Friday, October 28, 2011

Life Really Is In the Details




It's my pleasure to welcome romance author Addison Fox, back to OVER COFFEE. This visit she's sharing her contemporary Alaskan Nights series. 

Her topic is one of interest--details. It's the little details that make characters all the more real to readers. The author's experiences in life also add a layer of reality to the characters.
  

As a writer, there are very few dreams that strike harder than the dream of being able to write full time.  It’s a common enough theme at writers conferences, with workshops abounding on “How to Quit Your Day Job,” “Writing Around Responsibilities,” and “How to Write With Children.” The imagined joy of being able to write all day fuels many an author through the long hours of doing the many things that can keep you away from the computer.

And while there are many authors who are able to write full time, I bet each and every one of them could still tell you all about the distractions that keep them from the keyboard.

The reality is, life is distracting. And being a writer (or any other profession), means you work around the craziness to continue performing at a high level. While these little ups and downs are a part of life, when you’re an author, they become fodder for whatever your imagination can conjure up. And there’s nothing more fun than taking a personal experience and twisting it to see how your characters would react to the same. Because of life’s little ups and downs, I know how my heroine feels when…

She gets rear-ended in a thunderstorm….or gets flirted with by a cute guy while waiting at Starbucks…or she has to walk up four stories because the elevator’s out in her apartment…or she watches a friend get married…or she gets a new puppy…or she loses a loved one…or she falls in love.

Or…or…or…

Whatever your “or” is, the experiences we have each day help to shape us. They make us who we are and add to the vibrancy of what we write.

So I offer up this challenge. Next time you see a butterfly on a flower or have a flat tire, chalk it up to research and file that moment away.  You never know when your characters might need it!

Come join us over coffee today and fill us in on some of the experiences that have shaped you. One lucky poster will win a copy of my new release, BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE.

Happy Writing!
Addison

Baby It’s Cold Outside

After a frantic call, Sloan McKinley travels to the heart of the Alaskan wilderness to be there for her best friend, who’s just inherited property in the small town of Indigo. The last thing she expects is to be lured by the town’s matriarchs into their annual contest to get their grandsons married off.

But Sloan can’t deny the appeal of the rugged local men-Walker Montgomery in particular. Soon she finds herself falling in love with the wild outdoors…and with one of Indigo’s most beloved residents. There’s just one question that remains: is the town’s most confirmed bachelor ready to get caught? A brief Excerpt



                                                                                                                                    
Addison Fox can’t remember a time when words weren’t part of her life. An avid reader, her love of the written word started at the tender age of one with The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear (a poem she could recite by heart to any family member who would listen.) Dr. Seuss, C.S. Lewis, Judy Blume and a host of others quickly followed until she discovered THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR by Jean M. Auel while writing a paper at the library in the seventh grade. Although not a classic romance, Ayla and Jondalar’s love story moved her firmly into the romance section and she hasn’t looked back!

Her paranormal romance series, The Sons of the Zodiac, launched with NAL in March of 2010. The series recounts the adventures (and path to true love!) for an immortal band of warriors, granted the powers of their astrological signs and charged with protecting humanity. 
Beginning in November 2011, Addison will have a new contemporary series on shelves as well.BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE is the first in the Alaskan Nights series. Set in the fictional town of Indigo, Alaska, a couple of city girls are about to learn that the wide open spaces of Alaska just may hold everything they’re looking for.
You can find Addison: