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Juggling Act

May 6, 2013 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Alpha Force, Harlequin Nocturne, Linda O. Johnston, Pet Rescue Mysteries

I love to write–but I love to have written even more!

Over the past week, I’ve been juggling between a few stories Iâ€™m working on. For one, I have to complete a proposal for a Harlequin Nocturne romance that Iâ€™d suggested some time ago. I had fun getting back into that story and into Alpha Force mode. Alpha Force is my Nocturne miniseries about shapeshifters. Love them! I wrote a rough first draft and Iâ€™m now editing it.

Plus, Iâ€™ve come up with some ideas for a couple of new mystery series. Iâ€™m also working on proposals for them. And, yes, Iâ€™ve done rough first drafts, for one of them, at least.

I must have a lot of characters occupying my brain, since I do have to call on them, usually one at a time, and have them speak up even when Iâ€™ve been working in a different genre. They always come through for me and tell me what comes next on the page. Itâ€™s a good thing Iâ€™ve been at this for a while.

How about you–do you have more than one character or type of story in your mind at a time? If so, how do you handle them?

Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/

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Goal Setting — When you don’t make a goal

May 3, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Book in a Year, Goal Setting, Louisa Bacio, OCC/RWA, President's Message, writer's tips

What happens when you donâ€™t make your goals? At the April meeting, I had two goals I had set. One was to finish and submit a contemporary novella, and the other was to log an additional 2,500 words on my Book-in-a-Year project. Only one of those happened.

For someone who can regularly sit down and do a #1K1HR â€“ thatâ€™s Twitter-speak for 1,000 words in an hour, you would think a mere 2,500 words in 30 days would be a piece of cake. Nope. Failed. The story haunted me, literally, so what happened?

Well, I can officially place blame on two occurrences. 1) I became distracted by a Call for Submissions by editor Salome Wilde for an erotic anthology featuring Shakespeare stories. Itâ€™s Shakespearotica. With my masterâ€™s degree in English, Iâ€™m a bit of a word-geek. Iâ€™ve admitted to that in the past. When the original April 1 deadline was extended to May 15, inspiration struck. Within 24 hours, I wrote the complete story, about 5,000 words (see where Iâ€™m going with the word count potential?). So when I could have been slaving away on my YA, another story stole my attention altogether.

Good news? That story was finished, edited and submitted, and now I play the waiting game.

The second setback came in the form of life: A child with the stomach flu. Sometimes, as a parent, you really canâ€™t prepare for lack of sleep and worry, and what itâ€™ll do to your psyche. In my case, with my husband out of town, it killed my desire to write. (Coupled with spring break, and there went my productivity.)

Anyway, why the excuses? Well, I know Iâ€™m not the only one who may not be making goals each month, and Iâ€™m here to say: Itâ€™s all right. You donâ€™t need to beat yourself up. As long as you know youâ€™re doing your best. You are pushing forward, and making progress.

Now to get a little more serious. I noticed someone had crossed their name off the Book-in-a-Year sign-up sheet. Iâ€™m not outing anyone. Itâ€™s â€œpublicâ€ knowledge. Anyone who wants to pick up the sheet and look at it, can. I didnâ€™t even look that close to try to see who the individual was. My question, though, is why? We still have more than five months to complete the book. PLENTY of time.

I know to some the task may seem impossible. But, many people do it. I have a book deadline of August 15 for a 50,000-word manuscript, and it really hasnâ€™t been started yet. Oh, I have the idea and a synopsis, maybe even an opening chapter, but all that accounts to less than 2,000 words. That one will definitely have to be finished before October rolls around.

Maybe itâ€™s time to reevaluate the goals youâ€™ve been setting. Are they reasonable? Do you mix maybe one tougher goal, and one thatâ€™s a bit easier to accomplish? Right now, we have four months down out of the year. Where do you want to be by the end of the year?

Hereâ€™s a look at my goals:

Submit requested contemporary
Revise and submit paranormal novella
Book 7 in The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf series
YA Book-in-a-Year
Third 1Night Stand for Decadent Publishing
Preppers Romance for Decadent Publishing
Complete second paranormal novella in new series
Holiday novella

Looking at that list makes me a bit tired. Some big goals there â€¦ and Iâ€™m on my way to completing them. Not finishing a goal may put me one step back, but have to keep pushing forward.

— Louisa Bacio

http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/louisabacio

http://www.twitter.com/louisabacio

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OCC RWA May Online Class

April 26, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives

OCCRWA Proudly Presents:

May 13 â€“ June 9, 2013

Writing the Inspirational Romance

with Nancy J. Farrier

About the Class:

What is the definition of Inspirational romance? A sweet story? An element of faith? A character type? What about S-E-X in Inspirational romance? In this class weâ€™ll take a look at the qualities found in Inspirational stories. Weâ€™ll delve into what comprises the various genres within the Inspirational market: contemporary, historical, romantic suspense, etc.

Weâ€™ll look at the element of faith to see what that means and if there is a standard amount expected in your story. Weâ€™ll look at examples, and you will be able to share some of your work, if you choose, to see if your manuscript fits the market.

About the Instructor:

Nancy J. Farrier has published thirteen books in the Inspirational market since her first novel released in 2001. She has also written numerous articles and short stories that have been published in various magazines and books such as Todayâ€™s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family Clubhouse. She has also been the coordinator for the Inspirational Readerâ€™s Choice Award for thirteen years and is the secretary of the Faith, Hope and Love chapter of RWA, an online chapter for Inspirational authors.

Enrollment Information

This is a 4-week online course that uses email and Yahoo Groups. The class is open to anyone wishing to participate. The cost is $30.00 per person or, if you are a member of OCCRWA, $20.00 per person.

To join the class, please follow this link.

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So Much of What I’ve Needed to Know, I’ve Learned From Books

April 19, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Andre Norton, Elswyth Thane, Mary Stewart, Mona Karel, My Killer My Love

And comic books. Seriously. Long before I ever had a science class Superman explained water came from two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen and a lot of energy. Come to think of it, that’s about all I ever did understand about chemistry.
Albert Payson Terhune taught me about the love between dog and person, and the superhuman qualities of his Collies. Later years took a lot of the polish off his halo for me but brought an overwhelming appreciation for the value of hard work when writing. Good, bad, indifferent, that man put out the words. From Jack London I learned about the quest to do more and be greater, in dog or human. Walter Farley filled my head with misinformation about horse racing and stimulated the imagination of a horse crazy girl (and isn’t that a rare condition!)
Thanks to Bruce Catton and Elswyth Thane I understood more about the Civil War, the battles and the people involved. As well as the continued involvement of a patriotic family (Thane) and how involved some families with each other. From Laurie King I learned the not to be forgotten phrase “Cream of Man Soup” about trench warfare in France. All of these writers stimulated me to more research as I tried to understand the reasons for war. Yeah, good luck on that.
Andre Norton showed endless future possibilities and also the value of one small person staying the course in spite of all odds. A most valuable contribution to the growth of an insecure girl. Betty Cavanna and other writers of that ilk spoke to that insecurity and helped ease me into growing past.
All of these writers fed my love of words, with Rudyard Kipling bloating me on their power “We’re foot slog slog slog slogging over Africa…” and “The great gray green greasy Limpopo river.”
Then one day I read: “Nothing ever happens to me.” and was transported into the world of Romantic Suspense as penned by Mary Stewart, the master of subtle romance. Sure I read books about pillage and kidnapping and Alpha heroes. But I kept coming back to magnificently worded books with people simply doing their best. Add in Helen MacInnes and another dose of Andre Norton and I guess I could say a writer was born.
How is it for you? What writers kicked over your rock and sent the creative ants to work?

Monica Stoner, member at Large. Writing as Mona Karel, and working now on a sequel to My Killer My Love…hoping I can come up with an even better title

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emaginings: Nobility in Romance

April 16, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as emaginings, James Scott Bell, Linda McLaughlin, Rogue's Hostage, romance writing

What a wonderful meeting we had this last Saturday!

In the morning, we had a guest in PAW, Dawn Vaeoso of All Romance eBooks. I was already familiar with ARe, but mostly as a reader. Dawn and Debra led a lively discussion and I think we all learned something. I missed the morning workshop by Jackie Barbosa, but heard it was excellent.

But I want to riff a little on something our afternoon speaker, James Scott Bell said in his fabulous talk. When talking about creating unforgettable characters, he listed several characteristics that will make your characters jump off the page:

Unpredictable
Passionate
Resourceful
Complex
Gutsy
Wounded
Noble

In passing, he noted that the last quality, nobility, is underused, but also discussed characters who are willing to sacrifice to attain their goals or to save someone else. I was busy listening and taking notes, but still thought at the time that nobility isn’t so rare in romance. I’ve been in critique and plot groups for years and can’t begin to count the number of times we’ve been plotting, usually toward the end of the book, only to have someone ask: What is he/she going to sacrifice? Or at least be willing to sacrifice?

Of course, the classic example of character sacrifice is The Gift of the Magi. Such a beautiful, romantic story. But that kind of sacrifice isn’t at all uncommon in romance. We’ve all read romances where the hero or heroine jumps in the path of a bullet to save the other. But it needn’t be a life or death matter. Is one willing to give up a job opportunity to be with the other? Or willing to uproot his/her life and move far away? There are lots of possibilities.

Here’s how the mutual sacrifice works in Rogue’s Hostage, my captive story set during the French & Indian War. Toward the end of the book, Jacques and Mara are trapped in the besieged city of Quebec. Mara’s brother, Gideon, is with the besieging British Army. Jacques knows the situation is dire and tries to have Mara ransomed to the British. He is willing to give up the woman he loves in order to keep her safe. When things go wrong, Mara risks her relationship with her brother, her only living relative, to save the man she loves. I could say more, but that would be giving away a spoiler, so I’ll refrain.