Recently, I found an article on the internet about Peter Mark Roget. I’m embarrassed to say I knew nothing of the man. It seems his entire family was plagued with mental illnesses, from simple depression to possible schizophrenia and paranoia. An uncle slit his own throat while Roget struggled to take the razor away.

To hold onto his own sanity, Roget wrote long lists of synonyms. He found solace in words. I can understand this. When I’m restless, can’t write, or even settle down with a good book, I pick up the dictionary to find interesting, previously unknown words. Words fascinate me.

I’d be lost without my copy of Roget’s Thesaurus. Not only does it offer many choices, but sometimes one of the synonyms sparks my imagination, enabling me to write a better sentence.

Words make the world go round. They allow us to communicate, albeit not so well at times. It’s not just a good story that sells a book, but how it’s written. Think about how your words will flow into a reader’s mind.

Pick a random sentence from one of your manuscripts and spend time improving it. The more often I do this, the faster I get. Now I take all my weak sentences when I complete a chapter and make them stronger. And, of course, Roget is my bedside companion.

For anyone interested in reading the entire article on Roget, it can be found HERE.

I’m also looking forward to reading The Man Who Made Lists by Joshua Kendall. Discovering more about Roget’s unhappy life might be great research for anyone wanting to know more about the darker side of mental illness.

My mother always told me, “Choose your words wisely.” Of course, she wasn’t referring to my writing, but the idiom holds true whatever way you look at it.

Happy word hunting!

. . . or odditities that can help.

I am all for research that is . . . well out of the norm. You may call this writer’s avoidance, but it is truly research nonetheless. There are the tried and true methods of looking stuff up, sure. The internet. The library. The regular stuff. But there are times when a more . . . unique approach can be more informative and a hell of a lot more entertaining while you’re . . . researching.

Even actors go to odd extremes on occasion to “get into” character–Donny Walhberg went into a park to sleep, to see what it was to be rock-bottom strung out when he was preparing for his role in THE SIXTH SENSE. As a writer, maybe the extremes aren’t as extreme, at least I haven’t had the oppotunites to experience some of the wild things I’d like to. And depending on how prolific you are, it may take a bit of time for this research to come to fruition, but it can be fun, interesting and exhilerating while going through it.

Some fun and different research tools:

–Naughty books, and by this I mean BDSM books, How-to erotic talk books, hell even the Kama Sutra–if it’s out of the norm for you (for some this may be the regular go-to guides)

–sexy movies, se-exy movies with xxxx’s

–adult “toys” stores or parties

–trolling bars, even if it’s just to people-watch

–visit a morgue (ew–I think I’ll pass)

–do something mundane, in drag–see what kinda reaction you get

–exotic travel . . . exotic to me is anywhere I don’t have to take my kids to

–a ride along/talk with the police/citizen academy

–locked in the truck of a car (though I was adviced against this by a hottie officer)

There are all sorts of unusal avenues you can pursue when looking for help with your books. What are some of the weirdest things you did in the name of RESEARCH?

I wasn’t going to blog today but since I actually had a topic I thought I’d throw this out there real quick (even though we’ve discussed character description before).

An interesting thing happened last week while I was working on Hooked (Um for those that didn’t get the memo this would be John’s story and is a last minute addition to the book Screwed–I’m officially certifiable. Just take my word for it).

Anyway…..I had to go back to Nailed (which by the by goes on sale in a MONTH) and find a description of John…becuase I couldn’t remember what he looked like and I’m just anal enough that I like it when recurring characters look the same from book to book. Huh…go figure.

And while I don’t always succeed, I do try to make my descriptions work hard–because just telling me what your characters are wearing is a HUGE PET PEEVE of mine. (more…)

This Wednesday we’ll have 2008 Eppie winning author Pam Champagne. Not only is she talented and prolific, she also cps with me every now and then. Gotta love anybody willing to read through my scribblings!

Here’s her bio:

“Pam lives in on 50 rural acres in rural Maine with her husband, two Siamese cats and a black Lab. By day she works in Bangor, Maine as a legal secretary.

Other than writing, Pam enjoys hunting, fishing or just being outdoors. Each year she promises to maintain her perennials and a huge vegetable garden, but somehow they always manage to get away from her. God blessed her with two beautiful children and two wonderful granddaughters. Pam writes, hot romantic suspense novels and is currently branching into short stories and novellas.”

So check back in on April 30th for Pam’s post. In the interim, you can take a look at her absolutely bitchin’ book covers.

Because if you’ve ever even contemplated writing a book, you need to watch this.

You ask if I actually believe in vampires?

I’m here to assure you that they really do exist.

My name is Raine.

And I’m coming out of the closet.  I am a vampiress.

It’s been a difficult time—both accepting it for myself, and deciding to go public with it.  The disease progressed so slowly, it wasn’t easy to recognize the symptoms, to move beyond denial.
Yes, that’s right.  It’s a progressive disease.  And there are far more of us than you’d care to believe.

It has nothing to do with being bitten—not by fictional fangs, at any rate.  Nothing to do with drinking blood (which has a sharp, coppery taste that never really worked for me).

But I’m a vampiress.  Make no mistake about it.

I noticed the symptoms here and there for years, but attributed them to other causes.  Sensitivity.  Empathy.  Eagerness to broaden my horizons.  I even touched on it in a previous blog on my own site.  It really hit home for me a couple of years ago when I was watching a news report about a man who phoned 911 to let them know he was on his way to the Tacoma mall to commit mass murder.  When the dispatcher asked his location, the reply was:
“Follow the screams.”
Forgetting who I was, what I was doing or why, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Damn, that’s a great line!”

Horrified, that was when I realized the truth.  We, as writers, not only hunger and thirst—we absorb.  We feed on it.  Real-life horror, suspense, comedy, drama…and yes, romance.  We hear it on the news and process it, sink our fangs in and suck it up, like genetically-altered blood.  Other people’s distinctive personalitites, characteristics, confessions, gestures, stories of family and sexual escapades—like doing a line of coke.
It’s a benign sort of vampirism, of course.  We don’t kill our subjects.  Once we’re finished, we lick their wounds closed with a smile and understanding nod while we digest what we’ve taken from them, and keep one eye or ear cocked and ready, immediately on the lookout for our next meal.

Something to think about next time you’re sharing/conversing with an author.

You ask if I actually believe in vampires?

My name is Raine.
Let’s get together for a drink sometime.

Yeah, that question was worded kinda naughty wasn’t it? (g)

Okay, here are my oldie but goodie picks:

I think one of the first authors I read who codified the male POV to a “T” was Linda Howard The books were DREAM MAN and AFTER THE NIGHT. Excellent use of male POV. Another master is Anne Stuart. Most of her heroes are testosterone-driven, wicked and **eventually** lovable. (g) SEP is another wonderful storycrafter in that respect. The two heroes in HONEY MOON are to die for. AND the three heroes in HOT SHOT were fab. Also, Bobby Tom in HEAVEN, TEXAS gave me the vapors. (g) And STILL does. :-)

Sandra Brown has got it going on in the hero department too. Read ENVY, any of her TEXAS books and … oh, hell, most of her stories are fab. Another shining star is/was Katherine Sutcliffe. Her hero Brandon in DARKLING, I LISTEN, was … um … too yummy for words. As are the heroes in Suzanne Brockmann’s, BODY GUARD and HEART THROB.There are many other excellent writers in this respect, but I’d be typing all day.

Which authors do you think nail the male POV best?

Fellow Loose Id author Mechele Armstrong has long been one of my favorite people in the business.  A fine writer of hot, very romantic books, she’s both prolific and talented—and one of the nicest ladies you’ll ever want to meet.

So, without further ado…

****************************************************************

Mechele  Armstrong

The story behind my latest release is that you can’t always get what you want. 
 
From characters that is.

Mine tend to take me on wild rides.  You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but they still throw me curve balls.

Earlier in the week, Settler’s Mine 3: The Woman, released from Loose Id. I’m excited about this story. It was challenging to write about two guys who really had no desire to find their third, much less find out their other mate is a woman.  The story took me places I didn’t expect to go, especially because it wasn’t the story I originally sat down to write.

When I decided to start another Settler’s Mine novel and planted my butt in the chair to start working, I thought I was going to write about a character introduced in Settler’s Mine 2.  A woman who I already know her story and where she’s heading.  Only my fingers wouldn’t start typing about her.  My brain wouldn’t focus on her tale.  Instead, a character named Tam kept popping into my vision.  He had long, dark hair. The color red was a constant whenever I thought about him.  Along with a woman on the run, Kiann. She had a big secret that I wasn’t sure at first what it was.  And then there was Jax, who was Tam’s mate, and a stick in the mud. He wasn’t happy about a lot of things.

Try as I might, I couldn’t get the story I’d sat down to write going.  Not with these three talking in my head.

Usually, unless I have to write something else for a deadline, I’ve learned to run with the story that wants to be written.  I didn’t have an official deadline on a particular story, so I started toying with these characters, instead of writing the story I’d expected to come next in the Settler’s Mine series. And Tam, Jax, and Kiann wouldn’t get out of my head to let me tell anything else but their book.  They took over and their story, for the most part, flowed.  Even though some parts of it were hard to nail, and I had to go back and revise a few times when I lost their voices and track, we hashed it out until I got their story to the end.  It was well worth it. They challenged me to tell a tale I hadn’t expected to write.  They aren’t easy characters and their ending wasn’t quick to reach, but we made the journey together.

Obviously my editor decided I’d made the right decision, because she accepted The Woman and now it’s out!

I’m sure the next story in the Settler’s Mine series will be the one about the character I thought this one would be about.  But I’m so glad that Tam, Jax, and Kiann started appearing in my mind.  I love stories that stretch me, and these reluctant mates definitely did that.

*************************************************
Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
Where Sensuality and Wonder collide
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com/
http://www.collector-series.com/
The future’s never been so sexy
http://www.melanylogen.com/

As writers, we deal constantly with the intricacies of the craft. Dangling participles, purple prose, subjunctive verbs and syntax.

But sometimes it can be something as simple as sentence structure that is our Achilles heal. You have to be ever vigilant when you write. One or two misplaced words and your benign statement becomes … well, a whole ‘nother meaning presents itself.

As exampled here:

 A boss had to fire somebody, and he narrowed it down to one of two people, Debra or Jack. It was a difficult decision because they were both excellent workers.

He decided he would fire the first one who used the water cooler the next morning.

Debra came to work the next morning with a horrible hangover from partying most of the night before.

She went to the cooler to take an aspirin. The boss approached her and said: “Debra, I’ve never needed to do this before but I have to lay you or Jack off.”

“Could you jack off?” she says. “I feel like shit today.”

So be careful, how you piece together your words.

(Anyone have other examples to share?)  

I’m under deadline and cheating terribly. I hope ya’ll find this as funny as I did.

Amie