Anita Clenney: Building Memorable Characters

A chance for two commenters (US and Canada) on today's blog to win a copy of Embrace The Highland Warrior.

My guest is paranormal romance author, Anita Clenney. She writes about some really yummy Scots. The ones I've *met* are the unforgettable types, and not just because they take up a lot of space in a room. None are the type to fade into the woodwork even when they're just sitting in the group. You get vibes of who and what they are--a bit at a time. I like Sorcha, but who I really want to get to know better in Anna. There's just something about her that draws me. 


Another fascinating character, seems on the surface, to be a bad guy.  Let's just say there have been some suspicious actions on his part which make me wonder. I've read both books (definitely 5 star reads and stories I can read more than once--oh yeah, that's my keeper shelf) and his actions make me wonder if someone has some sort of hold over him, or if he's protecting someone dear to him. Just a feeling, and I could be totally off base with this. I do know he has an agenda which is beyond what he appears to be. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series to see if I'm right or wrong...  


And this is the thing I like about certain authors and Anita in particular. The characters are like icebergs. You see them clearly enough to identify who they are, but there's always a hint of what's below the surface.
  
Anita's topic is about building characters who aren't easy to forget.

It takes several elements to make a good book. A great plot, intriguing characters, strong writing. All of these are important, but I don’t think any surpass the need for compelling characters. If the reader doesn’t connect with your character, she won’t care if you have the most spectacular plot in the world, or if you can string phrase together a paragraph in a way that makes her sigh.  Think about some of your favorite books, those that have stuck with you throughout the years. I bet they had great characters.

How do we make memorable characters? Let’s start with something simple, but still important. The name. A name is like a first impression. It defines who you are until someone--the reader in this case--gets to know you. The name Reginald gives an entirely different feel than Zeke or Bart. How about Faelan, Ronan, and Cody? They’re all warriors in my Scottish paranormal series. Let’s meet some of them.

THE WARRIORS

There’s Faelan, the only warrior who’s ever been assigned two ancient demons. Born in the 19^th century, Faelan was most powerful warrior of his time. He was trapped in a time vault and slept for 150 years, waking to a strange world filled with modern technology and even stranger…modern females. Then there’s Ronan, 6’3 inches of raw, sexy warrior, better than Robin Hood with his bow, and equally at home with a sword or a bonny lass. Cody, the only other warrior who’s been assigned an ancient demon, might have pretended to be the tough boy next door, and he’s good at hiding secrets, but his world will never be the same after he finds out what’s been hidden from him. Shane is quiet but the fastest with a sword, and Niall is a one-man army, with legs like tree trunks. Tomas is a clan medic and Brodie’s the prankster of the bunch, always getting into trouble. Duncan is brooding and frustrated, and Sorcha likes flirting almost as much as killing demons. Anna, a stunning beauty, has chosen to remain a warrior forever, but destiny has some surprises in store. And my heroines Shay and Bree are more than just mates to these sexy warriors. They have talents that will shock even them.

I like my character’s names. They seem to fit their personalities. But sometimes the “final” name doesn’t come to you until you’ve gotten deeper into the character, seen his or her strengths and flaws. And if you have two protagonists, make sure their names work well together. They need good cadence just like the words in a book. Originally, Faelan and Bree were Faelan and Erin. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I can tell you that by the time I realized how horrible that sounded, she was Erin to me. I couldn’t think of her as anything else. But I forced myself to change her name to Bree. Faelan and Bree. Isn’t that much nicer? It took a while to get used it, and I had to do a “find and replace” (Erin with Bree) before I submitted it to my editor, but now I can’t imagine the character as anything but Bree.

But fleshing out a character goes way beyond their name. We need to feel these characters, see the way they dress, their stance, how they move. Little tics that give their emotions away. I always think of those guys who can take a corpse’s skull and use clay to recreate the face. Writers take a skeleton character and add on layers until we have a face, a body, a real flesh and blood person.  And that’s just the outside. What about the inside, where all that motivation is growing? Anger, pain, hope. That’s the really good stuff. What’s the character’s history? What was his family like? Did he have brothers? Get along or fight? Was he a bully or did he stand up for the underdog? Did lose his parents at a young age, get his heart broken by a girl? Maybe he lost a child, or lost part of himself in a war. Layer by layer, we build our characters, inside and out, filling them with hopes and dreams and fears, until we have someone the reader will hopefully fall in love with and never forget.

• My question for you is, can you think of a character whose name perfectly fits?
   

EMBRACE THE HIGHLAND WARRIOR

When the powerful demon that left Shay for dead discovers her empty grave, he comes seeking retribution, believing she possesses an ancient book he has sought for centuries. 

Knowing she can’t fight the demon alone, Shay returns to her clan and the Scottish Warrior who betrayed her…the only man she’s ever loved, where she discovers that betrayal isn’t always what it seems.

Sometimes it’s far worse. Excerpt 

BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Red Room, iTunes

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Anita Clenney writes paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Before giving herself over to the writing bug, she worked in a pickle factory and a preschool, booked shows for Aztec Fire Dancers, and has been a secretary, executive assistant, and a real estate agent. She lives with her husband and two children in suburban Virginia. 

To find out more information, please visit http://www.anitaclenney.com/, follow her on Twitter, or like her on Facebook

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INTERVIEW: Chatting With Jenny Brown

Do you love historical romance but are bored with the same old stories? I have just the ticket to relieve the boredom.

My guest is Jenny Brown. She's a fresh voice in historical fiction and her books have been highly acclaimed. Jenny writes a series called The Lords Of The Seventh House. Each book is set around a astrological sign--she's a bit of an expert in astrology. 

The stories are historically accurate in the details, which is refreshing after so many that aren't, offers rich historical layers, emotional impact, don't always use just the Ton for settings (also a refreshing change), and are fun and sexy reads. In short, they're not the same old rehashed story. Instead they're fresh and different.

I had a chance to chat with Jenny and enjoyed her thoughts on her writing.

Blurb:
Lovers or Enemies?

Captain Miles Trevelyan, on leave from active service in India, is heading out for a night on the town when he rescues a beautiful pickpocket from arrest. She's the perfect choice for a few days of dalliance--beautiful, cunning, and completely disposable. 

But Temperance has no intention of becoming the plaything of a man who wears the uniform of the solders who murdered her lover. Disarming Trev with a kiss, she escapes. But her sultry kiss opens the two Scorpio adversaries to an obsessive attraction that neither can elude--or possibly survive. Excerpt Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million

"This is Jenny Brown's second novel, but her exquisite characterization and unique sense of drama sparkles as brightly as that of a seasoned veteran. ..."[A] vividly emotional tale. " --Affaire de Coeur Book Reviews 

• Tell me a bit about you? When you were little what did you want to grow up to be? Tell me some fun things Jenny Brown likes to do?

My family used to laugh about how when I was in grade school I’d answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up” by saying, “A doctor on Mondays, a musician on Tuesdays, a writer on Wednesdays, a psychiatrist on Thursdays, and an Actor on Fridays.” They thought it was a joke, but I was dead serious and that’s pretty much what I ended up doing. That’s probably because my curiosity is my strongest characteristic, and what I find the most fun is learning something new.

• How has your own romance colored how you write romance in your stories?

I always tell the Hero of My Own Romance that he’d make a rotten romantic hero because he provides absolutely no conflict. Day in and day out he’s loving, kind, considerate, and giving. But it wasn't until I found a man like that who taught me what real love is like that I could write heroes other women would find appealing—though of course to make the book worth reading I do have to supply lots of conflict. No one would read a book about a decent, loving man who never gives the heroine a moment of anxiety!

• Did you try other genres before you chose this one?

I started out writing science fiction and historical novels, but when I discovered the wonderful historical romance writers of the 1980s and ‘90s like Laura Kinsale and Judith Ivory, who wrote so brilliantly, I realized it was possible to combine the kind of historical setting I love with the kind of powerfully emotional story I most enjoy.

• What do you still struggle with as an author?

I write slowly which makes it hard to cope with the demands of a genre where editors want a book every six months. I’m told most romance readers don’t care about many of the things I labor over—coming up with stories that aren’t just retellings of the same old story, getting the language just right, and respecting the details of the historical setting. But I care about them, and if a a book has my name on the cover, I want it to be a book that I’m proud of. That turns out to take a great deal of time and labor—which makes it hard to build up the kind of readership you need if you are to succeed in this genre.

• What was the single best or luckiest thing that got you published?

One frigid January, when I was snowed in and bored silly, I checked out a brand new online critique site—Authonomy—that was filled with highly articulate, English writers with whom I exchanged critiques. I posted a version of a book I loved but had never been able to sell. The English writers, most of whom had never read a romance before, went at it energetically, and pointed out subtle things that confused them or slowed them down as they read.

I kept rewriting that manuscript until new readers on Authonomy were speeding through what I’d posted and asking for more. Then I submitted it again with all those changes. An agent snapped it up immediately and Lord Lightning sold two weeks after she sent it out to editors.

• The Lords of The Seventh House are set around astrological signs. How much play did astrology really have in the 1800’s?

Astrology was surprisingly popular in the first decades of the 19th century. Astrologers advertised in periodicals in fashionable watering places and Astrology textbooks and ephemerides sold briskly, too. The reason I made my heroine an astrologer in Lord Lightning was that I wanted to tell a story about the kind of person who nowadays would be a therapist—someone who was an expert in other people’s emotions, but used her understanding of other people’s conflicts to keep from dealing with her own. Since there were no therapists in 1818, an astrologer seemed like the next best choice. It was my agent and editor who came up with the idea of doing an astrologically-themed series.

• Do you actually chart your characters? If so, that would mean some pretty serious research time to incorporate where the stars were at the time of your characters’ births, wouldn't it?

Yes. All my characters have real astrological charts, and I provide their birth data in the afterward of each book. I go out hunting for charts that match the hero and heroine after I’ve sketched out the plot and major themes. Once I’ve found charts that match, I pore over the house placements, planets, and aspects they contain, which suggest new ideas I use to deepen the characters and make them more multidimensional and real.

• I have to tell you, nothing ticks me off worse than getting the history wrong. I’m not nit-picky; I’m talking major things. How do you avoid that?

Most of my historical knowledge comes from having put in many years reading biographies of people who lived in the period I write about. I’ve also read many novels published in the late 18th and early 19th century. That’s given me a good basis from which to start. But once I start working on a novel, I have do a lot more specific research to get the details right.

For example, since the heroine of Star Crossed Seduction is a pickpocket, I spent a lot of time researching the Regency-era underworld and its slang, and found some sources different from the ones Georgette Heyer relied on so heavily which gave me some wonderful cant phrases you haven’t read in fifty other Regency-set novels.

I also read a lot about the British army in India in the Regency period since the hero’s story hinges on his experiences in the Third Maratha War. The undercover mission he’s involved in that plays such a part in the story, is based on actual cloak and dagger operations that were masterminded by a real English administrator who served in India in this period.

• Star Crossed Seduction your current book. Tell me what YOU like about Trev and Temperance and what still makes you laugh when you think about them?

Trev and Temperance are two magnetic, attractive people whose difficult upbringings have taught them to use their sexual charisma to gain control over others. They are both survivors of harsh environments—Temperance of the mean streets of London and Trev of service in a war in a foreign land where has lived, as an outsider, since his teens.

I start the story by pitting these two wily survivors against each other in a take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes and then enjoy the fun as each of these masters of seduction finds themself realizing that they’ve finally met their match—in more ways than one.

I love how intense these two people are and how hard they fight against trusting what they feel when they finally meet someone who is just perfect for them.

• You have a new book, Perilous Pleasures, due out in March. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Perilous Pleasures is the Pisces-themed book in the series. The hero, Lord Ramsay, is a Scottish lord with a tragic past who has taken a vow of chastity after falling under the sway of a mysterious mystical healer. I've paired him with Zoe, the ugly daughter of a cold-hearted courtesan.

Zoe’s virginity is essential to the rite that will transfer to Lord Ramsay the magical powers his teacher has promised him. So naturally, Zoe does what she can to rid herself of it—by seducing the mystical lord. Needless to say, trouble ensues.

• Hmm, magical and fun. I like the idea of a the woman doing the seducing. I'm looking forward to reading it. Thank you Jenny for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. It's been a pleasure.

 Thanks so much for having me on your blog.

Find out more about Jenny Brown Website, Facebook, Twitter.

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MONDAY MUSINGS: An Apple Or Two A Day

It’s Monday. I’m still debating on whether I want to trade it in on another day, lol!

Saturday was the opening day of deer season here in Missouri so the house was quiet for writing in the mornings while my guys were out hunting. Good thing, too, since I had gotten a bit behind in Nano after the chaos of Friday.

I use Nano to get my mind focused on writing a bit every day. I’m also using it to get a manuscript at least ¾’s of the way done. I’m not in a race to slap any words down for the sake of getting 50,000 words. The editing nightmare of that sort of writing sends me in search for bourbon and a therapist. I did get in about 3500 words this weekend.

While I have an idea of what my story is about and where it will end up, the specifics in between are fluid. I tend to plot as I go and that makes my writing a bit slower at times. There have been some surprises, too. Not really surprising as the characters develop and grow into real personalities. These are not so much tangents, although there have been a few minor ones, as much as realizing the characters wouldn’t naturally do what I first had in mind. I also had an epiphany for the whole structure of the villain and their goals and motivations. They have a something they need to accomplish, if they don’t the loss is great. Makes the story more realistic and villains are something that takes a bit of time for me to develop. I usually have my two main characters clearly in mind and a bad guy—in general terms.

This story is based on a legend and what if’s. The idea for this story came to me last year and I’ve had to do a lot of research, to get my world clear in my head—especially language, culture, the flora and fauna of the region I’ve set my story. Not that I’m using a lot of language but enough to make it realistic. That means also having a glossary of terms. The story has been a lot of fun and an adventure for me. I think my readers will enjoy it as well.

If I get stymied or tired I take a break, go for a walk sit out in the sunshine. I also drink plenty of water and munch on apples—brain food. Actually,the presence of fresh apples in your diet can improve your memory and sustain brain health. Yes, I still drink coffee and I still love chocolate, but I like to slice up apples and munch on them. http://www.naturalnews.com/034128_apples_brain_health.html#ixzz1dh3FmNj4

 

• How’s your writing going? How’s the WIP coming along?

• Whether or not you’re participating in Nano, or just trying to get your blogs organized and ready for the week—it all involves writing, doesn’t it?

Bloggers, anything special coming up on your blog this week? Guests? Topics? Do share them.

ONCE UPON A TIME...

Two copies of Genie Knows Best are available to two commenters on today's blog.

My guest is romance writer, Judi Fennell.

Judi is a magically delicious storyteller and a dear friend from whom I've learn so much about this business. She's was also one of the first writers to read my work (a big moment of trepidation for me). 


Judi taught me the importance in having band-aids and the need of blood on standby after the reading and her comments. Yeah, I thought the manuscript was in imminent danger of bleeding to death, lol! 


But seriously, she also taught me the value of being objective of when it comes to your writing and critiques, the value of learning the craft of writing, and following your dreams—they don't magically. You work for them. 

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who liked to tell stories. From “Casper made me do it” when she rode her tricycle into the street, to the little raindrop who fell from the sky in that very first First Grade Essay, to Mr. Magical who lived in the sewer with a zebra-striped alligator, and Cotton The Lonely Rabbit, she always told stories. (Not fibs, mind you. I told stories. Fibs are an entirely different matter and not at all part of this discussion. And I totally plead the fifth on that.)

So the little girl wrote her stories, even won some awards for them, but the idea of becoming an actual Writer was laughable. Seriously, only those people could become authors. The exalted ones. The ones with talent. And agents. And editors. The general masses weren’t like these Authors.

Yet here I am today. An author. Who gets paid and has books on bookstore shelves. And has an agent and an editor. Even a publicist. And reviewers and, best of all, fans.

How did this happen?

You know, when I used to go to the library with my mom when I was younger and headed right to the romance section—and specifically the Ls and Ms (for Charlotte Lamb and Anne Mather), I had no idea “real people” could become authors. Books took me away to far off places. They taught me new things. They showed me heroines who could become who and what they wanted to be without compromising who they were. The stories fired my imagination and, in my voracious reading, I couldn’t imagine a better career.

But that was for those people. Not me.

As I said, I’ve always written. But it wasn’t until my youngest went to kindergarten that I sat down and wrote a “real” full length novel. (The one I wrote in 9^th grade when I had about as much life experience as an amoeba doesn’t count.) I had no idea what POV or head-hopping were. I had no idea about Goal, Motivation, or Conflict. I only knew that I had two characters who went through some stuff and ended up living happily ever after.

That first full length novel has been revised, oh, maybe a hundred times. I’m not exaggerating. I still have the earliest completed version. I mailed it to myself with a date stamp across the flap and thought that was a good enough copyright—told you I didn’t have a clue about any of this. I won’t even tell you how I mailed that first manuscript off to editors and agents in a way that makes me cringe to this day. I’ll never tell any of them that they once received a submission from me in a way that broke every rule I now know I should have adhered to. Well, except for the confetti. I didn’t put confetti in the envelope, thank God. One saving grace.

But I digress…

I’d written this story that had just popped into my head and then had no idea what to do with it. Hubs was the one who scoured the internet for Romance Writers of America and my local chapter. He even called the president to talk to her about me joining—all without me knowing he was doing this. Then he presented me with the meeting place, time, and driving directions, made play dates for the kids, and sent me on my way.

I can still remember the trepidation I felt going into that meeting. I mean, seriously, who did I think I was? I was going to be with real authors. I was a poser. A wannabe. They’d laugh me out of the meeting.

How wrong I was. Writers, especially romance writers, are some of the most encouraging, generous, knowledgeable, helpful, smart people I know. I remember meeting my very first published author at that meeting; she’d brought in copies of her latest release. Of course I bought one and of course I had her autograph it. We’ve become friends and I still have that book to this day.

But I left that meeting with utter excitement. I could do this! Others had done it. Other people just like me, with kids and homes and husbands and jobs. People who had the same dream.

This month, my fifth “dream” is being released from Sourcebooks Casablanca, the second in my Bottled Magic series, Genie Knows Best. And the thrill is as big and spine-shivering as the first book I released. The trepidation as I wait for reviewer and reader comments. The same impatience as I now await publication of the third book. The same angst as I work on my next proposal. The same worry that I won’t be able to do it again.

It’s a strange thing to be able to call myself an author. For years it was a dream. And, no, it didn’t happen overnight and there was no genie magic involved—how much easier that would have been. A lot of hard work. A lot of lonely hours with just my laptop and my imaginary characters to keep me company. A lot of “Don’t bother Mommy; she’s writing her book”s and a lot of take-out pizza.

And I wonder as I hold all five books in my hand (trust me, it doesn’t get old!) if someone out there who’s reading my stories has the same dream I had? Who wants to write but thinks she can’t be published. Who thinks that it’s only those people who can publish books. And I want to reach out to her and say, “You can do this. If the stories are inside of you, all you have to do is sit at the computer and type them up. Or write them by hand. Or dictate them into a recorder. Just get the stories out. That makes you an author. To become a published one takes more work, but you can’t be published if you don’t have a story to publish.”

Sia, I want to thank you for having me back on Over Coffee. You’ve been on this ride with me since before publication and I know it’s only a matter of time before you’ll hold your dream in your hands.

• To the readers out there—what are your perceptions of published authors? Am I alone in how I thought? And do you harbor the dream, too? 
• Or, if not to become an author, what is your dream? 
• And what’s holding you back from achieving it?

Genie Knows Best by Judi Fennell – In Stores November 2011

Be careful what you wish for… 

Samantha Blaine is about to make a fateful discovery. A tall, dark, handsome, ohmygosh kind of fateful discovery… 

Kal is very pleased to meet his attractive new master—especially since he intends to seduce her into granting him freedom. But when seriously dark magic spells trouble for both of them, Kal can’t help himself from falling for the woman who holds his fate in her hands…

 Warmly acclaimed by readers and critics alike, Judi Fennell brings to life a fabulous world of magic and mayhem where wishes come true in the most unexpected ways! Excerpt

BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Indie-Bound.

Judi Fennell is an award-winning author and writes what she calls “fairy tales with a twist.” Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, and have won numerous RWA Chapter Awards, including the FF&P Prism Award, and the New Jersey Golden Leaf Award. Judi lives with her family in suburban Philadelphia, PA, where she is working on the next book in the Genie Trilogy, Magic Gone Wild, set for release in August 2012. 


For more information, please visit http://www.judifennell.com/, Facebook, Twitter.

Carolyn Brown On Being 'Gracefully' Challenged

We have two copies of Darn Good Cowboy Christmas to give to two commenters today.

My guest is romance author, Carolyn Brown.


Hold on a moment while I have a brief fan-girl moment-squeee! Okay, I'm better now. 


If you have to ask me why the squee, then you haven't been reading her books. Not only is she a fabulous storyteller, but she has some the sexiest and fun loving cowboys this side of the Rio Grande--both sides, if you want my biased opinion. Her towns and citizens feel so real I just know all I have to do is find a map (trust me, I've been looking) and I can go visit with them. I absolutely love the way they talk and the expressions used. It would be fun to head over to the O'Donnell house for Sunday dinner and listen to the music afterward--I'd even put up with Colleen to do that, LOL! Carolyn tends to make me laugh--a lot.


Today, she talks about a glitch she faced not so long ago, that wasn't very funny, but how she tells it in retrospect, is.

Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you, Sia, for inviting me to stop by your site today! Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and after that Christmas. And I have a brand new Christmas book on the market, Darn Good Cowboy Christmas.

Liz has been raised in a traveling carnival and the top thing on her list has been a house with no wheels. Her Uncle Haskell gave her the house, a barn and twenty acres. The next thing on her list was a cowboy of her own. Will the very sexy Raylen O’Donnell be that cowboy?

A few years ago it was doubtful that I would ever write another book. Talk about a glitch that put me quite literally out of the deadline world for a while. I had one that writers shiver about.

It was all Husband’s fault. He had house shoes that he just slid his feet down in and shuffled along like an old man. Well, in his shuffling he kicked some of the air from the living room into the kitchen without telling me that it was sitting there, precariously at the end of the bar.

Now, realize that I am gracefully challenged and even a little bit of air that’s been moved from one place to another is a disaster and I tripped and fell! Splat! Right there in the kitchen floor!

My left arm is the stupidest part of my whole body. I say this because it thought it could hold all of me up and prevent me from bashing my brains in on the kitchen floor. The silly thing hit the floor and I heard a loud crack and saw a lot of blood.

Husband said that we had to go to Beloved Daughter’s house and tell her about the accident before we could go to the hospital. So there I was sitting in the passenger’s seat of the pickup truck with my feet on the dash while he tells her that he thinks my arm might be broken. No, he did not tell her that it was all his fault and that I was already cussing those damn house shoes. That’s when I pushed my feet against the window to get away from the pain and made the prettiest spider web cracks all over the whole window.

We drove twenty-five miles to the hospital with him looking between the cracks and worrying that I’d never be able to type again. He sure didn’t want to live with me if that was the case. He pulled up to the emergency room doors and I let myself out of the truck with my good arm, started through those big double doors (I understand now they lock them) and the receptionist yelled at me that I have to fill out papers before I was allowed back there.

“Tell Husband to fill them out. I have to get this fixed so I can write a book,” I told her.

The triage expert had the audacity to ask me why I thought my arm was broken. I figured he had cow chips for brains so I peeled the towel off and held up the bloody mess. His little eyes popped out and he blanched. Then he asked me how much I weighed. Again, not so smart! I lied by ten pounds or maybe it was twenty. I figured I had the right since my bone was poking out of the skin.

They took me to a room to wait for the surgeon and cut my favorite denim jumper and my shirt off my body. I told them I’d just kicked the windshield out and they’d best leave my new bra alone so they laid the scissors down and backed away slowly.

I went to surgery and that’s when they told me that the “knockout medicine” was given based on weight. And I panicked! I had lied about my weight and I’d wake up too soon! There would be a mess in operating room four that no one would ever forget.

Being drug sensitive, I went out like a light and woke up several hours later, looked at my arm and knew I’d never type again. But in six weeks the apparatus came off and the cast went on and I told my fingers if they didn’t type, they’d listen to me bitch until the undertaker laid me in the casket and crossed them over my chest. They believed me and hence, Darn Good Cowboy Christmas, my tenth cowboy romance and fifty-fourth book is now on the shelves.

• The heroine of my book, Liz, wanted a house with no wheels and a cowboy. 
• I wanted to be able to type again. 
• What’s on your list this year?

Darn Good Cowboy Christmas   

by Carolyn Brown—In Stores NOW!

 He’s One Hot Cowboy

Raylen O’Donnell is one smokin’ hot cowboy. He could have any woman he wants, but he’s never been able to forget a certain dark-haired girl who disappeared from his life. So when she suddenly returns to the ranch nexct door, Raylen’s not fixing to let her get away again…

And She’s Out for a Sizzlin’ Christmas

Raised in a traveling carnival, Lizelle Hanson thought all she wanted was a house that didn’t have wheels and a sexy cowboy for her very own. But settling down’s going to take some getting used to, and cathing Raylen, the hotter-than-hell cowboy next door, might just take a little holiday magic…Excerpt 

BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million Available in both print and ebook.

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than forty books published, and credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. She writes bestselling single title cowboy and country music mass market romances. Born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma, Carolyn and her husband now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma, where she is working on her next book, One Hot Cowboy Wedding, which will be in stores in April 2012.

For more information, please visit http://carolynlbrown.com/.

Hi-ho,The derry-o A NaNo-ing I Go

November is National Novel Writing Month, or as most call its, NaNo. This is my second year of Thirty days and nights of literary abandon--aka insanity.

I have on my author info the following: "Sia McKye claims, other than being insane to sign up for this, she's pretty normal. Sia writes paranormal and contemporary romance. She also has a successful Blog where she features various authors and their books. Sia should know all about writing, after all she's done, but when contemplating that concept, tends to laugh manically." 

I'm pretty much focused on meeting my writing goals and all my spare time is being used in doing so. If you don't see me on line or blog hopping much (the great time thief) you'll know why.

I'm mostly a pantzer, meaning I have a general idea of where I'm going and what will happen, but the specifics are subject to change as the characters develop their own mind and personality. I've had a few surprises along the way. I'm over 10k consecutive  words into this story. I've hit a few glitches and brick walls. Ouch. When that happens I've been known to pound my head on the wall and ask myself why in the hell do I put myself in this sort of position to begin with, LOL! But then a funny thing happens. My mind just skips ahead and I find myself writing other scenes that I will have to connect to the overall story later. I probably have another 15k of scenes like that. What I've discovered is I can come back to where I left off and I can move forward again.


I have a couple of writing buddies who take several weeks before NaNo to prep for their story. They get their research in order, figure out scenes, characters, and plot points. A couple of them will finish their 50k by mid month. They are leaps and bounds ahead of me and that's okay. 


I've been researching the background for this story for months. My research file over 8 MB thick covering history, languages, old legends, and the region of my setting--including maps--fauna and flora and the habits of such. While I've actually lived in the state the story takes place in and know it well, there was still much I didn't know. It was fun. But now comes the building the story and weaving the characters into the world. 


My goal is to achieve the 50,000 words. Me and the writing support critters are working hard towards accomplishing that.

• How about you? Are you a participant? How's it going?
• You can find me on NaNo site as Sia McKye. Buddy up with me!

This week's guests: Carolyn Brown-Wednesday and the Magically Delicious, Judi Fennell-Friday 


A couple of things to make you smile:

 

                                                

AN UNLIKELY PAIR

My apologies for the late posting. We hit a small glitch. 

Amanda Forester is my guest today and she writes about hunky highlanders set in the sweeping history of   14th century Scotland.

How people meet and fall in love is always fascinating. Amanda shares how her two main characters meet and shares with us how she and her husband met. A case of opposites attract.

Romance.  I love it.  Since I'm a romance author, this pronouncement is perhaps not surprising.  I especially enjoy hearing the story if the two people involved are an unlikely pair or come from different backgrounds.

 

Thus in THE HIGHLANDER'S HEART, my muse gave me a hero who is a Highland laird and wanted criminal in England, and a heroine who is an English Countess trying to escape an abusive marriage.  Here is how they first meet:

Isabelle stared at the barbarian before her. These would surely be her final moments on Earth. She tried to think of something worthy of her last thoughts.

I can see his knees. Isabelle groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. This would never do. Thoughts like that would send her straight to purgatory. She put her hands over her eyes and tried to think of something pious. Nothing but a mental vision of his thighs came to mind.

“No, no, no.” She looked up pleading. “Do not kill me yet, I am not ready.”

“Sassenach,” said the shadowy figure with disgust. “Get up English, I will no’ be killing ye.”

Not the most promising of starts, I grant you.  Lady Isabelle tries to use Laird Campbell to save her from her husband's guards, while he decides to hold her for ransom.  Neither of these plans is destined to succeed, and both are forced to work together to save themselves and their people from the threat of war.

I do enjoy watching unlikely couples fall in love.  Perhaps my own love story played a hand in that interest.  I always thought I would marry a person like myself, someone I met in graduate school or at church.  I am embarrassed to admit it, but I met my husband in a bar, actually it was in the parking lot outside the bar (oh, the shame).  Now obviously he was not a Highland warrior nor I an English Countess, but at the time we met he was an infantry officer and I was a PhD student in psychology.  He was cute, very cute I must say, but I couldn't see much of a future in it.  Fast forward to the present and we've been married for 14 years now, so I was (happily) quite wrong.

 

• So tell me how you met the love of your life.  Were you best friends since the 2nd grade or were you so different you might as well have been from separate planets?  Do tell - I'd love to hear your story! 

Comment on this blog for a chance to win a copy of Amanda Forester's latest release, THE HIGHLANDER'S HEART. A chance for two winners! 

HIGHLANDER'S HEART Available now ebook and print formats

Lady Isabelle escapes her murderous English husband only to be abducted by a Highland warrior and held for ransom.  Her determination to break free from captivity is exceeded only by the passion growing between her and the Highland Laird.  David Campbell plans to hold Isabelle for ransom as an easy way to line his pockets and return her back where she belongs, but he is unprepared for a feisty English lass with a penchant for finding trouble.  Caught between rival clans bent on claiming the throne of Scotland, Campbell must choose a side, and a bride.  Standing on the brink of war, Isabelle may be his only hope to save his clan, and his heart. Excerpt 

"[T]he plot never falters, and fans of Highland romance will appreciate Forester’s devotion to historical accuracy and effortless storytelling." ~Publisher's Weekly

 BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chapters, Powels

Amanda Forester holds a PhD in clinical psychology and a Masters degree in theology.  As a psychologist, she has worked as a clinical researcher and a university instructor (what they call you when they don’t want to give you tenure).  None of which has anything to do with writing romance novels.  After trying for many years to stop the internal storylines floating around her head, she finally gave up and wrote one down.  Now when she is caught daydreaming and talking to herself she can just say, “I’m plotting a scene for my next novel,” which sounds so much better than, “I’m hallucinating and responding to internal stimuli.”

Amanda lives in the Pacific Northwest with her officer and a gentleman husband and their two remarkably active, naturally brilliant children.  They share their home with two fiendishly destructive cats and one lazy dog.

Find Amanda at her website, facebook, or twitter.