Vixenwriter

First of all – last night I watched Resident Evil: Apocalypse and the season opener of Nip/Tuck – Oded in spec ops gear and Julian, oh my Dr. Troy – so sullen, so selfish…

Okay, now to writing – I’m nearly 16K into Standoff and happy with where I’m heading. The heroine, Grace, is a doctor but she’s not mouthy and tough on the exterior like Nina or Tracy. So I have to rein in my dialog impulses and nix the snarky on the outside. She’s strong of course, she’s Cade’s mate and she’s taken a huge risk to come to him. He realizes that but she’s got some stuff to deal with. She’s a scientist so her happy place is in a lab or with data and not necessarily with a lot of other people. It’s always a challenge to write every character and make them unique, make them as real as you can without essentially copying your base character again and again.

Sometimes beginning a new book can be daunting, sometimes it’s the middle or the end that make me insane. The last two projects I worked on were hard to start but once I hit a certain point, once I know my characters and where they need to journey to, things begin to ease in my head.

I don’t necessarily mean it becomes easy to write that journey, but what I mean is I know the map and feel confident about the waypoints if not the scenic markers of the route.

I remember thinking that at some point, it would get easier after I did it a few times. In some ways, it does. I know more now about how to heighten tension with a few sentences here and there. I know how to edit better, I know things that make me a better writer in a technical sense. But at the same time, the knowing means I feel more pressure to use all those tools to the best of my ability to write a book.

Each day I learn and grow. Each day I fail and succeed. Hopefully, the success will outweigh the failure. But in the end, it’s what I do, how I do it and that I continue forward.

Okay, so I’m sort of a 15 year old girl when it comes to my heroes – I admit it proudly. Anyway. So when I was working on dirty/bad/wrong it was Julian McMahon and holy cow why not? Youtube, you’re my crack. And now, with Standoff, it’s Dominic Purcell who’s my sex muse for Cade Warden. Just look at him…

I’ll be doing a booksigning with Kate Davies and Stacia Wolf at the Waldenbooks at the Southcenter mall from 6-8 pm on Saturday, November 3! If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello!

Waldenbooks
270 Southcenter Shopping Center
Seattle, WA 98188
Phone: 206.248.0886

Went to the Emerald City conference this past weekend and it was lovely until the conference crud set in, sending me home early. I was thrilled to hang out with my agent, friend and all around rock star Laura Bradford for a few days. We hung out and chatted about books until well after midnight both nights. Had several fangirl moments (SUSAN ANDERSEN, people!) Christina Dodd gave an amazing speech and made me laugh. Julia Quinn was at my table on Saturday for lunch (JULIA QUINN!!). Had a lovely dinner with friends on Saturday night, the booksigning was fun although the person who was supposed to sit next to me didn’t show so I was sort of isolated in a back corner, LOL, but people came by to say hello including my husband who brought the kids to show them what momma did at work.

I got some pages done on Saturday morning, which is lovely. I need to get back to work today because yesterday I left the con early, came home, slept, woke up, and slept more.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

I realize I forgot to do this last week!

Let’s see – last night I started and finished Laurell K Hamilton’s A Lick of Frost and loved it. Seriously loved it. Now, I like LKH and I find the bashing bandwagon tedious and frankly if I don’t like an author I just don’t read her anymore but moving along – this book was well done. I won’t disagree with criticism that the sex in the last few years in her books hasn’t been used to move the plot anywhere and it’s often been with people you don’t care about. But in Frost, it was perfectly done and there for a reason. The plot was really interesting and with the exception of a slightly dodgy bit of manipulation of mythology at the end (which I’m not even frowning over really, I understand why she did it), I think this book is one of the best in the series. I wish it had been about a hundred pages longer but I’ve noticed a lot of hardback books in shorter lengths these days.

Anne Stuart – Shadows on Sunset – okay we’ve established how much I love Anne Stuart but I really loved this one. It’s right up there at the top of my AS faves I think. I loved the paranormal parts, loved the totally tragic storyline, loved the hero and I didn’t hate the heroine. Although, I have to say at the end, the hero didn’t suffer enough! Still, fabulous pacing, great sexual tension, just a great, great story.

While on vacation I read:

Eve Kenin – Driven -Each new Shomi novel I read convinces me more and more that this new line is one of the best things to happen to romance in a very long time.

Raina is a strong woman, smart, driven and on the run from a diabolical mand who threatens her very existence. She’s thrown into a situation where she ends up taking on a mysterious and sexy stranger who challenges her control.

Wizard is sexy and strong and utterly not what he seems and Kenin (Eve Silver) draws out his story with a fine hand. As well as she does the emotion between these two characters.

I’m not always a fan of the big reveal of original intent where the heroine finds something out, feels betrayed, runs off and the hero saves her sort of thing – but again, in the right hands, it works like it does here.

Nail biting action, a very well developed world and great characters make Driven an absolute must read.

Elizabeth Hoyt – The Raven Prince – In Anna Wren, we get a marvelously non-cliched heroine. A widow with some wounds but a backbone and a sense of humor.

In Edward – we get another non cliched hero – pockmarked with smallpox scars, he’s broody and has his own wounds.

The sexual tension between Anna and Edward is fabulous and builds in a careful and believable way and while I usually don’t go for the faked courtesan thing, it is a storyline I LOVE when it’s done right – and here it was a means to an end and done very well indeed.

Clever dialog, great characters – a really wonderful book.

Charlaine Harris – All Together Dead – I’ve been waiting for this one for a while now but haven’t had time to read it until last week. My verdict is a thumbs up

ATD is much more focused on the mystery elements of the story than any romance between Sookie and her men – which disappointed me but I think the rest of the story was written well enough I can wait for the next chapter.

We get more about Sookie, about her past, about her brother and the other people in her life and an unanswered query about why Sookie continues to involve herself with the supernaturals who obviously threaten her life and safety.

I’d really love to see more with Eric and to figure out what is going on with Quinn as well, but Harris ties up this story quite well, even as she asks more questions.

There are more but I need to finish getting ready for the Emerald City Con!

So really, I must admit to not reading the RWR cover to cover. I usually find myself really enjoying one of the articles and I love the letters. I mean, love them with stalkerish sort of passion. This is for a few reasons – first of all, the perspective of people who so zealously keep track of what other people do, say, think, read and write fascinates me. I’m serious!

On a related note, I was having a discussion with kiddo #1 on the way to school the other day. He’s a major reader and reads at several grade levels above his. He loves the Harry Potter books. (And the Timewarp Trio and the Magic Treehouse books – essentially put history, science and magic together and he’s all over it). So he was telling me about a kid in his class who’d been saying no one should be able to check out the Harry Potter books from the school library and how they were bad, etc. Now, as you may have guessed, I’m not one of those sweet moms who rarely says a word about anything. I replied, “you know there are a brand of people who are obsessed with what other people do and say with freakish zeal. Rather than focus on what they read and do, which is sometimes uncomfortable and difficult, they like to focus on what other people do. And what you read is none of his business. We don’t play that game.” I think I might have even been a bit more harsh at the time but I was driving near the school and paying attention to not hitting a child or having some dumbass parent in a gazillion dollar SUV sideswipe me because they’re on their cellphone and eating chilidogs or whatever.

ANYHOODLE – that’s sort of my point and I know I’ve ranted on this one before but it gets me in a way few other issues do. If mrs “I hate the bad words in what passes for romance these days and those authors who write sex scenes have no decency so I went to self publishing and look my family, me and my neighbors all think my book is great so take that publishing and smut peddlers!” wants to write a book to avoid seeing bad words and any sex in her romance – more power to her. I applaud her choice, I applaud her action in creating something she’d like. That’s great!

But why, why oh why do folks with his mindset seem so obsessed with what everyone else does? In the first place, I don’t buy that so much romance is filled with filth that she had no choice but to write her own book. There are plenty of lines which publish books without profanity and sex in them.

In the second place, even if it’s true and you were driven to create your own market – why be so bitter and nasty about everything else YOU DON’T READ? Why does it seem to keep people up all night that books have bad language or sex, or kid wizards? If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Bing! Problem solved. I use this tactic every day. I don’t read things I don’t like. I don’t write genres I don’t like or can’t seem to create the voice for. It’s a NORMAL way of coping the universe.

It’s like saying, “I hate green peppers. All bottled Ragu sauce has green peppers. I make my own. BUT I think about ragu day and night. Why oh why do people eat ragu? Ragu is evil” (and I just chose ragu, I like ragu, I’m sure many people do and many don’t so they buy another brand and it never impacts their lives) Just don’t freaking eat green peppers! Don’t buy the stuff you don’t like.

Lastly, does it not seem, hmm, prideful perhaps, to boast about the fifteen five star reviews for your self published book when one is your own, another is your neice and the rest of them seem to be written by people with only one review? It’s in the same vein as “I don’t care what you say, I’m laughing all the way to the bank” or whatever.

I’m a prickly person. Many things in the world bug me. Parents speeding through the school parking lot on the phone, behind the wheel of an SUV the size of a ferry, those same parents being too damned lazy to park and walk to pick up a child so they park in the cross walk or the fire zone. The one mother who is a crossing guard who is drunk with the power. People who try to censor what I read or write. People who say, “not to sound racist” and then spout off something racist. My neighbor who told me Quakers weren’t real Christians and sends me crap from her church all the time. The list goes on and on and on, trust me. But you know, my dumbass neighbor has a right to be a dumbass and believe whatever she wants as long as she leaves me the hell out of it. And if mrs “at least people had a sense of decency” in the old days wants to write her own book because she can’t find what she wants on the shelves, more power to her. I just wish she’d stop being so nosy and worried about what I read.

Zooms in – so busy it’s not funny! Cripes!

How’s Sven for everyone? I’m meeting my daily goals and more thank goodness! I need to keep on keepin on though. I have a conference this weekend so I won’t get as much work done as I usually do. On the other hand, I’ll see loads of people I really like, including my very favorite agent in the whole wide world, Laura Bradford so wheee!

I’m from Southern California, as is my husband so we’ve got many friends and family in harm’s way right now. I’m sort of glued to the news and trying not to get too worried but it certainly helps me keep things in perspective. Everyone is okay so far, thank goodness and I’m just hoping the weather cools and the Santa Ana’s calm down so the firefighters can do their job (safely too!) and people can get back home. All the devastation is just terrible to see. But Laura tells me people are really pulling together right now and helping each other. It’s a shame it takes something like this to bring folks together but I’m glad to see it happening now when folks need each other so much.

Anyway, I have to flit off again! Have a good hump day!

Oh! And just because he makes me think of Cade Warden (who will soon be nekkid with his ladyfriend)

Last night we took the kids to the pumpkin patch and had a lovely time. The weather warmed up and cleared although it was a muddy pit down in the field itself. Heaven for my sons. Of course we get everything weighed and see the “cash or check only” sign. Thank goodness the van had some cash and change in it or we’d have had to take a pumpkin back. Lawd, I can’t believe we didn’t even check beforehand. We do this every year, you’d think we’d know by now.

And then I wrangled them to eat, clean up and get in bed. Not easy when they’re all Halloween pumped.

I got 2142 written on Standoff last night. Cade is just about to meet our heroine. I’d originally called her Kate but I realize Cade and Kate is very close and sort of odd. Also I just wrote another heroine named Kate so I’m going to have to re-think her name. Still, it was a good writing session.

I also did some second round, quick edits on To Do List. I love finishing up a project! Although line edits are next so I’m not quite finished.

Anyway, more to do! I’ve got excerpts up at my messageboard! Don’t forget to enter the Raven Halloween Scavenger Hunt if you haven’t yet! Great prizes and tons of fun. YOu have until month’s end!!

Today how about a smidge from Chased?

18 and over only after the jump

Read the rest of this entry ?

So, week one of Sven – 24.5K! WHEEEE!

I’d written an opening scene but it just wasn’t working for me, or it was fine but I want more than fine. So I changed that and it totally freed everything so yay! Sometimes, writing is like a puzzle, you have to put the edge pieces together but when they all look like sky, it takes a bit of cocking your head and patience as you work through it.

Somehow, it’s become very cold. Like we skipped fall and it’s winter or something. When I picked the kids up at school Friday my hands were so cold they stung. Bleh. Sideways rain, high winds and cold. But I do love this time of year. I’ve pulled out the crock pot and used it several times, I get to wear scarves and all manner of sweaters and get all snuggly at night with my dude.

Got my cover for To Do List, hopefully I can put it up soon!

Oh and I finished Blood Fever and wow. I know some people are put out because this series isn’t a romance but it’s excellent dark fantasy and I’m really thrilled with where Moning took Mac in this book. I liked Dark Fever but this one is more taut, better plotted and definitely dark (a few spots made me a bit queasy but in the best possible way). Vivi Anna’s new Nocturne came last week so it’s in my TBR pile now but they said Lisa Renee Jones’ was delayed! I pouted over that because I love her writing.

I need to get my basket for the Emerald City RWA con finished, send out some contest wins and get some planning and promotion done for my November 3rd booksigning at the Waldenbooks at the Southcenter Mall (6-8 pm). I’ll be there with my fellow Samhain author Stacia Wolf. Stop in, say hello, we’ll have chocolate and books and well, it’s us, what more do you need?