FEELING GOOD—HOW DO YOU CREATE IT?

We all have things that make us feel good; things, which bring us comfort, or lift our heart.  Maybe it’s a snatch of song, the scent of cookies baking, watching kittens play, or the sound of a baby’s delighted laugh.  The first snowfall and the quiet hush of peace and beauty it brings to our heart.  It’s all about atmosphere.  Sometimes atmosphere is something that happens, other times it’s something we invoke. 

When I’m not in the mood to do household tasks, but know it has to be done, I play music with a strong beat and rhythm.  Want to set a party mood, music again.  Music and scent have always been a big thing in my life. Music makes me feel good, adds energy and can reset my mood.  Music is a tool I’ve used to give the atmosphere of peace and serenity after an argument or so my baby could sleep.

After a stressful day out in the world I long for the comfort of home.  I light my scented candles, turn on music, change into something comfortable—comfortable lounge pants, oversize shirt, a pair of soft socks or barefoot.  If it’s cold and dreary, cooking special foods for dinner will call upon memories of growing up or happy times.  I surround myself with cozy things to snuggle up to on a cold winter’s night, a funny movie, the smell of popcorn, a down comforter, a cat in my lap, a dog at my feet, and my family around me.  A plate of homemade cookies, the snap and crackle of a fire all are atmospheric things of comfort I deliberately set up in my environment.

How do you set the atmosphere in your writing? 

We want to show not tell, so how do you show the mood and tone surrounding your characters?  Dialog will give the reader verbal cues but how you ‘paint’ your ‘scene’ gives subconscious clue to your atmosphere.

 

Take a moment and think:  At the end of the day or the close of a long week, what does your mind leap to that spells comfort or invokes peace or happiness?

 

Chances are, you will automatically add in the atmosphere. It’s not just the action or words or a place, but the background your mind layers in subconsciously. If you contemplate how your comfort is built it becomes a pattern to build atmosphere in your writing.

I’m curious. 

When you need to set a particular tone or mood with your writing, what do you do to put yourself there first?  Do you use sound? Touch? Scent? Open the inner journal of times past?  

MONDAY MUSINGS—MY SPRING IS BROKEN

After all these years I would much prefer not to torque my inner spring either forward or backward. Personally, I’d prefer to stay on daylight saving time. In other words, stay on the time schedule we have in the spring through the summer. To me it makes more sense. My body gradually adjusts to the loss of daylight and does it naturally without stress. This whole jerk forward or backward is too abrupt.

Indian quote and picture: Funny Pics Funny Images Funny Quotes

Oh, I’ve heard the pros and cons, but you know what? The earth moves on a twenty-four hour clock. Sunrise and sunset times shift with the earth’s tilt and life on earth shifts just as gradually to the change in light. The whole concept of ripping an hour of daylight from the evening and patching it onto the morning makes no sense to me. I know it’s supposed to improve the saving of energy in the evening by modifying electric consumption during peak hours. It, allegedly,  gives more light for school buses and helps reduce commuting accidents in the morning. In my opinion, I think commuting home in the dark after a long work day and when a person is more tired and less alert, is a more dangerous time for accidents.

As for energy consumption, haven’t we just traded the mass usage from one part of the day to the other? And this saves energy how? Maybe, back in the day, it saved energy and shifted peak loads of electricity  when the ability to produce and deliver electricity was more archaic (like in the early 1900’s when this whole mess started) but today? Not so much. 

There are quite a few energy studies that have been done in the last ten-fifteen years that show autumn falling back actually increases usage and consumption. It costs more. California Energy Commission did a study of the effects of changing time in the early part of 2000. Their conclusion was by keeping year round daylight saving time—spring/summer time—would save consumers between $100 million to $300 million dollars a year. 

Granted, California is a high electric consumption state, but still I would think those savings would translate across the country although the amount of savings would be less. It would also reduce the strain on resources in the winter because it would allow for commuters to get home before sunset and falling temperatures could cause a peak in energy usage. In my opinion, it makes more sense to save what daylight hours there are for the late afternoon and evening in the winter and not rip them away and attach them to winter mornings.

Personally, I’m all for keeping our clocks on the same spring/summer time year round. I can assure you, my body would be much happier.

Jim Hunt has some great cartoons: facebook.com/huntcartoons

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming guests:

Wednesday: YA author David Powers King 

Friday: Romance author Trish Milburn 

INTERVIEW WITH GRACE BURROWES

“…confidence comes almost exclusively as a result of our failures. We become confident not from success, but from the try, try, again aspect of getting to success.”

It’s my pleasure to have, historical romance author, GraceBurrowes, again visiting Over Coffee. Grace is a relatively new author; her first book debuted in December 2010. It hit the Bestseller’s lists. 

Over night success? Hardly. 

Grace writes truly enthralling Regency romance and filled with fascinating families and unforgettable characters that touch your heart.  I truly love how Grace explores the complexities of the era—it’s not all lightness and parties. Her characters face some tough choices amid some of the darker aspects and problems of Regency society. Always her tales are entertaining—they make you laugh, sometimes want to cry, and you always feel good at the end. 

Grace was nice enough to answer some questions. No worries, I offered her sustenance and a spot of her favorite beverage for her efforts. J

• What is it about the Regency era that draws you to set your stories there?

My very favorite keeper authors write Regencies: Mary Balogh, Loretta Chase (though she’s drifting Victorian of late), Mary Jo Putney, and others. I love the diversity of the world—the elegance and the looming threat of war, the class structure with the emerging rights of the common man (sic), and so forth. Then too, there are horses in the Regency—always a plus. 

• You don’t write the usual Almacks, endless balls and assemblies, and silly debutantes thankfully, but you do write your stories to fit the mores and culture of the era—you just shift the focus a bit. I know as a reader I appreciate seeing more of the regency world aside from Ton parties but what intrigues you, as a writer, to explore darker issues or the edges of the Regency society? What makes it fun for you?

I’m increasingly aware that some of what we think of as the Regency (the balls and simpering debutantes, the strict propriety) is what the Victorians wanted us to think of their parents and grandparents. And while that picture isn't wrong, the reality also included child brothels, horrendous odors, infant mortality, childbed fever, and much unpleasantness, particularly for women and children. That complexity, and how members of society ignored it or dealt with it, fascinates me.  

• In your latest release, Darius, you write about balancing honor with hard choices one has to make to take care of family. Despite his choices, what are the things you really about Darius? Is he someone you’d like your daughter to meet? 

Of course I’d like my daughter to meet him! He’s fundamentally honorable, though suffering what I think of as moral fatigue. Darius’ strength and heroism lies in his honesty. He’s not whitewashing his choices, not minimizing their impact on his well being  He recognizes that his choices take a toll on him, ethically, and that he can’t keep paying that price indefinitely. When the woman he loves is threatened by the choices he’s made, he un-makes them. 

• Lady Vivian seems to defy people’s expectations. On one hand she comes across as weaker a damsel in distress. But, she’s not really, is she?

Some might view Vivian as “passive,” though considering her absolute lack of legal rights and material resources, and her lack of honorable male family, I think of her more as pragmatic. She’s ready to make the same compromise Darius did: To stay where she can keep somebody she cares about (her child) safe, she’ll make a deal with the devil. That’s the choice of somebody who doesn't realize they’re truly, deeply loved by others. It’s an orphan’s choice, but when she trusts Darius, she makes the heroine’s choice and gambles everything for love. 

• Without spoiling the story, what was your favorite scene in Darius?

The fight scene, oddly enough. I am not a fan of violence in any form, but readers have told me that in the past, I've let some bad folks get off with a wrist slap. Darius was nearly at the end of his rope, contemplating dire alternatives when he instead found something to live for. The fight wasn't so much about administering justice as it was about Darius’s struggle to hold onto his honor, to fight his way back to a place where he could love and be loved. That surprised me. 

• Even though your stories are set in the past, you tend to write about worries, flaws and insecurities people face; regardless of what time period they live in. Is the fascination in pitting those personal issues against the restrictions and limitations of the times?

Hmm. Not consciously?  As you note, people are people, regardless of the era, and true love is true love.  What often solves the conflict for a romance is the hero and/or heroine healing an old wound in themselves. They regain the courage to love, shed their old dysfunctional coping habits, and in so doing, regain parts of themselves they’d discarded previously. Thus renewed emotionally, they can approach some external problem (the wicked uncle, the murderous cousin) with a wider view of the possible solutions. This isn't an era-specific process. 

• In your working life as attorney, you do deal with families and children in crisis. How much do you that do you draw on for your stories? (For instance, there is quite a bit of realism to Sophie and Maggie’s (Windham series) choices and worries over children of their world.) 

Excellent question, and spot on. I see both tragedies and miracles in my lawyer life, and have often witnessed children in foster care unable to choose options many would say were “obviously” in the child’s best interest.  As children, the instinct to stay with and protect our progenitors, even when those people are dangerous to us, trumps the survival instinct. It’s probably the most heartbreaking reality of my work, and one I relied on specifically in Maggie’s story.

Grace, speaking from a professional counselor’s perspective, I would have to agree, and what I appreciated about most Maggie dilemma. You do a great job with showing the worry, guilt, and sense of responsibility the child in question may face in such a situation. I really loved Maggie’s story. 

• As a writer, how do you deal with doubts and setbacks?

Another excellent question. I’m a reader with specific tastes, so I absolutely respect that not every book I write will work for every reader. It’s the reader’s hard-earned money, and he or she should spend it on books they love. That said, I've become very, very selective about who I associate with as a writer, where I browse on the web, and what discussions I’ll become part of. I love to write, so I try to stay close to that aspect of published authordom—and stay away from places of contention, sniping, competition, and destructiveness. 

• Do you think we benefit from setbacks or even failure?

I recently came across a study that concluded most of us radically underestimate the effort required to achieve success (Gladwell’s 10,000 hours being just the start), and that as a result, confidence comes almost exclusively as a result of our failures. We become confident not from success, but from the try, try, again aspect of getting to success. That rang true for me. 

• If you could spend your day however you wanted, what would you do? 

WRITE, take a walk with my dog, meet one friend somewhere quiet and unpretentious for some good food and good talk. 

• What’s coming next from Grace Burrowes?

The Lonely Lords series launched with Darius earlier this month, and the rest of the fellows are schedule at the rate of about one a month though early next year. I have many books in production, but I’m also working on a Regency trilogy about the things, people and ideas that can hold us captive. And I feel a Scottish Victorian Christmas story coming on… For more info and updates on coming titles, please visit my website, www.graceburrowes.com.

Grace, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. I also want to thank you for the wonderful stories you tell. They have given me hours of pleasure. You have renewed my love for a good historical. 

“What often solves the conflict for a romance is the hero and/or heroine healing an old wound in themselves. They regain the courage to love, shed their old dysfunctional coping habits, and in so doing, regain parts of themselves they’d discarded previously.”

DARIUS BY GRACE BURROWES – IN STORES APRIL 2013

A story that breaks all the rules...

Darius is a gripping and remarkable tale of desperation, devotion, and redemption from award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes. Her gorgeous writing and lush Regency world will stay with you long after you turn the final page...

With his beloved sister tainted by scandal, his widowed brother shattered by grief , and his funds cut off, Darius Lindsey sees no option but to sell himself—body and soul. Until the day he encounters lovely, beguiling Lady Vivian Longstreet, whose tenderness and understanding wrap his soul in a grace he knows he'll never deserve...

AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND, INDIGO/CHAPTERS

LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF DARIUS!

REBECCA YORK: Become A Writer? No Way!

My guest is USA Best Selling romance author, Rebecca York. Those of you who have read her wonderful stories know she writes, romance, suspense, and paranormal. Very talented lady. Rebecca has written a new detective series, Decorah Security. I have the opportunity to read (Squeee!) and review these three stories. Dark Moon is the first in this series and where I'm starting. So stay tuned for them. I love the touch of paranormal in these.


As prolific an author as Rebecca is, there was a time the idea of writing the stories playing out in her head was an impossibility in her mind. Why? I'll let Rebecca tell you about that.


Welcome, Rebecca! I've enjoyed your books over the years. I'm so glad to have you visiting today!

Sia, thanks so much for having me.

I’m the person who thought she could never become a writer.  Since I’m dyslexic, I had a hard time learning to read (partly because they were only teaching the memorize-the-whole-word method), and I’m a terrible speller.  Stories buzzed around in my head, and I acted them out with my dolls, but I never thought I could become a writer because I got slammed for my deficiencies by so many teachers.  (I’m the kid who was called up to the front of the room so the teacher could yell at her in front of the whole class.)

Kids react to that kind of treatment in various ways.  It hurt, but it also made me stronger and determined to succeed.

After I got married and had children of my own, I wanted a part-time job.  When I took a seminar at my local community college aimed at women who looking to enter the work force, I kept coming out high in writing interest.  Also, one thing they emphasized in the seminar was that if you wanted to work part-time, you’d have to go out and dig up a your own job.

Which led me to my idea of writing a newspaper article about the seminar.  Luckily for me, my husband volunteered to correct my spelling and typos.  And luckily for me, he’s been proofreading for me ever since.

It took me about twenty-five hours to write that article, but I sold it to a local paper and went on to write hundreds more articles.  I read some of them in a writing seminar at the same community college.  Other people in the class were writing novels, and I wanted to try one, too.  But the idea of working on such a large project scared me.  I told myself that a chapter of a book was no longer than the articles I’d been writing.  At the same time, I decided to make sure I could plot at least a quarter of the story before I started writing.  Even back then, I was more comfortable outlining before I jumped into the writing.

I wrote my first book, a children’s science fiction novel called INVASION OF THE BLUE LIGHTS (now available as an e-book), in that seminar.  I read chapters in the class and revised.  Then I revised a lot more before I sent the book out.  It was rejected four times, until an editor at Scholastic held it for nine months before sending me a two-page single-spaced revision letter.  I was smart enough to know that was a good letter and revised the manuscript according to her suggestions (adding some new scenes of my own). She bought it, and I became a published author.

I’ve been writing actively for the past–um–40 years.  And I’ve been very lucky in my career.  I went from kids’ science fiction to romance, to romantic suspense, to paranormal romantic suspense (with a significant side trip into cookbooks).  Recently, I’ve also written a couple of fantasy historical novellas for Carina Press.  DARK MAGIC was out last year, and SHATTERED MAGIC will be out in late summer.

I can see the publishing industry changing.  There’s more opportunity for authors to follow their own bliss rather than write to a publisher’s specifications.  In line with that observation, my most exciting recent project has been a new detective series called Decorah Security.  I’m putting the stories out myself on Amazon, BarnesAndNoble.com and other e-book outlets

I wanted to launch with three titles.  While I was writing two Harlequin Intrigues (SUDDEN INSIGHT, out in January, and SUDDEN ATTRACTION, out in February), I wrote a Decorah novel, DARK MOON, a novella, CHAINED, and a short story, AMBUSHED.  They’re all tied to a security agency run by a crusty old Navy Seal, Frank Decorah.  His agents have paranormal powers or take on paranormal cases. (Each of them are linked to Amazon where you can read the blurb and purchase) 

All three are available wherever e-books are sold.

I’m also currently working on an exciting new romantic suspense series.  Because it’s still under wraps, I can’t say much about it yet.

• How do you feel about the e-book market?  
• Are you trying out some of the books available electronically?

Sudden Attraction 

They were never supposed to meet. Hidden on a New Orleans plantation were secrets Gabriella Bodreaux was never supposed to uncover, either. And after Luke Buckley saved her life, she couldn't get him out of her head...and she couldn't get out of his. 

At the slightest touch, they established the most intimate connection of their lives. So vulnerable, so dangerous...so right. Now they knew everything about each other—almost. 

He came with a secret identity, but wasn't the type of man who would run away from trouble. He could keep her safe. But when being together meant exposing themselves to more danger than either could prepare for, they had to reconsider just how "chance" their meeting really was....Excerpt 

Do check out  Sudden Insight and read the excerpt.

Buy: Amazon  Barnes and Noble, eHarlequin

~*~*~*~

Ever since she can remember, Rebecca York has loved making up stories full of adventure, romance, and suspense. As a child she corralled her friends into adventure games or acted out romantic suspense stories with a cast of dolls. But she never assumed she could be an author because she couldn't spell. Her life changed dramatically with the invention of the word processor and spelling checker--and the help of her husband, Norman Glick, who spots spelling errors from fifty paces away.

She and her husband live in Columbia, Maryland. They have two grown children, Elissa (a librarian) and Ethan (a Foreign Service Officer), and two grandsons, Jesse and Leo. Rebecca holds a B. A. in American Thought and Civilization from The George Washington University and an M. A. in American Studies from The University of Maryland. She heads the Columbia Writers Workshop.

Find Rebecca: Website (which is worth checking out1) Facebook, Twitter.

Insecure Writers—In Search Of Discipline

Discipline: prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior

Prescribed: to lay down as a guide, direction, or rule of action

I’m in dire need of a new prescription for discipline.

Unfortunately, this is not the sort of prescription I can go to the pharmacy to get. It’s something I have to pull out of myself and follow. I used to be so disciplined with my writing. I had a schedule that worked for me. Somewhere along the line, I lost it.

There have been some major changes in my life that have altered my time. A time intensive blog, home schooling my son, and dealing with a serious illness have all made inroads on writing. Dealing with one and two were doable, add three and poof, writing? What’s writing?

I still have to deal with the blog (which I enjoy) and home schooling (which is done in two months), but the illness knocked me down below the speed bump and it’s a bitch to crawl back up from that one.

NaNo helped. It tapped back into my imagination and reassured me it’s still working—trust me, I had some serious doubts on that score for a while. It was hard to think beyond basics. I didn’t have the energy or inclination (not to mention enthusiasm) to write when it was all I could do teach the kid and do the blog. In between I took my meds and slept—a lot. 

I’m not totally well but I’m getting there and now I’m desperately in search of disciple. Part of it is finding the motivation (and energy) to write intensively again. That’s a hard one. Then there are all the things in the house I had to let slide when I was so sick. Now it’s learning to pace myself. Balance is so important for me. I don’t do well without it but it takes patience to get life balanced when it’s been out of sync for so long and your focus is on the necessities.

Since I do my best writing in the mornings, I’m going to have to schedule time for just writing and then tackle my to do list, find time to nap (which is still very necessary), check the kid’s school work, and work on the blog. It’s getting there. Kinda.

Bottom line for me, if I don’t make the time, then my time gets squandered away and nothing is accomplished.  I don’t like that feeling.  I also need to be consistent.  Most successful writers have to be.

• How do you carve out time to write?  Some work full time.  Some can’t write at home but have a favorite place they can write.  Some can only write on weekends, or early morning before the day starts, or late at night when the house is quiet.  The point is they have to make the time. 

• So, what works for you?

 

   

NO LONGER A SUPPLICANT…

Multi published author, Libby Malin, is visiting us again here at Over Coffee.


It's not that traditional publishers are trying to turn out cookie cutter books, they're not, but their focus is on making money. They look at trends and go with popular depictions of heroes, heroines, and plots. They're a hesitant to take on a story too different or one that doesn't fit a clear genre mold. 


Libby has been published with traditional publishers, been nominated for prestigious awards, but having contracts don't always equate to a steady income. But, I'll let Libby tell you of her writing journey.

Only the luckiest authors achieve publishing success without some rejection. In fact, it’s not unusual for lots of rejection to precede “The Call” from agent or editor offering a contract.

My story is no different. After writing for several years, having manuscripts rejected right and left, I finally reached publishing’s happy ending – first, a contract for young adult mysteries from Bancroft Press, and then a contract for a “chick lit” novel from Harlequin. After that, other contracts followed, from Dorchester (for paperback rights to my first two YAs), Sourcebooks (more chick lit – or romantic comedy), Five Star/Cengage (my first hardcover!), and even a film option deal.

Each step of the way, I thought to myself: This is it. I’ve made it. I can make a steady income from what I love to do best – writing fiction.

And every time I thought that goal had been achieved, I faced disappointment. An Edgar nomination for my first YA didn’t make sales soar, nor did it ensure future publication of other works with other houses. It did get query emails answered more quickly, though!

Some excellent reviews had the same effect—that is, they didn’t jack up sales noticeably but did help me get my manuscripts read by other editors. Even a film option deal, in the works before the print rights had sold, didn't guarantee that a publishing house would take on a project!

I also learned the hard way that when a publisher doesn’t get your book reviewed by the main trade journals, it can have a deleterious effect on your sales. A couple times this happened to me, each time for a book that was near and dear to my heart. While it’s impossible to tell precisely what reviews from the Big Journals (Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal and the like) would have done for these particular books, I can’t help thinking that the lack of such reviews meant booksellers and librarians wouldn’t be paying much attention.

Nonetheless, like all writers committed to their chosen field, I struggled on. I snagged online reviews when none were appearing in print. I did book signings, virtual book tours, and paid for one full-page ad in a romance magazine.

And I kept writing, often finding, unfortunately, that my manuscripts were like “square pegs” that didn’t quite fit in the “round holes” of various imprints. Some of my rejection letters read like back cover blurbs.

Then something wonderful happened. The Kindle was released and vigorously promoted by Amazon. Other e-readers followed—the Nook, the iPad, and new life for the Sony E-reader.

Authors everywhere started to discover they no longer needed to be supplicants of the “Big Six” publishing houses in New York in order to reach readers. Self-publishing quickly and surely began to lose its negative connotation. It no longer implied vanity publishing, an ego-driven exercise by failed novelists (and isn’t seeking publishing by the Big Six an ego-driven exercise anyway?).

Now there is no such thing as a round hole into which your square peg of a novel won’t fit. Authors can publish their slightly-off-the-beaten-track novels on their own, and many are doing so.

Count me in with that crowd. I now have five novels e-published through my family’s e-publishing house, Istoria Books. One of them, an inspirational romance that had been rejected by editors in New York and beyond, is now regularly among the top 100 bestsellers in historical romance – in both print and e-books.

And my latest offering, a romantic comedy (Aefle and Gisela by Libby Malin), allowed me to explore satire – satire of academe, no less! Who in the traditional publishing world would have taken that on?

That’s the real happy ending of this story. E-publishing has given me the freedom to write the kinds of stories I want to write, without that pesky shadow editor on my shoulder saying things like: “But remember how that agent told you this kind of plot doesn’t sell or that one said the heroine has to be this way or another one suggested you try for this kind of hero…” Those voices have been silenced.

Now I can let my own voice sing.

_________

AEFLE AND GISELA BY LIBBY MALIN

Stopping a wedding -- what could go wrong? 

History Prof Thomas Charlemagne takes a dare and stops a wedding in an attempt to put his "Timid Tommy" reputation to rest at long last....Only problem? It's the wrong wedding.

Legal problems ensue that could wreck his career as the world's leading expert on a poetry-writing medieval monk, Aefle, and his secret love, Gisela, both of whom provide a template for Thomas’s own struggles with life and love.

A heady mix of outlandish comedy, sharp wit and biting satire, Aefle & Gisela is the perfect summer beach read. EXCERPT

 Booklist -- Malin creates a world of wit and chaos that is …smart and insightfully written (My Own Personal Soap Opera).

Buy the book for Kindle here. Buy the book for Nook here. Buy the book for other e-readers here.

Hurry—it’s on sale for only 99 cents as part of a book launch promotion!

_______

Libby Malin is the award-winning author of romance, literary, mystery and young adult fiction. In an attempt to thoroughly confuse her reader fans, she writes comedy under the name Libby Malin and serious fiction under the name Libby Sternberg. Her first young adult mystery, Uncovering Sadie’s Secrets, was an Edgar nominee, and her first romantic comedy, Fire Me, was optioned for film. She lives in Pennsylvania, has three children and one husband, and confesses to watching “Real Housewives” shows despite enormous amounts of culture-guilt.

Visit the author’s website at: http://www.LibbyMalin.com

Visit the Istoria Books blog to read an interview with the author by her alter ego: http://istoriabooks.blogspot.com/2011/09/libby-interviews-libby-about-aefle.html

Some praise for Libby Malin's other comedic novels:

Booklist -- Malin creates a world of wit and chaos that is …smart and insightfully written (My Own Personal Soap Opera).

Publishers Weekly --  A whimsical look at the vagaries of dating... an intriguing side plot adds punch and pathos to the story...(Loves Me, Loves Me Not) 

_____