We know them well. The temptations we face every day. They beckon us to follow and like a babe to mother’s milk, we’re there. What are your 4 favorite ways to procrastinate? Mine are:
1. movies
2. websurfing
3. “Research” 
4. audio books
How about you? Don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul. :-)
PS: I’m sure you “dedicated” writers won’t even be curious about what lies below. Only slackers like me will be tempted to proceed. 
The Idea Well
“Where do you get your ideas?” is probably the most common question writers are asked—and the most dreaded. We understand people’s curiosity. To them, the idea is the crux of storytelling. If you have a good one, you’re well on your way to publication. Well, not exactly…but that’s another blog.
If we as writers dislike the question, it’s because it’s too big. Where do we get our ideas? Everywhere! If we’ve been writing long enough, the real question is not where we find them, but where we find the time to turn all the ideas we do have into stories.
This month saw the release of one of the ideas that has been floating in my “idea well” for years. It first appeared while I was writing my second novel, Stolen. That book had a plot thread that gave me an idea for another. But this new story required a teenage narrator, and that wouldn’t fly with my readers, who expect adult characters. So I dropped it into the idea well.
It kept floating to the top. I considered doing it with an adult narrator, but there was no getting around the fact that it needed to be a teen—the story is about a special group of supernaturals first coming into their powers, and in my universe that takes place with puberty.
My adult series is very adult. If books got the same rating systems as movies, it would get an R and a slew of warning labels. But being fantasy, it also appeals to readers younger than I care to think about while I’m writing them. The more I heard from teenage readers, the more insistently that old idea kept bobbing to the top of the well.
I discussed it with my agent. She was all for the idea of writing a young adult novel. The problem was that one I mentioned earlier–finding the time. As I toyed with the story, outlining and character-building, my agent was contacted by a couple of editors wondering whether I’d ever considered writing young adult. Apparently, they thought I had a good voice for it (whether that’s a compliment or not…I haven’t yet decided.) But having editors interested in seeing the very book I’m speculatively plotting is a darn good incentive to write it!
I found the time by doing the first draft as a NaNoWriMo project. I finished it, and realized the plot needed work—like a total overhaul, keeping only the main ideas. I redid the outline, rewrote the first act, and gave it to my agent. It sold as a trilogy, and the first book (The Summoning) came out earlier this month.
The idea well is deep. And many of those ideas are tossed in, never to return, stagnating at the bottom as something that seemed interesting, but never really good enough to dig out again. Then there are those that won’t stay down, that keep popping up saying “what about me?” refusing to sink even when we insist we don’t have the time for them. Taking one out and bringing it to life is a wonderful experience, all the more wonderful because it clears a little room in the well for more.
~* *~
Kelley has a super cool website chock full of goodies for readers and writers alike. Check it out!
I am gearing up for the RWA National Conference in San Francisco (actually, I am leaving later this morning). I am not, however, looking forward to the flight (well I may get quite a bit done if I work at it), but conferences always energize me in ways I can’t find elsewhere. There is something to be said for being around folks who know what you’re thinking, feeling, experiencing. I really love learning and listening to other writers talk. If I had half as much enthusiasm when I was in school I’d have been summa cum laude—hell for all you know I did—hehe!
I can’t wait to tell you all I see, encounter, and possible brushes with the heart’s pitter patters of the romance world!
OH! And don’t forget … 
Next week:
RELEASES from Samhain Publishing
:bounce: WOOHOO! 
I love Kelly Armstrong’s work. BITTEN is an absolute “keeper” with Clay being one of my all time favourite heroes.
So of course I squeeed like the fan girl that I am when she agreed to take part in our behind the book series of guest blogger posts.
Kelly has just started a new YA trilogy—The Darkest Powers—with the first book, THE SUMMONING, already released earlier this month. For more on THE SUMMONING, check out ChloeSaunders.com where Kelly has the first two chapters posted.
Come back on Wednesday for her post!!
The way certain subjects in stories are dealt with often makes or breaks the writing for me, often more than the descriptions, characterization, or plotting. And although I may be guilty of the offenses myself, seeing them in published work does, at least, make me more aware of them.
I recently read two romantic suspenses in which the heroine/mother had lost a child. I didn’t know they had this in common when I started, just turned out that way.
And please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not mean-spirited. I know there are very few things in life more traumatizing, more horrendous than suffering the loss of a child. And maybe I would’ve been better prepared if I’d deliberately selected women’s fiction.
But there it was. Two books. Romances. With back-to-back grieving mothers.
The first wasn’t handled badly. The mother still mourned her loss, but was trying to cope with it and rebuild her life. There was a gentle strumming of my heartstrings, but I didn’t mind. It served the purpose of the plot, I liked her, and she impressed me with her courage.
The second?
At first the heroine evoked my sympathy. A terrible loss, certainly.
That soon ended, however, when I noticed the child’s name/circumstances of death (five years earlier) coming up every 5-10 pages in a 500 page novel. No, I’m not exaggerating.
A third of the way through the book I wanted to stick my finger down my throat whenever I saw the name.
Halfway through, I intentionally skipped every single paragraph from the heroine’s pov. Why the hero was more eager to get her into bed than grief counseling I’ll never know.
And no, I didn’t finish it. When I peeked at page 450 and the child was still haunting the thing, I passed.
I couldn’t feel sorry for this heroine. She was feeling too sorry for herself. In fact, the only reason she became involved with the hero at all had to do with—you guessed it—the child’s death.
This wasn’t strumming. This was flagellation, using a deceased toddler as a bullwhip.
I usually don’t mind having my emotions played when it’s done with skill. But I found myself thoroughly resenting both the ploy and the author in this case.
Timmy can only fall down the well so many times before even Lassie gets sick of the crap.
Yes, make me feel. If you can make me laugh, cry, want, need, or empathize—I’m all for it.
But aren’t certain emotions/themes/triggers best used sparingly, or at least with a certain subtlety? Is it difficult to be objective enough to know when you’ve gone overboard?
When I began my WIP, I knew my hero’s house would look like a museum. He’d have Impressionist oil paintings, tapestries, suits of armor, mounted animal heads, mismatched furniture, Asian sculptures and various other knickknacks. His library would be filled with books on Art, Literature, History, Medicine, Religion, Philosophy, Architecture and Science. I never asked myself why because the answer seemed obvious. He was immortal. Naturally he’d accumulated a bunch of stuff over the centuries.
Profession-wise, he started as an obscure Elizabethan poet, so I figured he’d naturally branch off into a related field over the course of his lifetime. Maybe try his hand at a novel writing, or perhaps he’d become a journalist. This lead me to discover he had a genius IQ, a photographic memory, and he could really draw. Just a few more unrelated character traits, right?
Wrong.
A big Hola to Mis Southern Fried Chicas!
I am so honored that you chose to have lil’ ol’ me drop by to spill some behind the scenes secrets about my
upcoming book, FURY CALLS (Nocturne March 2009). FURY CALLS is part of THE CALLING vampire novels and I can tell you that it’s going to be sexy and full of surprises! The hero and heroine are characters I first introduced in 2005 in TEMPTATION CALLS. You also may have read about sexy antihero Blake in DESIRE CALLS which is a free novella at eharlequin. You can check it out at this link: http://www.eharlequin.com/article.html?articleId=1262
Yes, 2005 and for the last three years they have been screaming and demanding that I finally write their story! The nerve of these secondary characters who don’t want to stay in the background! LOL!
Seriously, sometimes that does happen when you’re writing. Someone who is the sidekick or even starts as a throwaway characters becomes something more. That definitely happened with Blake and by the end of FURY CALLS you may find there’s another character or two that emerge as totally needing their own story. When you’re writing a series, you’re always thinking of ways to add to the special world of your series and the characters who inhabit it.
To get a little bit more on the flavor of OTRO MUNDO you can visit click here
I also love to cook (and eat! VBG) so making the heroine, Meghan Thomas, a chef was a no-brainer. This is actually the fifth book I’ve done where the heroine (or a friend) is a chef! I never get tired of having my chefs create wonderfully exotic and exciting meals as part of the stories. Food is so sensual.
Since I like to cook, I sometimes share some of my recipes on my blog and website and you can check them out here
Blake and Meghan get to enjoy OTRO MUNDO in FURY CALLS as well as Blake’s interesting “apartment” which overlooks
I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes look at FURY CALLS which will be out in March 2009 from Silhouette Nocturne!
Leave a comment and Caridad will be giving away a copy of TEMPTATION CALLS–one of her favorites!
Are there ever times when you hear something and it’s off limits to writing? To me, pretty much everything is imagination fodder. For example, the other day someone said something to me and I immediately wondered how to work it into a book. But then I got thinking, should it be off limits. First, they’re a writer, too but have never used it. Second, it might be too personal for them. Because, again, they haven’t used it.
But think about TV. Shows like CSI or Law and Order take ideas right out of the newspaper and tweak and twist it to make it fictionalized enough to prevent lawsuit, but you KNOW what they’re referring to.Of course, when you (or rather I) use something overheard or whatnot, it’s probably not that well known. Many a time I have used familial faux pas or annoyances to “enhance” stories. Don’t most writers get their inspiration from reality?
So when are things off limit? When does a juicy tidbit that all but falls into your lap go onto the “if only” shelf because you can’t get rid of it, but you aren’t sure to use it?
I know I know I have a lot of favorite authors who are kind enough to come and play with us at SFC…including Wednesday’s guest blogger, Caridad Pineiro! I first met Cari in a chat for fellow author Shelli Stevens and we both had the best time getting to know her AND picking her brains about writing for Silhouette Nocturne. heeeeh! Not only does she write for Silhouette, she’ll be doing some romantic suspense for Grand Central in 2010 AND she writes in one of my fave sub-genres–Latina lit!
You can check out her blog here. And check out her books here and here and um here *ggg* (If nothing else, just go enjoy drooling over her website).
See ya Wednesday!
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