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STORIES THAT DO MORE THAN ENTERTAIN (and a few of my favorite books)

April 19, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as ,

by Monica Henderson Stoner, Member at large

Romance writers write romance. Sometimes they write romance with a twist or hyphen. And sometimes they write romance with a subtle message, one that might stop the reader mid paragraph, and have them thinking about other than boy meets girl.

I’ve come across these books in the past, and taken away something more than just a story. One of the first was Kathleen Korbel’s JAKE’S WAY, about a man who gives up his own dreams to help his family, who never realize he can’t read. Korbel whammied me again with A ROSE FOR MAGGIE, about a charming baby with Down’s Syndrome, and then A SOLDIER’S HEART, reminding me PTSD wasn’t just for the men in the field. She wrote about the agony of anorexia in SOME MEN’S DREAMS and about overcoming deep seated fears in both WORTH THE RISK and PERCHANCE TO DREAM.

Suzanne Brockmann faces issues head on. Dealing with Alcohol or drug dependency started with HEART THROB and continues right through the Troubleshooter books. Who can’t love Jules, gay and proud of it, who wanted a partner he could walk with in sunshine? People doing the right thing for the wrong reason, and people doing what has to be done even when no one else realizes what they’ve done, come alive in her books.

Then we come to SEIZE THE FIRE, a heart wrenching story of dealing with the horrors of war in a time when an officer and gentleman was supposed to keep a stiff upper lip and soldier on. FLOWERS FROM THE STORM, a stroke bringing a genius down to near disaster; THE SHADOW AND THE STAR, a young man overcoming a depraved upbringing. Laura Kinsale makes me think while enjoying her stories.

None of these authors hit me over the head with their MESSAGE. I’ve seen and tried to read books with a THEME, sometimes a worthy theme such as racism or man’s inhumanity to man. All valid high concepts but when your theme gets in the way of your story, sometimes people stop reading all together.

More recently, I learned from a fellow LERA member about Best Buddies International: http://www.bestbuddies.org/ a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing one-on-one friendships for people with IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities). Their goal is to ensure these people have friends to call them. Gabi Stevens wove IDD into her newest fantasy romance AS YOU WISH, which I’m looking forward to reading.

For myself, I’m polishing TEACH ME TO FORGET, about a woman overcoming a depraved marriage and making something of herself, then learning to trust.

Happy reading and writing!

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Heck Yeah! E-Covers That Seduce & Sell

April 15, 2011 by in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as , , ,



See all my covers at: http://www.rebeccaforster.com/

by Rebecca Forster
I doubt this will come as a surprise, but ‘pretty’ sells. So does intriguing, shocking, soothing and sexy. That’s why I spent the last three weeks sweating over cover designs for my backlist romances (all of which I hope you’ll check out for your E-reader) and redesigning my thriller covers.

Why, you may wonder, did this exercise create such angst? After all, these are only E-covers. Nobody will run their thumb over the richly embossed type, check to weight of the stock or touch it in a bookstore. This isn’t a ‘real’ cover on a ‘real’ book. And that is my point exactly. These covers are more important than a paper because they will live on in perpetuity.

In this new publishing reality authors who have backlists and don’t own the rights to their covers must now become designers; indie authors who have never had the benefit of seeing their work transformed into a visual face a daunting task of identifying the soul of their books. Bottom line, unlike paper, an E-cover’s impact will be farther reaching than any of us can even imagine.

In the old days an author might reproduce their cover image on bookmarks and mugs. In this brave new world, E-covers pop up as thumbnails on Facebook, Linked-In and other social media posts. They are broadcast to readers of blogs and reviewers who promote your work. An E-cover makes a statement on your own website. An E-book cover is brought up full-size and full color on most readers. An E-book cover sets the tone for your book in a way that a paper cover never could because you – the author – have designed it and that is the truly exquisite bottom line.**

No longer am I at the mercy of a New York art director working off a synopsis of the book we spent months writing. Never again will I have a cover where Lady Justice had a sex change and became a sword-toting Roman guy. I have seen the last of a beautiful ocean on the cover of my book that is set in the high desert of California. Hurrah! I have taken the beaches of cover design, and planted my flag and you can too.

I must confess that initially I was like a young soldier rushing into war without realizing how important the battle was. I lucked out with my Witness Series covers but others looked amateurish, weak and unmemorable. I had that revelation as I readied my romance backlist for E-publication. I was determined to make my covers as easily identifiable as my writing style so when faced with the prospect of creating a minimum of 8 new covers, I knew I needed a plan. I studied E-covers of books I admired and those on the top seller lists. I began to experiment. I realized that, like a first draft of a book, my covers were not perfect the first time out. I began to understand that I had to kick everything up a notch to get noticed.

The new covers now reflect the theme of each book or are evocative of the mood of that work. With the romances and women’s fiction in particular I tried to limit the use of full-on portrait photography in order not to inhibit the romantic reader’s imagination. For me, blocking and color worked for the romances. For other authors, flowers and pastels might be the key to success. For my thrillers, I decided to go darker with ominous and/or graphic images. Though there are no hard and fast rules, here are some guidelines that worked for me:

• Clean is better than fussy

• People (especially parts of people) are intriguing***

• Experiment. Odd colors and disparate type faces can to work together and create drama

• The covers should reflect the tone of the book

• Slugs should be tight and to the point

• Spend a little money on stock photos (I use ‘small’).

• Plug in image search words that aren’t obvious.

• Use PowerPoint portrait setting for your design. The pixel height and width will be perfect.

So, Heck Yeah! Get on top of the the covers. Your E-career will thank you for it.****

*See more of my handiwork at http://www.rebeccaforster.com/ .
**Even if you had a designer, they worked at your direction. Own that cover!
***See The Reckless Ones – my favorite partial body shot.
****The same thoughts hold true for E-packaging!

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Creating the Setting: New Orleans

April 12, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , ,

Shut your eyes, and think about your favorite vacation spot. What sounds do you hear? What’s the temperature like? Any memorable smells? What does the air feel like against your skin? And, what are some of the culinary delicacies of the area> Finally, how do you take all those details and infuse them within writing to that a reader can capture the same senses?
The skill to writing setting, and in this case in particular setting based on reality can be hard or it can be easy. Some people do world-building where all the details come from the imagination, or an alternate reality that’s loosely based upon our world.
When I thought about the setting of my recent release – an erotic paranormal – the location because intrinsic to the storyline. THE VAMPIRE, THE WITCH & THE WEREWOLF: A New Orleans Threesome obviously lives within the Big Easy – Louisiana. 
Last October, when my husband said he was going to New Orleans for a conference, and asked if I wanted to tag along, I quickly contacted my parents for babysitting duties, booked a boutique hotel in the French Quarter and bought a plane ticket. (It helped that the trip fell right after my birthday, so my parents more readily accepted the task of taking on the 4-year-old).
Despite all the hardships of the past few years, the city completely lived up to expectations. And, I felt very much like in Florence, Italy, connected to the soul of the city.
In a recent interview with Desmond Haas of the Romance Radio Network, Mr. Haas commented on that in my first book Physical Education I did a good job capturing the setting. He felt like he could visualize the school courtyards and dining area.  I believe that comes from the details, and my background in journalism.
While in New Orleans, I took a cemetery tour, a ghost tour, a Cajun-Creole cuisine cooking class, and partook in most of the infamous pastimes (Hurricane anyone?). Yet, there’s so much more I want to see and experience, such as a swamp tour.
Mardi Gras doesn’t fascinate me. My husband has experienced it a few times, and something about knowing a 6 foot, 4 inch, 250+ pound man being swept off his feet and directed within the crowd scares me.
But ghosts? Bring them on.
In 2012, the Future, Fantasy & Paranormal chapter of the RWA is planning their first conference in New Orleans, and it seems like a very good reason to attend.
Until then, I’ll have to get lost in my sequel and all the details of setting …
Louisa Bacio
_______________________
Want Romance Trading Cards? Leave a message about your favorite setting – or vacation spot – and send me your address via Facebook, and I’ll send you out the threesome! (If you come to the OCC/RWA meetings, I’ll bring some in May.) 
The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf is available now via Ravenous Romance and Amazon Kindle.

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5 Job Tips for a great romance novel hero interview

April 11, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by Evelyn Q. Darling
Romance Reporter At Large


How well do you know your hero? Is he tall, dark and handsome? Okay, so you don’t want a cookie-cutter hero, but have you really thought about what questions to ask him?

(When you can take your eyes away from his sexy grin among other parts of his anatomy.)

This reporter recently interviewed heroines for a romance gig and got some very interesting answers.

Now, it’s your hero’s turn. Ready, ladies? Start your engines…

Here are my 5 Job Tips for a great romance novel hero interview:


1. Don’t ask him to take off his shirt. Tempting, yes, as you check out his muscular arms, but this is a sexist attitude that will get you nowhere. (But oh the fun you’ll have trying!)

2. Schedule the interview in a locale where you’ll both feel comfortable. Not in a sports bar where he can eyeball the basketball scores and the waitresses with the deep cleavage. Forget tea shops that serve lemon dainties, unless you’re writing a regency and you want to see if he exudes the proper Mr. Darcy-isms.

3. Ask him to show you his…wheels. Yes, I said, wheels. Is he a Harley guy? Jaguar? Or does he drive an old pickup? Does he keep half his “stuff” in his car? Or is he a neatnik? You can tell a lot about a man by his…wheels.

4. What’s his day job? Or if he’s into night work (and what hard-working vampire isn’t?), you’ll want to make sure he’s a good match for your heroine. If she’s a lawyer, a police detective can make her life hectic; if she runs a cake and bake shop, how about interviewing a land developer who wants to tear down her vintage cottage shop? And let’s not forget the city gal who’s just aching to meet up with a real cowboy. Just make sure he can ride…a horse.

5. And finally, don’t ask him if he’s a good kisser. Tell him to show you.

Evelyn Q. Darling is the alter ego of Jina Bacarr.

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Dialogue Tags: How To Kill Off Some Of The Little Buggers

April 10, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , ,
By Sharla Rae

In Laura Drake’s recent blog My Editing Peeves, at www.writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/ she points out dialogue tags. I have to agree that too many “saids” on a page or even in a chapter are annoying. Sure, there are other tags like snarled, whispered, interjected, cried etc. But again, they stand out if overused. Included in this illustrious list are all the he and she thoughts.

After taking a hard look at tags, I realized something. Tags are tattletales! He said, he yelled, he whispered. It’s “telling.” And one of the first lessons in writing is to “show” not “tell.” Don’t you love how writing is like knitting? One set of rules always weaves into another set. Okay, back to the subject of tags.

We can’t do without tags completely, but we can kill off some of the little buggers.

With only two characters on stage, tag extermination is easier. Using new paragraphs each time one of the two speaks, eliminates the need for tags. Also, a character’s dialect, acccent or speech pattern may set them apart from other characters. Still, even with just two characters there are times it’s absolutely necessary to indicate who’s speaking to prevent confusion.

Now, place three or more characters on stage, and things get really complicated. Complicated but not impossible.

One of my favorite ways to kill of a dialogue tags is through the use of body movement and/or body language. If a character is moving or has a certain facial expression, we don’t need the tag. Body language has the added benefit of expressing emotion. In other words, using this method “shows” a character is angry, happy, or depressed.

Examples:

Instead of: “Stop it!” James said. [He could be angry but then again he could be laughing hard and telling someone to stop it. But if we say: James said, angrily, we’re telling.]

  • Try: James sliced the air with his hand. “Stop it!”
  • Try: “Stop it!” James held his sides, laughing.

Instead of: “Is she serious?” Amber asked, rolling her eyes.

  • Try: “Is she serious?” Amber rolled her eyes and laughed.

Instead of: “Gosh, I love this song,” Jill said, dreamily. [Yikes an ly word]

  • Try: “Gosh, I love this song.” Jill closed her eyes and swayed to the music.

Instead of: “Try it, you little weasel,” Jake bellowed. “Just try it.”

  • Try: “Jake’s palms slapped the tabletop. “Try it, you little weasel. Just try it.”

Instead of: “You jerk!” Pam screamed, swinging her handbag at him.

  • Try: “You jerk!” Pam lashed out at him with her handbag.

The same idea applies to the he or she thought tags.

Example:

Instead of: Can this day get any worse? Jane wondered.

  • Try: Jane slumped into the nearest easy chair and kicked off her shoes. Could this day get any worse?

Instead of: If he comes through that door, I’ll brain him, Jill silently vowed.

  • Try: If he comes through that door, I’ll brain him. Jill’s fingernails bit into her palms. [Shows determination]

Punctuation can be used to negate tags that indicate strong feelings. To demonstrate what I mean, I’ll use one of my above examples.

“You jerk!” Pam screamed, swinging her handbag at him.

Given there is an exclamation mark after jerk, we know Pam said this with strong feelings. Unless we want her screaming to draw the attention of characters around her, we don’t need to “tell” the reader she screamed. Also, her actions indicate anger and that makes the tag an even bigger overkill. But what if Pam said it under her breath so as not to draw attention? Do we need to say, she whispered? It works. But we could also say: Pam sneered and leaned close, her lips a mere inch from his ear. “Jerk.”

Note: Don’t over use exclamation marks. Again, body language will work just as well.

It must be said, though, that having all the characters on stage constantly nodding, scratching, dancing and throwing things would be just as annoying — not to mention ridiculous — as too many tags. So a few tags are allowed and in some instances they work better for a tight, straight to the point sentence.

I know of no set rules on how many dialogue tags are allowed on a page. The best rule of thumb is to vary your dialogue and cut them when possible. And if you’re still unsure, read the page out loud. Too many tags make the writing sound choppy. They also distract.

The right balance will result in tighter writing that “shows more and “tells” less.

Interesting related websites:

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