Maybe it’s part of being a writer, but story ideas always seem to be popping up—sometimes under the oddest of circumstances. We’ve just moved, and story ideas are running rampant. For example, our new house is on a culdesac, which means that there’s a circle of concrete in front of the house, and several neighbors both on the sides and behind us. Having moved from a house on 1.5 acres, this is new to me…and my mind is whirring! Anyone see The Stepford Wives? I’m thinking I need to write The Culdesac Husbands? All the suburban moms get together and decide they need the perfect off-to-work, lawn-trimming, BBQ grilling, backyard mowing husbands? (Already I can tell that would be nice, LOL). Or a culdesac version of Rear Window? After all, I can see what my across the backyard neighbor is watching on television through the kitchen window. So what else could I see if dastardly deeds were done? And who’s to say what could come of the fact that we’re a two-story house but most of our neighbors are one story? The possibilities are endless…. It’s that “What If” mentality that marks writers, I think. I know my current series,…
Spies, private investigators, detectives, G-men, Special Forces, firefighters, and so many more I’m missing I’m sure, all carry the same aura or “WOW!” factor for me. Sexy is relative when it comes to just about anything. For example, kilts are sexy—on people who can wear them. On Gerard Butler they’re downright sinful! Now on Uncle Paolo who’s had way too much stuffed manicotti over his lifetime… hmm, not so much. So sexy is as sexy looks? No, I don’t think so. Men in uniform, men who take risks, men who use their brawn for most of the day in their jobs, do it for me, baby! So if I’d started out this way, then this list could include so many more occupations. • The Uniformed = garbage collectors wear them. So they’re sexy? Uh…we don’t see too many calendar pin-ups of them, now do we? • Risk Takers = sewer workers take a risk every time they submerge themselves in sewer systems filled with…okay, sorry, yuck! Sexy? • Brawny Lads = farmers use big huge machines (this may have some of you thinking, hmm, that’s sexy) to do most of the heavy lifting, but hearing a friend describe her husband…
The cover of a novel is the single most important ingredient in the success or failure of a book. This is not something authors want to hear and it is not always true. If the book is special enough and it gets loads of word-of-mouth, even a bad cover can’t stop the book from being a success. If the author’s name is well enough known–and I am speaking here of New York Times bestsellers with very large print runs–a bad cover can’t stop it from being a success. However most of us fall in the category where a cover can make the difference between success and failure. Over the years, I’ve had good covers and bad. One of the prettiest covers I ever had was on a book called MIDNIGHT RIDER. The problem was the cover was completely white. The lovely embossed bird on the front didn’t show up until the reader picked up the book. Not many did! The title was the second half of the problem. It was chosen by the publisher and no amount of talking could convince them to change it. The combination of bad cover and bad title was lethal. On the other hand, I…
One of the ways I sustain myself while on deadline—and folks, there’s a reason they call it deadline—is by making a list of all the really wonderful things I’ll get to do after the book is turned in and I’ve slept for three days straight. I have to say, finishing ONE WICKED GLANCE really took it out of me, and now the suspense leading up to the ONE TOUCH OF SCANDAL release has me on pins and needles. But I am surviving! And today was Day 16 post-deadline. It was time to move down the Goodie List and reward myself. I downed three cups of Café Verona, and I was psyched by 8:15. Now bear in mind that I lead a small life, so the G.L. consists of things like (1) hand prune the Burford hollies and (2) scour sales racks at Talbot’s. But today I looked at the list, and saw I’d worked my way down to (11) go to Dick’s and buy an exercise bike, which was right above (12) bake oatmeal cookies. Now, I ask—which would you do? Let me just say, in my defense, that we are in the midst of an economic recession. Oatmeal is…
Unfortunately for the whole of humanity, I get most of my inspiration for plots from the headlines and real crime stories. And to make up for my being a creative leech, I give a face to the victims of crime and focus on the human spirit in the face of adversity. And my latest release, The Echo of Violence (Avon, Sept 2010), is no exception. I sometimes watch a TV show called “Locked Up Abroad” on the National Geographic channel. One day, I saw the horrific tragedy of Martin and Gracia Burnham. The Burnhams were Christian missionaries who were abducted in the Philippines in May 2001, while at an expensive beach resort celebrating their anniversary. A terrorist group of Islamist Separatists called Abu Sayyaf took the Burnhams as well as twenty other hostages, holding them for ransom. Over a year later, Philippine commandos attempted to rescue the couple and a Filipino nurse. Two of the hostages were killed in the shoot-out and Gracia Burnham was rescued. Her husband Martin didn’t make it through the ordeal. More on this story can be found by clicking here. I was also in the middle of writing my book when the incident at Mumbai…
Earlier this week, I asked the following question on twitter/facebook: What catches your eye more on a cover of a sexy contemporary romance – a hot guy or a couple (man/woman)? I’ll use two of my books, TAKE ME and LOVE ME, as examples. TAKE ME, which was released as a trade paperback five years ago, has a couple on the cover. Do they look like the characters in my head when I was writing the book? Sort of. The hero, Travis, definitely looks like the model in the picture. Big, hunky, gorgeous. But the heroine? Well, considering TAKE ME is a book about a full-figured woman who finally finds her HEA with the man she’s been in unrequited love with her entire life, then, no. I’m afraid she doesn’t really look like the version of Lily that I have in my head. To me, Lily is smaller, curvier, softer. That being said, the art department at Pocket did go back to the drawing board several times with this cover (probably because I freaked out when I saw the initial cover and she looked like a size 2. Barely.) and ended up with this model on the cover. She isn’t…
Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to the folks here at Fresh Fiction for having me on the blog today. Thanks, everyone! Some of you might know me as the author of the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. The first two books in the series are SPIDER’S BITE and WEB OF LIES. VENOM, the third book, will hit shelves on Sept. 28. TANGLED THREADS, the fourth book, will be published in May 2011, while the fifth book (untitled) will be released in October 2011. I’ve also sold a young adult urban fantasy series called Mythos Academy. The first book is called TOUCH OF FROST and will be out in August 2011. The books focus on Gwen Frost, a Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s…
I write historical novels that tell the life stories of people who have actually lived, and whose bones are still physically on this earth. My career involves fleshing out those bones and bringing past lives and times back to life for readers of today. Who were these people? What were they like in life? What were their dreams, their aspirations, their stories? I am always aware that in such telling that my path involves extensive use of the imagination. From the first piece of dialogue, I am putting words in the mouths of my characters. I am writing scenes for them that sometimes never happened, sitting them down to dine on meals they never ate, and giving them thoughts that I think they may have had, but I don’t know for sure. Nevertheless, I am a storyteller trying to bring modern readers close to what happened back then and it is my duty to weave my tale with integrity and a care for the known historical facts and the people involved. I strongly believe that any author who is going to write about a person who actually lived, should do their level best to find out everything they can about…
It isn’t only about men in kilts, although those are sexy. I’m sure a lot of people wonder why I set most of my stories in Scotland, or why I go gaga over getting to visit Scotland (which I will be doing in a couple of weeks!) Most people will tell you it’s a cold, windy and rainy place. That the skies are cloudy most of the time. That you will need your winter clothing, even in June. True, true. But Scotland doesn’t hold the same kind of appeal that a tropical island does. Scotland holds a unique and spellbinding appeal all its own. For me, Scotland is a magical place, a place that seems almost surreal. A place out of fantasies and fairy tales where you might stumble upon a medieval castle at any moment, or glance out the bedroom window at the inn and see an ancient castle ruin in the distance. That doesn’t happen too often here in the US. Scotland has a distinctive and sometimes harsh environment, especially the beautiful, remote and wild Highlands of the north. The people who lived there centuries ago had to be incredibly tough and resilient to survive, as do the…
A few readers, after having read my two novels, asked me a similar question, “Is it difficult to write about a prostitute then a nun?” My answer was no. Because prostitute or nun, they are women and human beings. I love to write about women, especially heroines who are on the verge of drastic transformation — their courage, struggles, and triumphs. In my debut novel Peach Blossom Pavilion, story of the last Chinese courtesan, or geisha, Precious Orchid is tricked into a prostitution house after her father is executed for a crime he had not committed and her mother banished to a Buddhist nunnery, Precious Orchid finds herself abandoned in Peach Blossom Pavilion, an elite house of prostitution. At first, life at Peach Blossom Pavilion feels like a dream to the thirteen year-old. Precious Orchid enjoys her poetry, music and calligraphy lessons and feels herself thriving. But all too soon she discovers that this is merely a prelude to her role of pleasing customers, including China’s most powerful men. The novel relates her survival and ultimate triumph: how she escaped from the prostitution house, reunited with her long lost mother, avenged her father, finally finding true love and starting a…