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 In my latest book, A Precious Inheritance, both my hero and heroine desperately want the unpublished manuscript of a deceased best selling author.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.”

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:

• Shifting Goals 
• Deep POV 
• Where to Start Your Story 
• Switching POV 
• What Does Your Character Want? 
• From No to Yes: The Six Stages of Change for your Character 
• Writing a Novel (or series)for the Busy Writer 
• Nine Points of Trust

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/

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!” ?  

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/

FANGIRL FRIDAY over at Polly Blog!

Cats, Dragons & Gargoyles...Oh My!

I'm visiting and chatting with Paula Roe about garden statues of all things!!!

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

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/

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   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   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.

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

TOPIC: An Author's Life...with Paula Roe

Being a published author is an ... involved ... process, and I take my hat off to those who've been in the business more than a few years now.

As a pre-pubbed author I was always curious about what happened once you received THE CALL and stepped into the world of publishing.

What did it involve? How did they handled the day to day pressures? Did they developed routines, set goals etc.? What did they like/dislike about the process?

So I asked my special guests these questions and many of them have offered some intriguing insights into their lives. Maybe they'll even give you a heads up on what to expect if you're thinking of entering the world of "getting published".

Please welcome my next guest...

In PAULA ROE’s former (non-writing) life, she’s worked as a PA, office manager, software trainer and aerobics instructor and is an active RWAustralia volunteer and long-standing member (holding the positions of Secretary, Vice-President, Contest Co-ordinator, Conference Co-ordinator and Hearts Talk editor).

Her writing won and placed in various (MANY various!) US and Australian contests and as a published author she’s a RBY Award and Colorado RW Award of Excellence finalist.  Her books have been voted Favourite Category Romance of 2009 and 2010 and she’s also been nominated for Favourite Romance author of the Year with the Australian Romance Readers Association.

A Borders Books bestseller and Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice nominee, Paula is currently published with Harlequin Desire and designs websites on the side. 

Author Facts 
Pseudonym or Given Name on the cover? Why a pseudonym? For my straight romances, my real name.  For my erotic medieval/fantasy stuff, an aka.  Why?  Well, I have a small child and there are some weird people out there... 

Blue Mts. - Australia

Location: I live near the gorgeous Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Published Genre/s: Currently published in category fiction and non-fiction. 
Website: www.paularoe.com and the coming-soon www.pollyarcher.com for all the naughtier bits :-)
First published in: 2007 for books. Before that, I had a bunch of articles in Romance Writers of Australia’s monthly newsletter.
Number of books published: by the end of 2012, I’ll have 7 books out, but I’m aiming for another 2 novellas in addition to that!

The Nitty Gritty
List up to 5 significant events in your journey to publication.

1. Reading my first hard-core historical romance, Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey. Up until then, I was strictly a cats-and-horses kinda gal.
2. When my best friend and I decided we should actually write an historical romance. It was very basic, filled with masses of clichés and was never finished, but it got me hooked on writing.
3. Getting rejected by Harlequin Temptation in my early 20s. Of course, I can now see exactly what was wrong with that manuscript but at the time I was gutted. But it also meant I was determined to get better.
4. Joining Romance Writers of Australia after years of tinkering with writing but never actually doing anything about it, and subsequently meeting this amazing bunch of writers who were working towards the same things I was.
5. The first writing contest I won – it meant I didn’t totally suck and other writers thought so too!

What resources/techniques/events did you find useful to develop your writing skills/craft?
The internet – great for researching stuff you have no clue about!

Without a doubt, contests. Not just RWA ones, but the US chapter-run ones, because I was targeting the American market.

I think it’s important to understand that not all judges’ suggestions should be followed. I was, for a time, a big crowd-pleaser – if one judge suggested a change, I’d immediately change it without understanding why or if I should.

I think as time went on, and as more people read my stuff, I got more confident with my voice and if any changes to my writing was needed.  That was certainly a big deal for me and, I think, for a lot of writers starting out.

When it comes to feedback, suggestions should always be a buffet, not a la carte - it’s ultimately up to you to chose what’s right for your story. 

Can you share the special moment when you received THE CALL/THE EMAIL?
It was an email :-)  I’d spent the first part of 2006 entering all RWA’s contests, some finalling, some winning and I’m pretty sure people were sick of hearing my name come up at the awards ceremony!

As a result of my Opening Chapter win and RWA Emerald final, my mss landed on the desk of Desire’s Senior Editor, Leslie Wainger.  After our conference – scattered with a lot of “why aren’t you published yet?'s  Keziah Hill encouraged me to email Demetria Lucas, the Desire editor who was reading it. A week or two later, on the 9th September, I got an email that started with “great news!”

And you know, as much as having a child is a joyful, life-changing event, the actual pushing one out into the world and the moments after where you’re completely out of it, in pain and just want to go to sleep really sucks.  I have to say, a “we want to buy your book!” email was a much more pleasant process ;-) 

Looking back over your writing career, how have you grown as an author?
I have learned A LOT since 2006 (wow, that’s six whole years!!)  First I’ve learned lots about the industry as a whole, which is always the first step in a writing career (“knowledge is power”!).

I’ve gotten better at plotting and discarding stuff I know won’t work for my line. I’ve understood writing techniques and why/when to use them to greater effect.

I’m getting better at editing – removing the scads of adjectives when one (or none!) will suffice.  And I can write really, really quickly when a deadline is looming :-)

How important is it to set career goals? Can you give an example of one you have for yourself?
I’m ashamed to say I haven’t done the career goals thing, just year-by-year ones, which I regularly list on my blog.

I really should, right, considering I’m writing different stuff and this year will be my 7th published Desire..?  But I can tell you this year I am DETERMINED to at least flesh out this medieval fantasy tome that’s been languishing in plot form for the last (ahem!) years. 

Can you describe your writing process/timeframe from when you start a new book to handing it in at deadline?
Usually the first meeting between my characters is fully formed in my head, and of course, I’ve had the go-ahead on a complete story synopsis, so my deadline is generally 6 months from initial submission to handing it in.  So now the fun begins – lots of daydreaming, going through old notes, scouring the internet for ‘character’ photos, then writing, writing, writing.

Then I get bored, then I complain about how much I hate the story, then I watch more TV/surf the internet.  I discuss some things with my writing group, the plot begins to take shape and I get those little sparks of insight into my characters and their actions/reactions.

Then suddenly, it’s 4 weeks until deadline and my boy gets sick, or has issues with school, or SOMETHING. And then I finish the book, reread it a billion times, then send it at midnight on the due date.

By this time I know there’s an issue or two still to be ironed out, and I call on my fabulous editor to “help me!!  Tell me what’s wrong with this - arrrghhh!!”

By the time I get his feedback we’re pretty much on the same track and there’s another bunch of edits to be done... Lovely, eh? 

One of the things I found challenging about being a published author is the constant juggling of tasks ie. writing a book, editing another, planning promotion, writing the proposal for another (and usually this all happens while holding down another job or dealing with family/life etc.).

What do you enjoy the most in the publishing process?
The final edits!  Knowing that throughout the process, the story has vastly improved and you’ve given it your all.  That and seeing the cover for the first time... as long as it’s a good one (and thank the Gods, I’ve been fortunate so far...)

I also love writing down dates on a nice clean calendar.  Is that odd?  Release dates, deadlines, weeks I’ve blocked off for writing, guest blogging. I love my Day Planner and my Mont Blanc pen :-)

What do you like least in the publishing process?
I’m not much good at waiting – for edits, for a cover, for the release date... 

What's the most memorable fan-mail you've received?
Actually, it was a response on a loop I’m on – a simple “you’re an idol of mine...”  Made my entire week! 

Is there anything you think pre-published writers need to know about the business/industry before they're published?
Knowing what to edit out of your writing and knowing what to leave in is a fine art that only comes from writing, submitting and assessing feedback.

Rejection can get very disheartening  - that whole, “thanks but we’re going to pass on this” without knowing EXACTLY what you need to fix really sucks.  So if there’s any way you can give up writing, then do it.  If not, then understand there are many paths to publishing and sometimes it’s one step forward, one step back.  Some editors will love your stuff, and some will hate it.

Oh, and reviewers have the right to their opinion as much as you have the right to ignore it :-) 

A Bit of Fun
Favorite color: blue.
Hunkiest hero ever: Hmmm... I ADORE the character of Seeley Booth in Bones.  So complex!  And you can’t go past Mal Reynolds (Firefly).  ::swoon::  Oh, and Vin Diesel’s voice just sends me to pieces...
Most daring thing you've done in your life: That’s legal? ;-)  backpack around Europe.  Live in another country.  Or possibly, ask a guy on a date.
Greatest love: My boy, my cats, that new-release rush, handbags.
Timeout/relaxation for me includes: Surfing the internet and watching TV.
Special quote/saying you like: There’s two: “A goal without desire is just a meaningless dream” which I have over my computer.  And one I made up:  “Stop complaining, put on your big girl pants and deal with it.”