Sunday, April 29, 2007

Earth Day Tribute

Last week’s Sunday Six honored Earth Day by – er – being earthy. Since I was out of town, I didn’t get to post. However, I thought I’d go ahead a post my Earthy Six a week late. Actually, I spent the week playing in the great outdoors with a few hundred 8th graders and a few handfuls of adults possessing a spirit of adventure.

I hiked, climbed, white-water rafted, and rode horses. I enjoyed fabulous sunsets and relished the clouds and rain rolling in over the mountain view.

However, we all know that a great many other activities can be conducted outside. I didn’t get involved with “those” activities last week. As I said, I was with a bunch of teenagers. I also had to leave the dear husband at home. I do, however, I have a mini-vacation for just the two of us planned back in those majestic mountains – a get-away consisting of all kinds of outdoor activities – wink, wink.

The following books contain some of my favorite outdoor trysts. Read on for inspiration for worshiping of each other romantically in the presence of Mother Earth.

The first outdoor escapade that comes to mind is Karen Marie Moning’s first love scene between Drusten and Gwen in Kiss of the Highlander. He’s inadvertently traveled forward in time. He’s a five century old Highlander. She’s a modern day woman on a quest to find the right man to -- uh – you know. They make love for the first time in a circle of runes as he prepares to travel back to his own time. It’s his first exposure to thongs. It’s her first exposure to just about everything. The rest of the book is fabulous as they enter his time, but he can’t remember who she is. The book is one of my favorites. I should go dig it out and reread it.

The second scene is fresh on my mind as I’ve recently read it. In Susan Elizabeth’s Phillip’s Match Me if You Can. Annabelle Granger and Heath Champion find themselves unable to resist each other as they share a cabin on Annabelle’s book club retreat. Heath invited himself along and after a night out of exploring the wild side with her friends, Annabelle finds herself unable to resist Heath as they explore, er, the great outdoors from the mattress Heath had tossed onto the porch.

In Flashpoint, a knock-out novel by Suzanne Brockmann, Jimmy and Tess find themselves up against a wall – literally. Jimmy has just rescued Tess from a Middle-East jail. Both are so relieved that they find themselves unable to control their passion in the middle of a sandstorm.

While not an actual love scene, the chase through the woods in Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton sets up the following love scene perfectly. Anita basically throws down a gauntlet challenging Richard, her on again-off again werewolf boyfriend to catch her before any of the rest of his pack catches her. The first one to catch her gets her – in bed. Anita is just a little possessed by the spirit of the sadistic, but dead, former lupa of the pack. It’s a race through the woods from the lunipar to the cabin where Anita is staying. In the end, Richard can’t imagine anyone else being with Anita, and he manages to catch her. So, the love scene is sort of in the woods, but it’s the chase the heats up the tension.

In Sunny Chandler’s Return, Sandra Brown writes one of the hottest-nonsex sexual tension scenes I’ve read. Sunny and Ty flirt on the dock of the house where she is staying. He’s made a bet with a buddy that he’ll have her, and she’s vowed it won’t happen. However, in that flirt scene, you might as well be out there in the sun with them because you’ll definitely feel the heat.

Whew! This is getting difficult. I obviously need to seek out more books with great outdoor love scenes. I’m sure that after I post this, I’ll think of a dozen I could have listed, but oh, well, here’s the last one.

Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s first collaboration, Don’t Look Down, chronicles the love story of Lucy Armstrong and J.T. Wilder. I’ve read hotter love scenes before, but what I love about this one is that Lucy decides she wants J.T. and treks out into the swamp where he is camping to find him. I like it when women go for what they want. I like that she put herself out there and pursued him into the swamp for their first time. Nice touch.

Well, that wraps it up. Can you think of others? Post them here.

Happy reading and writing,
Macy

Friday, April 27, 2007

Getting Ready for the RWA Conference

As Jackie mentioned, four or five of us are going to the RWA conference in July. It's my first writing conference ever, and it'll be the first time I meet the members of my online writing group in person. We'll tell you all about that when all is said and done. I'm looking forward to it.

I've been pouring over the workshops and ranking choices. I've changed my mind about a couple rankings and then changed it back again. It's so hard to decide! To help me decide, I looked up a lot of the presenters and accumulated a list of quotes that I liked. I decided to share some of them, plus a couple of links. They inspired me at just the right moment as I'm almost done with my first draft and I've come to the startling realization that it sucks. Ha!

No worries, I am "fearless" (not really, but sorta) and I know how to hang tough. Oh, and I definitely know how to fill a screen with bad pages. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read on--

First up a quote, actually several excerpts from an article, by Jane Porter.

I've learned to hang tough. . . If we want to make it, we have to dig in, hang on, and hang tight.

Some writers sell easily. Some writers write easily. And there are those of us who have to claw our way to the top and I don't mean by clawing over each other, but by clawing up, like a rock climber, hand over fist, inching our way up the impossible vertical slope, grappling with the cliff as though our life depended on it. And in a way, our lives do depend on it, our writing lives.

We as writers have to be willing to take risks. We have to be willing to strike out on our own. . .

We are artists AND businesswomen and in our line of work we can't separate the two, because frankly, we're not writing for vanity press. We're writing to sell. Most of us want to make money writing. We want careers as writers and we want to find our right niche.

Climbing the vertical slope to publishing can be miserable. It's exhausting, physically and emotionally. It's challenging. It's disappointing. So pick your climbing partners carefully. My real writer friends are all smart and funny, tough, honest, and more than a little gritty. They want to write and they want to succeed and they won't accept no.

The serious writer doesn't walk away from the craft or the challenge. The serious writer reaches deep inside, finds the courage, renews the vision, and taps into the heart. We write romance because we believe in the miracle of love.

Attitude in this business is everything. Those who look forward, those who challenge themselves, those who don't make excuses, those who believe, will succeed.

Ignore dismal market statistics (the market is always tight!).

Hard work pays off. Positive thinking is essential, as is sheer grit. Don't ever give up. Don't quit. Don't stop believing in yourself. Real writers hang tough.


Obviously, lots of good stuff in there that applies to me. I'm a grasping rock climber sort of writer -- I learn about my characters and their conflicts as I climb. Setting descriptions don't come easy. Dialogue flows, but I put in a lot of superfluous stuff. Sigh. Fortunately, I have true grit, so thanks Jane.

Here's some similarly fabulous writing advice from Cathy Maxwell --

My one piece of advice to anyone involved in a writing career is to be fearless. It takes guts to put yourself out there for everyone to read. And no, the crowd doesn't always roar approval . . . but when they do-it's sweet.

What exactly is involved in fearlessness? Well, here are the components I include in my definition of the word:

  1. Vision. Know where you are going and why you want to get there. Keep your eye on the prize and not on the grind of everyday ups and downs.
  2. Passion. Believe in what you are writing. Have something to say to your readers. Hold nothing back and do not flinch from the truth. Live for the moment when your story comes together--and struggle with the words until you get there.
  3. Optimism. Reach for the stars. Never give up. Believe in yourself even when all others are ready to count you out. . . Go forward with conviction.
  4. A strong work ethic. I know brilliant writers who've never gotten past re-working a first chapter over and over again. . . A book is written one painstaking, exasperating word after another. We write in fits and starts, in endless marathons, and when the rest of the world is living normally. Sometimes what is on the screen is crap; sometimes it's brilliant; sometimes it's passable. That's the way it is.
  5. Courage. Here's the heart of it. Don't be afraid of writing or life. Be willing to stretch yourself and to take risks. Nothing is more boring than a writer who doesn't challenge herself. Use your individuality to a competitive advantage and remember that whatever happens the sun will rise tomorrow.
I love that. All of it. I left out a few lines so make sure you go to Cathy's web site and check out everything.

I also love the following quote from SEP, on her ALL ABOUT ME page--


NORA ROBERTS SAYS, "I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." I found the courage to fill my screen with bad pages on those days when my mind was mush, then trust myself to fix them later.

Hello? Even SEP has mush mind days.

Last but not least, a quote from Joan Johnston, which provides a great reason to go to the conference--


A lot of what I learned, I learned from going to writing conferences where a lot of my favorite authors - like Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, LaVyrle Spencer, and Roberta Gellis - would give speeches. I'd go to seminars and learn how to write better conflict…how to write better characters…how to create better settings…how to keep the narrative together with the narrative, and the dialogue with the dialogue…how to speed up the book with dialogue and slow it down with narrative…how to do verisimilitude: don't just say 'the church,' say 'the First Presbyterian Church on the corner.' But I also read over 1500 romance novels before I wrote my first novel."


Also, check out this interesting interview with editor, Hilary Sares, at Dishing with the Divas AND this article on Honing Your Pitch by Winnie Griggs.

It's going to be a great conference with some great presenters, no?

Cheers, happy writing and happy conference planning,
Alyson

Monday, April 23, 2007

Lovin' the Planet

Yesterday I said I'd be back with my "Sunday Six" of hot, outdoor love scenes. I was wrong. I've been busy and I just couldn't come up with six without doing extensive research-- or at least some research which I didn't manage today. Instead, I offer you another "six" in lieu of the hot, outdoor love scenes. ( Jackie may still come up with some for your perusing pleasure.) They have nothing to do with romance but they have a lot to do with loving the planet:)

Here are six "environment& ecology" reads that I recommend in addition to picking up a copy of the Green Pages, which is a directory of green products and businesses, and watching An Inconvenient Truth, the academy award-winning film.

1. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
2. Hoot by Carl Hiassen
3. The Great Kapok Tree and A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry
4. anything by Barbara Kingsolver but especially Small Wonder, Prodigal Summer, or her latest, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
5. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiesson
6. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Cheers and happy writing (and reading),
Alyson

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Outdoor Amore




Outdoor Amore... in honor of earth day Alyson and Macy came up with the Blog topic of "Best outdoor lovemaking scenes". This topic is a bit difficult for me for two reasons. Number 1: I think I am in the early stages of Alzheimer's - I literally have a memory of a sieve. Number 2: since we live in a 1000 square foot military house with little to no storage, anything that is not absolutely needed is donated, pitched or sold. Very unfortunately...this includes most of my books. So, although I may not be able to give you the exact titles and authors, I can give you the setting, in most cases.

1. Hannah Howell is a master at lovemaking scenes. Her specialty seems to be outdoor and, uhm, creative, lovemaking. She seems to also have a knack for food-lovemaking. I no longer have my Hanna Howell collection to reference, but any of the 13 or so books in her highlander series offer a foray of outdoor “activities”. There are numerous lovemaking sessions under the trees in the dark outside edges of a military encampments. With only a blanket or the long wraps of the Hero’s plaid to cover them, or conceal their activity, these scenes could appeal to someone who likes to live on the edge of danger.

2. I can not remember the particular author, but there were three books in her series. She has had several scenes from separate books, where her hero and heroine are making love besides a freezing cold loch in Northern Scotland after bathing. Her heroes must be very well endowed or her heroines must be hotter than Aphrodite, for after a dip in 40 degree water, there is noting holding these couples back. These scenes will warm you up in the middle of a North Dakota Blizzard.

3. Shannon Drake is my next recommendation for tumbling in nature. Under the moonlight, in a grassy clearing of the wood, her hero and heroine laid bare their souls and the rest of their bodies. This seems to be the most romantic setting to me. Who doesn’t look good in moonlight? The soft wind blowing through the grass and gently rustling the leaves. Quiet, sensual lovemaking. The kind that lulls you softly to sleep when you are finished. mmmmmm......

4. Jackie D’ Alessandro wrote a great scene in the Love and the Single Heiress about making love in a hot water spring outside in a garden. It was very sensual. My heart was racing the whole time because the story took place in Regency England, and I was terrified they would get caught by prying eyes or by the antagonist who was trying to kill the heroine. In the water lovemaking is very sensual, but hard to imagine.

5. I can not remember the novel’s name or the author’s name, but there was a historical novel set in 1700s of Italy where the heroine and hero made love in a grotto by the sea. The details of the grotto, the waves crashing along the rocks, and the silky sand still stand out in my mind today. What a beautiful place to consummate your passion.

6. The last on my list is a shameful advertisement for myself, Jacqueline McDermott - My Father’s Bride. The Waterfall scene. Details - well, you will have to wait and read the book to find out. :o)

Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, Macy and I had decided to celebrate the great outdoors via our "Sunday Six" by listing memorably hot, hot, hot outdoor love scenes. Unfortunately, Macy is away on business and I'm super swamped so I may not get my official six up until late tonight or during nap time tomorrow. If you would like to weigh in today, please feel free to do so. Got any hot outdoor love scenes you'd like to share? I immediately thought of the first kiss between Jessica and Dain in Lord of the Scoundrels and a few personal experiences, uh -- oops, sorry, too much information. No worries, I'm working on the others from romance fiction.

For now, to celebrate Earth Day, I leave you with this link -- check out Green E: the Environmental Elvis. We saw him today at the Planet for the Party at Brookfield Zoo, and he was fun. Dante, my three-year-old, was thrilled because he got to dance and play bird maracas on stage.

I'm off to a neighborhood shindig. It's in the mid-eighties in Chicago. Chicagoans are out and about in full force because 'round here you never know -- it could be snowing next weekend. It's been known to happen.

I'll be back.

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Friday, April 20, 2007

Woe, woe, woe . . .

Woe is me!

Once again Friday is here, it's my turn to blog and I'm at a loss. You see, I've done a rather crazy thing, and now I can't make heads or tails of the results. I'm in a writing group called Affairs of the Pen, and this, obviously, is our blog. However, awhile back I realized that I needed something more to help me plow through the first draft to the end. For that reason, I signed up for a writing workshop. So far, so good. We meet weekly, turn in work, submit critiques on other's work, receive little writing mini-lessons, yada, yada, yada. Of course, no one in the workshop reads or writes romance or chick lit. Therefore, I contacted someone that another writer acquaintance had introduced me to via email. I met the writer acquaintance through Writer's Digest's online writing classes last fall. She writes young adult but her friend writes mysteries with strong romantic elements and romantic suspense--sort of. Her friend-- we'll call her Cassie-- and I share a similar quirky sense of humor. She and I have been exchanging our work. She's also in an online writing group. She asked me to join but I said my plate was full. However, when I decided to enter a contest and she gave me feedback in a turnaround time of two days, I agreed to submit my work to her group. Now, honestly, I'm not sure what I think of contests, especially at my stage in the game. I personally think every single person in my writing group writes way better than me -- but I'm nothing if not determined, energetic, persistent and generally up for a daunting challenge. Turns out everyone in Cassie's writing group is a master critiquer. I received five crits in record time. Besides that, four people in my writing workshop re-critiqued my work and Samantha from AoTP sent me some comments this morning. I'm most familiar with Samantha and her critiques, and she always gives sage advice, so I processed her comments pretty quickly. (They were great comments.) The problem is I have so many comments from the others and the opinions are all over the place. I should really be on the treadmill at the moment, attempting to synthesize-- which is why I can't think of a damn thing to blog about. My mind is swirling. I have crits all over my office. . . .

Exhale.

Oh, and did I mention that I gave different portions of my little "test market" different opening scenes, and now I don't what in the hell I'm doing with the opening scene? All the reviews are mixed. Did I also mention that I inadvertently gave everyone slightly different drafts because my computer files are a mess?

Exhale.

Oh, and did I mention I have a stack of crits to do for others?

Exhale.

Why do I this sort of thing to myself? Hmmmm.

Actually, it's all good. I thrive on Herculean tasks and a certain amount of chaos, but I didn't pull it together in time to come up with a fascinating blog topic and now the clock is ticking and the dear husband is getting ready for a gig, and I'm on toddler duty so this is the mess with which I will have to leave you.

If you want something more interesting to think about skip down to Macy's blog on climaxes :)

Or check out the responses of the Bitchery and Stephen King to the media's notion that Cho's creative writing should have been an indication that he was capable of the Virginia Tech massacre.

Or read up on the most romantic stories ever and contribute to the Smart Bitches "official" list.

Or read up on alpha male characters, in general, or tortured alpha males, in specific, at Romancing the blog.

I have to hit the treadmill, before the hubbie takes off or I'm going to have a major headache and I'm going to be preoccupied all night :)

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Plotting and Climax (yes, that climax)

I love the blog round-ups that Alyson sometimes does. I'm only rounding up one today, but I thought I’d comment on one blog that really resonated with me.

Check at the latest post over at Murderati. The post has been getting a lot of play and discussion on some loops, so today when I finally got some free time, I checked it out. Robert Gregory Browne compares the three act structure to love-making. (Wait! Don’t click over there yet. Read my blog first!)

I like his analogy. He says:

We're often reminded in how-to books that the typical story is broken
into three acts:
Set-up, Confrontation, and Resolution. Sounds pretty cold and uncaring, doesn't it? Not to mention dull.


But what if we were to beat the lovemaking analogy into the ground
and refer to the three acts in this way:
Seduction, Foreplay, and Climax.



Ok. Is that a good analogy or what?

Seduction: What he says boils down to – seduce your readers with a character they wouldn’t mind getting into bed with and who carries an air of mystery.

Foreplay: I have problems with my middle, but somehow thinking of act two as foreplay, well, that does put a whole new spin on things. I don’t particularly like writing act two, but I love foreplay. If I think of the middle as foreplay, then suddenly it becomes the good stuff. Oh, yeah, I’m there.

Climax: In order to even get the reader here, doesn’t the seduction and foreplay have to be pretty damn good? Yeah. And then your climax (love the double meaning) is the ultimate experience, the one that will get your lover, er, reader, back again.

Ok – I love this analogy. Since I write romance, it’s easy to sit down and think about seduction, foreplay, and of course, climax.

If I think about it this way, it makes plotting sound more fun. I’m not really a plotter. I can now admit that.

And, it’s not just books.

I laugh when my friends call me anal and organized. How can they look at my desk and say that? I’ve tried to figure out why people perceive me this way for years. I literally can’t file anything and find it again. At my day job, I work with a woman whose gift is filing – really, I’m serious. Can I say “life saver”? She doesn’t like the creative aspect of what we do so much – well maybe she does, but the ideas roar through my head, whereas hers enter at a more reasonable pace.

I guess it should be no surprise that plotting is a thorn in my side. I think that friends call me anal because I have a need to have things go right. I don’t always need a plan for that. My organization occurs in my head. It did in school. It does at work. I’m pretty flexible as far as seeing what’s working and not working and intuitively making adjustments. I’m learning to do that as a writer, but part of me still feels like I’m not as good as others because I can’t do the plot-it-all-out thing.

I’ve always said I have mad scientist organization. I see something I think will work better, I just turn down that path. It works for me in the day job and at home. It worked when I was a student (3 college degrees ought to be proof).

On vacations I want to know where I’m going, how to get there, generally, so if I take a wrong turn I can still find my way. However, I don’t want every minute of every day planned. That really zaps the fun for me. It’s one reason I get so tired when I vacation with my mom and sister-in-law. They don’t leave any room for discovery. I’m sure I drive them crazy, too, with my, Ooh, looks and wondering offs.

Where am I going with this meandering tale?

To seduction, foreplay, and climax, of course.

I think I can plot this way. It will work like this:

How will I seduce my readers and my characters? The goal will be to get them to the point where “yes” looks very good and “no” not so swell. It seems the first turning point ought to be where the reader and characters say, “Yep, I’m going down this road because, damn, I’m more than just a little turned on and compelled.”

Then, looking at the middle as foreplay will really help. How do I tease them just a little more? How do I draw them in? Can I make them beg?

Finally. Yeah, that’s it. Damn, they’re finally there and it’s every bit as good as they thought it would be. Climax.

Yep, this panster can plot that.

Macy

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Purge! Purge!

Discipline is remembering what you want


Well, here it is 11:11 pm, and I am just getting my blog started. I think the idea is for the blog to be up in time for everyone to read at night. Well, let’s see who is left to read it at this time at night...hmmmm...the Samoans? No, I think they are on the other side of the international date line. Dang! I keep saying that my goal should be tuesday night, that way the blog is up for Wed morning. OK, that is the goal for next week!

Speaking of Goals, in keeping with the goals I discussed last week, I have been working all this week to eliminate all the things that are preventing me from writing, minus of course my darling offspring. I resigned from the last of the committees I lead and I elected not to run again for office of the largest organization I serve, my commitment will be up at the end of May. I still have several projects that need to be taken care of before I can fully throw myself into my work, but I am quickly checking them off day by day. Even though I am not actively writing scenes, I am jotting notes here and there, working on my GMC and pondering things over in my brain.

The act of freeing myself of all these other hobbies and commitments has been exhilarating. Not only am I freeing up my time and space in my closets, I just feel so unencumbered and light! For example: I have approximately 50 books of english smocking patterns, and literally hundreds of yards of fabric. At one point in time I was going to smock and sew everything my daughters wore. Hello!? Where the heck was I going to get the time for this? (I only made about 10 dresses) This week I freed myself from all the guilt and anxiety associated with the incomplete projects. I donated most of the fabric to Project Linus and I am Ebay-ing all the pattern books! It is amazing how great I feel. I just gained 100’s of hours for writing.

Do you have any hours you can gain for writing? Seriously, take a good look at your schedule and the things you are doing in your life. There may be items that can be eliminated or delegated. What about incomplete projects? Even though they may be out of sight, they may not be completely out of mind, they may be weighing on your subconscious draining your creativity at this very moment. Can you put your writing aside for a day or so to get all those things caught up? Perhaps you do not want to loose your momentum, perhaps only reduce your writing time and get these other items out of the picture.

What about multitasking? Personally I completely suck at multitasking, my brain is entirely too scattered, but for others people it works, or does it? Studies show that multitasking can really fry your creative processes. According to an article written Lauren Morton-Farmer of the Pepperdine University Graphite there are newly released studies Which show that people may feel more productive by by multitasking, but “they may be doing themselves a disservice”. She quotes David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan, in a recent Time article, saying “habitual multi-tasking may condition the brain to an overexcited state, making it difficult to focus even when we want to.” So even though we may not be multitasking when we write, when our brains are preoccupied, we can not put all our effort into what really counts.... our MIP.

So Jacqueline’s advise for this week is to find at least one thing to purge from your life that will keep your brain from doing so much multitasking while you write. Lets watch your creativity soar. Happy Writing!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Macy's recs for snobs against romance

This weekend’s blog is tough. We are picking the six romance novels we would recommend to a romance snob – someone who thinks romance is drivel and won’t read it, not ever! What six books would we recommend to change his/her mind?

I think this can be approached two ways. First, you could recommend books that could be passed off as literary fiction or “mainstream women’s fiction.” You could throw out safe picks like The Notebook by James Patterson or The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. However, these are technically not what I’d call romance. They are romantic and deal with themes of love, but they are not romances. Romance readers everywhere would agree with me on that one. Since this doesn’t seem quite fair, you could take the second approach. Hand them actual romances to read. Hand them books that can not be construed as anything else. Of course, on the second tactic, you would likely have to secure a promise from the snob to read all six before passing judgment. That way she wouldn’t just drop them anonymously at the used bookstore prior to ever giving them a chance.

So, let us assume that said snob has reluctantly (of course) agreed to read six romance novels of our choosing. I’m sure this took much bribing since book snobs seem to forever select books based on some preconceived notion that certain books, no matter how good the story, are of lesser quality due to the way they are marketed – romance, mystery, western, YA, etc. Really, isn’t the categorization of books similar to the way we class people? (Think back to sixth grade. Geeks. Jocks. Cheerleaders. Wannabees. Goths. Holy Rollers.) Take the time to get to know them all and what do you find? Some gems in every group. And some rotten apples in all of them, too.

So what six gems would I choose to give my romance snob friend? Since I actually have quite a few friends that are of the scholarly intellectual type who only read books that Oprah recommends or that were written by dead white guys, I took some time to carefully consider this. Also, I will admit that I’m not one of those women that grew up sneaking my mom’s Harlequin’s. (My mom doesn’t read fiction, and no one in my house ever read a romance. See, I grew up in the pit of book snobbery! However, my dad read every western he could get his hands on!) Anyway, I’ve discovered in writing this blog that I’m not as well read as I’d like to be. That’s something on which I’ll work. However, from my limited repertoire, here are my six.

1. Match Me if You Can by Suzanne Elizabeth Phillips is a funny, laugh-out-loud, feel good book. (I’m pretty sure you could pick up just about any of her contemporaries. She’s on all the “top” lists.) It’s is superbly written with larger than life characters that lend warmth and sincerity to the story. If you can’t laugh along with this great romantic comedy, then maybe the dead white guys are a safer (and much more boring) pick.

2. The Admiral’s Bride by Suzanne Brockmann is one of my all time favorite books. Suzanne creates characters that pop off the page. You become so involved in the lives and problems of these people that it’s impossible to stop turning the pages. If you can put down this book, then you must not watch many prime time TV dramas. They could make a whole season out of this book. The could even get the season-ending cliff-hanger, making the first episode of season two the must see event of the fall.

3. Linda Howard. Read either MacKenzie's Mountain, MacKenzie's Mission, or MacKenzie's Magic. Linda has been writing for long time. On most lists that I looked at, these books are in the top 50 romance novels of all time. I’ve read MacKenzie’s Mission and have to say that she does sexual tension better than almost anyone I’ve ever read. MacKenzie’s Mountain is on my iPod, waiting for a good listen. I’m pretty sure all three are “can’t put downs”.

4. Try new writer, J.R.Ward, if you lean toward the horror/fantasy side. Horror and fantasy and sci fi readers read partly because of the world the writers create. She creates a fabulous world. I’ve read three of her four books. I bought the second, third, and fourth the day they came out. Start with Dark Lover so you know what is going on. However, my fav is Lover Awakened. Zadist is one of my favorite all time romance heroes.

5. Debbie Macomber. I love her. I’ve never read one of her books that I didn’t like. The Shop on Blossom Street and any of her Cedar Cove series are a good place to start. Perhaps the snob should start with these books. They are romance and women’s fiction and a good Lifetime movie all rolled up together.

6. Finally, for pure, straight romance (not romantic comedy, paranormal, or suspense, but just good romantic writing) try Sandra Brown’s Sunny Chandler’s Return. I picked it up on the way to the airport. I’ve since purchased several other books by her – all good, but this one was wonderful.

Okay – snobs. Let me know what you think. Happy reading.

Macy

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Alyson's Romance Recs for "Lit Snobs"

This week for our Sunday Six, we're blogging on the romance novels we'd recommend to snarky "lit snobs." It's a great topic but I've had a difficult time with it. Food snobs, wine snobs, music snobs, lit snobs, art snobs, intellectual snobs -- can you really change their minds? And if you can, don't you have to know what they like to read so you can tailor your recommendations to their reading preferences? And if the snob happens to be a guy does that alter your list?

Maybe. Maybe not. It's probably best if you can tailor your recommendation to the reader, but that's not always feasible. Moreover, if someone had told me I'd be blown away by a story about a married WWII nurse who time travels to Scotland in the 1700's and meets a hot Highlander who is tortured near the end of the book, I would have rolled my eyes.

Recently I read recaps of the 2007 Popular Culture Association-American Culture Association Conference in Boston over at Teach Me Tonight ( see the posts from 4/5/2007 -4/11/2007) and Argh Ink. According to Crusie, romance criticism has made some major leaps and is moving in a direction that makes her almost optimistic. Thinking about romance criticism immediately brought to mind my experience with lit classes. Back when I was an undergrad, "women's lit" was a new thing. Universities were forming women's lit classes and women's studies departments. I was glad that women's lit was getting more attention but, in truth, I've never liked divisions or categories within the arts by race, sex, culture, genre or whatever. The divisions are arbitrary and limiting. They're boxes. You could come up with entirely new "conventions" or "definitions" and categorize it all a different way entirely. Yet, I digress. Back to the women's lit thing--

What I discovered in my women's lit class was that women's lit has nearly always sold well and, yet, been marginalized. Ever heard of Emma D.E.N. Southworth? Well, if not, why the heck not? She wrote more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century. Not only that, she was one of the most widely read authors of that era. Why were her novels and those of other women writers of "domestic fiction" marginalized? Oh, well, come on. Those novels weren't "literature." They had stock plots. They were popular but not well written. You know the schtick, don't you? But who decided they weren't well written? Who decided they weren't worthy of literary discussion? The heroines of domestic novels spend vast amounts of time and energy struggling for autonomy, independence and a sense of self. Domestic fiction spoke to the women of the time period in which it sold so well because it spoke to their desire for autonomy, independence and a sense of self--and that was subversive. Nowadays, we study some domestic fiction in lit classes for that reason--to get a feel for what women were going through and what they wanted.

Things have changed. Heroines in today's romance novels don't have to go through the same struggle that domestic novel heroines had to in order to find their place in society. The struggle of women today has evolved and women's fiction has evolved with it. Marriage is no longer a given. Nonetheless, most people--women and men-still long for love, connection, commitment and the possibility of a "happily ever after." Romance novels speak to these needs and make them primary. That in itself is worthy of some literary discussion. In a hundred years, people will study romance novels, chick lit and women's fiction to gauge what was going on with us. Why not view these works now from that angle?

Now, I'm not going to lie here. A lot of romance fiction and chick lit is complete trash and that is why people get snooty about it. However, so is a lot of action/adventure, mystery/suspense, sci fi/fantasy, mainstream fiction, and so on. Nelson Algren once said 90% of everything is crap. I think that's rather pessimistic, but at least he didn't condone throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Earlier in the week, Macy mentioned at her blog that she knew people who would laugh if she recommended a romance novel for a reading group/book club discussion. I chose my six with that remark in mind. What books would I recommend to a reading group or book club made up of women with a bias toward "literary fiction" and against "romance novels" -- possibly with a few lit snobs? I feel compelled to say here that I think the key to a good book discussion is knowing how to ask good, creative questions. Knock them dead by preparing good questions for which they may not be prepared.

Here we go--at long last--in no particular order :

1. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Over at Jenny Crusie's Cherry Forums there was a book club discussion on this book. Check it out. The questions were fantastic so if I were to moderate the discussion, I would start with those questions. I love this book -- and, truly, I would remind the snobs in the group that it is A-okay to have a good laugh and feel good about a "happily ever after" every now and again :) In fact, JC writes:
Romantic comedy is an excellent way for women to read stories about love without any feminist guilt. We've spent so much time establishing the truth that women don't need men to survive that we've buried the truth that there's more to life than survival. The truth for a lot of us is that men are terrific, and sex is pretty good, too, if we don't take either of them too seriously. Sharp, feminist romantic comedy makes love stories politically correct.
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I've mentioned this book several times, but the reason I'd recommend it goes beyond the fact that the first four books in the series kept me up for a week. Check out the Salon.com article titled My "Outlander" Thing : How a brainy guy like me wound up reading historical romance novels and loving them.

3. something by Suzanne Brockmann

Of course, I realize this could be called "cheating," but I regularly cheat on these lists. Here's the thing--I've only read two books by Brockmann because I'm more of a romantic comedy chicka so I have no idea which books on her back list are her best. I loved The Admiral's Bride but the truth of the matter is she's written tons of books. Brockmann is an award winning writer of romantic suspense, a subgenre of romance that I believe could change the minds of "snobs" who are partial to suspenseful lit. She is a formidable writing talent who has won multiple awards. In The Admiral's Bride, you have a grieving Viet Nam vet who everyone regards as "too old" to get the job done, a religious zealot, a May/December romance--lots of things to discuss. Of course, I've been told that there are better Brockmann novels. The books recommended to me by others? The Unsung Hero, Hot Target, Over the Edge and Out of Control. I'd have to cram before I made my final recommendation.

4. A Piece of Heaven, Madame Mirabou's School of Love, or No Place Like Home by Barbara Samuel or In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind

Barbara writes beautiful, poignant, soulful stories that always seem to have something to do with healing. That lends a certain complexity to her novels. Her characters are interesting and multidimensional. Plus, I just adore her as a person, so I'm super biased. I'm willing to kick a snob's butt over her, so there. (Yep, I'm supposedly an adult.)

5. The following three books are in my To Be Read pile because people have recommended them to me as either the perfect romance novel or the best romance novel evah. Each has received multiple recommendations so I leave it to you to read them and recommend them as you wish--First, Lord of the Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. Here is a link to the Mrs. Giggles review. Second, Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. Third, As You Desire by Connie Brockway. Here is a link to the Mrs. Giggles review.

6. Last, but not least I'd recommend reading Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen alongside Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding and noting how they each speak to their times. I'd also think about recommending other chick lit novels as a response to (or possible deconstruction of) former romance genre conventions. Just a thought.

Cheers and happy reading, writing and lit snob converting,
Alyson

Friday, April 13, 2007

Friday Blog Roundup

Happy Friday the 13th. Hope you are all safe and sound. No worries here, although Dante tripped on the stairs this morning and spilled his cheerios. I also had the sudden realization that my heroine in my MIP slept with the hero on Friday the 13th and I didn't exploit that to its fullest. Hmmmm. I wrote the scene a few weeks ago without thinking about dates, but, truly, how did I miss that? My heroine thinks she has a deadly, hard-to-remove love curse. I'm pretty sure this means it's back to the drawing board.

Anyway . . .

I'm doing a blog round up today because I've read some great posts over the last few days and I liked to share them with you, just in case you missed them.

First up the glittery hooha. I read Jenny Crusie's blog today and found myself laughing hysterically over the glittery hooha and the fact that her character, Char, has one. I have a very good friend named Char and she recently died her hair auburn (she seems to have to do everything I do). You'll have to read Jenny's blog to fully understand. Check it out-- and don't forget to peruse the comments.

Not as hysterically funny, but it made me smile, is the post by Eloisa James on lying at Squawk Radio. My parents called me the grand exaggerator and as a child I was in endless trouble for exaggerating, bending the truth, omitting the whole truth and storytelling. I think, perhaps, the truth is more flexible for those of us who are natural born storytellers. We just can't help it, right? I'm preparing for what that mean in terms of my son because he shows early signs of having the "gift."

Speaking of storytellers, I enjoyed Tess Gerritsen's blog on whether storytellers are born or made. She writes --

Every so often, I encounter an aspiring writer who just doesn’t have that storytelling knack. Their manuscripts are boring, and it’s hard to make them understand exactly what’s wrong with their stories, other than to say “it’s not interesting.” Or “it’s not dramatic enough.” Often they’ll counter with “well, it isn’t meant to be commercial! It’s meant to be literary.” Okay, then. But even literary isn’t supposed to be boring.

What I’ve found is that many of these boring aspiring novelists turn out not to be readers. Yep, you heard me. They want to be novelists but they don’t read novels. They think they can tell stories, but how would they know if they have no one to compare themselves to? I run into a lot of these people at my booksignings. They come up to me and want advice about where to send their manuscripts, and how to get published. When I ask them which authors they like to read, I’ll get back a puzzled look. Read? Why, they don’t have time to read! They’re too busy!

So is their dream of being a novelist hopeless? Should they just give up? Are they doomed to forever be boring storytellers?

I don’t know. What I do know is that they have a lifetime of catching up to do. They need to read.
Okay, how in the heck can someone who doesn't read--a lot--seriously think they are going to be published writers? That cracks me up.

Speaking of cracking me up, I love this meme I lifted from Barbara Samuel who lifted it from Joshilyn Jackson. You google your name with the word needs and scan the results. Here's what I got when I googled "Alyson needs" --

Alyson needs to drop the sister act

Alyson needs to be left alone and people should just let her do her job in peace

Alyson Needs A Vacation.

Alyson needs a good team around her.

Alyson needs to determine who is getting this and who is not.

Alyson needs a gimmick weapon, some kinda funky weapon she always uses to kill people with.

Alyson needs to put the book down for five minutes and update.

Alyson needs a little extra help.

Alyson needs kind guidance and support.

Alyson needs to go to bed because its almost 7 am.

Alyson needs to go back to doing drama.

Alyson needs to watch more TV, particularly on Wed. nights at 9PM.

Alyson needs bigger tits for me to lust after her.

Alyson needs to get on with it.

Alyson needs to write a book.

I swear I didn't make any of them up. Fun stuff, huh?

Have you checked out romance novel tv yet? I love it! I've watched all the videos, I think. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Nora and J.R. Ward. Very interesting. Nora's advice for new writers is to stop making excuses, write what you like to read and write every day. I love that -- I love hearing it from her. And I'm proud to say I'm almost there. I occasionally have days I can't write and I have to give myself a break because I have a toddler, and sometimes stuff happens that I can't control, but I'm getting there, closer and closer every day.

My parents are pulling into the drive now. My sister is having a baby-- today! She lives two doors down and I babysit her son who is seven months older than my son. My parents live ninety miles away so they actually got on the road immediately, which is pretty good for them (they like to piddle). Gotta go!

Yikes. I just realized that she's having her baby on Friday the 13th. I have total mommy brain today. Keep your fingers crossed.

Cheers and happy writing,

Alyson

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Randomness

I have another blog -- Random Ravings. Today, I'm going to do just that -- here, not there. I wrote a nice little blog over there and Blogger lost it. Yep, I'm blaming them. Not my fault. (Although, I do know better than to compose my blogs at Blogger.) The loss of a good 30 minutes of work soured my mood, so today you’re getting random tidbits.

First, did you read Alyson’s last post here? (No? Go read it!) Amazing! What a voice! I’d describe her voice as fun and irreverent, bold and spicy – like good Thai food eaten with great friends or a trip to a funky, eclectic coffee house to overindulge in rich coffee and Baileys until late into the night. Regardless, you end up getting less sleep than you need, but loving every minute of it. I’m pretty sure it’ll be that way with her books, too – you’ll stay up too late reading them, but you’ll hit the bookstores the day the next one comes out so you can do it all over again.

I just checked out the USA Today Best-Seller List. I was curious to see what was on it that I’d read, had in a stack to be read, wanted to go buy, and flat didn’t care about. (Oh – I only looked at the first 60. I got bored after that. ) Here’s what I came up with:Read – The Secret; Second Sight (reading currently); The Purpose Driven Life,
In a stack to read – Eat, Pray, Love; Fear No Evil.
Yep, that’s it. Pretty much the rest of them are take or leave or just leave.

I came up with some words in my morning pages today to describe the kinds of books I hope to write: exotic, gritty, sensual, intriguing, passionate, and dark.

For dinner, as I type, I’m eating frozen veggies (microwaved, of course) and French bread. I have no groceries – obviously. I hate to grocery shop. If someone would invent a way for me to ensure that I always had the groceries I wanted when I wanted them and I never had to go back to the grocery store, well, I might give up a kidney for that.

Okay, I told you it was random. (And a little lame.)

Everyone can get off easy at least once, can’t they?

Go write.

Macy.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Roles and Goals

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased- Katherine Hepburn


It is 10:40 at night on Wednesday and it is my night to blog. I am just sitting down to write and I better hurry as my AOTP friends on the east coast will be getting up for the day in about an hour. Luckily, Samantha is blogging tomorrow and she is on the west coast of the mainland, so there should be a few hours in between blogs. Isn’t it grand being half way around the planet?

It is not procrastination which has kept me away from writing my blog tonight, but commitments. During my teenage and college years I became committed to my own needs and the needs of my family. Somehow after marriage and children there was a shift, and everyone else’s needs came before my own, and sometimes even before my family’s needs. Criminal, isn’t it? What changed my desire from meeting my goals to assisting everyone else with their goals? Is it a need to be liked or feel included? The answer to that is a resounding “no”. So, why do I feel the need to help everyone? It is good to help, to a point. Where do we draw the line?

Lately, I have been out of sorts, full of anxiety, and just completely discombobulated. As I spent five hours cleaning up the home-school-disaster-area today, I had a little conversation with myself. Writers often do that. At least I hope they do. I am not crazy, am I?

I said to myself “What is going on with you!!!! Why is your life and your house such a mess? Where is all your time going, why can’t you seem to get anything done?” So I pondered these questions for a while and I think I have found my answer.

Commitments. What commitments have I made to occupy my time? I thought about all of the things that I do during my day. I won’t bore you with the details, but my day was filled with quite a bit of stuff I neither cared about nor wanted to do. So, why then was I doing all of these things? Excellent question. I really shouldn’t be doing any of them. So, if I shouldn’t be doing those things, what should I be doing? Are you still with me?

I needed to figure out what my roles were in life and what goals I want to achieve. Then I would know what I should be doing with my time!

Role #1 Wife - Goal: Be a supportive & loving wife. - Actions: Lots of hugs, good listening, nookie, hot meals, and a nice clean house. (Guys are easy to please)

Role # 2 Mom - Goal: Be an excellent example and loving teacher. - Actions: Love, hugs, good listening, play every day & firm discipline.

Role # 3 Teacher - Goal: To provide my children with an excellent education until they can attend a quality school. - Actions: Prepare adequately, foster learning and motivation, and be patient (that one is really hard for me).

Role #4 Writer - Goal: to write a complete novel and foster relationships with my fellow writers. - Actions: Write every day and support my on-line writing friends.

Role #5 Sister, Daughter, and Friend - Goal: Provide love and friendship - Actions: Be readily available to those who need me.

OK, so where does it say anything about serving on boards and committees, organizing field trips, sewing all my kids clothes, watching all the older kids at the chapel during meetings, being the testing coordinator for all of the military home-schoolers on the island, training and competing in Triathlons with my neighbor, and coaching swimming? Nowhere. So why am I spending hours and hours everyday working in these activities if they do not meet my personal goals? I do not know either. Perhaps I am too soft hearted and I do not want to disappoint people when they need assistance. But, what about disappointing my family, or myself? Is that selfish? Do we need to be a little selfish to complete our goals in life.

The other day I said “writers write.” What about the writer that doesn’t write? Are you being true to yourself, your roles in life and your goals? What I have written tonight seems like a big whine session, which absolutely was not my intention. It was more of an epiphany of sorts, a breakdown to the simplest form of what my life is about and where it should be focused. I wanted to share it with you because I do not want you to be as far off track as I have become. I hope you can define your own roles, what goals you want to achieve for these roles, and find the actions you need to meet your goals.

Good luck, and may your foster the writer and all the other roles within.

Friday, April 6, 2007

"Elusive Voice Thingy" Redux

Voice.

What in the hell is it?

I’m serious. There’s a reason Macy calls it “the elusive voice thingy.”

I keep reading that we all have unique "writing voices," but often we can’t really "hear" those voices ourselves, even when others can.

I’ve read that “voice can be defined as the writer's awareness and effective use of diction, tone, syntax, unity, coherence and audience to create a clear and distinct personality of the writer, which emerges as a reader interacts with the text.”

I’ve read that voice is who we are, what we have experienced, what we have read,whom we have met on our journey through life. All the living we've done comes into play and these collective experiences meld into voice.

Laura Backes at Write4kids.com writes--

One of your most powerful tools as a writer is not your vocabulary, your mastery of grammar or even your fancy computer -- it's your voice. Your unique blend of description, character and style allows you to talk to the reader through the printed word. Without a voice, a manuscript may have an exciting plot, interesting characters and a surprise ending, but it might not get published. The voice is what beckons the reader to curl up with a book and whispers, "Pay attention. I'm going to tell you a story."

Editors are always searching for new voices. Yet, when pressed, most editors find it hard to describe exactly what a voice is.

Clear as mud, no?


Will Kalif states that finding your unique writing style and voice is much like chasing a wild unicorn. You can’t do it. The harder you look, the further away it gets. You have to let it come to you by writing a lot.

I admit that I’m not overly worried about voice because so far people have said that they like my voice and that I have a distinct voice when I write fiction. Even when I speak people tend to ask me where I’m from. I say the Midwest, and they say, “No, no-- before that. Like from what country. Where were you born?”

Uh, in the Midwest.

I suspect what they’re thinking is “What planet are you from?” Yeah, yeah. I’m a little paranoid. But really, what do they mean by that?

Anyway . . .

As I said, in terms of my writing voice I’m not overly worried because I do believe it will come to me as I continue to crank out pages. HOWEVER, I would like to be able to describe it. I’m into navel gazing, if you haven’t noticed, completely and utterly obsessed with exploring, analyzing, describing and defining the experience of being Moi. The problem is that I can’t hear my voice. If I can't hear it, how can I describe it to anyone who will listen, let alone explore and analyze it?

Others have told me that it’s bold, edgy, blood red against a black border, in your face, funny, sharp, breezy, fun, irreverent, chick lit like.

Maybe.

I decided to answer Macy’s questions to see if that helped.

Q: Why are you writing?

A: I’m a communicator. I’ve always been compelled to read, write, talk a blue streak, tell stories, punctuate my stories with animated gesturing, write and direct all the neighborhood kids in plays, turn academic papers into stories to provide the right analogies. Also, writing helps me think, sort things out. I use stories as a way to describe and understand life. It’s the means I use to analyze people, ideas and experiences. While I’ve just started writing novels, I’ve always written – poetry, prayers, short stories, letters, emails, academic papers, newpaper and newsletter columns and articles, journal entries. It’s my form of therapy.

Now, if you’re wondering why I've chosen to write books, it’s because I love them – I’m a true blue bibliophile, a book collector, a person who has no clothes in her closet because all my spending money goes to books and book cases. I like movies, too – but the books come first for me.

Q: Why write now? Why not at some other point in your life?

A: Okay, I have ALWAYS written—just not novels. Actually, I remember trying to write a novel in third grade, comparing it to Anne of Green Gables and thinking, “Hmmm.” I don’t know how in the heck to do this. I was a perfectionist back then so I stuck to writing plays because that was mostly dialogue. I became a rebel in high school and college. A party animal. A slacker. Over time, I decided I didn’t have the talent to write fiction so I became a shadow artist by going first into marketing, then into bookselling, then into teaching language arts. Once my son was born, I decided it was time to live my dreams so I wouldn’t be a pathetic little hypocrite without the guts to go for it, without the guts to follow my bliss. I write now because when I saw my son I realized I was good enough, talented enough, blessed enough to be whatever the heck I wanted to be-- and I also thought he deserved a mom who made her dreams come true.

Q; Why write what you write? What drives you to tell your stories the way you do? What is the reason behind the stories? What's your big picture?

A: I’m writing my first novel, but as I pointed out, I have written poetry, plays (as a kid), short stories and creative nonfiction. The truth of the matter is that they are all about me, in one way or another. They are about why I think life is beautiful, why I think one should seize the day, why love must prevail, why I think there are things we will never be able to explain—like why we love who we love and whether coincidences are more about probability, divine intervention or Jung’s collective unconscious and synchronicity. They are about what it is like to be a middle class white woman living in this time and this place – and they aren’t wrapped in pretty pink paper with shiny, silky decorative bows. They are more raw than that – bolder, edgier, sharper, more “real”, more "in your face" – because I think beauty lies in rawness and reality. I think the way things really are is amazing, awe-inspiring and good enough. My stories are breezy, airy, light, fun and funny (hopefully) but anchored to Earth and its cycles (life/death/rebirth)– because I’m of both Air and Earth elements, born on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini.

My theme?

I have no idea. I think its along the lines of “Life is difficult, but once you accept that you also find that it is beautiful, sweet, abundant, hilariously funny and very good.” Also, as an accompaniment to that, falling in love is all its cracked up to be, even if it takes more than one "true love" to get your happily ever after (which can still take work, btw).

I found a worksheet from Barbara Samuel’s workshop that you may be interested in. One of the questions she asks is—

If you weren't a writer, but could be any other kind of artist/musician, what would you choose? What would be your tools? why?

My immediate answer was that I’d be the lead singer/songwriter of a rock band. I realized after the fact that my main tool would be my bold voice (again) along with my edgy lyrics, soulful music full of hooks and rockin' body language. It’s highly likely I’d be singing about love and lust -- and myself.

Interesting.

As it turns out, I'm every bit as self-absorbed as I've always suspected-- but, uh, er, hopefully in a good, unoffensive way.

So how about you? How would you describe your voice? Why do you write what you write?

Thanks for a great topic, Macy.

Cheers and happy writing,

Alyson

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The elusive voice thingy

I was pretty much thinking I had nothing to write about today. I've been rolling around what I wanted to say and coming up with nothing all day.

I've been writing alot again. Well, today I only got 1100 words, but I played alot. One thing I learned in Barbara Samuel's Girls in the Basement class is that play is good for the muses. And, frankly, with the schedule I've kept all my life, I haven't done enough of it. I've felt guilty when I did. I'm trying to change that.

I could write about play, but I won't. I'm going to write about voice -- that elusive quality that everyone says they want from new writers but which no one can adequately define.

The whole gang here is planning to take Barbara's voice class in August. I can hardly wait. It's like knowing what you want for Christmas several months out and then just being stuck looking at pictures of it while you count down the days.

In thinking about voice, a question was recently posed to me. Actually, a few. I'll pose them to you.

Why are you writing?

That one was pretty easy. I have stories to tell. Imaginary people run around in my head, and they want me to give them life. Who am I to say "no?" (Yes, to most non-writers this seems a crazy concept, but for all of you who write, you say, "Yes, I know the feeling.")

Then, why now? Why not at some other point in your life?

That question is harder. I've thought about writing forever. However, being the practical girl, there were always things that HAD to be done. The WANT TO's seemed to get put off. I moved this up to a HAVE TO, instead of a WANT TO. There was a point when I realized I'd cut myself off from the highly creative part of me. I wasn't whole. Writing fills the spaces that were empty. It sounds both simple and vague. It is. It's one of those intangibles that's hard to put into words.

Why write?

("Ok," I said, "uh, I already answered that.")

No, really, you haven't. Why write what you write? What drives you to tell your stories the way you do? What is the reason behind the stories? What's your big picture?

Oh, my theme. My over-riding theme. Hmmm.

Well, I haven't been writing forever. What I have are incomplete stories and ideas -- lots and lots of ideas that I can't wait to put to paper. However, as I explore these ideas and what the stories are really about, I actually do see a "why".

I write quests, journeys, missions to find out. I write about looking for something you don't have, about finding meaning in chaos, about revealing what's in the dark corners. In every quest, there is a distinctly evil entity and a distinctly good one. Not black and white, light and dark. More like black and gray. The hero/heroine isn't completely in the white. They are iffy. But part of their journey is discovering that they are the good guys and that they have the power to defeat the bad ones. Even my personal blog says, "Writing is a journey. This is the story of mine." Journeys are why I write. I want to tell the story of change and discovery and the ultimate triumph of good. To me, love is the highest good.

It makes sense why I write romance, huh?

I don't think my journey to discover this voice thing is over. It's only beginning. But, I've begun my quest.

Begin yours. Why write the stories you write? (Don't tell me that it's because you love history or vampires or good sex scenes.) Why do you write your themes? I really think that's a key to your voice.

What's your reason for writing? What is it you're ultimately trying to communicate?

Macy

Monday, April 2, 2007

Alyson's Stalker-Geek-Fan List

As Macy explained in her post, this week we are listing the people we hope to see and somehow manage not to be total stalker-fan-geeks about when we go to the RWA conference in July. The Rita and Golden Heart Contest finalists were being announced when I came up with that and I was feeling the excitement, hoping to join their ranks in the future, preferably sooner rather than later. I also had finally come full circle and embraced my inner Romance Writer Diva. A writer is what I am -- a romance writer. No ifs, ands or buts.

Now, I'm having an impossible time choosing six. How can I limit it to six? There are icons. Favorite authors. Beloved teachers. The amazing blog writers. The chick lit phenoms who pulled me into this gig at long last after I had avoided writing for years -- to whom I will always be grateful. But Macy kept it to six so I am going to try to do the same.

1. Kathleen Woodiwiss
It all starts with The Flame and the Flower and Shanna-- the first two romance novels I ever read. Back in January, I did a Saturday Sixteen of favorite intermediate fiction/young adult novels and I mentioned them because they introduced me to rollicking romance in my early teens. This woman was a ground-breaker with tenacity. I haven't read those two books in many, many years but they rocked my world.

2. Nora Roberts
Sixteen Million a year. A gazillion books. Movie deals. Need I say more? If that sounds familiar, it's because I copied it word for word from Macy. I will add a couple of things -- Nora is cool. She loves writing. She advocates for romance every chance she gets. She's an icon.

3. Susan Elizabeth Phillips
My biggest influence. My romantic comedy writing goddess. The one whose books I have on a special easy-access shelf. The recipient of the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. I love her books. Love them! My fave is her latest. You haven't read it? You haven't read Natural Born Charmer?

You're missing out. Here are a handful of reviews--

Flawless writing with sassy wit and a rich cast of complex characters blend together brilliantly in Natural Born Charmer, a romantic sexy, literary confection...." Chicago Tribune

"Combine a bunch of misfits carrying emotional baggage with lots of humor, and you have another Phillips masterpiece. The dialogue, emotions and offbeat scenarios elevate this book to genuine reading joy. Phillips not only plucks at heartstrings, she plays a full concert." —Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times BOOKclub

"Phillips has penned another sexy, funny, but deeply touching romance. ...one of the best yet." —Kristin Ramsdell, Library Journal

"...splendidly satisfying tale of love, family, and redemption. Generously seasoned with plenty of tart humor and snappy dialogue, and graced with a delightfully amusing pair of protagonists trying desperately not to fall in love. Natural Born Charmer is simply irresistible." Booklist

I'll probably be a bit nutty-kooky around SEP should the opportunity arise.

4. Diana Gabaldon

Awe-struck. She's the true blue original in the group. Heck, no one in the industry even knew how to categorize and market her complex and compelling series (that starts with Outlander) blending history, time travel, romance and high adventure. She's amazing, and she has a cult-like following. The comet.

5. Julia Quinn

She's like a warm, witty, brilliant friend who never fails to delight you. I was so thrilled when I discovered her. I had just finished pouring through all of Jane Austen's work for the umpteenth time and I needed something . . . anything. A regency. Someone recommended Amanda Quick so I went to the bookstore and pulled out a couple of titles, read the back, wasn't sure, kept browsing, discovered Julia. Her heroines stand out. I love her heroines. The witty, warm banter between her characters is soooo good. You can feel the love growing between the hero and heroine and you totally buy into the happily ever after. When all is said and done, you just know that she's really, really smart-- and she is. Don't believe me? Read her bio. Plus, she won the Weakest Link! How fun is that?

6. Uh oh.

All day between playing with toddlers, doing potty training, walking dogs, grocery shopping, watching Dancing with the Stars and other exciting stuff, I've been jotting down names, crossing them off, jotting them back down again. I thought I'd know what to do when I got here.

I don't.

Should I list Janet Evanovich whose humor is another huge influence on my writing and who is wildly, wildly successful? She cracks me up like no other and her heroes are phenomenally hot. Hmmm. Good idea, but . . .

What about Marian Keyes, who turned me on to chick lit with Rachel's Holiday and who is another huge influence on my writing? I love, love, love her. At times, I've wondered if we're astral twins.

Then there is Jennifer Crusie who wrote Katrina's fave, Bet Me, which I also liked very much. I'm addicted to her online writing workshop and her cherry forums. She's a phenomenal teacher and a witty chicka. I know I'll be starstruck if I see her.

I can't forget Barbara Samuel. She writes great women's fiction and romance, and her workshop changed my life. She's like the soulful best friend you wished lived next door.

I'm tempted to include J.R. Ward cuz the woman writes with a dark, gritty, razor-sharp edge that gets me all pumped up despite the fact that I'm not into vamps. At all. But I read all her books and gain super-charged energy from them. How fun would it be to go out clubbing with her? Pretty fun, I bet.

I can't decide between those five so instead, let's just say I'd be geeked to meet any of them, and hopefully I will.

Oh boy! Double uh oh. It's the day after I posted everything above this and I absolutely have to add Eloisa James. I read my first book by her last night, and I devoured the thing like a box of chocolates. She's a Shakespeare professor who writes delicious regency novels and blogs with the Squawkers. Wow!

I am such a cheater on this six thing!

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Stalker-Fan-Geek

I’ve tried avoiding this blog for three days. As Alyson so aptly put it, this blog is about the people you hope to see and somehow manage not be total stalker-fan-geek over at the RWA nationals.

We’ll get to why I’ve been avoiding it in a minute.

First, I have to tell you that four of us (maybe 5) here at Affairs are headed to our first RWA National Convention in Dallas this July. We’re going to be roomies. I’m sure it will be eye-opening (the conference, not being roomies) to our little pre-published group.

We’ve discussed a few times the authors we’d love to meet there. And I can just see us sneaking around corners to get close enough to maybe get an autograph from the likes of Nora. (Not really. None of us are stalkers. Calm down, Nora.)

However, having been a big book geek my whole life, I do have a few authors who I’d love to meet. Some of them aren’t necessarily the ones whose books I rush out to buy on release day. They are, however, women who’ve made a mark on a challenging industry, who are successful, and from whom I’d love to hear some words of wisdom.

Who are they? See this was the hard part – the avoid-the-blog part. I’d love to meet several writers, but since this is The Six, I’ve finally managed to narrow it down.

1. Nora. Sixteen Million a year. A gazillion books. Movie deals. Need I say more.

2. J.K. Rowling. It is unlikely she'll be there since this is a Romance Writers’ Convention, but maybe she’ll be there getting ideas for an adult series. (Right. But a girl can dream.) (Ok – and if she is there, just for the record, I might be total stalker-geek-fan.)

3. Sherilyn Kenyon. She’s built her own little Dark Hunter empire. And she writes historicals under the name Kinley McGregor. She was essentially black-balled early in her career (at least that’s the story I heard or read somewhere). I’d like to meet someone who persevered through all that to become as successful as she is.

4. J.R. Ward. I’ve never met anyone with an imagination like hers. I’d love to know how she built her world. Was it established before she began to write or does she build as she goes? And just how many books was her contract for? Oh, and what a unique voice.

5. Suzanne Brockmann. She’s brilliant. She has brilliant characters that I swear must be real. ‘Nough said.

6. Karen Marie Moning. I just want to tell her how much I love her books.

There it is. If I can only meet 6, that’s them.

Who would you pick?

Macy