Sunday, November 10, 2013

Thinking about Perspective

I've been asked how, after writing so many books, I can make each set of characters different...

The best way to make each set of characters stand out is to look at things through THEIR perspective -- how THEY view the world.

What would THIS person see and notice most? What would THIS person think about? What would THIS person compare to whatever he/she is looking at?

A heroine who's five feet two will have a different reaction to a hero's height than one who's five feet eleven. A heroine who's a cook will have a different reaction to a hero's physical presence than one who's a physical therapist. A heroine who sells perfume for a living will have a different reaction to a hero's aftershave than one who's ... well, anything else. A heroine who's a musician will have a different reaction to the hero's voice than one who's not at all musical.

See what I'm doing here? I'm looking at the hero through the heroine's eyes. What does SHE see, feel, hear, sense that's different from what any other woman would see?

The same thing works in reverse, of course -- what is there about our hero which makes him notice specific things about the heroine?

Let's talk about how you could make this work!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Everybody Needs an Editor, Part Two

Back in January I wrote about the unintentionally-amusing consequences when an author who doesn't know the right word gets the almost-right one, or lets SpellCheck take over instead of consulting an editor. (You can read that post here.)

Today we're back with More Head-Scratching Moments From Today's Books...

“Mildred, a graying brunette with hair as black as her son's..."

Really? Her hair is gray AND brunette AND black, all at the same time? 

The building was modeled after the Pentagon, though it didn't have seven sides.

I hate to tell you, Dear Author, but the Pentagon doesn't have seven sides either. Penta means five. Always has, always will.

Here are a couple of lines from a story set in 1949: 

He passed out after we hit the interstate. 

Nope. The first legislation setting up what's officially called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways -- no wonder we just call it "the interstate" -- was passed in 1956, and the original network wasn't completed until 35 years later.

We laid in a stock of MREs to eat on our camping trip.

MREs -- Meals, Ready-to-Eat -- replaced canned combat rations in 1981. These two characters could have gotten hold of C rations, but a couple of guys in 1949 wouldn't ever have heard the term MRE.

And these two from a Big-Six published memoir:

"My bedroom was kind of girlie, with a rod-iron bed"

Truly? Who the heck doesn't know about wrought iron? Are they hiring third-graders as copy editors?

"I'd hit the motherload of riches" 

After all of these, I feel like *I* hit the ... uh... mother lode!

Without naming names, what  are your favorite gaffes?


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Primping in the Regency

A fellow writer of historical romances asked this week: “What amenities did London hotels have in the 19th century for the proper lady to refresh herself in relative privacy in front of a mirror?”

Now that’s an interesting question – and it’s one I don’t have a definite answer for.

The best sources for information about what happened in particular historical periods are diaries, personal letters, and artifacts – surviving locations and/or possessions. For instance, we know what sort of undies people wore during various historical periods because examples have survived. And we know the basics about how and where people relieved themselves, because a few of those places and pieces of equipment still exist. But figuring out whatever the 19th century equivalent of a power room would have been – that requires figuring out context.

Personal hygiene isn’t something that people talk about, even today – at least not unless it’s something unusual. (I’m pretty sure that the first time I encountered a ladies’ room attendant in a posh restaurant, I mentioned it to my friends.) But powdering our noses is such a commonplace thing that we don’t give it a second thought – aside from the occasional complaint about inadequate facilities, I suppose. Our sisters in the 19th century didn’t write about it in letters either, or note it in their diaries.

So I’m speculating here, trying to figure out context – based on hygiene, comfort, convenience, and taxes – of how a 19th century lady would have powdered her nose.

The first question, of course, is what part of the 19th century we’re talking about.

In the Regency period, personal hygiene most often involved an outdoor privy, or a chamber pot (or the equivalent) inside. This crucial piece of equipment was also called a close stool or necessary stool or toilet chair – here’s a picture of one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_stool

In the Regency era, there wasn't much incentive for designing or building special facilities for personal hygiene. Running water was rare, early designs for flush toilets often let sewer gases creep back into the room, and servants (to dump and clean those chamber pots) were inexpensive.  However, the resulting odors and lack of cleanliness meant that a lady probably wouldn't primp near her chamber pot.  Her dressing table would likely be across the room from the sanitary facilities, and it might or might not boast a mirror on the wall – because glass was expensive and hard to produce in large sheets, and it was taxed like the luxury item it was.

Because of the mirror tax, public hotels probably didn’t have many mirrors either. In their best bedrooms, possibly – which is why I think the lady who wanted to primp while traveling would most probably ask to be shown to a bedchamber.

It’s also likely that our proper lady would travel with her own hand mirror. Remember those sets that our grandmothers – or maybe we should say great-grandmothers, by now – kept for pretty on their dressers? A hand mirror, a brush, and a comb, all in the same pattern – those sets were treasured and handed down from mother to daughter. If she was carrying her dressing set, our lady could have primped just about anywhere that no one was looking.

By the mid to late Victorian era, flush toilets were more common, bathrooms were being included in houses and water closets built in public areas, and the mirror tax was defunct or nearly so.  So a Victorian lady could most likely have primped in front of a mirror in a semi-public area of a hotel – though I’m still not sure what that room would have been called. A ladies’ retiring room, perhaps?

If anyone has sources or speculations to add, I welcome your insights!





Monday, June 17, 2013

Random Thoughts From Writers

For years I've collected snippets and quotes from authors about writing. Here are a few of my favorites.

Samuel Johnson: "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money."

Agatha Christie: "The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."

Mark Twain on doing research: "Get your facts first, and then you can distort 'em as you please."

Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest): "I like being a famous writer. The problem is, every once in a while you have to write something."

Alan Jay Lerner (author of the screenplay Gigi): "A daydream I have often had about lyric writing... I am locked in a hotel room for three days working on a song. Suddenly the door opens and there stand all my closest friends. "One of them says, "What have you been doing in here for three days?" I reply, "Writing." One of them says, "What have you written?" I reply, "I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night, and still have begged for more." They look at each other hopelessly, call the appropriate medical authorities, and I am put away for the rest of my natural life."

Megan Daniel (author of Regency romances): "For any writer, however talented, to try writing the kind of book she doesn't enjoy and respect is cruel and unusual punishment -- and useless, besides."

Judith Krantz: "I'm so used to people saying, 'Now that you've made enough money with these bestsellers, isn't it time to write a really good book?' Now would anyone have said to Irving Berlin, 'You could write like Mozart if you tried,' or to Willie Nelson, 'It's time you wrote an opera'? They don't understand that I'm writing the best I can, each time."

Kurt Vonnegut: "This is the secret of good story-telling: to lie, but to keep the arithmetic sound."

Dr. Seuss, about And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street: "After the 23rd rejection, I found myself lugging the manuscript up Madison Avenue, headed for my apartment, where I was going to dump the damned thing in the incinerator. If I had been going up the EAST side of Madison Avenue, I would probably never have become a published author. But I happened to be lugging it up the WEST side of Madison Avenue when I bumped into a long-unseen college friend, Mike McClintock. Mike said, "What are you doing these days?" I said, "I'm an unsuccessful author of children's books. What are YOU doing these days?" And Mike said, "I am an editor of children's books. We're standing right in front of my office. Why don't we step inside?" Twenty minutes later I became a legitimate author with a contract, and since that day I have always made it a point to walk up the west side of Madison Avenue."

Alan Jay Lerner (author of My Fair Lady and Camelot): "In the end I have come to realize that I write not because it is what I do, but because it is what I am; not because it is how I make my living, but how I make my life."

Which of these comments resonates with you? 

For me, I have to admit: some days, I agree with Sam Johnson -- but on good days, that last comment from Alan Jay Lerner hits home.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Creating Suspense in Fiction

Suspense is what keeps the reader turning pages, anxious to find out why and what and when and how. Suspense is what makes the reader worry about the characters -- whether they’ll be all right, if they’ll finally reach their happy ending.

Now, we’re not necessarily talking about suspense in terms of actual danger, here. The character's life doesn't have to be at stake for us to create suspense for the reader.

 Suspense is the reader’s natural desire to know what happens next.

Too often, the author – because she knows what’s happening and why and what’s going to happen next, sacrifices the suspense which would keep her reader moving forward.

Here’s an example of how an author sacrificed all the suspense in her situation with a giveaway last line to a scene where she’d told the reader about the scheme her heroine was cooking up:

It was a great plan. And it worked.

At that point, we know what the scheme is. And we know it worked. So just how likely are we to turn the page and read on?

Oh, we might, just to find out exactly how things worked out – especially if we really like the character, or it’s a funny setup. Or if we’re blowing off a slow, lovely Sunday afternoon and have nothing better to do.

But if it’s midnight and we have to go to work in the morning… or if we just recalled that there’s a load of laundry needing to be folded before the wrinkles set… or if the kids are whining about being hungry… or the husband wants to go for a walk on a slow, lovely Sunday afternoon… then the book is apt to get set aside. 
And once a book is set aside, it might never be picked up again.

But what if that author had written this instead?

It was a great plan. And it almost worked.

Then it’s going to be much tougher for the reader to close the book and turn off the light and go cozily off to sleep or out for a walk, or feed the kids anything that takes time to fix. And the laundry? She’ll forget it entirely.

In this case, just one word makes a huge difference – because instead of the reader knowing that the heroine’s plans went just as she hoped they would, all we know is that they didn't.



Monday, March 25, 2013

A Regency Lady Meets Third-Grade Students

This week I had the honor and privilege of being a visiting author at my granddaughter's third-grade class. Speaking to 9-year-olds about books and writing represents something of a challenge, considering that I write love stories, and some hot and spicy ones at that. Reading a passage from my books would require some pretty careful editing.



So I decided to talk about research, and the many differences between their lives as kids born into the 21st century and what things would have been like for 9-year-olds and their parents 200 years ago, during the Regency period when many of my stories are set. 

And I went dressed as a Regency lady -- gown, shawl, gloves... I skipped the corset, though. :)

I was pleased at how quickly these very savvy kids defined the math problem of how many years ago the Regency period began and came up with the answer. And then we started talking about all the differences -- the things that didn't exist 200 years ago. They easily got all the obvious ones -- cell phones and the Internet, cars and electric lights. I had to prod a little to get them to figure out that refrigeration was hardly the easy and commonplace thing we have today, and they were stunned when we figured out that the trip from their school to the state capital -- a two-hour drive today -- would take something like twenty hours and at least 10 different teams of horses.


Among the things which surprised them most were schools. Despite the number of their peers who are home-schooled today, they were startled by the fact that kids their age would have been educated at home by governesses, or they'd have gone to boarding school -- if their families could afford it. Or they simply wouldn't have gone to school at all, if their families were poor.

Next time -- and I've already been invited to speak to another group of 9 and 10-year-olds next month -- I'll try to find a piece of one of my books which I can actually share with the kids. 

But this time, we finished up with a story about a pet duck my family used to have -- a children's book my husband and I are thinking of publishing later this year. That's Just Ducky at two days old -- already showing her inborn instincts by trying to incubate an egg!




Monday, March 11, 2013

Visiting Harry Potter

On this rainy, gloomy day in Iowa, I got to thinking about my few days of glorious Florida sunshine -- and remembered that I hadn't downloaded all my pictures yet. Thank you to Entourage Member Extraordinaire Lynda Gail and Chef Joe, for taking me to Universal Orlando's Harry Potter World!













              

Lynda Gail (left) and me with the Hogwarts Express



Hogwarts Castle



Hogsmead Village ... complete with 
butterbeer and chocolate frogs!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Writing Between the Sexes


Let's face it -- men and women are different, and the  ways in which they talk, act, and think differently cause all kinds of distress for writers. That's why a seminar called Writing Between the Sexes is the most popular program I do, not only for the writers who attend but for me. 

Last weekend a great group -- First Coast Romance Writers -- gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, to share a day of discussion with me. And did we ever have fun!







Writers fall into a trap when we write about characters of the opposite sex, because we make them act as if they were us

Women writers tend to write about guys who are chatty, who ask questions, who share feelings, who think things to death -- and act just like one of the girls. 

Male writers tend to write about gals who give advice, who are pushy, who approach pretty much everything in sexual terms -- and act just like one of the guys. 

The result is often a reader who's turned off -- even if she doesn't completely understand why.

We had a riotously good time on Saturday as we went through the many, many ways in which thinking, talking, and acting differ between the sexes. Thank you to Ada and Abigail and Suzanne, to everyone who played a part in bringing me to Jacksonville, and to everyone who took part!

Thanks to Lynda Gail Alfano, Entourage Member Extraordinaire, for the photos.


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Workspace Wednesday

I'm blogging today about my office -- past and present -- with photos. Come take a look at the room where I write  -- and leave a comment for a chance to win either a signed ARC of The Birthday Scandal or a signed copy of Return to Amberley -- winner's choice.


Each week author Norah Wilson invites fellow writers to post photos of their office space. Being the curious folks we readers are, it's fun to see where those stories we love are dreamed up and put on paper. I've loved seeing all the wonderful spots where authors write, and I hope you'll enjoy seeing mine.

Norah is a fellow Montlake Romance author, and her books -- romantic suspense and paranormal -- are wildly popular with readers. Thanks, Norah, for the chance to share my office with readers!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Next Big Thing


The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is a chance for the author to respond to ten questions about her latest book – and then pass along this “chain letter” to another set of authors who will post on their blogs the following Wednesday.

First, I’d like to thank debut author (and my former student at Gotham Writers’ Workshop) J.L. Hammer for tagging me to participate. Click the links below to find out more about J.L.’s romantic suspense, Outmaneuvered, featuring FBI agent Cruz Romero and suspect Amanda Price, and her Next Big Thing, the re-release of her romantic suspense novel, Blue Horizon. You’ll find her website at www.jl-hammer.com and her blog at http://jl-hammer.blogspot.com   

Here is my Next Big Thing! Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

1: What is the title of your book? The BirthdayScandal

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? I love writing triple stories – three heroes, three heroines, three romances woven into one book.  So writing about two sisters and a brother was a natural setup for me – they’re all dealing with their overbearing father while they’re coming up short in the love department.

3: What genre does your book come under? Spicy Regency-period historical

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I’m terrible at the movie game, so I’d love to hear what readers have to say about casting decisions. But I’d love to see Maggie Smith play the meddling old gossip Lady Stone, who appears in all of my Regency-period historicals.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? The three Arden siblings – Lucien, Isabel, and Emily – go to their great-uncle’s 70th birthday gathering, where he’s promised to make their lives easier. But instead of receiving the financial help they’re hoping for, each one of the three falls in love.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency? My agent is Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency.  This is my 85th romance novel but the first one to be published by Montlake Romance. Previously I was published by Harlequin and Sourcebooks, and I also write non-fiction.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? It takes me about four to six months to write each of my historicals – with at least that much recuperation time between books.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Since I write complex stories involving three heroes, three heroines, and three romances ongoing within the story, the structure is actually more like women’s fiction than like the usual romance.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? (a) the mortgage. (b) chocolate. (c) more chocolate.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? After writing 80 sweet traditional contemporary romances, I took a wild turn and changed everything I could – short to long, sweet to spicy, current-day to historical, US settings to England… If I could have thought of anything else to change, I probably would have. Readers may be interested to  know that even this very dramatic change in story uses the same basic tools in writing. Also that I researched the Regency period for decades before I felt comfortable enough with the setting to actually write about it.

Below are the links to the next chain of authors, who will be posting next Wednesday. Be sure to bookmark their sites and add their new releases to your calendars. Happy Writing and Reading!

Elke Feuer is a debut author with Crimson Romance. In For the Love of Jazz, she brings Jazz Age Chicago back to life when a contemporary heroine finds clues to her family’s past. Find out more at http://elkefeuer.com , or follow her on Twitter.

Lynda Haviland writes paranormal romance featuring Egyptian gods and goddesses living in the contemporary world. Find out more about the Age of Awakening series, including her new release, Immortal Dominion, at http://lyndahaviland.com

D. L. Carter writes offbeat, screwball comedies -- including Ridiculous, set in the Regency period, and her newest release, First Destroy All Giant Monsters (now really, with a title like that, how can you NOT pick up the book?) You can keep up with her current work at http://funwithghoulsandgoblins.blogspot

Elaine Orr writes a cozy mystery series featuring real estate appraiser Jolie Gentil, set on the New Jersey coast. Her newest release is Any Port in a Storm. Find out more at www.elaineorr.com or www.elaineorr.blogspot.com

Laura Navarre writes Tudor-era (and earlier) historical romance, often with a paranormal touch. Her latest release is By Royal Command.  Find out more at www.LauraNavarre.com or  Facebook.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Importance of Being Edited



Over the holidays, I've been spending a fair bit of time with my e-reader in hand. (Yeah, I've collected four of 'em. Call me compulsive.) And I have to say it's been ... educational. And entertaining. And a little sad.

"The cobblestone street was picturesque, but it was hell on his sports car's shock observers."

Shock observers? Really? Is that like little people strapped on the corners of the car keeping an eye on those shocks?

“It’ll have to be in the next hour. I have a wedding reversal this afternoon.”

That was a priest speaking -- not a divorce attorney. 

He was moving as quickly as if he’d been shot out of a canon.

Hmm. Maybe that was the same religious person?

Joe was having an outer body experience.

Yeah, being shot out of a cannon can do that to you.

She opened the cupboard and pulled out a vile of penicillin.

To treat that vile out-of-body experience, perhaps?

Maybe he was angry and had come to ball her out for not inviting him.

With a cannon ball, no doubt.

One knee peeked out of well warn blue jeans.

By all means, make sure those old Levis know they're in danger!

It was a totally bogus murder wrap.

And the detectives wrapped it up nicely...

Every writer needs an editor. Because if we don't already know the right word, then we have no reason to stop writing and look it up to make sure we haven't chosen the wrong one.