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In My Day…

June 24, 2015 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as blue jeans, Isabel Swift, Levis

I was looking for a pair of normal jeans and not having much luck. So I went into the giant Levi shop (All Levis All The Time) filled with hope! Surely Levi would be able to deliver a pair of regular jeans.

Think again.

Fabric dark, cheap feeling, and like ever other jean product available on the market “stylishly” torn, big holes at knees or strange white blobs of wear on the legs in places that would never, naturally, get worn.

Or multiple peculiar holes all over, as if they’d been left hanging in some automatic weapons firing range and had been peppered good. Or both…

I look at the young clerk and confessed: “You know, I just feel it is my job to wear out my own jeans. It doesn’t seem right to have it contracted out to some machine or child laborer.”

He nodded sympathetically. (The customer is always right).

Yes, in my day we had active lives. We did stuff. We wore holes in our jeans without any outside help. Yep, not even from our disinterested non-helicopter parents.

Our jeans were authentic. Artisanal. Indeed the work was just about as local as you could get.

When you look at the language being used now to market and enhance our present possessions, foods and lifestyle, beneath the words, you can hear this wild, inchoate cry against the virtualness of much of our present existence: instant, effortless, convenient. But somehow insubstantial, unsatisfying.

Unearned.

Isabel Swift

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Summer Time to Write

June 10, 2015 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Elise Scott, Romancing the Pages, writing tips

Summer is fast approaching and many writers will have more distractions at home now that their children will be home from school. So now the task of setting writing goals, and finding quiet time to write becomes even more important.

The daily distractions of housework, errands, facebook, twitter, and other social media and more, are just some of the things vying for your attention. Add cooking, family get-togethers, and summer sunshine, and a writer has to have a will of steel. It’s no wonder writers insist on having goals, a routine, and good writing habits. Not everyone thinks a job as a romance writer is a real job. If we don’t take it seriously then no one else will. Especially if you’re always available for everything and everyone but you’re not making time to write.

So how do we do it? I like having a weekly word count goal. It offers daily flexibility but still gives me an average daily goal to reach for. I schedule my writing time in the evenings when dinner is over and everyone is settling down, the house is quiet and the distractions are few. So having weekly and monthly goals is a good way to get started and keep writing. (Even if sending my babies out into the publishing world is frightening enough to give me hives). Everyone has to find the writing time that works best for them.

But what other goals or accomplishments would you like to achieve? In a month, a year? Make a list and post them where you can see them daily. Making small goals to get started and increasing them as you reach each goal will keep you from stressing and you’ll feel pride every time you hit a goal.

What else can you do to keep writing? Do you need moral support? You’re not alone. Join a group of writer friends online and encourage each other by doing sprints, posting your word count, asking for help, or just supporting each other. There’s a world of writer’s out in virtual space and they’re anxious to meet you.

Writing Tips:

Writer’s learn by doing. So do it, WRITE! The more you write, the better your writing gets.
Never assume your writing is the best it can be. Take classes, read books, attend workshops, ask for critiques. Everything helps make you a better story teller.
Have faith, write what you love, and it will come through in your stories.
Surround yourself with like minded people. They understand what your life is like and will support you.
And last but not least, write from the heart. The stories in your head can only be written by you.

Elizabeth Scott
OCC/RWA
V.P. Programs

w/a Elise Scott
One Weekend, in”Romancing the Pages” OCC Anthology, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble eBook retailers.

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MEET MY CHARACTERS

June 7, 2015 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as blog tours, characters, Generational Curse, Tracy Reed

Tracy Reed

I have been on a blog tour for the past few weeks, which has been great. Itâ€™s given me a chance to chat with readers from all over. I can say that because, I know one of the blog stops was based in the United Kingdom and another was based in Australia. Iâ€™ve officially gone international. YEAH!

There are a lot of things I like about blog toursâ€¦Iâ€™ll expound more once itâ€™s over. One of the things I like is it forced me to really get to know my book. I know that sounds strange seeing I wrote the story, but there were a lot of things I had forgotten about their back story and personality. We talk a lot about building or developing characters at RWA and this was very helpful.

I am the first to admit, I am a novice when it come to writer lingo or jargonâ€¦protagonist, story arch, subplot, syntax, deep point of view, conflict. antagonist, alliteration. And donâ€™t get me started on lengthâ€¦short story, novelette , novella, full length, jumbo or super length. I may not explain it in correct author terms, but I get by. However, thereâ€™s one thing I know for sure, I read what I like and write what I like.

So when I decided to do the blog tour, I was asked to do a character interview. What the crap. I had no clue what that was. Iâ€™m not a stupid woman. I graduated college with honors. I had my own sports segment on my college television station for a year, which also aired on local cable. I interned in the Sports Department at the local NBC Station in Tulsa for a year. I worked in Public Relations and the music industry. Plus I run my own business, but this stumped me. When the blog tour promoter answered my simple question, another, â€œWhat the crap!â€ popped into my head. How was I going to interview these two people without giving the story away. Oh yeah, and I had to provide the questions.

I thought long and hard about this and once I started writing, it just flowed. This was my favorite type of interview to do during the tour. Iâ€™m already kicking around possible questions for characters from my next books. A good thing about this type of interview/post, is it makes the characters seem real, which helps tell the story.

Hereâ€™s my post from a couple of days ago that first appeared on Writer In Progress Blog [www.writerip.blogspot.com].
Meet GENERATIONAL CURSEâ€™s Kyla James and Sean Prescott
GENERATIONAL CURSE is set in New York. However, there are a few things about Sean and Kyla you might find interesting. So letâ€™s ask them.

Where do you live?
KYLA: Upper East Side
SEAN: Tribeca

Tell us about your family? Any sisters and/or brothers?
KYLA: I grew up in a traditional home. My fatherâ€™s a doctor and my mother is his support. I have a younger sister, whoâ€™s also married to a doctor. All of them live in the suburbs.
SEAN: I grew up in a traditional situation. My dad is in construction and my mother worked in his office until a few years ago. They live in the suburbs. My older brother is married and is heart surgeon. He and his family live in California.

What do you do for a living?KYLA: Iâ€™m an Interior Designer
SEAN: Iâ€™m a Furniture Designer

Where do you work?
KYLA: All over Manhattan, the Hamptons and a few projects in Florida and Chicago
SEAN: My showroom is in Tribeca. However, I do custom work for clients all over the world.

How did you meet?
KYLA: I was leaving an appointment and walked passed his showroom and a chair in the window caught my eye.
SEAN: Thatâ€™s not how we met. I was doing a showing in Charlotte and she came in.
KYLA: I donâ€™t remember that.
SEAN: She walked in and started stroking all of the sofas and taking pictures. Then she asked if I shipped to New York. I said yes and gave her my card.
KYLA: Oh yeah. Now I remember. Because when he turned around and I saw his behind, I forgot about everything that happened beforehand.
SEAN: Really?
KYLA: Shut up. Next question.

Is that how you started working together?
KYLA: No. I think it was at least what, a year later?
SEAN: About six months. Thatâ€™s when she walked into my showroom.
KYLA: Thatâ€™s right, now I remember. It was the chair. I knew it looked familiar. I went inside and I was surprised to see him. We started talking andâ€¦

What about the chair?
KYLA: I ordered it for my client.
SEAN: Then she came back the following month for another client and weâ€™ve been working on projects ever since.

So when did you start going out?
KYLA: Who said we were going out?
SEAN: Weâ€™re just friends.

Really, you seem very comfortable with each other.? [Theyâ€™re both smiling]
KYLA: Uhmâ€¦Iâ€™m in a relationship right now. Besides, I donâ€™t like to mix pleasure with business.
SEAN: So am I pleasure or business?
KYLA: Next question

Have you ever been in love? Engaged? Married?
KYLA: No. No. No.
SEAN: Yes. Yes. No.

What happened Sean?
SEAN: Next question

Tell us something the other doesnâ€™t know about you:
KYLA: Seanâ€™s my best friend.
SEAN: Iâ€™m in love with her.

Have you ever considered being more than friends?
KYLA: Uhmâ€¦I thought we covered this?
SEAN: Yes.
KYLA: Really?
SEAN: Yes.

Okay, hereâ€™s the lightening round.
Print or ebook?
KYLA: Both
SEAN: Both
CD, vinyl or iPod??
KYLA: Yes, no, yes
SEAN: All three

Movies: Chick flick, action, suspense, documentaries?
KYLA: All four
SEAN: All four
KYLA: Really, you like chick flicks
SEAN: Next questions

Jazz, Hip Hop or old school R&B?
KYLA: Jazz and old school
SEAN: All three

Favorite comfort food?
KYLA: Fried chicken
SEAN: Mac and Cheese

Favorite pizza topping?
KYLA: Mushrooms, sausage and extra cheese
SEAN: Pepperoni, sausage and extra cheese is a must

How do you take your coffee?
KYLA: Black
SEAN: Black

Favorite desset?
KYLA: Sugar cookies
SEAN: Gelato

Dog person or cat person?
KYLA: Dog
SEAN: Dog

City or Suburbs:
KYLA: City
SEAN: City

Taxi or Subway:
KYLA: Taxi and foot
SEAN: Taxi or foot, sometimes the subway or I drive

Will you ever get married?
KYLA: Next question
SEAN: Yes

Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys

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More About Multiple Genres

June 6, 2015 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as cozy mysteries, Kill Me, Kiss Me, Linda O. Johnston, Online Classes, romantic suspense

My regular blog here at A Slice of Orange on the 6th of last month was about loving multiple genres. I’m going to focus on that once again now.

Why? Well, when you read this, I will most likely be at the California Crime Writers Conference in the Culver City area of L.A. Unsurprisingly, it’s primarily for people who write mysteries, suspense novels, and related subject.

The following weekend will be all about romance writing for me, since I’ll be attending the OCC meeting on Saturday, and the Los Angeles Romance Writers will meet on that Sunday since the following one, its regularly scheduled third Sunday of the month, will be Fathers Day.

So is it any surprise to you that the subject of my upcoming online class hosted by OCC will be… yes, about writing in both of those genres? In fact, I had a special blog posted about it on Tuesday, May 26, here at A Slice of Orange.

The class is called Kiss Me or Kill Me: Writing Cozy Mysteries 101 for Romance Writers. Those who are interested in adding suspense or mystery to their romances without necessarily changing genres should find it interesting, too, as should mystery or suspense writers who’d like to add some romance to their work.

And me? I’ve said for a while that all romances I write contain some element of mystery or suspense, and all mysteries I write generally contain a romantic interest. Aren’t both some of the most fun aspects of life–or at least reading?