Finding The Spark

Today my guest is Tawny Weber, a woman who loves romance, happily ever after, hot love scenes… all the good things in life. She writes romance hot and sizzling. Her newest release, COMING ON STRONG, was awarded four stars by Romance Times.

Today she talks about what brings our words to life and makes our characters real to our readers.

As a reader and a writer, there’s nothing I love more than reading something that sparkles. Not with glitter, ala pixie dust fun (although that would be cool, huh?). I mean that special something that brings the words to life, makes the characters seem real, and gives the reader that sense of Wow-connection. I call that spark. Some writers do it with intense plots that have the reader holding their breath in anticipation of what comes next. Others create characters that touch hearts and live in the minds of readers long after the cover is closed. There’s suspense spark, humors spark, sexy spark – the list could go on forever. For me, because I’m not an analytical reader, it’s never easy to pinpoint just what creates spark on a page. I just know it when I feel it.

As a writer, it’s a little easier. I know when my writing seems to spark – it’s that special feeling that the words just work. It all comes together and has an edge. It’s not comfortable, it’s not that “oooh that was easy to write” feeling (that usually means I didn’t work hard enough *g*). If I had to give it a label, it would be love. Loving something about the story, for me, gives it life-or spark. If I fall in love with the characters, or I’m so intensely connected to the story and how it plays out, that shows in my pages. If I believe in the story, if I’m emotionally invested, that comes through on the pages.

To all the writers out there, when you write, what’s going through your head as you put words to page. Yes, I know the story is there in the forefront –that’s what you’re typing, right? But what’s happening in the background? Doubts? Irritation or apathy? Are you thinking ‘this one is it’? Or are you rereading your latest rejection letter or bad review? IMO, nothing’s better at smothering spark than negativity. Some tools I use when I wrote to keep my focus on the story and not the chattering background voice is music. It just drowns them out *g*. Other ideas are to write down all the worries before you start writing, then rip them to shreds. They have no place in your writing time. Hey, there are plenty of other hours during the day to worry, right? Just not while you’re writing.

Another spark killer? Feedback. Oh, don’t get me wrong; I love feedback as much as the next person (especially good feedback LOL). But there was a time that I entered a lot of contests looking for feedback and I learned fast that if I took everyone’s advice/comments and changed my story to suit those, it would be a sparkless as a glass of tepid water. As much as I respect other’s opinions, the bottom line is the story has to resonate for me. I take two opinions into account when I write – two people that know my writing, know my voice and totally believe in my stories. My CP, and my editor. That’s not to say that I don’t respect reviews and feedback – I do. I store it all, I consider what clicked or didn’t click for readers, and try to keep that in mind as I work on my next story. But the bottom line is it always has to spark for me first.

So how about you? Do you recognize spark when you read?

Are there stories that just jump to life off the pages for you?

How about in your writing? Can you see when it’s there?

Do you have ideas for bringing more spark to your pages?

***

Tawny Weber is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course).

Tawny’s most recent Blazes: COMING ON STRONG and GOING DOWN HARD are out April/May of 2009. Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com

Available May 2009

Did you know? One in ever six mass-market books sold in North America is a Harlequin or Silhouette Novel

HOW CAN YOU BE A WRITER IF YOU'RE NOT A READER?

~Sia McKye~

I read a number of blogs. One blog I regularly read is written by an agent. On this particular occasion there was an informal discussion going on between several agents and editors, chatting about a dichotomy between readers and writers. The gist of it was that there were a whole lot of writers out there that weren’t readers. People convinced that they had a “book or two in them,” but they weren't readers. Then there were the writers who felt you shouldn't read other’s work in your genre because it would interfere with your "voice".

To me, the question has always been how can you effectively write a book if you don't read them? Base it on TV? Your fascinating life? Because you're a professional writer on the job?

I write many things professionally, articles, seminars, notes, and lots of reports. I'm writing something every day and while I don't have the time to read six or more books a week anymore, I do read something everyday. I read for pleasure. I also read to keep an eye out for what is selling, what’s not, styles of writing, and premises used.

I write creatively and have completed two 90k contemporary romance manuscripts of a trilogy and I'm working on a paranormal trilogy. So, I'd say I had “a book or two in me”. I’ve told stories all my life. I come from a very creative family of oral storytellers and published authors.

My love of books came from reading voraciously throughout my life. As a child my parents and grandparents felt to be well read one must read classic literature first. I was also encouraged to branch out and explore various genres, not just one. Consequently, I regularly read various sub-genres of romance, paranormals, suspense and thrillers, and I love Sci-fi. You could say I'm a mood driven reader. I'm the same with music for much of the same reasons--my parents and grandparents.

There is a perception out there that you can't read another’s words when formulating your stories--something nonsensical about copying the voice or premise, yada yada. To me, that's BS. My voice is mine and doesn’t change just because I read someone’s work.

I often think about how coaches train their athletes. It isn't by ignoring the competition. To the contrary, they watch recorded games of the competition so they can be better. Actors know the style of other actors--they watch them. You don't think musicians aren't aware of those who produce the same style of music? Or artists aren't aware of whose style is similar?

As an author, to know what’s marketable you have to read it. Analyze it. That’s keeping your finger on the pulse of market.

I’m a marketing/promotion rep by profession, to sell my products and people; I have to be familiar with what’s out there. Is their product comparable? Better? Worse? How is it packaged? Any book I write is my product and to market it effectively I have to know what’s selling, what my target demographics are and why.

So, you want to be a author? Read. Particularly in your genre. Know what’s selling out there and why.

Sia McKye has spent over twenty years in marketing and promotion. She's written and published various articles on writing, marketing, and promotion. She's a Marketing Rep by profession and also writes fiction.

Psychotherapy With My Muse

My guest today is a delightfully quirky Scot, Malcolm Campbell. He's worked in and around the writing field for some years and has taught college level journalism and does book reviews for several sites. He has also written a wonderful story, The Sun Singer. Today he talks a bit about the writing process and his muse, who seems to a be a rather multi-talented being.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: I was reared by dysfunctional alligators in the Everglades where I cut my teeth on panic grass, ate anhinga for dinner, and played cops and robbers with a Florida panther.

Potentially, I’m making that up. But if you’re a writer, you know this is what people think. Other than fate or flat out insanity, nothing else but this kind of upbringing can explain what environmental conditions cause writers to materialize.

Last October, my friend Chelle Cordero wrote an article in which she said, “Every now and then I feel like an alien living in my home. Often misunderstood, mostly tolerated and usually hidden away. When family members are asked what I do, their voices tend to lower, they avert their eyes and finally, after shuffling their feet, whisper in a clandestine tone – ‘She’s a writer.’”

I can identify.

While hearing voices inside my head and seeing things that haven’t happened seems completely normal to me, non-writers tend to think there’s something “a little off” about it. But then what would you expect from a guy who grew up in a real or imagined swamp?

Generally speaking, people understand quantum mechanics, psychology and aquatic macrophytes and rocket science. But they don’t understand writing. They actually come up to me during funerals and/or on busy street corners and ask why I write and where my ideas come from.

My short answer is “psychotherapy.”

Since people think I’m making that up or being purposefully obtuse, they go away and don’t ask me again. Sometimes I hear them talking amongst themselves, “Hey, you see that guy over there; his best friend was a Florida Panther. Now we know why they’re on the endangered list.”

Unfortunately, the truth of the matter about why I write and where my ideas come from sounds a lot more dramatic than it is. While it really is psychotherapy, you know, due to my childhood, etc., the whole writing session shebang is just me sitting at my desk wondering what the hell I think I’m doing. I know one thing from experience: my feelings about myself and the subject matter of the story won’t become clear until all has been said and done.

My writing sessions are psychotherapy sessions with my muse. She's the analyst; I'm the analysand. There's libido there before my appointment begins, energy of some kind, and when I tell my muse what it is, she knows--because we're sitting face to face--that I will stall before I come to the real point.

I've had dreams, whispers of intuition, and sensed the influence of archetypes, but I'm not yet sure whether I want to confront them directly. They are as yet unconscious, behind doors where shadows lurk. How will I be changed, by permitting full knowledge of them? I am seldom in a hurry to know.

As the heroes of myth traveled out into the unknown forests in search of treasure, the writer travels away from his ego into the vast and often forbidding landscape of himself to find the story he must tell. He tells the story to become whole. He tells it out of necessity rather than choice.

When I confront my stories face to face, I may see joy or beauty or frightening secrets. Then and only then do I know how I feel about them. While the reader may define the image as a novel, a short story, an essay, or as nonsense, I know it's a shard from the infinite mirror of my mind's eye.

-
THE SUN SINGER, published in 2004, is a magical fantasy adventure about a young man who learns how to bend time, change the past and become the Sun Singer.

"The Sun Singer is gloriously convoluted, with threads that turn on themselves and lyrical prose on which you can float down the mysterious, sun-shaded channels of this charmingly liquid story." Diana Gabaldon, A Breath of Snow and Ashes

In addition to his novel, Campbell’s writing has appeared in Nonprofit World, Living Jackson Magazine, Nostalgia Magazine, POD Book Reviews More http://podbram.blogspot.com/ and More, The Smoking Poet, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Rosicrucian Digest. He has worked as a college journalism instructor, technical writer; grant writer and corporate communications director. You can visit Malcolm at his website http://www.malcolmrcampbell.com/.

The Dreaded R Word

My guest today is, Aussie author Annie West is a bestselling author for Harlequin Presents/Modern/Sexy. Annie discusses her love/hate relationship with revisions and what she calls "hardest part of your writing life"; the waiting.

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People talk about being in deadline hell and I sympathise, oh boy, do I sympathise. But finishing the book isn’t the end of the story. I wish it was! Often there are those r…r…(oh go on and don’t be a wimp)…those REVISIONS.

I have a friend who tells everybody she loves revisions. They give her the chance to make the book the best it can be. I understand the sentiment. I spend so many hours slaving over a hot manuscript, trying to make it the best I can get it, of course I agree. I still think my friend is odd. Odd? Let me be frank – I think she’s loony.

I like the result of the revisions – a polished story. But the process? Argh!

I love the first set of revisions. It’s wonderful to sit in a comfy chair away from the computer with a manuscript, a red pen and a cup of coffee. I’ve achieved something. There’s sparkling dialogue, sexual tension, page turning chapter endings and…OK, maybe a few things that need changing. But I feel great when I work out how to fix them.

I get back up from my friend, historical author Anna Campbell, who reads my manuscripts as I read hers. I rely on her to find things that never occurred to me. What? Me get too close to my work?

Finally I send the story to my editor and wait. No one told you before you sold that waiting would be the hardest part of your writing life, did they? She’ll love the book. After all, I think it’s terrific and I’m an expert on this story.

Funny how editors see our work differently. Call it distance. Or an understanding of the market and reader expectations. Of all the books I’ve sold to Harlequin Presents only one got through without revisions.

Why do I con myself there’ll be no request for changes?

The email comes setting out areas to improve. Problems here. Possible solutions. I read and my head spins. My mind goes blank. If I change that thread so much else will have to change. Easy revisions are cutting word count, getting rid of a secondary character, losing a chapter (can you tell I write long?). Harder ones involve rejigging themes and motivation.

I spread the hard copy on the dining room table. It takes me days to work through the implications. I highlight major points, underline specific changes, query others till I think I know how to bring it off. I have a scrawled list of ‘to do’s’. Post it note reminders multiply as each change has consequences elsewhere. I write new sections, hoping I can hold it all in my head. Hoping I can bring it off. It’s a mess of notes, new dialogue, altered timelines and haphazard memos. At some point it doesn’t feel like my story but a maelstrom. Finally it settles into shape and…I think it works. I don’t believe it though because I’ve been to hell and back reshaping it and I’ve lost perspective.

Then I wait. Word comes that my editor loves it. Whew! I want to celebrate but I’m pooped.

Then the longer wait. Eventually the book is out and a reader contacts me. She loves the characters and lost herself in the story. Really? Those revisions worked after all.

I think about the story I’m writing now and realise it’s so much better. A corker of a story. This time there’ll be no revisions. I’m confident!


Aussie author Annie West is a bestselling author for Harlequin Presents/Modern/Sexy (depending on which country you’re in). She gets a kick out of going to Australian writer and reader conferences where she gets described as ‘a Sexy author’! She’s won and been shortlisted for several reader awards and is just about to start work on what she hopes will be her 11th book for Harlequin. Annie loves her work, spending days fantasising about gorgeous men and their love lives. It’s a hard job but she has no regrets. Annie lives with her family on the east coast of Australia between the Hunter Valley’s world class wine country and some of the state’s best beaches.

Her next releases are The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride (Harlequin Presents Extra in North America in April) and Blackmailed Bride, Innocent Wife (Mills and Boon Modern in the UK in May). You can read excerpts of her books or enter contests to win new releases on her website.

Naysayers and Online Promotion

~Sia McKye~

There are a lot of Naysayers out there who negate the value of Online Promotion. Particularly with using social networks to create name recognition to sell their products—books. They tout other methods, proven methods formerly used in promoting books and authors. What I say to the Naysayers, is this: Times change. The basic methods of publicity/marketing remain the same but the focus of the methods has changed. To be successful you must change with the times. Or get left behind.

These days, a great deal of shopping is done online, including books, music, movies, clothes, house wares and appliances—even cars and houses. Online is a HUGE mall and that’s the way you have to look at it. No it hasn't replaced concrete stores, but that doesn't reduce the validity of online sales, or online promotion. Why?

Face it, we’re a techie generation and the technology is there, in ever-increasing numbers, to facilitate online selling and buying. Studies track how much time the average person spends online for things other than working. While I don't have the figures at my fingertips, it’s a huge block of time. Computers can do about anything a TV can—provide you with the latest news, music, TV shows, movies, and books. Cell phones can hook you to your computer and access the Internet. C’mon. The Internet isn’t going anywhere unless some catastrophe happens to eliminate it. Naysayers have to get with the times. Which is why e-Books, Print on Demand or digital technology, and traditional published books in e-book format, aren’t going to go away, no matter how many opinions there are on what constitutes a real book.

If online sales weren’t valid, why is every paper catalogue put out have an online store? Why are even major manufacturers providing an online presence and a venue to sell their products? Everyone from attorneys to roofers sell their services on line. Manufacturers from Beer to Xanax use known personalities to sell their products. These personalities and stars are known because of their activity in sports and on the silver screen—and known on the Internet. Why? Name and face recognition.

Hollywood sells their products online. Their products are stars, producers, movies, and TV shows. The music industry is the same. Just about everyone who sells something has a website. It’s real. It’s today, not yesterday.

For instance, in Hollywood of old, anything that got the actors, producers, and the name of the movie or show, in the paper was publicity. It was encouraged, it was “leaked”, it fabricated. Paparazzi are still everywhere with hopes of catching something to write about and sell on the citizens of the movie and TV industry. But now, it’s not the papers that get it first, it’s the Internet and the publicity grinders make sure their people are on the internet. It’s the same method, different focus. Actors get known on the screen by the body of their work—if that was enough we wouldn’t see them in print or on the Internet. Personalities sell products. People want to get to know something about the actors not just the shows/movies they’re in.

If you’re an author and your product is good, you are going to sell it—if people know you have a product. How are they going to know? Today, it’s the Internet. Authors have to have an Internet presence. Social networks (no doubt there will be other ways in the future) provide a way for the authors to become known and to build a readership base. If the author is a known presence, then readers will know who these authors are, may have even chatted with them online. Readers will know the books, the storylines, and release dates. Consequently, authors will have better sales both online and where ever books are sold.

I’m not discounting the other avenues such as book signing events, speaking to book clubs, newspapers, radio, and TV, but, unless you have an existing platform for it, unless you already have name recognition, this may not increase your sales appreciably. Local, versus the World Wide Web. This is especially so given our present economic situation and the money spent to do this physically. The old ways vs. profits made? Getting known on the Internet can increase your sales. It’s free. Will it give you over night success? Pfft, not usually, in fact rarely.

It takes time and work to garner success. It may not seem like you’re getting anywhere in the beginning, but this is a long-range goal. The amount of publicity also depends upon how you promote yourself as an author and it depends upon how soon you start with gaining name recognition on the Internet before your book is released. It takes a lot of focused time and work.

My thinking on it this is if you go to all the trouble and time to write a book what’s the point if you’re not going to take the time and work to sell it? Or ignore the new ways to gain name and face recognition.

To the Naysayers, I again say, times change and either you change with the times or get left behind.

Welcome to today.

Sia McKye has spent over twenty years in marketing and promotion. She's written and published various articles on writing, marketing, and promotion. She's a Marketing Rep by profession and also writes fiction.

Learning to Juggle—Writer's Style

Today my guest is Sharon Lathan, who has joined the ranks of fan fiction writers. Her debute novel is entitled, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ~ Two Shall Become One. Sharon talks a bit about a reoccuring theme that seems to resonate with all writers, balancing life and writing.


I can barely manage to toss one ball into the air and catch it without stumbling, let alone two or three. So, no, I am not talking about that kind of juggling! Rather, I am talking about writer’s juggling. This is a phenomenon that I would hear other authors talking about but until recent months I did not comprehend for myself. I suppose it has many names – a friend called it ‘deadline hell’ – and can involve different aspects of the publishing/writing/life game, but it amounts to the same thing: Finding some way to ‘do it all’ and not have your head explode! The kids may find that amusing, but you and I know who would have to clean up the mess.

I got a hint of it last year when I had to pause in writing new material to focus on the editing stages for my first book. It wasn’t too bad, though, since I was given plenty of time. In addition, the edits were relatively minor and the whole process was so new and thrilling that I delved in with gusto!

Then followed several months of nothing - the “lull” I called it. I am a novice, a publishing virgin as it were, but I had gleaned enough of the process to know that craziness was acomin’! So I took advantage of those months, immersing myself into the Darcys and writing furiously. It was fantastic. So fantastic that it was like a cold slap of water in the face to have to put that creativity aside.

2009 had loomed in my mind for ages. That was the year when my fortunes would change. *she hopes* March (and then again in September) are when my first novels would arrive. In my enthusiasm there were moments when I thought the days would never pass! Then Father Time did his thing and the calendar flipped over – it was January and barely had the first week ended before my Inbox was inundated with emails: My publicist telling me about the guest blogs, interviews, and ARCs sent out; my editor sending me the first editing notes on my second novel; other Sourcebooks staff asking me for a synopsis, photographs, and book cover ideas…….

It was a bit overwhelming but thrilling nonetheless. I was forced to buy a planner as the small pocket-type calendars that I had used for years were inadequate. Fortunately I am blessed with extreme organizational skills. Alright, OCD! Call it what it is, Sharon! I probably spent way more time than necessary writing notes and studying each website I was to guest on, but I think it paid off in the quality of the essays I wrote. I had determined to do whatever it took, to go well above the requirement, exhaust myself even. I never wanted to look back upon this time with regrets or the fear that something I did or did not do had lead to the failure of my novel.

That is where juggling became a vital skill. Discipline became extremely important. I am a highly disciplined person by nature, thank God, but in my writing I had not been forced to apply the talent. I love to write of the Darcys and I love the research, so if anything the difficulty arose in pulling myself away from the laptop to do laundry or vacuuming – blech! But now I had serious timeline and deadline issues. On the upside, I also had a ready excuse NOT to do the laundry or vacuuming! Ha! The family fell for that one and pitched in big time….shhh!

I wonder how actual jugglers feel as they train and perform. Is it a combination of exhilaration as the items whirl through the air, moving with the precision they work so diligently to attain mixed with the heart-stopping, jittery anxiety that they will mess up with bowling pins crashing onto their heads and the audience laughing in ridicule? I have no idea (remember, she can barely throw a ball), but the analogy sound apropos. And then there is the possibility that an incredible feat of aerodynamic dexterity will be accomplished only to have the crowd stare blankly, utterly unimpressed. Ouch!

Now I am on the downward slide. It is March 18 and the book has officially been out for some 3 weeks but actually for sale since late January. The guest blogs are written and have mostly all posted. The bulk of reviews have come in. Essentially the marketing machine is running on its own steam.

And I have mixed feelings about it.

One the one hand it is a tremendous relief as I was frankly exhausted and literally my health was suffering. Plus, for nearly two months now I have been unable to even consider writing new material. Now I am able to turn back to what enticed and captivated me in the first place: writing of the Darcys.

Yet, on the other hand it is like when the party ends or the visitors finally leave. Bittersweet. I already miss the heady excitement and zeal. Will it ever be this way again? I’ll let you know in September, but a tiny part of me knows that an experience the second or third time around is never quite as amazing as the first.

So I am very glad for the notes and calendar markings and blog pieces and photographs. They are a solid reminder of this incredible period of my life, no matter what happens with my book. I think the bowling pins fell on my head a time or two, but I have learned so much and would not change any of it for the world.

Thanks, Sia, for hosting me. It has been fun to talk about me for a change rather than just my saga! LOL. But, just so everyone knows: “Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ~ Two Shall Become One” is available everywhere. Details about my debut novel and the entire series are found
on my website: http://www.darcysaga.net/




Sharon Lathan is a native Californian currently residing amid corn, cotton, and cows in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. She divides her time as homemaker nurturing a husband and two children, plus the cat, dog, and fish; while also working as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. Somewhere in there she finds time to write!

A little bit about Sharon's journey in writing Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ~ Two Shall Become One:

Over Thanksgiving weekend of 2005 I entered a movie theater with my best girlfriend and teenaged daughter to watch Pride & Prejudice starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.

To my stunned amazement I walked out of that theater not only sporting a heart swelling with romantic sentiment and warm fuzzy feelings running amok, but I would soon embark on a pathway that would change my life.

I spent two months reading everything by or about Jane Austen (including Pride & Prejudice), and perusing the scribblings found on the plethora of Austen related websites. Always I was searching for the tale of Lizzy and Darcy’s subsequent life as I imagined it. I never found it. Finally, almost as an epiphany, but with a heavy dose of self-amusement and doubt, I deliberated writing down what I saw flashing endlessly through my brain. Thus, on a lark and with nary a shred of future consideration, "The Wedding Night" was written as a short story. The positive response was enormous, so I continued on. Before I fully understood what I was embarking on, I was wholly immersed. Like Mr. Darcy and his love for Elizabeth, I was smack in the middle of it before I recognized what I had started!

"Two Shall Become One" was born.

Balancing Work and Passion

Today my guest is award-winning and bestselling author Caridad Piñeiro. Caridad is also an attorney, wife and mother. When not writing, Caridad teaches workshops on various topics related to writing and heads a writing group. She leads a very busy life. Like many writers and authors in today's world, she works full time and does a balancing act between life and writing. How does she do it?

I get asked a lot of questions along a similar vein, namely:

1. Do you ever sleep?
2. Are you a vampire?
3. Do you ever take a break?

The answers are:

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes

I will say, though, that if I had to categorize whether I was a Type A, B or C, I’d answer, I’m a Type AAA. Fact of the matter is, my grandfather used to say there would be time enough to rest when he was dead and I guess I really took that saying to heart. Which explains my Type AAA personality.

I definitely have a busy life, although I prefer to think of it as a full life. I work in New York City as an attorney, have been happily married for many years, have a great daughter who is also my best friend, enjoy other family and friends and have been blessed to be able to fulfill a lifelong passion – to write.

You are probably wondering how I do all that and still have time to rest. For starters, I get to write on my commute to and from work every day. It’s my “alone” time where I get to escape into the worlds and characters I create with my writing. Sometimes I am so into the story that the train pulls into New York without my realizing it. Luckily I’ve never missed my stop on the way home, although I have had a hurried shut down a number of times.

I also get up early on weekends – at six – and write for a few hours. That gives me the remainder of the day to hang with family, meet up with friends, and get some chores done and rest.

What’s my favorite kind of rest? Sharing time with family. Even if it’s something as simple as having a video fest, just being with family brings me peace. If we’re not just hanging out, we all love to travel and explore new places. I think I inherited that from my grandpa as well. He grew up in a very poor area of Spain and decided when he was a young man that he would seek his future elsewhere. His fortunes took him to Cuba and then to the United States. I was born in Cuba, not that I remember anything about it, but his love for adventure, and my jobs as an attorney and writer, have taken me to over a dozen countries and many more states, often with my family to share the adventures.

What’s my next favorite kind of rest? Hanging with my friends, especially my writing buddies. I love that my writing has brought me together with such a creative and unique group of individuals as well as the many fans who take a moment to chat with me or send me an e-mail.

In fact, my friends and I love spending time together and writing so much that we founded a new writing group recently – the Liberty States Fiction Writers. It’s been an amazing experience to start something from scratch with my friends and very rewarding because we’re busy sharing what we know, learning new things and meeting lots of interesting people who love writing as much as we do!

So now you know about my passions – family, friends, travel and writing. What’s great is that I’ve somehow found a way to meld and balance all of these. Granted it takes a little work and some juggling every now and then – especially when I’ve got a writing deadline – but all in all, I’m not complaining.

You may be wondering what I’m busy with now. Well, I’ve been doing some promotion for my February and March releases, HONOR CALLS and FURY CALLS respectively. They are a Nocturne Bite novella and Nocturne novel that are part of my popular THE CALLING Vampire series. I’m also waiting for the copy edits on my November release, SINS OF THE FLESH. I’m really excited about SINS because it’s my first single title paranormal romantic suspense release from Grand Central Publishing. While I’m waiting, I’m working on the second book in the series, tentatively titled STONE COLD SINS as well as two other books in THE CALLING, which will be out next year.

Which is probably making you ask again, “Don’t you ever rest?”

Of course I do, but who wants to spend too much time resting when you’re having so much fun?

***

Caridad Piñeiro is a multi-published and award-winning author. From the start, Caridad’s novels have received acclaim and have helped redefine the landscape of modern romance novels. In 1999, Caridad was published by Kensington as part of Encanto, the first line of bilingual Latino romance novels. In 2000, Caridad was one of the first Latino authors featured at the launch of BookExpo America’s Spanish Pavillion. In December 2006, Caridad helped Silhouette launch its successful Nocturne paranormal line with DEATH CALLS, one of the novels in the award-winning THE CALLING Vampire series. DANGER CALLS and DEATH CALLS were selected as the Top Fantasy Books of 2005 and 2006 by CATALINA magazine and Cataromance Reviewers Choice Award for Best Nocturne in 2006. Caridad’s eighteenth novel, MOON FEVER, a paranormal anthology with Maggie Shayne, Susan Sizemore and Lori Handeland, debuted in late September 2007 as #32 on the New York Times Extended Bestseller list.
Caridad’s CHICAS novels, including her seventeenth release, SOUTH BEACH CHICAS CATCH THEIR MAN from Simon & Schuster’s Downtown Press.

Caridad was born in Havana, Cuba, and settled in the New York Metropolitan area. She earned her juris doctor from St. John’s University and became the first female partner of Abelman, Frayne & Schwab, an intellectual property firm in midtown Manhattan.

You can visit with Caridad at her website http://www.caridad.com/ or visit
http://www.thecallingvampirenovels.com/