I know I'm in my own little world, but it's OK.
They know me here...

Translate

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

SPECIAL EVENT - Queens of Heart Panel

Karly Lane, Cathryn Hein and I are headed to Taree Library to take part in a "Queens of Heart" author panel.

We'll be talking about our respective romance genres and fielding questions from the audience on the night.

Manning Valley Books will have available for purchase copies of our books at the event and there will be ample opportunity to have them signed before/after the event.

Looking forward to visiting Taree - can't wait!

Hope to see you there!!!


GUEST BLOGGING over at Writerspace!

Do you have a favorite fictional fantasy world you enjoy disappearing into? A series or cast of characters you love returning to time and again? 

To celebrate the April dual release of ALLEGIANCE SWORN and VENGEANCE BORN (mass market), a signed copy of ALLEGIANCE SWORN is being offered as a giveaway over at Writerspace, to someone who comments and leaves their contact email address.

Open internationally!

CRAFT: Shifting Goals

The wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable, Paul Roe is my guest blogger for the next four weeks. She's written a fantastic series on craft techniques for writers (and it's not just aimed at romance writers!).

The Mid-Week Technique series - there are 8 posts as of Dec.2012 - are on her blog. I'll place a list of them with the last guest post, at the end of the month, for anyone who wants to read all of them (and I highly recommend you check them out as they're gems in terms of information and examples).

Without further ado, I'll let Paula begin her post...

Shifting Goals - by Paula Roe

Keep those awesome writing questions coming! Today’s query: “what to do when your character goals change mid-story?”

So, let’s talk about the two types of character goals: internal and external. The external is a tangible thing, a want that the character is pursuing at the start of the story. This can be a wife, money, status, boyfriend, a new job, an object, escape from a terrible relationship, etc. In my latest book, A Precious Inheritance, both my hero and heroine desperately want the unpublished manuscript of a deceased best selling author. In my first book, my hero needs answers to his past.

The internal goal is something deep inside that character – a need, a desire – that drives them to action. Your characters are more often than not, unaware of this internal goal – to them, it’s all about the external. Your hero is not going to stop and think “I need a wife to gain control of my father’s shares and in the process will fulfill a deep-seated need for love and loyalty I’ve been lacking.” :grin:

The internal is an emotional, unseen, driving force that enhances and feeds into their external goal. For example, your heroine may want to buy a home because deep down, she craves that sense of security and belonging that were lacking when she was growing up. I made a comprehensive list of goals (or wants) ages ago, so here they are:
  • Freedom
  • Adventure
  • Unconditional Love
  • Honour
  • Acceptance
  • Money/wealth
  • Family
  • Status quo
  • Status
  • Respect
  • Revenge
  • Justice
  • Power
  • Security/home
  • Knowledge
I have more on my Write a Novel in 3 months articles here and here.

The internal goals do not shift. That is the whole point of your character’s journey, their driving force that gets them from Chapter 1 to The End. Their internal goal has been formed and shaped throughout their lives, driving their choices.

What can change is their external goal. For example, a girl desperately wants to seduce her hot neighbor, so gets her male best friend to give her seduction techniques. At some point in the story, her external goal (the hot neighbor) changes to the best friend.

In one of my works-in-progress, my warrior hero’s external goal is to escape captivity to live a life in solitude. Of course, this goal changes after he meets the heroine and they have to battle together to overthrow the evil king. What doesn’t change is his internal goal, which is peace and acceptance.

The other thing to consider is WHY their external goal changes. Is it because your character’s beliefs have changed? Has something happened? Have they gotten new insight or new information into a previous situation or happening that prompts the change?

Changing your character’s external goal is not bad. It can enhance and enrich your story, provide plot twists and keep your reader hooked. But be aware of why it’s changing. As long as it is in keeping with your character’s core beliefs then go for it!

Many thanks to Paula Roe for being so willing to share her knowledge on the craft of writing and allowing me to post these articles on my blog.

For those interested, here's a complete list and links for Paula's Mid-Week Techniques series:

Author bio: Paula Roe is a bestselling, multi-published author with over a quarter of a million books sold world-wide. Her articles have appeared in writing journals, blogs and hard copy and she is a frequent speaker at conferences and local writing groups. 

Before publication, Paula's writing won and placed in various contests, including Wisconsin Romance Writers Fabulous Five Silver Quill, Magnolia State Dixie First Chapter, Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award and the Valerie Parv Award. When she's not writing, she's designing websites, conducting workshops and tutorials, cooking or building Lego.

Visit her at http://www.paularoe.com/

Monday, April 29, 2013

RELEASE DAY PARTY over at Bitten By Books!

Coming up this week, May 1st to be exact, there's a HUGE Release Day Party planned for ALLEGIANCE SWORN happening over at Bitten By Books!


To kick it off, and to entice you, there's an extra 25 entries in the giveaway if you RSVP to the event at this link.

CONTEST INFO: Open to readers WORLDWIDE

Prize:  A HUGE Prize Pack from the author that includes:
*signed copy of VENGEANCE BORN (Bk#1 in Light Blade series)
*ALLEGIANCE SWORN tote bag
*ALLEGIANCE SWORN pen
*Light Blade t-shirt
*Light Blade notebook
*signed bookmarks/postcards
Value: $60


Saturday, April 27, 2013

INTERVIEW at The Reading Cafe!

Mosey on over to The Reading Cafe to read my catch-up interview with Barb, talking about the Light Blade series & ALLEGIANCE SWORN. One book & tote bag up for grabs!


And while you're there, you might want to check out Barb's review of ALLEGIANCE SWORN!


Saturday Seven! (Song of Scarabaeus)

It's Saturday Seven!

SONG OF SCARABAEUS by Sara Creasy is an awesome science-fiction romance. Anyone who loves techie stuff, this is for you. Anyone who loves a touch of romance, this is also for you.

Edie has been kidnapped by renegade mercenaries for her bio-tech skills. Her compliance is ensured when she's mentally leashed to her bodyguard - if she leaves his side he dies and if she doesn't give the mercenaries what they want, they both die.

Edie tests the mental link they share in the hope of breaking it...
A single pure chord diengaged itself from the rest. Edie grabbed it and traced its source, certain she was doing the wrong thing, but it was all she had. Her interface kept the chord separated, but the cacophony surrounding it obliterated its path. A hard vacuum of silence cut through the link for an instant, and then a warning glyph screamed.
Finn knew there was a problem at the same moment she did.
"Back off," he hissed.
With a gasp, she dumped the chord and let his splinter kick her out. She pulled her hand away, opened her eyes to state into his, into the dark gold flecks radiating across the irises. For a long moment she couldn't speak. She had to make herself breathe again. Staggering to her feet, she felt like she should apologise but didn't know how he'd take it.
Instead, she stuck to technicalities. "They've injected biocyph into your cerebral cortex."
His eyes widened. "Biocyph? In my head?"
"Just a single strand. But it can't be removed or interfered with, or the little bomb in your skull will go off. I don't know what to do."
SONG OF SCARABAEUS
Trained since childhood in advanced biocyph seed technology by the all-powerful Crib empire, Edie's mission is to terraform alien worlds while her masters bleed the outlawed Fringe populations dry. When renegade mercenaries kidnap Edie, she's not entirely sure it's a bad thing . . . until they leash her to a bodyguard, Finn—a former freedom fighter-turned-slave, beaten down but never broken. If Edie strays from Finn's side, he dies. If she doesn't cooperate, the pirates will kill them both.
But Edie's abilities far surpass anything her enemies imagine. And now, with Finn as her only ally as the merciless Crib closes in, she'll have to prove it or die on the site of her only failure...a world called Scarabaeus.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

FANTASTIC FABLES over at Dark Faerie Tales


Head on over to Dark Faerie Tales and find out what fairytale themes resonated with me when I wrote ALLEGIANCE SWORN.

And to entice you - your choice in a giveaway - but there's one catch, you have to answer this question – Which fairytale is your favourite and why?

Will I see you over there? I hope so!

GUEST BLOGGING at We Fancy Books!

Headed north to the Philippines and We Fancy Books where this time I share a play-list for ALLEGIANCE SWORN, songs that relate to the plot and characters.


There's also a giveaway :-)


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

CRAFT: Where to Start Your Story

The wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable, Paul Roe is my guest blogger for the next four weeks. She's written a fantastic series on craft techniques for writers (and it's not just aimed at romance writers!).

The Mid-Week Technique series - there are 8 posts as of Dec.2012 - are on her blog. I'll place a list of them with the last guest post, at the end of the month, for anyone who wants to read all of them (and I highly recommend you check them out as they're gems in terms of information and examples).

Without further ado, I'll let Paula begin her post...

Where to Start Your Story - by Paula Roe 

How many of you answered “at the beginning – DUH!” ? :grin: 

Yes, it does seem obvious, doesn’t it? But just where do you determine the beginning? Where your main characters first meet? When your heroine wakes up?  When the killer is stalking his next victim?  Or when your hero is ruminating about this two-year old divorce? 

As a contest judge, I see so many entries that start in the wrong place. Definitely one, sometimes two chapters of slow, plodding narrative/introspection/description that really let a good story down. Now, short of me reading your stories and saying “ah-HA! Forget all that other stuff – here’s where you should start!” you’re going to figure it out yourselves.

So where do you start? At a point of major change.

Chris Vogler (he of the awesome The Writers Journey), Michael Hauge (he of the awesome Writing Screenplays That Sell) and various other writing legends (Robert McKee included) call it The Call To Adventure. It is your character’s ‘jolt’: some event or realization that shocks them out of their Ordinary World and shakes up their life. They have to make a choice when confronted by this call – if they can ignore it and go back to their normal lives without a backwards glance, then it is not a true call.

To elaborate and get you thinking, here’s an example:

Your heroine is about to walk into an interview for a new job. She’s sat in the reception area, thinking about how desperate she is for this job, how much this money would mean to her family, to her sick father who’s just finished another round of chemo and the bills are mounting up.

She wonders about her brother, who’s conveniently living overseas and unable to contribute. Her dead mother who was a saint when she was living and would hate to see her little girl now working 24/7 to support her father.

She ruminates about her last few low-paid jobs, her terrible bosses and wonders what this new one would be like to work for. She’s heard he’s demanding but fair – the same can’t be said for the man’s son who seems to be content spending his time surfing and partying.

Partying… she thinks briefly about last weekend, where she got to let her hair down for once, and ended up a little drunk and making out with the cute bartender in the parking lot.

This goes on for a page or two, until the office door finally opens and…. yep, the son aka cute bartender stands on the threshold.

So where would you start this story? Hands up who said “where the office door opens”?

Why? Because it’s our heroine’s Call to Adventure. She has a choice – either step up and go right on into that interview (aka Stepping Across the Threshold) or turn and leave. All that introspection, all that past stuff is past, and can be filtered in elsewhere.

You also don’t need pages upon pages of it because introspection tends to slow the pace – and you want your readers to jump right into your story at Chapter 1, not get bogged down with unimportant details.  A simple "She wanted this job. No, she needed it. More than she’d ever needed anything in her life." would suffice to show the reader her desire. Then you can sprinkle in the whys later, through dialogue, deep POV and introspection.

Alternatively, if you do start with your heroine sitting there, waiting for the interview, this can be a good opportunity to get some brief backstory across, enough to whet the reader’s appetite but not too much that will have them skimming the paragraphs. The key to this is smart editing: knowing when too much is overkill and just plain boring (see example above).

It’s important to note that in category romances, the sooner you can get your hero and heroine together at the start, the better. Why? Because it will throw your reader right into the story, as well as highlighting the conflict that will carry your story along. Of course, this isn’t a rule, but you only have a short word count so you have to make every. Word. Count.


Author bio: Paula Roe is a bestselling, multi-published author with over a quarter of a million books sold world-wide. Her articles have appeared in writing journals, blogs and hard copy and she is a frequent speaker at conferences and local writing groups. 

Before publication, Paula's writing won and placed in various contests, including Wisconsin Romance Writers Fabulous Five Silver Quill, Magnolia State Dixie First Chapter, Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award and the Valerie Parv Award. When she's not writing, she's designing websites, conducting workshops and tutorials, cooking or building Lego.

Visit her at http://www.paularoe.com/

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

GUEST BLOGGING over at Sassy Book Lovers!

There's a visual feast (aka Heart-Pounding Heroes & Breath-taking Heroines) for your eyes over at Sassy Book Lovers this morning, folks!

Sassy Book Lovers

And these guys put in an appearance.



Interested? Intrigued?

Then get thee over there and if you join in the discussion you'll be put in the draw for not one but TWO giveaways.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

CRAFT: Switching Point of View

The wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable, Paul Roe is my guest blogger for the next four weeks. She's written a fantastic series on craft techniques for writers (and it's not just aimed at romance writers!).

The Mid-Week Technique series - there are 8 posts as of Dec.2012 - are on her blog. I'll place a list of them with the last guest post, at the end of the month, for anyone who wants to read all of them (and I highly recommend you check them out as they're gems in terms of information and examples).

Without further ado, I'll let Paula begin her post...

Switching Point of View - by Paula Roe

Today I’m talking about point of view (POV). Stop me if you’ve heard any of these before:
  1. “You should only be in one character’s head per scene – no switching point of view.”
  2. “Readers don’t want to know what your hero is thinking -  it’s your heroine’s story, so tell it from her viewpoint.”
  3. “Whatever you do, don’t head hop!”
  4. “You should stick with just your hero and heroine’s POV.”
  5. “If you write first-person POV, your reader won’t empathise with your other characters.”
Now, while I’m not going to argue the pros and cons of these (sadly, all-too-real) statements, I will talk about effectively and smoothly switching from one character’s POV to the other.  And it is really, really simple.

Here’s a paragraph I prepared earlier:
Jenny gasped, the breath in her throat burning the way the whiskey had done only moments before.  Jason’s hand on her wrist tightened, fingers digging into her soft tender flesh and her anger flashed behind bright blue eyes.  He smiled, knowing he was affecting her, judging by the way her pulse leaped under his fingers.

Gosh, it’s actually painful  to leave that badly written paragraph intact :angry: !  Argghh!!  So, what do we know about this para?

Sentence 1 – we’re in Jenny’s POV.  Why?  Because of ‘the breath in her throat burning’.  This is something she feels, that no-one else can.
Sentence 2 – we start out in Jenny’s POV (his hand on her wrist tightened) but end up in Jason’s because of the ‘anger flashed behind her bright blue eyes’.  Because she can’t see her anger, and she wouldn’t think ‘my bright blue eyes’.
Sentence 3 – In his POV, because he feels her pulse beneath his fingers.

So how to fix it?  Before I do that, here’s some important things about POV switches:
  1. not every POV switch should start with an extra line space – in fact, if you do this in the same scene, it will only jar your reader, because ‘extra space’ means ‘later on’ or ‘this is a new scene’.  Yes, some publishers do it and it annoys the hell out of me!
  2. too many POVs in one scene and you start to lose the tension of the moment, plus annoy and possibly confuse your reader
  3. an effective way to start a new POV is with a new paragraph, and the character’s name, followed by something only they would know/think/feel
So, rewriting the above sentences (plus making our hero a little less like a violent jerk…):
Jenny gasped, the breath in her throat burning the way the whiskey had done only moments before.  When his
Jason’shand on her wrist tightened,
fingers digging into her tender flesh, and heranger
flashed behind bright blue eyessurged, giving her enough strength to break his possessive grip.
“Don’t touch me!”
“That’s not what you were saying last night.”
Jason
Hesmiled and let her put distance between them, even though his entire body ached to get up and personal with that luscious mouth of hers.  A now-scowling mouth that had only been too willing to open up for him last night.  He sure as hell knew he affected her too, 
knowing he was affecting her,judging by
herthose flashing blue eyes and her leaping pulse he’d briefly held
leapedunder his fingers.

Somewhat better :smile:

So to reiterate: when you are in one person’s head, use words and thoughts that they would say and feel, and describe stuff via their eyes. 

Easy Way to Count your POV Switches
Use either the highlighter option in Word, or do a printout and use highlighter pens (I do blue for my hero, pink for my heroine).  So when you spread your scene out across your table or floor, you have a visual representation. 

But how many switches is too much?
Well, I can’t answer that for you.  But I can tell you I had to rework one scene in my last book because I was all over the place with those switches.  It started off in his POV, then went to hers, then back to his on the same page, then back to hers, then his>hers again.  Gave me whiplash!

I’ve heard writers say “think about who has the most to lose in the scene and write it from their POV” but honestly, this is a bit hit and miss for me.  I work out whose head I’m going to start in based on a) how I ended the prior chapter or scene, plus b) what the reader needs to know about this character right now in the story.

My rough draft will be riddled with way too many POV switches and it really only takes minor editing (after I highlight my scene) to cut those jumps.  And sometimes that information in that character’s head can be best used in another scene, at another time.


Author bio: Paula Roe is a bestselling, multi-published author with over a quarter of a million books sold world-wide. Her articles have appeared in writing journals, blogs and hard copy and she is a frequent speaker at conferences and local writing groups. 

Before publication, Paula's writing won and placed in various contests, including Wisconsin Romance Writers Fabulous Five Silver Quill, Magnolia State Dixie First Chapter, Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award and the Valerie Parv Award. When she's not writing, she's designing websites, conducting workshops and tutorials, cooking or building Lego.

Visit her at http://www.paularoe.com/

Sunday, April 14, 2013

ALLEGIANCE SWORN Swag!

It's SUNDAY SWAG over at Riverina Romantics!


I've put together a bundle of ALLEGIANCE SWORN/Light Blade swag and it's up for grabs! So if you like that sort of giveaway, head on over and enter!

Good luck!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Saturday Seven! (Warprize)

It's Saturday Seven!

WARPRIZE by Elizabeth Vaughan is one of my favourite fantasy romances. I've worn out two books re-reading it.

Xylara is forced into a decision by her brother to save their people and she chooses to sacrifice herself to the Warlord-barbarian who conquered their city.

She thinks she's giving up her freedom to become his slave. During the ceremony, when he claims her, she realises he's a warrior she met while tending the wounded enemy...
It was a voice I knew. My eyes flew up as the room shook with the response of the Warlord's men as they stomped their feet and cheered.The blue-eyed warrior from the marketplace looked down at me, a very self-satisfied smile on his face.
Keir was the Warlord? How had he done this, or even learned of my true identity?
Before I could think, or say a word, he took my hands and stood, drawing me up with him. From behind him, he swept up a black cloak from the throne and twirled it around me, concealing me from all eyes, enclosing me in darkness. The fabric seemed warm and floated around me like night. It smelled of chain mail and oil and some kind of spice.
I was swept up and over his shoulder. The move made me sqwark, but I doubted that the noise could be heard above the noise of the crowd. He started to move. Through the soft cloth, I could hear his men chanting his name. I squirmed, but the cloak had me pinned, unable to move my arms or see anything.
Then I squirmed for another reason. His hand was on my buttocks, its warmth burning through the cloak. There was a caress, and then a soft swat...a warning to keep still.
I stopped squirming.
The hand stayed where it was.
WARPRIZE
(Chronicles of the Warlands #1)
She must choose between her people and her freedom...
Xylara is the Daughter of the Warrior King, Xyron. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to the warring Firelanders. 
Before she was old enough for a marriage-of-alliance, Xylara was trained as a healer. She can't usurp her brother or negotiate a peace--but she can heal the brave ones injured in battle.
But not only her countrymen are wounded, and Xylara's conscience won't let Firelander warriors die when she can do something to save them. She learns their language and their customs and tries to make them as comfortable as possible, despite their prisoner-of-war status.
She never expects that these deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. Xylara knows must trade the life she has always known for the well-being of her people, and so she becomes...The Warprize.

Friday, April 12, 2013

GUEST BLOGGING over at Riverina Romantics

What do cats have to do with writing?

What was the inspiration behind ALLEGIANCE SWORN?

Who are my favourite authors? 


I'm guest blogging over at Riverina Romantics with giveaways!. Come find out!


Thursday, April 11, 2013

BARGAINS for readers!

There are a number of discounts running at the moment for the Light Blade series. A bargain for readers (or your chance to hook a friend on a new series)!

VENGEANCE BORN (trade paperback)
Amazon (60% off)
B&N (70% off)
Booktopia (30% off)
Fishpond (52% off)
The Book Depository (7% off)

VENGEANCE BORN (mass market)
Amazon (10% off)
Booktopia (35% off)
Fishpond (62% off)
The Book Depository (7% off)


ALLIANCE FORGED (trade)
Amazon (18% off)
B&N (3% off)
Booktopia (25% off)
Fishpond (55% off)
The Book Depository (7% off)
Kindle (33% off)






ALLEGIANCE SWORN (trade)
Amazon (31% off)
B&N (31% off)
Booktopia (22% off)
Fishpond (50% off)
The Book Depository (6% off)
Kindle  (38% off)



GUEST AUTHOR: Ros Baxter


It's my pleasure to introduce you to Ros Baxter, a fellow RWA author and paranormal romance writer.

When Ros was 8 she penned a whimsical series of short stories about a race of tiny people who lived on a rainbow. While they were a hit in the playground, a few things intervened – including a career in social policy and four noisy children.

Since Ros started writing again 3 years ago, she's been busy, including with a two-book deal with Harper Collins Australia, Sister Pact (a romantic comedy co-written with her sister Ali) and Fish Out of Water (Escape Publishing on 1 April).

Ros writes fresh, funny, genre-busting fiction. She digs feisty heroines, good friends, quirky families, heroes to make you sigh and tingle, and a dash of fantasy from time to time.

Ros also runs a successful business consulting to government and the private sector.  She teaches professional writing skills and has authored a writing guide, Clarity. She lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband Blair, four small but very opinionated children, a neurotic dog and nine billion germs. 

Ros, welcome! But I see you've brought someone else along with you today, and she looks a lot like the woman on the cover of your latest book...

 Dirtwater, USA    Population 3,000

Hi there.  Nice to meet you.   My name’s Rania, but some people call me Sheriff (although I’m technically only the deputy). Back home, in Aegira, they call me dirtdweller, because I grew up in the desert, rather than seven miles down, on the deepest part of the ocean floor.

Anyway, it’s really nice of Kylie to invite me along to say hi.  But I’m kinda busy right now.  I mean, you know, everyone’s got stuff. Mine’s just a little more immediate than most, I guess.  You see, thirteen years ago, I went to a Seer.  Like girls do, you know? Only this wasn’t some ten buck shopping centre crackpot, telling you you’re gonna find happiness where you least expect it. This was a dolphin Seer, and anyone who’s anyone knows dolphins just don’t get shit wrong.

Anyway, there’s only one rule about visits to the Seer in Aegira.  You don’t ask about the appointed hour of your death.  But hey, I was sixteen. Give a sixteen year old a rule, what’s she gonna do?  Anyway, I didn’t really think she’d tell me. But she did, of course. She told me I’d die on my thirtieth birthday.  That’s three weeks away.  And look, maybe I kind of went wild there, for a while.  Did some bad things, went some crazy places.  Eventually, though, you find peace.  Ever since that ashram, I’ve been trying real hard to embrace my fate and welcome each moment until my end.  Problem is, I’m just not that Zen.

I was doing okay.  Just focusing on enjoying my last three weeks of home-made brownies, Bon Jovi and hanging with my Ma.   But then this dead blonde turns up on Main Street.  And whaddya know?  She’s got the blue tattoo of the watch-keeper.  And my name tattooed on her thigh.  I’m starting to have a bad feeling that the second part of the Seer’s prediction is going to come true.  The bit that requires me to “change the course of destiny and save the world entire”.

So, anyway, when Kylie asked me what I wanted to share I thought I’d give you my own personal epiphany.  The end result of twenty nine and a half years straddling two worlds – human and mermaid. I’m in the unique position of knowing what’s swell and what sucks about each. So I’m going to tell you the 5 best things about being human. I’m telling you because my time’s short, but at the end of the day, so is yours, and, like the songs says, you don’t know what we’ve got til it’s gone.

    •    Getting down and dirty. Down in Aegira,  it’s all harmony and learning.  But it’s kind of vanilla.  Humans are funny and wild and dirty and diverse.  I’m gonna miss bad jokes and poker and boys with dark eyes and bad intentions. So take advantage of them while you can.
    •    Passion.  Aegirans lost it along the way.  Find yours, whether it’s a man or a moment.
    •    Going with your gut.  Aegirans have great minds, so there’s more analysis than action.  But man, it feels good to trust that prickly spidey-sense that tells you it’s time go kick some ass.
    •    Free will.  In Aegira it’s all about the collective.  But there’s something to be said for choosing your own path.  Take it from someone whose days are numbered – do the things that make your heart sing like a siren.
    •    Bad food.  Of all the things I’m gonna miss, in three weeks, it’s gonna be twinkies most of all. So promise me one thing.  Every now and then, have a Big Mac or some cheetos just for me.
Anyway, wish me luck. I’ve got a crazy priest and a ten thousand year prophesy to defeat.  Lucky for me there’s a smokin’ hot swimmer who looks like he’s keen to help out.  I’ll keep you posted.

Raina, that's some good advice all round there - thanks for dropping in today and sharing your story - and I think we ought to take some time right now and head on down to Maccas. I feel a caramel sundae coming on! :-)

Oh, and while Rania, Ros and I pig out, why don't you take a look at FISH OUT OF WATER?
 
“It’s Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum meets Splash in a sexy, smart-talking debut about a mermaid in a desert, a city under water, and the secret that no-one is supposed to uncover.”

Dirtwater's straight-talking Deputy Sheriff has a lot on her plate: a nicotine addiction that's a serious liability for a mermaid, a solider-of-fortune ex who's hooked on her Mom's brownies, a gorgeous, naked stranger in her shower, and a mysterious dead blonde with a fish tattoo on Main Street.
Oh, and one other thing.
She's scheduled to die on her thirtieth birthday - in three weeks - unless she can 'change the course of destiny and save the world entire'. Throw in a Mom who's the local Mayor and a Dad who's been locked in the county jail for twelve years, and that's all the trouble she needs without her mermaid roots coming back to haunt her.
Rania's heading home to Aegira for a family wedding but she's starting to have a sinking feeling that's got nothing to do with hydroporting seven miles under the sea and everything to do with some weird connections that seem to be emerging between her, the dead blonde, her Mom's shady past and a ten thousand year old prophesy. Now if she can just steal a corpse, get a crazy Aegirian priest off her case, work out who the hell's trying to kill her and stop sleeping with the fishes, she might be able to unravel the prophesy, the mystery of the missing choirgirls and the secrets hidden in her Mom's past. And maybe even save her own ass while she's at it.




You can find out more about Ros at her website, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

GUEST BLOGGING at All Things Urban Fantasy

Secrets, assassinations & slave auctions, a recipe for fantasy romance.

Mosey on over to All Things Urban Fantasy and check out the Allegiance Sworn giveaway, open internationally.


See you there!


CRAFT: Nine Points of Trust

The wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable, Paul Roe is my guest blogger for the next four weeks. She's written a fantastic series on craft techniques for writers (and it's not just aimed at romance writers!).

The Mid-Week Technique series - there are 8 posts as of Dec.2012 - are on her blog. I'll place a list of them with the last guest post, at the end of the month, for anyone who wants to read all of them (and I highly recommend you check them out as they're gems in terms of information and examples).

Without further ado, I'll let Paula begin her post...

NINE POINTS OF TRUST - by Paula Roe
So here we go – my first topic.  I actually came across this issue as I was writing my seventh book (A Precious Inheritance, part of Desire’s exciting Highest Bidder continuity), and after I handed it in, wondered if other writers had the same issue.  Mainly, the two main characters (in my case, my hero and heroine) start off at the beginning of the story disliking and mistrusting each other, and over the course of the book, they end up trusting, then loving, to reach their happy-ever-after.  But just how do you practically write about that?  How do you show that gradual change of mind – in actual words on the page – that will be convincing to your reader?

This analysis warranted going to the movies, plus my trusty index cards, and I think I managed to pin down Nine Points of Trust.  For ease of writing, I have made the heroine the distrustful one, but this can go both ways.  Plus, for a point of reference, I’ll use one of my favorite movies – I, Robot  (featuring the fabbo Will Smith) – as an example.  So here we go.

1. MISTRUST (internal emotion)
Mistrust is formed either through direct deeds of your character or via others’ deeds.  This creates conflict within your character and arouses strong emotions.  Reasons for this mistrust can include:
  • opposites from different walks of life
  • he stands for something she hates (and vice versa)
  • opposing goals (she wants something and he stands in her way)
  • bad deeds done (e.g. he’s destroyed her father’s livelihood)
  • bad family (tainted by association)
  • tainted past
  • different beliefs
At this stage, there can be attraction or not, and your character can either acknowledge that or not. e .g. “Sure, he was gorgeous, but he also represented ten years of oppression and ridicule.”

2. REITERATING MISTRUST (external/internal)
  • This can happen through observation, an event or dialogue.  Your character observes, or is told/reads about events that seem to reiterate their mistrust.
3. 1ST SEED PLANTED LEADING TO FIRST DOUBT (external/internal)
  • Something happens that the character either witnesses or experiences first hand that plants the first seed of doubt
  • The hero may be compared to another character in a scene, and the other character comes off worse.  For e.g. the way your hero treats servants, waiters, colleagues and the less fortunate will say a lot about his character.  If you have a scene where your heroine can see him interacting with others in a positive light, this will cast that shadow of doubt. Chivalry, politeness, courtesy are all good qualities in a hero.
  • Your character knows there’s something ‘not right’, but cannot put their finger on it.  The ‘not rightness’ can be acknowledged as attraction.  The body thinks ‘attraction’, but the head can think ‘just another reason not to trust him.’
  • At this point, if your heroine’s mistrust is founded, she can walk away from the situation with no qualms.  She is not emotionally invested.
4. OUTSIDE INFLUENCES CREATE STRONGER DOUBT (external/internal)
  • Your heroine is getting a stronger impression of who your hero really is, which clashes with her beliefs
  • Other people/events occur to create a stronger comparison.  This can happen via family, friends, work, exes and/or events in which they’re thrown together
  • Remember, others may also have a stake in the heroine’s mistrust of your hero, too
5. 2ND SEED PLANTED – EMPATHY AND TENTATIVE TRUST (internal/external)
  • This is a coming together of goals – familiar traits/past/events are shared and a sort of ‘kindred spirit’ is formed
  • The hero could inadvertently help the heroine with a problem here, or stick up for someone who is close to her
  • At this stage, it would create emotional impact if her trust was misplaced now
6. OPENING OF THE MIND (internal)
  • Big step forward, where the heroine must make a choice of opening her mind to the possibility that her impression is wrong
  • She may take stock of past events to ensure she’s doing the right thing
7. 3RD SEED PLANTED – MAJOR EVENT (external event)
  • Heroine is now committed.  If mistrust is founded now, she will be emotionally affected
  • She realizes the hero is not a bad guy, she may even rationalize and think through some of the prior ‘bad deeds’ and come up with a healthier scenario
  • At this stage, she can also sway either way ==> there can be another event where she places even more trust in the hero OR something could happen that makes it impossible for her to reconcile the guy she’s come to know with the guy she thought she knew.  She knows in her heart that he’s a good guy
8. BLACK MOMENT AND REVELATION ***

  • Major point where all trust appears to be unfounded – it’s her worst fear realized
  • This is plot driven, and goes back to your initial story question that sets up the plot of the book – e.g. will they solve the mystery/fall in love/find the killer?
*** Depending on your story, Point 8 may not be needed.  Why not?  Well, sometimes (in short category, especially) it could be a bit of overkill: you’ve spent all those pages getting from distrust to trust, taking your readers on that journey and now something happens to seemingly blow it all out of the water.  I’m not saying it never works, but it could throw the story prior to that point into disarray.  For e.g. if the heroine can believe the hero is still the awful person she thought at the start of the book from one action/misunderstanding/revelation, then what was the point of the journey?

Of course it’s up to you, the writer, to make the point :smile:   I do have one moment in  book # 7 where the hero thinks the heroine is behind something illegal but after he thinks it through, realizes that’s a stupid thing to think.  Then he consequently beats himself up about it, believing he doesn’t deserve her if he can automatically doubt her integrity.  It’s not a chapter or a long scene, rather a few paragraphs, but it was a logical thought for this character, so I kept this step.

9. TRUST
  • Your character is now totally convinced of the others’ integrity.  This doesn’t mean they are blind to flaws
  • She knows the hero is a good person – this may involve some verbal communication, an apology or talking over their previous mistrust
  • They can see behind the mask to accept them, flaws and all
At this total point of trust, it doesn’t mean that’s the end of your story.  You will also have to tie up loose ends in your plot/secondary characters/backstory/character goals etc.  But it does mean that your characters will be working together for a common goal.

Now, on to the practical application of I, Robot.  The interesting thing here is that some points are actually grouped together and are in a different order.  Lemme show you:

Gratuitous shirtless shot of Will Smith
I, ROBOT
Susan Calvin is a driven scientist dedicating her entire career to building and integrating robots into human society.  She is logical, clever and literal, and also appears to be lacking in humor.

Detective Del Spooner is a cocky charmer, hates robots and suspects one of killing the co-founder of United States Robotics, Dr Lanning, even though his death was deemed a suicide.

TOTAL DISTRUST
  • Dr Calvin is assigned to show Spooner around the USR building to complete his investigation.  His charm and flippancy clashes with her literal, scientific mind right away.  Then Spooner suspects a USR robot of killing Dr Lanning but Calvin is convinced the Three Laws (that govern all robots and protect all humans) are perfect ergo, a robot killing a human is impossible.  When Spooner shoots Sonny (the robot hiding in Dr Lanning’s office) Calvin’s mistrust is reiterated.  Then when Spooner starts shooting other robots to draw out Sonny (“they’re just lights and clockwork”), it just cements her mistrust
  • Spooner is determined to prove Sonny is the killer.  Calvin is adamant a robot cannot kill and believes Spooner to be irrational
REINFORCING DISTRUST
  • After a malfunction with a demolition bot at Lanning’s house, Spooner goes to see Calvin, but she refuses to believe his ‘killer robot’ theory, rather she says he has a ‘vendetta’.  They argue and Spooner says she likes robots because they’re cold and emotional.  She says it’s because they are safe and can’t hurt you.
SEED OF DOUBT PLANTED
  • When Spooner leaves, he hands her a photo of Calvin and the Doctor that he recovered in Dr Lanning’s house, and says “the problem is, I care.”  She chokes back tears and realizes Lanning meant something to him, too.
OUTSIDE INFLUENCES (leads to) ==> OPENING OF THE MIND
  • Calvin discovers Sonny is a completely new version of robot, one that has no USR uplink and can override the Three Laws if he so chooses.  He is unique.  He appears to have feelings and dreams, which throws doubt on everything she believes.
2ND SEED PLANTED – EMPATHY AND TENTATIVE TRUST and 3RD SEED – MAJOR EVENT
  • She hears Spooner has been in a car accident and goes to him to tell him about Sonny
  • When Calvin notices Spooner’s scars he finally tells her Dr Lanning gave him a robotic arm and lung after a horrific car accident, and also reveals a robot saved his life but not the girl’s in the next car.  The robot had analysed the survival probability and deemed his life to be the logical choice.  Spooner says a human would have saved her, thereby revealing his deep emotional mistrust of robots.
  • Calvin and Spooner go to the lab to talk to Sonny, where more clues are revealed.  Spooner calls Sonny “someone” instead of “something”, thereby increasing Calvin’s trust.
BETRAYAL
  • When they’re both discovered in the lab, Calvin’s boss tells her Spooner was suspended from duty, which shocks her.  Then her boss plays on her commitment and passion for robotics and convinces her Sonny must be terminated for the good of the robotics program and USR’s reputation.  Spooner believes she’s betrayed Sonny and is not interested in getting to the truth: “Somebody gets out of line around here and you just kill them.”
TOTAL TRUST
  • Spooner follows the clues on his own.  He leaves a message on Calvin’s phone, saying the old robots (who would have protected humans) are being destroyed by the new ones, but her personal robot intercepts the call.  Calvin witnesses her robot’s deception and suddenly realizes a) Spooner was right all along and b) she’s trapped in her apartment with a possible killer robot.
  • Spooner rescues Calvin.  She tells him she couldn’t kill Sonny – he is too unique – and they both sneak into USR to get to the bottom of who’s controlling the robots
Now, I realize these points are not gospel :grin:   There could possibly be flaws and things I’ve omitted, but hey, that’s the beauty of discovering a different writing method, right?   Love to hear your thoughts!


Author bio: Paula Roe is a bestselling, multi-published author with over a quarter of a million books sold world-wide. Her articles have appeared in writing journals, blogs and hard copy and she is a frequent speaker at conferences and local writing groups. 

Before publication, Paula's writing won and placed in various contests, including Wisconsin Romance Writers Fabulous Five Silver Quill, Magnolia State Dixie First Chapter, Romance Writers of Australia's Emerald Award and the Valerie Parv Award. When she's not writing, she's designing websites, conducting workshops and tutorials, cooking or building Lego.

Monday, April 8, 2013

GUEST BLOGGING at The Qwillery

New stop on my blog tour - this time it's a visit to The Qwillery, and I'm talking about first kisses - Arek & Imhara's, not mine (*grin*).

Photobucket

I have a signed copy of ALLEGIANCE SWORN as a giveaway, open internationally!