Silk & Shadows

Currently working on: Book 4 — Argh, writing faster!
Mood: Speedy

One of the best/worst parts of the Romance Writers of American annual conference is all the books.  Look, you know how it is.  There’s a book.  It needs a home.  I have a bookshelf.  What else was I supposed to do?

So I came home with a lotta books.  Have I read them all?  Not quite yet.  But I’m working on it.  And much like a nutty squirrel, I feel warm and fuzzy knowing I have a winter’s stash of reading material. 

Not that I’ll stop getting new books, of course.  You understand.

All this book reading requires a technique.  It’s not enough to just stuff my cheeks with them, bury them, and then forget where I put them.  There’s good stuff inside, after all.

So here’s  how I conquer my TBR pile:

1. Amass the books in one place.
XY doesn’t understand why I have to have ALL my books out.  Well, it’s because if I don’t see them all, I don’t know how far I have to go.  Plus, looking at them makes me happy.

2. Read the opening pages of a bunch of them.
I usually grab a handful — four to six titles — and read the first chapter or so, usually while I’m sitting on the floor in front of my bookshelf.

3. Choose a winner. Or two.
Inevitably, one or two titles grab my interest at the moment.  At another moment, maybe one of other books would have appealed more.  It’s fine; they’ll wait for me.

4. Settle on the couch until spring.
Oh I wish!  But I do spend a lot of time reading.  It’s a hazard of the writer’s job.  If only I got hazard pay!

How do you choose from your TBR pile?  Is it random?  Does something spark your interest and make you reach out? Or are you one of those weird people who only buys one book at a time?

Leave a comment any time this week and you’ll have a chance to win one of the titles in the pile above.

I suppose that’s another method for whittling down my TBR pile…
5. Give books away to friends.
Hey, not only does that free up space on my shelves for the next book (or two) I can tell myself I’m helping an author spread the words.

Currently working on: Al.Most.Done with revisions
Mood: Last stretch of K2 with the promise of a long toboggan ride down — whee! (probably into a bottomless cravasse, but…)

Our topic this week is “If I wrote in another subgenre…” which didn’t take that much imagining for me because I’ve already done it.  And the timing of the topic couldn’t be better since I just cleaned out a cabinet and unearthed (and yes, by unearthed I mean removed enough dust to qualify as earth) these:

These are a bunch (not all, mind you) of my old stories.  In this stack or out of view on the floor are the following:

• A historical of no particular time period (who knew you had to choose ONE time period or at least provide a time machine) with exceedingly murky point of view changes
• Two rom-coms, one with a herd of dachshunds
• Two Regencies, one with requisite duke (I feel a sudden urge to write THE DUKE OF DACHSHUNDS for some reason)
• A medieval with paranormal elements
• A futuristic romantic suspense with old skool Indiana Jones overtones
• A high fantasy heroic quest road trip revised as a contemporary paranormal romance
• Various and assorted pieces and parts of other Regencies, contemps and Harlequin categories

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Writing coaches will tell you to pick a subgenre and stick with it, at least until you’ve made a place for yourself as a certain kind of writer offering a certain kind of experience.  And, they say, for heaven’s sake, DON’T query an agent or editor with all of the above.  (Uh, oops…)

I’m sure the writing coaches are right.  They also tell you that you should probably write what you read.  And that was my problem — I read all sorts of romance.  So I wrote all sorts of romance before I found out that might be considered a waste of time.  Not to mention a waste of paper.

But I don’t regret those wide-ranging stories.  All that casting around (maybe I should say, casting up my writing accounts — you Regency readers will know what I mean) was me trying to unearth “my voice” and what kinds of stories I wanted to tell.

Even though the subgenres displayed a touch of multiple personality disorder, the stories inside contained many of the same elements:

• A heroine marching to her own piper
• A hero with troubles he’d rather not share
• A few (or more) shadows with contrasting light moments
• Enough adventure or intrigue to keep me interested

And even if I write a cookbook, I can pretty much guess how it will end.  Happily.

Those earlier projects mark my evolution as a writer.  I almost hate to recycle the primeval papertrail they left.  But they are footsteps I’ve left behind me, not a path I need to retrace.

I have some old jewelry I made, from when I first started stringing beads, that I need to take apart too.  I’ve improved my craft and my vision and they aren’t my best effort anymore.  The components — crystal, pearl, sterling, glass – are still good, though, and I have a scavenger’s eye for salvage :)  I look forward to snipping off the ends and tumbling all the smooth and sparkly bits across my desk to see what I can keep.

Do you have old projects you keep around?  How do you know when you’re through with them?  Does seeing them weigh you down, or do they inspire you when you see how far you’ve come?

Currently working on: Just finished page proofs on FORGED OF SHADOWS, the last step before June 2010 publication
Mood: Good luck, little book!  Now get out

Doesn’t everyone remember the first romance novel they discovered?  Back in the day, I stumbled upon my mother’s copy of A ROSE IN WINTER by Kathleen Woodiwiss.  A charming rouge, a burned-out manor house, an auction-block marriage, a winter ball, and a Beauty and the Beast twist.  Oh my!  After reading that, I was ruined forever.  Kinda like your typical swooning historical ingenue.

I think the right first romance novel is very much like the right first kiss.  You want it to be special, deep and meaningful, a memory to cherish.  So, like a fairy godmother picking out a prince, I take a book recommendations very seriously, especially when I am recommending a first romance novel.

Romance novels already suffer from red-headed stepchild syndrome with some (silly!) people, but I love when I can win over a new reader.  I’m always discovering new great books that I just KNOW will turn on the most hard-hearted cynic, and I also have a few gold standards that I can fall back on.

Romantic comedy
I always like to start off easy on a new romance reader.  I find a contemporary romantic comedy can be a good beginner romance because:

• The contemporary settings are readily absorbed.  There are no Austenian social mannerisms to maneuver around, no “och, wee lass, do ye ken mah claymore yearns fer ye?” historical diction to decipher.
• Rom-com movies often pave the way in reluctant psyches.
• The fun covers sometimes don’t even give away that it IS a romance.

Anything by Jennifer Crusie is a great “starter” because her dazzlingly delightful dialogue will win over non-believers.  And it’s so convenient that she’s writing with Bob Mayer now, because you can even spring these books on unsuspecting male-type readers because — hey! — there’s a guy’s name on the cover!

Historical romance
For the slightly uptight, a good, corseted historical can help loosen them up.  The trick with “reading” a reader who might like a historical is figuring out whether they’ll sway toward a more correct historical interpretation or if a rollicking adventure would more tickle their fancy.

But as far as tickling goes, a spicy, saucy story like Delilah Marvelle’s are sure to please.  And by pleasure, I think we all understand what I mean

Of course, there are also category romances, romantic suspense, inspirationals, straight contemporary, women’s fiction (with a strong romance)…  And, of course, paranormal romance :)  But as you know, paranormal romance isn’t for the faint of heart.

Finding a first romance novel for the people around me isn’t just a job.  It’s a passion!

And how lucky I am to be able to indulge my love as a tax write-off

What’s the first romance novel you recommend to newbies?  Have you ever made a romance reader for life (or — in the case of paranormal romance – afterlife)?

As a writer, the bulk of my daydreams are about the worlds I weave for my books. Some of my most relaxing moments are just sitting in my La-Z-Boy, immersing myself completely in the sights and sound and smells of that magical place, where ever it might be. Even if the real world is ratcheting up the tension, I can de-stress in an instant simply by closing my eyes and following my characters into their adventures.

As a reader, all it takes is a skilled wordsmith with a flair for storytelling and I’m off visiting far-off lands and ancient times. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen into a great book only emerge hours later wondering how much time has passed. Unless I then discover I’m late for something, LOL, that’s a blissful moment. To be transported. Sigh. That’s what my book budget is really for.

I don’t do much spontaneous daydreaming. To be honest, I feel like I’m living my dream. But I do tend to surround myself with paintings and pictures of peaceful places I’d love to dive into.

Calendars of Scottish castles, paintings of houses in the autumn, pictures of winding country roads. A few images of the stars… And yes, some clear blue water and white sand scenes. They have the power to make me forget, just for a second, the phone bill and the laundry pile. Some days, that’s exactly what I need.

Do you have a favorite place to daydream? Inside? Outside? At the office, LOL?

Prod a friend into commenting and you both will have double the chance to win.  (Just make sure your friend mentions your name in the comment so we can credit you properly for your most excellent taste in friends.)

In the coming weeks of December and into January (with time off for Christmas and New Year’s) you’ll have more chances to win chocolate, gift certificates and autographed books from S&S authors.  So please stop by as your life allows.

 As a kid I read every supernatural-themed book I could get my grimy little hands on, from the classic Fairy Books (anyone remember the Blue, Red, Green, Pink etc. Fairy Books?) to CS Lewis to Lloyd Alexander to Tolkien and on and on. Then, my world was blown apart by a little Scholastic edition called How to Care for Your Monster by Norman Bridwell. Oh, such bliss to my ten-year old self. I had arrived at my new spiritual home.

 Mr. Bridwell carefully outlined the care and feeding of werewolves, mummies, vampires and other unusual pets the same way one might instruct a child on the keeping of fish. Thus empowered, I set out into the world to put his good advice into action.

As I scoured the local pet shops for a real live mummy to call my own (I wanted a werewolf but mom said they shed too much), my reading took a turn down much darker byways, exploring stories like The Monkey’s Paw and The Imp in the Bottle. As I got older, I discovered Poe and Stephen King and all the usual grimmer-than-Brothers Grimm horror tropes. I devoured TV shows like The Night Stalker.

Then, there was another revelation. Ghostbusters.

 OMG horror AND humour in the same story!!

 Of course, by this point in my life I realized adopting giant marshmallow Godzilla-equivalents was impractical (although sometimes I do have the hell dimension at the back of the fridge). So I got a cat instead, and started writing romances about the critters I adored (but I seriously upgraded from the marshmallow guy).

Let me just make it clear that, although I like the window dressing of the horror genre, I’m in it for the HEA and all the good stuff that makes a fine love story–even if the characters are sometimes daylight-challenged. 

In my fictional world, the supernatural residents of planet earth came out into the open around the year 2000. Computers and security systems have made it too difficult to live off the radar.  Since Y2K, they’ve done what they can to integrate-getting jobs, paying taxes, forming neighbourhoods, and starting businesses. It doesn’t really matter if you’re the vampire prince of darkness-you still need to pay the rent. Of course, some monsters cope better than others.

And some very hot specimens will make you want to violate the strictest no-pet policy. They can come shed on my couch anytime.  

I love fish out of water stories.  I love stories about finding one’s personal power and learning to use it wisely. I love tales that show how we have to risk our emotional safety in order to be effective. These threads weave a great romance, and a setting where the everyday crashes into the supernatural is ideal for me. Paranormal elements help to paint the conflicts-and the fun-in bold, bright colours.

As I said above, I adore fish out of water stories. Arguably, Frankenstein wins the prize here. No other character was so out of his element-he didn’t have one!  What are some of your favourite monster tales, and why?

 Remember - leave a comment to enter this week’s prize draw!

I write paranormal romance. Not the kind with vampires and werewolves–although I wouldn’t rule that out–the kind with immortality, magic and demons. I started out writing historical romances, because I’m a huge fan of the medieval time period. Gimme a mail-clad knight or a brave Scottish warrior and I’m a very happy reader. I devoured early tales by Kathleen Woodiweiss, Julie Garwood, and Teresa Medeiros. But after writing three historical romances, all of which had mystical elements in them, I realized I wasn’t writing historical romance per se, but paranormal romance. And once I realized that, I was began writing whatever strange and wonderful tale caught my interest. It was freeing.

So, why paranormal? I blame it on an early exposure to Anne McCaffrey. I read To Ride Pegasus, a really cool story about women with telepathic powers, while babysitting at a neighbor’s house and then went looking for more of her novels. I got hooked on her Dragonriders of Pern series and read almost every one of those, with a few crystal singers and ships who sang thrown in for fun.

More recently, I became a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. I own the entire seven seasons on DVD and watch my favorite episodes over and over again. Yes, I admit it. I can sing the words to every song in Once More, with Feeling.

Combining romance and paranormal elements makes for a really great story. The inherent conflict in a romantic tale, that learning and testing that goes on between the romantic leads, is fascinating. But the tension is even higher when the romance is interwoven with magic and mayhem and strange abilities. Plus, the stakes in a paranormal romance tend to be very high—end of the world stuff—and that’s a lot of fun to write. And to read.

The book I have coming out in September is about Soul Gatherers. It started with a simple image flash of the hero—a warrior who died hundreds of years ago—battling demon thieves to protect the souls of the recently dead. The concept of a warrior guardian, steadfastly refusing to let a good person’s soul be waylaid into Hell, really captured my imagination, so I ran with it. I’m fascinated by the play of good and evil in human existence. I love to read stories and watch movies about the good guy triumphing over the bad, and I especially enjoy tales that explore how fuzzy and gray the line can be between good and bad.

If you read paranormal/urban fantasy romance, what was the book that got you started? The one that hooked you? And if you don’t read paranormals, why not? Did you try one that turned you off? If so, which book was it? If not, do they simply not appeal? Is there a type of storyline that you really can’t wrap your head around?

Don’t forget: all commenters are entered in the draw for this week’s prize!

Currently working on: Chapter 9 in FORGED OF SHADOWS
Wherein our heroes run into trouble of the demonic kind
Mood: Freaked by approaching holidays (almost as scary as demons)

This week, the S&S authors are discussing the different subgenres of story we write… and why.

I’ve dabbled in most of romance’s subgenres: historical, romantic comedy, futuristic, and now urban fantasy.  Even the rom-com had a touch of darkness.  It was an evil dachshund, but still.

Not that darkness has to mean evil, of course.  I’ve always been fascinated by the shadow side, the id, the anima, the B side, the path under the trees.  As a kid, I jumped into toadstool circles, not so much because I believed in fairies as that I longed to find out if there was more to see than THIS side. 

In those days, I liked the Beast better before he became the Prince.  I wanted the unicorn – at least once – to run off with the village whore.  Okay, and maybe I did think, if you made it to Summerland, why would you WANT to come back?

Now that I’m older and wiser(-ish), I realize that the shadow isn’t out THERE, it’s in US.  And what better place to explore the forces of light and dark, the principles of masculine and feminine, the powers of love and lust than a romance novel?

So what if an ancient darkness possessed you?  And what if that darkness yearned for the light?  Would life be easier if you knew for a fact that good and evil battled for your immortal soul?  What hard choices would you make if only you could ensure Creation survived the apocalypse brewing within humanity itself – especially if maybe you can’t call yourself human anymore?

Those are the big questions in my story.  (Yeah, the fate of the world as we know it just seemed too small; let’s hang the universe in the balance!)  I also play with the more intimate questions of relating with the other half of your soul: like how to divvy up the household chores… such as  cleaning up the brimstone poisoning, and how opening your heart to your mate can be harder than battling demons.

But while the plot makes of my story a dark paranormal romance, the characters are just like you and me.  Um, except (hopefully) for the demonic possession thing.  But the forces at work inside us all are every bit as terrifying and wondrous.

Does this not sound Christmas-y?  As we descend into the darkest part of year, there’s no better time to contemplate the shadow side and the hope that rises from it.  My story began at the end of 2007 (when I won the Rose City Romance Writers writing contest and sold my book) and won’t see the light of day again until the waning months of 2009 (when the book finally appears on shelves near you).  No wonder I’m quite in tune with the wee dark months. 

So tell me, what seed dreams have sprouted in your dark times?  Which shadow aspects of your soul do you most fear… or cherish?  Your comments count toward your chance to win this week’s holiday gift from me!