Crumb.

Brain refuses to work during the heat.

More updates as events warrant. :)

Doing the nasty some more.

Love scenes are great fun to write as well as read. The difficult part isn't coming up with positions or locations.

Because like every other scene in the book, the love scenes need to move the plot forward, reveal something about the characters, as well as explore the emotions involved in such a deeply personal act.

So let's be specific. Let's say my heroine is looking at the hero.

He was gorgeous. Even the sick yellow sodium streetlight couldn’t erase his high cheekbones and navy blue eyes. His full lower lip summoned her to kiss and bite. His worn shirt framed his chest and rippled belly. Lost in a fog, she barely registered licking her lips when she saw a line of flesh above the waistband of his low-slung jeans. One long fingered hand touched the glass as he leaned in closer, his eyes locked on her.

The world shrunk. Those strong, scarred digits slid, lazy and slow, down the window. His thumb hooked through his belt loop. He cocked his hip in masculine invitation to look and appreciate. The grace of him sent an unfamiliar shudder through her breasts. Its power rocked her back on her heels. In all her long life, had she ever felt an erotic blow like this? Her body wanted to know how those fingers would feel.

What makes this snippet work or not isn't the description of his body, delightful as it is. It's what she feels, the emotion that the visual brings to her. Her desire, surprise, and yearning tell you that she's sexual, though she's not been intimate, not just physically but also emotionally, with someone for a very very long time.

You know you're a writer when...

You find a random piece of paper that says, 'Blow job here' and it has nothing to do with a naughty date.

My Band of Hooligans.

Today was a brainstorming and plotting day with my wonderful, amazing band of Hooligans. There are six of us, of varying ages, who all write different subgenres of romance. Everything from my sexy but dark paranormals to home/hearth to adventure to suspense.

I think every writer needs a 'family' of some sort. A group of people (or even just a person) who invest themselves in you, believe in you, and care passionately about your success.

We rarely critique each other's work, since we write such different things. After all, I'd be saying things like, "You know this scene where the heroine realizes there's no place like home? You need some Zombie Frogs in there."

And believe it or not, not everyone is into Zombie Frogs! Can you imagine???

Lack of ZF's not withstanding, together we take each other's plots to greater heights of courage and adventure.

Just like we do for each other. :)

Doing the nasty.

One of the interesting things about writing the zippy stuff is the inevitable question : "So, uh, do you DO the *ahem* activities you write about?!"

The answer is (you're going to love this one), "It depends."

Have I ever engaged in frottage with a priest against a tree?

Yuck. Just...yuck.

Have I been passionately crazy about someone that is very very bad for me?

Oh, my yes.

The great thing about the erotic imagination is you can take a feeling, an image, or a memory, and make that little snippet into something that rings so true and alive that your readers can only imagine that you've actually done something that truly wicked and pleasurable.

And that's a damn cool thing about being a writer. :)

Buy the book!

My good friend Delilah Marvelle just sent me this email:

Despite being sold out of my first print run and going to reprint soon for my debut book, Mistress of Pleasure, Kensington will not be renewing my contracts citing lack of sales. So I have a favor to ask everyone. I am looking to do one last huge push for the second book coming out this August 4th, Lord of Pleasure, so that this series doesn't die a sad pathetic death.

I'm hoping everyone can help in any way by blogging, pitching, sending out newsletters, telling their brothers and sisters, ANYONE to buy the damn book when it comes out August 4th, to show to the publisher that this series DOES matter.

You can also send them to my website www.DelilahMarvelle.com

The campaign is called Save the School of Gallantry Series.
I'm also having a contest, which everyone can post everywhere.

The contest is as follows:
From August 4 until August 28, anyone who e-mails me at
Delilah@DelilahMarvelle.com with the School's quote from Lesson 27, will be entered to win one of three $50 Visa Cards. Winners will be contacted via e-mail by September 10th.

I appreciate all the support!!!

Mistress of Pleasure, Sold out

Lord of Pleasure, August 2009

RT Reviewer's Choice Award Nominee,

N.O.R's Best Historical Romance of the Year

& Booksellers Best Award Double Finalist!

Ah. Communication is that thing we can always do better.

Sorry I've been away from my blog for so long - I've been writing like a madwoman and loving it.

I'm in one of those streaks where I'm clicking away on revisions. I can see the words bringing the story to an even higher level of emotion and risk.

I love that.

Back to work!

All right!

I just signed with the Atlantis Literary Agency!

My agent and I had coffee today, signed contracts, and talked about getting my manuscripts ready for submission.

I can barely sit still!

Anything but writing!!

Do not, under ANY circumstances, watch this in the library.

Whose Line is it Anyway?
(this link goes to UK Season 1)


I just about burst something.

Everything is connected.

Once I cleaned out my negative emotions and figured out what needed to be done, it's amazing how much clearer both my personal and business lives got. Hello, productivity!

We may have a lot of energy, but it is not infinite. A drain in one place will diminish how much you can spend in all the rest.

If I'm furious in my personal life, my writing will suffer.

Which, of course, drives me nuts, but that's the way it is. :)

The fire of anger.

I've got a nasty case of premenstrual tension this past week. Feelings that I've ignored or pretended to be healed are coming to the forefront - anger and resentment in particular. The Destructive emotions that are scary and for good reason. After all, who hasn't burned bridges they needed when burning with anger?

But this time, I'm doing something a little different. I'm taking that need to clean my emotional house and applying it to my writing. I'm getting in touch with my characters' wrath as well as my own.

It's not easy. It's not even all that fun. But it is very very necessary.

Sometimes destruction must happen before building.

Revisions

I'm revising Dracula's Secret (again). The first draft was a rambling, shambling monster with no clear plot or idea where I was going. I had some thoughts that I should try working from the seat of my pants.

Which is why I am now on my fourth set of revisions. *grin*

One of the most useful tools in a writer's toolbox is a little exercise called GMC.

For each of your main characters, you determine their Goal, Motivation, and Conflict.

The amazing Debra Dixon came up with this shorthand in her amazing book called (oddly enough), Goal, Motivation & Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction.

Let me show you one of the GMC charts that Ms. Dixon uses in the book - Rick Blaine from Casablanca.

Rick Blaine
Description: Cynical Loner
Tagline: (lessons he needs to learn)
One person can make a difference in this world
Women in war must make desperate choices (think of the newlywed)

Goals: (what he wants)
External

1. Keep bar open
2. Punish Ilsa
3. Get Ilsa and Victor on that plane

Internal

1. Regain the love he had in Paris
2. To do what's right in the world

Motivation: (because)
External

1. Needs money and people depend on him
2. Because she left him in Paris
3. Insure her safety
   

Internal

1. The pain of losing Ilsa has never gone away
2. Daily, he sees what war is doing to people around him

Conflict (but)
External

1. The French Prefect has all the power
2. Punishing her puts her in more danger
3. Victor has been put in jail

Internal

1. Ilsa is married
2. He must put aside his own happiness

Looks easy, doesn't it?

It's actually a difficult chart to fill out because you are constantly learning more about your characters and your story. I just did my fifth GMC for my leading characters. *facepalm*

But every time I do it, I learn something more. If I let it, it's exhilarating.

Back in the saddle again...

I've been visiting family and old friends for the past week, so forgive my lack of posting

I often think about the saying, "Travel is so broadening." And it's true.

No, I didn't gain weight. I gained wonderful images, conversations, and settings. I'm not much of a traveler, but I am always thrilled when I do. Kicking myself out of my comfort zone always makes for stronger, hotter, more thrilling writing.

Now, just to get down to it. That's always the hard part. :)

Surrounding yourself with heroes.

Books on writing are full of advice - some of it life-changing. Some are, how do I say this nicely?

Utter rubbish.

And sometimes, advice starts as one and turns into the other.

For example, when women try to lose weight, they are told to paste a picture of a slim person on the inside of their cupboard or on their refrigerator. I have always found this to be nasty, belittling, and condescending - yet another way of telling women that they are not beautiful and they will never measure up.

But we all need heroes. That's why we write, that's why we watch movies/TV, that's why we read. Everyone needs someone to show us that what we want is possible and how to get there.

So this week, I found pictures of my creative heroes and I've seeded them around my writing stations.

Obviously, I have a love for mythology and for the band Queen. Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John now live in glorious color on my laptop's wallpaper. Their music, politics, and courage never fail to lift me up when I'm feeling sluggish or stuck.

Jayne Ann Krentz, a wonderful best-selling author (and former librarian with a background in history!) is another of my heroes. I've met her in person a few times and she is down to earth, intelligent, and has great insights on our craft. If you do not own Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, you are shorting yourself some great discussion on Romance!

Emma Holly writes beautifully sexy and emotional fiction.

I've got lots. Who inspires you?

Hands on Research

By training and preference, I love research through the writer's traditional resources - print, photographs, online ready-reference.

This week, though, I got down and dirty with first hand experience. There are some things a girl just can not learn through other people's words.

Like how to shoot a firearm.

My good friend, a former Marine, graciously took me to a pistol range on Monday. There he patiently explained the handling of the four different pistols I ended up renting and shooting.

I learned what single action and double action meant, what the hammer did, how to hold the weapon, how to aim it, and finally, how to shoot it.

First came a revolver, the .38 Special. Next came two 9mm, a Sig and a Glock. Lastly, .45 Smith and Wesson.

Whenever I learn something new, the oddest things stick out at me. I didn't expect to be tossed around as much as I was. I'm not small, nor am I weak. But my thumbs and wrist still feel like they've been gnawed on!

Second, I was struck by the difference between the slow, accurate firing of the revolver and the faster, "throw a lot of bullets at it" feeling of the semi-automatics.

Handling something that has the sole purpose of killing something is an interesting mixture of fear and power. It's not unlike getting behind the wheel of a car, but with a less ambiguous reasoning. After all, a car is also transportation.

Will I ever own one? Unlikely.

Will I fire them again? Most likely.

Will I try other firearms, such as rifles? Again, most likely.

This is information I need to make my writing vigorous, strong, and real. Lots of times, writers put in characters who are not affected by their ability to kill, who almost seem to seek it out.

I've already learned this is not truthful. Those who understand the kind of power and responsibility that come with holding life and death in their hands are more likely to never want to use it.

Yay!

I got a web interview! Check this out.

Who knew?!

Holy cow! You can turn your phone off while you're writing and call people back later!

You can even not answer your email right away.

I'm gobsmacked.

Poetry and its relationship with fiction.

Just like listening to live music or observing paintings, poetry fuels my writing in a potent but indirect way.

I like poetry that explores an emotion or situation with very little meandering. Fiction lets you ramble a little bit, get in-depth thinking.

Poetry helps me keep on track and not be afraid of uncomfortable topics.

Some of my favorite poetry books are:

Beautiful Signor by Cyrus Cassells (a lush and gorgeous romance between two men in Italy)

100 Love Sonnets
and
Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon by Pablo Neruda(anything by Neruda, really. I think I'd read the man's grocery list)

Hafiz and Rumi, naturally.

And the best book about poetry is

How to read a poem and fall in love with poetry by Edward Hirsch. Chapter Eight, Poetry and History: Polish Poetry after the End of the World, is some of the greatest writing ever done on literature.

Russian poet Anna Akhmatova wrote this snippet before her epic poem "Requiem".

In the terrible years of the Yezhov terror I spent seventeen months waiting in line outside the prison in Leningrad. One day, somebody in the crowd identified me. Standing behind me was a woman, with lips blue from the cold, who had, of course, never heard me called by name before. Now she started out of the torpor common to us all and asked me in a whisper (everyone whispered there):
"Can you describe this?"
And I said: "I can."
Then something like a smile passed fleetingly over what has once been her face.

This is what poetry does for us.

The joys of slacking.

I'm not really slacking, actually. My family of birth continues to have health problems and all sorts of scary excitement.

Some writers can ignore the stress and keep to their regular schedules. Much to my shame, I'm not one of them.

Instead, I'm working as it fits my energy level. I'm doing lots of brainstorming, reworking of my plots, and synopsis revisions. I manage actual composition by hand now, instead of on my computer. For some reason, that feels more playful, less serious. I get to make a big mess with my horrid handwriting and scratch outs and marginalia. :)

I've bought poetry from the Spanish Renaissance to feed my head. Reading poetry, especially from your non-native culture, keeps a writer juicy and creative. If you don't read poetry, why not?

Next week, I'll post some of my favorite poets and poetry books. :)

Writing Tight vs. Writing Long

Some people write a long first draft and then cut their manuscript down to size.

Some people write a short first draft and then add. And add. And add. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

I write tight.

It's almost like words are expensive! *shakes head at self*

My poor critique partners keep asking me what planet I'm on, what are they wearing, what's the weather, are these poor characters nekkid or what?!

I have a phobia about description.

Because I fear I might turn into THIS.

Some literature really does live up to its hype!

And so do some actors. :)

I fell in love with Shakespeare in high school when I discovered that he really was as good as everyone made him out to be. After all, Dickens didn't do much for me. Neither F. Scott Fitzgerald nor J.D. Salinger made me want to read everything they had read. But Shakespeare! *happy sigh*

Recently, I've discovered someone else who lived up to his hype. Marlon Brando.

As a Gen Xer, my main exposure to Marlon Brando was his post-Godfather work. I couldn't see what the critics were talking about. To a young child, he mumbled, shuffled, lumbered, and was basically was kind of disturbing. I didn't see what made him the revolutionary actor every critic raved about.

I saw Guys and Dolls a month ago (my love for over the top musicals came from my mother), and found my interest piqued by Brando.

This week, I watched Julius Caesar.

Here was the charisma and the boldness everyone raved about! His physical beauty surprised me (and boy, did the director show that off, over and over). No mumbling at all. Instead, his portrayal made Antony both passionate and deliberate, both heroic and manipulating. He dared to speak his lines with unexpected emphasis and rhythm.

I was smitten.

I expected the amazing performances from James Mason (one of my cinema idols), John Gielgud, and Louis Calhern. Delightfully, all of them brought their A-game. Instead of Brando dominating the screen, the entire cast brought out the best in each, James Mason, normally so cool and graceful, infused Brutus with a compassion and warmth I didn't expect. John Gielgud, always dignified, showed me an envious and grasping Cassius who was also entirely human.

I think I will have to base a book on these performances. Something unexpected and surprising and hopefully worthy of these, my literary and action idols.

I'm sure I will fail, but the trying alone will be worth every minute!

Good Rejection.

This weekend, I got a great rejection from Kensington.


What is a good rejection?

One where the editor or agent signs it him or herself. One where they give a feedback (a little or a lot) on what your writing needs to make it pop in this highly competitive field.

Something personalized.

And I got one!

So I'm excited to go back to Dracula's Secret and revise it again. No more fear! Time to pump up those stakes and heighten the drama.

I'll post more when I figure out how to do that. ;)

The many gifts of sorrow, or Guess Who Reads Romance?

My maternal grandmother is in the hospital. Last week, I flew half-way across the continent to be with her, and things were not looking good.

So I decided to tell her that I was writing romance and not anything sweet, either. I had been worried she would disapprove.

She held my hand and said, in her tiny, halting voice, "I love you because you're you. I know there are lots of different books out there."

Cue huge crying jag here.

I am staying with my father who lives very close to that hospital. It's fair to say that he and I have had differences of opinion. I had feared telling him and my step-mother than I was writing romance.

My Dad is a PhD. in chemistry and my step-mom an MA in mathematics. I remember lots of very intellectual books in our house. So I was not going to let them know I was writing genre fiction.

Until I saw a Linda Howard title on the counter.

Which I found out they both were reading.

So I told them.

Now my parents are very busy giving me ideas for new novels!

In the middle of fear and worry, beauty and harmony can grow.

Care and feeding of an author.

It's a sad fact that I have to learn a lesson many times before I truly get it (I guess that makes me normal, huh?!). And today, the lesson I learned again is what makes me the most productive.

Being relaxed, well-rested, pain-free, and generally patient with myself means I have a day that rocks hard. I'll compose and edit with great ease and pleasure. Writing is a joy to me and makes me feel amazing.

The minute I tense up and start nagging myself at how much I need to get done and how lazy I am and how much I suck....

Well, let's just say I'm better off going back to bed and calling it a done day.

So to this end, I do a wide number of things to put myself in the best possible place.

I work out five days a week (don't get too excited about this, somehow I'm still a super curvy girl). I give myself permission to take naps.

The hardest thing, though, is to remember that writing is not just Butt in Chair, Fingers on Keyboard. Everything feeds that fire - reading, watching movies, doing research, even taking a long, hot, scented bath - fuels the writer.

Nagging? Not such a good motivator.

Pleasure? The best motivator ever.

What are your pleasures? What motivates you?