Does your WIP Title have Bestseller potential? Click on THIS link, type in the title of your WIP, fill out the specs then come back and share your results.

Here are mine:

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The other day I started thinking about the people I’ve met during my writer’s journey, those I had the privilege (and sometimes, the misfortune) of working with.  I’m talking a decade here.  Many of their names are still in the forefront of my mind, while others I can’t even remember, but they all fall into basic “archetypes.”

So here they are.  The good, the bad and the certifiable:

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I’ve known Jamie Denton for over a decade. We first met on CompuServe as members of one of the first online chapters of RWA. She was an inspiration to me then and even more so now. Check out this golden nugget I swiped from her webpage:

“Not only have her books appeared on bestseller lists, but she is also the recipient of several notable reader and reviewer’s choice awards, including nominations for Best Harlequin Temptation and Best Harlequin Blaze from Romantic Times, back-to-back RITA nominations and a National Readers’ Choice Award nomination for Best Erotic Romance.”

Needless to say, girlfriend’s been busy.

And now, here’s Jamie!

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Location! Location! Location!

There’s a joke about that line, but I’ll be darned if I can remember what it is. I do know location is important when you’re talkin’ real estate. And I suppose location is important, too, for movie makers. In the case of the latter, the location can be as important to the film as a main character.

For me, location hasn’t always been all that important when it comes to crafting stories. I’ve set many of my stories in the Los Angeles area because I lived there for the first 35 years of my life and knew Southern California like the back of my hand. I knew the freeways, the back alley ways, which beaches had what. I’m quite proud of the fact that there wasn’t a shopping mall in three counties I hadn’t shopped.

But then we moved. We relocated to the middle of nowhere and I was told that no one wants to read a book set in the middle of nowhere (although I did manage to set at least one book in North Dakota). For the most part, I relied on memory, and if I wanted to set a story in a place I’d never been, I called on friends who lived there, travel books, and the AAA’s free publications. Finally the Internet exploded and it became much easier to soak up the characteristics of certain locations without even having to leave the comfort of my office. These days I do get out of my office more, thank heavens, but that’s another blog post for another day

When I was preparing to write DEAD STOP, I wanted a college town with a small town feel. I wanted the residents to know each other, I wanted them bonded by their shared histories. Serenity Heights, a town where nothing bad ever happens, was going to be a fictional town, but I really wanted a “model” that I could play with and mold to suit my own needs. One of my plotting partners suggested Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. Even better, I could actually visit the town since it was within driving distance.

I was thoroughly enchanted by Oberlin, by its rich history and the friendliness of the few residents I came in contact with. I knew from the moment I stepped out of my car and walked down Main Street that Oberlin would make the perfect Serenity Heights, that safe little fictional town where nothing bad ever happens — that safe little fictional town that I was planning to terrorize.

Currently I’m trying to nail the setting of my next romantic suspense. I’ve yet to set the actual location of the book, but I do know this one requires a big city. Any suggestions?

A well-known editor once said this about Romance:

“….many other forms of genre fiction get less of a bad rap, I have to believe that a greater problem is the general American spurning of the validity of emotion. Good luck working past that. Until people believe and are unashamed to admit that finding fulfillment through a personal sexual relationship is valid, romance as a genre is going to have problems.”

AH HA! Is that why Romance Writing is called smut? Trash? And cheap? No wonder.

Why is it that people have such a hard time dealing with emotion? God forbid folks admit that silly things like love, marriage, and COMMITTED SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS (not just shagging anything that’s warm and breathing) are what separates us from the animals. Why does true, heartfelt emotion embarrass many of us?

In romance two people with issues meet and go through hell to find their happily ever after. In romance, (just like in life) EVERYBODY has baggage. So when two headcases (admit it, we’re all a little whacked) can scale each other’s walls and find completeness, that’s a damned miracle. It should be celebrated not ridiculed and belittled.

Romance writing isn’t easy. In fact I think our task is even more difficult. Not only do we have to sustain and develop an external conflict, we have to juggle two separate emotional journeys. That’s three sets of conflict, bucko. Two internal (hero & heroine) and one (or maybe more) external. Showing believable character growth, especially in matters of love takes skill. Anybody who thinks they can just bang out a romance novel in a weekend is sorely mistaken. This isn’t rocket science, but it’s not Fun With Dick & Jane either. It’s deep and complex. After all, we’re dealing with the intricacies of the human condition. What say you?

Imagine you’re in a theater or reading a book. You’ve invested a large chunk of your time immersed in this fictional world. The plot, the characters … everything about the story has got you wound tighter than a corkscrew. You can’t wait to get to the end, but then once you do, the unspeakable happens…

You hate it. In fact, you have a particularly violent reaction. You scream foul. You breathe fire. You fantasize about doing bad things to the writer, director, whatever. I’ve had this experience before. In each case, it wasn’t that the writing was bad, (on the contrary, it was so good, the characters sprang to life).  It’s just that I’m a romance writer. My idea of a satisfying ending doesn’t always jibe with the fiction I read or the movies I watch. That’s why I sometimes imagine my own endings, and you can bet they’re way different than the originals.

What novel or film ending do you wish you could rewrite and what specifically would you change?

Here are just a few of my rewrites. Spoilers abound … so you’ve been warned.
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I recently rented the first three episodes of AMC’s award-winning show Mad Men. It’s titled after the self-ascribed nickname given to Madison Avenue marketing execs during the golden age of advertising. Set in the early ’60s, the series chronicles the politically incorrect shenanigans of the men and women at Sterling Cooper, a fictional ad agency.

FWIW, Mad Men is a GREAT show. It’s beautifully shot. The costumes, hair, makeup and scenery are gorgeous. Not only that, the snappy dialogue shines, and the acting is first rate. Given all these pluses, I’d be crazy not to like this show right? Well, call me crazy because I just love to hate it.

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My daughter went away for an internship program. She’s been going to community college and staying home, but she flew to Florida (HURRICANE CAPITAL OF THE EARTH!!!!) on August 10th, and I’ve been a nutcase ever since. Writing? What’s that? My muse is just as wrecked as I am.

At least when I went away to college, it was an hour and a half drive from home. Now she’s two hours away—–BY PLANE. I can’t stop worrying. I can’t stop thinking. I can’t stop obsessing. Somebody please put me out of my misery!

Not only is she the first to leave the nest (if only temporarily since she’ll be back in 4 months) but it’s also the first time she’s gone away. I’m having serious coping issues. Look, I know every parent has to go through this eventually, but it feels like it just snuck up on me. I have two other kids at home, which helps, but I’m still dangerously close to going batsh*t crazy.

The day before she left (Aug 9th) I had insomnia, so I stayed up all night, then I called my mother at six in the morning blubbering and whining. Believe it or not, she laughed. Of course she said ‘this too shall pass,’ but it doesn’t feel that way at all. It seems like this … um … empty, gnawing feeling will NEVER go away.

I have to RESTRAIN myself from calling my daughter every day. And believe me, it’s hard. I worry that she’s not eating right. I worry about the people she’s hanging around. Even though she’s staying in a gated/secured complex with other kids her age (5 other girls share her suite), I’m still worried about her safety. The building is coed and there are boys in the room across from hers. Thankfully, most of them are gay.

(Yeah, I said it!)

Look, I know I sound like a wackjob, but I can’t help the way I feel. What’s got my stomach in even more knots is that I’ll have to go through this empty nest thing at least three more times. My youngest is only eleven, but I’m already having nightmares about him tramping off to Europe for a year with some nasty skank he’ll meet one drunken night (having unprotected sex, of course) during his senior trip to Cancun….

Any advice? I’m all ears!

(This is a VERY long post about the latest brouhaha in the land of publishing)
What do JK Rowling, Diana Gabaldon, JRR Tolkien, Nora Roberts, C.S. Lewis, Laurell K. Hamilton and J.R. Ward have in common? They’re all bestselling authors and they’ve each written a popular series. Most writers would kill for success like theirs. Hell, just look at a few of the benefits: (1) Artistic fulfillment (2) Critical acclaim (3) $$$$ (4) Name recognition and (5) Enthusiastic fans. Sounds great, huh?
Well, unfortunately there’s a dark side to #5…

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