3T Writing Tidbit - story structure part I

I've been reviewing story structure lately. Despite what the pundits say, there's more than one way to tell a story! You have your 3-17 step hero's journey, your 5 plot-point, your 3 act, your 2 step scene/sequel. Let's start on the far end and work our way in.

The hero's journey was famously started by Joseph Campbell. It's expressed alternately as 17, 12, 4, or 3 stages, and often pictured in a circle as the starting and ending point is exactly the same - the ordinary world. The story is in the journey, the hero's transformation between the start and the end. In other words, the start/end point is the same, it's the hero who's different.

In a nutshell (correlation of steps is mine):

3 step	4 step	8 step	17 step
--	--	The ordinary world	--
Departure	Separation	The call to adventure	The Call to Adventure
--	--	Refusal of the call	Refusal of the Call
--	--	Meeting the mentor	Supernatural Aid
--	Descent	Crossing the threshold	Crossing of the First Threshold
--	--	Tests, allies, and enemies	Belly of the Whale
Initiation	--	--	The Road of Trials
--	--	Approaching the inner cave	Meeting with the Goddess
--	--	--	Woman as the Temptress
--	Ordeal	The ordeal	Atonement with the Father/Abyss
--	--	--	Apotheosis
--	--	The reward	The Ultimate Boon
Return	Return	The road back	Refusal of the Return
--	--	--	The Magic Flight
--	--	--	Rescue from Without
--	--	The resurrection/final test	Crossing of the Return Threshold
--	--	Return with the elixir	Master of the Two Worlds
--	--	--	Freedom to Live

You can find explanations for these steps in many places on the web. Wikipedia supplied the 17 steps.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

Two books free!!

Smashwords is having their winter sale. My indie books are mostly 50% off. Two, Atlanta's Angel and Hunt Mates, are free! Check them all out here. Be sure to use the code (SW100 or SEY50) at checkout!!

2T Repeat Performance -- Interview

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published July 27, 2012 for EReading on the Cheap

Thanks for having me here today!
 
Tell us a little bit about your book and have you published before?

Black Diamond Jinn is about government witch Amaia Jones, who discovers the world is ending—in four hours. Worse, no one believes her. Except Rafe, the imaginary guardian angel who has comforted Amaia since her parents died. She turns to him for help.

But Rafe is a jinni, one of the most powerful magic users in the world. Jinn take their pound of flesh for magical help. Amaia is strictly warned off jinn by her boss.

Rafe is trying to remember his humanity. Touching Amaia helps him do that. And as they work together to uncover the mystery of who’s trying to end the world, and to stop it from happening, he learns even more about being human. The question is, will it be enough?

There’s explicit sex and T-shirt lines in the novella, like my Biting Love series of red-hot vampire romances for Samhain Publishing.

Will this be the only book in the series?
 
I’d love to explore the universe more fully, so there will be more books. Now I just have to get the plot fairy to cooperate :)

Are you currently working on anything else?
 
Biting Oz, Book Five in the Biting Love series is releasing August 14. I’m in the polishing phase of a witch/werewolf book called Alphas Don’t Wear Bows—Witch princess. Alpha wolf shifter. Meddling magical aunt. What could possibly go wrong? I’m working on the first draft of Beauty Bites, Biting Love Book Six. I’m planning to serialize the contemporary romance Hot Chips and Sand on my website—for free. It’s the first book I wrote, so I’m also planning to feature the reworking I’m doing to bring it into publishable form. Edit choices I make and why. It’s messy guts stuff but I hope that will help new and unpublished authors see what goes into a draft.

Do you have any advice for authors wanting to publish? (Why did you choose to go indie? If this applies - If not why traditional)

Advice: write the story that excites you. Learn to edit your writing. When writing blurbs/ads pretend you don’t already love your book—that you’re a stranger who needs to be sucked in.

Traditional publishing has a lot going for it. Professional covers, and the biggest plus for me—professional editors. Editors are goddesses.

But I have a friend who’s indie published and she’s been pushing me to try it. I did, and I have to say having responsibility for the complete creative process is incredibly scary, incredibly thrilling, and deeply rewarding.

What is your favorite writing snack?

Oh, wow. Everything :) I try to limit myself to the lighter stuff—freeze pops and popcorn. Sometimes yogurt or protein bars. Lots of coffee. Those powdered drinks in a stick just rock.
 
What gets you in the mood to write?

Reading my writing from the day before. Thinking of an exciting plot twist or scene in the shower. Sometimes just sitting my butt in chair and hitting myself with “write or starve” :) Staring out the window. Driving, believe it or not. I tend to think I have to put lots of words on the page, even if I haven’t thought of what I’ll say. Sometimes that works but driving makes me stew about it a bit beforehand. Then the words come pouring out.
 
Who is your favorite character and why?

Right now Sherlock Holmes, from the BBC’s Sherlock, because of Benedict Cumberbatch and Steven Moffat (because the writer is important, even in television). Of my own books, I always love the hero in the book I’m on. My all time favorite is the hero of a book I haven’t even tried publishing; but the Ancient One in the Biting Love books is modeled on him. He’s mega alpha, demanding and commanding, yet protective and deeply caring.
 
Favorite book of all time?

So many. I reread David Eddings’s Belgariad series every few years. Romance—Johanna Lindsey’s Savage Thunder and the Lymond Chronicals because nobody can beat Dorothy Dunnett for writing, period. Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries are rereaders too.
 
I think breakfast says a lot about a person, what is your perfect breakfast?

On vacation, someplace warm with a breeze, sitting on a veranda with two eggs, hashed browns and a side of pancakes dripping butter and syrup.

In reality, a protein bar and coffee. :)
 
Do you have a favorite period of time that you like to write about or would like to live?

Alternate nows. I think we’re living in a very exciting time, and tend to see the magic in reality. Add in a strong hero and stronger heroine and I’m happy.
 
Please tell us in one sentence why we should read your book!

Sexy jinni, loose pants barely covering him, riding low on taut hips, nothing at all covering his granite chest, a flawless bare canvas for the flame tattoo licking one pec.

A Quick Time Out

 Dropping in on a non-standard Tuesday to share a random xkcd comic. (There is a mountain lion, but it's reading Facebook...) https://xkcd.com/1947

3T Something Different

 Today is where I normally have a 3T Writing Tidbit, but I felt like something different... xkcd!

And this from the FarSide https://www.thefarside.com/2022/10/19/3

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

2T Repeat Performence -- Black Diamond Jinn

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published July 27, 2012 for EReading on the Cheap

Interview for Black Diamond Jinn:

1. What gave you the idea to focus on the Mayan Doom? Do you believe in it?
I love all things both Indiana Jonesy and computery, so Ancient Mayans plus astronomical calendar plus Internet meme? I’m so there. The odd thing about December 21, 2012 is that the Mayans actually don’t predict an end-of-world for that day. True, their calendar completes a Long Count, but for the Mayans, an end of period was simply a time of bad luck. My personal view is that “no one knows the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven”—in other words, if someone tells you the world will end on such-and-such a day, you can rest assured it won’t.

2. Do all Jinn have black diamond eyes or was Rafe special? I assume that the name of the book comes from his eyes, but correct me if I am wrong.
A novella didn’t let me go too far into it, but Rafe gets his power from black holes, one of the strongest forces in the universe. That power shows in his eyes. Now, black holes crush everything with overpowering gravity, so they’re pretty nasty. But I particularly like when good things come out of bad, and heavy gravity also compresses carbon into diamonds. So with Rafe, I have that crushing power showing as diamond eyes, good coming out of bad. In my universe (again, not mentioned in the novella), all jinn who get their power from black holes have black diamond eyes. A jinni who gets power from a red giant star would have ruby eyes, jinn who draw from blue dwarf stars would have sapphire eyes, etc. And you’re right! The title does come from Rafe’s eyes, and the type of jinni he is.

3. Where did you get the idea for Venus magic?
My Biting Love series are all red-hot romances, and though this is more a fantasy romance I didn’t want to wander too far :) Sex magic is as old as humankind—did I mention my interest in archeology? :) —everything from fertility goddess rituals to the Kama Sutra as a guide for virtuous and gracious living. My particular take for this story equates magic with karma, or the feedback the universe gives to human acts. Positive acts generate positive magic, and what’s more positive than good sex?

4. If Rafe hadn't backed off from Amaia for #5, could they have actually saved the world without killing the wizards responsible?
Oh, good question. And spoilers ahead, LOL. There were three factors head-butting at that point—strong and determined bad guys; Amaia and Rafe’s Venus magic; and the world’s fear of the Doom. Venus magic could have worked if the world hadn’t given into the fear and the bad guys hadn’t been so determined. I do think if Rafe and Amaia had gotten #5 in, the bad guys might have taken extreme measures to bring about the Doom, and everything would have ended up where it did anyway.

5. Now that Rafe and Amaia are tied together for all eternity, is Rafe more human? Will he be able to come to her without being called?
Absolutely, Rafe is much more human because he’s tied to Amaia, and because he truly loves her. More spoilers! He’s still a jinni but he’s got a part of Amaia inside him that will anchor him and lead him to wherever she is on the physical plane. So he’ll definitely be able to come without being called.

6. Do you have any other stories in the works or want to share something about what you already have written?
Currently I’m working on Beauty Bites, Book 6 in the Biting Love series of red-hot vampire romances. It’s the story of human Synnove (looks like a Scandanavian model, wants to be a doctor, and is all about substance) and vampire Ric (tousled blond hair, knockout blue eyes, a smile that ranges from brilliant to deadly, and all about style). Oh, and August 14 Biting Oz, Biting Love Book 5, releases! I’m thrilled to be touring with Promotional Book Tours August 20-31!

3T Writing Tidbit

Goal. Conflict. Disaster/Resolution.

The clearest example of this structure (and easiest to show) is usually the outer or external goal. I need to get to the other side of the room and out the door. I need to ace this job interview to land this job.

But external goals are driven and made richer by internal goals, which aren't always as easy to show. For example...

I need to get to the other side of the room and out the door -- without falling on my face because I'm 1 month sober and my ex is watching and oh God my ego won't stand another scathing, crushing comment from him, always made worse because I'm afraid he's right.

I need to ace this job interview to land this job -- because otherwise there won't be food on the table and how can I tell my children we have to move again?

The internal goals are often things the character is afraid to confront. Notice in the first example there's the internal desire to show up the ex and shrug off his comments, but the fear that she deserves them is getting in the way. That struggle is emotional, which is why the inner goal enriches the outer goal and makes the character more understandable and relatable.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

2T Repeat Performance -- Finding the Right Home

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published June 1, 2012 for The Book Binge

Finding the Right Home

Why did I choose to publish digital first? Short answer—I didn’t.

Instead I found a home with a publisher that I love. It just happens to be digital first.

Finding a publisher wasn’t easy because my Biting Love series is erotic action-packed romantic comedy with alpha male vampires and strong quirky women. It’s a fusion of styles that didn’t quite fit the chocovanilla mainstream publishing world. 

Then one day a special call came from Samhain Publishing for exactly what I write—fun, hot paranormal romance. I took one look at their hilarious warnings and was hooked. I wanted to write for Samhain! It took a bit but eventually I sold Bite My Fire, Biting Nixie and the rest. I only found out later that digital publishing was the wave of the future.

But format doesn’t matter as much as writing the best story I can for my readers. In the long run, writing and publishing is about crafting stories that find their right homes in the readers’ minds and hearts.

3T Writing Tidbit

One of the things I struggled with for many years was perfecting the pitch.

Here's a simple outline: 

• Who is the protagonist and why do we care?
• Where are they starting from?
• What changes (and gets the story moving)?
• What's their goal now (outer goal)?
• What's getting in the way of the goal?

Wizard of Oz:

Who is the protagonist and why do we care? A young girl with a dog (pets engage our attention).

Where are they starting from? A rural background. A neighbor threatens her dog.

What changes (and gets the story moving)? A tornado hits, sending the girl to a strange, colorful place.

What's their goal now (outer goal)? Get home

What's getting in the way of the goal? Only one person can send her home and he's at the end of a journey.

Running away from a horrid neighbor who's threatening her dog, young Dorothy Gale is swept away by a tornado from her Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz. Now to return home, she must go on a quest to find the Wizard, the only person who can help, aided by three weird and wonderful fellow travelers she meets along the way.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published March 20, 2012 for the Samhain Blogs

I recently discovered the "Stats" widget for my blog--delight! Now I could see what was popular with readers.

But the results shocked me.

Not the #1 position--my monthly giveaway is always fun, and of course all-time top honors went to Vivi Andrews's guest blog. But #2 for both 30 days and overall was a writing post from 2009 entitled A Pearl for Your Fantasy. A writing post. Not juicy news, not sexy pics. A writing post. So of course my big burning question was--

Why?

A Pearl for Your Fantasy. The words are powerful. Pearl, a gem, conjures glossy images of beauty and prestige. Fantasy is a word sparkling with potential, a golden-sanded beach, a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire, a sleekly muscled torso on a favorite romance cover. (Here's my favorite :)
 
And let's face it--when I think pearl, I'm not only thinking pearl o' wisdom :) Combined, Pearl and Fantasy mean beauty and strength, attraction and love--the core of romance. 

What pearl fuels your fantasies?

3T Writing Tidbit

One of my favorite structures in a story is simply Goal, Conflict, Disaster/Resolution. The character has a goal. Oops, something is in the way of that goal, causing the section to end in a disaster (or relief). It can be simple -- I want to walk to the other side of the room, but a bucket and mop are mysteriously present, and I slip on slick floor which has just been washed. Or it can be complex -- I want to win the job interview to feed my family, but I have a stutter and anxiety trips me up so I not only don't get the job, I'm forced to go to my brother's arrogant friend for a loan.

So what is a Goal? It's anything that answers the question, "What result do I want?" Conflict is, "Who or what stands in the way of that goal?" Disaster/resolution answers the question, "Do I get the goal?" Resolve the conflict with the character achieving the goal (after struggling, of course!), or hit the character with disaster and crank up the story engine even more.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance -- The Cover, Your First Thousand Words

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 27, 2011 for Heroines with Hearts

The Cover, Your First Thousand Words

Thanks so much to Heroines with Hearts for having me here today!

A picture is worth how many words? (All together now ☺) 

The cover is the reader’s first impression of your book. Its purpose is to catch her attention, and promises the kind of story inside. It gives a sense of what the book is about—not the whole story, as too many elements muddle the cover.

Covers happen in different ways. Here’s my journey for Biting Me Softly, art by the incomparable Natalie Winters.

First I submitted an art request through my editor. The request is a publisher-designed form that asks things like title, genre, time period and setting. It also asks for descriptions of the hero and heroine, a short summary of the story, and any author ideas, my chance to have input. Using a stock photography site, I found a perfect picture for hero Logan and included the link. My editor reviewed my request and forwarded it with her additions and changes to Natalie.

Natalie combined elements of my story (heroine Liese is a computer geek so the 010101 wallpaper is computer binary code) and my series (the bats flying up from the bottom left suggest vampire) with a truly spectacular pose of model Sam Bond to create a draft cover called the cover comp.

I loved the cover comp the minute I saw it. Although my publisher lets me give feedback, I didn’t have any changes—the cover is a significant investment in time and money and though sometimes changes are necessary (as when another cover uses the same pose) it’s important to have as much defined upfront as possible.

After my editor and I approved the art, it went to the publisher. The publisher has to consider things like fit with other releasing titles and overall impact, and knows what reaches readers best.

In the end, it’s all about reaching the reader with your story. The cover is simply your first 1000-word step.

(Note: This is the 2017 cover.)

3T Writing Tidbit

I think I've discussed this before but it bears repeating. Your hero has to be someone the reader wants to spend the next 300 pages with. And they have to be that someone within the first couple pages. (These days, the first couple paragraphs.)

The easiest way to create that bond is via empathy. Think about the things that draw us to a person in real life.

• They're funny.
• They have an amazing ability to do the job like no one else can.
• They're hit by undeserved bad things.
• They're kind or generous or big-hearted.
• They're loyal or courageous.
• They only want to get along (pay the rent, do their job, things we all have to do).
• They have feelings we all have (but expressed so vividly we can't help but feel for them).
  

You can probably think of tons more. Give 2 of these to your character and see what happens!

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance -- Crafting the First Line

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 20, 2011 for Amber Keller

Crafting the First Line

First, thanks so much to Amber for having me here today!

How do you pick a book to read? If it's not a favorite author, many readers scan the shelves (or eshelves). A cover/title combo catches her eye. She picks it up and the blurb looks interesting. She flips to page one to give it a try. And she reads the first line.

If it doesn't hold her interest―she'll put the book back. That first line is vital to keeping reader interest high. To do that, try paying attention to three things. 

Impact. Hook. Voice.

Recently I won the DRB 1st Chapters Best First Line contest with the following line. Check it out for impact, hook and voice.

It’s a little-known fact that when vampires fly, they hog the window seats. (The Bite of Silence)

Impact is made quickly through what I call pepper words. These are words that bite a reader's imagination (like bite) or send it soaring (like princess). Swearing, sexual language, high concept words like murder are all examples of pepper words. They're great to use in an opening to grab the reader's attention, but one warning. Like pepper, these words can quickly dull the reader's pallet, so use sparingly.

Here are some other first lines. Note the pepper words.

Officially the murder was SCH-1, but I called it the Case of the Punctured Prick. (Bite My Fire)
When I first clapped eyes on Logan, I thought, Hot damn. Look what the Sex Fairy brung me! (Biting Me Softly)

Hook is done via a question the reader wants answered, or juxtaposing ideas or images in a way that sparks her interest. In Silence, the idea of vampires hogging sunny windows is deliciously contrary, as are the official and unofficial name for Fire's murder. In Softly the question is who is Logan and what does he look like, that “I” have such a strong reaction?

Voice is your own style. It's the way you put words together and make paragraphs and tell stories, the quality that stamps the writing as yours through and through.

That first line is vital, but the good news is, most readers will give an author a bit more than one line to hook them. You still need to pay attention to impact, hook and voice. Here's the rest of Biting Me Softly's first page. “I” is Liese, a St.-Pauli-Girl-Next-Door programmer.

It was eight p.m. Sunday night, and I was at work. I do computers for the Meiers Corners Blood Center. The staff is me, the executive director and a part-time nurse named Battle. I was the only one who worked insane hours, but I was new and still trying to prove myself.

I don’t know what made me look up. The cool March air, perhaps. Maybe the aroma wafting in, mystery and magic with overtones of raw sex.

Whatever it was, my eyes lifted and there he was, the most stunning male I’d ever seen. Smack-me-between-the-eyes gorgeous. Bright blond hair rippled to broad, muscular shoulders. Lean strength roped a long, lithe body. Laughter and intelligence sparked gold-flecked hazel eyes. Perfect lips curved in a smile so sensuous it made my innards go bang.

Then he opened his mouth and spoke. Talk about ruining perfection.

“Hello, gorgeous.” His tone was deep and lazy. “I want to speak to the computer man in charge.”

Right. Well that just spoiled everything, didn’t it?

3T Writing Tidbit

How to tell a story. 

There's an infinity in a nutshell, lol. There are countless books and people and articles and posts about how to tell a story. It's a little like explaining how to assemble a person. Do you start at the system or cell level? Describe generic features or that one set of green eyes that haunt you to this day?

So I'm just going to give you my advice on putting together the sequence of the story's events.

First, lay them all out chronologically. This will be the most understandable for everyone, author, reader, editor.

Now if you move chunks of the story out of order, do it to make the most emotional impact.

I've seen stories that reorder scenes to create mystery, and you can do that too. But you run the risk there of leaving the reader feeling tricked. To see that particular feat done right, check out Leverage, which often shows a scene as the bad guy thinks it's playing out, right until the reversal -- which is then explained by going back and showing the same scene with the effort our heroes are putting in.

 But reordering so the reader can have more feels? Generally much more satisfying and better accepted.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.   

2T Repeat Performance -- Splashing Verbal Paint

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 19, 2011 for Autumn Shuty

Splashing Verbal Paint

First, thanks so much to A.L. for having me here today!

A vacation picture. Movies on the big screen. Dreams, swirling with color. Except for smell (new-mown grass, a mother’s perfume), nothing connects us to reality like image.

We've heard show-don't-tell, but isn't it all just words? How can words show?

I think of it like splashing verbal paint on canvas. I’m taking my example from Biting Me Softly because I know how I changed it. Well, and because it’s In Stock at bookstores across the US ☺ “I” is Liese, a Saint-Pauli-girl-next-door programmer. Her hero is Logan Steel, over six feet of golden, graceful vampire.

Here’s the original, where Logan takes a phone call. It’s a pretty good painting (Also Sprach Zarathustra is the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Also Sprach Zarathustra cut me off. Logan snapped out the cell just as the heavens opened and the brass and tympani exploded. 

“Geez,” I said. “Is that a phone or a home theater system?”

Logan grinned. “What can I say? I run a security shop. I have to keep up with technology.”

“Or you have the latest toys to stay alpha geek.”

“That too. Steel.” Almost immediately Logan’s tone moderated. “Yes, sir.”

His tone was filled with respect, like he was speaking to an esteemed superior. That baffled me because as CEO of one of the biggest security firms in the tri-state area, most of the state—most of the Midwest—heck, most of the nation was Steel’s underling.

The bit about “CEO of one of the biggest security firm...” etc etc, is a little long and clumsy. How about this instead?

But Logan was a prince of business. Nobody outranked him.

I think “Prince” draws a picture that “CEO...” etc etc can't match. What about you?

3T Writing Tidbit

 As I was learning the craft of writing, sometimes I got a little confused about the proper way to do things. Here are a few more rules of thumb I picked up. As with any rule of thumb, this is a guide, not a set of commandments.

• Every character represents something bigger (which is significant to the book's theme).
  
• Write the hero as if a Hollywood star would love to play them.
• The structure is like fractals. Each book is hook, build, payoff, built of chapters that are hook, build, payoff, built of paragraphs that are hook, build, payoff.
• Note: The payoff of chapters is often something bad/cliffhangery
• Curiosity keeps us reading. Emotions connect us to the story.
  

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Performance - 6 Questions for Mary Hughes

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 16, 2011 for Sarah

6 Questions for Mary Hughes

Sarah, thanks so much for having me here today!

Welcome, Mary, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Basics: wife and mother, earn my living with my passions―writing, computer programming, and playing flute. I think and read way too much but compensate for it by listening a lot more than I talk.

At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
My first experience with writing was transcribing my favorite story, Bambi, at age seven via an old Underwood manual typewriter. I started typing my own stories on a new PC when pregnant with my first child. I made my first sale twenty years later (I tended to write two novels for every rejection I got :)

The Call (or The Email actually) came after an unlikely sequence of events. I like combining weird things so tend to be ahead of the market (like mashing mystery and paranormal, which twenty years ago just didn't sell). I'd gotten totally fed up with rejections and let loose, writing a story incorporating all the things I knew I did well. It combined vampires, action, comedy, and explicit sex and I had a total ball writing it. But when it came to selling it, well, nobody was buying all that in one package.

Until an anthology call from the amazing Samhain Publishing asked for exactly that. I wrote a shortie in the series and submitted it. It didn't make the anthology but was passed on to another editor who requested revisions. Since I had a full-length novel in the series ready, I asked to submit that in the meantime. She read it, loved it, and bought it.

What is the hardest scene you had to write in this piece? (Biting Me Softly)
I write stories that are explicit in both sex and language, packed with action and definitely mature. But I also think they're emotionally safe stories. I'm not going to kill off any good guys or seriously compromise their morality. So I always work hardest on the scenes that poke at a soreness in an important relationship. In this book my heroine Liese deals with her mom going rebellious because the mom's dealing with cancer. Heavy topics and potentially dangerous so I work very hard on painting the topics honestly but with a light enough brush that they're dramatic but not maudlin. It's a delicate balance.
 

What was your first reaction when you got a glimpse of your cover art?
I drooled. Honestly, I'd buy this one for the cover alone :D
 

Which of your novels most reflects who you are as a writer?  Why?
Probably Bite My Fire. It was the first I wrote in the series, but I learned so much after publishing Biting Nixie that I went back and rewrote Fire. Then my editor had more changes and I did another rewrite on the beginning three chapters. Of all my books, I think Fire was the one that I most had to use technique rather than muse.
 

As an author, what makes a book great in your eyes?
Half is clean vivid prose. Dorothy Dunnett can do more with a single character gesture than most authors can in a whole chapter. The other half is compelling story, but compelling is mostly dictated by a reader's personal taste.

What advice would you give to the new/unpublished author?
Write the story inside you that demands to be told. Then put it away and write another. Take out the first after you've forgotten what you wrote. Read it like a reader, not the author. Mark the places you're uncomfortable. You may not know how to fix them right away, but it's the first step in learning the vital art of self-editing.

“Never give up” is great advice too, but I think superfluous. If you're an author, you can't give up. You're always writing, if only telling yourself stories in your head.

Oh, and make a card that says “SUCCESS” and post it where you can see it. That's you, baby.

What are three things you wish you’d known before you began your writing career?
How about the three things I wish I hadn't known? :)  When you're published you have to deal with negative reviews, marketing yourself, and challenging yourself to get better at your craft every day. I knew all that and wondered if I would be up to it, which scared me, which really ended up making me doubt myself and my writing. Which I think delayed my getting published at least a decade.

The fact is, you'll learn what you need and do what you need to in order to reach your readers. In the context of reaching readers, it all becomes much less frightening. It's a lot of hard work (and negative reviews still blow), but understandable, good work.

If someone wrote a biography about you, what should the title be?
The Introverted Performer

Is there anything you would like to ask your readers?
Dear Reader: What makes a story memorable to you?

3T Writing Tidbit

As I was learning the craft of writing, sometimes I got a little confused about the proper way to do things. Here are a couple rules of thumb I picked up. As with any rule of thumb, this is a guide, not a set of commandments.

• On paragraphing: A description of him from her perspective belongs in her paragraph.
• On placement of adverbs: -ly word goes with its verb. It suddenly flared, not suddenly it flared.
• Act II belongs to the villain.
• The inciting incident has the climax embedded in it.
  

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance -- Meet Electricity

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 11, 2011 for Vivi Andrews

Meet Electricity

Boy meets girl. That first collision of eyes, the first sucked breath of recognition. That tingle of awareness that signals an unexpected attraction. Or zap, if it's really strong.

I love the electricity of the first meet. So I always include it in my stories, usually with a twist (because that's just how I am :) Here are three.

Biting Me Softly (“I” is Liese, a computer programmer)
When I first clapped eyes on Logan, I thought, Hot damn. Look what the Sex Fairy brung me!

It was eight p.m. Sunday night. I don’t know what made me look up. The cool March air, perhaps. Maybe the aroma wafting in, mystery and magic with overtones of raw sex.

Whatever it was, my eyes lifted and there he was, the most stunning male I’d ever seen. Smack-me-between-the-eyes gorgeous. Bright blond hair rippled to broad, muscular shoulders. Lean strength roped a long, lithe body. Laughter and intelligence sparked gold-flecked hazel eyes. Perfect lips curved in a smile so sensuous it made my innards go bang.

Then he opened his mouth and spoke. Talk about ruining perfection.

“Hello, gorgeous.” His tone was deep and lazy. “I want to speak to the computer man in charge.”

Right. Well that just spoiled everything, didn’t it?

Biting Nixie (“I” is Nixie, a 5-foot-zero punk rocker)
Schleck’s face went red as a stoplight. His hand jerked back—to hit me.  But no shedding bully-blood in the mayor’s office meant I would have to take it. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Nothing landed.

“I believe you’re out of line, sir.”

The voice was deep and cultured. The words resonated with an accent I couldn’t immediately place. Proud, almost aristocratic. I cautiously popped one eye open.

Strong, sure fingers held Schleck’s wrist in an unbreakable grip. The vice-principal’s face was white as he stared up. And up. I followed that stare, and—

Towering over us both was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. 

Bronzed skin. Black hair and brows. Outrageously long black eyelashes sweeping over laser-sharp blue eyes. Sensuous dark bronze mouth. A jaw made to run your fingers over. Lean muscular body with biteable shoulders and a flat waist. He made a Chippendale look like a cub scout.

Gorgeous Guy stared down at Schleck with cool contempt. Schleck, like bullies everywhere, cut and ran. Gorgeous Guy released the veep-creep as if he were slime.

Wow. Not only man-beautiful, but the guy oozed strength. No, more. Power. Power, the kind restrained by a tremendous will. I could have fallen in love. Could have, but not.

The guy was wearing a fucking three-piece suit. Vest and all. Seriously, had anyone worn those since the ancient eighties?

Bite My Fire (“I” is Elena, 5'9” and all cop)
I spun. Went for my gun. “Hold it right there…!”

My voice died in my throat. My XD pressed against the most amazing abs I’d ever seen. Washboard, eight-pack…whatever, licking those abs would be like tongue-surfing warm ocean waves.

A black tee stretched in all the right places over a torso ripped enough to star in 300. Bronzed cannon arms, dusted with blond hair, crossed over a battleship chest.

Very male. And very big. Viking big. With him, even my five-nine felt petite. I choked on a whimper as my eyes continued helplessly up.

Strong, corded neck. And his face…sweet Suzy’s Cream Cheesecakes. Warrior big and warrior gorgeous. Cheekbones cut from granite, arching blond brows, carved jaw. Thick wavy blond hair. Eyes the brilliant blue of the Mediterranean in summer. A fiercely beautiful face, the kind that jolts you in the gut.

But big, bad and yummy here was a stranger. Worse, he was wandering near a murder scene. Alone. By the Big Book of Police Rules, that made him a suspect.

Thanks so much to Vivi for having me here today!

3T Writing Tidbit

One of the realities of the writing life is that after you've written your amazing perfect story, you've got to entice people to read it.

So we all have hooks, those things that make us go Ah! or Wow! For many of us, these hooks are in the form of a stereotype.

Ugh, no! Not the STEREOTYPE.

Do you like brand better? or how about archetype? Whatever you call it, it's a character or trope or situation that's deep-rooted in our very psyche, and it gets our interest.

But here's the tidbit. Excite the reader with the stereotype -- then add a twist. Go off at a right angle or 180 degrees or swing your partner do-si-do all the way around. It freshens up the stereotype, it makes it your own, it gives it the pizzazz it needs to go from Ah! or Wow! to I want.

The sweet, shy maiden who gets stubborn when you threaten her friends.

The hooker with the heart of gold who's actually an undercover agent.

The up and coming rock star with an identical twin brother who is undercover and can't afford to be outed.

Go wild!

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

2T Repeat Performance -- Contrast

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published May 2, 2011 for Star Shadow

Contrast

I visited Alaska for the first time last week. I’d done some research and knew Anchorage was a good-sized city near the Gulf of Alaska, and that mountains were nearby. So I wasn't expecting any surprises. I’d seen mountains before, rising from the plains in Colorado. I’d seen water before, the Pacific in San Diego and the Atlantic in Florida. I’d seen cities before, from Boston to Kansas City, from Chicago to Houston.

What I didn’t understand though, was that in Anchorage, the mountains and water and city are right on top of each other.

No gentle foothills swelling from the Plains. No long beaches lapped by ocean tides. Mountains thrust from water, and are the city's backdrop scrim. The contrast is abrupt. Stark.

Compelling.

Writing must also be compelling, so contrast is vital. Which leads me to taglines. After the book's cover snags the reader's attention, the tagline and blurb are story capsules to draw the reader into trying a page or two. 

Sharp contrast makes these short capsules sing. Here are three of mine.

• He’s a candy box of sex appeal wrapped with a golden bow. She’s on a diet. (Biting Me Softly)
• Nitro? Meet glycerin... (Biting Nixie)
• At last, the perfect lover. Now what? Stake him, shoot him—or love him? (Bite My Fire)

3T Writing Tidbit

Here's a bit of a wayback. I used to have an Author Tool Bag. I'd include various sites that had information I found useful. And at the end of the tool bag post:

My Author Tool Bag features sites I use in writing, editing, and marketing. It's stuff I've found online. The usual caveats apply--no recommendations either expressed or implied, don't click on blind links, have a good antivirus, etc. You know the drill. 

 Hey whaddya know, it's still good advice, lol.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits. 

2T Repeat Performance -- Why Do I Write Fantasy?

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published April 28, 2011 for Amber Polo

Why do you write fantasy?

To me, fantasy is an integral part of life. It’s that sense of wonder, the ability to see the amazing beauty and variety all around you. It’s the fun, the joy, the wow that makes life worth living. I think that, since fantasy is the “what if” that enchants everyday life, all stories are imbued with it, from romance to spy thriller to sword and sorcery. 

I write fantasy because it’s got the biggest helping of wow. The most play in “what if”. I write fantasy because that’s the biggest story playground. 

My published books are red-hot vampire romances. Strangely, my favorite novels star mostly wizards: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, David Eddings’s Belgariad, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I recently discovered Charles Stross’s Laundry FilesbI think the series appeals to the computer programmer in me. My favorite vampire fantasy (and comfort read) is Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. 

As a reader of fantasy, I love the interplay of possibilities that you can’t get in a regular story. Fantasy can show human nature against incredible backdrops, stretch it to the limits and beyond, pit the soul against truly impossible odds. I think fantasy is for the reader who wants more, and more again.
Not only would I write fantasy if nobody read it, I did, for twenty years!

3T Writing Tidbit

 Character. We authors have a hundred and one ways to create them, from rolling the dice on various attributes like an RPG to using personality quizzes to hearing them in our heads.

But how someone reacts to a situation is the best way to figure out who they are. Simple example. Let's say you have a character who's an amateur detective. Let's say you want that person to be reasonably smart. 

Which is better, when the initial clues have been laid out, if your detective is asked, "Who could have committed this grisly crime?"

A) "I have no idea."

B) "I'd rather not speculate in advance of hard facts."

How you decide your character acts will tell readers more about your character than anything.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance -- As Simple as ABCBC

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published April 27, 2011 for Victoria Allen
 

As Simple as ABCBC

I’m a pantser. I love to take a strong man and a stronger woman, throw them together and let ’em have at it. So you might think I’d be the last person promoting order.

Except… what makes the difference between clear and huh? Or even between believable and not?

The right order.

The wrong order is like stumbling on the stair that’s not there, or drinking from an empty glass. Like reciting the alphabet backwards. I’m not talking about deliberate red herrings or plot twists, but ABC turned into ACB-what?

I have a story to illustrate. I once played a maid in the play Gas Light. Set in the 1880s, I was supposed to enter under dialog and light two gas lights on either side of the set. Not real gas lights, but as I touched my long pole to each the lightboard brought up the electric light hidden within.

I managed one but didn’t get to the other in time. The lightboard had to bring up the second light anyway, making it look like it’d been lit by ghosts (or the really bad error it was). And yes, I got yelled at. Never did that again.

ABC can get muddled in many ways. Besides my ghost lighting (B without A) there’s ABCBC and AC.

I’m taking my examples from Biting Me Softly because I know how I changed it. Well, and because it’s In Stock at bookstores across the US ? “I” is Liese, a Saint-Pauli-girl-next-door programmer. Her hero is Logan Steel, over six feet of golden, graceful vampire.

Problem: Redundant orderbABCBC vs. ABC.

Before: The instant Logan touched me, he knew and the smooth, seductive lover morphed into marauding pirate. “Liese. You’re so ready—treasure for the taking. I’m going to plunder you, princess. Prepare to be boarded.” One hand captured my face, securing me for easy ravaging, and he breached my pitiful defenses with a devouring kiss.

The problem? He touches, he knows, he morphs. Then in his speech we go backwards to where he’s knowing again. Then he morphs again. What has more impact, ABCBCbor ABC?

After: The instant Logan touched me he knew. “Liese. You’re so ready—treasure for the taking. Prepare to be boarded, princess.” The smooth, seductive lover morphed into a marauding pirate. One hand captured my face and he breached my pitiful defenses with a devouring kiss.

Problem: Causal order. A>C vs. A>B>C.

Before: His tongue invaded me, stole my breath. His taste overwhelmed me, his heat fierce and unyielding. His hand slid into my hair, anchoring my head. The other yanked me into his muscular body. He seized my bottom, cupping and fondling. I arched helplessly into him, banging up against his pirate’s prow, and it was a monster.

One hand anchors, the other yanks. Then he seizes her (which hand?) and she arches. This is actually okay (if you can overlook the phantom hand), but inserting a cause for his yanking adds a layer and increases the tension between them.

After: His tongue invaded me, stole my breath. His mouth overwhelmed me, his heat fierce and unyielding. Fingers slid into my hair to anchor my head for an even deeper kiss. When I moaned and tried to evade his plundering, his arm wrapped around me and yanked me tight into his muscular body. He seized my bottom, cupping and fondling. I arched helplessly into him, banging up against his pirate’s prow, and it was a monster.

In short: To order attention to pay a difference makes. And, um, it makes a difference too :)