Because sometimes we all need one (sorry to those of you for whom this is a repeat).

The Six Biggest Mistakes Even  Bestselling Writers Make

So, how was your weekend?

I know I know I”m not supposed to be here but….since it pertains to my WIPs, I’m here. Mary over at The Bandwagon asks the question: So lately, especially in contest entries, I’ve read a lot of tough heroines. Tough to the point of being unsympathetic. Maybe they’ve been hurt before and have built a huge, thick wall around themselves. Some are just butt-kickers, not needing a man, not bending, often rude to the hero for no apparent reason.

I have trouble relating to a heroine like that. I’ve written some women who have been through the mill, but I think I’ve made them sympathetic and relateable. What do you think makes them this way?

And I started writing a response over there then thought I’d bring it here….I think you have to give them an Achilles heel. And I think this goes for tough guys or gals..it helps negate the a$$hole factor. My current heroes are hired killers. Hitmen. It’s what they do. No excuses. There’s no getting around that.

There is NO getting around the fact that my heroes kill people for a living. So what do I do to make a character with such a huge mark against them likeable? I try to give them equally big flaws. Will has HUGE relationship issues–in that he fails miserably at them. And John can’t lie. Yes, I realize a man who can’t lie is a bit of an oxymoron, and in order to pull it off I had to give him a DAMN good reason to not lie. I think I did. Only time will tell.

So how do you soften up your tough characters OR who are some writers that do this especially well?

Or how what could have been a great movie went terribly wrong.

One thing you have to know when you sit down to watch a Shyamalan movie is that it’s as much about the human condition as it is about the external conflict that drives. And as a writer, I respect that. Sometimes, like with Unbreakable and Lady in the Water, it works in ways that blow your mind. Sometimes, like with The Village it misses it’s mark and makes you got . And Signs is actually one of the few movies that ever pissed me off–probably because I bought it instead of rented it. Anyway with The Happening you have the entire Eastern Seaboard running scared because, “There’s an event happening.” Mark Whalberg plays a school teacher who’s having marital troubles (enter the human condition), when he finds out school in Philadelphia is being dismissed because of the event in New York that is quickly driving folks to kill themselves. He, his wife, a fellow teacher and the teacher’s daughter all jump on a train but the train stops because they’ve “lost contact” No one knows what’s causing the event but everyone initially thinks it’s terrorits/biological warfare. Now while all of this is going on, Whalberg’s wife is getting phone calls from a guy named Joey. (Spoilers below the cut)

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Please join us on Wednesday when the lovely and talented Lori Devoti joins us to talk about her new book WILD HUNT!

Alongside his hellhound brethren, Venge Leidolf was summoned to start the Wild Hunt anew. But in this dreaded pursuit of souls, Venge sought to free himself from his infernal bondage—by claiming the heart of a fierce Valkyrie.…

Geysa never questioned the alluring gifts that set her apart from the other Valkyries, or her hatred of hellhounds—until Venge fell under her spell. Drawing the alpha hellhound so close made Geysa doubt her every instinct. To stop the Hunt, the two blood-born enemies would need to cast aside old vows and allegiances. Only then could no one question the strength of their union….

Lori Devoti grew up in southern Missouri and attended college at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned a Bachelor of Journalism. She, however, made it clear to anyone who asked, she was not a writer; she worked for the dark side—advertising. Now twenty years later, she’s proud to declare herself a writer and visit her dark side occasionally by writing dark paranormal romances and urban fantasy novels with a little death and a lot of adventure.Lori lives in Wisconsin with her husband, daughter, son, an extremely patient shepherd mix, and the world’s pushiest Siberian husky.

You can read an excerpt here!

Today is officially Pimp a Book Day! It was supposed to be Pimp a Friends Book Day butttttttttt the book I ordered didn’t come in in time to read. Matter of fact, due to the deadline, I haven’t been reading anything. Which means, of course, that I remembered at 2 PM yesterday that I had to pimp a book and hadn’t read one. I IMMEDIATELY pulled LIFELINES from my TBR Pile and started reading….and reading…and reading.

For the record, I don’t know CJ Lyons (the author) personally, but I do know her by name and I know she had a long, interesting road to publication, which IMO makes this book that much sweeter. Because you see, LIFELINES ROCKS!!!!!!!

The quote from Lisa Gardner on the front comparing LIFELINES to Old ER is dead on (though I actually watch more new ER than I ever did the old–it’s on my list).  Have you heard me whining lately about a lack of single title romance? If not, you must be deaf because I’ve done a lot of it LOL. I mostly read YA fiction, urban fantasy, paranormal and romantic suspense (which I’ve kind of been burnt out on). While this can definitely qualify as (really good) romantic suspense, it’s also got a good old-fashioned juicy romance.

Anyway the good: If you look up Pageturner in the dictionary, you’ll see that cover there, because this is a true page-turner and an absolute joy to read. If you like ER, if you like old Robin Cook, you totally need to pick this up. The pacing is spot on, the writing is great (and my test is if I can’t SEE the writing for the storytelling, I’m good), the story is fabulous, the characterization is stellar with a cast of deliciously flawed characters I can’t wait to spend more time with, the medical aspects aren’t so overdone you’re not left scratching your head and going WTF,  :yes:   and most importantly of all I didn’t figure out “who dun it” until about 2/3 - 3/4 the way through and even then, that didn’t spoil how it all played out. Oh, and even though this is the first in a series, and the set-up is there for the next book (I just went and look and it is Amanda’s book! WOOT!) it doesn’t scream SEQUEL BAIT!  :diebastard:

The bad: I have no idea when the next book is coming out.  :no:

The quibble: This book has a BIG cast and it did get a little confusing at times but even so, hats off to CJ because I don’t think there’s a one-dimensional character in the bunch!

The bottom line: GO BUY IT!

Now it’s your turn. Pimp me some books people!!!  

Man I’m so dumb!

How dumb are you?

I’m so dumb I came over here, saw no one had blogged and thought, “Damn Denise’s lazy ass. She hasn’t blogged yet.”

Ok D I didn’t really think you were a lazy ass but I did wonder….then I realized when I popped into NAS this morning that today was MY day to blog here. I also realized I forgot to eat breakfast.

Now, I could be lazy and just say Happy Memorial Day, I need to go work on my WIP, but we all know that’s a lie so I won’t (BTW Happy Memorial Day to my dad and all those who serve(d) their country). (I really AM going to work on the WIP today).

Or I could blog about human nature (and characterization)….which I was thinking about last night as I posted the first three chapters of Nailed (which goes on sale TOMORROW!). If you know me at all, and most of you do, you know that after the writing itself, characterization will make or break a book for me (as a reader).

Interesting characters need solid motivation for the things they do. Without it, they’re just being asshats (And really, we get enough of that in our daily life). I remember when I sent the first couple of chapters of Nailed to my former agent. She didn’t like the fact my heroine was a Peeping Tom. I understand it’s kinda creepy and strange. No one wants to think about someone spying on them in the sanctity of their house (or anywhere else), but as writers, we’re kind of Peeping Toms too (just not in folks’s windows!).

Anyway, the agent wanted me to change it. I ignored her decided to stay my course and see what my editor said because I thought I’d set up her motivation really well (to spy on a couple having sex). Frankly, it’s one of my favorite scenes in the whole book. Not only is it really hot, you learn a lot about my heroine from a) her reminiscence of her first time peeping (which WAS an accident) and b) where she’s at in her life…she has no life so she resorts to watching other people do what people do best–live, laugh, fuck and fight. And for what it’s worth, prior to the opening of the book, she had the kind of life that didn’t require peeping.

I wasn’t just thinking about Bonnie…I was also thinking about the characters around her. The single mother with two kids trying to make ends meet (and hide from her ex). The old man who watched everyone (in a non-creepy way LOL) and notices far more than anyone gives him credit for, the apartment manager who spends her days spending her boyfriend’s money and harassing Bonnie, the hero’s nosy neighbor who you never actually meet but is definitely there, the cheating couples, and even the slut of the apartment complex, Tara. Everyone around Bonnie plays a part in her life whether directly or indirectly. They’re all important in their own way whether I consciously make them that way or not.

So how much thought do you give to your characters, and more importantly, your supporting cast? And what’s the craziest trait you’ve ever given a character–or read!

Is it enough? Could you do more? I sometimes wonder if I could.

And they always see me coming. I’m a huge animal lover–HUGE! So big in fact, I semi-adopted my neighbor’s cat (before he ran off anyway). My neighbors now have another cat. I think she’s pregnant. I’m not happy. I’m about to take a flyer for a low-cost spay clinic and tape it to their front door. (they also have rabbits). And then there’s the boys’ friend whose cat keeps having kittens. His mom needs a flyer too. I know their cat had at least two litters last year and just had her first litter this year.

So what’s the point of all of this? FIX YOUR PETS! Be a responsible pet owner! Get them shotted, get some Advantage for the fleas, get them fixed, feed them good food. Your pet is an investment in many years of unconditional love and deserves to be well treated. I went to the pound on Saturday. I KNEW if I went that there was no walking away without a pet. I HATE going to the pound. It makes me cry and right now, in case you didn’t know it, it’s kitten season–even more reason to get your pet fixed because there are TONS of kittens at the pound right now. Our pound gives owners time to claim their pets (but not much–like 3 -5 days), then even though they’re a kill pound, they try to find good homes, they list pets on Petfinder, they keep the animals as long as space and time allow. And when you adopt, you get a pet whose had all their basic shots AND a chip implanted in case they get lost. So if you’re considering a new pet, please consider saving an animal from your local pound. The love you get in return knows no bounds.

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day (ie no fighting children, no forgetful hubbys etc). I have two blog posts started and a headache. For that reason I’m going to point you here. Fellow author Shiloh Walker is doing an ebay auction to benefit cyclone victims in Myanmar (via Save the Children). The full list of items can be seen here.

What did you do for Mother’s Day? We saw Iron Man and looked at cats (no I didn’t get one).

So my comment on Raine’s blog last Friday got me to thinking.

If you’re NOT going to put any time into it(writing), you might as well quit.

I mean what’s the point to keep going if you’re not going to write and all you’re going to do is whine about not having any writing time? I’m sorry but put up or shut up–yes I’m obviously one of the people Raine blogged about above because I don’t want to hear that “I don’t have time” bullshit! There are lots of us out there who “don’t have time” that fucking make the time because it’s important to us.

And while I was um a bit hormonal *coughbitchycough*, I think there’s something valid there.

So how do you NOT write a book? Here are a few ways I came up with in no particular order. Feel free to add your own.

1. Put everything and everybody above your writing: You MUST make time to write. Those words don’t just magically appear on their own. I’m not saying kick your family or job or housework to the curb (but if you can get away with it, go for it).

2. Spend so much time studying the craft that you don’t actually write. This is a cop out. The best way to learn the craft of writing…is to write. Duh.

3. Whine about not having time to write. I don’t want to hear you whine, because believe me when I say everyone has a life to deal with–I have two kids and a day job (a house and two cats). I find time. You can too. Allison Brennan wrote with three or four kids, and a stressful full-time job in the California state government. If you really want to write, you’ll make time.

4. Don’t read. This is an even bigger duh than #2. And believe it or not, I actually know of authors who don’t read. There was even a period after I started writing when I didn’t read–I actually think this is normal BUT if you want to be a writer you have to read AND write.

5. Quit. This one needs no explanation.

So why am I posting all this? Why be such a mean girl? Because I LOVE what I do. I LOVE being a writer, despite the hardship, the deadlines, the rejections, the setbacks…all of it. Now, I’m going to go dump my Alpha Smart and do some editing so I can update my meter.

Feel free to add your own, or argue with me. And then, go read this. And then, come back and tell me what you think.

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…)