Writing

Writing Inspiration from Nora Roberts

Over the weekend I watched a few Youtube interviews of Nora Roberts (I’m a big fan of the J.D. Robb books) because I think her writing pace and story telling are awesome. It made me think of a research project I’d done for a short book about her and the inspiring quotes I’d discovered. Here are couple I saved:

I love this comment about writing love and murder:

“It’s just as much fun to murder someone off as to marry them off.” Houston Chronicle

With 200 books, I’m not sure anyone has as many stories rattling around in their head as Roberts, but I know I have quite a few and would love to be able to start writing and just keep going:

“I always have stories running around in my head. Once I start putting them down on paper, I just keep going; I just keep writing.” Book Reporter.

This one is posted at my computer! When asked by Claire E. White at Writers Write about how she writes love scenes, Roberts said

“Exactly the same way I approach writing any other scene. Action, reaction, motivation, emotion, all have to come from the characters. Writing a love scene requires the same elements from the writer as any other.”

In the end, writers write:

“You’re going to be unemployed if you really think you just have to sit around and wait for the muse to land on your shoulder. That’s not the way I work. I build a story.” WTOP.

5 Interesting Factoids about Deadly Valentine

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Deadly Valentine was years in the making. In fact, the book I envisioned when I started, was not the book that ultimately got published. I thought it would be fun to share some of the changes and developments of the story.

Did any of these facts surprise you? Did I make good choices?

Valentine Updates and More

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I know I’ve been quiet around here lately, but that doesn’t mean I’m not working on new stories. I had intended to write a Halloween-related to story for Jack and Tess, but then a different story popped into my head and I’ve been slowly but surely getting it down. There are only 13,000 words so far, but that’s nearly a quarter of a full-length novel. Tentatively titled, “Til Death Do Us Part,” the story involves another old friend of Jack’s, a movie set and, of course, murder.

I’m still waiting to hear back on the book I sent to Harlequin. In November, I won a spot to do an online pitch, and on a lark decided I’d pitch a romance I had sitting on my computer. The editor asked for three chapters and then back in February, she asked for the entire book. I can’t decide if/when I should email and ask for an update. It’s one of those situations in which you want to know the outcome if it’s good news, but not if it’s bad news.

I also read at the Harlequin forum that if editors want to buy a book, they ask about other books the author has. I don’t have anything that fits the line at this point. So I’ve been working on a synopsis and first few chapters of a sequel to the book I sent…just in case Harlequin wants to buy the first book. I’ve never written a synopsis before having plotted and written the book. And since so much of the story comes out while I’m writing, I can’t be sure that the story will stick to the synopsis. But I want to have something to share, if/when Harlequin wants to buy Southern Comfort.

I put the second Delecoeur story on hold for now, which bums me, but I can only write so much at one time. I wanted to blog a prequel story for them too, but I haven’t managed that yet. And interestingly, I have a vampire-type story rattling around in my head. I’m not sure yet if it’s an adult or YA story yet. But you can bet there is romance! Finally, I have a time-travel YA idea if I can only figure out the rules. I’ve picked up a book on time travel for writers to help me.

I want to thank everyone who has read the books and to all the readers who have left a review and/or started following me here, on Twitter or Facebook. Your feedback and encouragement is what keeps me going.

A Writer’s Epiphany

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I’m a writer, but I spend most of my day blogging and freelance writing about things like belly fat and careers. My dream is to spend my days writing about love and murder. Along with a host of book ideas for the Valentines and Delecoeurs, I have a time-travel book idea and even a paranormal book idea. But more often than not, my fiction writing gets set aside for my “real” work.

I was reading a book the other day related to success and goal setting, and I had an epiphany. People tend to gravitate toward that which they focus on. So if fiction writing is important, I need to focus on it. Shoving it aside, day after day isn’t giving it the priority it needs to move me toward my goal. So, for the month of May, I’ve decided that not only will I write fiction every day, but I’ll do it first thing in the morning. The idea is that by putting it first in my day, I’m giving it importance.

So, for the last seven days, I’ve worked on book 4 of the Valentine series every morning. Most mornings I get 500 to 600 words, but I wrote only 73, Still, in the last week, I’ve written a total of 4,100 words, which doesn’t sound like much, but it’s 4,100 more than I would have had. Even better, I’ve still been able to get all my other work done.

My hope is that by putting my fiction writing first, it will grow, books will sell and I’ll be able to focus most of my time and energy on love and murder and not on belly fat.

Getting to Happily Ever After

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Writers are sensitive creatures. We want the love and accolades, but don’t always take criticism well. One thing I’ve learned is to listen to or read feedback and reviews with an open mind. I have been fortunate that people who’ve been leaving reviews have been gentle in their critiques. And while it isn’t always fun to hear the negative, if I’m open to what is being said, I can learn from it and improve my writing and story telling. That leads me to today’s post.

I got a review recently for Old Flames Never Die book two in the Valentine series that said it wasn’t as good as the first and that the problem was that there was “too much back and forth between the main characters” and “I thought the trust and walking out on each other had been resolved in the first book”. Admittedly, I was concerned there was too much angst and discord in this book, but at the same time, I didn’t think Tess and Jack were at the level of smooth sailing by the end of the first book. Clearly, Tess made gains in Deadly Valentine. She learned to let go and allow love in her life. But I don’t think she was at the point where she was completely free of her baggage. She grew up with rejection, had the fiasco with Brad, and was even rejected by Jack in book one. I don’t think you let all that go in an instant. So book two tested her faith in love and I think she did a pretty good job.

Jack too had his issues. The problem with alpha males like Jack is that they can sometimes come off too perfect, which is boring. Jack has many great qualities, such as his unwavering love for Tess. But he’s also a man used to getting what he wants. Sometimes he needs to push, and push hard to get it. We saw it a little in book one and a lot in book two. The problem is, the more that Jack pushed, the more Tess questioned their love. So Jack’s journey was about learning to let go and trust too. He couldn’t bully Tess into loving him the way he wanted her to love him.

Fortunately, book three, With This Ring I Thee Kill, doesn’t have all the angst. Tess and Jack disagree and occasionally squabble, but the relationship is now set and at the place the above reviewer hoped they’d achieved in book two. With This Ring I Thee Kill sees even more growth in Tess and Jack, lots of great banter and play, and passionate love. Oh… and of course murder and mayhem.

With that all said, if I have to explain myself in a blog post, it suggests that I didn’t do my job in the books, which is something I need to work on. On the other hand, everyone gets something different from books. I’ve read books that have out of this world reviews and I couldn’t figure out why. And I’ve read books I’ve loved that had a few bad reviews, and again, I couldn’t understand why. In the end, reading is subjective. I just hope that readers who like romantic couples embroiled in mystery enjoy my work, because I sure enjoy writing it!