Royal Blush Authors

Yay! ADDICTION is Released Today.

2009-11-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Do you think I'm happy today? I definitely am. My first book with Eirelander Publishing is out today. I'm so happy that ADDICTION is being released, and you can buy it at http://www.eirelander-publishing.com

This story is about addictions, but it's about so much more than that. A young woman gains self-esteem and learns to trust in herself with the help of a handsome Irishman.

If you would like to read excerpts visit my website, http://www.skaymarshall.com or my publisher at http://www.eirelander-publishing.com

Thank you,
Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com

And a repeat would be...

2009-10-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

... a totally icky thing!

Pardon my introduction into this post. I have been away for a while (not awol since I was on study leave) and now I'm revving up to have a go at blog posting again.

I've been following the amazing posts of the women of RBA over the past couple of weeks, and I gotta say a chord is resonating inside me. Sandra spoke of wimpy heroes and Angela about formula writing.

Sadly, these two components (broaden the first to include wimpy and limp characters) are a recurring, evil-like theme in books of recent times. It's just repeat and repeat, or as I like to compare it to - shampoo, lather, rinse, repeat. There really is nothing more complicated than that in books today. Shampoo is hero+heroine+sex, lather is hero+heroine+sex have sex in a next-to-nonexistent context and setup, rinse is hero+heroine+sex+some conflict=resolution, and then for your next book, you just take the same shampoo and lather and rinse. And repeat.

Wonder what the poor hair that's being so shampooed looks like in the end. What would that hair be? Writer's imagination (that they're not stretching by any lengths. Using the same shampoo loses its efficiency on your hair after a while, that's a well known fact. So what then does it say when applied to writers' imagination and writing?). Another 'hair' would be readers. Aren't they sick and tired of the same shampoo that promises the same generic result on every aisle of every drugstore? Don't their 'hair' have special needs, which would be fed and satisfied by different mixes of shampoo?

Where has the imagination gone? I know we've been asking this same question for ages here at RBA, but is it a wonder we keep running circles and coming back to this very same issue? Characters in today's writing world are most often limp, stringy 'thingies' (can't even call them people!). Formula is so generic you know a book even before you read it. Take a historical and most often you get an ingenue who is all revved up to take her life into her hands and what does this mean - oh yeah, she wants to be her own person. How? Absolutely no clue, either for the writer, or for the reader if she even manages to finish the book. There seems to be an unwritten rule that goes, this much is enough and no need to bother with more coz no one will bother at the other end.

People, readers DO bother! They DO care! And they hate being taken for fools and idiots and the dullest knife in the drawer. For once, I'm putting aside the writer mantle and stepping into my reader shoes. I have a full shelf of reader shoes - comfy sneakers-like ones, strappy and glittery stiletto-type sandals, fluffy slippers that welcome your feet in a smug and warm hold. But lately, my reader feet are going bare, because there seems to be so little good and out-of-the-box reads that I don't even have time to slip on the shoes, any shoes, so much there's next-to-nothing to read. I am having to fall back on my 'classics', books I'd acquired years, even decades, ago, leading me to now thread-bare slippers that are threatening to disintegrate every time I pick them. The stilettos, sadly, remain in their tissue wrap and never get to see the light.

Angela mentioned everything is coming down to formulaic stuff. I agree - everything is a repeat of another in today's world.

What do you think? Chime in and leave a comment!

On a side note, come check out my latest book trailer, for the upcoming suspense/mystery Walking on the Edge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULeLeDlasc

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Available Now!! - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out June 4, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

What a month! If we thought October would be quiet, we had another think coming! In between releases, promo, and catching up on the meanders and intricacies of a publishing house, it's been non-stop rushing!

As you probably know, Eirelander Publishing opened its doors at the start of the month. Two authors of the RBA posse saw their releases debut-ing the Main and Heat lines of the publisher, respectively.
Aasiyah Qamar released Light My World, a multicultural contemporary romance with comedic influences set on a small and dynamic island of the southern Indian Ocean, Mauritius.
Tethys J. Killian released Master and Commander's Prey, a time-travel, erotic historical that brings you into the world of a master and commander hero, Captain Jacob Wolfson, and his Fate-determined clash with modern-girl Shiloh Montgomery-Moore.

In between all this, needless to say, the two have been hard-pressed to hold on to a scrap of sanity to blog. But, they knew they could count on the other wonderful ladies of the RBA clan to hold the fort. Sandra Marshall and Angela Guillaume (who made her blogging comeback with us - give her a big round of applause!) have done a stellar job of grabbing and captivating the blog's audience with their thought-provoking pieces.

So as we finish off October, amidst a show-stopping fireworks display to celebrate the above-mentioned releases and the opening of the publisher, and while gearing up for a fabulous Halloween weekend, we ask you again - are there skeletons lingering in writers' closets?

Don't forget:

This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.

This October, we're on the quest:

Searching for a some meat and beef...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

E=mc2 – The satisfaction, or boredom, of formula writing

2009-10-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

by Angela Guillaume

I’m sitting at my desk at 3.45am. It took me an hour to put my baby son to sleep yesterday and after that I managed to sleep 4 hours. 4 full hours! Great! For some reason when I woke up I gravitated toward my computer to write this blog. I thought about this topic – formula writing – because I’m presently reading (or trying to read, during 5 minute breaks) an Amanda Quick book, her latest. I thought of the other Amanda Quick books I have read. Then I thought about some other authors whose books sit on my shelves. I couldn’t help but admit that although I liked these books, lately, I’ve been somewhat bored or disappointed with some of the stories I’ve read.

Why is that?

I thought and thought about it, but one day it dawned on me. It’s the formula. It’s that thing many publishers use to attract readers. A certain type of character. A particular plot. Events that happen routinely at different points in the book. I have come to expect that in formula mainstream romance such as is published by Avon, for instance, there will be a sex scene between the hero and heroine around page 180 – 220 of most of these mass market paperbacks. This will indicate a culmination of the relationship between the two main characters. What follows will be a bit more emphasis on romance (one or two more sex scenes, a little less detailed than the first), and then sh** happens. Yes, then the danger that lurks around the corner finally surfaces, and the hero or heroine (usually the heroine) is put in jeopardy. Or else, something happens to bring the progress of the relationship to a halt and the characters are pulled apart. In any case, a MAJOR EVENT happens, and all hell breaks loose for a while, usually until the hero (in a few cases, the heroine) saves the day.

Entertainment is all about the packaging these days. It is so in music, TV, and movies. And this advertising model includes books. Everything must be categorized and made to “fit” a certain mold so the publisher can go after different readers with different tastes. Few publishers of popular fiction take chances these days, particularly those dishing out the mass market lines. Publishers have different lines – erotic, mainstream, historical, contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, dark, etc. That every line is managed separately is understandable because every type of story attracts a different sort of reader, yet, some publishers go beyond this to state what kind of heroine or hero they want for a particular line. There are professions to give the characters that are acceptable and others that are not. Look at Harlequin, for example. The result of this is often that one feels like one is reading the same book over and over, about the same two characters. The cover, and the title on it, may be different, but one author’s book reads pretty much like the other that succeeds or precedes it. Sometimes, the same feeling is engendered when reading different authors from the same line/publisher. Perhaps this is comforting to some who have come to expect a particular story from a particular author. After a long, hard day one may not be inclined to opt for reading which is unpredictable or displeasing. If one knows what to expect, one won’t be disappointed, I suppose. And in fact, I have been guilty at times of choosing books because I did not want to be surprised. I may have had the flu or come out of a 12-hour workday week so needed to be comforted with an easy going book…nothing too demanding and of course, one with a happy ending...but, this doesn’t have to be the be all and end all of our reading choices, does it? Sometimes we like to think, to ponder, and be challenged. Sometimes, we just want the “other” choice.

The reason publishers give for following this formula is one that finds its core in marketing. Yes, I can grasp this reasoning but… I wonder, have they lost their faith in readers that they won’t take a risk outside their set parameters? Wouldn’t they sell books if they did take a few more risks? What about talent and quality? What happened to thinking outside the proverbial box? Are readers this petty that they only read writing and plots that are formulaic? Sometimes I discover a “different” sort of author and I feel thrilled and excited about their work because it feels like the opposite of formula writing. Someone like Lisa Valdez who, to my chagrin, only produced one book. Or Robin Schone, at least her earlier books. These authors had the guts to do something different, something daring, whether one agrees with it or not. And their publishers decided to take that risk and unleash these works in the market. It’s not rocket science. One takes a risk or one doesn’t. If one does, it may just pay off.

I’m sure that even these unconventional books contain some sort of formula with respect to plot points, pacing, characterization, etc. I think that all books do and all books need to be grounded in technique to make the story coherent and readable. However, this does not mean that certain events have to happen just so in the plot. And that the events or characters in one book should be eerily similar to those in another. Formula writing should make it easy to teach the technique of writing but outside this fact, I think that one should leave room for individual talent. And by this I not only mean the author’s voice, but also the author’s ability to write something compelling, that leaves an indelible mark on a reader. This is hard to achieve when the formula takes precedence over everything else. This, coupled with the hard fact that authors are supposed to dish out a certain number of books a year, quality be damned, does not help matters at all.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love romantic, feel good books. I think they’re essential. I will continue to write them and read them (mainly I gravitate to single title now). This does not mean, however, that I shouldn’t be surprised with a theme that’s out of the ordinary even in a formula book. This would be possible if the publishers were a bit more open to change. I give you one example. A while back I pitched a story to an agent. I made the mistake (well, I was just being honest) of telling her that the tale is set in Italy. That was all it took for her to reject it. She told me, if it wasn’t set in England in certain time periods (Regency, Georgian or Victorian mainly, and some medieval), then, she wouldn’t even bother trying to sell it.

So what is your take on this? Do you ever think of this when you’re reading a book? Do you think publishers have become too restrictive by requiring this from authors? And are they wrongly assuming that readers wouldn’t want something more “adventurous,” rather than being force fed the same recipe release after release?

Angela Guillaume writes contemporary, historical and fantasy/paranormal romance.
Her debut contemporary shorts are...
Mr. & Mrs Foster - Available now at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Mile High to Heaven - Available now at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Introducing Master and Commander’s Prey

2009-10-16T08:09:00.001-07:00

Over a year ago I was handed a challenge. I had to write something not in my genre (time travel) and I had to follow a very specific plot (man vs. situation with adaptation as the main thematic premise). The result was Master and Commander's Prey.

My plan was simple. Make a story hot, with a plot and not have it all sex. Not an easy plan to accomplish when you have publishers out there who want you to add more heat at every turn. That wasn't for me. I can write sex at every turn if need be, but I wanted this story to have, and not to insult anybody, a modicum of class. Something where not only the heat was memorable but also the characters.

First I began with a very basic concept. I made Time a predator. Some say it's our friend or even a companion, but that wasn't going to work for Master and Commander's Prey. It needed to have teeth and an ulterior motive. Thus the story began unfolding around a simple premise – I gave the existential antagonist of 'time' teeth which lent meat to the story.

Introducing Shiloh Montgomery-Moore. She's a heroine like many young women out there. Attitude abounds and she's got some big emotional baggage. So, what can she do when she's whisked back in time and meets Captain Jacob Wolfson? Jacob's a hero who not only comes across alpha but he's got his own issues to deal with. Combine a modern day woman with a military man and the sparks flew.

Then, partnering it with my thematic premise of the traveler adapting to the new time period, I came up with a story I love. It's hot. It has a plot. The characters are great. What more can you ask for?

I hope you check it out at www.eirelander-publishing.com

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

Word Associations

2009-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ever noticed when you read something that it seems, I dunno, flat? I've noticed this happening more and more, not just in books, but in writing in general (articles, reports, reviews). No one seems to be using words as a tool any longer!

A teacher once told me - paint with your words. At the time, I had figured this out to mean, use descriptives and visual phrases to portray what you want to convey. For example, the character is feeling down and goes, My life has just gone down in the dumps. You clearly get the visual, of a life being flushed away, going down, in a spiral of oblivion. It paints an image for you in your mind.

As a writer, the only tool you have at your disposal to achieve the aim of creating a memorable story and characters that leap off the page is WORDS.

Yup, words. There's so much behind a word! Ever stopped to think, why did the author use this word and not that one? What does he/she want me to grasp because of this specific word used at this point?

Some authors use words in ways that are out fo the bounds of simple tools. They use words that form a story within a story, a different layer to the plot, that you'd catch only if you were in tune with the writing and not just glossing over the words. This is very much a trick of literature, but popular fiction authors use them too. To see an example, check the free read up at Eirelander Publishing (The Tides of Yule).

I will say it frankly - few of us can expect to write a story within a story. That's deep symbolism that takes time and craft and lots of practise to master. But here's what you can do - you can use words and all that is associated with it.

Words have meaning, and this too takes different levels. Denotative, connotative, symbolic, mythical, and ideological meaning. All this can be layered inside a word you use in your story.

Denotative meaning - refers to the common sense meaning of something.
For example, a skeleton is just that - a collection of bones that form the human body structure. Used in a denotative meaning, it can show a corpse.

Connotative meaning - meaning which has to be deduced by the reader. Its meaning is not obviously apparent at first glance.
For example, you say, the skeletons on the catwalk. This shows a negative connotation, as in a living body is not a collection of bones. See how this immediately springs a visual and creates deeper layer to your writing.

Symbolic meaning - general/constructed meaning which is derived from the sign.
For example here, a skeleton when used can symbolise death, horror, spooky, or even Halloween. It 'stands' in the place of something to convey a meaning.

Mythical meaning - refers to meanings constructed by society through connotative meaning to derive a mythical meaning that can even be said to border on symbolism.
Using the skeleton on catwalk example, this throws you to the myth of the anorexic, skin-on-bones, bone-bag model, or what modelling now stands for.

Ideological meaning - refers to meaning at the service of power.
This one pertains more to the use of a word to project/portray power in the view of achieving a goal.
For example, a slogan by curvy women who go, Real women are no skeletons. The word skeleton here is used in its denotative, connotative, symbolic and mythological meanings to empower these women in this forceful, hit-right-where-it-impacts statement. It is thus meaning that is used in the service of power.

All of these help to create layers in your story. Another example (taken from the start of the upcoming Eirelander release Love Beyond Time by Rebecca Royce) is the use of a staff.

At the start of this book, we are introduced to an old man. He is walking towards the rise of a grassy hill, but the way up is hard for him, as the elements are fighting against him, conjured up by evil powers who want to destroy the man, Abraxas. In his hands is a staff. He uses it to lean on through his trek.

A staff is what? Something like a walking stick (denotative meaning), which however, connotes power in the realm of the paranormal/fantasy. Symbolically, a staff represents power, magic, authority. The fact that Abraxas is old, coupled with the fact that he has the staff, already portrays him in the light of the authority figure, the leader, the wise one. And the fact that he has a staff and not a spear goes to another layer to show the reader that he is a wise one, a spiritual leader, and not a warrior who would have a spear (a weapon) in his hands.

Little details like this help you to paint a deeper and more intricate picture. I agree - not everyone will automatically 'get' what you'd be trying to say, but those who will, to them reading your words will not just be a reading experience but it will transcend their minds as something that engages their imagination and intellectual skills in a deeper manner.

Any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Available Now!! - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Wimpy Heroes

2009-10-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

My mentor says to me, you are making your hero girly. After talking to my hubby one day on the phone she spoke to me. Oh yes, she makes a habit of knowing every member of the family. lol I'm straying from my purpose here, but I'm getting to it. Really, I am. She told me to pattern my hero after my hubby he is an alpha male and they are the action oriented heroes. What an awakening that was for me.

True, I knew he was my hero, but her words reminded me of some of the instances when he'd been there for people in his life including myself. The more I thought about it, I realized I lived with a real live hero. He is an alpha male with a soft core in his heart.

I hate to read about wimpy heroes. lol Even though, I have written my heroes as wimps in the past. I'm trying to break the habit. Okay, I admit it's tough not to write a wimpy hero, but I still don't like to read about them.

A hero is supposed to be tough, take charge and always be heroic when the chance comes. He thinks and he acts, which means he instinctively knows what to do in all instances. A secondary male figure can be wimpy, but not the hero.

This doesn't mean that the hero can't show his softer side. He has to open himself up to his tender side or he wouldn't be the hero. Of course, this is not the most frequent side of him you see but it's there hidden away waiting to come out at the most unexpected times.

What do you think about wimpy heroes? Do you want to read about them in your books, or do you want to read about an alpha male who takes charge.

Best,
Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com

Watching... books???

2009-10-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna try to make this short and to the point, coz the power keeps going on a nd off at my end and that leaves me with a little window to get it all done. Yikes - how do I write short and to the point?

Hmm, maybe if I just related what I saw. You know, like you're watching a movie and it's a blow-by-blow visual of what's happening on the screen to the story. That'd be perfect, right? I'd be able to cover everything, innit?

Wrong! This is a blog about writing, and this means I gotta write.

That's where it seems a lot of writers are going wrong lately - they write a story with the same viewspan and attention span as watching TV or a movie. It's like, you watch a movie, get it? Start, middle, end, you show what's taking place in the story. There you go - story written!

Sure you go. You've written a story with start, middle, end and it even holds the line! But wait a second too - you're giving me the movie version, not the book one!

I'll take an example. Twilight movie v/s Twilight book. Each has start, middle, end, the same story, same people, same setting, same plot, same whatever. Where's the difference then?

This is what's different - I watch the movie while I read the book. Not making sense? Okay - the book gives you an addtional layer to the movie version, because you are not seeing the characters but you are the characters!

That's why you cannot 'watch' a book, you need to read it. Reading means you open a total different world for the reader, one where it's almost a virtual reality simulation without the gadgets coz the reader uses his brain as the simulator and your words as the connection.

Still not making much sense? Okay, let's try another approach. How many times have we as writers heard this line - show, don't tell! It's almost become a mantra that switches on automatically when we get to the keyboard. But how much are you really showing?

Bear in mind the virtual reality simulation again. You need to show something to your writer. Say, for example, your heroine is angry after a tiff with her lover. So, in show and don't tell mode, you go - Megan fumed inside, and as she went out, banged the door behind her.

Made your point, innit? She's so angry she bangs the door. You showed! Actually, no. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you didn't show me this. You gave me a visual, which is basically what one would watch in a movie. But in the movie, you'd see the expression on the actress playing Megan's face. You'd see her bunch her fists maybe, bite her lip extra hard, stomp her heel. Where have you shown this in the above line?

Also, is this door-banging in character with her? What makes her bang the door? Exasperation that her man is taking her for granted/brushed her off again? Is it completely unrelated, as in this tiff with him not understanding that he needs to pick his socks off the floor, is it simply the drop that made the vase overflow? Is she maybe feeling irritated by everything and nothing because it's a hormonal time for her?

All of this you would give your reader to connect with if you showed not just her movements but what's in her head too.

And this is the difference between watching movies and reading books. You watch a character on the screen, whereas you relate from the character's POV in the book. You become her, you experience what she is feeling, it's a virtual reality simulation for you!

You can call this Deep POV; you can call this being in her shoes; you can call this TMI, but this showing part is definitely lacking in books nowadays. If we wanted to watch a movie, we'd watch a movie. Where's the thrill in reading, in being taken to that other world with all your senses involved (not just eyes and ears), that reading is supposed to give a reader?

Remember that this connection lies in your hand, you the writer. It has to flow from your pen, to be able to whisk your reader away. Otherwise, why bother to read your work when he/she can watch a movie?

Any questions or comments, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Available Now!! - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Do you care?

2009-10-06T08:25:00.001-07:00

First, a big congrats to my friend, Gemini Judson, for releasing her first book Animals. It's now available at Loose ID.

Okay, back to the topic at hand. Do you care?

**Warning – I will offend some people with this blog post**

It's a simple question. Do you care about your story? Does it give you a sense of pride? Do you invest yourself in it or are you afraid that if you go there you'll release some inner demon. Do you really care about the craft?

These are all important questions that a writer must ask themselves at one point or another. The most important is this, "Do you give a shite about what was once your dream?"

Do you?

I can ask that because I'm not only an author but an editor and publisher. This has become flagrantly obvious most writers have forgotten the principals of what makes a good story a really good story or have never learned them. They've been led by their blind-as-a-bat crit partners to believe any 'supposed' bible that comes out is the be-all and end-all in writing. Wrong! Very wrong!

Here's a clue, and this isn't brain surgery, know what you write and write it well. Put something of yourself in every story and make it the best work you can. Understand the principles of writing and don't let some nimrod whose read Whoever-Famous-Author's book on writing tell you, "but Whoever says do this". Guess what, they're famous and they don't care about little old you (but they thank you for putting more money in their pocket by buying their book). Plus, if you read most of them and then their work, you'll see they don't follow their own advice – duh.

So let's break it down – the components of a story (reject at will).

World Building – that's the place your characters do what they do and it creates the dramatic backdrop for them to do it against.

Characterization – This relates to the paper dolls most writers are penning right now. They're supposed to be part and parcel of the backdrop and the setting feeds them. Character arcs are a part of this and they are the written journey of the hero and heroine. It includes emotional drive (deep pov) and all that crap most authors think is bs anymore because it all has to be shown. Show the fricken' emotions.

Plot – I could scream this for years and, guess what, most writers won't give a wit. Study plot. It's IMPORTANT. Take a journey with a plot and the story will become greater than the sum of its parts.

Resolution – ever read a story and the ending is flatter than a car tire that's just gone over spike strips. That's because the story ran out of steam. The author just ended it because they have the attention span of a flea (yes, I'm being hard on people here because I'm about sick of flat endings).

These are integral parts of a story.

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

With Love, from Ms.Blush

2009-10-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Last week saw the opening of Eirelander Publishing, a small-press house many of us RBA posse are involved with. It's been a terribly exciting time for us, and take a moment if you can to check it out. I promise you won't regret it!

So. October... already! Hmm, spooky atmosphere, lengthening darkness, creatures of the night and hallows, Halloween... Expect to see jack-o-lanterns everywhere, rich and warm fall colours, ghouls and other such lot, skeletons...

Speaking of which, we here at RBA are sad to say this, but if you're a book lover, you don't need to look long and hard and even far to see skeletons lately. Just take a look at most books coming out right now and bam! There you are - a skeleton of a story packaged as a book!

This got us thinking, bumping our brains and making hissing sounds come from our lips. Why? We kept asking ourselves - why is there is no real story now? Where are the writers? Where did they check the 'wow' factor that should be so inherent to writing?

Stay with us this month as we try to answer this question while navigating through the sinuous and tortuous waters of what is known today and in this age as publishing and writing.
T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will be taking all these on, as well as our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja. And after months off (wherein she achieved another superwoman milestone - that of becoming a mommy!), Angela Guillaume is back with us and ready to roar!

Catch us this week as we hiss the turmoil out of our systems!

On Tuesday, T.J asks writers today whether they really care about their craft.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will want to know whether you're watching books or reading them.

Don't forget:

This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.

This October, we're on the quest:

Searching for a some meat and beef...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

P.S A little woman-to-woman aside: October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Take a minute to get the knowledge on how a little thing like a monthly self-exam can save your life, and remember, Think Pink!

Think with your heart

2009-09-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

I know, I seem to be stuck on those cheesy title lines. I dunno, could be something in the air. Summer is coming in around my side of the world (southern hemisphere actually, my kids would correct me!) and suddenly all's bright and nice and warm and the birds are chirping while the sun is this big golden orb in the spotless deep blue of the sky, with little puffs of fluffy clouds like cotton candy dancing in from time to time... Uh, sorry, got carried away by the light flower-scented breeze that drifts in the wide open windows and terrace doors... Oops, I did it again! (oh bugger, I'm quoting Britney Spears! Yikes!!)

Allright, back to business (not back to black - Amy Winehouse btw - oops again!). I dunno for you but I see a little pattern emerging between my title and the little (okay, long!) paragraph I just wrote above. What is it?

I wrote it with my heart. Summer makes me feel good, and the feelings flow inside me, and then I have no trouble finding ways and means to describe it all in a lyrical and flowing voice (granted, take Britney and Amy out of it, but that too can count as voice, or characterization!)

What I'm getting at is this - if your heart is into something, it shows in what you do. How many times have you dragged your feet to do a chore? Granted, yes, you got the job done, even got it done well, but the fact remains, you had to drag your feet to do it. Now imagine doing something you're all revved up for. You can hardly remain still until you can get to this task, and when you do get to it, you immerse yourself in so much time flies, and when it's over, you're like, that's too soon, I want to hang on to this feeling.

Ask yourself then if your writing is a feet-dragging chore, or an elation-filled endeavour. If it's a chore, I think you need to reassess your position. Is it the writing itself that's drudging, or is it other factors in your life that are impeding upon it?

The fact remains that while writing should be a labour of love, it should also be a task you undertake with all your heart. When this is the case, have no doubt that the story that flows out of your pen (or keyboard) is one that is bound to be strong, solid, and overall a round story that covers all aspects of what constitutes a good story. Why? Because you wrote it with your heart in there, not just to fill a slot of the market demand and to make a quick buck or to get a shoddy credit.

Ask most good writers (the ones we all rave about) what they are after, and they'll most probably tell you that their goal is strong stories that they have invested all their heart and soul in.

Is it that hard to do? No, but you need to sit down and decide what you want. A good story most often brings you all of publishing contract, publishing credit, readership, and some money. Add to it that there's also the elation-filled author satisfaction that can tide you through weeks on end. Take all of these elements apart - contract, credit, money - and without your heart in your work, you may end up with any or all of these, but all of it may not last long - it may not bring you more contracts, credits or money. Whereas a good story, well, it can pave the way for your future career path.

Think with your brain and common sense, think with some logic - find what you want to do, and then think with your heart when you are writing. A story that has author investment and the author's heart and soul into it will shine out of the lot without you needing to do much work, and that, I believe, should be every writer's big goal.

Any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Make me believe it!

2009-09-23T05:29:00.001-07:00

As a reader, I'm very easy to please. Cover to cover, make me believe in the story, in the characters, in their world. Whether it's a sci-fi alien gig, or a vampire-werewolf thing, suck me in. If the characters are suppose to be attracted to one another, show me that they are, let them express it. If the villian is going to be a major stumbling block, show me why. That's all I ask for.

I know. I don't ask for much.

Honestly, that's just the basic idea of what makes a good book for me. I really prefer HEAs, but will take a solid HFN. A weak HFN only makes me feel incomplete at the end. The 'he might join her if' kind of ending. Blah. Not my kind of thing.

I love great characters. They give momentum and nuance to a story, whether it's just the H/h or half a dozen hangers-on. I will tell you, if you're shoving people into the story just to make page count, I can tell. I've come across quite a few where an extraneous character was just well...extraneous. Doesn't really hurt the story, but adds nothing just the same. I love Alpha males, but will take a solid Beta or Gamma with Alpha tendencies. Strong heroines need strong counter-characters. I love sparks between the characters. You know, because real life is just so dull.

I love worlds I can fall into. Doesn't really matter if it's Earth or some semblance there of. Pull me into the moment, the locale. I don't need a thousand explanations about how she became a vet, how a vet tech's day proceeds or why or how often they have to clean cages. Let me fill in the blanks. Granted if it's something a little less common, expound, but don't overinflate. Nothing makes me skip paragraphs faster than monotonous unnecessary overkill.

In essence, this is really how I write myself. A woven story where one facet feeds another to the culmination, with lots of tension, chemistry and anticipation. Keep in mind, this is ME, and we all know how weird I can be. So my reading preferences will most likely differ from yours, and that's okay. No two readers are going to catch the exact same images, patterns and nuances from the same story. That's why writing is subjective. We read the same story, but discover different details that stick. Often that's why reviews can be in the range of Great! to Sucked Swamp Water.

All I ask from a story is make me believe it, and I'm usually happy.

Just a little investment goes a long way.

2009-09-22T08:14:00.001-07:00

I remember the days when I was an aspiring writer. I wanted to make it, and in a sick way, I wanted to prove myself not to the arses who said, "I couldn't" but to myself. Every story was a labor of love and so much sweat there were days when I wanted to tear my hair out. It all boiled down to one thing – investing in the story.

Today, that's changed. There's so many publishers out there that it's more a case of pick your poison on their side than sweating out the little stuff in the story. You see, when I started writing there was no internet. Shoot, a computer was something that took up a whole room and needed fifty workers to care for it.

It was an age when every story had to count. Each page had to have that spark that got your foot in the door and, potentially, a contract in your hand. That's what I come from. Where it was the effort you put into the story that counted.

Maybe I should hang up my old typewriter and say, "Characters don't count. Plot doesn't matter. It's all about banging out the story and selling it then waving the credit in front of all your crit partners because somehow that makes you bigger or better."

Sorry, but that's sad. It's not that I don't think prolific writers don't exist. I know they do. My main beef comes down to how much garbage is out there. Don't say there isn't because we've all come across at least one crappy story in our days.

You can tell who's invested in their story. It's obvious and if nobody is willing to tell you that then I will. In my own mentor's words this is a matter of sit-down-shut-up-and-listen.

There's another side to my beef. That's where an author has the unmitigated gall to say – "I wrote it but it's the editor's job to fix it".

What planet are you on? And how did you get lucky enough to get a contract?

Then you get the author who will sit there and say – "But my crit partners tell me this or that or the other thing."

Wake UP!

You didn't enter into a binding contract with your crit partners. And for the record, about fifty percent of them are about as helpful as a pilonidal cyst. They tell you to do one thing, so you follow that. Then another says something else, so you follow that. Finally you end up with a mishmash of words that has stripped your story down to a lovely skeleton that's baking on the desert sand or have twisted it inside out. (Can you tell I could go on and on about this?)

Invest in your story. Use your common sense when it comes to crit partners. And take the time to create the best story you ever could have.

Okay, I'm done ranting. It's your turn. Can you tell when an author isn't invested in a story or am I just blowing smoke? Do you think it matters and that authors have to get tougher on themselves when it comes to investment?

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms.Blush

2009-09-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Read any good books lately?

Ask anyone this question and most often, sadly, you hear something like, not really.

I say, what a shame! I mean, come on, can you count the sheer amount of writers out there, the humongous number of authors in the publishing world? And not even a handful of good, memorable stories every month? Am I too demanding or what?

We, the Royal Blush posse, have been trying to wrap our minds around this sad fact - where have all the good stories gone? Whatever has happened to take the number of amazing books published from a good deal a decade or two ago to not even a handful today, while there has to be at least a hundred stories coming out every month?

Why, what, how? And again, why?

Catch us this week as we try to not tear our hair out and shed some light and thoughts on this terrible issue.

On Tuesday, T.J. asks whether it may be that investment is lacking in a story. Come check her post on what it was like when she started writing, and what the situation is like today.

Wednesday, Diana chimes in to bring us her simple but at the same time apparently 'un-get-able by writers today' view of what constitutes a good story in her world.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) asks whether the writer's heart is into her work or not, and how this may affect the story that comes out of said writer's pen.

Don't forget:

This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.

This September, we're on the quest:

Searching for a good story...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Imagine with your imagination

2009-09-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

I know, cheesy title, silly really. What on earth is she gonna ramble about today, eh? Bear with me for a little while, you'll see what I'm getting at.

Yesterday, my six year old son must've been really bored out of his senses to come to my bedroom and plop himself down on the bed while I was blow-drying my hair. Usually one to talk the hind leg off a donkey, after a few minutes, he got bored again that we both had to shout over the noise of the hair dryer. So he did what every self-respecting little boy would do - look for something to do. Now, my room ain't exactly girly (remember I share it with the hubby, who's best described as a caveman of sorts) but it ain't exactly a little boy's heaven either. So there my little one goes, making tons of noise like the sound of a gunning engine, and with all things, a bottle of body lotion in his hands. As I usually do if he isn't breaking anything, I humor him, and ask, is that a car (he's obsessed by racing)? Little one rolls his big eyes and shakes his head (yeah, his mom's a hopeless basket case according to him!) and goes, it's a speedboat, Ma! Can't you see that's the engine and the propeller? And true enough, it was one of those pump bottles, the pump bit was turned in such a way that it really looked like the engine of a boat.

What I'm getting at is this - who'd have thought a pump bottle of lotion would make a great speedboat?

The answer is, imagination!

As a writer, it got me thinking then - where has our imagination gone? When you see the amount of templated work out there (which Sandy touched upon yesterday in her post), you wonder what happened to originality and twists and turns. It's as if writing, especially in the romance category, has gotten as cliche and as predictable as soapies. You always know in a soapie that the guy who loves this one is gonna marry someone else and this first love may try to break them up or they both pine for each other and blah blah blah. Same for romance with its rehashed stories.

But what's even worse, and that T.J. touched upon on Tuesday, is that there is no emotional drive behind the stories you get. Even if you lay your hands on a romance that is not loaded chock-full of mindless sex, you hardly ever have a plot and even more rare is good characterization.

Let's come to the mindless sex bit (sorry, this kinda sticks in my throat, and I know it's the case for many other unfortunate readers and writers of my acquaintance). Let's use our imagination, and let's use our common sense too.

So imagine you're a girl who's out in the big bad dating world. One of the big rules you would follow, as a sane and sensible person, is no sex on the first date. Why? You risk coming across as a cheap shag who has no respect for herself. How then do you expect a guy to respect you?

Makes sense, right?

So why then does the heroine of your book jump a guy's bones, not even on the first date, but within minutes of meeting him?

Okay, lust-driven attraction can happen, but it doesn't just happen bam, bang, boom out of nowhere. There's a buildup to this lust-driven state. So where is that in your story?

Another dating rule: don't shag everyone and everything. Come across otherwise as a no better than a brainless idiot who thinks with her libido. Now think of that girl you may know who shagged everyone and everything. Did you like her, respect her, want to know what happened to her? I'd bet on a big fat no!

So why then should we as readers like, respect, and want to know what happens to your heroine if she is like this?

Dating rule to never forget: a man who thinks with his crotch may be a good shag but he ain't ever worth it. Yes, he may have money, looks, a penthouse in the hippest part of town, drives fast and expensive cars, wears hand-stitched suits and shoes. So what? He shags you, shags the girl at work, the woman who hit on him in the wine bar, the woman he met in the elevator, basically he shags everything that catches the attention of his groin!

That's supposed to be a hero? We're supposed to cheer for him?

Oh, I forgot - the heroine is the one who's gonna change him and make him monogamous, right? How will she do this? By sending him into andropause thirty years before he's due to hit it?

Think, and use some common sense first and then lead that on with your imagination.

I don't say sex cannot be integrated in a romance, or in any other story for that matter. Take a very good example and you'll see what I'm getting at. Basic Instinct. Michael Douglas as tough cop. Sharon Stone as wicked temptress. Everyone will agree that movie is chock-full of sex and sexual innuendo (the interrogation scene, holy cow!). But, but, but - is the movie a string of mindless sex scenes? No! Why? Because the characters are involved, they're building up the tension, taking you along with them along that feverish, rising pitch of lust, emotion, and denial. In some places, you can cut the tension with a knife, and nothing more than a long, steady look is taking place between the protagonists.

Basic Instinct is hot, sexy, sultry. No one can say that isn't an erotic-inclined movie. But was it cheap? No! Was it hare-brained? No! Did it make sense? A resounding Yes!!

Why? Because there was thought, emotion, involvement, imagination that were all used in equal measure in that story.

Where has the imagination of writers gone then today? Into the gutter?

I'd love to know what you think.

As always, any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

What Gets Me Interested in a Story?

2009-09-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

It’s so much easier to tell you what doesn’t interest me in a story. The characters can draw me into the story but to keep me there the pacing better be fast forward much of the time. I don’t like huge amounts of setting and description just enough that I can picture the scene and see the characters.

Another thing I don’t like is pages of introspection. Thoughts can be boring unless it pertains to what is going on in the story. Something else I detest is reading about gratuitous sex. It’s boring, and I’ll skim through the scene so fast your head would spin. If the scene requires a love scene, then I’m all for it and if it’s a good one I’ll read it.

Something else I don’t like is the same old plot. How many times do you want to read about runaway brides, women with babies their spouses, boyfriends, etc., don’t know about, navy seals and on and on. What is wrong with writers? They read a story they like about a hero/heroine and they decide to write the same story with the very same characters. After a while it gets boring. Please come up with something new.

For instance, why can’t the hero be a soldier, sailor, marine, or someone ordinary instead of a navy seal, special ops, CIA, FBI, or mercenary? I have to admit here that I’ve done the very same thing, but the ordinary men and women in our military are brave heroes, too. It is only right to portray them as such instead of ignore them for what we think are more high profile characters.

Okay, I am going to get to what I want in a story. I want to read something with meat and potatoes to it. First, I want a hook, and I want emotion. This requires real depth to the characters and to the plot. I want to live what those characters are living and I want the plot to be believable. I want to care about those characters.

A story is good if it gives me something to think about, makes me keep reading until it is finished, and then stays in my mind for weeks, months and years. I remember the premise of a story I read years ago, but I don’t remember the title of the book. It was about survival, the people lived below ground because the air above was tainted, but there were those who survived above ground. They wanted to go underground, but the ones who were already there wouldn’t allow them to come down because they were contaminated. This could have been a movie, too, but whatever it was it always stuck with me.

The story had a great beginning (hook) and it only grew from there as there was fighting between the two groups. The conflict started immediately, it intensified and with a plausible plot that could happen in real life the story held my attention to the end. There was even a love story.

Tell me what you want in a book.

Sandy
http://www.skaymarshall.com

Whatever happened to really good emotional drive?

2009-09-08T08:15:00.001-07:00

Yep, this is gonna be a rant and a half. I sat down for a little while yesterday, piddling along the internet going – hmm, does anything look good to buy? I went to all my favorite haunts, but ended up ordering an old story from Half.com by one of my favorite romance authors and then sat wishing I had it in my hands. The author? Kathleen Harrington. The book? Cherish the Dream.

I actually do have the book. I just have to read it carefully. My copy is falling apart at the seams, literally. So, gingerly, I fell back in love with the characters. Blade Roberts – Captain and half Cheyenne Indian. Did I mention it was a historical? LOL. Theodora Gordon, botanist and blue stocking if ever there was one. Engaged to some entrepreneur who funded the mission to map over the Sierra's. Lieutenant Kearney/Fletcher/O'Fallon. It's amazing that I remembered so many of them, and all the good things about them. Why?

Because Ms. Harrington had the great ability to capture emotional drive and the story epitomizes exactly what emotional drive is. It's the fuel feeding the reader to turn pages. The angst that makes you wish the story would go on forever. It's real and you feel it as a reader.

There's some special quality that keeps you enthralled. I can say that with all honesty with this book because from moment one I read and read until it was four in the morning. An all-nighter I didn't regret in the least. And she isn't the only author who captured me that way: McNaught, Garwood, Rogers, Norton, Lindsay. They all brought their characters to life via emotional drive.

So what's happened to this aspect? I think it's more that writers have forgotten about it. That there should be more than – oh, he's hot and I want to screw him. Or, she's a babe, I wonder if she gives good head? This is what's happened. In a way, it makes me want to write better. To show the writers who load a story up with sex that I can write hot, with a plot and have my characters become memorable.

It's a tall order I've set upon myself, but then again, I've never shied away from a challenge.

Your turn, tell me what you think is lacking in stories today? Is it that emotional drive has gone by the wayside or is it that some stories aren't hot enough for you? What would you like to see in a story?

Until next week, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-09-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

We launched off into September with a really swift kick to the backside, touching upon an almost taboo question in the writing and publishing world today: where have all the good stories gone?

Is it a wonder then how many of us as readers are falling back on books written one or even two decades ago? Why, when there's so much writing and books and ebooks and new authors popping up everyday in the world and in cyberspace?

Last week, we attempted to answer that loaded question from a the angle of characterisation - how good characters maketh a good, memorable and lasting-impression story.

This week, we continue to try to find answers to this dilemma.

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us how she feels emotional drive is totally, absolutely missing in most stories today. She also asks us what we feel is lacking in stories today - are we up for grabbing good emotional drive or just mindless sex?

Sandra Marshall pens us her monthly point-of-view piece on Wednesday. Find out what she has to say about what attracts, retains, and repulses her from books. She tells us what a good story is for her as a reader.

On Thursday, catch another of Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn)'s endless rambles on the current topic. This week, she talks about the dwindling collective imagination of this bizarre species called writers.

Don't forget:

This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.

This September, we're on the quest:

Searching for a good story...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Line up your characters and... Action!

2009-09-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time something on TV captivated me. I was watching the sitcom Friends, and I was on the edge of my seat, because Monica was suddenly looking at Chandler like a potential shag! I was like, whoa there, wait a second!! Monica, this is Chandler! Chandler Bing, from across the landing, the guy who dated Janice for God's sake!!

I'm pretty certain there were thousands of people out there who just like me, were having the same reaction. Ever wonder why?

Let's see - what's Friends basically? A sitcom, about the life of 6 friends in New York. I'm not sure there was even a plot behind there, but lo and behold, Friends went on to complete 10 seasons, and its reruns are watched by millions still, with almost the same enthusiasm and anticipation as when you first catch an episode on air.

You have these 6 very different people then, brought together in the same building (Rachel/Monica in one flat, Chandler/Joey across the landing, with Monica's brother Ross and their friend Phoebe dropping in to complete the cast). So there you go, starting point - 6 young people struggling in New York. It wasn't any more than that.

But what made Friends so memorable and so followed, is that the story centred around the lives of these 6 people. In short, the characters drove everything! There was Ross pining for Rachel since he's a teenager, Joey who sleeps with almost everything in knickers, Phoebe who gave a new meaning to crazy-loony-mad, Monica who was obsessed by cleaning, Rachel who's the little rich girl who wants to spread her wings and get away from daddy's credit cards, and Chandler who frankly, was so uptight and 'twisted' he didn't make much sense in the start.

You had Ross, always trying to woo Rachel (especially when his marriage to a woman who disovered she was a lesbian fell through). Rachel who doesn't want to give Ross a second glance, like she's always done. Over the course of the ten seasons, Rachel and Ross had hooked up and broken up at least thrice, and had had a baby together! Then of course there was Monica, looking for her Mr. Right, who on the day of Ross's second marriage to British girl Emily, was so down she knew only a shag would do for her, so she goes for the one who's always ready to shag, Joey. But instead of Joey she finds Chandler in the room, and suddenly they are in bed. It's the prelude to one of TV's most cheered on and satisfying relationships and marriage!

And what happened plot-wise? Nothing! Friends was about people, and as a writer, you must realize that Friends was all about the characters! The characterization of this show was so well sketched that the characters just grew on you, you felt you knew them. You would've wanted to bash Rachel when she has that one-night stand with Ross and then finds she's pregnant! You'd have wanted to group hug Monica and Chandler when they finally declare their love for one another! You'd have wanted to take Joey aside and tell him that this is not the way to treat a woman. You would've gladly thrown a shoe at Phoebe when she got into another rendition of the song "Smelly Cat".

You as the audience were made to forget that these people's names were really Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox-Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer. They were simply Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross. Period! It's the characters that were real, not the actors!

It makes me think of another instance where this has happened. One man, two roles, two Academy Awards nomination (one win). Russel Crowe, Maximus in Gladiator, John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Two characters that when you looked at them, struck you as THE man/hero of the story. Not as Russel Crowe, because he became the characters he portrayed. Take another look at the same actor as Ed Hoffman in Body of Lies, and you'd see someone else!
Another good example would be Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, and as Forrest Gump in the eponymous movie. Put these two men side by sidee and you'd go - yes, a passing physical resemblance, but never would you say, that's the same man!

So what does it come down to in the end? Characters, and characterization. A key ingredient of a good story is the characters peopling it. As the writer, it is your job to make these characters transcend from the page into fully-fleshed, living, breathing, human people. Actors do it when they take on a part. The writer too needs to do it armed with words, and with the inherent knowledge behind his/her characters.

Think of it - if you don't know your characters, how will you put them across to the audience? How will you make worthy and captivating things happen to them? If the writers of Friends didn't know that when Monica went to look for Joey in his bedroom when the wedding reception was in full swing that she'd find Chandler asleep there, how would we have gotten the twist that they have sex and find out there's more between them? They had to know Chandler is not one for receptions and all the hoopla and so he goes to bed when everyone is partying away. They needed to know that Monica does not give in to casual sex and that this is a turning point for when she sleeps with Chandler. They had to know that there's no way skirt-chasing Joey would be in his own bedroom before the early hours of morning when there are gorgeous bridesmaids to chase after!

You see thus that the story of Friends could not have progressed the way it did, the way it gripped its audience and captivated people's attentions, if the writers hadn't known the characters. Ask anyone what one of their favourite sitcoms is, and they'll say Friends. Why? Because while it may not have had a plot per se, it had wonderful, human and totally well-rounded characters at its heart.

So next time you're thinking of penning a good story, think of this underestimated and undervalued ingredient called characters and characterization. You may be holding the rough, unpolished gem of a story in your hand and not know it!

Any questions, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing
Coming out July 2, 2010 - Walking on the Edge - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Starring … Your Characters

2009-09-01T07:01:00.001-07:00

There's just something about those memorable characters that jump off the page and endear themselves to your heart. It's part, they aren't just cardboard cutouts or mechanical robots; it's the one where they're almost human which catch our attention. They have flaws we can relate to, even sympathize with. They aren't all my groin is making all my decisions, but are faced with real issues. Strong or weak. The existential 'knight in shining armor' or the 'heroine in distress' who give the reader insight into their world, these are the characters we're most likely to remember.

I can tell you the first romance I ever read that opened my eyes to what was possible with characters. I can even tell you the character – Nick Sinclair. Yep, I'm talking Judith McNaught's, Double Standards. Rich, powerful, self-made millionaire who was disgustingly 80s, but then again, it was the 80s. Jaded, manipulative and in a very strange way, a true hero.

There's no telling how many times I read the book, absorbing the story, considering how great the characters were together. When I started writing romance, that's what I wanted to create. Characters who leapt off the page and at times made me want to tear my hair out. In some cases I succeeded, in others – not so much. The fact was I had to start where all great characters start – with them.

Notoriously, I am a big character profiler. I want to know how they tick and what makes them so deliciously imperfect and yet great at the same time. So, I constantly pour over my character profile, staring at it, going "If my character is in this position, how would they act?" Once I'm familiar with them, I go into their arcs, GMC and all the goodness that is emotional drive.

In the end it comes down to the character. Who they are, and what makes them great. How the reader relates to them and how they connect with the rest of the story.

Yesterday, I was reminded of one of my first short stories and how much frustration I had with my characters. It took a very good friend of mine to sit me down and say, "Shut up, TJ, and do the work." Okay, so I was a bit stunned, but he was right. I hadn't invested in them because I wanted the next credit. In those days, it was all about making me feel bigger because I actually determined who I was by the number of sales I made. My friend, plus my editor, plus a few internal rants showed me, it wasn't about the number of stories I sold but the quality which only I could create.

So today, I do the slug work. I learned my lesson. Character Profiles. Character Arcs. GMC. Emotional Drive. The whole nine-yards of it.

Never forget that this is a craft, and however you draw your characters, do it well. After all, they star in your story.

Time for you to shout back. What was the first book you ever read that made an impression on you? Was it so good, you'd go back to that author just cause of that first story?

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-08-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Already September! Where did the time fly? Summer's practically over, fall is settling in, and with it comes longer evenings and thoughts of cozy fires and snuggling up with a good book...

If you even find a good book, that is! Big if here.

This got us thinking, here at the Royal Blush Authors, about good books, the lack of them on the market, the loss of desire by writers to pen strong, quality-infused stories. Where have all the good stories gone?

Catch us this month as we attempt to answer this question from our perspectives as authors, readers, editors, and even a publishing-house owner!

Throughout September, we'll cover aspects such as characterization in a good story, how cliche kills a good endeavor, how much respect needs to be paid to a genre, and also how the story of our heart as authors breathes a new dimension in our writings.

T.J. on Tuesday kicks it off with characterization - your characters are the stars of your story - it's high time all writers realized this!

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) tells us how characters have led the way for her in her writings, and how you too can figure out a totally unique story path when you listen to these fictional people's voices.

Don't forget:

This September, we want to go back to the roots of what makes writing, and reading, such a life-changing experience.

This September, we're on the quest:

Searching for a good story...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Lyrical Press Inc. behaving very badly!

2009-08-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

Who the hell died and left Renee Rocco empress of Small Press? I'd like to know. Not only is she the 'empress' but WTF to her contract. Here's the skinny for those of you who know it takes a lot for me to lose my cool.

A sneak peek at LPI's convoluted contract.

10. REVISIONS - If the Publisher considers it necessary in the best interests of the Work, the Author agrees to revise the Work on request of the Publisher. The provisions of this agreement shall apply to each revision of the Work by the author as though that revision were the work being published for the first time under this agreement, except that the manuscript of the revised work shall be delivered in final form by the Author to the Publisher within thirty (30) days after request for revision. Further, no initial payment shall be made in connection with such revision. Should the Author not provide a revision acceptable to the Publisher within a reasonable time, or should the Author be deceased, the Publisher may have the revision done and charge the cost of such revision against royalties due, or that may become due, the Author, and may display in the revised work, and in advertising, the name of the person, or persons, who revised the work.

So if you die – don't worry about it. LPI will publish your little gem and NOT pay your heirs. WTF! Oh and don't worry if you are planted six feet under – LPI won't put your name on it – they'll put their editor's on it. It's rather funny and completely hypocritical that they have a clause in their contract should the author want out:

20. RIGHT OF TERMINATION This agreement may be terminated at the Publisher's discretion so long as written warning is provided to the Author within a thirty (30) day timeframe and a valid reason is provided. The terms of this agreement may be terminated for conduct unbecoming of a representative of the Publisher.

In the event of Author requested termination of this agreement, Author will compensate Publisher and Editor for monies invested in the Work in the sum of no less than one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00) and not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00). Author termination of this agreement relies solely on Publisher's discretion.

But they don't give the author/heirs the actual cost of editing should Ms. Rocco, Supreme deity that she is, decide your story doesn't meet her fictitious quality standards in the aforementioned contract clause #10. Remember, it doesn't matter if your pushing out stories or pushing up daisies. Don't you just love how that happens? "I'm sorry, Dear Author, but you should pay hand over fist just cause I have decided you are unworthy". Begs to question why she contracted the book in the first place? This conduct should be along the lines of that which is unbecoming a publisher in good standing with her authors.

The trump card in these two clauses is Ms. Rocco can kick you off your book should you make waves and she has already done this to one author I know of though I suspect there are more. It's your story! Who does she think she is raping it like this and then charging you for it?

Lovely. So, what's an author to do? Copyright your work. With publishers now pulling this stinking mountain of crap, we all need to be on our toes. The fact is, no publisher can take your work and completely revise it without the author's input. This would be copyright infringement. That Ms. Rocco and the other nimrods at LPI think they can get away with it shows just how badly some publishers can act.

I could go on and on about Lyrical Press Inc and probably will in future 'special' blogposts. The fact is no author should ever have to put up with this shite. Not only is it demeaning, it's illegal.

Be very aware!

Heat and Sex

2009-08-21T05:03:00.000-07:00

When I was told we were writing about sex this month at Royal Blush Authors, I cringed and wanted to climb into a hole. Lol Oh sure, I write sex in some of my stories, but what do I really know about sex?

Well, I do know that curiosity starts for young girls in high school (in my day, and much earlier these days), and the female hormones start kicking in high gear in the mid-twenties. Those hormones can make a young woman as horny as a fourteen old boy starting puberty. Thirty-two years of marriage has taught me a few things.

We are not talking about kids, we are talking about adults. It’s about the heat that builds when a young woman and young man first meet, and there is an immediate connection between them. This heat can cause two normal adults to skip the getting to know you process and cause them to hop right into bed, the back seat of a car, the floor, etc (you get my picture). These two may not be into one night stands, but the magnetism that brings them together can be so intense that they can’t stay apart long enough to learn about each other.

Sometimes the attraction is great enough that they decide they want to learn more about each other even after intercourse. If their personalities also click and they enjoy one another’s company outside of the hot sex then this is when a real relationship may develop.

For my purpose, I’m talking about sex in a romance novel, and there has to be a certain level of commitment involved between the heroine and the hero whereas in real life there might not be. As a writer, I want to build the tension between the pair to make them want to get together physically as a couple, but also want more. It doesn’t have to be through marriage, but there must be some pledge keeping them together.

Okay, so I haven’t really said anything about the hot sex. Lol In a book, your description and the actions of your characters must show your reader what is going on because a novel is not the same as a movie. You show a love scene by using the actions of your characters touching one another, and then showing their reactions. You can always use the action/reactions to build up your scene.

I know a group of ladies who told me they started reading their sex scenes to their husbands and they tried new positions out because of their stories. Their husbands even became better lovers because they learned what their wives really wanted from them.

I could go on a little more, but I think I better quit while I’m ahead. I hope.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Sandy

Tense, more tense, even more tense...

2009-08-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

... leads to strung rope that may break at any minute!

I was wondering what angle to talk about today when I went over to the blog and reread T.J's post for the week. Yes, she inspires me, in more ways than one, but for today I'll focus on her post about ambition.

One day, she asked me, what's your ambition? After lots of hollering and screaming and a few knocks to my hard skull, I finally understood what she asked - where did I want to be in say, five years, and what do I want people to be saying about me?

At that time, I had been struggling with finding my way in the writing world. I had found my 'voice'; I knew how to write (and that meant, and still means, drafts and writes and rewrites and countless edits); I had ideas for stories and was starting to come out of the cliche fold.

And, lo and behold, guess what was hot, hot, hot back then? You got it - erotica!

Now I knew I couldn't write direct, in-your-face erotica. Growing up in an Indian/traditional/Muslim set-up, you do tend to view sex as a prude, like what if my mother and all the aunts suddenly came over my shoulder and peeked at the screen? *shiver* It's ingrained inside of you. So there we go - sex is all the terrific thing that's going on in the writing world. I thought, let me try, even if I won't be writing the sequel to Basic Instinct any time soon!

I put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard). Got my story, spun it on itself, got the cliche out, grabbed the characters and fleshed them, with a solid backstory and impact moment, and yes, I had a plot in there. The spin was, it was erotic in nature. I wrote the story. Some solid, at-least-3-pages long sex scenes in a 22K short. It got good raves from my CPs, even from my mentor. I was even on the brink of having it published when the pub house it was going to closed because the owner was facing health issues. So I submitted the story to other places, it was even accepted.

But then I didn't have it published. It still sits on my hard disk today. Why?

Because that story was good but it wasn't me. Erotica isn't me, because I write sex as part of the character's journey, not just for the sake of sexing it up. At around that same time, I penned another ms, 25K, very hot, lots of sex, and with a plot too! But again, it sits there.

It's not that these stories were too hot. It's not that they didn't hold the line, or weren't good, or were just sex scenes strung together. It's that - they're not me!

I come back to the question T.J. had asked me - what's my ambition? And the answer I remember giving her in the end was - to be known for the strong stories and fully-fleshed characters I create.

Sex may be a part of it, but it isn't the be-all and end-all of it.

So I come to the question that plagues all writers who at some point of another, reflect upon this question in view of writing for the market or writing what their heart tells them to write - Is sex necessary? (If they don't reflect on this, they should!)

My answer would be, sex is as necessary to your story as it is necessary to the people making this story. In real life, two people don't just keep ripping all their clothes off the minute they're together (clothes cost money too, guys. They'd need to buy a new wardrobe everyday unless they join a nudist colony). Two people cannot just burn down the sheets every single time they get together (sometimes they'll just rumple those sheets!). A man cannot simply be having sex like a rabbit all the time (unless he's pumped up on Viagra and that too is a health hazard!). A woman also needs to start buying stocks in a panty-liner-making company if all she does is wet her panties all the time!

The point is, real people do not have sex like that (if they tell you they do, take it with a grain of salt!). So why then would the people, the 'real people' you want to portray in your story, act so illogically where sex is concerned?

As a writer, you need to think. Think it all through. How would such a person act in real life? What would he/she do or think? How would he/she act/react? That's the mark of getting good, 'real' characterization down, and if you do this well, then you'll be writing well and strong too. Whichever way you cut it, a story is about a plot and the plot is brought to life by the characters. It's no different for erotica, erotic romance, or just a sex scene in your mainstream work.

So next time you'll be writing, stop for a minute and think. Where do YOU want to be in five years? How do you want people to know you? And for the right here right now, what are your characters about, what are they like? And how do they have sex?

Pen down a few answers, and you should see the path. Hopefully, it won't be a tight-strung rope that you may just bounce off and land in the middle of nowhere when you try to step on it.

In my mss mentioned here, I first let myself down, beacuse I didn't stop and think and just thought to place some sex scenes in. I let my characters down, because I made them think with their crotches and not with their mind and ultimately, their heart. Why their heart? Because sex and all that leads to it is also a question of feelings and emotions. Think of the tension before that first kiss, the sizzle of recognition and longing when your gaze crosses that of the person who makes your body temperature go up by ten degrees in the blink of a second, the rush of feeling down your spine when the first touch lands on your skin, or when the heated, passion-darkened gaze of your lover roams over you, creating that almost magical, intangible link that will not sever until after the fires have been doused?

Think, people, think!

Any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Have you lost your ambition?

2009-08-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

I know, I'm supposed to blog about sex this month, but this is something I see becoming pervasive in e-publishing specifically and the market as a whole. Ambition.

It's a simple word. It means to reach or strive for some goal or reward. Easy to understand. Harder to accomplish in this field. Ambition has become for the proverbial 'pimp publishers', make it hotter, make it more erotic, make it something that in essence isn't really a story but just sex scenes strung together. Oh, but wait, don't push the actual act until the final act and then wham the characters have sex.

Woohoo. That's so hot it's stupid. Wait – did you call that STUPID as in idiocy, like the characters crotches do all their thinking for them, sort of dumb?

Yes, I did. And you have to remember I read the story about the priestess who had to take her concubines with her on her journey to find love, the fairy whom needed an orgasm to open her wings, and my all time favorite, the story in which the vampire who was a vampire hunter had male/male sex with the villain more than he had sex with the heroine he supposedly loved. Let's face it, for some writers, myself included, sex is easy to write. This isn't brain surgery. Get 'em naked and have at it. Full Monty, tatters flapping and all that good stuff, or at some publishers – don't have it until the final scene, but lots of fellatio and cunnilingus must lead to that (Pimp Publishers are notorious for this cause – ha ha – they think its hot).

There was a time, and I still follow this, where an author strove for something in a story. They made, through trial and error, a story better, hotter, more enticing, not because they wrote for the market but wrote for the story. This was ambitious. They developed their characters and made the sex add to the plot not just bury it beneath existential sex. It was, first and foremost about the story.

To this day, I know authors who still do this. They work their fingers to the bone bringing in originality even in hot stories. I do know the other side too. Those who have decided sexing it up is better than just thinking about the characterization and the story's plot.

Ambition comes in many forms. In the above, I've only given two. Here's the truth, I've lived both of the examples I delivered above. There were years where I was so booked my brain ached because I thought if I wasn't selling...selling...selling I wasn't doing my job. I got a reality check on that when I hit a road block. That would be the twelve stories I'd pounded out that didn't sell. I loved them but on retrospect they were so blah blah blah overdone I should have known better. An editor finally said, T.J., this is so much like everything else you've sent me why would I publish it? My answer was - um - had no answer. The other side is the stories I've written that are so far off the map every publisher I've gone to think I'm out of my mind.

I screwed up and I paid for it. I thought I was untouchable and I could get away with anything (read that as anything). Learning the lesson taught me so much, because one brought me off my pedestal and the latter warned me to control myself too.

In the end- ambition is what you make of it.

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Well, we're supposed to be talking about sex... The good, the bad, the nasty, the darn ugly... and the downright stupid!

Did I just say, stupid? Yes, and I'm echoing the words of one of the driving forces behind this blog. Catch us this week and find out what we're talking about!

So, what do sex and ambition have to do together? No, we're not talking couch-based promotion. Frankly cannot believe that still exists, but it does, sadly... Sigh

Still, what does a writer do when stringing ambition, writing, and sex in the same sentence? We attempt some answers for you.

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she asks us where our ambition got lost when erotica started to burn trails down the publishers' paths. Don't miss this post, coz it's very insightful!

On Tursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) takes a page off T.J.'s book and pens her own post on where she lost herself in the maze of trying to go down the erotica route. She poses a few questions and tells a bit about where and how sex and characters fit in a story.

And on Friday, don't miss Sandra Marshall's post on the whole issue of sex and heat in writing!

Don't forget:

This August, we're turning up the dial where the heat is concerned.

This August, we're on the quest:

Searching for a blast of heat...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

People making love...

2009-08-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

T.J. talked about sensuality in romances, the spark that leads to the romantic and sexual encounter. Where did it get lost in books?

It got me thinking of another facet - where did the people making love/having sex get lost in those books?

A thing that is missing in a lot of romances and erotica lately is emotion. Emotional drive = zilch, nada, non-existent.

You might ask, what's emotion got to do with it (in a strange twist on the Tina Turner title What's love got to do with it?) Well, love needn't have anything to do with the sexual encounter in your story, but emotion does. Why? Because emotion is the fuel for your scene.

Face it, people - you're not writing porn. Porn is about the mechanics, it's sex in motion/written, the nookie happening between two or more people depending on the scene you're penning.

For the sake of this post, I'll focus on two people, a man and a woman.

So let's say your setup is a hero and a heroine and they're burning for each other. You get them together in the same room and you make them do the deed. Great - you've got the sex scene in your story and if it's an erotica, well you're living up to the name by giving an erotic encounter. Right?

Wrong! Even erotica isn't porn - the basics, the mechanics, the deed being done do not constitute a sex scene in an erotic work or a romance, and far from it to even make a love scene!

What does then?

Well, think about it. Sex is said to be an intimate experience. Why? Because it's an intimate act. Intimate means it affects the person in some way, impacts him or her, involves him or her in a unique way.

If this involvement is lacking in your sex/erotic scene, you're writing porn. What makes this involvement tangible is emotions. Sensuality too, as T.J. put across so well. What is this person feeling when having this encounter? How is this impacting him/her? How is this changing his/her world, even if only for a split second?

At the same time, people are different. Characters are supposed to be people too, well-defined people that you as the author are putting across and whose story you're recounting to your audience. No two people have sex or experience a sexual encounter the same way. As a writer, think of this when you pen your sex scene. It should be commensurate with the kind of character you are portraying. A hardened cop, all male and Alpha, isn't going to worship his lover by thinking about her body in purple prose during the act. He won't wax poetic or lyrical in her ear, confessing undying love. Oh yes, he can make tender love, but the act itself is at the heart of the issue - he's hot, driven, and takes what he wants. Sex to him will be hooking his partner on whatever available surface and having wild sex on the moment, their carnal pleasure as the goal. A wilting wallflower isn't going to turn into a sex-crazed goddess/vixen the minute you unlock her in a bedroom. She isn't going to tear down the hero's shirt and nip hickeys all over his body just because passion combusted inside of her. No, her character demands TLC, romantic setting, candles, and all the hoop-la. People are different, and again, different people view and experience sex differently. Even encounters between the same couple will be different - the first drunken encounter that hits off right after leaving a club will be different from the way this same couple, if they do hook up long-term, will make love once they're an established couple.

And what highlights this difference is emotions. Tune in to your characters emotions and the emotional drive behind their actions and reactions. This will in turn fuel your sex/erotic scenes with something unique, something your readers will be grateful for because you are embarking them on a journey, the journey the characters are undergoing when they are in this world of sensuality and heat. Every character's journey, even in sex and love, is unique, and as the writer, this is one joker you hold that can make your work sronger and more powerful. Don't fail to use it.

Any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Sensuality Ahoy

2009-08-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

This isn't just a pet peeve of mine that arises from my being an editor, but it bugs me as a reader too. Where's the sensuality anymore? What happened to the backstory to the heat? That moment when the characters connected, perhaps not on an emotional level, but on a physical one. Yep, I'm looking for the spark.

I suppose first the 'spark' has to be understood. It's that jolt of electricity you read so many times in not only erotica but romances. The moment when the characters' gazes find each other and lock. The spark is, well, the spark that leads to the bedroom or the kitchen counter. It's the catalyst.

Okay, so not every publisher wants that. They want to have the heat upfront and in your face. That's fine for them. As a reader, I'm like – okay, so every character's crotch is at this moment making one hundred percent of their decisions – good for them. Still, there is a physical reaction I look for.

And there is proof it actually is how human beings feel out sexuality.

Desmond Morris' 12 Steps to Intimacy

01. Eye to body
02. Eye to eye
03. Voice to voice
04. Hand to hand
05. Arm to shoulder
06. Arm to waist
07. Mouth to mouth
08. Hand to head
09. Hand to body
10. Mouth to breast
11. Hand to genitals
12. Genitals to genitals

Now I don't use all of these, normally I mix them up and skip a few to give the sex scene thrust, but this is all about how sensuality and sexuality physically occurs in normal human behavior.

There's another part that has been let go of in recent years – the five senses. Even in a sex scene, the lead can and should react to the other senses. Sex isn't just friction or woogie woogie – aha – all's good in crotch land. It's the atmosphere, the aura the writer builds around the character. Setting and smelling and feeling the emotions that come from gasping breaths, carnal kisses, heavy petting. This is what embellishes the sex scene and makes it hot.

The thing about the above list is about intimacy. It's not the immaculate perception that all of a sudden the characters are in love. It's the immensity of an act that can lead to love. How you draw it from there is up to you.

Your turn, is intimacy missing in sex scenes or do I just have lousy taste in books? Do you think using all five senses can help a sex scene or hurt it?

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-08-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Life happens, doesn't it? And when else would it take place but in the scorching months of summer? Everyone's taking a break, we're all over the place, and we soak up the sun. If that's not gonna get the temps up...

Well, allow me to tell you that if the mercury rising in the outside heat is not enough for this August, we've got our own brand of heat and warmth to scorch and sizzle in the writing world. Proof? We're tackling all things heat and hot in romance.

Love scenes, sex scenes, romance, sensuality, erotic romance, erotica... We'll be dealing with all this in the month!

Catch us this week as we set out to bring more heat to the pages of your writings. T.J. kick- started this topic last week, and we're gunning the engines and sending sparks flying.

But, somewhere along the way, we started to ask ourselves - where did the love, emotion, and feelings go? How come sex became just sex in romance nowadays?

This week, we're tackling this very question.

T.J. on Tuesday will be asking you where the sensuality got lost, and she'll give some tips as to how to bring emotions and the five senses back into your characters' lovemaking. And, she also brings us the notion of the 'spark'. Find more about it in her enthralling post.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) takes a little break off from her bed-ridden, flu-suffering state to rant a little about the lack of emotions and in lovemaking scenes - are those characters simply going through the motions? Where have the people making love gone?

Throughout the month, we'll be joined by our regular contributors, Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja.

Don't forget:

This August, we're turning up the dial where the heat is concerned.

This August, we're on the quest:

Searching for a blast of heat...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

It’s HOT out there!

2009-08-04T06:14:00.001-07:00

It's August and with the mercury inching up on the thermometer, Royal Blush Authors are going into the other hot topic – romance, erotica and erotic romance.

Okay, I can see half of the followers of our blog just check out. But you should know by now, I'm not one of those writers who take the 'what do you think about sex in a story' or 'do you think every romance needs a sex scene' stance. Both are personal opinion and up to the author who is penning the story. If you want to take a couple of characters out for a whirl across the sheets, go for it. Sex scenes not your style, good for you.

I've never shied away from a sex scene, but I have studied lifestyles to understand how the Dom/sub, Master/slave, Dominatrix actually works. I'm not some author who just throws the rules out the window, and these lifestyles do have there own set of rules, and say, "oh well".

The question today is can it go too far? Can an author string so many sex scenes together without a plot that the reader goes yawn? Can a story lose its drive simply because the hero's d!&k is leading the way (crotch thinking) and the heroine's legs are always twinging with sexual excitement? When has an author stepped over the heat line to the what-the-heck-is-the-author-thinking? Is the romance proven or is it a miraculous conception of 'oh, I love you, now screw me'?

I know. I know. There are publishers out there who say with pointed finger – "You, sex it up". Or go, "this is the perfect moment for ménage". That's because that's what that publisher sells. If you don't want to go there, the best advice I can give you is don't submit there. Once you are under contract, you're pretty much going to have to do their bidding though most allow for some wiggle room.

Here's an example of a story I once read where I felt it went too far. Priestess plus eight concubines plus a quest for love includes priestess, butt plugs and having to take concubines with her during her merry journey for true love. Okay, that's going too far in my opinion. First, the plot is love. How do you actually find love when sex is morning, noon and night and it's the full monty? The story never made sense.

I also have problems with crotch thinking characters and every decision is made by their groins. To me, this is absolutely unnecessary unless you are writing for a publisher who tries to put themselves out as a romance publisher but the truth is they just want erotica. That's just my take on it, though.

You're turn. Have you ever read a story or stories where you went, "this is stupid"? Or, "okay, this has gone into the realm of too-many-sex-scenes-is-not-a-good-thing?"

Cheers and until next Tuesday, happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

Is B&N really trying to compete or is it all hooey?

2009-08-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

With the largest on-line catalogue, Barnes and Noble seems to be trying to stretch their wings and really take on the massive force that is Amazon.

I think the competition will be good for the game, but there are a few aspects I remain suspicious of. Now it is a matter of wait and see - but compared to Amazon and their cornering of the market with Kindle, Barnes and Noble is putting on a good show.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

With rumors flying that B&N is going to close the popular but struggling Fictionwise, which nobody knows for sure but seems to be gathering legs, we all have to wonder; can B&N do all they say they can?

In my opinion, any company with the bollocks to take on the all mighty Amazon - more power to you.

Regards,

T.J.

Juggle and Balance

2009-07-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

Sounds like what someone working in a circus would hear. Well, would you believe me if I told you the life of a writer often resembles a circus?

T.J. talked of bonbons, Diana about her corrupt file (poor thing, heart and support go out to her). I'm gonna talk about the need to balance.

Yes, it's easy to strive for this equilibrium when your life and everything in it is ho-hum. You take the kids to school, make their food and snacks, help with the homework, play those mind-numbing games you wonder why kids like. You welcome the man home. You shower TLC on him (and hopefully he returns some back!). You sit and chat over a cup of coffee while the kids are killing themselves in their room (but that's not your problem currently since you're in couple's time). You sit down and grab a book to read before going to bed, or you turn on the TV and plonk down in front of whatever soapie is airing, wondering how this woman was chasing this guy nine months ago when you last caught this show and how she still hasn't got him even now. Oh no wait, she got him and then she left him for someone else, and now she realises she shouldn't have left him int he first place, and yada yada to make mush out of the remaining brain you still had.

So all this is fine on most days. Somewhere in there, you open that Word doc and stare at the words, asking this woman featured there, uh where did we meet...? And you go, oh yeah, you're the gal who's hooked onto that hunk of a fella, but he isn't looking at you, right? You want me to hitch you together. And that's where you also go, pray tell me how on earth I'll do that!!!

And then there are the days when nothing else exists, nothing but this story inside you that you desperately need to write. Forget chores and welcome a whole family of dust bunnies in your house. There's so much laundry to do you can simply tip the baskets over and have great free-form furniture. And last you checked, no one died from a diet of instant noodles and carbonated drinks.

Yes, this is what you want to do when the writing bug bites you, and I know what I'm talking about, because I'm in this very predicament! There's this story screaming to get out, and I mean screaming, as in yelling, screeching, hollering, using one of those sound-magnifying things the police use to call to a hostage taker.

How do you fit life in there?

I find it's not easy to do, but do it I need, since like T.J. said, life is not a dress rehearsal. What happens to your kid now is not gonna happen again the same way after you finish penning this story down. The hug and cuddle he wants to give you sounds like a break you don't need from your keyboard, but this may just be what will take this child through another hour with you zoning out in writer land. You think you got your man? Yeah, you do - that's your ring on his finger, innit? Well, get this - a ring is not fixed onto his finger, just like you're not the only woman in the world (well, maybe you're the only woman who will take him with all his pig headedness and lousy bathroom habits and strange food eating ways, but you wanna risk that?) What happens if after you've penned this story, who may not be a masterpiece even, you look around and find that there's a stranger in the house with you? The worst thing is, it's not him the stranger, it's you, because you retired into your world and lost touch with the reality he's been living in.

Want to try to rekindle everything then? Fine, go ahead. If there is anything to rekindle. Cold ashes do not blaze back to life.

So whenever the writing bug bites, you'll feel kinda weird. You want to write, write, write. But remember that you also have to juggle and balance, because unfortunately for us writers, there is also the real world out there and it won't stop existing because we will it to.

Have you ever been bitten by this bug? If yes, what did you do to retain the equilibrium in your life?

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Not a moment's rest

2009-07-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Not behind the scenes. I think I stop when I actually sleep. Yes, I'm a direct contradiction to dear T.J.'s post.

Why? Well for the last seven...eight? days, I've been recreating a corrupted Novel length file . I've discovered my word is corrupted. It finally had a meltdown and there's not much I can do about it at the moment. Fixing the book in question is my priority. But really, this is only one facet of what happens behind the scenes.

A mangled file? It's like losing the middle five pages to the scene of a play...that debuts tonight!

You scramble to find those pages. I'm scrambling to get this file fixed for an on time release. What's funny though? During this uber stressful week, I've actually read two books and numerous short free reads, reading I haven't been doing at all because I have been working myself to the grind, a pressure of my own making. So one stress is imposed, and I know I'll get it done. I just need time. Somehow that's less stressful than working day in and day out on a number of stories for scattered submissions. I can read guilt-free during one stress. It's a little harder when I'm the one kicking my own arse to stay moving. I think I need my head examined... No, I'm not accepting volunteers, but thanks for thinking about it. *wink*

Somehow though, there's different levels of stress, or maybe different levels of importance. I know this applies to far more careers than just writing, but since we are welll, a writing blog, that's who I'm talking about, and to.

My point with this?

T.J. is dead on right. I know. I know. I'll give you a minute to pull your chair back under you and pop your jaws back into place. This is a minor emergency in the grand scheme of things. It affects my release schedule, thus it's gotta get done, but what happens when I'm not under the gun? Why do I still work like a fiend? I know I'm going to dry up eventually and need to take a few days off, or a week to find my last cowering brain cell hiding behind my office door. You'd think I'd learn. (I see T.J. is shaking her head at me.) But one thing that isn't taken into account, but needs to be just as controlled, is drive. Okay, mine borders on obsession, I'll admit, but this is a perfect case in point--me--to slow down. Because one of these days I'm just going to blow up.

*Kaboom*

Whoops! Too late!

Here, let me get you a tissue. *G*

I think I'm going to find a chocolate cake and make best friends with my couch after I get this file fixed. That sounds just about perfect.

What do you do to extricate yourself from the writing machine? What are your non-author destressing activities?

I sit around and eat bonbons all day!

2009-07-28T08:27:00.001-07:00

Knew that would get your attention. J

The fact is writing is a job (Full-time or otherwise). You can't slice it any simpler than that. You pound keys. You promote. You work, work, work. While you're promoting you've got to be thinking about the next story, or if you are really on your game, writing it. Another cold hard rule of life is that life happens.

I can't tell you how many authors I've told, 'take a break'. First off you need to recharge your batteries. Walk in the sunshine and let your body soak it all in. Let it happen because some of the best ideas I've ever had pop into my head have come from just getting away from the stupid box I feel chained to most days. Second, there is such a thing as becoming over-written. Ever felt burned out? That's because you've written until pulling words from your brain is the next best thing to having a root canal sans anesthetic.

The other side of this is life. You should have one. Nobody says you can't run the kids to school or hang around with the mate. It's a fallacy that the next story is the most important thing to a writer. Life is more important than anything. It's not a dress rehearsal. You won't get a second chance to watch your kids grow or have those riveting conversations with the mate while he's totally zoned out and into the internet. That's not a fact of being a writer, that's a fact of being alive.

The same thing goes for editors. We're notorious for becoming over-read. Let's be real, that's what we do all day. We read and read and just before our eyes start to sizzle, we read some more.

So the cold truth is if you are feeling stressed about a story the best advice is get away from it. Let it perk and join the world of the living. Eat a few bonbons. You might find it interesting and you might find some inspiration.

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

Adventures of an RWA conference virgin - Part II

2009-07-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

By J. Hali Steele

Hi all, Royal Blush has allowed me to come back with more on the Adventures of an RWA Conference Virgin.

I did promise to bring you up-to-date on what really happened in DC. To my shame, I have no pictures. I am just not the photography type. My walls at home have not a single photograph to adorn them, none on my shelves either – that space is for books. Oh well…

Again, there were murmurs, and what I call hubbub, between RWA and those seeking change within the group. Let me say I sat 4 rows back, damn near center, and when Ms. Pershing asked for the resolution, IMHO, her voice and her words did not come across as harsh or mean – I believe she was genuinely shocked, as was I, that no one had a copy of it. As a member of the RWChange group, my thanks go wholeheartedly to Francesca Hawley who pulled it up on her phone and read it to the room. She was my hero that day. I’m a member of RWA and plan to remain a member. Change happens from within. I belong to ESPAN and Passionate Ink, two very great chapters. Recently, I joined the Liberty States Fiction Writers and I’m sure I’ll learn much from each of these groups. Those who know me know I’ll ask for what I want if I don’t see it.

Remember the two friends I spoke of meeting? Well one of them pitched and came away with an agent. Yay Rhonda, I’m happy for you girl! She so deserved this. At RT this year she took Bobbi Smith’s Advanced Writing class, entered the Creative Writing Challenge and won. This gave her the opportunity to have an agent look at a synopsis and the first 25 pages of a story. Needless to say, all of this worked to her advantage. Now, for RWA.

I met Janet Evanovich and I asked her when she was going to kill off Joe Morelli from the Plum novels and she laughed. Caridad Pineiro was so natural and friendly. Kimberly Kaye Terry is always the bomb. These last two ladies I’ve met at RT a few times and enjoyed their workshops.

Some classes I attended included The Setting as Character with the ever fabulous Jade Lee, who gave me a whole new perspective on where my characters live and what affect this has on them. Annabelle Corrick Beach’s The Process of Writing…10 Steps to Success, added a few that were missing from my repertoire. I decided not to attend the Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Erotica but Were Afraid to Ask simply because I feel these are done so well at RT conferences with lots of audience and reader participation. I found not very much of that happened in any class I attended. I came from each one feeling I’d learned but there wasn’t the camaraderie I’ve come to expect because of RT. Speaking for myself, there wasn’t the feeling of ‘friendliness and acceptance" I’ve gotten at the RT conventions. There is definitely a division between epublished authors, of which I’m one, and those who are published by NY.

I did attend the Pro Retreat and had some great conversations with some members before it started. We were all very excited about being Pros and most of us had our pins. At the start of the Agent section, I left. I am not looking for one right now and there was an Avon book signing I simply couldn’t miss. Did I feel I got something from this retreat? Can’t say yet. By the way, only talked to three others who were currently epublished and most I spoke to were seeking "only" NY. Leaving the retreat wasn’t hard.

Thursday evening I attended the Passionate Ink party and that was one of the highlights of my trip. I met quite a few fellow Ellora’s Cave and Changeling authors. Here I felt at home. I had the chance to talk more with Francesca Hawley, who is the President of PI and the lady is absolutely awesome. Angela James from Samhain spoke about epublishers and the epublishing industry. Barbara Bradford talked about what is currently happening with NY publishers and what they’re looking for. Nothing new there.

Does this sound like I prefer RT conventions to RWA conferences? I sure talked a lot about RT in this post didn’t I? Well, guess I have to answer yes. I’m no longer a virgin as far as RWA conferences go but I’ve discovered I’m much happier with RT and its acceptance of me as an epubbed author.

One thing did strike a chord with me during RWA -- many speakers used the phrase "you can do it" at some point in their address. It’s those words I chose to come away with.

Again, Royal Blush authors, thank you for the opportunity to tell all about my first time at an RWA Conference.

My Experiences as an E-Published Author

2009-07-22T06:26:00.000-07:00

Being an E-Published author has been a learning experience for me. It’s been exciting, but also a challenge to keep up with everything. I had no idea what being e-published or in print would mean to my life. It has changed my existence. I learned there’s much more to being a writer than writing, there is promotion. In my contract there was a clause that required me to do a certain amount of promoting my books on-line.

It’s not easy to get your name as a novelist out there, or to find a following for your stories. It takes time from your writing, and a lot of hard work. To become known and to get people to read your book you have to promote them and yourself. I started by building a website with a front page telling a bit about the genre I wrote. Then I put in a picture and a bio about me, posted covers of my books along with blurbs and excerpts about my stories, a links page to other authors, and a contact page.

Next, I started a blog, where I write and post articles once a week. A bunch of authors asked me to join their blog and post an article there once a month. This is all done to market ourselves. Then I had to join Yahoo loops with readers and other writers to let them know about my website, blogs and to post blurbs and excerpts to interest them in reading my books. I joined in chats and did interviews on sites for readers. All of this is time consuming.

There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done. I try to write thirty minutes to two hours a day, which can mean anywhere from one page to four pages a day. If I can get more time meaning more pages written, then I’m thrilled.
Often times my routine is interrupted by normal events and people around me. It’s hard to make people realize that this career is not an eight hour job, but twelve to fourteen.

My first two titles, The Catalyst and Addiction, were released by Forbidden Publications in late 2008. In six months my publisher closed due to health issues, and I made a whopping $33.99 on my digital sales. I decided to self-print The Catalyst as a print on demand book, and I have yet to make the money I invested back. Every penny, I’ve gotten for those books have been sunk into advertising material such as business cards, post cards, book marks, etc.

E-publishing has had a stigma on it for many years, but it’s about to come out of that phase as more readers are buying books and magazines digitally. Many authors have used e-publishing as a stepping stone to a New York Publisher, then decided they want to be in both, or even just stay in digital.

What would I do if I had the chance to go to NY? I’ll be happy staying with my new publisher because I believe they will be one of the forerunners in this business. They will also be willing to help those authors who want to go to NY.

As hard as the work is, I can think of no job I would rather have. There are people asking me when my next book will be out, and they are saying they can’t wait to read it. This makes me want to work faster and get more books out there. I can hardly wait to hear what they say about Addiction when it’s released November 6, 2009 from Eirelander Publishing.

Thank you, and I'll see you next month.

Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirlanderpublishing.com
http://www.skaymarshall.com

I’m a what? A shiver published author

2009-07-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

Congratulations, we'd like to offer you a contract for your story.

Those words are an elation statement in this industry. But once there welcome to the world of what is expected from you? Well, that somewhat depends on the publisher. Some publishers are a little more cushy with their authors, they create relationships with them, others are doing the proverbial pounding on the door to your inbox going – when can we expect your next work? It doesn't mean either is right or wrong, it means they are styled under a different model. No biggie—get used to it and go forward.

There are a few 'p's you should watch in this industry. They are as follows: Professionalism, Precision and Punctuality. Professionalism is self-explanatory, though if your publisher is friendly to you, by all means take the olive branch they put forward. Just remember, you are in a business in which they might explain a detailed dissertation on how the ins and outs work at that publisher. This is not giving you permission to spread that conversation across the Internet. There's a trust factor involved there, and one that you need to be aware of.

Precision is paying attention to detail. Part of what happens in an edit is your editor is teaching you. They will expect you to apply this knowledge to all subsequent works submitted there. With Track Changes now in full use, you need to pay attention to what your editor is commenting and absorb it. So if you have a problem with transitional sentences, that editor will expect you to take away that you need to focus on them in the future. Crutch-queens and kings, if your editor picks up your favorite phrase understand it's something you should watch out for.

Also, when performing your edit, you should work with speed. There is a reason for this. Your editor is waiting on you. That's not to say you shouldn't take your time and perform the edit to the best of your ability—you should. But, do you think it is fair to make your editor to wait weeks for you to get back to them? It also smacks of a lack of professionalism. I once pounded out an edit in three days on a saga length story. It was sent to the author who in turn took her/his sweet time to get it back to me (one round nearly hit five weeks to get back to me). In the mean time, I had a senior editor over me going, 'what's the status of this story?'. Want to talk about trial by frustration.

It also smacks of the writer not being totally invested in their work. When an author treats their work as if it's an old issue or they don't really want to put effort into an edit, the editor will pick it up quicker than a frog can snatch a fly with its sticky tongue. This is a HUGE thing because it puts the author into one of two categories: the hobbyist versus the pro.

The term 'hobby writer' was coined about a millennium ago. These were the authors who just wanted to write. There's nothing wrong with that, but when it came to the nitty gritty work of selling and editing they were the first to make excuses or simply move on to the next project. Remember: writing is a job, whether part time or full time.

A pro understands the three 'p's and is on the ball. They understand that some edits will take longer than others but approach work professionally.

Now it's your turn? Do you get the three 'p's or do you think that's a bunch of hooey?

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-07-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

We're still backstage this week, untangling threads behind the scenes. And as anyone can tell you, tangled threads can get messy! There's publishing, Ny publishing, e-publishing, to consider. Then there's stuff like promotion, workshops, conferences. Life definitely gets hectic for authors out there.

On this backdrop the RBA posse bring you some more about life behind the red curtain.

Find T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us more about what happeens when you hear the magic words "We want to offer you a contract". What can you, and what should you, expect?

On Wednesday, Sandy brings us a post about her experiences as an e-published author.

And on Friday, we welcome the second leg of our guest blogger's posts - Adventures of an RWA conference virgin-Part II is what J. Hali Steele has to tells us now that she's back from the RWA National conference!

Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) is encountering some Internet issues, and will try her best to post on Thursday.

Don't forget:

This July, we're going backstage into the world of writing and the writer.

This July, we're on the quest:

Searching for what happens behind the scenes...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

In Memoriam

2009-07-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

This special blog post is dedicated to a man who truly loved his craft and was so great at it, Walter Cronkite. It wasn’t so much that Mr. Cronkite brought us the news. It was that he brought (at least we believed) the truth. He was the most trusted man in this country. His words carried weight with everybody, and I’ll personally never forget him sitting with Anwar Sadat and asking when the Egyptian ruler would go to Israel. In a way, he began the peace process. I will never forget him counting the days ticking up during the Iran Hostage situation.

As I reflect on his vast career, I am reminded of his love of journalism. The love of his craft.

I think we all forget at times to love what we do and take pride in it. That writing is also a craft. It can take a writer to another planet or give them a hero to fall in love with. That’s the great thing about our craft. We’re writers. We paint with words. We create worlds. We create characters.

We all won’t be famous. Most of us will never see our name on the NY Time’s Best Sellers List (but we can hope, and work, and progress as writers).
What we should never forget is to love this craft.

To Walter Cronkite – Godspeed, and happy reporting in heaven.

To all the followers of this blog, have a very happy weekend.

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.
www.tethysjkillian.com

How anal should your editor be?

2009-07-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

The answer would be - as anal as possible!

The job of an editor is to fine tune your story and to make the ms as strong as possible. The editor also needs to give the pub house the best possible work for publication.

So, in concrete terms, what does this entail?

In broad sweeps, this is what is expected of an editor:

- Know the craft

- Know the genre

- Know the story being editted inside out

- Know the market

Knowing the craft means that an editor should know how to write too. The editor needs the same basis as the writer, because a story, whether writing it or editting it, uses the same techniques. How will an editor be able to spot GMC issues or plot holes and plot drops if she doesn't even know what these are about? An editor also needs to come up with constructive advice and avenues for every issue she finds in your story, whether it is how to make the hero more heroic or how to activate your scenes and make them more character-forward. And, of course, the editor knows about all those terms such as character forward, massaging the story, layering, and knows how to explain it to the author in a clear way.

Knowing the genre means an editor should be in her element when working on a story. For example, if the editor is a fan of vampires and weres, she knows the rules, limitations and set-up of such creatures' worlds. This enables her to edit a story within these worlds to make it stronger.
Now in case the editor is not so familiar with a genre, and however lands with the story, it is her job to brush up her knowledge of the genre in order to be able to provide a worthy edit. Say that for example, your editor has landed your Regency historical but is not inherently familiar with that era. She'll be expected (by the publisher and Editor-in-chief first) to brush up her knowledge. Ideally this story should go to someone who is familiar with the era and genre, but this is not always possible. Research is a key word here. Then the editor won't come and ask you in her notes why in a Regency historical, you mention that women don't wear heavy powder and rouge yet the old gossipmonger of the town wears it. As your Regency historical editor, she should know that powder and rouge went out at the turn of the century, yet the older ladies who did wear such makeup prior to the era circa 1800 still stick to their guns and haven't ditched the heavy caking up.
Another example would be a fantasy story - an editor should recognize that fantasy stories are rather heavy concept-wise and contain lots of explanations because the world is completely fabricated, with its own myths, landscape and world-building.

Knowing the story inside out means the editor should be able to sit down and talk about the intricacies of the story off the top of her head. She's expected to have read, re-read, and analysed every aspect of the story so that she knows its every detail on the tip of her fingers. Expect at least a modicum of 'knowing what the story is about' and everything the plot and characters entail from your editor.

Knowing the market means your editor has also got her finger on the pulse of the publishing world. What's hot and what's not, what's in and what's out, what's being requested and what being ditched faster than a hot potato. This knowledge will enable your editor to tell you why your story may not fare well and what you can do to remedy that. For example, if beta heroes are being brushed aside and you have a Beta hero in your ms, the editor can, will, and should, tell you this and offer ways how to Alpha-ize the hero to better target the market.

All of the above usually come with the editor when she takes the job, or at the very least, when she is training to become an editor. The actual hands-on side of the task of editting englobes all the above and combines a few other aspects, discussed below. These are more the nitty-gritty, on the job/ms issues:

Ensuring a proper reading experience - an editor's job is the bridge between the author and the reader. The editor has a duty towards the reader to provide him/her with the best possible reading experience where the book is concerned. So in this light, an editor must ensure that the story has a smooth flow, that it 'works' well, that it is a wholesome package, and also that it doesn't take the reader for an idiot.

Guaranteeing attention to detail - this comes in the wake of ensuring a proper reading experience. The editor makes sure that details are consistent throughout and make sense all through the story. A good example would be character and place names - are these consistent in the ms? Could there be an instance where the hero, who is named Nick, is addressed/mentioned as Rick? Nothing jars a reader more than lousy attention to detail. Imagine reading a story where the hero is named Michael and at one point, you read line that goes "She thought him obnoxious? Viktor didn't know what to make of her!" This wouldn't be a problem if the hero was named Viktor, but say that in the first draft he was named Viktor then the author changed it to Michael. Not only did the author miss this name slip, but the editor too missed it? On more than one read? Wouldn't this spell 'sloppy' in your reader's mind?

Being the guardian of language - another point to consider: people read also to 'see' how proper language is used. As such, an editor is the guardian of the language, because based on her edits, people can and will construe the grammr/spelling/punctuation laws. For example, he had strived. First, strived does not exist, and second, after using had before a verb, you would use striven. An editor's best friends are often a style guide and a good dictionary!

Yet, all this does not mean the editor is responsible for all the aspects of your story. She isn't a full-time nanny with whom you dump your baby once you've delivered. The editor should fine-tune your work, but she isn't responsible for the whole deal of making your ms meet quality standards. You as the author are expected to do a good part of this already when you submit your work.

Some examples of this would be:

Proofing your work - your editor is not your school teacher. Every writing program has a spellcheck feature; use it and present a good, finished project. A few instances where the program may have missed an error is not an issue, but when the ms is lettered with mistakes, the editor can be saying "Holy ****!" at every page and this doesn't bode well at all for a good edit!

Needing to rely on the author for some things - like formatting according to the publisher's submission guidelines. Another good example would be when the editor is not familiar with an aspect of the story and has to rely on the author knowing what he/she is doing. Like, your story is set in Northern England, and the old ladies there call everyone ducks, or Scots call a baby a bairn, or your London East End cabbie says Guv instead of Sir. The author has to make sure such details are accurate. Similarly, if the author needs, for example, permission to use the lyrics of a song, he/she is responsible for ensuring he/she is not in breach of copyright laws on said lyrics. The editor is not responsible to figure out if you're in breach (though she should question it and ask for proof of release) and does not need to go search for this release on the author's behalf.

Research work -the editor cannot research the story's background/era/backing for the author. An example would be depicting the animosity between a Hindu and a Muslim in India. An editor is not expected to know the intricacies of this animosity, its roots and reasons for existence. This seems to contradict what I said above, that the editor should be familiar with the era. There's a difference between being familiar with an era/period/situation and knowing the intricacies of a region. For example, as an editor you should know the base notes about the former IRA in Ireland and how it affected the country and people. However the editor is not expected to know that such and such word carries bad connotations and is never used. This is research that the author needs to undertake and which the author should be able to explain. If thee ditor knows it, great, if not, the author should help by porviding the most accurate and up-to-date presentation in his/her work.

No rewrite expected - an editor shouldn't be saddled with a sloppy copy of your ms, or the first, non-revised draft you ever penned (a publisher shouldn't even take on those, but sadly, this isn't the rule at all houses). The editor is expected to fine-tune your story, not rewrite it to commendable standards! The author needs to provide a good foundation on which the editor can continue building.

No tampering with your voice - a good editor will recognise your voice for what and how it is and will not ask you to overhaul it. There's a difference between ensuring proper grammar in your work (your characters use verbs like people talk, like, there ain't any way she did that. This can work in dialogue, but not outside of dialogue tags.) Your voice means the way you write, the words you use, the way you explain things. If your style of writing goes into using a few sentences to describe a setting and the description works, your editor shouldn't tell you, tighten this to a five-word sentence, or you are overwritten, or, you use too many questions) All these can pose issues if they do happen too much, but a good editor should know how to figure out the difference.
For example, your heroine has been kidnapped and once in the cold, dank and dark room, her POV goes: Why me? What do they want from me? A ransom? No one has the kind of money to pay for my release. Why, oh why, did I think of going to the store when the light outside was broken?
Counter example: your heroine loved a man who went missing and she is now about to marry his brother: Oh dear! Would she be able to marry John tomorrow? And why was she thinking of Steve, when she was about to pledge herself to his brother? Steve. Had she ever stopped loving him? And what to make of the suspicions she had that the man she'd seen lurking around could be him? They had never found Steve's body, had they? That charred skeleton in the car could've been anyone's, couldn't it? What would she do if Steve came back? Would she go ahead and marry John? Would she betray John's love? What would she do? Would John blame her? Was Steve still alive? Would he come back from the dead?
The point here - unless you're writing the script for a soapie, the second example has too many questions, while in the first, the questions actually strengthen the POV and highlight the heroine's plight.

So with all this in mind, how does the editor actually go about the job? The key here is reading. Yet, there are different kinds of reading associated with editting:

Read like a potential reader - This is usually the first read. Is story interesting? Does it make sense? Is it consistent? At the same time, the editor is asking herself whether this story would fit in the editorial line-up of her house.

Read like a editor - Usually second read, though a seasoned, experienced editor can do this on the first read itself. At this stage, she is looking for the potential pitfalls of the story, which issues need to be adressed, such as plot holes, plot drops, incoherent characterization, sketchy GMC.

Read like a 'teacher' - usually follows in the wake of the 'looking for issues' read. The 'mistakes' are identified and solutions devised based on the story, plot, characters and author's voice. The editor here jots down how to stregthen the story, irrespective of whether plot holes or the likes were found in the ms.

Read like a reader - after line-by-line edits are tackled, to make sure the details are consistent and whether the story provides the best possible reading experience. Example - Nick became Rick or Michael turned into Viktor are dealt with here.

That would be the broad view of it. Every story is unique, and also based on the complexity of the story and the length, all of the above can take place within two weeks or two months, provided too that the editor is working exclusively on that project. If she's also got other works on her edits roll, this can take longer.

T.J. mentioned how edits are done at Eirelander Publishing. As an editor with them, I too follow the same layout pretty much to the dot. A first read - first 50 pages should give you a good handle on story, full read gives global picture. Broad notes (usually plot points/holes/drops) then it goes into characterization, address issues, and another read to see if issues have been tackled. A finer read, where line by line edits come into play and where little details are attended to.

It is pretty much obvious an editor would encourage rewrites to stregthen the story, but at the same time, she shouldn't be overhauling your story either, unless this is exactly what you signed up for when you were contracted. For example, you sold on proposal and your first draft made it on the editor's desk, and she takes the role of CP-beta reader-editor in the same go.

There you go, the long and short of it. An editor generally should be anal and a perfectionist, because that's when she ensures the best possible story comes out of your hands, through the publisher's doors, and into the hands of the readers.

And, the best bit - the reader knows naught of what the editor did. The great work coming out is the author's, and it's the author who reaps all the glory and spotlight!!

As usual, all comments welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Adventures of an RWA conference virgin

2009-07-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

By J. Hali Steele

First, I’d like to extend my appreciation to the Royal Blush Authors for allowing me to share my excitement about attending my first RWA Annual Conference. Once I’m back and all settled in, I’ll bring everyone up to date with what really happened. Wait. Does what happens in DC have to stay in DC? Hmmm.

Over the last month, no one could possibly have missed the hubbub with RWA and its stance regarding e-books and e-book publishers and where they fit into the RWA’s scheme of things (or don’t!) To be politically correct, perhaps I should be saying digitally published. I’m not sure anymore. Anyway, I’m not going to say much about it here except that I am a new author who is e-book published and I am not seeking to be published in NY in the foreseeable future. This does not take away from the fact that I consider myself career focused, and I believe I’m learning tremendously by working with three very good publishers. I look forward to the day we are all on the same page and playing on a level field. Enough about that.

I’m ready to begin my adventure and I’m going to have a wonderful time meeting and networking with quite a few of the folks I’ve met online. The next time I chat with them, I’ll have faces to put with names.

I’ve spent hours pouring over the workshops trying to decide which to take. There are so many: Boot camp for Writers, Get Your Acts Together and Emotion: the Heart of the Novel, just to name a few. I found one that is perfect for me: Mastering Your Domain - I’m hoping this one gives me info to take back control of my home!

Check this workshop out: The Virgin Widow's Heart Stopped When She Saw the Workshop That Would Change Her Life Forever: How To Recognize Clichés and Use Them To Make Your Writing Shine. Huh? Yup, that’s one title.

And there’s The 15 Minute Synopsis. I’m not going to waste my time there. If someone had this secret, it would have been on Facebook or MySpace by now. At least it would have been Twittered about. LOL

When I first joined RWA my goal was to learn everything possible and become a Pro. Well, I made it, and no matter what anyone says – I’m proud as hell to wear that pin. (Wonder if they give a class on photography? Hey, it’s the best I could do.) The fact I finished a novel and mustered the courage to send it out made me feel as though I earned it. *smiling broadly* This is one workshop I am definitely looking forward to attending. Here’s the thing: it’s all about being published in print. But I have a plan. I’m going to listen and learn. Period. Here’s what they’ve planned for Pro —

Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks, Inc. is going to talk about what happens after the sale. How your book passes through acquisition and copyedits – I’ve been through this with epublishers and the editors were tops in my book. Why? They kicked my butt! I learned from them. She’s going to touch on marketing and sales – okay, I’ve done a bit of this for my books, but you can never know too much about marketing, so I’ll learn more. She’s also going to talk about print runs and distribution. I’ll listen, it never hurts to learn new things.

Madeline Hunter is going to talk about issues for authors who sub and don’t sell and how to go from rejected to being sold. I can learn from that because I’ve been rejected by publishers, so this could certainly help me. I’ll be listening closely.

There’s going to be an agent panel. They’ll discuss what is selling and what isn’t right now. I’m going to take it all in and learn. There will surely be something I can use, something that will help me along the path I’ve chosen.

I’m attending the Passionate Ink chapter’s party. That should be hot! At least the conversations will be. I’ll not miss the Rita and Golden Hearts awards ceremonies. I hope to be on the receiving end one day. (See, I’m focused and that field may get leveled yet!)

The breakfasts, lunches and dinners will all be opportunities to meet new people, learn new things and I’m going to act like a sponge and soak it all up. I’m meeting two friends whom I first met at an RT Convention a couple of years ago and we formed a great bond of sisterhood-in-writing. We email each other often but we’ll catch up and share so much in person. My sisters are coming down for two nights *eyes rolling*. They’ve been supportive of me and my dream, I can’t say enough about how much I love them. Plus they’ll help me lug my junk around. *grins*

So, I’m ready. For me this is another step on my career path. Another page turned and the start of another great adventure.

Thanks to the ladies of Royal Blush for having me in for the day and to read more about my adventure, come back on Friday, July 24th. I’ll tell you what happens in DC. Promise – I won’t leave anything out. There may even be pictures if I can get the hang of the dang camera.

So…stay tuned for more.

You want to do WHAT to my BABY?!

2009-07-14T08:11:00.001-07:00

Would you like to know how many writers run into the harsh edit? Uh, too many to count. There is a cold hard fact involved here, harsh edits fall into basically two categories – the one's where the author doesn't agree with the editor and the ones that are faulty.

I've received both. I didn't agree with some because after all I write the way I write. Here's another fact, just because some author in New York gets away with doing something doesn't mean you can follow suit. E-publishers for a long time have been fighting the original opinion that e-publishers will publish anything, sloppy or otherwise. Hell, there are times when I looked at some publishers and go to myself – can you say, Author Mill? For those of you who don't know what an author mill is, it is a quasi-publisher who either expects your story to be 'publication ready' or charges you for edits (if they offer that service at all). They'll slap cheap cover art on the story, assign it an ISBN number and there you go – welcome to being a published author.

Okay, so how do you tell the difference between a harsh edit and a faulty edit? If you've ever received a truly faulty edit you know. I once received an edit in which the person who edited it put in a scene break between each of my head hops. Rather than looking at the full scene as it stood. Having come across this before I knew what I had to do, but when I contacted the Editor-in-Chief to explain this was now a mass revision, I was told my editor was right and I had to abide by the edit. Here's a clue, try to remain professional. It doesn't help either side if someone starts to spout off. I came back with, do you really think adding 117 scene breaks to a 50,000 word story makes sense?

The other side of this is if you know you are struggling with a faulty edit; keep the ball in the editor or publisher's court. That means, keep your cool and stick to your guns. If you know what your editor is doing is wrong, then by all means advocate for yourself.

The other side is the harsh edit. I've received them and I have given them. The harsh edit comes in two forms (not surprisingly). The first is where the editor is reworking your story to make it better. The other is where you dig your feet in and start screaming 'no, no, no'. You need to keep in mind that if the edit is not faulty then you are expected to perform. Another important thing to understand is how editors edit. (This doesn't always happen, but this is the common process and the one at Eirelander Publishing).

Global changes. This may come in the form of broad notes or bulk paragraph edits. Global changes include voice. POV switching. Loose Plot Lines. Stringing. Character name changes. Dropped plot points. They all fall under global changes.
Refinement. The over usage of dialogue tags. Crutch words. Missing characterization or characterization falls off. Setting.
Tweaking. This is the look when the editor is truly fine tuning the story. They are tweaking dialogue or getting you to delve a bit deeper into the emotional drive. Some editors address crutch words here. It makes little difference.
Copy edit.
Editor's final look.
Errata. This is the author's final look.

Most editors do not jump straight to line edits. They'll tackle global changes first. Mostly because if they can't see the story through the weeds, what good does it do either themselves or the author. This is also helpful when you are revising your drafts.

The biggest thing to remember is if you don't agree with an edit it is best to discuss it with your editor. Don't get nasty, but do tell them you don't agree with them. If it is something such as POV you really don't have much of a choice since some publishers have policies against head hopping. If it's something minor or that really doesn't, in your opinion, change the scope of the story – then bring it up. Be prepared for them to say – this is the way that it is, and be open to their suggestions.

Sometimes you have to buck up and just do.

Your turn. Do you think the full edit process helps or hurts you. Have you ever received a faulty edit and not known what to do with it?

Until next week, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-07-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Life gets quite tangled and much of a mess backstage, wouldn't you agree? We deal with a lot of things at the same time, and like many in the publishing/writing business, we also juggle other hats.

So what happens when you also juggle the editor hat which remains right beside your writer's coat on the rack next to your front door?

T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) bring you some answers regarding this.

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us more about edits and the difference between a harsh edit and a faulty edit. Yes, these two categories do exist, unfortunately, especially where the latter is concerned.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will ask the question: How anal should your editor be? Going through the roles and duties of the editor, she'll aim to shed some light on this often misunderstood role.

And, don't miss the first leg of our guest blogger's posts - Adventures of an RWA conference virgin starts this Wednesday, where J. Hali Steele gives us a glimpse into her world as she prepares for this mighty event!

Catch all of it this week on the RBA blog!

Don't forget:

This July, we're going backstage into the world of writing and the writer.

This July, we're on the quest:

Searching for what happens behind the scenes...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

If you're gonna get in the fast lane, you better drive fast!

2009-07-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

As a driver, nothing annoys me more than people who swerve into the fast lane and then drag along at snail's pace (pedestrians walking on the roads and leaving the pavement for stray dogs is another peeve, but I won't go there today). Let me give you the picture - in Mauritius, we drive on the left side of the road (I know, the 'wrong' lane, lol!) so the fast lane is actually the right lane. Speed limit on the motorway where we have dual/more lanes is 110 kms per hour. That's roughly 75 miles, I think. So there you go, driving at 80 kms (50 miles?) in the left lane (which is fine) and you swerve into the fast lane. Bleeeppp!!! You cannot continue driving at 80 on a lane where everyone is doing at least 100!

The same, imo, applies to writing. If you're gonna write something, write it well (fast lane = drive fast). This follows a lot upon T.J's post, but I won't ask you about the personal line you do not cross. I'm gonna ask you about how you tackle that which you've decided to tackle.

On my website blog last week, I wrote about the feel of authenticity, and how I as a writer strive to bring such authenticity to my work. I used the example of the hero in my current WIP to pen that one.

But what applies to the hero applies to just about every other aspect of a story - plot, twists, characterization, start, middle and end. You expect a tragedy to have a tragic ending. You expect a comedy to make you laugh. You expect a romance to have an HEA. That's authenticity too.

So what then happens when you don't have that? A lot of writers take the line of 'twist, spin, flip' to an extreme. Yes, they do twist, spin, flip an existing genre/category/line/premise. But most get lost along the way. For example, the supernatural hero who is too heroic and has no Achilles heel. The downtrodden heroine who would make even Oxfam look like selfish snobs. The Alpha hero who would make lava turn to ice and ice turn to molten rock.

Or, you get writers who take a romance and add an urban fantasy feel to it. The women's fiction who takes on comedy of errors scheme. The paranormal with fantasy elements. That's the realm of cross-genre, and if you're gonna write cross-genre, you better write it well.

Twist, spin, flip. There are ways to bring this about. Take an exotic locale and turn it into a lair for fantasy creatures. Take another exotic premise and give it new life. Mix archetypes and layer them. When at one turning point, when whatever it is that's established expects you to turn right, turn left at that crossroads and see where it leads you. Many great stories have been penned this way.

But be ready to answer to the genre/rule/scheme you'll be twisting, spinning, and flipping, and ask yourself whether or not there is sense in what you've done/written (a good crit group/partners comes very handy here). Driving fast in the fast lane doesn't mean you drive with no foot on the brake and no eye on the rearview mirror. Driving fast in the fast lane means you are even more vigilant of the road and anything that could unexpectedly happen, all while you feel your back pressing into your seat, your hands sensually stroking the steering wheel while a smile of bliss tugs at the corners of your lips thanks to the exhilaration of the speed and the rev of the engine when your foot lingers on the pedal.

You should have fun with your writing too, but you should never leave that responsible, grown-up part of the writer get lost in the joy and sense of freedom.

Now tell me - do you write in the fast lane? And what is it like for you?

All comments more than welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

To go there or not to go there? That is the question.

2009-07-07T06:28:00.001-07:00

Is this aspect of a story too much? Did I go over the top? Will I get hate mail because I wrote this? Have I written porn when I meant to write a romance?

I haven't met an author yet who hasn't run into these questions during their career and opinions vary on them. There are authors who will tell an aspiring writer or even an established author write for the market and don't go off the beaten path. There are other authors who will tell you – if it works then it works.

The truth is: at the end of the day, you have to be able to live with yourself. If you aren't comfortable writing two or three sex scenes then that is a line in the sand for you. If you don't mind writing sex that's your prerogative and nobody should say anything about it.

The other questions are a bit trickier because they may deal with stepping on proverbial toes. You may have added an issue that's been downplayed in mainstream or erotic romance or is a closet taboo.

I'm an author who once struggled with some of the first questions. I had one story sitting on my shelf forever because I chose to go there. I never regretted my decision and when I finally did sell it, I was surprised to find it was well received.

Today I'm not known to shy away from a tough subject. In fact, I appreciate the hardcore details that come from digging down to the nitty-gritty. I don't have any problem laying it out there where my readers can draw their own opinion. But that's me. By this point I have very thick skin and there is very little taboo left unexplored in my repertoire. I drew the line where many authors do – no incest. I have a few other fuzzy lines like I don't normally write M/M because a gay relationship is actually very different from the way it is mostly portrayed. That's a respect issue with me. Even if I write multicultural I am always respectful of the culture and religion whether or not I agree with their practices or religious doctrine.

To me, it does come down to going there.

So, it's your turn. Are there firm lines you'll never cross when it comes to going there? If so, what?

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-07-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Hmmm, long time no hear... We at Royal Blush hope you all had a wonderful July 4th celebration, and if you live in other parts of the world or are not American, well, we hope you had a nice time over the past week. We know we enjoyed our break, even if we missed making the usual appearance here. Life went on like it usually does at this time of the year. Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) is begging for some sunlight in her dreary winter while Sandra and Diana are asking for some relief from the humidity and heat of the summer in the northern hemisphere. You'll probably hear another such rant in a few months when the seasons change, but what can you do? That's the basic economic premise, isn't it - limited resources for unlimited wants...

But, no digressing, coz we are back in full force this month, refreshed and ready to take on the world. Backstage, we've been giving in to a lot of the 'twist, spin, flip' technique. No, we weren't making pancakes, though one of us could surely give you a good recipe and technique for this delicious concoction. We've actually been thinking about all that goes on backstage in writing, prompted by our very first guest blogger spot for July!

Confessions of a confie virgin is what our guest blogger, author J. Hali Steele, will be telling us about. About to attend her first writer's conference, J will pen for us 2 posts, one prior to her departure and another after she comes back home with a new experience, that of attending such an event. Don't miss her spots on Wednesday 15 and Friday 24.

As usual, our regular contributors will be chiming in - Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja will definitely have something to tell you about the backstages of writing.

T.J Killian and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will also be clocking their weekly contributions. They start this week with questions about the personal line every writer doesn't cross (T.J on Tuesday 8) and authenticity when you take the fast lane (Aasiyah/Nolwynn on Thursday 9).

Don't forget:

This July, we're going backstage into the world of writing and the writer.

This July, we're on the quest:

Searching for what happens behind the scenes...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Finding your balance

2009-06-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'd always been a chubby girl. Well, not exactly Roseanne Bar but more Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones. It didn't really hurt but it was there, and sometimes, it did sting. I carried like 10 pounds too much, and believe me, on a just-above-five-feet frame, ten pounds can look like a lot!

I wanted to lose that weight, tired of needing to have my clothes tailor-made because everything in the stores was too small or else I swam in them. That's when I looked into diets. At that time, Atkins and South Beach and whatever else popular stuff wasn't even known. We had Weight Watchers, but I didn't have the money needed to become a member. I had friends who were members, and they gave me the pointers of their every meeting. Like, weigh all your food. Drink water. 30g of cereal every morning. Chew slowly.

I did that, but lo and behold, I wasn't a gram lighter! (I know now that diets are customized, but we'll come to this later). Then I went like, to hell with it. Let's try another tactic - healthy living. Out went the junk food I lived on. Out went the colas and sodas. Out went the cookies, the crisps, the puff corn snacks. You may be wondering - she stopped eating! No, she didn't. She just didn't indulge so much any longer. I stopped taking sugar in my tea, coffee and milk; drank water at every opp (on some days I think I drank 5 litres). Cut the daily rice portion to half of what it was. Started taking the stairs. Walked a lot. Took the bus that I knew stopped 2 bus stops before my regular stop, and there was a steep uphill climb on that journey.

And 7 months later, I was 12 pounds lighter. Happier. Healthier. And I felt better.

To this day, I still apply those principles. And no, I really hadn't stopped eating, nor have I done so now. Everyone who values his/her life knows never to come between me and my twice-weekly slice of chocolate cake. I crave Pepsi at times, and I drink equal measures of water and no-sugar-added 100% juice. I cook with oil and I love my Pringles.

What am I getting at then, talking about diets on a writing craft blog? Well, writing is just like dieting:

Find what works for you!!

In the Weight Watchers example above, I was doing what others were doing. And that didn't work for me. Why? It wasn't customized to me and my needs and lifestyle, and I actually put on weight this way.

The same applies to your writing. If others are doing great writing for HQ or Ellora's Cave, you take tips and pointers from them to make your own writing better, and then you tailor your work to have a better chance of scoring a contract with those pubs. But HQ or Ellora's Cave may not be your writing voice's cup of tea, so you struggle, writer's block and discouragement hitting you just like the weight could pile on with an inappropriate diet.

Like the diet too, find what works for you, and this is what'll make you lose weight. In your writing, this applies to, find what you enjoy writing and you will inherently find that your writing will be stronger when you write something you are passionate about. This is akin to doing something/adding a change you can do and live with, and you thus find your voice and your writing tone. This in turn, makes your work stronger and allows it to stand out amongst the crowd.

We all know that a diet doesn't work for everyone. It is recognized now that lifestyle changes have more impact over weight loss and keeping the weight off, preventing the yo-yo effect. Same goes for writing - a pub's style/guidelines may not gel with every writer, and you need to find your own voice and what you're passionate about to keep the flame of writing alive and to prevent the dreaded discouragement and block away.

Hope this made sense! As usual, all comments definitely welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

How much reality is enough? Too much?

2009-06-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

So far this month we've touched on real life, make believe and everything in between in our writing and out of it. From shoes and how each person interprets characters in their varied ways to the real tragedy of death in life.

So how much reality do you (or us) as a reader need? Want? What will you believe? What sucks you into the story? Is it the fantastical of Science Fiction or the historical of the Victorian era? Something in between?

This is going to be a post about my writing and how much reality I need to make my stories work. Why? Well because I can't write about T.J.'s (and I'm sure she's very appreciative of that fact). I use real places often as the model for my make believe, or landmarks that are well known to give placement. Locations are really one of the easiest things to mirror and create a fictional place or town from. How many times have you read about X and thought to yourself, "That sounds just like ___!" It might have been. But there's a comfort in that connection, a sense of knowledge that allows you to really become a part of that story and be absorbed by it. Most often, I just use a vacinity. i.e. Bend, Oregon for my Aiza Clan Shifter books, Fisherman's Wharf in The Eternal Kiss, but nothing more specific to the real world. Everything I create from that broad point is fictional to the final dot.

For reading, there has to be enough reality to make me believe that everything else that happens in the story is plausible. Okay, so we know vampires really don't exist, but in the world between those two covers, they do, and that world has to exist correctly balanced for them to be there. The hard part is making that reality as close to real life reality as possible so any reader feels the connection. So any reader can believe the unbelievable.

If you think about it, almost every fictional tale out there has some nugget of reality in it. Star Trek even for being in the future shows technology along things we recognize (the old series and the new movie included). Harry Potter-the same. They might walk through walls in the train station, but they're still in the train station. Those factors of recognition give us, the reader, our baseline for reality.

So the next time you're reading a book, think about the amount of reality in that story. Does it draw you in deeper? Make you think of places you've visited or lived? Make you wonder about the commonality of the things in our lives that we don't even think about anymore (cars, computers, furniture)?

Honestly, if you read the entire book, and never once catch the reality in it, then the author did a good job of writing it to fit that book to give it a life of its own. And that's the kind of reality in reading and writing I love.

Should you write for the market or go off the reservation?

2009-06-23T03:53:00.001-07:00

Many aspiring authors/crit partners/ crit groups have this discussion at some point in their existence. It also normally generates more 'write for the market' than it does 'go off the reservation'. The reasons vary just as much. A few of the better ones are, 'Well, aren't you trying to get published by Harlequin?', 'Nobody will take that because I've never seen that before.'

The first response is one of those ones that makes me batty. First and foremost, if you want to write for HQN that is your business, but the fact is HQN isn't known for giving contracts out left and right. One of the things you need to realize is that you should never specifically tailor a story for a single publishing house unless you are under contract with them. You have to be attractive to many publishers not just your dream publisher. It is actually the job of the editor to tailor your story for their publisher – not you. They have far more knowledge regarding company policies than you do.

The second shows a personal opinion. If 'I've never seen it before' appears in a post – disregard. This in no way means your little gem won't sell. I know of several authors who made it to New York by not writing what was out there. A point that gets missed is – New York loves fresh. They have a deep driving desire for originality. Okay, so maybe not HQN so much, but everyone of their imprints has a formula, if you can work within the constraints of the formula you have a better chance of being accepted or receiving a coveted revise and resubmit (Hey, it's a nod that you've got your foot in the door).

So what is the right answer? There isn't one. Mostly, I do both. I pick common or tested plots but spin the characterization or plot drivers in a different direction. A good example of an e-published author who does this is Buffi BeCraft http://buffibecraft.com (for those of you thinking that's her pen name, it isn't. That's her given name). Her blue-collar werewolves have taken a very common paranormal element but gives real flair to her stories by adding a good dose of humor and using different plot drivers in how her weres operate.

Another example is my Raptorial Time Series. I took what most publishers consider a dead sub-genre, gave it spin by giving the 'vehicle' – the Veil – a true purpose. With the added heat and the destination occurring in unusual eras, I've spun the old, tired time travel in a new direction.

I can't say it enough—a writer writes what they like. Buffi knows she loves a good tall, dark and hairy alpha male who howls at the full moon whereas I know I need at least some fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal aspect in my stories.

Now it's your turn. What do you think works best? Or, more should I ask, what works best for you? Do you think you should write for the market, write off the reservation or both?

Until next week, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

Torrid Teasers #57 now available from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Master and Commander's Prey coming October 2009 from Eirelander Publishing

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-06-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

After the high of shoes, we come back to Earth once again this week. From insights and insider tidbits from the writing world, we have come to lay the finger on something that is almost taboo in our world - our writing and the market.

How is it taboo? Well, we all faced the question - who to write for? - one day. Most would want us to believe we have to write for the market, but the real question is, what exactly is this market? A specific pub? A specific agent? A specific little tidbit of rumour that is floating about? But all this is hush-hush, alluded to, never really spoken about aloud...

So we at RBA were tickled about this question - who to write for?

Catch T.J. on Tuesday in a very thought-provoking post about whether you need to write for the market or go off the reservation.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) brings you a little analogy between the worlds of diets and that of writing. What's the link? Read her post and you should have it figured out.

And on Wednesday, Diana Castilleja pens for us her monthly contribution. Since we've been dealing with reality this month, Diana asks the very reflective question about how much reality is too much, giving us her take on the issue.

Don't forget:

This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.

This June, we're on the quest:

Searching for the author's reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

P.S. We'll be taking a week off next week, clocking it in with the July 4 celebrations. We wish you all to enjoy a happy July 4th. We'll be back on July 6 with lots more, as usual!

In her shoes

2009-06-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking of the book by Jennifer Weiner (that I read and adored, btw), nor of the movie that was adapted from said book.

I am literally talking of, walking in the shoes of your heroine.

T.J.'s post about shoes got me thinking, especially the part about thoughts in a story. Anyone who's ever read my work can and will probably tell you my stories can be compared to the psychoanalysis of the characters in the foil of their respective story and the plot. Meaning - I'm big on thoughts.

I reckon that not everyone has to agree with me. I know great writers who bind you in their plot yet cannot write a deep thought to save their life. I know of great writers who have next to nothing in way of plot but the thought process of the characters take you through a journey that has you panting and turning page after page for every 300+ sheet in the book. And yet the majority of writers, mostly the aspiring, beginning writers peopling the crit world, listen to only one rule - action forward and cut out unnecessary thoughts!

While I agree that the reader needs not be privy to each and every thought that goes on in a character's head (we know that could get terribly boring and tedious!), there is an inherent element to the thoughts-inclusion in a story - it's what binds you to the plot.

There's a difference between reading a book and watching a movie, even if both are dealing with the same story. Take this example:
At the start of the movie version of Bridget Jones' Diary, you hear the song All By Myself playing, and Bridget, played by a chubby Renee Zellweger, is alone in her flat, wrapped in a quilt, a bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage in her hand. Then she stands up, with the bottle still in hand, and she starts to move around the flat while singing along to the lyrics.

What does this tell you? Bridget is single, since she's at home on an evening (helped by the audio cue of the soundtrack through the song All By Myself) and she's drowning her sorrow in that bottle.

Now, we get this, allright. But what is Bridget's sorrow, other than she is by herself and drinking?

Go to the book, and read the first few chapters. First quote: 'Resolution number one: obviously, will lose twenty pounds. Number two: will find nice sensible boyfriend and not continue to form romantic attachments to alcoholics, workaholics, peeping-toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts.' I know I have used this example before in another post but I find it truly representative of what I'm trying to convey.
The Bridget of the movie, while still being the character penned by Helen Fielding, is a 'generic' version of the close-t0-30-London-singleton. Whereas the Bridget of the book is Bridget, the fully formed and realized Bridget Jones, not just a general idea of a woman in her shoes. And how is this possible? Through the thoughts of the character!

Something is lost in translation between the book and the screen, and the first thing to get the cut is thought processes. It's true that you cannot 'show' thoughts so easily in visual form, but still, taking out the thought processes takes you from a unique character to a generic character, that any writer could've penned given a few hints at psychology.

Take a further example, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (being made into a movie releasing this year). Imagine Becky, the heroine, getting the urge at the shop to buy something when she knows she shouldn't. Her heart races, the need starts to pound in her head. Her throat goes dry and she simply needs, needs, needs, to buy whatever it is that has caught her fancy. When you read the book, you are privy to the battle and the struggle going on inside her, making you a part of Becky's world, making you urge her to not do this, to get out of there asap. But in the movie, maybe what you'll get is Becky at the store. You see her gaze land on something, you see her pause, maybe bite her lip, and then her hand reaches for her purse, and she pulls the credit card out. Inherently, you know what's happening, but here you do not know what's going on in her head.

We have to face it - many people read because they want this thought process. They want to be involved in the story, in the developments, in the character's journey. If your heroine has never worn Manolo Blahniks and she does buy a pair, your reader wants to know what it will be like for her to break those shoes in, what it feels like to wear them. Similarly, how does it make you feel to be in Jimmy Choo stilettos? And, when your former diva a la Gabrielle Solis trades her strappy sandals for comfy Mommy shoes, what's going on in her head at that moment?

In short, what does it feel like, what is it all about, to be in her shoes? Isn't this mainly what the heroine's (ultimately character's) journey is about? How do you get there without putting your reader in her head, in her thoughts, while you're in her shoes?

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on this! Any comments are more than welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Rejections - Boo Hoo

2009-06-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

For a beginning writer a rejection of your work is the hardest thing to deal with. When I first started writing, I met the editor’s I submitted to from the conferences my RWA chapter had once a year. The very first editor, Wendi Corsi Staub, was a wonderful sweet person, and she sent me a two page letter explaining what I could do to improve my story even though she rejected my manuscript. This rejection letter gave me hope.

When I started getting form letters rejecting my work, I became despondent because I didn’t know what was wrong. Sometimes I would quit writing for months because my spirit was so bruised.

Then I started entering contests thinking that was the way to find out what I was doing wrong. I would send ten to fifty pages out to a contest hoping that someone would validate that I was a good story teller. Oh, there were judges out there willing to tell you what you were doing wrong, and how to fix it. They even rewrote my work, some made suggestions taking my story a different direction from the way I wrote it, and others loved the way I had written it.

It became so confusing, and I would become depressed each time and refuse to write again. Sometimes, I cried, and then later I would pour over their comments and make all the changes they suggested. It took many years before I realized that not everyone could be right.

This went on for seemingly forever, and I wrote a story that I just knew would make it, but after ninety-three rejections I had to sit it aside. This time many of the rejections were positive. Some said they had liked what they read, but they didn’t know how to market it. Others said they weren’t taking on new authors that it was too risky in this economic climate to do so. Of course, I still received some form letter rejections, but I read and reread the personal messages to keep my hope alive.

It was at this time I became hardened. A difference came over me, and I didn’t even cringe or cry over this rejection. I knew this book was good, but I would have to come back to it another time. Immediately, I started a new story. However, I kept getting negative feedback on this story from contests and chapter members. I decided to set it aside and start another. The same thing happened, so I did the same thing. It was becoming a habit to start something and not finish it, so I decided no matter the negative feedback (there was plenty), I would finish this one.
This book, The Catalyst, also received negative feedback. I was told you have to put romance in it, you have to do this and you have to do that. Then, I found some ladies in the publishing industry willing to mentor me. I learned to stand up for myself. I also learned what I was writing. The Catalyst wasn’t a romance, it was women’s fiction, and it was about the growth of a woman. The Catalyst was e-published in October 2008, and I self-printed it in the same year. Its sequel, Addiction, was e-published in December 2008, and will be released in print by Eirelander Publishing (http://www.eirelanderpublishing.com) November 6, 2009 .

If it had not been for these ladies, I would have been floundering forever trying to figure out what I was writing and trying to conform to the parameters placed around me.

You have to be resilient in this industry. Rejections are inevitable, and you have to harden yourself to it. If you can develop a tough skin early, then you’ll build a career in your field sooner.

Sandra K. Marshall

Addiction released November 2009

http://www.skaymarshall.com

Thanks and hugs,

Sandy

http://www.skaymarshall.com, http://www.royalblushauthors.blogspot.com; http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com; http://www.eirelanderpublishing.com

They’re just shoes.

2009-06-16T03:22:00.001-07:00

A prophet once said, don't tell me what a man knows or what a man says--tell me where he has traveled.

Recently, my author's group was going over the plight of a confie virgin and the fact most of us don't wear heels anymore. From what I gather, it's a toss up whether to go fashionista or save your arches. Some of it was very funny. I can say, I live my life in my sneakers and the last time I was at a conference I wasn't a fashion queen but a comfort queen. While this was all going on, I read an interesting blogpost about the necessity of sex in a story, listened to a friend tell me how some of her crit partners told her to strip out the heroine's thoughts because they thought they were unnecessary, and then when I thought my week would go quite smoothly, some man decides to walk into the Holocaust Museum and start shooting.

Shoes.

Most of us wear them. Some of us go to the bargain bin to buy them. Others have so many they need a Dewey Decimal System to catalogue all of them. In the end, they are merely footwear.

I know you are probably thinking; what does this have to do with anything? The fact is, a lot.

There is a hushed area in the Holocaust Museum where a simple pile of shoes brings most people to a halt. All are old. They are in all different shapes and sizes. Most are scuffed. None have a sheen left to the leather upper. And all those who had worn them before are dead. Victims of the Holocaust.

For me the person, those shoes represent all the lives lost and bring tears to my eyes. For me the author, they represent the stories of the people who wore them. My emotions aren't separate in the moments I stand in front of the glass partition because I am both human and a writer, in fact the feelings I suffer while staring at them make me better on both fronts.

So what does this have to do with a confie virgin, a blogpost about is sex necessary in a story and my friend who wants to rip her hair out because crit partners want her to remove her heroine's thoughts? If you are me, it's simple. The confie virgin is beginning her journey. What path her shoes take her is a part of her personal story. She may never wear them again, but they have carried her for a few short hours of her life. The blog post about is sex necessary in a story? It's a debate that impacts whoever wears the shoes. That person may be period and point blank set in their ways but by participating they have then affected other shoe wearers. The followers may not get much out of the blog post, but the point is they responded. It tells me about where they are in their journey. To the last, the writer who is told to remove her heroine's perceptions, it ties up all the points. When a character thinks, they are adding something to the story. In a way, they are walking in a fresh pair of sneakers and the reader has the benefit of spending time in their mind and following them to the end of the journey.

To the man who pulled a gun within the hushed and hallowed walls of the Holocaust Museum, perhaps you should spend some time looking at a pile of shoes while doing some deep soul searching. I may never understand the journey you took to get to this point, but I come across something my mother used to say. Any man filled with hate walks with a heavy step.

This blog post is dedicated to Security Guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns whose journey was ended by James W. von Brunn at the Holocaust Museum on June 10^th, 2009. All the Royal Blush Authors send their deepest condolences to his family and all who knew him. He was a true hero.

Until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com

Torrid Teasers #57 available now from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Coming soon – The Raptorial Time Series returns with Master and Commander's Prey

Available October 2009 from Eirelander Publishing – www.eirelanderpublishing.com

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Third week of June, and maybe it's the fact that summer is just around the bend, but we got around to talking about... Shoes! Of all things!

Yes, we all know every fashionista worth her salt has a shoe fetish, and that she wants the Manolos, the Choos, uhm, even the flip flops from Target if that's what's in vogue that season.

Maybe this turn of thoughts has to do with the fact that we dealt with a very heavy topic last week, namely crit partners and their place in every writer's life and toolbox. We needed some lightness, some fun and frivolous thing to tide us through. What better than shoes? Thus started the discussion T.J. mentions in passing in her post for Tuesday, the fact that most of the ladies in her author's group have ditched the high heels (horror of all horrors! *gasp*)

But that's without knowing the posse of the Royal Blush Authors. We like light stuff yes (souffle foundation, strappy sandals and breezy sundresses among others on the wishlist this summer— oops, sorry, veering off track here *sheepish grin*). Yes, where was I? Oh yeah, the crew at RBA always have something to say, even if on the apparently breezy topic of shoes.

This is how Tuesday will find you with T.J. in a terribly moving and introspective post about what shoes have represented to her in the past days and weeks.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) brings us her post about what it's like to be in the shoes of your heroines. Spurred on by T.J.'s post, this one will make you ask yourself where and how thoughts and shoes meet in perfect harmony.

And, on Wednesday, catch Sandra Marshall as she tells us about one very important aspect of being in a writer's shoes - rejection and how to deal with it.

Don't forget:

This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.

This June, we're on the quest:

Searching for the author's reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Hallowed be thee, crit partner

2009-06-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

My next word in the above statement - Not!!! There's nothing holy about what your crit partner tells you, and you should see it for what it is first and foremost. A critique.

Have you ever watched a movie and then read what the critics are saying about it? Have you noticed that the critics' views may range from this-is-crap to this-is-brilliant and everything in between? Now have you stopped to ponder what your idea of the movie is?

You should be doing the same with your story. After all, who better than you will know what you want to say?

So, am I saying crit partners should be ditched? After all, I'm telling you to have your own opinion, aren't I? The answer is No. You actually need your crit partners, but you also need to know how to weed out what you do need from their words and what you don't.

I came into the writing world armed only with literary knowledge. If you recall my post about the fine line between literature and popular fiction, I wanted my characters to be the foil for a reality I wanted to show. The first thing I realised with crit partners' insight is that I'm not cut out for writing literature. I was blowing too much life into the characters for that, which was making me veer towards popular fiction. I didn't want to write Harlequin type, because I knew it would never be accepted and published in my country. But in the end, I couldn't keep on rebelling. I had to accept the truth - I wrote popular fiction.

My crit partners showed me that, but afterwards, it was very much trial and error that had me pulling my hair out almost every single day! That was the extent of their 'help' - to show me I was better off writing romance but man, did everyone have an opinion about how to go about the task! I met the know-it-alls and even those who thought they knew much when they didn't know a thing - why does your story start here? You'd have more impact if you made the mother come to her doorstep in London, or if you gave the heroine a mental breakdown. You write too far-fetched stuff, life is not like this in the twenty-first century. You're too wordy. You need to pitch the boyfriend with the ex at this particular point or you're completely missing the point. A scene is a minimum of 3 pages long. Less than that, scrape it (even if you have something to say!).

Okay, you get the drift, don't you? One day I stopped listening and sat down with my story. So, what were my strengths and what were my weaknesses, I asked myself. How exactly do I write? What am I aiming to portray and show? Like T.J. said, how can you think you'll make your work better if you don't even have any idea what you need to make better?

Started a long journey for me. I wrote the full story, without getting any crits. I needed to know where I was going. Then I looked up writing resources on the net and devoured everything I came across (site like those of Charlotte Dillon, Holly Lisle, eharlequin Learn how to write, and Romantic Times were the best I found, among others).

I started to see something emerge - some of these articles said the same thing. And this is something you need to take into account. If 5-10 people in the industry are saying something, there's a good chance the thing they're saying is true. Mind, you I never said it was set in stone. You just need to bear this truth in mind.

In the meantime, I had found the last chapters easier to write. Why? Because it just flowed. I could get into the characters' heads and relate their POV, and the words fell onto the screen, even if it was wordy. One scene I remember writing where I made the couple break up. I was shaken for a long time after that, shaken by the violence in their words, in their emotions, in how they used me as a medium to pass through to the reader what was at the very bottom of their hearts.

I didn't send this for crits. Armed with the knowldge gained from the articles I had read, I created my list of strengths and weaknesses and tackled it. Rewrote the ms. Re-rewrote the ms on another read. Polished, editted, became best buddies with my thesaurus. Then I sent it off to the editor. Not pausing to think, I started a second project. Started writing, again a wordy first draft. Finished the draft and tentatively put it up for crits. The know-it-alls no longer bashed me now. They had no opportunity to do so, other than tell me I was wordy and my story was littered with echoes.

From there I read all their crits. Took some of their pointers and advice where tightening was concerned. Used a more appropriate word when they sometimes suggested. Gave careful consideration to plot points they didn't agree with.

At this point, I knew what worked for me and what didn't. The aim of a crit was to show me what my eyes had missed, not to provide my crit partner with an English class exercise of 'rewrite this better'. I also paid attention to the fact that if 2 or more people were going, 'I don't know what you mean by this line', there would be a very good chance most readers wouldn't too. This I changed/rewrote.

It all boils down to this - know thy story and know thyself as a writer. This will give you what will work for you and what won't from the sea of 'advice' you'll get from your crit partners. Read about the business and the craft, and always be on the lookout to learn. The only hallowed word is that of your editor, and even there you have room to disagree and argue constructively.

I am lucky today to have trusted crit partners and also a mentor who has steered me in the right track. They all helped me to find my strengths and address my weaknesses, and that too in a constructive, empathetic and supportive way. Nobody plays the know-it-all with me, and I always remember to never sound like one when I do give a crit. Use or lose is my favourite bit of advice at the end, because this is what you should do - use what will strengthen and lose what doesn't work. The best way to know how to make the difference? Invest in your story and in your own writing. Knowledge is the greatest asset!

Btw, that first story I talk about here is actually The Other Side, my first published novel!

I'd love you opinion on this topic! Feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
http://www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com/

Should you fire your crit partner/s?

2009-06-09T04:10:00.001-07:00

I get this a lot as a publisher as well as an editor, 'but my crit partner says this' or 'I belong to X Y and Z crit groups'. Normally, I'm thinking – very good for your crit partners and what's their experience in the industry?

This might not seem like a big issue but there is a hardcore fact in the industry, mentors are hard to come by. Crit partners, like crit groups, are a dime a dozen. The funny thing about the latter is as a writer you have to recognize your strengths and nail out a list of your weaknesses. If you don't know what is wrong with your story, how can you expect any crit partner to knock out a stellar edit? How will you recognize if they are right or wrong?

Voice plays into this. As an editor, I know of authors who are gangbuster brilliant in the Omniscient Voice. They head hop like there is no tomorrow and the opposing thoughts of the hero or heroine literally hold me captive in the story. Currently most crit partners only recognize head hopping as a no-no. They should be able to point out sloppiness, or say because the opposing perceptions occur without rhyme or reason or read as ESP this mucks up the story. It is much the same in first person POV. I and I and I, My and My and My – too much passivity in a first person story can drag the steam right out of the plot. Crit partners, good ones at least, should be able to point this out.

A crit partner or a crit group shouldn't try to rewrite your story to prove they know it all or to make the story more their style. I once met a writer who was told her story would never sell because there wasn't enough romance in it. After massive rewrites and a lot of frustration, this author was very nearly ready to give up until she met me. I was able to point out where her crit partners had gone off the reservation. First, recognize what genre you are writing in. In the case of this author, she was writing Women's Fiction, not Romance. Women's fiction is a General Fiction sub-genre. Romance is romance. These two often cross paths but a Woman's Fiction story is greatly known as the heroine's journey. If a romance is added, the focus is still on the heroine's personal evolution. She may end up with an HEA, but that doesn't mean it is a necessity of this sub-genre. A crit group or partner should never say a story is unsellable simply because they don't agree or can't see what a writer is writing.

Have open discussions with your crit partners or groups. Ask them what they think is the issues you might encounter in their story. You too should tell them where you think you went off the track. If you recognize your voice is a tad bit sloppy, then ask a crit partner to look at that alone, especially if you are in the first few tries at a different voice. If you think you've delved too far into back story, ask them if they think it is too much or not enough. Never pay attention to the hard and fast rules about this one specific rule. You need to set up your story so the reader can root for the character. Don't delude yourself that just because an author is multi-published or with an agent that they know it all. I guarantee you, they don't. If you have a particular group of crit partners say five or so, you should have at least one who recognizes plot and characterization flaws and one who is a grammar queen.

A crit group is not a cheerleading squad. You should expect to work just as hard with a crit partner or group as you do with an editor. They should make you think. They should give you constructive advice and let you know where your story has gone awry. This should never include flaming or author bashing. Yes, you have to be open to the criticism, but you should never hear the words – 'you don't know what you are doing' or 'I've never read a worst story'. You may not know what you are doing, but bashes like the ones I pointed out aren't helpful. There is one author in particular out there who does this and I am the first person to tell her to check her ego and her hate at the door. In my thirty years of experience, I've only ever found one story I would consider beyond redemption. Even then I debated because I knew what the author was trying to do, she simply dug in her heels on the principle of what she wanted to portray.

Trust is the pinnacle point of any crit group. The moment the trust is broken the relationship is over. If you are in a crit group and start to see a variation of your story come into play, it is a bad situation. That isn't to say there isn't some carryover in this industry. Of course there is. The fact is crit partners shouldn't be taking advantage of the story you are working on. They shouldn't ever say to you, 'I liked your concept so much I decided to use it' or if you hear, 'I've used this specific plot device because I read it in another book', get out. The former is breaking professional courtesy, the latter is plagiarism.

Now it's your turn. Do you think crit partner/s or groups are really meeting the mark or are they letting you down? Do you walk away from each crit feeling like your writing is better and still your own words?

Until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-06-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Second week of June already. Where does the time fly? We're all geared towards spring and the sun, though in some parts of the world, like for Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn), the gales of winter are blowing in full force. But, this is all about the continuation of the seasons, right? One thing flowing into the next to create a whole?

This is also what we're aiming to provide here. Last week we covered aspects of that elusive thing called voice and how you can pin it down and wrestle it into submission. Big lol here - you cannot wrestle with voice, because it will always win. Learn to accept that fact. Sorry though, I am veering off track.

This week, we have more about the reality of the writer in store for you. We actually touch upon a very sensitive subject in the writing world, people we cannot exactly exist without. The halo-ed and hallowed crit partners!

T.J. on Tuesday will bring you a very important post to ponder - should you fire your crit partners? Are they actually helping you or hindering you? To what extent do you need a crit partner and what's her role/job in your life as a writer?

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) continues upon the same issue, along the lines of how you should deal with the crits you get and the, unfortunately, bashful and murky crits you may receive.

Don't forget:

This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.

This June, we're on the quest:

Searching for the author's reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Voice sotto voce

2009-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

T.J. started an important topic 2 days ago about voice. We've all heard about voice, the long and short of it. But what is it basically?

Voice is that special brand of writing unique to an author. It's how you write - whether you use long paragraphs of description that however mingles seamlessly into your story (think Tolkien and Jilly Cooper); whether you ramp up the emotion and describe every little happening in the emotional drive (Marian Keyes and Katherine Garbera); whether you write with humour and wit (think Sophie Kinsella and Jill Mansell and also Janet Evanovich); whether you're known for the unexpected twists and turns you bring to a story (Sidney Sheldon and again, Jill Mansell); whether you write about hard issues in a way that sucks in everyone (Martina Cole). It's something that as a writer passes through your words and makes the way you write unique.

One thing many confuse is voice and genre. Voice transcends genre, for example Philippa Gregory writes both contemporaries and historicals, yet the way she lays out her story and her wording immerses you into the plot irrespective of whether she is writing about small-town England or the Elizabethan era. As a writer, say for example your particular brand is funny and witty. Whether you write a contemporary or a fantasy, your readers who are follwoing you won't bother that you're asking for a suspension of disbelief when in the fantasy world. They want to read you because they want that funny streak.

And that's the mastery of voice. Your voice is how you write. Period. Now if like Sophie Kinsella you write funny contemporaries about modern and slightly silly but endearing characters, you as a reader read Sophie Kinsella because you know there will be that funny tone in her works. Now imagine Ms. Kinsella going way off to another genre - say a paranormal. You expect to see something along the lines of Sabrina The Teenage Witch from her pen, not the Dresden Files of Jim Butcher.

T.J. mentions consistency of voice. It's plain and simply that how you write is supposed to be consistent, unless you expressly want to branch out to another voice (again, think funny v/s dark and dismal), you need to build this new voice, and expect that not everyone will follow and you may also lose readers this way.

Another aspect of voice is what POV you use. If your readers love your 1st person takes, be careful when venturing to 3rd person. It may be easier to switch from 3rd to 1st, but always expect that the reader who reads you in one POV and liked your style may not like the other POV because the two are inherently different.

One other thing - your voice is yours, most definitely, but you have to ask yourself whether this voice agrees with the market of today and the market you are targetting. Anyone who's read a Betty Neels M&B will know what I mean here. Ms. Neels wrote about romance but her stories were more about narration and the day-to-day happenings of the characters. Take a look at any M&B today, and romance in general, and you will see it is action and character-driven. The story is in your face, and you are not supposed to go about how the heroine Marie spent her day first visiting the cats in the loft of the barn, then she whiled away the afternoon with a stroll by the lake and then she came back home as the dark was descending to have a hearty meal of shepherd's pie before going to sleep. This was good when Ms. Neels wrote circa the 70s, but it is not what the market of the post-2000 looks for.

An author who comes to my mind every time I think of mastery of character involvement in Harlequin and Mills and Boon stories is Katherine Garbera. Okay, a Blaze book is only 180 or so pages long, and I can read that in 2 hours. But with Katherine Garbera's books, I do it in just over an hour. Why? Because she sucks me into the story and I feel I'm there in the scenes, and it is oh-so-hard to break away without knowing how the H/h are gonna end up together! This is all thanks to her voice, because a Blaze is always a Blaze with H/h kept apart yet with a fire burning between them. You know they'll overcome all obstacles and get that HEA, yet why is it some other Blazes you can put down at page 60 and then pick up to get to 100, and then to 120, and so on, while for some you simply have to read it all in one go?

Voice, again, is the key.

I hope I didn't further muddy the waters for you. Any questions, feel free to holler!

By the way, come check my new website - it just went fully live this week!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Keep in mind - voice sells

2009-06-02T06:23:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I was at a meeting in which I met a few bright-eyed newbies who appeared the veritable aliens interspersed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Overwhelmed? Most definitely. Curious? Decidedly. Amped up and ready to make their mark on the publishing industry? Yes.

One conversation perked a great deal of interest amongst those who attended. Wasn't it enough to just get published? This sprang from one young writer who was collecting e-publishing contracts like there was no tomorrow. Granted, we weren't stunned that she was suddenly feeling like the cat's cream, but we (those of us who have been in the industry for quite some time) felt she needed a bit of a grounding.

First point of contention arose from her attitude. We've all met the 'supposed' and 'self-proclaimed' gods of writing whether on the web or at a confie. In the past I have discussed their flawed rules until everybody around me was ready to scream. This author had only been writing for two or three years, but spewed, 'write this way and not that' to anybody who would listen. She had the unmitigated gall to come to me and tell me that I didn't know how to write because I don't plot a story to the smallest detail.

Want to turn me around to the bad side - that's how to do it. Though, I don't believe in engaging in petty arguments, especially around my contemporaries. Thus I was thinking, 'go away, little bug'.

The second part of the discussion which really got the established authors interest was when she rambled off all her publishers and the style she was writing in. As if that was some great feat of her writing ability. I will never forgive my friend, John, for egging this author on to deliver even more information.

It was when she came up for air, and she did need to take a breather, that I interjected, 'so there is no consistency in your voice'. It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. A scathing glare directed at me caused most of the room to come to a standstill. She tried to flub out, 'that doesn't matter. I got the credit.' She stuck her foot even further down her throat by going into no-man's-land with a single statement. 'Besides, this publisher didn't mark my head hopping, so I'm okay'.
To what end?

One of the aspects readers fall in love with is a writer's voice. This is independent of the publisher or the plot. And, consistency of voice is the responsibility of the author. A publisher is not going to traipse over the internet to read what you have written before. We don't have the time, or the energy. Though, most publishers will visit blogs or websites.

Here's a very big issue many newbie authors do not understand. If you don't have a consistent voice, you are more likely to alienate readers. It isn't to say you shouldn't take another voice out for a spin, you should, but you have to be extremely careful when doing so. If you sell a totally different voice, (note: I
said totally different), you need to accept the fact that some readers might snort in derision at you. It takes a firm strategy to market a new voice. You
have to prep your readers for the switch and gather a new group of readers by promoting the new voice.

Be careful with your wonderful gems. Give them love, care and a consistency no matter what a publisher might say.

So, what's your take on voice. Do you love one, but can live with another from a single author or does it leave a bad taste in your mouth?

Thanks,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-06-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Another month has started, and we're already clocking into the 6th division of the year. Before we know it, Christmas will be at our doors (I'm sure this is what the marketing department of every shop is also thinking!)

So, what do we have in store for you in June? June's the name of a girl... Heroines maybe? Nah, we already covered that, though we haven't said all there is to say about characters. Well, June is the continuation of spring that starts with May, and we thought we'd go about continuation too.

Remember how in May we were searching for an appropriate reality? We touched upon issues pertinent to reality and realism in the penning of a story.

Well, in June we're continuing in the same vein, except we'll be talking about the reality that faces the writer. Yes, get ready for some truths about the business.

We kick off this first week with something many stumble and stutter with - voice. What is voice and why do you need it?

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells you about the main consideration every writer needs where voice is concerned.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will try to shed some light on the concept of voice, clocking it in with T.J's post too.

Throughout the rest of the month, we'll also feature our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, asking them about what they feel is the reality of a writer and what things you simply have to take into account when you step into this field.

Don't forget:

This June, we're scratching at the myth surrounding authors and shedding some light on their whole world.

This June, we're on the quest:

Searching for the author's reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Why the fine line exists

2009-05-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

T.J. and Diana have already given us great posts about reality in fiction, and especially in popular fiction. Face it - you won't read about vampires in literature now, would you?

As writer, crit partner and also as editor, I have come across some instances where the people writing want it to be real. Fine, but you must know there's fictionalised real and utter realism. And that, is the distinction between popular fiction and literature.

The example I am going to take pertains to 2 authors studied in literature classes today. Dickens and Austen. Oliver Twist/Great Expectations versus Sense and Sensibility/Pride and Prejudice. Which one of them would you be more inclined to read? The latter, right? Why? Because Austen never set up her works to portray the drab reality of her time and the utter grit and realism of life in her era. You may argue that Austen writes about big families and nobility and well-to-do people, but hey, Tess of the Ubervilles (Hardy) was also about a big family. Check out the differences between the treatment in the two author's penning.

Austen can be said to be popular fiction, while Dickens and Hardy are hardcore literature. When Austen penned her tales, she didn't do so to impress that her time was hard. She wrote them as a social depiction of women in her position. It was escapist in nature, even though it used aspects of society and reality to put across the situation and plight of her heroines.

Popular fiction is about this - you use an aspect of reality as the foil for enveloping your characters' stories. Imagine a whole fish wrapped in foil paper that you put in the embers of the grill during a barbecue. When lunch/dinner time comes, you open the foil to get to the cooked food. In popular fiction, the foil is the reality and the fish is the story of the characters (whether romance, suspense, drama). It's the other way round for literature - the foil is your characters and the fish is reality, because you're aiming to show reality in all its smaller detail.

Which brings me to another point we have considered this month - how real should your character be? I've often heard writers say they want their character to be as real as possible. That's fine, as long as he is real enough but not a mirror image of the real people out there. Imagine the typical thirty-something male who's supposed to be the hero of your romance. Most real guys in that age bracket live for the trip to the pub, meeting the mates and hollering like a madman over a game of soccer live on the enormous flat-screen that's just above the bar. He almost always forgets birthdays, anniversaries and big dates, and you can be pretty sure that given the choice between cuddling with his girl and playing Fifa 2000-whatever on the X-Box with his mates with a six-pack close by, he'll choose the second option. That's reality - is that the romance hero you want? Fine - not all men are tycoons and millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Yet this is exactly what we're looking for, because not all men are tycoons, millionaires and handsome like Greek Gods. Reality, and ultimately literature, is Homer Simpson singing SpiderPig in your front room; popular fiction is Daniel Craig coming out of the water in his tiny-tiny shorts every time you turn in his direction.

Another example - tabloids. Why are they so popular? Because they tell us most often about the downfall of the rich, beautiful and famous. We're not rich, beautiful or famous like them, and it's nice to note that they don't get everything on a platter while walking on the red carpet everywhere. Imagine the chubby gal with the buck teeth and the frumpy hair at your local supermarket, and imagine the likes of Paris Hilton. If you're told, her man ditched her, what will you think? For the socialite, you'll go, aww that's so sad, but inside you'll be like, good for her. Why? Because she's got it all why you don't. I know, bitchy, but that's reality. Same for the supermarket girl. You'll be like, she had a man? While I don't (and I'm ultimately better than she is)??? Face it - we don't want to see people worse off than us with what we don't ahve, and we want to see the ones who have it all fall and come back to our level again. Watch talk shows and check out the happy-happy couples who profess their love for each other at every turn and who look welded together. Half the time, he looks like Elmer from the Looney Tunes and she looks like something the cat dragged in. While we're slathering on the sunscreen, the makeup, enduring torture when waxing our legs and blow-drying our hair every morning, where's our guy? The one who'll stand by us always and who thinks we're the most beautiful creature of the world even as we wake up with puffy eyes and the imprint of our pillowcase on our cheek?

Reality is okay, but we already live reality -our reality- every single day. We don't want to read about it too. Fiction is escapism, fiction is hope for us that we too can make it, we too can be the most beautiful thing in the world to another person, that we too can climb the corporate ladder and break the glass ceiling, that we too can rake in the moolah effortlessly.

Write literature if you're intent on realism. Write popular fiction if you want to bring hope into the world.

I'd love your take on my very long-winded post! Any comments welcome!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Reality Check

2009-05-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know a little about reality, and then again, I don't. How is that possible? It's not as much of a brain teaser as you might think. Realism is simply how far you are willing to suspend belief in a story. Vampires and shifters=suspension of belief, the world they live=reality. Yet when that fails, when it falls short and ends up being the next dent in your wall, then reality was not consistent. Consistency is what supports realism in writing. Within one book or a whole series. When it fails, it usually fails huge. Picture the breach of "RED OCTOBER" for spectacular.

Consistent realism is necessary in most genres. Make-believe 'home towns' in contemporaries, other worlds in science fiction, the wild and sometimes unexpected of paranormal and the magic and off beat of fantasy. There's more, but I'd be here all day.

Most who read romance know several authors have vampire series. Consistency within those series builds the realism book to book. If an author suddenly changes in mid-stream, it breaks the thread. Kind of like a skipped line on an old RPM. That's a vinyl record in case I just dated myself. *wink*

Realism is the background of the story that we, as readers, can connect with. Real life situations, locations, experiences. Reality is very important in any book, be it the background of the stage or the reality of the characters. I know Z and TJ have discussed the Alpha hero and the reality of their A personality quirks. My point, while probably a bit more convoluted--it can happen at 10 at night!--is simply, realism, reality, our connection to the story, can be any part of the story from the locale to the strength of the characters to their job.

What do you think? Where does reality have to be expressed? What can you forgive?

There is a Fine Line

2009-05-26T07:15:00.001-07:00

Most authors can draw an imaginary line in their heads and say, 'this is the point I won't step over'. It's not unusual. In fact, it is necessary. If you look at most publishers' websites, you can see what they will take and what they won't. Some of it is pretty standard other aspects are a little gray. There are a few who give you leeway, while others are period and point blank – no, no, no.

You always have to remember there are some aspects of reality in this world that can't be delved into unless you are writing on-fiction. Believe me, these are tough subject and tough content to take on.

The fact is, reality is a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to penning a story. Take the reality too far and you can land in the realm of the unsellable or you can find yourself in the town called Bland and Boring.

Bland and boring often happens when realism takes over the story. The blow by blow of everyday life where every meal is gone over and the daily habits of a character/s becomes droll. Life is boring. Look at me. I'm sitting at my computer typing this blog post. I'll tell you, I have a cup of tea on the corner and am about to change the channel from Antiques Road Show.

See, boring.

Another story line that can bring on the yawns is utopian writing. Utopian is often used in Spec-fic, but it is done in a way to either up the emotional drive by having the Utopian culture fall into chaos or the foil of an outsider entering, and shaking up, the perfection of bliss. Romance has become a watershed for the global HEA. That would be where everybody gets to live in the golden glow of everything is perfectly fine.

Now, I don't mind it when the hero and heroine find the coveted happily ever after, but what about the antagonist? What if you have a villain? What if you have a couple of bad rats in there? Do they really deserve an HEA?

That's a question for the author. The other side of the coin is does this come across as realistic?

Unequivocally, no.

There is a fact in writing there must be a balance between good and bad, reality and fiction. You have to know the lines you can step over and the ones that are clearly etched in the concrete.

So, tell me, is there a line or am I off the mark. Should characters be punished when they step over the line or do you prefer a global HEA?

I do hope you have enjoyed our month on reality in writing.

Until next Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J

Editor-in-Chief, Eirelander Publishing

www.eirelanderpublishing.com

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-05-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

We hit the last week of May and also the last week about reality in writing.

How much reality is real enough, and how much real is too real? Yes, there is such a thing as too much realism in writing.

Catch the posse of RBA this week as we tackle this issue.

On Tuesday, T.J. will tell us more about the fine line between reality and boredom. This is one line many writers cross and one that may contribute a good deal to the unsaleability factor of mss.

Wednesday, catch Diana's take on the whole matter of realism and reality in writing. She brings to light some important considerations we could all benefit from pondering over.

Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) weighs in on the discussion too, with her topic slanted on reality when slotted in popular fiction and in the other genre, literature.

Don't forget:

This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.

This May, we're on the quest:

Searching for an appropriate reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

A House Call

2009-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

This week, we're supposed to be talking about heroes, and how realistic they should be and how they should be portrayed.

This got me thinking about an unlikely hero - Dr. Gregory House (House M.D). Oh yeah, he is sarcastic, caustic, brings irony to a new level and basically you want to sock him one half the time. Why is he a hero then? How can this hateable man be likable, and even sympathetic? Yes, I found him sympathetic, once, and that's when he won me over.

T.J mentioned that one of the biggest strokes of genius when Margaret Mitchell penned Rhett Butler was that she made this Alpha man behave like an Alpha. It's what they did for House too.

Gregory House seems to hate women. Okay, he hates everyone. Sometimes he is seen to 'like' his best friend Dr. James Wilson and he has shown compassion and feelings for his colleague Dr. Allison Cameron and he often portrays a distant attachment and affection for his boss, Dr. Lisa Cuddy. This somewhat makes him human, though I do also think the fact that he doesn't hesitate to tell everyone the truth about them also makes him human (come on, wouldn't you want to be so frank sometimes?). But what I'm talking about is when his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner walked back into the picture. Stacy manipulated it so that House would have an operation he didn't want, and he holds her responsible for the way his life has degenerated (his limp, his enduring pain, the need to drown in Vicodin). So Stacy has moved on, married someone else, Mark, and now she's back at the Princeton-Plainsborough Hospital where House works to be the legal representative.

House still loves her, it's obvious, though it's never shown that he is simpering or whining over the loss of his one true love. It is calmly apparent in his gaze, in how he watches her. Stacy for her part has moved on, but back in close proximity to House, she knows she still has feelings for him. Starts then a limbo between House and her husband Mark, with House doing everything to break them up so he can win her. I know, not heroic at all. Then Stacy and House do end up sleeping together, but Mark has a stroke and Stacy has to go back to his side. While helping her husband recover, Stacy battles her feelings for House, and starts another dilemma. She comes to the conclusion she'll never be able to leave Mark, especially not in the condition he is, but she doesn't want to let go of House either. She wants the milk and the cow, as House so clearly presents it to her.

And that's when he turned into a hero in my eyes - he asked her to leave. He cannot settle for being the other man, the toy Stacy comes running to play with and then discard when real life calls back. Despite loving her - you can see it's breaking him - he asks her to go. And he also leaves.

Gregory House is an Alpha character, and through the above happenings, he is portrayed as the Alpha man, because this is what an Alpha man does and how he reacts. There is consistency in how he is portrayed. The writers stick to who he inherently is and show him as such, without any window-dressing, giving the tortured soul hiding behind the caustic wit.

You may not agree with me, but a man who doesn't accept to be second best or to be the one in the shadows is heroic for me. House shows how real life is and how real life can be, and I think we as writers should not discount this fact. Reality can be portrayed through fiction - and it can be portrayed well. Just make your characters act like real people would.

Any questions, just holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Fact, Fiction and Faking It.

2009-05-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Zaynah let me out of my cave for a few quick minutes the other day and rather than enjoy the sunshine, I went on Facebook Groups. I joined a discussion on whether or not fiction has any value. For me, the answer was clear cut, but it did get me thinking.

How do readers react when it is obvious a writer is faking the facts? I'm talking about the facts that are obvious. An example would be, a character can see the Statue of Liberty from the window of their Yonkers apartment. Another would be a story I read for a review a while ago that was a time travel. I'm not a great authority on Egypt but I do understand that Egyptians are some of the most welcoming people in the Middle East. This writer took literary license to make them sound like Western fearing/hating radicals who wouldn't go near a western woman with a forty-foot cattle prod.

Was I wrong to want to (The review site wouldn't publish my review because the publisher was one of their biggest contributors) ring this author's neck for misrepresenting the culture when I clearly knew she was stereotyping it, and that stereotype didn't fit the actual facts?

Can't wait to read your responses.

Until Tuesday, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

This is cross-posted on the Eirelander Facebook Group page. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=8003&uid=56309184290

Up Yours, Scarlett!

2009-05-19T04:52:00.001-07:00

One of the endearing qualities Rhett Butler captured and, quite frankly, never gave up was his ability to charmingly put Scarlett O'Hara in her place. Though he did spoil her more than she already was, the fact remained; he was a character who spoke his mind. He was always ready to come to the rescue of Scarlett (remember, heroes are heroic). This aspect of him made him real. He was also an alpha hero (technically, he is a bad boy archetype merged with a chief—can you see how those sixteen archetypes don't always work smoothly?).

Scarlett, an ingénue spoiled brat archetype, is the perfect opposite for him. In a way she is both protagonist and antagonist-as most ingénues are. She pines for her childhood sweetheart, Ashley Wilkes, causes more trouble for herself than even she is prepared to handle simply because tedium and she are cut-to-the-bone enemies and she's got a checkered past (she could have used a couple of crash courses in etiquette and decorum for the time period). Though, not necessarily a lovable character, she is an alpha heroine. Yes, an ingénue can be an alpha. She also 'owns' the story.

At the end of this story, the reader has followed Scarlett's journey (why she 'owns' the story) and have a feeling that Scarlett will always survive. The fact that Rhett leaves her, is not lost on anybody. Rhett wants the quieter, slower pace which he can't find with Scarlett. She has, in essence, worn him down to bare bones. Rhett knows to cut his losses, so he gets out. Both characters have grown to a new realization. Rhett's is down played, because he isn't the lead, but his is very different from where he started (hero's journey).

The fact that Rhett's change is downplayed shouldn't be taken as a misgiving by Ms. Mitchell. It should be taken as a stroke of genius. Alpha heroes, by definition, aren't sappy, whiny characters, and their changes are sometimes diluted to the point they look like window dressing. Ms. Mitchell created a character whom did change but maintained his alpha identity (clue in here – he retained his alpha identity).

So what does this have to do with heroes? Everything. Most changes in men are tamped down. They aren't obvious. Men are more clinical than they are expressive. They logistically think through something (depends on the guy, but it remains true – read Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.)

We spend hours creating our characters. Some are extraordinarily easy to write, others make us pull out our hair. It makes little difference whether the character is alpha, beta or gamma, it is the job of the author to maintain their identity.

So many authors anymore buy into the part and parcel 'wisdom' of a few special organizations or authors who write books on 'how to write' that say – write this way or hit the highway. I don't partake of the banquet of rules. The one thing I don't appreciate is a character who loses their 'identity'. If you have a hero, make him heroic and hold his feet to the fire when it comes to who he is and who he will be.

Tell me, do you think heroes should be real? Should they be heroic? Should they always hold to their identity?

Until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

This week, we're once again stopping to ponder about realism and characters.

What makes a realistic character? Is reality a tangible thing in writing? Is reality driven by principles of logic?

Another question we received and which we decided to tackle this week was- How realistic should the hero be? And how do we make him realistic?

T.J And Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) answer this question through the portrayal of Alpha characters such as Rhett Butler and Gregory House.

Also, don't miss the little slant T.J. will bring further into the week - her view on reality in fiction.

Don't forget:

This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.

This May, we're on the quest:

Searching for an appropriate reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Keeping her real

2009-05-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

I was always told by my mentor to keep my heroines real. In fact, at some points of my writing, I have tried to come up with a heroine that fits the mould but who, at the same time, was different. I thought I had it right, but I was wrong. Why? Because I polarized her too much. The quiet, self-effacing PA I wanted to create for my novel Storms in a Shot Glass (coming January 2010 with Eirelander Publishing) turned into a wallflower who even melted in the brocade wallpaper so much she was, well, effacing.

So what did I do afterwards, other than let the story sit for a few months until I could understand where I went wrong and how I could make it right?

During one of my endless streaks of inspiration that come when I'm either doing the dishes or ironing (oh yeah, I'm a domestic goddess. Not!!), I had my answer. My heroine wasn't real!

Duh, you'll go, you already knew that. But it did come as a lightbulb moment. In trying to create a 'different' heroine from what is usually done in the realm of the quiet secretary/PA, I had gone to an extreme, and my heroine was no longer human. She also whined too much and made no move to get a grip on her life. Very pathetic.

That got me thinking - why isn't she real? If this gal, Jane, were a real gal I met in the streets of London, what would she be like? I knew she had to be quiet, self-effacing, giving the impression that she was meek and docile. And that's where the key lay - it was naught but an impression, a facade she presented to the world. In the confines of her flat, she is a different woman. She doesn't particularly like living alone or being alone, but it doesn't bother her much more than this. You are after all what you make yourself out to be. Jane tries to fill her life up with her job, and that isn't hard to do when you know her boss is really an immature man behind the facade of the successful CEO. Consequently, Jane doesn't have much time to eat, so she wolfs down microwave-able frozen food when she remembers. That's for the day to day life - this shows her as a 'normal' human. Now as to what made her this way - foray into her backstory. What shaped her into this self-effacing creature? I got another layer as to how to make her real and how to project the person she has become.

I could tell you that I got to know her. You could do this too for your heroine. Think of yourself as a woman (if you're a man, think of the women you know). Read Cosmo and get tips as to what makes a woman tick. Get the overall impression you want her to convey and build this into a logical explanation. Then go into her past and make this logical explanation even more logical by shaping this woman through her past.

You then end up with a believable starting point for your heroine.

Another good strategy would be to invent yourself a best friend who has the characteristics you want your heroine to have. Now, nobody's perfect, and tone her down to someone who could actually exist, someone you could bump into at the Pilates class, at the grocery store, at the corner deli.

In far-reaching cases, say you are writing about a heroine who had a bout with anorexia yet you know about the condition but would you be able to project the existence of a former anorexic truthfully without knowing what it's like? Do your research. Find women who are at this stage in their life and talk/interview them. These little tidbits they'll provide you will be the real deal, and will make your heroine all the more realistic.

And then also, there's your biggest asset - you! What doesn't cut it with you as a reader? When you're creating a heroine, think like a reader. Would this woman get a chance if you picked up her story? Think also like a real person. Would such a character really exist? And if no, what makes her unrealistic? Use this then to make her believable.

Clear as mud? Any questions, just holler!!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in January 8, 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

How Close to Reality Should You Get in Fiction?

2009-05-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

This author writes about real life, so I say it’s okay to make your situations real, and your characters act like genuine people. All right, so our characters have to be heroic, there are people in this world who are courageous when they are placed in certain positions.

Your neighbor could be a hero/heroine if he/she pulls you or a child from a burning house. What if he/she calls the police after seeing someone breaking into your house, and he/she thinks there’s a need to do more and they run to your house with a gun or a ball bat or something to help fight off the robbers. Is that a hero/heroine, or is that a stupid move on their part?

That depends entirely on the end results. Does the hero/heroine drive off the bad guys, or does he/she get shot trying to help. To get shot would be dumb and not very heroic, so in that case it would’ve been better to wait at the curb for the cops and still be a hero. If the character is able to drive off the invaders, he/she is a hero/heroine again. It all depends on how the person handles the circumstances.

Being a writer, I am going to make my characters a bit larger than life, so in this instance they will have the knowledge to handle a situation of this type. I may have it built into their background that they are able to act the way we want them to. Because of these skills there are people in the real world who are actually like these make-believe heroes.

To make a story that your readers won’t find fault with, your research into the skills you give your characters should be accurate and as realistic as you can make them. Then again, your character could just have the natural instincts to survive. In this case, you have to get into this person’s head and know what he’s thinking as he acts to make him real.

Thank you for reading my post, and I hope I was able to help other writers in some small way.

Best always,

Sandy

Flesh, Bones and a Personality, if you please

2009-05-12T08:08:00.001-07:00

Heroines come in all shapes, sizes, colors and personalities. Some are the perpetual good-girl where as others tend to go off on a rant with the least provocation. I'm sure we all know people who are like this. These people have real lives. They may enjoy their day to day experiences and take great joy in being nothing more than a name in the phone book.

The fact is, life isn't all that interesting and a character that never changes is a bit predictable. Who wants to read about a heroine who is forever in the kitchen or vacuuming the carpet? Okay, so you ramp up the characterization—polarize her. You take your poor, very real heroine to an extreme where you think she's got enough interest to keep the story active. She's so good the church is considering making her a saint. She's a bitch and doesn't give a damn. She's a bit on the pudgy side and always harps on her Rubenesque curves with a sour or depressed attitude (cliché).

That makes sense, right? Wrong.

Readers pick up stories to be entertained. They want that certain element of, 'yeah, she's a bitch', but they also want to see some softness at some point in the story. They want to see the good girl lose her cool, maybe even curse a time or two. They don't necessarily mind a full-figured girl who's looking for love. But, they aren't as prone to want to hear her whine all the time about her weight. These are things to keep in mind. You can take it too far.

This is where a character arc becomes important. If you can visualize an arc, you can write a character arc. There are authors who draw their arcs after the first draft when they can see the characters growth in the story. There are others who plot the arc points before hand. What the arc should show is the miniscule changes in the heroine as she works through the GMC (goal, motivation and conflict). Some might be huge changes, but don't always throw a massive change at your readers. Normally an abrupt shift without the back points reads, well, abrupt and illogical.

A good example is the classic 'hate turns to love' romances. The basic plot is man vs. man. But if you can think of a character arc for a heroine in these stories it would simply state.

Hate
Love to hate
Hate to love (like) – this is the major arc point.
Love

Not so hard.

The simple formulation of an arc can be done for almost any plot though it might have more points. What this can do is help you to make your characters appear real.

Until next week, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-05-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Reality and fiction. Reality and escapism. Reality and well, real people... How real should the fictionalised real be?

We started the debate over this question last week through backstory, and how to use it to bring realism and a dose of real to your characters.

But what makes a realistic character? Is reality a tangible thing in writing? Is reality driven by principles of logic?

The question we were asked to tackle was - What makes a real heroine? How real should she get? And also, how to make the real heroine believable, approachable, and likable?

Catch us this week as we answer on this loaded debate.

On Tuesday, T.J. will bring you the points to consider on realism and the heroine. Find tips also on how to do achieve reality by working around the character arc.

On Wednesday, Sandra Marshall brings us her view on the matter of realism in fiction, and how she as a writer strives to achieve this.

On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will tell us more about what she views as the real heroine and how she aims to get in touch with reality.

Don't forget:

This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.

This May, we're on the quest:

Searching for an appropriate reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Skip the dump

2009-05-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Backstory. The word alone is enough to send many writers running for cover. Why? Because it's supposedly not to be done, it's to be avoided, it's nothing but a worthless dumping, it doesn't help you--

Stop it right there!! Like T.J. has already pointed out, you need backstory. Why? Just think of who you are. You meet someone new and he/she asks, who are you? You go, I am this and that and that. How did the 'this and that and that' come about? It's been shaped by what you've experienced and been through. In short, it's your backstory.

Now imagine meeting this new character in a book. You need to root for this person, feel for her, empathize with her. For this, you need to know her, and how do you do that if you ahve absolutely no idea who she is and what she's been through?

The big question that comes up at this stage of the reflexion is - how much is too much?

Well, you can find yourself spewing 3 pages of her life story - Mary was born in Bromley in Kent on the outskirts of London on May 14, 1978 to a plumber father and a housewife mom; did her schooling at St Catherine's School for girls; got her degree at the London School of Economics with honours and went to work for Hensley and Scarbridge, the biggest investment firm in the City right after she graduated. Along the way, Mary dated Nate and then they broke up and she went out with Steve, but this too didn't work out and she tried her luck with Mike but this too failed and now she's single again in this big town.

Come on guys - backstory doesn't mean you're writing her obituary! There are ways of giving this info without needing to drone on and on and without dumping a pile of information on your reader.

A good way of adding backstory is through conversation. A good/trusted friend engages your character in a conversation when they are, say, on the way to meet a medium whom they hope will tell Mary when Mr. Right will cross her path. Using the information you have on Mary, you weave this through the dialogue. For example, her friend may go - "Drop the Catholic guilt, Mary. Going to see a medium is not a cardinal sin. For a girl who graduated from LSE with honours, you can be so daft at times!"

That's about 3 lines in your story, yet check to see how much info it has already conveyed on Mary. This can even be your opening line, and you get to know all this before Mary even makes her appearance and opens her mouth.

The key to escape the info dump with backstory is to weave it through. Whether through dialogue or through little reflections on the character's behalf along the way, you plant little seedlings of backstory that after a while, bloom into the big picture for your reader.

Avoiding the info dump is also about showing rather than telling. Consider the above example again - the first 'obituary' told you who Mary was, while second showed you who she is (the catholic guilt being mentioned - shows she is nervous and maybe having second thoughts about the trip.)

Any questions, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - The Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

I don't get it!

2009-05-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I get most often is how much backstory is too much backstory?

That's not an easy question to answer since when a story is in the set-up phase, I have to know something about the characters to really wrap my brain around them. That's not to say I need three chapters of backstory. Just enough information for the characters to make their mark on the story and gain my interest.

One of the most idiotic rules to come into writing was the whole 'no backstory' rule. I honestly think this one was created to throw every aspiring author into a tizzy going, 'we can't have backstory'. Then, being new to this industry, they took it too an extreme.

Here goes - backstory.

There is a rule of thumb for works under twenty-thousand words. Set up is golden if you can do it in thirteen paragraphs but no more than twenty-five. Short stories are considered character forward so the character's/s' motivations drive the story. Now you see why the backstory coming into play is so important here. If the characters don't have roots (ie. backstory) how can the story grow?

In longer works backstory is equally important. If you stare at GMC (goals, motivation and conflict), the backstory is directly attached to the three main points of the character arc. This must work logically.

An example would be:

Basic plot - man vs. himself
Master plot - romance
Thematic Premise - permission to love

The character starts off down in the dumps. Love lost or the loss of the soul mate plays into this. His GOAL is to find love. His Motivation is directly attached to the plot - even if he doesn't know it. Crisis is the unwillingness or something along that line.

Here's a clue, if I don't know what he's lost, his motivation for being in the story, or where he is heading (plot forward), I'm lost.

In novel length romance the rule of thumb is within the first three chapters (note I did not say the characters needed to meet in the first chapter--another stupid rule).

My biggest bit of advice is explain as much as you can, but keep it brief. If you find yourself going on and on, you've gone too far. Most authors who are successful at planting their characters can do so in one to three paragraphs. In longer works you can build from the initial planting point. In short works, the springboard is there and you can drive the plot easily.

Just remember, if your readers don't get it, they aren't likely to spend much time on your story.

Questions, comments, hate mail -- just post it.

Until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-05-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

I trsut it you've had a nice little break? Well, I can already tell ya that we here at RBA had a very fulfilling time and now we're back and raring to go!

During our little time off, we conducted a little survey among some trusted guinea pigs, oops, sorry, fellow writers (you know we love you guys, right?) and it has come to our attention that there is one tiny aspect pertinent to writing and logic that can blow out of proportion if one is not careful.

It's about realism and the portrayal of reality in romance and popular fiction in general. How real should we as writers get? Is real boring? Is real not worthy of falling in love with? Where to draw the line between the escapism notion of popular fiction and the gritty portrayal of reality in literature?

This is what we'll be talking about this month. This week, we've already started with backstory, or how to make your characters appear real through this simple but loaded term.
Catch us for the rest of the month as we go through what makes a realistic heroine, how real a hero needs to be, and whether romance and fiction is about escapism or reality.

Our regular contributors, Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja, will be chiming in on the debate. The regulars, T.J. and Aasiyah/Nolwynn, will continue to provide insight on the topics every week.

This May, we're scratching at the surface of escapism and bursting the bubble of what constitutes reality in fiction.

This May, we're on the quest:

Searching for an appropriate reality...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-04-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

In the past 4 weeks of April, we have brought you topics on logic and how to feature it in your story. From archetypes leading to inherent logic, to practical application of logic in your works, the posse at Royal Blush has been working on many fronts.

But, we have only started to scrape at what logic means and implies in a story.

Catch us in May as we bring you more in-depth tips and know-how where logic is concerned. Characterization, world-building, set-up, plot arc, character fulfilment and realization... We have all this and more on the agenda for you.

Starting May 4, the second wave of logic will be rolling at the blog of the Royal Blush Authors. Don't miss it!

For this week, well, let's just say we're giving you all a little break to assimilate and ponder all we've bombarded you with so far! The posse will also take a much-needed breather to come back even more refreshed and raring to go!

Our quest for logic is not over, far from it!

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Acting up

2009-04-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was a teenager and I needed something, I'd got to my dad and ask. Well, what do you expect? Teenagers do live on daddy's money, innit? Well, I asked, and I got it.
Today, I am what is known as a housewife. I work part-time and am pretty much financially independent, but that doesn't cover every purchase I need to make. Like that new, bigger oven I've been wanting. So, I go the the husband and ask, and I usually get what I want.

You might think I'm a man-manipulator. To a certain extent, that's true. You need to know how to tackle/handle situations. With my dad, the big-eyes-like-Puss-in-Boots-from-Shrek2 worked wonders. Not so with the hubby - a logical explanation and a clear balance sheet would most probably win me my endeavour. On my boys, a glare generally works.

So what am I getting at? In dealing with these 3 types of men, I am the same woman, the same character in the story of my life, but I show/use/display different facets with every one of them. I know what 'logically' works on every one of them to get me my goal.

Every life is a story in itself, and every person is the actor acting his/her part out. True - you may not always know the scenario and it's almost always improvisation. But even in improvisation, you need logic. This is no different from any story you're writing, even though you as the writer should, logically, know the scenario of your story and how your chaarcters/actors are supposed to play their parts.

So what is logical and what's not where emotions are concerned? T.J. mentioned the aspect pertaining to archetypes, and how each archetype is logically expected to act in a situation. My answer to the above question is -

There is no better way to get this right than by knowing your characters.

I stress the plural on the word - knowing your main character, the heroine, is good - you know how she will act. Fine. But acting is not a one-way street, and it is always an interpersonal interaction. You act in relation to other people too. Know those other people as well as you know your heroine.
Let's take, again, the Nurturer. Thus, when she will take on the stoic banker, she will be professional, not an insipid, crying and bailing-her-heart-out wimpy creature even if that's how she feels inside because she isn't used to tackling hard situations as she always "fixes". When she takes on the tough-as-nails, cynical hero, she won't be commanding that he do this and he do that. She'll work him through emotion, through an indirect approach that will slowly work a way into his heart, because she fixes broken things and the best approach to do that is through patience and little gestures (these are aspects/characteristics tied to a Nurturer archetype).

You can also work through preconceptions, stereotypes and the like as the starting point of your 'logical' approach. If you say (like my good gal pal and I discussed not too long ago *wink at her*) that 'all men have their mind in the gutter', know how much of your hero's mind is actually in said gutter. But this approach is tricky - you can easily fall into the trap of surface logic and cardboard-cutout-character-logic in this case.

Goodness, I really am clear as mud today, aren't I? And, in case you're wondering, I'm still pleading my case to get that new oven.

Any questions, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

And in this corner....!

2009-04-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Logic!

Oh dear.

It's no secret, at least to my editors and crit group, that I have a problem with logical progression. It's not that I'll suddenly be on a boat when I should be in the living room of a Victorian home, but moving from one flow to another sometimes my mind sees it in what I've written, and no else does.

That's not a bad thing.

It makes me think. Causes me to have a deeper vision, a stronger picture to deliver in the telling of the story. I have to ask myself more questions, make more finite details, in less or more words or just write what I really meant to say. Sometimes I write too fast, or get too engrossed in my characters and dialogue to fill in the necessities. That's not a problem either. I mean, it's all fixable.

This post isn't about getting it right or getting it perfect as you write, or the magic elixir to give you that perfection. It's a personal look at a single person's writing style. And it's a very strong argument for needing a reading partner to go over your work to find those moments that are SO clear in your own mind, but make them go "huh?"

Because that's perfectly okay.

No one writes a perfect first draft. Even Nora Roberts has admitted that everyone needs editors. Logic is one of those points where I know I need someone else to read for me, to tell me when I've left out a singular (and likely clarifying as a microscope) narrative or transition because it's clear as mud to everyone but me.

So in truth, logic and I have a truce. We stay in our adjacent corners and I only get beat up as necessary, because believe me, we'll probably never be friends.

And I'm okay with that. I'd much rather have a tough crit or edit, than a string of rejections because of logic. It's an easy fix because no one knows the story better than the person who wrote it.

Archetypes, logic and emotional drive - oh my!

2009-04-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

The past two months we spent a lot of time on archetypes. What are they and how do they apply to a story. Simply put, the archetypes give you a general set of guidelines for your characters.

If a Nurturer shows up in the middle of a battle, she’s not likely to take up a gun and start shooting. No, she’s more likely to hurry to the injured and comfort them. This in no way makes her a beta character. Her strength isn’t in her ability to fight; it’s her caring that makes her real. Nurturers by nature are ‘fixers’.
In fact, the Nurturer is the polar opposite of the Warrior. It’s why you see them coupled so much. One is the knight in shining armor that will maim or kill anybody who gets in the way of his duty whereas the other is the one who will clean up his mess.

Archetypes are important.

The emotional drive of the archetype is equally important.

Your characters should have ‘real to life’ emotions. That’s never been argued. They should shout when it’s appropriate and turn docile when the time comes to quiet down. Remember, draw your characters in a three dimensional way, it makes this easier. Also, try to understand your character’s motivations.

The one thing I see trip new authors up is putting logic to the emotional drive. That happens to everybody from time to time. The logic of emotions is progressive unless you have a spout off character who rules the world. This progression should fit the archetype.

A general example –

A Nurturer is thrown into the middle of a battle. Her emotional drive would most likely start at ‘horror’, ‘surprise’ or ‘fear’ (remember, she’s not a tom boy who will pick up the closest weapon or a boss who will begin spouting orders. She’s a fixer.) She’ll *probably* assess the situation quickly, and then get to work.

Throughout that scene, you can almost see how she will act. She won’t smile (one of my biggest pet-peeves is characters who smile when the situation doesn’t call for it). She might give off a horrified laugh. But inevitably, she’ll get the job done—her job. And, she’ll do so with the logical progression of emotions.

You can follow this method with any archetype, even blended ones. The trick here is when you blend write down when a certain aspect of their coupled archetype comes forward. Keep this in mind, at a plot point the main archetype always shines through.

Do you think this is really as important as I do? Do you think your reader will even care? Let me know.

Until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-04-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Once again, we're taking a closer look at logic. Last week we broached the overall arc of sense and sensibility. T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) both went over the need for logic in the story, most precisely where the myths and the conventions of the genre is concerned.

This week, we're concerned more with sensibility. Yup, how sensible are you characters? How do they react? And more importatnt, how should they act?

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us more about the emotional logic behind your archetype. Yes, there is sense in there - catch her post and you'll see it.

On Thursday, Z will again bring her take on the matter. What is logical and what's not where emotions are concerned?

And, don't miss this one, for you're bound to be lol after reading it. Diana Castilleja is penning her opinion for us on Wednesday, on the topic of Logic. But, heck, logic and she are not acquainted! So how does the writer in her do it then?

Don't forget: This April, we're delving deep into the recesses of the true writing craft.

This April, we're on the quest:

Searching for the logic that actually makes sense...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

The good host and the perfect guest

2009-04-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have recently been taken in by a show on satellite TV here, on French channel M6. The show is called Un diner presque parfait, which translates to, A near perfect dinner. It runs for 5 days every week, in one specific region of France every week. 5 strangers, decided by the production crew, meet and invite each other for dinner every day. Each contestant is then judged by the remaining 4 guests on the food, the table decoration, and the ambiance of the dinner. The one with the highest average, wins.

Nothing complicated there, true. But what I like watching is the score sheets. Was the food actually related to what the menu proclaimed? Was there a theme to the food from appetizer, entree, main course and dessert? Was the theme respected in the decoration/layout of the table? Was the ambiance too in accordance with the theme? Did the host manage to wing it all together?

What my point, you may ask? Well, every story you write is akin to this near perfect dinner, and your readers are the numerous guests coming to sample your brand as a host.

T.J. stated on Tuesday that you need logic behind our mythology. What happens is that logic is primordial for paranormal mythology because you are stating about something that doesn't exactly exist and which needs to be conveyed to the reader. The same happens for fantasy (think Tolkien's world, setup, hierarchy) or urban fantasy (think Underworld, how the vamps and weres now exist in the world as we currently know it).

But, a big but here, is that logic doesn't simply apply to a world you are creating from scratch. Logic applies to every world you put across in your story.

Say for example, I am writing about present day London. London is vast, and the area of Walthamstow with it popular markets is very different from the classy areas of Belgravia or Hampstead Heath. How does logic play here? Well, the 'normal', everyday person goes grocery shopping, right? Asda, Tesco's - these are the common shops everyone goes to. But, an upscale snob will not go there. More like Harrod's for their shopping, even the basic stuff. So if you are writing about a modern day London snob who lives in Belgravia or Knightsbridge going out to pop into the nearby Asda that's just around the corner from the hottest spot of the area... Bleep!! That is not logical! A snob doesn't mingle with the commoners, and wouldn't be caught dead in a commoner's shop! Not to mention that such commoner's shops wouldn't be found in such areas normally.

Another example - you are writing a Regency historical. Your heroine is making her debut this Season, and the rogue hero has his eye on her from the minute she appears at her first ball. A waltz comes in, and he sweeps her into his arms and they twirl across the floor-- Bleep!! Wait a second, sugar. You don't dance a waltz so easily in Regency times, especially as a debutante. You need society's approval first, the voucher for Almack, and the old crones' permission to waltz, before you go waltzing. The easiest way to fall from grace would be to dance the waltz before getting this approval.
Here, the logic of the time applies. What makes sense to us today need not apply to a different era.

Now, back to out near-perfect dinner comparison. You write about either of the two scenarios above, and your 'guests' bring out the score cards (reviews, sales figures, word of mouth). You will not be in line with your theme in the Regency setting, the same kind of faux-pas of presenting red wine with fish and, on top, the red wine is chilled! With the London scenario, you strike the faux pas of your theme about, say, the richness of summer, but your table, with its red, green and white colors, striking as a festive table for Christmas.

Your genre is your theme, and from this theme, you present the dishes (your plot and story), the decoration (your setup, setting, your era's logic, your mythology), and your ambiance (your distinctive voice to bring it all together). Think logically around your theme, and it should all fall into place.

Any question, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Myth-illogical?

2009-04-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ever read a paranormal story that left you scratching your head because you’ve been left been left with so many questions. It’s not an uncommon problem, but one that can be easily handled. The author just needs to plant their mythology.

Mythology, whether it is the accepted form or of the author’s creation, must in some way, shape or form, be delivered to the reader. There are a few things it should include.
Who – who is the paranormal and how did they become that way.
What – Are they night loving vampires or baying at the full moon werewolves – this relates to the rules of the paranormal. All paranormal characters should have rules and at least one weakness, otherwise they are lawless, too super superheroes.
Where – the mythology is always attached to the world in which the paranormal is living.
When – Are they new to this or not. Where are they at in their development of powers and in respect to the powers-that-be.
Why – Why pulls it all together. Almost always, it relates to why the character is in the story. Are they an unfortunate soul who just got their freak on with a vamp and wound up undead? Has the character been charged with a duty, such as protecting the counterpart? I’ve always found it easiest to attach the paranormal’s GMC to the plot.

None of these points need to be over explained, but it does need to show up in the story. If it doesn’t, then how does the reader understand the basics of your paranormal character?

Have a great week and until next time, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.
www.tethysjkillian.com
Now available, Torrid Teasers #57 from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Coming soon, Master and Commander’s Prey from Eirelander Publishing

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-04-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

Sense and sensibility... No, not the Jane Austen version, though as writers we do need sense tempered by a good deal of sensibility.

We're almost at the mid-point of April and we're still on the road path of logic.

So how does sense and sensibility play in? Sense, well, logical - you need a good deal of sense to be able to convey logic. Sensibility? Well, every writer is unique, and the person at the heart of this writer brings to the fore his/her characteristics, inherently, their sensibilities.

Catch us this week as we bring you further takes on logic from the perspective of sense and sensibility.

T.J. on Tuesday will tell us more about the myth of the paranormals, how logic plays in there and why your mythology should inherently be driven by logic.

Aasiyah/Nolwynn expands on the same subject, delving into logic and the 'myths' in the historical and also the contemporary genres.

This April, we're delving deep into the recesses of the true writing craft.

This April, we're on the quest:

Searching for the logic that actually makes sense...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Get to the point

2009-04-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

What writer hasn't dreaded 'the pitch'?

What writer hasn't obsessed over the need to have a succint description of their story in a nutshell to present to a potential editor?

Say you meet your dream editor in an elevator and he/she tells you, What's your plot? You start to go, my story is about this girl who gets divorced and then she comes back home and realises life has changed and then she decides she must put up with it and-- Ding!!

The elevator door opens and out glides your editor. Unless you got stuck between floors for at least an hour would you have been able to lay out all your story is about.

That's too true, you think? Actually yes. And unfortunately for the editors, and to a great measure the writers too, we miss a lot of good stories this way, because the writer wasn't able to grab our attention.

I've been there before, even if it wasn't in an elevator. As Lady T.J. already pointed out, I've known the barb of, And your point would be? What's your plot, girl?

What many of us do not realise is that editors know their job, or at least, a good editor should know his/her job. This implies that a brief description in the appropriate language/words will convey more than a drawn-out monologue will ever convey in this circle.

Take the story I just started outlining up above. A divorcee comes back home and realises society views her in a new light. Amidst all this chaos, she meets the man she had loved and given up on in the past, because she hadn't had it in her to pursue this 'impossible' relation in her youth.

That pitch would take at least 2 minutes to convey, and that is way more than the average elevator trip, unless you're on a ride to the top floor of the Empire State Building.

Now, I meet an editor and I go - the plot is about Maturation in the setup of Man V/s Society/Nature/Man with underlying hints of Forbidden Love.

This might not make sense to you. How the heck did that explain your plot or the uniqueness of your story?

Believe me, to an editor, you just exposed the very uniqueness of your plot, because you related it to the basic framework that is predominant in the publishing world. This tickles the editor, because this description tells him/her what you have done and he/she can relate it immediately to what's already been done.

Take a moment to study the basic plots and the master plots. Like Lady T.J. already said, they are going to be your road map, and through this road map, however silly/overstretched/far-fetched your story, laying it down within the framework of the basic and master plots will mean you never lose the way and what you write will ultimately make sense.

I give you another analogy, that of the medical world. You bring someone to ER and the paramedic says to the resident- this man was brought in with shortness of breath, near paralysis on the right side, excessive sweating, erratic heartbeat, difficulty to articualte resulting in slurring speech. By this time, the pateint may already be dead. Why do you think the paramedic goes, man of fifty, possibility of a massive stroke to have occureed within the past hour? The resident knows what a stroke entails, and he knows what to do with this description.

Same goes for your editor. Be brief, succint, and know your jargon - in other words, know your plots. Your words will only speak louder and your writing path for a story will only be clearer.

Any question, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Holy cannelloni, Batman, it's a plot.

2009-04-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last week, Lady Aasiyah and I went over two methods for creating a story. One was basic formula and the other was p...p...plotting. Notice, I stutter when I say that word. Not because I have any problem with plotting, but more because as most writers who have met me know, I expect them to know what their plot is.

Many of them start into this rambling explanation of the story. Then they get the good old wallop from me – what is your plot? Tell me, in one sentence, what's the plot. I normally get asked – you mean my tagline?

No, what is your plot.

P...P...Plot?

As an editor, I find a plotless story a big disappointment. I also understand that most authors have never been taught that a strong plot can rescue a story.

There are seven basic plots.

1.Man vs. Man
2.Man vs. Nature
3.Man vs. Situation
4.Man vs. Himself
5.Man vs. Destiny
6.Man vs. God
7.Man vs. Machine

There are twenty Master Plots.

01. Quest
02. Adventure
03. Pursuit
04. Rescue
05. Escape
06. Revenge
07. The Riddle
08. Rivalry
09. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Existence
19. Ascension
20. Descension
It's easiest to explain a plot as it is the path your story follows. If the plot makes no sense, then the story won't make sense either. If you take your building blocks or your plot points and follow the map of a specific plot, you aren't likely to lose the logic of the story.

An example is -

You are writing a Quest. Tolkien is the King of the Quest, and his formula is followed in at least a basic form to this day.
One character (the martyr) starts the quest. He/she is given a mission which involves him starting at one place and fulfilling a mission in another. Quests are rarely one character stories. He'll start with partners who are as invested in fulfilling his mission or meet them along the way.

From place to place, the martyr grows. The readers sympathize with him because he's always placed in incredible situations. Remember, he must mature, as will the ensemble in some way, as the story progresses.

He goes through the quest until he reaches his destination – end of story.

Makes sense, right?

The biggest thing to realize when you have a story that comes across as nonsensical is to know your plot. Tailor your road map to follow it in a logical progression.

Do you think the plot is that important? Or is it just a waste of mental energy to think on this? If someone gave you the opportunity to learn more about plots, would you be interested or shrug?

Can't wait to hear your answers.

Until next week, cheers and happy writing,

T.J.

www.tethysjkillian.com
Now Available - Torrid Teasers #57 from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Coming Soon - Master and Commander's Prey from Eirelander Publishing

With Love, from Ms. Blush

2009-04-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all wonderful, beautiful people!

As April slowly rolls by, we're still dealing our hand in the game of Logic!

No, we're not playing poker, though it sometimes feels like it when you're a writer and you are submitting, submitting, and submitting but not getting any nibble back.

The reason may be - you don't know your plot.

Plot is an important part of logic, and this is what we'll be focusing on this week.

Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells us what the plots are. Aasiyah/Nolwynn will extrapolate more with her own brand of rambling on Thursday.

This April, we're delving deep into the recesses of the true writing craft.

This April, we're on the quest:

Searching for the logic that actually makes sense...

The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.

From now till later, enjoy!

With love, from Ms. Blush

Royal Blush Authors

Yay! ADDICTION is Released Today.

And a repeat would be...

With Love, from Ms. Blush

E=mc2 – The satisfaction, or boredom, of formula writing

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Do you care?

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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With Love, from Ms. Blush

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I’m a what? A shiver published author