So ya’ll remember Tanya’s Post on Book Trailers? Right….well, apparently we had a very special guest stop by to comment, except not only did she end up in moderation (which I get an approve immediately) she ended up on the Akismet Spam folder (which I check like twice a month). I immediately emailed Sheila (that would be Sheila English of COS Productions) and apologized profusely!!!! And told her I’d post her comment because it was so interesting.
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I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around the idea of the HIGH-CONCEPT NOVEL.  I know it’s not “new”, but I found a very good article written by Kimberly Whalen and Jenny Bent online from the Romantic Times Magazine, here.

It’s great advice that can be applied to any genre.  Basically, “The high-concept novel is simply a conventional idea taken to the next level by adding a fantastical element.”  It also offers a few great examples, like “Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Slaying Soccer Mom”, which became a lead title for Berkley.
Apparently, editors love them.

And here I thought vampires, menages, werewolves, and ghosts were cutting-edge stuff.

It always seems a fine line for an author to walk.  The voice has to be right, and the characters and situations must be persuasive without seeming ridiculous, yes?

So maybe our vampire huntress faints at the sight of blood?
Or our dominatrix has a latex allergy?

Or a high concept version of “The Wizard of Oz” might be something where the batteries in Dot’s shoes finally run out of juice after frequent trips back to Oz, and she has to work her way back to Kansas on her back?  Like, “The Scarecrow’s Lion, A Hard Man Was Good To Find?”  Or, she services the Munchkin men in, “I Was A Ho On The Little Dick Road?”

Yeah, yeah I know…my brain still has some wrapping to do…

So, what do you all think?  It’s certainly one way to prod the old creative juices!

I want to talk about HEAs, otherwise known as the Happily Ever After endings. I’d like to know how you define one. I mean, there are variants on the theme. One in particular straddles the line. I’d call it the BE, or Bittersweet Ending. I’ll toss a few out for your consideration.

SPOILER ALERT …. In Somewhere In Time, Richard and Elise are separated in one of the blackest romantic moments on film. He is propelled (against his will) back into his own time (present day), leaving Elise back in hers (1912). He dies of a broken heart and is reunited with Elise in Heaven. In The Notebook, the hero and heroine die together after one of them is tragically stricken with Alzheimer’s. In Titanic, Rose and Jack are separated in life, but reunited in death.

Then there’s the COMPLETELY DEPRESSING don’t-even-get-to-die-together endings like: A Walk To Remember, Untamed Heart, Love Story and Message In A Bottle.

Do the books you read HAVE to have an HEA, or is a BE acceptable?

Roxanne St. Claire is a national bestselling author of more than twenty books. She currently writes a romantic suspense series for Pocket Books, called “The Bullet Catchers” featuring a cadre of high-end bodyguards and security specialists. Her books have earned numerous awards and recognitions, including the RITA Award, the Maggie, the Daphne du Maurier, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the Book Buyers Best, Borders Top Pick for 2007, the Aspen Gold and several other prestigious writing contests. She is a full-time author, mother of two, active RWA member and certified lover of all pink shoes.
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NO, not that kinda extension…though my mind went there when I wrote it–especially after the “toy” party several gals and I attended Saturday–an eye opening experience to say the least. I am working on the challenge I issued myself, I am just a tad behind–there is light at the end of the over-committed tunnel, I swear I can almost make out shapes and everything.

So . . . to keep y’all occupied until my arse gets in gear . . . .

Why does everyone think that they can write a book? I can’t remember where I heard someone talking about it recently–like Sunday, (I think it was actually on TV) but they hear you’re a writer and start asking questions like, “I’ve always wanted to write a book, how do you do it?”

For some reason this question offends me–I am a touchy person, so maybe it’s just one of my many hang-ups–dunno. I will say it doesn’t seem to bother me if someone has already started the process and asks for pointers, cause God knows I had no clue when I first started and guidance was the biggest asset next to my computer. But that sounds-like-fun/easy is what drives me insane!

It is fun, sure and in the beginning it was easy because you didn’t know any better to realize all the work that goes into being published. But it is work. It is a product and a business that needs to be worked on (yeah, Ames I can hear your foot tapping telling me to get my arse in gear–working on it, swear!).

I do suppose some people want to write as that avenue for relaxation from real life, and it is a creative process that can be rewarding in the end. But it just sounds so . . . I dunno . . . like it’s so damn easy anyone can do it (told you, touchy).

What about y’all . . . do you get this questiuon when folks know you’re a writer? And does it hack you off like me?

We all have things we’re passionate about. Animal rights…Children’s Rights…Politics…Basketball….whatever. That one thing that makes us drool…or whatever :)

When it comes to writing we also have our passion.

Recently at our RWA meeting a published author commented that readers want more than (dare I say it?) just sex. Apparently it’s not just me. I’ll be frank, one of the things I loved about Once in a Blue Moon was that there was more….and the sex served a purpose (beyond titillation). I don’t think you have to have page after page after page of sex and sexual tension and sexual angst and a touch o plot to hold it all together.

Cause, honestly folks, after a while it leaves me….raw and kinda bored. Needless to say, as a writer, if I’m bored, then you’re going to be bored too. That said, I love sex, but I need more.

For me that something more is small towns (don’t laugh)–specifically small Southern towns. So much so I’ve written nearly 50 pages on a new proposal. And by the time you read this, I’ll probably have passed it. It’s a big fat juicy book too. I’ve got tons of notes, a list of books a friend recommended and a one page bible of names and backstory I’ll be adding to as the days go by (sadly I have no idea how it ends which is going to make writing a synopsis kinda tricky!).

The bottom line is…you’ve got to LOVE what you write. Regardless of whether it sells (to NY or other places)

So, what are you passionate about when it comes to writing, or reading….or life :)

1)  Obsess, and focus all of your energy on ONE MS because you’re sure that’s THE ONE that’ll make your career, and refuse to write anything else in the interim.

2)  Let all those glowing reviews, compliments, and sales go to your head.

3)  Let those bad reviews, snarky comments, or numbers get inside your head.

4)  Analyze every single form rejection letter until your eyes begin to bleed.

5)  Forget where you came from.

6)  Don’t write.  Someone’s sure to come a-knockin’, begging you to pen the Great American Novel because word of your talent is floating around the Heavenly Ether, just waiting for the right someone to find you.

7)  Don’t submit.  Someone’s sure to come a-knockin’, begging to read the Great American Novel you’ve stashed in your pajama drawer, just waiting for the right someone to find it.

8)  Allow the Publisher’s Lunch sales announcements to depress, rather than encourage, you.

9)  Base your writing on every rumor of every market trend you hear about.  With luck, you may catch one before it peters out.

10)  Completely ignore your rebellious Muse and stick strictly to all preconceived plans.  You do know best, after all.

This is not a closed list.  Please feel free to add on.

In one of my books, the hero and heroine went from avoidance to love in … oh, (thinking here) about a month. (Day after Thanksgiving to two days before Christmas) I’ve read stories where protagonists find love in a week. Sometimes even in a day. Think of the books you’ve written. Is there variety in your romantic time frame?

My characters usually find love within a month, but no longer than three. I’ve never done weeks, much less days. If you’re a reader, what time frame do the books you buy fall in? Would your suspension of disbelief be shattered by a hero and heroine who fall in love in one day or a week? Such is the case for many women in jeopardy books.

I’d like you all to welcome my friend and sometime critique buddy, Mary Eason. She’s multi-published, multi-talented and she writes for Samhain Publishing. And now, here’s Mary!
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REFLECTING ON REJECTION

Recently, I had the chance to see the pain of rejection from another author’s perspective. She received a rejection letter on a manuscript that she put her whole heart into and she was devastated but determined to keep going.

And this got me to thinking about how difficult it is at times to keep the passion going in the face of rejection.

If you’re a writer, you’ve been there. You send your precious baby off with such high hopes. You put your heart, your soul. Pieces of you into that story. And so you wait. Each day when it gets close to what you suspect will be the time of reckoning, you trudge to the mailbox with anticipation and trepidation. If you’re lucky it’s a bill. If you’re really lucky a request. And when the day finally comes, you rip open the envelope only to find, it’s neither. Instead, it’s the dreaded rejection.

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So I have been tangled up in all sorts of binds and commitments–all my own doing–and have lost sight of writing, reading, characters, plot, concept–you name it and it’s not even on the horizon anymore. And yes, we have had this convo many atime–I know. But, but, I just can’t get past it.

Add to that, I just got laid-off work. No, “I’m so sorrys,” please. This was busy work to help out a family member and I have not been happy doing it. It was a pittance of income–that I spent with glee every pay-day and really have nothing left to show for it other than a really cute ring and something that goes vrrrmmm . . . but I digress . . .

I now have time on my hands and it freaks me out more than when I couldn’t find the time to write.

I have schlepped out a writer’s tool kit and am reading through it. I have ordered (and received) another craft book by someone I enjoy reading and it’s not stirring anything other than yawning and lists of OTHER things I could be doing–Rock Band, Buzz Jr, extra grocery shopping, buying that little black dress for conference–you see where this is going–abso-freaking-lutely-nowhere.

So in that regard, I have a challenge for you dear Chica readers. Give ME a challenge.  I would like you to give me three things, in return, the rest of the week I will write a scene for a current WIP–haven’t desided which of the 30–don’t hit me Ames–open WIPs to chose from, but I will use your ideas and make it work. Shoot, if I get enough, it may be several scenes.

Those three things are:

A place

A type of cereal (my kids, for no apparent reason, were yelling Frosted Flakes at one another, so what the heck!)

AND to make things interesting: A sexual position

Go for it! I know I will . . . . .