Blog - Carmen Fox

January 14, 2015 Interests and hobbies Post a Comment

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – THE FINAL FRONTIER

Nowadays, my free time is eaten up by writing and social media. But many years ago, I got into volunteering as a way to fill my spare time and to “give back.” I tried different organizations, and all do good work. But one charity touched something in me, and I heeded its call to action.

Women’s Aid,

a domestic-violence charity.

Logo

Now, I have no academic insights or credentials that make me an expert. And I’ve never experienced domestic violence. Yes, there have been jerks along the way, but nothing worse than that. So why did I feel so strongly about this particular charity?

Because it fights for what I believe in. The phrase that describes all my fictional heroines is ‘Women With Smarts And Sassitude.’ This motto was no random choice. Now, I’m a woman, reasonably well educated, quite on the suspicious side, but with a writer’s imagination. If you asked me, I could come up with ten scenarios in which someone could end up trapped in an abusive relationship.

For starters, let’s play with the idea of a confident, together woman. Can you picture her? Nice clothes, proud, admired by her friends. How likely is she to admit that the gorgeous hunk that made her the envy of her friends loses his temper when he’s drunk? Besides, we all do stupid things after a few drinks. She herself was flirting with Joe from accounts that same night. No wonder Mike was upset. So in a way, it wasn’t just his fault that he got a bit hands-on. As long as he doesn’t do it again, of course. She wouldn’t stand for it. Besides, he was so, so sorry afterward. Deep down, he’s such a sweetie…

Think it couldn’t happen to you? If you have a healthy relationship with your family, a close-knit social group with people who look out for you, you might indeed be spared.

Still, just about any woman (who isn’t you) could become a victim.

If you’re a man reading this, at this point you might be getting defensive. Not once did I address man’s role as the inevitable brute, yet the mere mention of domestic violence puts many guys on the back foot. Firstly, because they’re feeling judged, on behalf of their gender, by people who don’t know them. But they also see themselves as strong and reliable. Your everyday hero. And dudes beating their wives offends this self-image.

What happens when you raise the topic of domestic violence in a social situation? Oops. That would be quite the faux-pas. Initially, you’d hear condemnation all around. Then, a rapid change of topic. Because confident, together women and strong, reliable men won’t touch that can of worms. Nope. No way. Neither gender would come out of this discussion smelling of roses. Let’s not forget that statistically speaking, one or more among you may actually have been affected by this issue. Best to talk about a less explosive subject.

Domestic violence is the last battle in the war for equality, but neither side wants to shoot the first salvo. Now and again the topic is picked up by the media, followed swiftly by a state initiative, and then tucked away in some drawer in favor of some other cause that needs our attention.

Anyway, after word got out about my association with a domestic violence charity, more than a handful of women at work confided in me their own haunting experiences. Confident, together women they were one and all.

This is why this is important to me. It’s the elephant in the room we won’t talk about, even while the elephant tramples good women and innocent children, and yes, quite a few honorable men to death.

The Twist In The Tale

At my first tentative meet with the refuge manager, she asked me what type of woman I thought was most likely to be affected by domestic violence. I confidently replied, “everyone equally.” Soldiers returning from war with PTSD, executives in stressful jobs,… Sometimes crap just gets to you. Makes sense, doesn’t it? But her answer surprised me. “No. Poor women.”

Not women from poor families. Poor women. Women who are poor in terms of money, support, and resources.

Women in the lower social classes. Women raised with strict religious doctrines and isolated from others. Women who stay at home to look after the children and who rely on allowances from their husbands. Women who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Women who sell their bodies.

But we knew this, right? In those milieus, it’s a given that the foul-mouthed, chain-smoking woman who lets her kids run riot occasionally gets a slap. Prostitutes? A black eye is the cost of doing business. What about those muslims who don’t let their women talk to anyone? Of course they abuse and oppress their wives and daughters.

We have this image of these groups in our heads that hides the truth behind a glass window. Domestic abuse is so rampant in certain layers of society that it’s become a stereotype. All of them are at it, and somehow it’s become the norm.

The truth is that not all of them are “at it,” and abuse and violence should not, and must not ever, become an accepted standard of behavior.

This is a subject I will revisit. Perhaps with statistics and a discussion of men as potential victims. For now, I will leave you with a final thought. For every work colleague who’s confided her ordeal in me — these confident, together women from what we’d consider low-risk groups — just how many not-so-confident and not-so-together women suffer daily from verbal, situational or physical abuse?

If you have any thoughts or comments on this issue, please share them.

THE AGE OF THE GEEK

Keeping up with the (Martha) Joneses

From Hardison in Leverage or Agent McGee in NCIS to most of the Big Bang Theory‘s characters, geeks no longer populate the bottom rung of society.

Sure, kids may still pick on them at school, they might still be the butt of jokes at college, but grown up, they rule the world. Or they could, if money were their true ambition.

Now, a geek isn’t a geek. You get your hackers, legal or not, your comic book readers, gamers, cosplayers, LARPers,… Some of us love StarTrek and Stargate, others prefer the books of Terry Pratchett and Patrick Rothfuss.

Geek, nerd, dweeb, dork. What’s the difference anyway? Well, I found this interesting Venn diagram online.

Venn diagram

The spectrum of geekdom broadens if, like I, you subscribe to Wil Wheaton’s definition of what constitutes a geek. Basically anyone who is very passionate about something, perhaps even something most only pay a passing interest to, could be a geek. Hey, that means people who thought of themselves as “unafflicted” may be closet geeks (about Elvis Presley, soap operas or football) after all.

The difference is that the advantage lies with those who embrace their niches and hobbies.

Here’s a fun question.

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR?

Actually, the answer is moot. What is most telling is the picture that formed in your head. Was it a doctor like House? A doctor like Ross Gellar in Friends? Or THE Doctor, traveling through time and space in his TARDIS?

But seriously, folks

Some areas of geekdom aren’t my thing at all, and yet what’s most amazing is the warmth many of us feel toward each other. Even if we’re in direct competition as authors or game developers, we’re united by our geekdom. It’s the flower power movement of the 21st century. To quote Alec Hardison, “It’s the age of the geek, baby.”

But not all is rainbows and candy floss in geekland. In an atrocious repeat performance, women are fighting to have a say. For a bunch of otherwise educated and enlightened bunch of people, we can be incredibly prejudicial.

Fan girls! Fan girls! Fan girls!

When Tony Harris (you can read an interesting article here) sparked outrage with his complaint about fake geek girls, or “booth babes,” girls who appear at conventions in revealing costumes under the guise of being geeks, when all they want is attention, women came under attack. Thing is, there will always be girls pretending to be something they’re not, just as I’ve met guys pretending to be into comic books to sound cool, believe it or not, only to catch a girl’s eye.

Still, the fake geek girl meme stuck.

Outside of the movement or inside, women are not getting a fair shake.

I found a blog post about why women geeks are a nightmare for advertising execs. But I also found initiatives and websites dedicated to the principle of Breaking the Unicorn.

Women are definitely fighting back, with the help of some pretty smart guys. And yet what do TV CPU specialists Alec Hardison and Timothy McGee have in common? Yup, they’re male. Occasionally TV will bring in the cool and incredibly pretty female geek, but we do not warrant prime time. Yet. In a way, I blame us women. Why do we not have more female politicians? Well, girls, we have 50% of the vote. You tell me. We also make up 50% or more of the TV audience. If we wanted to, we could make a difference.

Now, I have no say in Hollywood or Washington. Probably a good thing, too. But the world is as we make it.

The Shameless Plug und Summary

I’m just an author. Most of my characters are special to me, and all are smart. Yet I get most asked about Lea from my upcoming book Divide and Conquer. Her mentor, Nieve, is the ultimate fighting chick. I’d like to think she’s more three-dimensional than most female heroines in urban fantasy, but a woman who can hold her own is expected. Yet it is her protégé Lea who has become the subject of speculation. I’ve mentioned before that Lea is a geek. Perhaps that was a mistake. Because what, I’ve been asked, is it that makes her a geek? What stereotypes have I resorted to in inventing her?

Erm, mine. I can’t write what I don’t know. Every reference Lea makes to redshirts or Farscape is my own. In fact, for the purposes of the book, I had to pare down our geekiness. No one cares about my mild obsession with Tabletop Games and stories (be it in comics or fantasy or Sci-Fi TV). In fact, my book isn’t about “Nieve and the geek.” Among others, it’s about Lea’s search for…something. She has this idea vibrating in her guts that she’s more than what she is. But is being hailed a savior of mankind what she’s been looking for, or does it turn out to be a fantasy she’d prefer to leave to Xbox games?

My point is this. Being a female geek isn’t something that defines us, just like Lea being a geek isn’t the only thing she has going for her. She’s funny, incredibly smart, and kind, too.

It is the age of the geek. It may even be the age of the geek babe (sorry, Hardison). But on a deeper level, we’re still people trying to connect. Geek is merely the language we speak. And to those who speak it, it is a language that unites.

December 26, 2014 Divide and Conquer Post a Comment

FROZEN FOR GROWN-UPS

So, my book needs a song

Frozen

Okay, I caved. I finally watched what I figured was going to be a candy-colored extravaganza wrapped in Disney cheese. What I found in Frozen was a story that spoke to me, perhaps just as much as it does to six-year-olds, although not necessarily for the same reasons.

Frozen, released in 2013, was the surprise hit of 2014. A Disney movie being a hit isn’t all that surprising, of course, but its plot isn’t typical of Disney. If, like me, you expected Prince Charming to swoop in and not just save the world but also the feisty heroine, you were in for the shock of your life.

The plot subverts expected tropes and stereotypes. And it does so over and over. Disney Princesses have entered the 21st century. Woot! And they’ve done so with a bang. So, who can the girls trust? How do they deal with magical powers? What happens if one is more powerful than the other? What if the main characters are not a man and a woman, but two women? What if one is a little bit…odd? What if they had flaws?

I could go on and on. All these questions could also be asked of Divide and Conquer.

The movie is important to me in many respects, not least because it reflects the journey I embarked on about three years ago when I started writing Divide and Conquer. Normally I write from within, the way most of us dream. With a minimum of control, and let’s see where it takes us. But not this time. I had a mission.

Two women, Lea and Nieve, were going to rule the story. They share a destination, even if their paths differ.

Lea and Nieve are not man haters. Far from it. Yet they’re not willing to take a back seat either. If a man wants to be with one of them, he’d have to earn it.

My plot was going to make any romantic pursuit difficult. The question for the guys shifted from “how can I save her?” to “will I catch up to her in time to make a difference?”

That said, Divide and Conquer is not a traditional romance. Failure and betrayal play just as big a part as humor and geekiness, and friendship and hatred. Just like in this biggest of animation ventures, light no longer shines that brightly, and the shadows aren’t as dark as we’re always led to believe. Then again, mine is a world that is much grayer than the one Disney’s multicolor bonanza delivers.

Clearly, my book is not for children, and you will find no uplifting songs. Because life…is no Disney movie. (Plus, I can’t sing.) My focus when conceiving the plot was that of utter and complete failure. Lea and Nieve were to be no token heroines. Their challenges were supposed to be dark ones, and they would make mistakes. True heroes are measured by the strength needed to overcome obstacles, right? Most of all, every time the reader thought they knew what was going to happen, I’d shake things up.

While the plots differ, the parallels between movie and book are somewhat disturbing nevertheless. Amusingly, “I am one with the wind and sky” could have been written for my book. You see, Lea and Nieve use the wind for their powers. How’s that for coincidence? You couldn’t script it…

So I sit here over Christmas, watching Frozen, and shaking my head at what could be the slightly more innocent – and much more musical – version of Divide and Conquer.

And I can’t help thinking. How much cooler would Divide and Conquer be if it did have its own theme tune?

~*~

Divide and Conquer will be released March 2, 2015. You can find out more here.

December 21, 2014 Writing craft Post a Comment

Writing Tips – Likeability

CREATING LIKEABLE CHARACTERS

Writing tips

I don’t have all the answers, but I have learned a thing or two over the years. And while I don’t advocate a cookie-cutter approach, there’s nothing wrong with sharing a few ideas that might help you come unstuck. So here are some no-nonsense writing tips on making your character more likeable. Don’t use them all at once. That would be like slapping the reader in the face. But the right one at the right time might transition your story into a new gear. If you find anything useful here, I’d love to hear from you.

Save the Cat

Show your character as a moral, good person. They could save a cat, for example (See Blake Snyder’s book, Save The Cat). Or paint them as the victim of a fundamentally unfair event, like witnesses to a horrific crime, at their mother’s funeral, or being falsely accused. Readers tend to root for the underdog.

Deep Point of View

Dig deep into your character’s POV. That means no filter words, and no telling.

Using Pronouns

As much as we dislike paragraphs where every sentence begins with “I” (or “she” or “he”), now and again it’s necessary to connect the story back to the character.

Transitions

Include transitions. In your effort to streamline your prose and tighten it, don’t forget to specify that your character got out of the car. “She parked the Mustang and grunted. Stupid car. Her friend walked up to her and they hugged.” For many readers, this passage jars, since in their heads, “the character’s still in the car yet somehow hugging her friend. How? Through the window?” So if she gets out, say so. If she crossed the room, say so. And if she drives to a new location, say so.

Motivation

A character needs motivation, a story goal to pursue. Let us call this the final goal, since this is what the character wants to have achieved by the end. To bring their mother’s murderer to justice. To escape her violent husband. To track down a treasure. The earlier you mention this final goal, the more we connect to the character. Occasionally a character doesn’t know their final goal until well into the book. That’s fine, but once they do, tell the reader what it is, and keep referring to it now and again for the remainder of the book.

In addition, the character will have intermediate goals. Every scene and every chapter should have its own goal. To escape a gangster. To find the treasure map. To survive the night.

And just as important is to understand that almost every moment evokes a short-term goal. Strong, sustained conflict and plot events fire these short-term goals at the character, and as a writer it’s easy to forget to clarify them for a reader. To tell a convincing lie. To find a quiet moment for themselves. To go and hide. This is the most obvious and also the most underused of all three goals. Not every short-term goal needs to be laid out plainly, but probably a greater number than you think. If you do not dig into the character’s motivation, your reader cannot connect.

These three types of goals must be specified, not merely hinted at. “Oh shoot. I’m in trouble” isn’t half as effective in creating likability as “Oh shoot. I have to get out of here.” A character is likely to have many goals, and you need to spell them out, more than once.

By clearly laying out your goals, you can ratchet up the tension. If the character’s short-term goal is to run and hide, and they fail in that goal, the reader takes note and roots for them. Occasionally, a character may fail to achieve their intermediate goal. This can make for a major heart-in-your-throat moment. Some intermediate goals must be achieved, of course, because it is through them that the character attains their main objective. For reader satisfaction and a happy ending, I recommend that final goals should always be achieved.

Goals can be internal or external. Finding their mother’s killer would be a character’s external final goal. Hiding out in bed for a good cry would be the character’s internal short-term goal. For best effect, counter balance external goals with internal goals and vice versa.

Reaction

Make sure every action from a third party evokes in your character a reaction consisting of one, two, or all of the following, depending on the moment’s importance: a reaction (what does your character do?), a visceral emotion (i.e. what physical reaction takes place, i.e. a swallow or a turning stomach?), and an internal comment (a short “Oh shoot” or a sentence or even a paragraph explaining her reaction). If the reader cannot understand why your character does what he or she does, it’s tough to even care.

Setting

Your character comes to life in the way they see the world. Even a serial killer can be made likeable by allowing him to notice a gentle moment between a mother and her child, or the frost-tipped branches of a majestic tree. Imagine what this can do to your hero. Flip this around, and you could use this tool to plant red herrings by allowing a nice character to draw unpleasant analogies, such as describing the color red as the color of raw meat. If the reader is put off by the character’s thought processes, they might be more inclined to suspect the character is up to no good.

As I said, these are ideas that have helped me. If you can think of other ones I haven’t yet considered, please let me know.

December 15, 2014 The Write Path 2 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Jennifer Bernard

THe Write Path

Jennifer Bernard

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Jennifer Bernard, who will discuss It’s a Wonderful Fireman, her Christmas novella and the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Jennifer’s.

1. What is your book about?

Jenny Bernard

It’s a Wonderful Fireman is the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series. It’s a novella about Dean Mulligan, a firefighter who falls through a collapsing roof into a Christmas store. As the rest of the crew works on rescuing him, he experiences a sort of dream/hallucination in which Lizzie Breen, the girl he’s in love with, takes him back to his past to convince him that he’s worthy of her love. There’s a bit of It’s a Wonderful Life and a bit of Ladder 49 in this story. Not only that, but all the heroes of the previous books in the series make cameo appearances as they call come together to try to save Mulligan.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

Since I write about firemen, my male (and sometimes female) protagonists have a natural, built-in heroism that I think appeals to readers. What I find special about firefighters is their blend of ordinary and extraordinary. They consider danger and risk part of the job, and are quite down-to-earth about it. I find that combination very attractive. I struggle much more with my female characters. I myself am an introspective person who lives a lot in my own head. When it comes to writing my heroines, they tend to have a lot of doubts and insecurities, which they’ve no doubt inherited from their creator. But those qualities can come across as whiny and … well, boring. So I have to work harder on my heroines to keep them from being annoying.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

I hope readers come away from It’s a Wonderful Fireman with a warm, hopeful, inspired feeling. Dean Mulligan is a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas because he’s had a rough road in life. He’s not able to see his own worth, which is something I think many people struggle with. What he experiences through the course of the book enables him to see inside his own soul to the light that lives there. And he’s able to allow himself to let Lizzie in, which he was never quite able to do before. And he can finally appreciate the magic of Christmas.

4. What was it about your book that made it so easy to attract your editor?

Since this book is part of a series, I was lucky that I didn’t have to go through the submission process with it. We’ve already released 6 full-length books and 2 novellas in the Bachelor Firemen series, and with this book, I really wanted to wrap everything up with a big Christmas bow. I sent my editor an email saying, “What would you think of the last book being a Christmas novella called “It’s a Wonderful Fireman.” She loved the idea and that was that. I wish it was always that easy!

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

Wow, how did you know that I originally wrote something completely different, then travelled back in time several times to do revisions? I thought it was my little secret! I did actually have an early version of a fireman Christmas novella that involved a road trip, a fire at a baseball stadium and a different love interest. I’d written about half of it, but it just felt wrong. I took a break to brainstorm titles when “It’s a Wonderful Fireman” popped into my head, along with the kernel of the idea (the trapped fireman dreaming of his beloved.) But it was a different heroine who showed up in my head — the little sister of the hero of a previous book! So I salvaged what I could from the first version and went with the new one, and everything flowed so easily after that. It’s my belief that nothing ever wasted in writing. It took slogging through that first version to come up with the right one.

About the Author

Jenny Bernard

Jennifer Bernard is the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriels series. She is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.

Visit her on the Web at www.JenniferBernard.net.

Jennifer’S Links

Jennifer’s Website JenniferBernard.net

Facebook

Twitter @Jen_Bernard

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads

About the Book

Hard-edged fireman Dean Mulligan has never been a big fan of Christmas. Twinkle lights and sparkly tinsel can’t brighten the memories of too many years spent in ramshackle foster homes. Although he’s established himself as one of the top firefighters at San Gabriel Station 1, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for someone like gorgeous Lizzie.

Lizzie Breen is used to fighting—from her alpha male brothers who try to smother in the name of safety to the childhood life-threatening illness she overcame. She knows what she and Mulligan feel for each other is a lot more than a fling, but she can’t get him to see that. The only gift Lizzie wants to give him this season is her love, but he’s not willing to accept it.

When Mulligan is trapped in the burning wreckage of a holiday store, a Christmas angel arrives to open his eyes. But is it too late? This Christmas, it’ll take an angel, a determined woman in love, and the entire Bachelor Firemen crew to make him believe … it is indeed a wonderful life.

Piqued your interest? You can buy the book here.

December 3, 2014 Interests and hobbies Post a Comment

BEAT CHRISTMAS STRESS

SWAP STRESSMAS FOR CHRISTMAS

Every Christmas Eve, sixteen people, aka my closest family, sit with sparkling eyes around the festive tree, wondering what Father Christmas (as Santa is known in the UK) brought for them this year.

Christmas stress

Shipping sackfuls of presents from London to North Germany takes some organization, but instead of reindeer, we rely on UPS. Actually, my mother arranges delivery and collection. I only need to fill the parcels.

No surprise, then, that I have to look for what I call goldilocks presents. Not too big, not too small; not too fragile; not too cheap and certainly not too expensive. They have to be just right. To stand any chance of getting the goods bought, wrapped and shipped in time, I begin my Christmas shop in August.

After twenty years, I buy presents like a pro. Mostly, I use the Internet, and since I give myself nearly four months to tick every name off my list, I get to take advantage of some fantastic bargains. Using cash-back sites also makes a difference. But more than anything, buying presents has become a joy.

Rushing to supermarkets on Christmas Eve to pick up a shower gel gift box is so not my thing. No wonder people are tired come mid December. To most, getting hold of something, anything, has become a chore. It doesn’t have to be like that. You can beat Christmas stress.

I no longer set out with the mandate to find something for my mother. If I do, great. If not, I’ll see what next week’s offers bring. Since I continuously check offer sites and gadget sites and clothes sites, I have the luxury of selecting just the right winter coat and a matching hat for half the price. Last month, I got 70% off a bobble-head figure, which I had made for and in the likeness of my stepdad. Totally cool. My family no longer find socks, shower gel, tins of cookies and other last-minute disasters under the tree, but unique items that I know will make them happy.

Yes, there’ll be plenty of work, plenty of chores to do before the big day. But at least my efforts will be worth it. By giving presents they will treasure, I have given myself a payoff for all my efforts. A reason to smile through the manic panic. A sure-fire way to beat stress.

Is it too late for you? Not at all. There are plenty of offers on all the time. Shops are bending over backward to make you part with your money, even if they have to give you huge discounts. And every present you buy now will save you a headache later on.

One more tip. Forget wrapping paper.
Roll the presents up in face cloths, towels, or T-shirts, which become part of the present. Tie the string directly around the bottle. Stick a bow smack on top of the CD. And use Christmas bags for at least some of your gifts. Bags can be recycled next year, and the area under the tree still looks festive.

What about you? Are you a Santa-in-training, or a Christmas stresser?

November 27, 2014 The Write Path 2 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Jackie Marilla

THe Write Path

Jackie Marilla

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Jackie Marilla, who will, just in time for the holidays, discuss her novelette Always on Christmas with me.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Jackie’s.

1. What is your book about?

First off, I love to write stories that take place on cattle ranches in Hawai’i. Many of the ranchers here are Portuguese-Hawaiian and the mix of those two cultures lends itself to a rich backdrop for my stories. My sweet contemporary novelette, Always on Christmas, is a story of learning to graciously receive gifts. When Emma Sanchez inherits a run-down cabin in Hawai’i, she and her seven-year-old daughter move to the Big Island to start a new life. After Emma and Ally rescue a calf that belongs to Hank Amaral, the single rancher next door, Emma sees their relationship as an exchange of favors.

Emma doesn’t believe in getting something without returning something; Hank doesn’t believe in not giving when you have plenty to share. It takes a hurricane (literally) and little Ally’s belief in the magic of Christmas to soften Emma’s heart toward Hank.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

I think my characters are likable because they aren’t perfect. When I develop the main characters for my stories, I fill out a three page questionnaire that tells their likes, dislikes, history, quirks, and even their favored word when stressed (Hank says dang). I’ve had reviewers comment that they didn’t like a character and I’m okay with that. If readers are looking for alpha males, for instance, they may not like that my males may start out as alpha, but they are all softies in the end. I love a man who is willing to change in the name of love.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

When I started writing Always on Christmas, I knew I wanted to write a Christmas story with a child who believed in Santa, a single mom who prided herself on her ability to raise her daughter alone, and a rancher who wasn’t all that interested in women until he met Emma. I wanted the story to be about giving from the heart and learning to receive graciously. It’s a story of swallowing pride, in big gulps, to do what’s best for a child and finding happiness as a bonus.

4. What do you think was it about your book that made it so easy to attract a publisher?

My publisher, so far (fingers crossed!) has published all four stories I’ve sent to them. I think the reason Books To Go Now is so receptive is that I don’t send sloppy drafts. I get feedback from five beta readers before the final revision and I pay attention to editing. Since I write romance, my publisher knows she will get a love story with three-dimensional characters that have realistic conflicts and a happily-ever-after.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

What a great question! I don’t think I’d change the basic plot. I like the flow of the story and the characters that populate it. But, I seem to be guilty of a timeline error in each book I’ve published. Something like the scene is supposed to be in the morning and I have the guy dropping in on an afternoon hula class. Perhaps readers don’t notice so much, but I do after I’ve been away from the story for a month or so. Maybe I’ll just make a game of it—“Find the Timeline Error and Win a Gift Card.”

Social Media Links:

Jackie Marilla

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackiemarilla?ref=hl

Blog: jackiemarilla.blogspot.com

Amazon Author Page: bit.ly/amzn_marilla

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jackiemarilla/

Purchase Links:

Only on Valentine’s Day

Amazon: bit.ly/only_marilla

Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/bnonly_marilla

Love Those Hula Hips

Amazon: bit.ly/HulaHipsAmz

Audible Audiobooks: bit.ly/audiolthh_marilla

Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/bnlthh_marilla

Lesson Plan for Love, Story 2, The Pancake Club

Amazon: bit.ly/lessonplan4love

Always on Christmas

Amazon: bit.ly/alwaysonxmas

November 18, 2014 The Write Path 3 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Kathryn Jane

THe Write Path

Kathryn Jane

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Kathryn Jane, who will be discussing her book Voices, part of her Intrepid Women Series, with me.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Kathryn’s.

1. What is your book about?

Voices is the fourth stand alone in the Intrepid Women Series.

In book one the readers met Quinn Meyers and his siblings. In book two, they learned that he was an incredibly faithful man who believed Rachel, his runaway wife, would one day come home.
Well, in Voices, she does return, but “it’s complicated” because she only came back to enlist the help of Meyers Security.

Quinn and Rachel team up with Grace and Logan (from Touch Me) to solve a racehorse mystery, and in the meantime, they face the harsh reality of a relationship built on lust and love but not maintained by trust, truth, and hard work.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

Readers seem to love my kickass heroines. These are everyday women who step up to the plate when it’s necessary. Who have the guts and determination to survive whatever is thrown at them and learn from their mistakes.

My heroes are smart, capable alpha males who are often baffled by the women they dare to love. Women who don’t “need” them.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

That love is worth working for. That communication is the backbone of a relationship. And that Quinn is pretty darned special.

My stories always have a message, although I don’t set out to write one. I write about characters who have to grow and change/adapt in order for their happily ever after to be possible. So with that, there is always some kind of message.

4. What do you think was it about your book that made it so easy to attract an agent or editor?

I don’t have either of these :). Well, aside from a couple of dynamite copy editors, that is.

I am self-published for several reasons. After the second agent interested enough to read my full manuscript–as well as several others who hadn’t read it–asked me to change the content for sales/shelving purposes, I realized that traditional publishers had good reason not to offer me a contract. They didn’t know where to put my work because it straddled several genres.

Here’s a sample of the questions I was asked. Would I consider taking out the paranormal parts (psychic abilities) so it would stand firmly as a Romantic Suspense? Would I consider taking out the paranormal and the mystery so it would stand cleanly as a contemporary? Could I darken the paranormal and make it the focus of the story? Could I make my heroine and hero younger so it would fit as a young adult novel? No, no, no and no.

And I’m happy to say, my readers seem to agree with me. They like the books as they are. Contemporary Romantic Suspense with a light Paranormal thread.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

LOL. I’m what we call an organic writer, or a pantser. That is, I fly by the seat of my pants.

When I sit down to write a book, I have no clue what the story will do, what direction it will go. Only that it WILL have a happy ending.

I usually have one character and an opening scene in my head. Once in a while, as in Voices, I had both lead characters right from the beginning. I knew Rachel had been missing for a couple of years, I knew what Quinn did for a living, and I had an opening scene. Period. Their stories grew day by day and there were many eureka moments when I learned why they were the way they were. The plot is revealed to me in the same way it is to the reader. . . one word at a time.

(Although once in a while the light bulb comes on when I’m not writing and that can be awkward. A fist pumping “Yes!” is not appropriate for all settings–she says with a grin)

The first draft was nearly 100,000 words. By the time the final draft was ready for publishing, it was down to 82,000 words. I hate cutting words, and scenes I love, but sometimes it has to be done.

Interested? You’re going to like this.

Book one in the series (DO NOT TELL ME NO) is currently on sale for $0.99 www.amazon.com/dp/B00A3M6G62

Voices will be available for 99cents for one day only, November 30th.

Useful Links

Website: kathrynjane.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kathryn.jane.921

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Author_Kat_Jane

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Jane/e/B00A58PHKA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1415576921&sr=8-1

November 13, 2014 The Write Path 12 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Anna J. Stewart

THe Write Path

Anna J. Stewart

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Anna J. Stewart, who will be discussing her story The Christmas Wish in the anthology Christmas, Actually with me. Anna is a truly wonderful person and has had a stellar year. She’s also very generous, so don’t forget to check out her giveaway.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Anna’s.

Hi everyone–and a special shout out to Carmen for hosting me today. I’m so excited to be here and to “meet” all of you. The Christmas Wish (included in Christmas, Actually) is the culmination of a dream true for me…this is the story that made me a Harlequin author, a life-long ambition that’s finally here. Please comment, ask questions, do a little holiday dance if you want (I don’t judge!) and let’s have some fun!

1. So, Anna, what is your book about?

The Christmas Wish, which is part of Harlequin Heartwarming’s Christmas, Actually anthology, focuses on teacher Callie Banning, whose newest student has some serious issues with Christmas. As a perpetual people pleaser who loves the holiday season, Callie is determined to help little Eliza–and her widowed father–rediscover the magic of the season. This is the second story in the collection of novellas featuring the Banning siblings and while each story stands on its own (The Christmas Gift by Anna Adams and The Christmas Date by Melinda Curtis), all three stories are tied up in a big bow at the end.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

I think (I hope) readers will connect to Callie through her desire to please everyone and not let anyone down–and teachers especially do this (it’s why they are truly the backbone of our society). Most women I know tend to put everyone ahead of ourselves and we want to think we can do it all, but at some point, something has to give and the word “no” has to be spoken. There’s an empowerment in that word that Callie comes to understand and it ends up opening more doors than it closes. As far as Dean Galloway, the Irish accent doesn’t hurt (ha!)–nor does his overwhelming love for his daughter. There’s nothing in the world he wants more than to see his little girl happy and there’s something incredibly sexy and appealing about that in a man.

For me, it was writing my way through Dean’s journey that struck a chord. His progression through grief and acceptance is something most everyone can identify with and it’s an experience that always makes us stronger. Callie’s gentle guiding hand, her willingness to work with him and Eliza in an effort to help them move on with their lives feels like a gift of a story I was given. Plus, writing a mischievous little girl was more than fun. Not that I have any experience with that at all.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

In this story, the message kind of presented itself about half-way through. I always head into a story thinking it’s one person’s story, only to discover it ends up being 50/50. As I said earlier, I’ve had my own issues with not saying “no” and putting my own life on the back burner and honestly, I thought that’s what the main theme of The Christmas Wish would be. But the deeper I delved into Dean’s character, learning that in a way, he had never taken the time to properly grieve and accept the loss of his wife and the true effect his decision to become nomadic had on his daughter, I think that’s the heartbeat of the story. Also, I think it’s important, especially for children, to know that they can love someone else without having to say goodbye completely to who they’ve lost. That goes for Dean as well and Callie embracing the memory of his wife, of letting him and Eliza know that she would always be a part of them, was like the final balm on an open wound.

4. What was it about your book that attracted your editor?

I’m about to be very annoying and say this book was a pretty easy sell. We came up with the concept as a team, and had everything locked down (yet open to suggestions of course) and knew the stories we wanted to tell. Not to read their minds, but I think Harlequin liked the mingling of three siblings into three separate stories that all come together in the end. The three of us (Melinda Curtis and Anna Adams and I) worked really hard to bring a feeling of community and continuity throughout the three novellas. Creating one town, where you see all the characters in each of the stories, knowing that town square and grounding the reader in Christmas Town, Maine early on, was something new and different for each of us. I can’t speak for my fellow authors, but it made the story (for me at least) fun to write. As writers, we’re often told to find a fresh spin on a tried and true idea and I think we did that and that made it an easier sell. Even better, they kept our title–I can’t tell you how happy that made us.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product with where you are now, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

Yet again, I’ll be irritating and say in all honesty, I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about it. This was one of the easiest stories I’ve ever written, which is ironic given I never thought I could write a novella. I tend to write very long books (I have one book–not published–that ended up being almost 700 pages). The idea of writing short was almost paralyzing yet it ended up being one of the best experiences of my writing life (as well as my first sale!). Once I got a handle on Callie and Dean (and Eliza, who was inclined to take over every scene she popped in to), it was just there–like a gift and I’m so grateful Melinda approached me about contributing to it. So no need to travel back in time and change anything.

However, if I could, I hear the Tardis is an excellent transportation device (I really need to start watching Doctor Who), but I think books are the magic device when it comes to time travel–we can go anywhere and anytime we want just by flipping (or clicking) a page. Which reminds me, I’ll be choosing one random commenter to receive a copy of Christmas, Actually (print or e, their choice). My first giveaway! So excited…and thanks, Carmen, for hosting me today. I’m thrilled to be here.

Anna’s bio:

Anna J. Stewart can’t remember a time she didn’t have a book in her hands or a story in her head.
Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek and Wonder Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family rich stories with happy endings for her independent heroines. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural & Sherlock addiction, surrounds herself with friends and family and tolerates an overly affectionate cat named Snickers (or perhaps it’s Snickers who tolerates her). Visit Anna online at www.authorannastewart.com, where you can find her links to Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and, if you like giveaways, sign up for her newsletter~you never know what you might win just by subscribing!

Buy links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K9ZZ9XE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00K9ZZ9XE&linkCode=as2&tag=autannjste-20&linkId=N4FTQEBI5O7XUFEE

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-actually-anna-adams/1119471837?ean=9781460342565

EHarlequin: http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=54438

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/christmas-actually/id894793893?mt=11

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-actually

November 9, 2014 Books, Reviews Post a Comment

Alien Mine by Marie Dry – REVIEW

Alien Mine – An Unusual Love Story

Marie Dry

I read Alien Mine book a while ago and thought I’d posted the review, but guess what I found in my Draft Folder? Yup. So with some delay, I present a wonderful book I think you’ll enjoy.

Above romance, above humor, and even above characters, I love myself a nice plot. Twisty it should be, and jerky, like driving over the occasional cliff in the hope your car’s wheels have something to land on. Marie Dry’s plot does exactly that.

But let me rewind to the premise, one of the most original ones I’ve seen in a while. A human woman is abducted by an alien who wants to mate with her. But he likes strength, and Natalie, the heroine, might have one flaw that could ruin everything. Asthma. As, well, alien as Zacar, the hero, is, he gets top marks for being an enticing specimen. And their chemistry is wonderful.

But this is so much more than a romance. It touches on some interesting points about humanity, weaknesses and strengths, and yup, procreation. At least it did for me. But I suspect Marie Dry’s prime goal was to entertain, and she does a wonderful job of that.

Best news? There’s going to be a sequel soon.

Read it, guys.

And if you’re interested, check out this interview with the author.

Reviews