The Immigration Of Characters

I write, as do many writers, because I enjoy writing. I take pleasure in telling stories and taking people on adventures via my stories. I have voices and ideas in my head. It gets crowded in there; I need these clamoring characters to immigrate. Onto my computer screen is the perfect new world for them. Rarely are they happy there, though. They want a larger world. They want to travel; they want to see and be seen. These characters are determined; they have visions of the wide world of places like Barnes and Noble in which to sow their wild oats. A few are truly ambitious and, having a high opinion of themselves, dream of traveling to New York and make the rounds socially—on the ‘A’ list, of course. One or two have even mentioned being on the ‘A’ list will help them realize another dream, living on the silver screen. Once they’ve done that, then they want to settle down on a nice little cozy bookshelf somewhere.


So what’s a beleaguered writer to do? Help them immigrate, of course.


As a writer, I’ve in effect given birth to them and I’m emotionally attached to them. I’ve raised them to be tough and strong, to set goals and dream. I applaud their ambition. I love my characters, so I start the paper trail to help them realize their dreams and ambitions. However, immigration laws for characters have become tough in the past ten years. There’s so much red tape involved. Character immigration is a tough business all around. Getting through to the Character Immigration Officers is daunting.

I get frustrated because some of these CIO’s reject my characters without even giving them a chance. I polish them, provide my characters with a new wardrobe, take care with accessories—because appearances are everything in this world—and try again. I provide them with the right background and setting and still they get rejected. Some of these CIO’s want clear-cut categories to pigeonhole them. A certain background. Some of my characters don’t fit into a particular category—they are people after all—much less a set background. Some of my characters do, but still aren’t accepted. My characters are upset and I’m frustrated. Because I’m attached to them, it bothers me when they’re rejected. Meanwhile, I have a small town of characters living on my computer, and more in my head. Will I stop creating? No. Will I stop trying to help my characters to immigrate? No, again.


I have invested in some tough Rhino skin for my characters and myself. It’s survival. I have no intention in giving up on finding homes for my characters. But rejections hurt you as an author. They can’t help but hurt us because we have created these characters and invested time and emotion in them. Rejections are a normal process of the querying your novels and stories. Some published authors say they’ve received enough rejection letters they could’ve papered their bathroom walls. That’s a lot of rejections.


Some of these published authors made it through the red tape of Agents and Editors and gotten their stories published with traditional publishing houses, others investigated smaller publishers and went that route, and still others have settled in nicely with POD publishers. They did this because they believed in their abilities to tell an entertaining story and a desire to take readers on an adventure. They enjoy writing.


The point is, these are published authors and they didn’t give up. They obviously invested in some tough Rhino skin as well so as not to be discouraged to the point of not writing or querying their stories. Persistence has its rewards. They’ve networked and marketed aggressively. Even after getting a contract, they continue working on building and keeping a strong reader base by perfecting their skills as a storyteller.

For these published authors, their characters have emigrated from the world in their heads and their computers to New York and hit the ‘A’ list—the Best Sellers list. Some of the authors have had their books optioned and have seen their characters make it to the movies. Some of their characters have starred in TV movies or series. Their characters have happily found homes in Borders and Barnes and Noble. Others are happily ensconced on a nice cozy bookshelf in someone’s home.


There are many success stories out there. The question is, will you stay the course and help your characters immigrate? Where will your characters end up? Will they immigrate or end up spending their life with you?


As for me, I’m determined to help my characters immigrate.

~*~*~*~*~

Sia Mckye lives in Missouri on a ranch out beyond the back forty. She raises kids, Great Danes, horses, and has been known to raise a bit of hell now and then.

Sia has been involved with marketing and promotion for most of her working life. She's published various articles and conducted seminars on marketing/promotion.

She has written several romance novels and Para romance. Sia is in the process of helping her characters immigrate to Barnes & Noble.

A Writer's Journey To Publication

I’m happy to welcome my friend and debut author, Lisa Brackmann, to Over Coffee. We’re part of the famous, or infamous, depending upon your opinion at the time, Writin’ Wombats. I’ve watched many of our group receive contracts for publication, including Lisa.

I know the road to publication isn’t easy. Most writers are so focused on getting published, they rarely think beyond that. What happens when you get an agent? What happens once the book is sold? We think we work hard on our novels prior to publication, but what about after?

Lisa shares a bit of her journey to publication with us. Some of this was previously published on her blog, The Paper Tiger. Lisa also agreed to answer some of my questions which you will find at the end of the article.

Writing a novel is a lot of work. Okay, I've known that for a while. I've written a few. This last one, the one that got me an agent and then a deal, took so much time and effort that I'd joke it was written in dog years. And that it was trying to kill me, I was pretty sure. That last bit might not have been a joke.


The part that I'd only previously known on an intellectual level is that getting published is also a lot of work. I mean, this should be obvious, and I sort of knew it, but until I went through it, I didn't actually know it.


All of the sudden, you're getting paid for your work. And people are depending on you. Your agent. Your editor. Your PR person. An entire infrastructure. You've signed a contract, and you have to deliver, quality work, on time. There are hard deadlines. Publication schedules. Catalogs for the upcoming season. I think that's the first time I really absorbed that the whole thing was real, when I downloaded Soho's catalog, read all of the book descriptions, the author bios. Wow, I thought. I'm going to be in one of these. Me and my book. Shit.


There's the book itself. Editorial revisions. Line edits. A galley proof yet to come. And then there's everything else that comes with being an author in the modern world. A bio. Photos. A new website. Marketing ideas. Where am I known? Who do I know? How can I help my own chances of success?

It's that whole notion of thinking of yourself and your work as a product, as a brand. Most of us writer types are introverts, and we can all fulminate against this cultural trend of marketing uber alles (and I have), but this is the reality. It's a part of our job, as authors. And if there's one thing this whole experience has brought home to me, it's that being a published author is a job.

Well, duh, right? And I've taken that sort of workman's approach to my writing in general for the past few years. A writing book I've often recommended to people suffering from creative blocks is Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. It's a little repetitive and has its metaphysical aspects which may or may not be helpful to a lot of people. But one of the basic messages I appreciated very much is, you have to think of your creative work as a job. Meaning, you can't wait around for the Muses to inspire you. Because what's the first rule of a job? You show up. Whether you're inspired or not. Whether you want to or not. Eventually that kind of discipline rewards you with productive output.

It worked for me, anyway. I'm not one of these writers who has to write, who churns out thousands of words at a sitting. It takes a lot of effort for me, a lot of the time. Ultimately I'm happier when I'm writing than when I'm not writing, so I make myself do it, whether I feel like it or not.You can carry over a lot of other things from thinking of your writing as a job.

You have to work with other people. At times you have to put aside your ego and listen to what others have to say about your work and accept their criticism. You have to distinguish between trivialities and the things that really matter to the integrity of your work.

This experience has given me new sympathy for publishers—and agents—and the reluctance they might have to take on debut authors. Though I think if you write a good book, it's pretty clear that you have some discipline, still, there's always that risk that a new novelist isn't going to be able to work to deadline, or work and play well with others, that she might be a big pain in the ass, and not worth the investment of time and money. Because that's the other thing you need to understand, if you don't know this already: agents and publishers are making a significant investment in you, of their own time and potential income.

Me, I take a lot of pride in my craftsmanship, and as I've gone through this process, I've realized that I also take a lot of pride in doing a good job. In getting the work done right, on time, or even ahead of schedule. This is a job that I really enjoy. One where I show up. One that I might even be good at. I like that.

• How long you've been writing with the view to getting published?
  

I've always taken my writing really seriously, but it's hard for me to determine when I became serious about being published. Early on I wrote some prose mostly for fun that got me some publishing interest, but I was too embarrassed to follow through with it. For a long time I focused on screenplays and teleplays, but they were pretty idiosyncratic and strange for the most part. Even though I'd tell myself I wanted that career, I wondered about my seeming inability to make the necessary compromises in what I was writing to have it (the one time I did a screenplay project for hire, I really didn't enjoy the process very much).

I then wrote a novel for fun, just as a way to keep my writing chops up, while I focused on that spec screenplay that was going to earn me six figures. I found out that I really liked writing novels way more than spec screenplays, so I kept going with that. I actually had some publishing interest in that book as well, but I always figured it was a serious long-shot (500 pages long! Sort of unclassifiable, semi-steam punk speculative fiction without any elves or dwarves!), and I gave up on subbing that when the editor who had liked it somewhat eventually passed. So ROCK PAPER TIGER was the first novel I wrote where from the beginning I had getting published in mind. And then, of course, the early drafts turned out weird and unclassifiable!

• How long were you shopping for an agent. Did you get many rejections before Nathan Bransford took you on?

It felt like forever, but it really wasn't that long. I think I had five or six passes before I tried Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown. But I was already pretty discouraged. The responses I'd gotten from agents (when I got personalized responses) were contradictory, and I was convinced that I'd written yet another unclassifiable, unsalable, weird book.

I only tried Nathan because, when I was about to throw the book in a metaphoric drawer, one of the members of my writing group suggested I try him - "He has a blog, and he likes novels set in foreign countries." I did my research on what he was looking for - something which I strongly urge anyone who is querying agents to do rather than just sending out queries en masse - pounded out a new query letter over a rather large glass of wine, and sent it off.

• Once you were accepted by him, what did you have to go through to strike the deal?

Nathan felt that my book had a lot of potential but needed some revisions before it was ready for submission. He had a direction in mind and offered to reconsider the MS if I wanted to rewrite along those lines. I agreed with his critique - he really echoed things that I'd suspected but couldn't see as clearly as I needed to do the work on my own. So I did a series of rewrites with feedback from Nathan, who in addition to his agenting savvy is a great editor. By the time we got to a certain point in the process, when it became clear that I could get the book where it needed to be, he offered me representation.

I know that some writers might be wary of doing so much work with no guarantee of a contract at the end, but I think this was a really great way for both of us to test out the author/agent relationship and see how we worked together. Believe me, you want to have a good working relationship with your agent when you go through revisions and then the submission and publication process! And I'm sure that agents feel the same way about the writers they sign. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

• How did working with an agent change your perspective of publishing?

Working with Nathan and then being signed by him and Curtis Brown was life-changing for me. I do not exaggerate, corny as it sounds. I felt validated for my writing in a way that I hadn't before. Here's someone whose job depends on recognizing talent and whose income depends on making smart choices about who he signs.

For me, long accustomed to writing stuff that was too eccentric to sell, it was a huge confidence booster, and another big step in being able to separate myself from my work, to see it as a product, not some deep reflection of my soul or what have you. That may sound a little crass, but it's absolutely necessary to have that attitude to work as a professional author. You have to learn how to accept criticism without it taking it so personally.

• I know you love things Chinese. You've been learning the language, you've visited China many times. How much influence has your studies of/love of China influence your writing of Rock Paper Tiger?

Well, most of the book is set in contemporary China. That was a sort of commercial calculation on my part - I knew that people are interested in China, and that not that many American fiction writers have used modern China as a setting. I felt that I had the familiarity to write it with some authority.

China is a fascinating place it's a lot of fun to drop in some of the surreal details that are a part of the daily scenery there. (as an aside, I look for those details in any location I set a book - I'm planning a California road trip novel at some point, and believe me, there's plenty of surrealism here to go around!)

• Can you tell me a bit about the story itself?

Iraq war vet Ellie Cooper is down and out in Beijing, trying to lose herself in the alien worlds of performance artists and online gamers. When a chance encounter with a Uighur fugitive drops her down a rabbit hole of conspiracies, Ellie must decide whom to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors and operatives claiming to be on her side – in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online game.

• When will Rock Paper Tiger be released?

June 2010, by Soho Press - who have been an absolute pleasure to work with. My editor, Katie Herman, did an amazing job on my book - and the care they've taken with things like the cover - have I mentioned how much I love the cover? - it's been a great experience. Also one that has really changed my perspective on what being a professional novelist is all about. Which is pretty much the topic of my post!

• Lisa, thank you for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. I loved your article. It makes sense and gives an insider's view of what happens once you've been sold as well as choices you have to make for your career as a novelist.

I wish you the very best with this book and can't wait until I can read it!

*~*~*~*~
Lisa Brackmann has worked as an executive at a major motion picture studio, an issues researcher in a presidential campaign, and as the singer/songwriter/bassist in an LA rock band. She's lived and traveled extensively in China. A southern California native, Brackmann currently splits her time between Venice, California and Beijing, China.

http://papertigertail.blogspot.com/

Interview with Amanda Grange, Author of Mr. Darcy Vampyre

Admittedly, while I loved many of Jane Austen’s books, I wasn’t too sure about the idea of beloved Darcy as a vampire. I was intrigued with the concept because I could see how the original story could lend itself to the notion. There is much mystery surrounding Darcy and since Pride and Prejudice is told from Elizabeth Bennett’s point of view we had little insight into his mind or his emotions. We had only his actions to judge him by so the mystery still remains. However I loved the way Amanda handled the premise and her skill as a writer apparent in her story. I also loved how she was able to make Darcy more three-dimensional and yet remain true to the original character in Pride and Prejudice. Best of all, it’s not the typical clichéd vampire story.



I had the opportunity to chat with best selling author, Amanda Grange, which was cool because I could ask some questions.

Why Darcy as a Vampire?

• I wanted to write a different kind of sequel to Pride and Prejudice, something that would test Lizzy and Darcy’s love for one another and leave the outcome in doubt, and as I was reading a lot of Regency Gothics at the time, the idea of a Gothic sequel came to me. I’d had the idea of Darcy as a vampyre at the back of my mind for some time and it all seemed to fit very well. He’s wealthy, aloof and very attractive to women. I also liked the idea of making him a vampyre because Darcy as a character refuses to die. He’s 200 years old and yet he still enthralls women!

Did you read the original Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice to keep your story in sync with original?

• Yes, I’ve read Pride and Prejudice many times, as it’s my favourite book. I’ve even written another book based on it called Mr Darcy’s Diary, which is a retelling from Darcy’s point of view! So I know the original very well and every now and again I went back to it to check a detail and make sure I was still on track.

What part of writing this book did you enjoy the most?

• That’s hard, because I enjoyed writing different parts for different reasons, but if I had to pick one part of the book I think I would pick the scenes in Venice because it’s a beautiful city and I loved sending Lizzy there. I also loved writing about Darcy’s reaction to seeing her so happy.

What was the hardest part of writing this story?

• I think it was making it all tie in with Pride and Prejudice. For example, in Pride and Prejudice we learn that Mr Darcy’s housekeeper has known him from his early childhood, so I had to think of a way to work that into my sequel and make it fit in with the alternate reality I was creating.

Are you a 'seat of your pants' writer or do you write from outline?

• A bit of both. I had a strong outline for Mr Darcy’s Diary but I filled in the details as I started to write and all sorts of extra things kept happening. They made the story a lot deeper and a lot more interesting and they kept me absorbed because I didn’t know every twist and turn before it happened.

What's a typical writing day for you like?

• I don’t really have a typical writing day. My writing ebbs and flows. Sometimes I will go straight to the computer when I get up in the morning and I will sit and write all day, at other times I won’t start writing until the evening and I will then write into the night.

Who is a source of encouragement to you?

• Other authors. I know quite a lot of them through my writers’ groups, and their creativity and hard work is always an inspiration. It motivates me and keeps me going.

What's next on the agenda for you?

• I’m working on a Darcy story for a Christmas anthology and then I’m writing a prequel to Mr Darcy, Vampyre, so I’m going to be pretty busy!

Amanda, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I'd be very interested in seeing the prequel to Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. To be honest, I found the section where he explains how he became a vampire fascinating and wished there had been more than you showed in this book.

*~*~*~*~

Amanda Grange is the international bestselling author of Mr. Darcy’s Diary, as well as four more Diaries featuring the points of view of the heroes of Jane Austen’s literature and her own historical fiction. She specializes in creative interpretations of classic novels and historic events. Ms. Grange lives in England. Find out more about Amanda and Mr. Darcy, Vampyre on her website: www.amandagrange.com, her blog: http://mrdarcyvampyre.blogspot.com/; and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/MrDarcyVampyre

I want to share with you Mr. Darcy, Vampyre Book Trailer! YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAGv8jnPQJ8.

Two copies of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre—US and Canada only, given to two commenters on today’s Blog. I will need a way to contact the winners, so be sure to leave a way to do that. I will contact the two winners to get your mailing address so the books can be sent to you.

A Complete and Utter Fraud

My guest today is debut author, Jessa Slade. She discusses the changes that come with going from unpublished to published. The feelings of disbelief and the need to pinch yourself because you can't believe it's no longer a dream but reality. The checking to see if what is felt is excitement or terror--perhaps both?

Thanks so much, Sia, for giving me a chance to blog with you. I’m especially happy to be here because sometimes I still feel like it’s impossible that I am here.

Last month, I attended the Romance Writers of America national conference in Washington DC. Although I’ve been to writers’ conferences before, this was my first time as a published author. I was so excited to be going since I got to wear a First Sale ribbon, which I’d longingly admired on new authors over the many, many years of my writing apprenticeship. I donned the name badge with eager pride. The ribbon—shiny and pink—fluttered at the bottom like a challenge to a very small, somewhat effeminate bull.

Bull, as in bullsh!t.

The Bull of BS has long been my nemesis. I picture it like the red bull from Peter S. Beagle’s THE LAST UNICORN. The Bull rears its pointy-horned head whenever I clamber over the fence that divides me from my dreams, when I take a few steps outside my comfort zone, when I start to think maybe—finally—I know where I’m going, and maybe—finally—I have the right to be there. The Bull of BS has an unerring eye for uncertainty, scents fraudulence on the breeze at one part per billion, and eats eager pride for breakfast.

And the Bull of BS had me in its crosshairs.


I’m not ashamed to say I ran. (Okay, I’m a little ashamed, but eager pride goeth before a poking in the backside by the Bull of BS.) I ran back to the bar, back to the safety of my writing friends because I knew they’d understand.

Fellow paranormal romance author Annette McCleave whose first book DRAWN IN DARKNESS comes out in September, drank a spiked hot chocolate with me and captured the sentiment best: "I'd been unpublished a long time. I was good at it. Now [after selling a book] I feel like I fell off a cliff. I'm starting over." She included a dramatic hand gesture, which mimed a Wyle E. Coyote-style 90-degree plummet over a precipice.

Selling a book doesn’t make you a master; it makes you the apprentice, back at the bottom again.


During the conference, fellow writers congratulated me on the first sale, and inevitably they added, “You must be so excited!” Hmm, let me check... Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, breathlessness, sleeplessness... That’s either excitement, or terror!

Maybe both as I hop the fence into the field of dreams, into the fray of being a debut novelist. From my first big outing as a published author, I learned a few things that maybe someday will boost me from apprentice (again) to journeyman:

• There’s always something more to learn, and in the learning comes confidence. Going to workshops and talking to other writers—and this time, talking to my editor and agent—I realized I have indeed learned a few things since the days when I accidentally told parts of my story from the dog’s point of view. That’s progress equivalent, for example, to an apprentice blacksmith not nailing his pants to a horse’s hoof. Yay me! Except there’s always something more to learn so I imagine I’ll never quite get to the end no matter how many times I get to The End.
  


• It’s not as serious as I thought. Seriously. I can’t play the wise and thoughtful writer. Not even on TV. Nobody’d believe it, what with the Bull of BS drooling over my shoulder. Taking my writing seriously but not myself so much has eased some of the pressure. This flies in the face of confidence-building how-to articles that tell you to fake it ‘til you make it, but every time I admit to someone that I secretly suspect I am making this all up, they completely understand. And most feel the same! Turns out, there are a lot of us sneaking along the Bull’s fence, wanting to take the risk. Turns out, a lot of us have jumped the fence only to slip in a cowpie. Talk about instant friendships...
  


• I might have to hear it, but I don’t have to listen to the voice of doubt. This seems simple and obvious, I know, but with the Bull looming right there it’s really hard to meditate on those positive affirmations. Usually the best I can do is pretend, but that counts for a lot because I’m a fiction writer, and we make things up all the time.

Of course, I’m excited to finally have a story I can share with others. I’m also happy, grateful and determined. And terrified. Selling a book didn’t make me a faster writer (sadly), or more self-assured or less introverted. I didn’t suddenly become the brave and graceful toreador, meeting the Bull’s charge with my crimson cape flying. Nope, I only have a pink ribbon. And that’ll have to be enough.

Well, that and a cup of spiked hot chocolate and writing friends.

Has there ever been a time when you thought everybody could see right through your façade? How did you deal? Afterward, did the experience give you more confidence to pursue your dreams?

*-*-*-*


Jessa Slade has always adored doggerel verse, overwrought imagery and hyper-extended metaphors. She tries desperately (and often hopelessly) to rein in these dangerous impulses.On the plus side, she only rarely writes about herself in the third person.She lives in Portland, Oregon, with a musician who feeds her, a shelter dog who walks her, and a pair of nocturnal geckos that keep her company during the wee writing hours.



You can visit Jessa: http://demonrepent.com/

When Lightning Strikes, Working With Your Muse

My guest today is award winning author, Delilah Devlin. She is the author of several series and has won Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for several of her books. Her current books are Darkness Burning Avon RED Tempted by a Cowboy Kensington Sexy Little Numbers 9/29 Black Lace.

Today she discusses how she works with her muse. Hang on because it's a wild ride.

I like the concept of chatting with you “over coffee”. Since I’m never without a pot brewing beside me while I work, it’s a comforting thought.

I’ve been on a tear lately, writing like a madwoman. Not much time to spend with friends or family. Not because I’m on an external deadline of some kind, but because I’m going through one of THOSE cycles. No, not menopause or PMS! I’m going through a creative cycle. Too many ideas bombarding me when I’m awake, although my dreams have been rich too. Just the other night, Temperance Brennan (from BONES) and I led a coup to take over the world. Can’t tell you how it ended though because when I drew the balaclava over my head, I woke up. Always happens before the big climax. Dammit.

Sia did say I could be myself.

In the past couple of months, I’ve written two shorts stories, two novellas, and I’ll wrap up a third novella this week. I’ve also been working on a proposal for a futuristic. I love it when the muse humors me with these creative spurts, and I take advantage of it, because when the current run peters out, the writing will become “work” again.

I like writing on several projects at once—planning one, plotting one, writing one, and editing one. It sounds insane, but it works for me. Every author has her own process; mine’s just manic at the moment. For a month there, April I think it was, I could hardly make myself sit at the computer to answer the email much less create, but I got a minimal amount of work done, enough I couldn’t claim writer’s block. When that happened, I hit the books—research books, that is—trying to refill the well with new ideas. I read Wicca books, Norse and British isle folklore, anything I could find on angels and demons, and lots of fetishist books. Plenty of inspiration there.

When the muse stirred, it exploded with several ideas all at once, some more formed than others, so I only made notes for the ones that were more mist than substance but tore into the full-bodied concepts. There’s enough material there to keep me going for the next year, which is to say there are many stories inside me now, because I believe in quantity—it works for me. The more I write, the better the writing is. When I slow down, I struggle for a word.

As I already said, every author has their own process, and I’d love to hear from you how you get past the doldrums, how you refill your well, and whether you work several projects in tandem or one at a time. For you readers, I’d love to hear whether you forgive authors for straying outside the lines of what you expect them to write.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Until recently, award-winning romance author Delilah Devlin lived in South Texas at the intersection of two dry creeks, surrounded by sexy cowboys in Wranglers. These days, she’s missing the wide-open skies and starry nights but loving her dark forest in Central Arkansas, with its eccentric characters and isolation—the better to feed her hungry muse!

For Delilah, the greatest sin is driving between the lines, because it’s comfortable and safe. Her personal journey has taken her through one war and many countries, cultures, jobs, and relationships to bring her to the place where she is now—writing sexy adventures that hold more than a kernel of autobiography and often share a common thread of self-discovery and transformation.

Delilah holds a MS in Systems Management and a BA in History & Spanish, minor in Military Science.

She says she’s a true geek at heart and loves travel and pouring over history and mythology books from around the world.

You can visit Delilah at her website: http://www.delilahdevlin.com/ to see what’s soon to be released, excerpts, and contests.

Also available in September:

The Hired Hand, featured in Lesbian Cowboys by Cleis Press (9/1/09)
http://www.delilahdevlin.com/books/the-hired-hand/

How Hollywood Helps Me Write

My guest today is Australian Romance Writer, Paula Roe. Many times, as writers, we play with the idea of using certain actors and their traits, for our main characters in our books. Other times we pattern the looks of our characters after certain Actors. Paula talks about how movies can help us with plot and character development.

I love, love, love movies. Many centuries ago, I used to catch every single new release at the cinema but now, with a child and a writing career (and not to mention the mucho $$$ of tickets!) my major business now goes to iTunes and the local Video Ezy. So it was a Rare Thing Indeed when, one Saturday, I had my version of “the Movie Marathon”. In the morning, my son wanted to watch ET. A few hours later, we saw Ice Age 3 at the cinema.

Later that night, we watched our newly bought Bolt DVD. And much, much later, I downloaded and watched Sweet Home Alabama.

Movies are all about story telling, just like books. My favorite ones are all about character and plot, challenges and risk taking. About characters making choices and achieving (or not) their burning desires, learning and discovering new insights. Apart from an overload of movies and a chocolate high (a must when sitting that long!) I ended up with a few interesting facts that day which I’d like to share with you:

· It’s all about character

A great story will throw you into the lives of its characters. In ET, we see a single mom struggling with her family, a young boy who wants to believe in something special and his connection with an extra-terrestrial. It’s a classic ‘boy and his dog’ story... but the dog is an alien. In Ice Age 3, it was all about Sid the sloth finding his place in the world – finding oneself. In Bolt, it was the engaging story of a dog trying to find the one person he loves and a place he belongs. And in Sweet Home Alabama, Melanie needed to find her place in the world. You see the theme here? The major characters were all searching for or wanting something.

So, Revelation 1 - a character with no burning desire to want something is boring.

· Character choice moves the plot

Something has to be happening, not just to the characters, but also from the choices they make. What would have happened if Elliott had decided to turn ET over to the authorities when he found him? If Sid hadn’t taken the T-Rex eggs because he wanted to have a family of his own? If Bolt chose to give up the journey to find his owner after he discovered he was just an ordinary dog, not a crime-fighting superhero? And if Melanie had given up trying to get her husband’s signature on the divorce papers?

Revelation 2 – a character must make choices to move the story forward - and even when they don’t make one, that’s still a choice.

· Challenges and obstacles

A plot doesn’t have to have the ripper tension and breakneck action of Speed to keep you engaged. But it does need an escalation of the story, which means throwing challenges in front of your character to see what they will do. Just when you think they’re getting somewhere or on the verge of their goal... BOOM! A spanner’s in the works. In ET, after we find out ET’s alien friends are returning for him, ET ups and dies. Oh, yeah (I still cry at that scene!) In Sweet Home Alabama, Melanie thinks she’s going to get that signature on the divorce papers once, twice, three times at least. But every time something happens to delay it. And by the time she DOES get it, she knows it’s not what she wants. In Bolt, not only does Bolt have to physically travel across the US to return to his owner, but he also encounters internal issues, like trust and loyalty. In Ice Age 3, there’s a rampaging T-rex, a very-pregnant Ellie and a hostile new world to deal with.

Revelation 3 – The more crap the characters have to overcome, the more they deserve their prize.

At a risk of waffling on too much, I’ll throw it open to comments. Is there a particular movie that was helpful to your writing? One that you think encapsulates great storytelling...how?

Share with us and you could win a copy of Robert Kernen’s Building Better Plots (Writers Digest).

***

Paula Roe lives in Australia. When she’s not watching movies (or reading!) Paula is writing. Her current release is The Magnate’s Baby Promise (Silhouette Desire), out now. Last year’s Boardrooms & A Billionaire Heir are short listed for Romance Writers of Australia’s prestigious Romantic Book of the Year award in the “Short Sexy” category.

Visit her at: http://www.paularoe.com/ for more writing advice and info about her book

The Wandering Writer

To catch a wild gentleman,

a woman must be

bold, brave, and very brazen

My guest today is Historical Romance author Tessa Dare. Her bold debut is a trilogy released July, August, and September.

As with all writers juggling their passion of writing with and busy home life; for Tessa, finding quiet time to meet her deadlines isn’t an easy thing to do. If you can’t write at home in your own office what do you do?

Tessa tells us how she handles the juggling act of author, wife, and mother:

I have a very small house. I have two very young children. I have a very big dog, and a very talkative husband.

For me, writing at home is nearly impossible.

People are always asking me, “Gee, how do you find time to write with two young kids in the house?” And my answer is always, “Uh…I don’t.” Even if they’re not home, I never get much writing done in my house. There’s always some household task to distract me—like that ever-growing laundry heap that seems to be a sock away from gaining sentience and taking over the world. In order to write, I have to leave the housework behind and the darelings at preschool or with my wonderful husband—and then go far, far away.


Or at least, to the nearest place with comfortable tables and coffee. Starbucks, Paneras, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Borders, Corner Bakery, McDonalds…all my books have been cobbled together during visits to these establishments. It’s a wonder I don’t gain twenty pounds with each manuscript! I’m a painfully slow writer. A good writing day for me looks like this: 3 hours at a café, 1 large coffee, something indulgent and chocolate, and 1200-1500 words to show for myself at the end.

When I get behind on a manuscript and really need to focus, I wander even farther afield. I use Priceline to get a bargain rate on a nice hotel, and I leave the kids with Mr. Dare for the weekend so I can write, write, write in solitude. My two accommodation musts? An in-room coffeemaker and no free Wi-Fi.

It’s funny how I can look at my books now and remember where and when I wrote the key scenes. “Awww, I remember writing this scene while I ate that awesome caramel-chocolate bar in the lobby of the community center.”

What lengths will I go to next? My critique partner, the soon-to-debut Courtney Milan (www.courtneymilan), once spent a week in Costa Rica in order to work on a manuscript. I’ve got a book due on October 1st, and a tropical getaway is sounding pretty good right now….

How about you?

Are you able to concentrate on writing (or studying, or other work) at home? If so, please tell me how. Really, I beg you. Please.
***

Tessa Dare is a part-time librarian, full-time mommy and swing-shift writer living in Southern California.

Tessa lived a rather nomadic childhood in the Midwest. As a girl, she discovered that no matter how many times she moved, two kinds of friends traveled with her: the friends in books, and the friends in her head. She still converses with both sets daily.


Tessa writes fresh and flirty historical romance, a blog, and the stray magazine article. To the chagrin of her family, Tessa does not write grocery lists, Christmas cards, or timely checks to utility companies. She shares a tiny bungalow with her husband, their two children, a dog, and many dust bunnies.


Tessa enjoys a good book, a good laugh, and a good long walk in the woods, a good movie, a good meal, a glass of good wine, and the company of good people.

Tessa's Website: http://tessadare.com/



Coming August 25, 2009:



Desperate to escape a loveless marriage and society’s constraints, pampered heiress Sophia Hathaway jilts her groom, packs up her paints and sketchbook, and assumes a new identity, posing as a governess to secure passage on the Aphrodite. She wants a life of her own: unsheltered, unconventional, uninhibited. But it’s one thing to sketch all her wildest, most wanton fantasies, and quite another to face the dangerously handsome libertine who would steal both her virtue and her gold.

To any well-bred lady, Benedict “Gray” Grayson is trouble in snug-fitting boots. A conscienceless scoundrel who sails the seas for pleasure and profit, Gray lives for conquest—until Sophia’s perception and artistry stir his heart. Suddenly, he’ll brave sharks, fire, storm, and sea just to keep her at his side. She’s beautiful, refined, and ripe for seduction. Could this counterfeit governess be a rogue’s redemption? Or will the runaway heiress’s secrets destroy their only chance at love.