Please help me welcome Jane Porter, author of Women's Fiction and HARLEQUIN PRESENTS romances, books that make you dream of gorgeous, sexy men and compelling romance. Today we're asking Jane about her book Flirting with Forty, a movie made for Lifetime TV and showing this month.
Jane, when did you come up with the idea for Flirting with Forty?
I went to Hawaii on a spur of the moment to finish a book for Harlequin Presents as I was so sad and finding it hard to concentrate due to my recent divorce. But I didn’t end up that much happier in Hawaii. The 5 star hotel was beautiful, but I missed my children, I missed my old life, I missed everything that had once defined me. All those intense emotions began to stir up the what if’s for a new story and I didn’t know what the story was yet, but by the end of my stay, the pieces began to fall into place. The Las Vegas developer at the pool became a character. The fancy hotel itself became a setting. And the sexy surfer who strolled through the pool area just pulled all the what ifs into one story: What happens to women as they become wives and mothers? What happens to our sense of humor and sense of self? Why do we become afraid of change and new things? Within two days I had the whole book—the beginning, middle, and end.
How long did it take to write?
Once I sat down to write the book, I wrote it in a matter of months. I knew the story so well. I knew what I wanted to say and this is a book that almost wrote itself. Maybe this is part of the story’s power. I was honest. I was raw. I was determined there would be a happy ending, too.
What's the strangest thing that happened to you while writing Flirting with Forty?
Life and fiction collided. I began dating the sexy surfer after interviewing him, and I started flying to Hawaii as frequently as possible to see him. While I became happier, my friends back in Seattle weren’t happy with me. They were worried I was behaving irrationally, worried about the surfers’ age and lifestyle, worried that I was investing too much time in a far away place when I needed to settle down and get used to being a divorcee in Seattle. I didn’t anticipate their resistance but in the end, their resistance became part of the book and made it so much more real and complex. To this day, people think I wrote about my life, but at the time I pitched the story to my editor, it was just a plot. A concept. I’m still amazed that four and a half years later I’m still seeing the surfer and we’re now having a surf baby together.
What research did you do?
I interviewed that surfer and then I began spending weekends in Hawaii whenever I could. I took surfing lessons, read everything I could on Hawaii and surfing, and talked, talked, talked to women, asking questions and listening to what they had to say about their lives, their joys, and their secret sorrows. What was the process from book into film?
Judith Verno, a VP at Sony, read the book in the fall of 2006, loved it, and contacted my agent regarding rights. My agent put her in touch with producer Lucy Mukerjee who was handling the option on the book. They put together a deal and within a couple months screenwriter Julia Dahl had been hired to do the script. Julia’s script was great and after some tweaks casting began last December and then boom, we were in production with filming taking place in Calgary and Hawaii in April. Did you get to meet the cast?
I did get to meet the cast in Hawaii. I was on the Hawaii set for a week and was able to watch a lot of the filming, as well as play an extra on a couple of different occasions. Heather Locklear was lovely, and made a point of coming up to meet me my very first day on the set. And Robert Buckley...well, he’s smoking hot and he fit the surfer role perfectly. I don’t think the movie would have half the charm without Robert.
How long did it take from acceptance to the movie being made?
Less than two years. The book first came out July 2006 and by July 2008 the film was already shot and in post production. It all happened very quickly, but that’s been part of its charm. Flirting with Forty changed my life. It brought me success. And it brought me love. The story changed my life. I discovered I could be happy. You just have to want the great life. You have to for it. You can’t wait for the great life to come to you. What's next for you?
I’ve another book coming out this July, Easy On The Eyes, and it deals with aging, women, and the entertainment industry. And my last two novels, Odd Mom Out and Mrs. Perfect, have already been optioned and are being considered for development by a number of folks. Do you have a website? If so what is the web address?
My website’s www.janeporter.com and I also have a blog called the JaneBlog that’s lots of fun. I’m always doing contests and talking about life, and I of course, love hearing from fellow readers and writers there.
His warning expression silenced her. “In repayment for reading my fortune, I will guarantee your safety and comfort on my estate.”
Unable to stop herself, she blurted, “Can you guarantee my safety, and my sister’s safety, from your knights and you?”
His mouth quirked. “When you cooperate.” He rolled up the stark white sleeves of his shirt, revealing the solid strength of his arms. He had a rugged, handsome face, his features perfect. His gaze was steadfast and single-minded.
“You don’t understand. We are only safe from the mulo if you let us go. Displeased spirits will haunt us because my mother did not receive a proper burial.”
“You are needed here. Mayhap, when times are safer, you can return to your tribe.”
“When?”
“When the sickness has passed.”
Weary of any argument that she couldn’t win, Valentina sighed. “Let me see your hands.” He set both hands on the table, and she bent her head to examine them. His hands were strong and firm.
“Does it matter which hand to get an accurate reading? Right or left? Or both?” he asked.
His nearness created a disconcerting tingle in her chest, bubbling and burning. The heat emanated from his body and melted on her skin.
Valentina jerked her hands away and smoothed her wild hair, suddenly self-conscious of her soiled appearance. Her fingers drifted to the stinging muscles in her shoulders and she massaged the soreness.
“You will stay in my castle, Valentina, until all my questions are answered. You are too difficult to find.”
“Do you think my life is so worthless I now belong to you?” Her heart drummed in genuine alarm, although she kept her voice cool. How would she ever escape? How? She averted her gaze. If their eyes met, he would recognize her desperation.
“If I assumed this, my men would not have traipsed halfway across England and back to find you.” He stood and retrieved his elaborate cloak off the chair, an intricate black silk design woven into rich damask. So beautiful, the garment could fetch enough money in the marketplace to feed her tribe for months. He draped the soft fabric around her shoulders. “You must be cold.”
She glided the cloak between her fingers and opened her mouth to protest.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or more, like bread, in a loaf pan
1/2 cup oil 2 eggs 1 cup pumpkin 1 1/2 cups sifted flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1 /2 cup chopped nuts
beat eggs, add oil and pumpkin. Add to 3/4 of dry ingredients. The other 1/4 flour mixture---add chips and nuts and coat on top. P.S. This is my mom's recipe, and the flour is supposed to be sifted. I have never sifted anything in my life---but sift away if you prefer. :)
Please welcome Bonnie Vanak to the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers Blogspot, she is just as an amazing person as she is an author. Thanks Bonnie you're the best!
Are you a plotter or a panster? Actually, I’m a plantser! I do both. I start out with a destination in mind, have a road map, the synopsis, of how to get there, but sometimes I take drastic detours. Kind of like driving from Florida to California by way of New Jersey.
Do you get your characters from the people you have known or now know? My DH is the role model for my heroes, because he’s romantic, and caring, and a wonderful person. But each character is different. I did write one character who had a little of me in him. That was Ramses in The Tiger & the Tomb. He has my quirky sense of humor.
How about a peek into your next series, or single? My next single title historical is The Lady and the Libertine from Dorchester. That book is out in April 2009. It features a wicked, thieving earl who is trying to steal a ruby from a beauty in Egypt who guards a vast treasure hiding in Egypt’s sands. The ruby is the key to unlocking the treasure.He also desires to steal her virginity, and guess what happens there? JThe hero, Nigel, is almost an anti-hero. He’s a very bad boy, but he does the wrong things for the right reasons.
I also have a Draicon werewolf novella out in Midnight Cravings, a collection of Nocturne Bites. That book is a trade paperback released in April. The next Draicon Nocturne will be Raphael’s story in Immortal Wolf released next fall. And I have a story in the Holiday with a Vampire anthology coming out next December from Nocturne.
How do you handle working, writing and having a family at the same time? Ask me next month after the holidays are over, lol! It’s not easy. We don’t have children, which is one reason I’m able to write. The day job and the writing put a lot of demands on my time. I’m trying to find more balance in my life, and that’s always a good goal.
Do you do your own research? Ever go to say, Egypt for inspiration or information? I do all my own research, but have never been to Egypt. One day I will go. That’s a promise I made to myself. I like to make my stories as authentic as possible in detail and setting, so I do a lot of research.
0D
How long have you been writing? I started writing romance in 1997, took a break for a year, and then got “the call” in 2001 when Dorchester wanted to publish The Falcon & the Dove, my first historical.
Do you still read? I love to read, and that’s often my reward for finishing a deadline. I cherish the times when I can sit down with a book and read for two hours straight. It’s wonderful!
Tell me about some of your favorite heroes.
Nigel is the hero of my upcoming historical, The Lady and the Libertine. He’s in desperate need of reforming and love. I had fun tormenting him.
For the Nocturnes, I loved writing Damian from Enemy Lover, he’s such a dominating, yet vulnerable alpha male with a dark secret. Damian is extremely protective, very possessive and domineering. Jamie calls him an “uber alpha,” and he has NO idea what “uber Alpha” means. He has a gentle side to him, and it surfaces a lot when it comes to Jamie. In one scene right after he’s disciplined the werewolves who failed to protect her, he’s so caring and gentle with her. It’s a total contrast to what he did with the guys. I also adored Raphael, whom you’ll meet in Enemy Lover, the immortal, Harley-riding werewolf.
What's your ideal dream day? I like my day job now, as it gives me the opportunity to help those in dire need. I work as a=2 0writer for a large international charity and travel to poor countries to interview poor people, get stories of their needs, and write letters to raise money to help them. The travel can be grueling, however. The saddest part of my job is witnessing the suffering of innocent little children who are dying from starvation or have endured horrific abuse. It gets pretty tough, and I just have to remember the good we can do for them. This is why I started writing romance, because the happy ending is always in my books. I don’t always see that in real life. Some of the children I’ve written about have died, and it breaks my heart. Others, like this little orphan girl I met in Haiti years ago, give me such a feeling of joy. The orphan girl, who was left at our orphanage in Haiti as a young girl, is now in college. She speaks French, English and Creole and she’s very, very smart.
Do you have a website?I have a website; www.bonnievanak.com and a blog, www.bonnievanak.blogspot.com. You can read an e xcerpt of my other books on the website.Thanks for having me as your guest!
Tell us about Elle James in three sentences. Harlequin Intrigue author Elle James started writing on a challenge with her sister Delilah Devlin back in 2000. She writes murder, mysteries for Harlequin and Romantic Comedies for other publishers.
What was your first sale and how did you feel when you found out? What were you doing? My first sale was when I sold my Golden Heart Winner TO KISS A FROG to Dorchester Publishing. I’d just gotten back from a heavy Tex-Mex meal to the office where I worked as an IT Manager. I was sitting in the parking garage when I noticed that I’d missed a call on my cell phone. When I found out it was an offer for my book, I happily accepted in a very calm voice and hung up. All that Tex-Mex food swirled around, threatening to revolt, my heart raced and I almost hyperventilated! Then I had to call my sister, Delilah Devlin to share the news. I was a complete waste at work for the rest of the day. I must have been walking on cloud nine because I swear I was floating about the cubicles!
Some folks are familiar with the challenge between you and your sister Delilah Devlin, are any of your books a product of that challenge? My sister and I started writing co-authored books to learn the process and how to put together a good book. We co-authored 4 books, only one of which is now published. That book wrote itself it was so much fun. JACQ’S WARLORD (written under my pen name Myla Jackson) at Ellora’s Cave is a time travel from modern-day Atlanta to the 12th Century England. We loved writing that book and have ideas for sequels. If we only had more time!
Are you driven by deadlines and try to get your stories written in advance or do you have a tendency to procrastinate and wait until the last minute? A little of both. Since some of my publishers don’t schedule a book until it’s done, edited and ready to go, I have to set my own deadlines. Most New York Publishers give you a date the manuscript is due. I work toward those due dates and rarely go over. It’s a business and I like to hold up my end of the production process by delivering my product on time and of a sufficient quality that it doesn’t need massive rewrites.
What’s next? I have three books out in 2009 with Harlequin Intrigue: Baby Bling – Apr 2009 Final Analysis – Sep 2009 For Better or For Worse – Dec 2009 You might not know this, but Harlequin has its 60th anniversary next year. I was invited to participate in two continuities in honor of the 60th anniversary. Baby Bling is part of the Diamonds and Daddies series and Final Analysis is part of the Kenner County Crime Unit series.
What are you working on now? I’m working on For Better or For Worse. This is actually the sequel to Dakota Meltdown which was released in 2006. It’s the story of the serial killer’s wife and I set it in the Hill Country of Texas. I’ll be writing it through December and January.
If you weren’t writing what do you think you would be doing? Working at the aerospace machine shop we own. I love helping out when I have more time away from writing.
What food can’t you live without? Ice cream! Rocky Road to be specific!
What was the last really good movie you saw? A: Eagle Eye! I love action adventure and it had plenty!
What is your favorite TV show? Don’t hate me. I love American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. I also love the new Sanctuary.
Thank you Elle for visiting Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers. Your upcoming Intrigues look, well, intriguing! :)
For one commenter today, I am giving away a personalized copy of Elle's latest Intrigue,
NICK OF TIME
If that isn't the hottest cover! YOW!!!
UPDATE - DECEMBER 18, 2008 Winner of the autographed book is Edie Ramer. Congrats Edie!
My interview with Elle James will be up in about 30 minutes. I lost the internet at my house last night and have moved to the library to use these. Please check back about 2pm CST.
It's fun wandering around the neighborhood seeing all the holiday lights. There's the anal neighbor up the street who probably uses a computer program to make the swags dip in matching arcs along his rooftop and twist around his railings in perfectly matched rows. There's the family who has every inflatable Christmas decoration ever made propped on their lawn. (And I mean EVERY one. Santa and the reindeers. Snap Krackle and Pop in Christmas hats. Scooby in a red scarf. Christmas Spongebob. And, in the center of it all, the Creche, looked adoringly upon by all three wise men, their camels and various assorted farm animals.) And I love how families who celebrate other holidays at this time of year are getting in on the fun. Blue lights, for instance, are a nice addition to all the red and green, I think.
Our house has lights up. They are not, um, perfect. They loop over the railing in arcs of various lengths, reflecting the amount of lights someone felt like swinging over that particular portion. They end a little short of the end of the railing. There's a bright gob, like a faux north star, in the middle of a small potted palm because that's where that hopelessly tangled strand got dumped this year. And I love it that way. It's fun and er, whimsical. I suppose a psychologist would have a field day making spot analyses of people's personalities. I figure I'm as qualified as anyone to make specious judgments about people. I wonder if you can link writing style to Christmas light display. I mean, if you're a spontaneous writer, does that mean you're more likely to be a spontaneous decoration putter-upper? Does it mean you make drop cookies instead of the rolled, cookie-cuttered and frosted kind? Do you ignore what's on people's lists and get them what appeals to you as you go shopping? Do romance novelists have fancier displays than non-fiction writers?
Well, based on how I fit into the above examples, probably not. I'm more of a planner, writing-wise, but I like unplanned decorations, I can't make a rolled cookie to save my life and I follow people's lists. The most no-nonsense person in our house is also the most whimsical when it comes to decorations. Even so, it's fun to walk by the other houses and speculate, isn't it?
Liz Jasper is the award-winning author of cozy vampire mysteries Underdead and Underdead In Denial. You can read excerpt at her website www.lizjasper.com.
Today, we are fortunate to have Golden Heart winner and new author Robin Kaye visiting.
Welcome to The Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers Blog, Robin. I am so thrilled to have you here.
Before we begin, I have to come clean with the readers. I know Robin and I adore her! When I first began writing, I went to the 2006 conference put on by Space Coast Authors of Romance in Florida. Robin was one of the first people I met..she was there as one of the finalists in their Launching A Star contest. Robin won the Single Title category with a book called Romeo, Romeo. Then I ran into Robin at another conference in Arizona! She and I were making the conference rounds. We met again at RWA Nationals in 2006 and in 2007, where she won the Golden Heart in Contemporary Romance with Romeo, Romeo. During 2006 and 2007, I watched Robin final and win in quite a few RWA chapter contests with Romeo, Romeo. When she won the Golden Heart, I was thrilled but not surprised! (Sorry Robin. I just KNEW you were destined to win it).
So without further ado, Here's Robin!
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. But it never occurred to me that anyone else would want to read it. I wrote (and still write) because it’s part of who I am.
In 2000, I moved from Idaho--where I had great friends, a wonderful community and a busy life with my husband and three small children--to Maryland where I knew no one. My son was in the second grade and my daughters (one in pre-school and one in kindergarten) were on opposite schedules. I found myself with no more than 2 ½ hours at a time to do anything. There was really no way for me to make friends.
I had recently discovered Jane Austen and was doing research online and found an incredible website with Jane Austen Fanfiction. I was amazed at the quality of writing I found there. Before long, I’d started my own story, a modern-day telling of Pride & Prejudice with a twist of Persuasion. I have to admit that after the fourth chapter, I went off on my own. I discovered early it’s a lot more fun to write your own plots. Still, it became very popular on several sites. One of the regency writers, a professor at Oxford, read it and told me I should get it published. At first I thought she was joking, but after repeatedly saying she was quite serious, the seed was planted. After I finished writing what I now refer to as “The Tome”, I started Romeo, Romeo with my eye toward publication.
Are you a fulltime writer, or do you have the dreaded day job?
Both! I’m a full-time writer, but I’m also a stay-at-home mom with three kids. Actually, I doubt I can be called a stay-at-home mom any longer. One of my daughters is a pre-professional ballerina and dances 6 – 7 days a week at a dance school an hour and a half away. I ferry her back and forth four days a week, haunting the local Panera or Starbucks while she’s dancing—that alone is a full-time job. I home school her as well. Luckily, she spends three days a week with a host family so I get a little bit of a break and actually get to see my husband and other two children.
What made you want to pursue writing as a career?
I think it was my husband. I know that sounds funny, but he took my writing more seriously than I did almost from the beginning. When I was still writing my fanfiction, he told me I was essentially working full-time and taking care of the kids, which in his mind meant I had two full-time jobs. Since he only had one, he thought it was only fair that he should take over doing the laundry. After he revived me from a dead faint, I figured out that if I wanted to keep him doing the laundry (which was the bane of my existence) I’d better start taking this writing thing seriously. LOL It’s a sad story, but basically true.
So you exchanged the laundry for writing? You got the best end of that deal!
What authors do you read? Who inspires you?
I read everything I can get my hands on. I love all kinds of writing. Growing up I read my dad’s books, Robert Ludlum, Sydney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, Wilbur Smith. I got interested in studying law and read everything by Louis Nizer, Reflections without Mirrors: An Autobiography of the Mind made a huge impression on me growing up. I think I was about 13 when I read it.
I’ve only been reading romance since about 2001. I read Jenny Crusie’s Fast Women and was hooked, after I read her entire backlist I started reading Susan Donavan, Donna Kauffman, Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Maureen Child, Susan Mallery, and Nora Roberts just to name a few. I think any piece of well-written material is an inspiration. Heck, I recently read an obituary that was inspiring; I guess it’s all in how you look at things.
Do you ever use any of your everyday life as fodder for your books?
Oh God, yes! Rosalie, my heroine’s in Romeo, Romeo has a dog namedDave. Dave was inspired by my dog, Clancy—other than giving her a sex change, Dave is essentially Clancy. I’m froma Brooklyn, Italian family. I was born in Brooklyn and I love it, so I write about it. I’m married to a domestic god, so I guess that was a big inspiration for Nick. What woman would want a man who cooks and cleans for them?
I have to admit that I positively swooned during the scene where Nick lifts her sofa to vacuum under it! LOL
Tell us about winning the Golden Heart for Contemporary Romance in 2007 for Romeo, Romeo.
Talk about a shocker . I entered it with the hopes of scoring in the top 50%. I never even entertained the thought of being a finalist. I paid no attention to the date they would announce the finalists, so when I got a call from poor Trish Milburn, I thought it was someone had died. The only people I knew who lived in Tennessee are my brother and sister-in-law. Since I only hear from them on my husband and brother-in-laws shared birthday or on the occasional national holiday, I thought for sure it had to be bad news. I was very happy to hear it wasn’t. .
The first thing I thought of was oh, God, I have to buy a dress! I tried to talk myself out of it, since really, what
were the chances of me winning and having to get up in front of 2,000 people to accept such a prestigious award? Things like that never happen to me. I’m really not that lucky or that talented. I still think it’s some kind of cosmic joke.
Deb Werksman from Sourcebooks, one of the final GH judges, contacted me when I got to Dallas and asked to meet with me to talk about Romeo, Romeo. She told me how much she’d loved it, she even quoted her favorite lines from the book. I can’t tell you how surreal it all was. After attending the spotlight on Sourcebooks and meeting the Publisher, Dominique Raccah, Deb made me an offer and I accepted it. I thought nothing could make that conference better – that was, until I won. That conference is definitely going down in the annals for best conference of all time.
Romeo, Romeo is your first published book. How many books did you write before Romeo, Romeo?
I’m one of those people everyone hates. Romeo, Romeo was really the first book I wrote toward publication, though my fan-fiction was a tome of 330,000 words and was three complete romances. So it really depends upon how you want to look at it. You can consider Romeo, Romeo to be my first, or my fourth.
Tell us a little more about the plot for Romeo, Romeo.
Romeo, Romeo is about an independent businesswoman, Rosalie Ronaldi who’s life would be perfect if she could just figure out how to keep her nosy, pushy, Italian family from trying to marry her off.
Nick Romeo, Brooklyn’s Donald Trump without the comb over, thinks independent women are an urban myth, until he meets Rosalie and realizes they’re no myth, just a pain the ass. He’s finally met a woman who is looking for the same thing he is, a commitment free relationship ,and is shocked to discover that all he wants to do is take care of her. Before too long, he’s moved in, cleaned her apartment, stocked her refrigerator, and adopted her dog.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m writing Becoming Mr. Perfect, the third book in my Domestic Gods series. It’s Rich Ronaldi’s book and I’m having a great time writing it. It’s a really fun book to work on.
Do you have another book scheduled to be released in 2009?
After their mind-blowingone night stand, Mike is sure this is the woman he wants to take care of forever, but she acts like she’s seen a ghost. While Mike sets to work wooing Annabelle, she sets to work sniffing out the truth of the convoluted family secret that turns everybody’s lives upside down.
What advice do you have for other aspiring writers?
I can only say what helped me. I entered contests. I targeted agents, editors, and publishing houses, and only entered the contests they were judging. I received several requests from doing that. Then I entered the Gold Heart and was lucky enough to sell to one of the final judges.
The other thing I suggest is to go to conferences and don’t sit with your friends all the time. Meet people and talk to everyone. Put yourself out there and remember that you are always “on.” I’ve found myself talking to a total stranger and then after a half-hour realized he or she was an agent, editor or a writer I loved. Chit-chatting has gotten me requests from agents, editors and it even got me a cover quote.
Thank you for visiting today, Robin.
If you have questions for Robin, post them in the comments section.
I am fortunate enough to have read Romeo, Romeo and truly loved it. Robin is giving away one autographed copy of Romeo, Romeo to one of our lucky backbloggers. If you don't win the free copy, please do yourself a favor and get this book...but only if you want a delightful romance. Be warned... you WILL fall in love with Nick!
The winner's name will be posted on Friday, December 12. Come back then when I have an interview with best selling Harlequin Intrigue author, Elle James.
UPDATE - DECEMBER 17, 2008
Due to internet problems, I was unable to post the winner of the Robin Kaye book until. A note has been sent to "M" as the winner. If I do not hear from her by Friday, December 19, I will contact a runner up. Thank you again to everyone who visited.
Pink Fuzzies, help me welcome Debra Dixon, author, editor, and publisher. I’ve known this dynamic woman for more than fifteen years.
Deb, What was your first published book and with whom? I wrote for Dog World and a number of national magazines before selling my first novel. I sold to Bantam Loveswept, which made me an eight-year overnight success in the business!
My most recent work is a short-story in the Denise Little fantasy anthology WITCH HIGH. (DAW, 10/08 – imprint of Penguin)
On the day we meet my young water witch she’s just finding out she is officially the last of her class without a familiar. Worse, if your familiar hasn’t bonded with you by the time you’re seventeen, it’s not going to happen. In two weeks she’ll be turning seventeen.
And so her misery and the schemes to find a familiar begin. Little does she know she’s about to have a much bigger familiar problem that will make NOT having a familiar seem like a piece of cake. Toss in a mysterious young man from Ireland, the emotional scars she carries from her mother’s suicide when she was younger, a new stepmother, one of the darkest familiars of the craft, and you have "Coyote Run."
How many books did you write before selling one? Probably 1 real book and several “starts” of books both in fantasy and romance. I entered the second book I finished in the Golden Heart and was trilled to be a finalist. I entered that book in the Maggies and didn’t even make the finals. Still, that’s the book that sold, which shows you that even books that don’t final can sell! It wasn’t until much later in my career that I realized the fantasy “rejects” I had received were more like serious requests to revise or “development” deals in which the editor says, “This isn’t right. Send me your next book very early in the process and let me look at a synopsis first.”
I was young and green, so I thought that meant, “Don’t quit your day job.” What themes go through your books? I’ve found that an author’s personal theme is unknown until he/she has written a number of books and can look “backward” to analyze them. I’ve found a number of my books deal in some way with the issues of owning who you are and reaching for a dream or life purpose. I’ve also done books with themes of isolation, family, you-name-it! I like a lot of “meat” to a character so it’s not uncommon for me to tackle a number of themes in one book.
Still, those who pick up the book WITCH HIGH and read my story “Coyote Run” will recognize a variation of theme! Now that’s not to say that there is any formula or that you’d actually see these as the same theme unless someone pointed out the commonality.
To work successfully with a core theme you have to explore all the different ways the theme can manifest. How would you best describe your books? I tend to write darkly emotional characters. Even the lighter books of my career were marked by dark and painful emotions. The books have always been reviewed as “sensual” although I never intend to write sensual. It’s just part of my voice. As is humor. I find life inherently funny and I love fabulous dialogue How did you write with kids and deadlines? And a career. I was a business consultant for most of my career and I’m still only semi-retired, plus for the last nine years we’ve been building BelleBooks. (www.BelleBooks.com) And just recently we’ve added Bell Bridge Books (www.BellBridgeBooks.com)
The easy answer is “butt in chair.” It’s also the only way anyone writes. The trick is finding a routine that puts your butt in the chair everyday. You have to make some sacrifices when you want to write and have a family plus non-writing career. Television becomes a luxury. Crafts and hobbies have to go. Every writer will find a different mix of activities that will allow him/her sufficient time with butt in chair. The trick is simply recognizing you can’t do everything and you have to jettison some activities.
If you don’t want to write, you’ll never make the tough decisions to put your butt in the chair. The regularity of butt-in-chair is more important than the chunk of time you’re writing. If you write every single day for five minutes, I bet that pretty soon you’ll be writing every single day for ten minutes. How many books have you published? 8 novels, 10 anthology contributions, 2 non-fiction books What other jobs have you had? I’ve been a business consultant for over 20 years with a specialty in operational management and software development. What do you love most about writing and what do you not like? I love having written. Being done. I think writing is one of the most difficult jobs in the world and I have immense respect for everyone who puts fingers to the keyboard and pen to paper. Brainstorming is fabulous. I never met a plan I didn’t like. And I think writing the big emotional scenes is satisfying in a way that is difficult to describe. (Yeah, I know, I’m a writer. Go figure.) What are you writing now? A new story for the next book in the Mossy Creek series. I’ve missed the deadline. Don’t tell them I’m here blogging.
What would you write if you could do write anything you wanted to write? I’d write great honking epic fantasy in the vein of George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan (who sadly died this past year). And I’d write Regency historicals—social romps, not suspense. I have an extensive (and by extensive I mean obscene) collection of both Regency and Medieval reference, resource, rare and out-of-print books. …Just in case. And I’m very excited by Young Adult fiction. We’re publishing some through www.BellBridgeBooks.com and it’s doing quite well for us. Two great books -- MOONSTONE by Marilee Brothers and BITE ME by Parker Blue.
Why do you write? Because editors make me. And readers complain if they don’t get at least some small something occasionally. How do you write? Slowly. I’m a final draft writer. I have to be comfortable that I’m “getting it right” before I move forward. I’d rather write late at night when the house is quiet and no one is using a leaf blower or picking up trash in big noisy trucks. Do you write what you know? Never. I did a book with Christmas as the central setting and I researched Christmas. I never assume I have all the important perspectives and knowledge. Sometimes by simply opening yourself up to another’s perspective you will find the most amazing scene, detail, character or emotion heart for a book.
What’s next for you? Lately it’s not so much what is “next” because so many things are constantly in motion with the new imprint Bell Bridge Books. “Next” is very fluid around here. So, next on my calendar is, hopefully, finishing the fabulous dark, urban fantasy on my desk and acquiring it. Which means I open the door to a whole slew of editorial responsibility until that book is safely published. When and why did you change genres? I’ve always loved fantasy and when an opportunity to do a short story came along, I was happy to dip my toe in that well. I found it interesting that a couple of the reviews mentioned my story could easily have been expanded to a YA novel.
When and why did you decide to venture into BelleBooks, then Bell Bridge Books?
BelleBooks (www.BelleBooks.com) began about 10 years ago in a hotel room during DragonCon, the largest sf/f con in the U.S. I made the comment that with the consolidation of the publishing industry and the rise of the internet as a source of buzz for products, “Now is probably the time to find a niche and open a publishing company. Not only could you control some of your own work, you could be poised to offer what readers can’t find as the market consolidates.”
The other authors in the room said, “How much do I write the check for?”
I tried to talk them out of it but they were adamant. So, we began our foray into publishing. We’ve learned a great deal. We’ve had an author on Oprah (Susan Nethero- BRA TALK) and published NY Times Bestselling sensation Sarah Addison Allen before she hit the Times list. We now have a wonderful collection of her short stories out in audio. http://bellebooks.com/books/InMyDreams.asp
We’ve had a book final in the RITA, sold subrights to book clubs, large print, mass market publishers, and foreign publishers. We’ve published Patti Henry Callahan first. We’ve just signed a deal with Kindle and with Audible, which is the largest site for the download of digital audio on the net. We’re still tiny but growing. www.BellBridgeBooks.com
We opened the new Bell Bridge imprint as a way to publish emerging authors and reach into new genres. The BelleBooks brand is a very wholesome, Southern traditional print publisher. At Bell Bridge we’re experimenting with new production models and new genres.
What do you do when you aren't doing publisher things? I am an avid quilter. You can take a tour of my quilt studio here. http://bellebooks.com/Quiltingstudio.htm
The quilts on the Sweet Tea collections are not mine. Those are antique quilts. “My quilts have been consistent Best In Show winners,” Debra said modestly.
Are you still writing book length fiction? Not currently. There isn’t a lot of room in my schedule! I do still have a couple of contracts with major NY publishers and one of these years I may dive back in. My non-fiction publisher has been after me to do another writing book. I am vaguely considering that. And, of course, I adore writers and stay connected to the craft because I’m out on the road giving workshops throughout the year. http://debradixon.com/speaker.html
If you could open a submission and find your dream book, what would that book be about? I would kill for a Southern Louise Rennison. Humor is soo difficult to do well and with such a unique voice. I’d kill for a big, honking epic fantasy. Again, those are terribly difficult to do well and with a unique voice. Plus the author needs mad plotting skills to carry an epic. Still…I’d love to see one.
Right now I want good solid dark fantasy with voice. VOICE. Unique voice is critical. Too much of what I read is competent but lacking true voice. What makes you fall in love with a submission and want to see more? Voice. Voice. Voice. A great concept or story will make me look, but if the voice isn’t there I just can’t force myself to wade through a competent book. We’re a small publisher. What we do has to stand out as we build our reputation in new genres. I do see some books that are good books but just miss the boat. I will tell you that if you do it well enough, you can do anything you want. I recently requested a book that was 1) excessively long, 2) wrong for us, and 3) the protagonist doesn’t survive the book. I looked at that book proposal 5 times and each time I couldn’t bring myself to decline. So, I finally asked for the full manuscript. Will we buy it? I don’t know. But voice, mastery, and concept together will make an editor break every rule they have.
In Sinbad's Last Voyage,when Sinbad sh'en Singh agrees to help Andrea Talltrees find her fugitive-from-justice husband Tran, he doesn't know he's embarking on his last voyage as a wanted criminal. After he declares his love for Andi and proves that the man she thought she married already has a wife and is actually a spy, he discovers he's dying of mesothelioma pneumocosis asbestosis, contracted while he was a "guest" in the Federation's Toxic Zone prison, Fort Joy. At last coming to the decision that to live with Andi for a short time is better than dying without her, Sin convinces the stubborn little Navajo to marry him. In Sinbad's Wife--the second book in the Adventures of Sinbad series--Andi has to show more courage than she's aware she possesses. Following the birth of baby Allan, wedding bells chime, but Happily Ever After isn't in the cards--thanks to the arrival of Sin's hitherto-unknown son Adam, threats from a lecherous French surgeon and a Federation marshal who knew Sin when he was a child-prisoner at Fort Joy, Andi's abduction by slave-traders--and the appearance of the one man she never thought she'd meet again.
Sinbad's Wife is published by Double Dragon Publications and is available in e-book and Kindle; later this month, it will also be available in print.
I got home from church and eating lunch, discussing with the hubs all the stuff I need to get done today when WHAM!!! Up comes the post to remind me that I up for posting today. YIKES!
So, here is the topic of the day...
When you're procrastinating, when you should be writing (or the laundry, or the dishes, or dinner, or vacuum, or, well, you fill in what you are avoiding), where do you go on the internet?
I'll be back later to update this post with some of my favorite sites. Put your caps on. Do you have some new places for me to visit?
UPDATE 4:53 pm
I'm back! I spent the day cleaning up my boat (Pontoon boat) for winter storage. That took most of the day. Then I spent the last hour or so using the leaf blower on my front yard. Nope. Didn't get done. So, Can you guess what I'll have to do tomorrow? LOL
Ok - my favorite places...
First, like any aspiring author, there are agent and editor blogs
Then there are the group blogs of other writers (besides our own PFSW gang). I'm sticking with group blogs as not to overload this post with all the individual authors I follow! But seriously, these are but a couple!
If you're having one of those days when your words won't flow, or the boss is on a tear, or the kids just had their ninth fight of the day, go check out those last five sites. One (or more) will give you that smile (and break) you need.
Last, Twitter. If you haven't discovered Twitter, WOW... Check it out. It like mind crack for me. I love it. Have "met" some wonderful people there.
My mom's birthday is in September. She says she's 49, but I find that hard to believe (since I know what year she was born and can do math) but whatever! I struggled to find a really great gift for her (but I did!) and now, here we are at Christmas and once again I'm surfing through website after website or cruising through store after store trying to buy for her again.
Is buying a present for your mom as hard as buying for my mom? Not that she doesn't love everything I buy, but lord-love-a-duck, the women has everything...and anything she doesn't already have, she doesn't want!
So we usually end up taking her out to dinner and then some cake. This year, we did the dinner thing (yum - Colorado Grill) but I didn't bake a cake. I made two homemade pies (Double YUM). Coconut Cream Pie and Mile High Pie. So where did I get these incredible pie recipes?
A few years ago, my husband and parents took a trip to MN. (Beautiful state, BTW) We were near Two Harbors and saw a place with absolutely no parking left in the parking lot. (Always a sign of a good place to eat!). We stopped and discovered the most incredible pies EVER. For her birthday that year, I got my mom the Betty's Pies cookbook. (I also got a copy). So far, every recipe in that book is moan-worthy. But this lady loves heavy cream!
So, if you have a pie passion, check out her website. Better yet, get a pie. Need a recommendation of which one? Just ask me. I've tasted more than my fair share!
3.4 package coconut cream INSTANT pudding & pie filling
1 1/4 cups milk
1 pint whipping cream
1 1/2 cups coconut
Toasted coconut for top of pie
Mix milk and pudding together until stiff. Store in refrigerator while whipping cream. Save about half of the whipped cream for top of pie. Fold pudding mix into whipped cream and fold in 1 1/2 cups of coconut. Pile into a 9-inch pie shell and top with the remaining whipped cream. Sprinkle top with toasted coconut.
To toast coconut, heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut into cake pan, place in oven and turn the heat off. After 5 minutes, take a peek. If lightly brown, remove and let cool. Store in covered container.
Enjoy! Don't blame me for your extra 10 pounds after you try her pies!
PFSW Ladies and Readers - Mea Culpa. I was scheduled to post on Monday and it totally slipped my mind. MEGA apologies. Sad to say, but if something isn't on my calendar, I might not remember.
But I'm here today with another pet story! Judi was kind enough to send this to me for last week's Pet Stories, but somehow, either the post was eaten by the internet or I accidentally deleted it. We are NOT take discussing which of these possibilities is more likely!
Judi Phillips has 2 books published with Wings Press, Through All Time and Secrets, and has a book coming out next year with Wild Rose Press, Ghost of a Chance. She lives in Maine in the foothills of the White Mountains with 2 dogs and have 3 grown kids, two granddaughters and another grandbaby on the way. She writes a little bit of everything, paranormal, contemporary with a bit of mystery, and have recently delved into erotica, which she having loads of fun writing. Because she also works full time (aka The Dreaded Day Job), she crams her writing in whenever and wherever she can. (We all know how that is, don't we?)
Here's her story...Once a year, I make my little doggies (Sassie, the Yorkie, and Jake, the Min Pin) earn their keep. I hitch them up to plastic sleds (one a small flying saucer and the other a regular sled) and we trek into the woods a hundred yards from my house. While I gather twigs and small branches for enough kindling to last me through the winter, they explore, sniffing and territory marking to their hearts’ content. Then I “load” up the sleds and they help me pull it back to the garage for winter storage out of the snow. Their reward is that they get to snooze in front of the crackling fire on cold winter evenings.
Here they are hard at work. Can you say"Slave-Driver-Mom Judi"?
Thanks Judi for sharing your story. Those are two very cute dogs.
Finally! Dogs who earn their keep. My two said this was the worst blog they'd ever read. Said it gave "hoomans" the wrong idea!
Jill catching up on her rest after a rough day playing in the yard.
Maggie looking cute and asking for her ball to be thrown!
Thanks for dropping by! If I'm not here, look for me at Cynderella's Castle (my blog).
Please help me welcome Raven Hart, otherwise known as Susan Goggins. Shhh, don't tell. I've known her since around 1991 as a member of Georgia Romance Writers. This woman loves questions, so ask away!
Raven, what was your first published book and to whom?
My first sale was to Harlequin Duets. Shortly after that I sold two books to Kensington Bouquet. Even though the Harlequin sale came first, the first Kensington book came out before the Duets.
How many books did you write before selling one?
Three, but I wound up selling two of those after the first sale.
What themes go through your books?
Romance, of course, but with my current Savannah Vampires series from Ballantine books, I bring in heavier themes as well. Vampires think about how short life is for their human friends, what it’s like being cut off from the grace of God often through no fault of their own, what it’s like not being able to walk in the sun with the humans you love, that sort of thing. But there’s also lots of comedy and adventure in my series: (“The Vampire’s Seduction,” “The Vampire’s Secret,” “The Vampire’s Kiss,” “The Vampire’s Betrayal,” and the upcoming, “The Vampire’s Revenge”)
How would you best describe your books?
They’re sexy, funny, and scary. I have a traditional old-world vampire and a younger NASCAR-loving, womanizing redneck vampire. Both are devastatingly handsome of course. There’s also a voodoo queen, some shape-shifters, and some fey folk. How do you handle deadlines?
I’m pretty bad about procrastination, so I’m always playing catch-up at deadline time. When you’re on deadline, the only way is to apply your behind to the chair and your keys to the keyboard for as long as it takes. How many books have you published?
Three series romances and five single titles.
What other jobs have you had?
I wrote computer manuals for over 25 years. I’ve also been a speech writer at a K Street PR firm in Washington, DC, a newspaper reporter, and assistant editor of a trade magazine. What do you love most about writing and do you not like?
I love writing because it’s fun to make up interesting characters and use them to tell exciting stories. I also like being able to do my work at home in my comfy clothes with my dog napping by my side and a mug of hot chocolate in my hand. There’s not much about writing that I don’t like, in fact I can’t think of anything except the occasional case of writer’s block. What are you writing now?
I’m contemplating the next book in my vampire series and working on a couple of new projects that are so new I can’t even talk about them yet.
What would you write if you could do write anything you wanted to write?
I like writing fantasy because your characters can do anything you can think of. If you want them to fly, they can fly. It’s very liberating. I also want to do funny southern fiction.
Why do you write?
It seems to be what I’m good at, I like it, and luckily people seem willing to pay me to do it. How do you write?
I use an outline because it helps me organize my thoughts and keep track of my ideas. I’m not a draft writer. I seem unable to leave a paragraph until I’m completely happy with it. So I don’t write fast, but I write cleanly. I can’t write scenes out of order because I think in a very linear fashion, so I write a book from front to back. Do you write what you know?
Well, I don’t know any real vampires so I suppose I’d have to say no. What’s next for you?
I just hope to get another contract. I don’t think too far in advance. When and why did you change genres?
Opportunity knocked when I was asked to partner in authoring a vampire series, so I answered. I’m glad I did. That was about four years ago.
