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Nice Day For A Redneck Wedding

I live in Oregon. Yeah…Oregon. Some of you outside of the continental US may not have heard of it. It’s below Washington, the one with the vampires, not the one with the president, and above California (the one with the movie stars, but also redwoods and stuff) Anyway…I love it here. It’s beautiful.

That having been said, it’s an interesting mix of people around here. In our little corner of the state, there are rednecks, there are granola eating hippies, and then there are people who fall somewhere in the middle or are a strange mix of those two. You may not believe me, but it’s absolutely true. Classic example, one of my best friends is married to an avid hunter who drives a big truck. For their wedding, which my husband and I were in, the groomsmen posed with guns and cowboy hats for the picture. And my friend’s sister? She’s raw foodist who makes her own soap. See??

Anyway, I’m used to this kind of thing, but I saw something yesterday that will go down in history as the redneckiest thing I have ever seen.

A pick up truck pulled out in front of me last night when I was driving to Starbucks to get The All-Important Latte. A bride and groom were sitting in the back of the pick up, her veil streaming in the wind. (being a gentleman, he had of course draped his jacket over her shoulders) The groom was smoking a cigarette, just to complete the look.

And as we’re driving, I say to my mom and my husband, ‘Oh, it would be so funny if they pulled into 7-Eleven!!’ (for my international readers, 7-Eleven is a minute market. Home of the Big Gulp, soft pretzels and other convenience store type items).

I was totally kidding, no way, would they pull into 7-Eleven. And then they did. They totally did.

For what? Well, our theory was a 6pack of Bud, a 12 pack of contraceptives and maybe a couple hot dogs.

I think Jeff Foxworthy could use this: If you have your wedding reception, tailgate style, in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven…you might be a redneck.

Beware The Scammers

Ok, I came across this today when I was checking a link that had led someone to my site. And I *have* to comment. Please, please please, for the love of all that is holy, avoid this kind of stuff like the plague.

Rob Parnell is launching his ‘writing romance for profit’ workshop this week. It would be a total waste of time. This guy has no idea what he’s talking about. Just reading the first line of his site, there were like, ten things that were totally wrong. He’s a scammer, and a moron and I sincerely hope that no one gives him their money.

First off, he says you can get published and have $15,000 dollars in 2-3 months!! Really *looks around* *checks bank balance* er…nope. Not there. Maybe if I were with a more prestigious publisher?? Oh…wait.

First off, as many of my regular readers know it took me 20mos to go from slush to published. A small press publisher will have shorter waits, but that’s small press and NOT going to net you 15K.

Every line of this guy’s spiel shows how LITTLE he knows about the genre of romance, and the publishing world in general.

He has testimonials from one (ONE) person who is published based off of his ‘class’. (though he claims his students have sold to Harlequin, Silhouette and Harper Collins…oh, had to LOL that he clearly doesn’t realize the connection between HMB and Silhouette…yeah, he’s a real insider)  Oh, and his published author is published with Publish American, an author mill and another wonderful scam.

What? They’re selective!! Seriously. Not just anyone can get a book with them. Yeah, uh huh, check THIS out…quality is their middle name. Clearly.

So please, beware the scammers. If you want to find out how to write romance, join RWA, check out the online community at eharlequin. But don’t give your money to jokers like this.

Two Paths In The Woods

Or rather, two paths in Hollywood. I’m getting my start on The Greek (yeah, he’s listed as my WIP over there in the sidebar, and yeah, I HAD 17,000 words done, but I’m starting over.) and I’m all kinds-a conflicted. I have the characters. Totally. Completely. They’re so alive and wonderful and I have mad hero love and my heroine is completely charming to me as well. The problem?

I have no plot. Well, I kind of do. But I’m waffling a bit. Keep it totally simple and see if I have enough tension? Or throw in a healthy dash of revenge? This may be one of those points where I need to trust my characters to make their own drama and not throw manufactured conflict at them…but…oooh…revenge….

Any of you ever have this problem? What do you think of revenge? And does anyone have any chocolate ice cream on hand??

Gooooaaaallll!!!!

The Sheikh, in all of his newfound glory, is in my editor’s inbox now. I hope she loves him as much as I do. He’s a very complex character, a man caught between his sense of honor and self-sacrifice, and intense feelings for a woman he feels he’s all wrong for. Of course, he hides all of that beneath a hardened exterior, but while he’s supremely alpha and supremely in control, he’s also quite damaged and scarred.

I love, love, love a scarred hero, either emotionally, physically or both, and I love seeing him embrace the redemptive power of love and ultimately letting go of those issues that have held him back in an emotional sense for so long.

What about you? What internal issues do you like to see a character struggle with? What makes you really root for them? And what issues do you like to give your hero and heroine?

Amazon!!

I’m on Amazon!! No cover art or write-ups yet, but I AM ON AMAZON!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Maisey%20Yates

http://www.amazon.com/His-Virgin-Acquisition-Maisey-Yates/dp/026321396X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268803949&sr=1-1

And that, my friends, about sums it up!

Being Different

I excel at this. No really, I’m a strange one. I manage to tone myself down a little bit for public consumption, but, as anyone who knew me in high school will tell you, I have individualistic tendencies. 😀

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with the price of tea in China. Absolutely nothing. But it *does* pertain to writing.

I think it can be easy to read selections of your chosen genre, category etc, and say ‘this is what I have to do, the formula I have to follow for success!’ Well, not necessarily. DO become familiar with your genre, which for the purpose of my site we’ll pretend is romance. DO become familiar with your category if you’re aiming at a particular line. But DON’T imitate those who have been published before you.

Oftentimes I’ll see people talking about rejection letters, and they’ll say ‘but so and so got away with that exact same thing in their book!’ First off, it’s all in the execution, repeat that about a million times because it’s basically the key to life. Well, writing anyway. There are things that shouldn’t work, things that generally don’t work, but if you can take it and execute it well…then do it.

Jennie Lucas and Annie West as good examples that spring to mind. In their recent releases they had hero’s that did some pretty nasty things…but I loved it. I shouldn’t have loved it. It shouldn’t have been okay. Not only was it okay, it was the thing that, to me, set their books apart and made them really something special. That I could understand this hero who was doing something that should have been unacceptable, but I just empathized with him SO much that the book never lost me, is a testament to good execution. By the same turn, I read another book that utilized some of the same elements and I just couldn’t go with the hero on it. Didn’t work. Execution.

Anyway, the next point is: Someone else may have gotten away with it, but if someone else has already done it…

The thing is, editors are looking for people who are ‘pushing boundaries’. They want to see something new so they can mix it into what’s already there. I will always love the books that are done by Penny Jordan, Kate Walker, Miranda Lee,Trish Morey. These are people who inspired me in the first place, and I’m sure I’m not the only one they’ve inspired! But, just because they inspire me, doesn’t mean I should try to emulate them or their style of writing, story construction, etc. Because it’s theirs. That need for their stories is filled, quite nicely, by the originals. Which is why the editors want new authors to change it up a bit, not because what’s out there doesn’t work, but because they want you to bring your own spin, your own flavor to the line so that there’s a broad spectrum of goodies for a reader to choose from!

So be bold. And dare to be different.

And on that note, I leave you with…The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. (click the link…you know you want to)

Five Reasons I Will Never Get Asked To Speak At Schools

I was thinking about this the other day because when I was in elementary school, a published writer would come to the school to give us a talk every year. Mostly writers of children’s books, or YA. It was inspiring to me, because sitting there in Ruch School, in a tiny, rural corner of Oregon, that was big stuff, and seeing someone who’d accomplished it made me want to do it too.

So here I am, some 12yrs later and I’m a published author. I was thinking I’d like to do that kind of thing, talk to kids, inspire them to go for it, go for your dreams because they can happen, you just ave to try.

And then I realized, no one is letting me onto school property to talk to children. Here’s why:

1. I couldn’t even name the title of my first release without having to explain some things to kids that no one wants to explain. (I can get out of this by not speaking at schools…unfortunately, I will have to explain it to my own kids. Oh well, I have a plan, but that’s for another post)

2. I don’t have my covers yet…but can you imagine??

3. I am technically not a high school graduate. I did the work, but I was homeschooled. I had a graduation ceremony and I was in college at sixteen, but I do not have a real diploma.

4. I am not a college graduate. I went for three years, starting at sixteen, then got married at nineteen. (which would invariably lead to me saying ‘nah, college shmollege! Just get married and write a book, join a band, whatever)

5. Can you imagine me talking about the content of my books?? Unless I was being invited to a sex ed discussion…

So, yeah, the chances of me being an inspiration to young children are nil. But, if I was allowed to be involved in the molding (and by that I mean shaping!!) of young minds, I would say this: Go for your dreams, no matter how big they are. Because if you don’t try, you have no idea how far you can go. And I’d say that to everyone here too.

Happy Cupcake Award Thingy

I don’t know if that’s really the name. I’m all sleep deprive. But I was nominated for this award by the very lovely Lynne and the equally lovely Sally, so it seems like playing by the rules is the thing to do! 😉

So, ten things that make me happy…in no particular order.

1. Harlequin Presents, reading them, writing them…they make me a very happy person. It’s the honest to goodness truth.

2. My husband. He’s supportive, he cooks, he cleans, he works, he changes diapers, and he’s about the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.

3. My children. They are a lot of work and each one is packed with more personality than most three people have combined, but that’s what makes them SO MUCH FUN. (virgin vulture, anyone??)

4. Starbucks. I’m smiling just imagining a hot grande vanilla with whip latte, oh yes I am. *sigh*

5. Getting paid to do what I love. I got an advance check in the mail today, my second one, and the very idea that someone is paying me to do the thing I love the most is just as mind boggling now as it was two months ago. I can’t even express my general happiness that this is MY JOB. WOW.

6. My Kindle. Instant, booky gratification. I read on it, I make notes on my WIPS on it, it saves me ink, paper, shipping costs, trips to bookstores…Do I need a new book? Pull up the Kindle store while I lie in bed and have the newest Presents in my hands in under sixty seconds, all without getting out of my duckie PJs. Oh yeah, baby.

7. My CPs. They are just about the coolest group of ladies around. My only gripe? We’re all countries apart! We cover a lot of ground: Australia, New Zealand, London, Manchester, Ireland, Washington DC and Oregon. And I would like, more than anything to get together with them and share coffee now and then, as it is, I’m content to have (between the time zones!!) at least one person around 24hrs a day for doubt crow beatings, critique services and just general sisterly support.

8. My parents. Speaking of support systems…my parents live across the street from us and they are always around to cook dinner when I’m too lost in Presents land to do it myself, to hold babies and to entertain toddlers in general. Not only that, they’ve always believed I would be a published writer.

9. My BFF Ellie, who I have known my whole life and who is NOT a writer type, but is actually a very accomplished dressage rider, but who always, always attempts to understand me when I go off on writerly things. We can always be happy for each other (like I was when she got promoted a level and got to get a very nice top hat and tails for her riding!) and like she was for me when I got my contract and she screamed, even though I’m pretty sure she was riding a horse when I called to tell her. We all need a friend like that.

10. My house. When it’s clean. It’s small, it’s old, it’s cheap, but it’s ours. That makes it the best.

Recommended Reads!

It’s WELL past the time for me to recommend some good books again!

I just finished reading Immortal Warrior and Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix and, let me say, they are amazing. The concept is fantastic: A crew of cursed, immortal vikings who turn into various animals. They have no control over it, and they aren’t really conscious of their human selves when they’re in animal form. Some of them change at night, some during the day.

The first book Immortal Warrior, is about Ivar, the falcon and how he comes to inherit a castle…and a wife. And how he tries to keep his secret hidden, even though he has to leave the castle from dawn to dusk every day. A great book, and the ending had me so nervous I was ready to put my kindle in the freezer. (Why yes, I am a big fan of Friends)

In the second book, Immortal Outlaw, we meet Steinarr, who I heart, seriously I do. He meets ‘Marian’ and her ‘cousin’ ‘Robin’ on the road and saves them from bandits…and gains a couple of traveling companions he’d rather get rid of. First off, he has the very inconvenient hots for Marian, and second…well, he turned into a lion at night and he’d rather not eat them. It’s such a great story and it weaves in elements of Robin Hood, which I thought was really fun.

These are fun, witty, original books, and I loved the mixed paranormal/historical/suspense elements.

Happy reading everyone!

Writing The Goldilocks Heroine

I’m aware there’s a breakdown in the analogy, since it wasn’t Goldilocks herself who was too hot, or too cold, but just right. (although the bears, if they had ever gotten a hold of her, might have thought so.) Anyway, bear with me. *groan*

The Goldilocks heroine is not too hard, not too soft, but just right. 🙂 Of course, for the purposes of this post, I’ll be speaking Presentsese, but you can pick and choose what you like, or don’t like. 🙂

I was inspired to write this post because two people on subcare, over on eharlequin, mentions a rejection from Presents/Modern/Mod Heat due to a heroine that was a little bit too strong for the lines.

I ran into a similar issue in the first partial for His Virgin Acquisition. My heroine is the instigator, she comes to the hero to make a deal with the hero. Initially in the first draft of the partial, she pushed the fact that she had what he wanted and he needed her to get it. And while the editors liked that angle a lot, they stressed that it was important that I didn’t diminish the hero as an alpha, and not only as an alpha male, but as a man who was brilliant enough to have pulled himself up to the top by his own bootstraps without family connections or help from anyone!

So, it wasn’t about making my heroine weaker, or stupid, it was about a power balance. She had something he wanted, and he had something she wanted, but, with a slight change of emphasis, I was able to make the stakes slightly higher for her. Ultimately, while he could benefit from their association, she needed it more. So while she came in with guns blazing, and a plan all constructed, he was able, in the end, to turn the tables and take some control from her. Nothing in her was compromised, but to add the balance, he was made a bit stronger in that instance.  It wasn’t a matter of him being smarter, just in a more powerful, fully realized place in life than she was.

It’s about balance. Just like we don’t want to see a doormat heroine, we don’t want to see one who pig-headedly charges through situations with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop. We don’t want to listen to her on her soapbox for an entire book. Like a real person, there needs to be vulnerability there, some sort of weakness, like we all have. The weaknesses will highlight her strengths and make her more of a real person. Otherwise, she’s just a one dimensional, she’s Strong Heroine, she’s not Elaine. And she’s not very sympathetic!

It’s the same with the hero, he’s an alpha male, but it’s important he’s not Alpha Male, the counterpart of Strong Heroine. He does things only because he’s Alpha Male and that’s what they do. No, he can be an alpha, but he needs his own strengths, his own vulnerabilities (emotional, typically, as he’s successful in his professional life.) and his own conflicts.

But back to the heroine…

Strength in a heroine is a good thing, a great thing. But, like all characters, it’s important that the strength comes from an organic place inside of her. Not just, well, she’s strong. So she’s strong. Why? And to balance that strength, what are her weak points? Where does is all come from?

In the end, some kick-butt heroines won’t be a good fit for a Modern/MH. (Gun toting leather wearing heroine might want to pick up a badge and check out the precinct over at Intrigue) But, I know there’s a place for that strong woman at the Presents line. With balance. And always, respect to the alpha. 😀