6 Reasons you need more "babies."

Of course, this is how we feel when we have to "kill" them. 

Not human babies, silly. More “word babies,” or stories, poems, articles, etc. I cannot believe how many people write only one book and lay all their hopes and dreams on it. I never went that far, but I was guilty of putting my one book on through the submission process and endlessly obsessing over it for a long time before starting a new one. THIS IS BAD!!!

Why?   

1.)Most published authors can tell you that their first few novels were rejected before they made their big break. Stephen King had several novels and countless short stories rejected before he wrote CARRIE and became my hero.

2.) If you’re not occupied with another project and wasting your time stalking your one project, you might just do something stupid and blow your career. Like publically complaining about rejections or the publishing industry.

3.)You’ll never grow as a writer. To become better at anything, you need to do it a lot. If you don’t write a lot, then you’re not much of a writer. How many paintings do you think Da Vinci did before the Mona Lisa?

4.) If all you ever talk about is your one “baby,” people are going to get bored quickly….unless it’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

5.) If your one “baby” dies, it won’t be so devastating if you have others. Knowing you have other stories to market gives you unbelievable confidence in this difficult industry.

It gets easier when you have more..seriously. On another note, this was a great album and was about killing babies in the metaphorical sense i.e. child abuse, govt. issues, drugs, etc.

6.) When you do get a publishing contract, it’ll likely be for more than one book. Nobody likes a one-hit-wonder….again unless it’s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

The Benefit of New Experience

After a long hectic week I really just wanted to relax this weekend. Alas, that wasn't the case, hell, it never is. I had to abandon the kick-ass book I was reading and go to my friend's bachelorette party. Since we've been great friends since high school and I have few of those, there was no getting out of it. It wasn't the party itself that   evoked the most dread, it was the thought of the crowds. We were to go bar-hopping, which meant lots of unfamiliar crowds in unfamiliar places. ::cringe:: When I go out, I go to the same bar I've frequented for years to see the same drinking buddies.

But there was one thing I forgot: I am a happy drunk...and I had my friends with me. Sooo....

I had a blast! 


We started out at the bar across from mine and so I actually got to see a lot of my regular blue collar friends. They were quite amused and overwhelmed with my company of 14 wild women and our phallic party favors. There was a phallic cake complete with cream filling. We stayed long enough for me to get in the party spirit before we took the shuttle to the other side of downtown. The clubs were like those I read about and saw on TV with several hundred people dry-humping to "unch-chi-unch-chi-unchi" music and crazy lights everywhere. The floors were movie theater sticky. I stayed on the fringes and watched while having an awesome conversation with the bride's aunt who is a screen writer. With the others I enjoyed a rare bout of female bonding.

After the 3rd overwhelming club we went to the lawn in front of the resort and there was some public urination for a few ladies while we covered their backs and some of us made a plan to go somewhere more mellow, preferably where we could smoke indoors. About 5 of us made it, while the others continued clubbing. The calmer, more familiar bar was the perfect place to wind down and I was able to meet some new people and have those interesting conversations where one is overcome with liquid courage and reveals their personal demons and dreams to perfect strangers. It's a writer's ultimate delight. By last call, the remainder of my original party had left, probably to retrieve the bride (who'd indulged in an obscene amount of tequila and likely needed to get home) And...somehow I made it home.

Besides zombie-esque exhaustion the next day and a few mystery bruises, I think I survived the evening with lots of fodder for my writing. Also, I learned a lesson. I think I may need to get out of my comfort zone once in awhile and embrace new experiences more often. Oh, and 14 drunk women unleashed on the town is a formidable force indeed. We were unstoppable.  

5 WTF Moments in Fiction

We've all read novels where something happens to make us go, "WTF? " and I'm sure we've all written many. In reading and writing, I've come across enough to see that there seem to be different types.

1.) The "Contrived for Marketability" WTF: Maybe the editors wanted it, maybe the author guessed in advance that the editor would want it. Either way, there was a series I read in which I'm convinced the author put a love triangle in there just because love triangles have been popular in her genre. For one thing the "other guy" seemed to be just friends with the heroine until near the end of book one. For another, their few romantic incidents seemed forced. Finally, at the end, with no drama or fireworks, the character narrates that she picked the main guy, and other guy moved away to live happily ever after.I'm not a fan of love triangles but I don't mind them if they eventually have a point.

2.) The "Contrived to Please the Fans" WTF: When a series becomes really popular, there's online discussions everywhere speculating about which characters are going to do what and who next. One series I'm reading had many readers clamoring for 2 male characters to hook up. The problem was, only 1 was gay. So....all of a sudden, the straight guy turned gay. I'm sure plenty of fans are jumping for joy, but I'm just not buying it.

3.) The "Oh-Crap-I-Got-The-Characters-In-Too-Big-Of-A-Bind-And-Must-BS-My-Way-Out" WTF: We all know that action and tension is a main necessity in keeping the reader hooked, but it seems there are times where the author overdid it and had to manufacture a miracle so she may be free to move on to the next plot point...or worse, end the story. This is also known as Deus Ex Machina

4.) The "Why Did Nobody Think Of This?" WTF: Sometimes what's not there in a story is more baffling than what is. I read a novel in which a character became a political symbol and a catalyst for a revolution. The government seemed to do all they could to stop it from happening...except make the character ugly. With the people's obsession with image, it seemed an obvious solution...but then the bad guys would have won and there wouldn't be 3 books worth of awesomeness, so I'm prepared to forgive it.

5.) The Random WTF: Sometimes something happens in a story that comes out of nowhere...and I mean nowhere. Worse, it does nothing for the plot. Often those moments should be cut, but other times, they are teasers for future books. I have mixed feelings about these.

All of these WTFs have occurred at least once in books I've loved, so obviously they don't ruin the story...then again I've had some in my own writing that I know I'll have to fix.

What WTF moments have you written? In reading, which drive you closest to madness?

Physical Limitations

I'm going on day 3 of wearing this stupid brace on my hand....besides making typing difficult, it's hindering everything. My job is taking me 3 times longer to do, I'm constantly bumping my elbow on stuff, when I try to do laundry the clothes stick to the velcro...and I can't put on a bra without my husband's help. I don't mind the last part too much, LOL.

As a writer, these things automatically make me think of characters and plot points. I remember one of my characters who had both hands bandaged and splinted. My sympathy goes out to her more even as I remember readers laughing at her failed attempts to open a beer with her teeth. I remember another who temporarily lost her mind and damaged her feet by walking across 3 states. I'm already thinking I should put more emphasis on these details.

Physical limitations can heighten the suspense in a story. In Stephen King's THE LONG WALK, a mere charley horse or a cold can kill you. Think of all the scenes in which a character is hiding from a bad guy and has to sneeze or they are being chased and trip. What if they sprained their ankle? Mere exhaustion can be add tension as well. I read a series where the character has non-stop action but it was expressed how tired she was. I was on the edge of my seat just hoping she'd be able to get some rest.

What limitations have you put on your characters? Where can you add more?   

BREATHE AGAIN by Bonnie R. Paulson is out today!

My blog posts will be short for awhile because I messed up my left thumb and have to wear an awkward brace thingie for the next few weeks. But I still gotta share the good news. My buddie, sweet contemporary romance author, Bonnie R. Paulson has a book out today with Carina Press!!!! I pre-ordered BREATHE AGAIN so it was awesome having it show up on my Kindle this morning.

Here's a blurb: Maggie Lachlan is struggling to get over the death of her husband. After being overcome by emotion during a shift in the E.R., she's suspended indefinitely. Making things worse, she needs a place to stay after the quick sale of the house she shared with her late husband.

Fortunately, her friend Ryan Stewart offers her a room while she gets her life in order, much to the chagrin of his brother and housemate, Brodan Steele. Brodan doesn't want to like Maggie, not when he knows Ryan has feelings for her too. But it's hard to deny the attraction he feels for her when she's sleeping under the same roof.

Being so close to Brodan awakens something in Maggie, something she never felt during her marriage. But as long as she's haunted by the past, she can't open herself up to the future…

I just started it and let me tell you, it was riveting enough to make me forget I was stuck waiting at the Dr.'s office.


Buy it Here, now!! 

5 Reasons Why I don't Write YA

I don't know why, but for awhile, a lot of people online thought I wrote YA. Maybe it's because so many of my writer buddies do, maybe it's because I won a 1st place award for a YA short story. Either way, for an adult author, I hear a lot about the YA genre and due to recommendations, I've read a few. Now I'm reading the HUNGER GAMES trilogy and though I'm loving it, the series really got me thinking about why I don't write for teens even though a few characters in my series start out as teens in the first book.

1.) The "landscape" of most YA novels bears no resemblance to that of my teen years. There was drinking, smoking, sex, drugs, & rock n roll...and a ton of cussing. Seriously, most teens I knew, including myself, dropped the f-bomb like it was going to be banned next week. A friend and I were discussing that. Why is it that it's OK in YA novels for the characters to kill and sometimes even have sex, but say a naughty word and the author's doomed?

2.) I'm too cynical to believe in true love for teens. Face it, at that age, the hormones are going crazy. Teens, especially males have no clue what real love is, in my opinion. Many girls are still clinging to the Disney/ Prince Charming bullsh*$t that was rammed down their throats in childhood and most boys don't actually see girls as people. They see them as sex-objects and stepping stones to achieving "manhood." Furthermore, neither are mentally or emotionally prepared for a healthy symbiotic relationship like marriage. i.e. paying bills, sharing responsibilities, raising children, dealing with each other's obnoxious habits, etc.

3.) Speaking of those raging hormones.... I just can't wrap my credibility around the platonic cuddling that's so rampant in YA novels. The boy will get um...excited. That's what they're wired to do. The girl will either get excited too, or be frightened. No teen will be able to sleep comfortably in such a scenario...and very likely one or both won't be able to resist taking things into an adult situation.  Not to mention the discomfort of someone snoring, stealing the covers, shifting around, etc...though I'll leave that alone since it's a detail not acknowledged in adult romances. The hero never snores in my books! Still, I love the fuzzy dreamlike fantasy of the cuddling in those stories, I just couldn't honestly write that in an appropriate YA style.

4.) The themes: An agent or editor, (can't remember which) tweeted something like: "Don't write stories in which teens learn from an older person. Teens don't want to read about it/ don't think it's cool, etc." For one: My friends and I must have been really weird teens because we hung out with and learned from older people all the time...and they could buy us beer & cigarettes :) Younger characters learn from older ones all the time in my books as well. With centuries-old vampires and ancient sorcerers, there's a lot of knowledge to go around. Seriously, why didn't Bella ever ask Edward for help on a report on WWII or something? Hello, she could have gotten an A++++++++++++++! Sorry, I've seen A CHRISTMAS STORY too many times :)


5.) The responsibility: Face it, teens are impressionable. Because of Anne Rice, I grew fascinated with history, Beethoven, and John Keats. But because of Anton LaVey, my younger brother temporarily became a Satanist. Sometimes I worry that because of certain books, young girls will jump off cliffs when dumped by their boyfriends...or at least miss a ton of school and fail to get their diploma because they were too busy moping. I don't think I can handle the responsibility of either accidentally or purposely creating a role model for young people. Some of my characters drink and smoke. Two even smoke pot.

I hope nobody thinks I'm bashing YA in this post. Really I have nothing but admiration for those gifted authors who can delve back into the scary uncertainty of adolescence, the glow of first love, and those first painful lessons of the death of childhood and impending adulthood. Most of all, I am beyond pleased that those authors are getting teens reading.  

How Romance Novels Have Affected Me: An answer to the "witch-hunters."

It seems every week I run across some blog post or article listing a bunch of B.S. reasons why romance novels are "bad" for women. They say romance novels ruin marriages by giving us unhealthy expectations in our spouses, they ruin our sex lives because we will expect mind-blowing pleasure every time, they cause unplanned pregnancy because unprotected sex is rampant in the novels. Oh, and apparently they're addicting because they do the same things to our brains as porn does for men.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of the witch-hunt. Nobody says those who read thrillers will become murderers, or fantasy fans start thinking they can do magic. After reading vintage Anne Rice I didn't start biting people...or develop bisexual tendencies.

But I can't say romance novels haven't changed me. They have indeed affected me in many ways.

For starters, romance novels have improved my marriage because

A.) They've taught me that communication issues are one of the biggest threats to a relationship. Every romance novel has at least one big misunderstanding. I do my best to keep the communication open with my husband to avoid this.

B.) They keep the feeling of falling in love fresh. That's one of the main joys of those novels and every time I look at my husband, I remember why I fell in love with him, both physically and emotionally.

C.) They remind me of the power of forgiveness. I'm one to hold a grudge, but these novels constantly display the benefit of letting go of resentment.

D.) They improve my sex life rather than harming it. I'm not going to get into personal details here, but I will say the love scenes keep me from taking intimacy for granted and remind me to never be ashamed of passion.

E.) The novels that do involve unprotected sex (since contrary to the witch-hunt article, condom use is becoming frequent in the genre) taught me that it only takes once to get pregnant, so before I had my tubal ligation, I remembered to take the pill every day.

F.) And yes, romance novels are addicting, but not in the way porn is for men. They are addicting in the way any good story is. For me, they're addicting because I live to see a happily ever somewhere.

G.) Finally, romance novels have inspired me to write my own stories and create my brands of happily ever after.

How do romance novels affect you?