he’s really happy, and the fact that we can’t really communicate verbally is okay. Even if he’s not that interested in us on a given day he’s usually pretty cheerful. But today he’s sad and I don’t know what’s bothering him. (Trying not to be a soppy mess even as I write this)

Today it all just feels sad and hard.

I think there are a lot of times in life like this. Whether it’s in parenting, or writing, or a job. Some days it all seems manageable, and things that aren’t perfect are okay. And other days it all sort of buries you beneath its weight. Even though I know it’s a temporary feeling, it still hurts to deal with.

This is one reason I value writing SO much. Because real life today is hard. I love my real life, and I love my kids more than anything, but tonight, no matter what’s going on, after they’re in bed at least I can go to my world for a while. My world where I have all the control. And even if things look dark for a while, I know it all turn out okay. Because it’s my world, and there, I’m in charge.

And the rest? One foot in front of the other. One day at a time. (And a happy family pic to remind me to smile!) 

This blog post morphed a little bit from the time I started it. But I was reminded by writing it why, even though at the moment I don’t feel like writing (I feel a bit too raw to do it, honestly!) it’s my happy place for a lot of reasons. Cuz, okay, Ladybug girl and I can’t really take off in the little blue truck, but I can escape for San Francisco for a little while tonight, if only on paper!

Thank God for it. (Don’t know if this post helped any of you, but it sure helped me!)

I want to share a song my hubby wrote a recorded too, because it’s on my mind now. Definitely something I need today!

I will also be collecting hugs from the hubby today! Guarantee it!

Your Journey is Your Own

It’s human nature to compare. Sometimes it feels impossible not to. We look at how quickly or slowly someone else accomplished something to see if we’re on track, to see if we’re better. We look at the number of rejection letters someone else got, at the number of years it took them to sell.

Then after I think there’s a tendency to look and see who ranks higher. Who’s outselling who. It goes on and on. I was thinking about this the other day and I came to this conclusion: Comparing doesn’t help.

Nope. It doesn’t advance you in any way, what it does, I think, is make you feel bad about yourself, or possibly make you feel superior to someone else. Basically, no good can come of either of those things.

In writing and in life, your journey is your own. You’re the one that has to take it, and you have to make it work your way and in the right timing.

Everyone has setbacks and challenges, failures and successes, prior to publication and even after. But jealousy is destructive, feeling someone else’s success is the enemy of yours is destructive.

There are so many things we can’t control in this business, and we have to put our energy into focusing on the things we can control.

We can write, we can work on our craft, we can submit. And we can do it again.

Remember that your journey is unique to you, and your timing won’t necessarily be the same as someone else’s. But that doesn’t mean you’re a failure, or not as good, or not as deserving.

Just keep going.

And now I shall book pimp a bit! Aussies, The Highest Price to Pay is now available on the M&B site! For those of you in the UK, The Highest Price to Pay is now available on Kindle. US folks, The Highest Price to Pay is now available on ibooks.

Marriage Made on Paper is now available on eharlequin in print and e!!

Now go!! Get moving on your journey! Eyes on your own path!