Speed Dating for Authors

Author Tierney James has this cool feature on her blog called "Speed Dating for Authors" where she shares intriguing bits and pieces about books and authors -- including trivia or personal details or stuff you wouldn't otherwise know.  It's a good place to find new authors or find out more about your favorites.

This week I'm featured -- along with some photos of my dollhouse. 

Come on over to Journeys, Treks and Daylilies and join us! Here's a sneak peek: 

Yep, that's really a dollhouse!

Top Five Ways Historical Authors Go Wrong

A couple of weeks ago I met fellow author and blogger Kelly Abell when we were both guests on Marsha Casper Cook's radio show. We talked there about the errors that historical authors most commonly make, and that led to Kelly inviting me to guest blog for her. You can read my post on the Top Five Ways Historical Authors Go Wrong here. Enjoy!

Those blasted apostrophes...

I’m not sure why apostrophes give us so much trouble, but they do. Perhaps it’s because there are two different reasons to use apostrophes, so we get them mixed up.

The first use of apostrophes is to form possessives. When we say that something belongs to someone, then we need an apostrophe to show who owns what. 

If a word is just a plural, with nothing owned, then there’s no need for an apostrophe. So it would be: Several doctors studied his case. 

If you’re writing about a busy doctor, you’d say: The doctor’s office was filled with people.

The doctor “owns” the office, so we need the possessive form.

If it’s a practice with more than one doctor, it would be The doctors’ office was filled with people.  The doctors all “own” the office together, so again we need the possessive – in this case, on top of the plural doctors.

But if you say, The doctors were very busy, there’s nothing owned here, so there’s no need for an apostrophe. 

The second use of apostrophes is to form contractions. We tend to do all right with they’re (aside from mixing it up with there and their), and I’m and isn't and such; where we get into big trouble is with it’s and its. And that’s probably because we try to apply rule #1 to its, and add an apostrophe when we use it to indicate possession.

But its (along with ours, yours, his, and hers) are exceptions to the possessive rule; these pronouns are possessive already so they don’t need apostrophes. We only use an apostrophe when it’s is used as a contraction of it is.

So if you say, The dog chased its tail, we don’t need an apostrophe.

But if we say, It’s a lovely day, then we’re really saying It is a lovely day, and we do use the apostrophe.

Clear as mud, right?

Here are the rules of thumb to help you determine whether you need to add an apostrophe.

Is it a possessive?

If you’re wondering whether to use an apostrophe, ask yourself what the word in question owns. If there’s an answer, then you need the apostrophe.

The clown’s grin was huge. (The clown’s what? The clown’s grin. Apostrophe needed.)

The clowns piled out of the little car. (The clown’s what? – nothing. No apostrophe needed.)

Is it a contraction?

If you’re wondering whether to use an apostrophe, ask yourself what the word in question stands for. If it’s really two words, then you need the apostrophe.

It’s a far, far better thing I do... (It is a far, far better thing... Apostrophe needed.)

It’s time to go to work. (It is time... Apostrophe needed.)

The power surge made the hard drive blow its brains out. (Blow it is brains? Nope – no apostrophe needed.)

Anything I didn't cover? Let's talk about it!

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!

Primping in the Regency

A fellow writer of historical romances asked this week: “What amenities did London hotels have in the 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th century lady would have powdered her nose.

The first question, of course, is what part of the 19^th 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!

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!

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 70^th 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 85^th 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.

Waiting to Hear

As the date draws closer for the release of my new Regency-period historical romance, I find myself most anxious to hear the audio version.

The Birthday Scandal is my fourth historical romance... my 84th romance novel... at least my 105th book... but the very, very first which will be released as an audio book.

A few weeks ago, when the book was being recorded, actress Rosalyn Landor and I had a lovely conversation via email to talk about accents. One of the three heroes in the book is American, and she asked where he was from, so she could make him sound just right.

Rosalyn is an experienced narrator and I can't wait to hear how she shares my story about the three Arden siblings (Lucien, Isabel, and Emily) as they find love at their great-uncle's 70th birthday ball.

In the meantime, I'm in production with four more audio projects. Creating Romantic Characters will be out soon -- it's a non-fiction book about building characters from the ground up. It will be followed by Wedding Daze, which is a Regency short story (it'll only be about a half-hour long, though I wish it was more -- the narrator has such a lovely accent!). The other two projects are contemporary romances -- The Best Made Plans and The Lake Effect, which will probably be coming out at the beginning of next year.

Of course the narrator has the really hard job in this enterprise -- I've done enough radio spots in my time to have a great appreciation of the work they do. Still, I'm finding that the producer doesn't have an easy time of it, either. Part of my job is to listen to each book all the way through -- sometimes multiple times. While that sounds like fun (and indeed it is) it's also a challenge to stay completely alert in order to catch a wrong word or an unclear phrase, and then get it noted down quickly with the exact time spot in the recording, so it can easily be redone. Not at all like listening to a book for fun!

Greystone Manor Tour Continues

My apologies for abandoning the blog for a couple of months -- and my thanks to the followers who have followed up with me to say they've missed the posts, especially the promised tour of Greystone Manor, the miniature house that my husband built for me.

One of the "residents" of Greystone is a little girl about eight years old. Not a very neat little girl, you'll notice from the way her toys and board games are strewn around her bedroom -- but one with varied interests, from dolls to soccer. Yes, that is a dollhouse at the foot of the bed -- a 1/144 scale Victorian farmhouse that even includes a few pieces of furniture. All the drawers open, and one of these days I really must get her coverlet finished and on her bed...

Signing Books & Making Friends

While I was attending ORACON this weekend (the Ozark Romance Authors' annual conference in Springfield, Missouri) I got to share a table with Jennifer Brown and Steven Anderson Law at the Barnes & Noble booksigning event. That's Jennifer and Steven sitting at the signing table.

Jennifer has been a favorite of mine since a mutual friend recommended I read HATE LIST -- and I loved it. The subject matter is heavy, but Jennifer's treatment of the aftermath of a school shooting is compassionate, sensitive, and even upbeat -- without being Pollyanna-ish. The best thing about it is that there's not a single stereotypical character in the entire book. Nobody is predictable.

Though I hadn't met Steven before, I was delighted to learn that he's a fellow Iowan at heart and he even attended the college that's less than a mile from my house. Plus I learned a whole lot about promotion and publicity from this talented guy.

Great events sometimes come in small packages. ORACON is a one-day conference, but its impact on writers and readers is huge. Mark your calendar for September 21, 2013 -- the next ORACON!

Writing is easy... or is it?

"Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead." Gene Fowler

Anybody besides me take exception to that comment? 

Yes, writing IS sometimes that difficult (though I usually refer to those moments as "pulling out fingernails" rather than sweating drops of blood). There are tough patches in every story, and once a writer goes pro and makes the writing a job, going to work is sometimes not fun  -- just as any job has a downside.

But if writing is consistently that difficult, then something needs to be changed. 

The kind of story? (If the author's trying to write something trendy even though it's not to his/her personal taste, it's going to be a rough road. What do YOU want to write?) 

The working conditions? (Some writers pack up and go to a hotel for a weekend -- or  week -- when they're on deadline, so they can focus. But even moving to another room, or writing with pencil on a legal pad instead of on a keyboard, can help.) 

The pace? (Has the author committed to too many hours, too many words, too much writing to be feasible along with the other demands of life? And I'm not just talking about people with contracted deadlines here. Any of us can set the goals so high we fail and end up hating ourselves and our story. What's realistic for you?)

Yes, writing is work. But unless it's fun, too -- at least a good part of the time -- take a closer look at what you're doing and what you can change in order to get the fun back, so you don't have to sweat those drops of blood day in and day out.

The tour continues...

This is the dining room of my miniature house, Greystone Manor. The chandelier is electric, but the red candles on the side tables are real. The tea cart at the far end of the room is set up and ready to serve, and the art lying on the dining room table -- waiting to be framed -- are actual watercolors painted by favorite artists. The swinging doors to the left lead to the kitchen, and just visible across the hall is the living room.

Now if I can just get the teeny-tiny maid to come in and tidy up -- straighten the chairs, gather up the used mug, and take those watercolors to the frame shop.... :)