I have a book coming out at the end of this month. It’s called Pride and Petticoats, and it will be out on January 31. In 19 days!

The cover is gorgeous. Really. Click on my picture above, go to my website, and see it. The story is really fun. I’ve gotten good reviews so far, so it’s not just me saying this. The characters are great, too. I fell in love with them from the first chapter.

Here are a few interesting facts about Pride and Petticoats.
*I started writing it in 2000.
*The hero, Freddie, was never supposed to have his own book. He is Alex’s friend in When Dashing Met Danger and was supposed to stay that way, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. He badgered me for his own book. He’s pretty good at getting his own way.
*The book was originally titled Engaging the Enemy (among other thigs).
*Fellow Avon writer Kerrelyn Sparks came up with the title Pride and Petticoats after my publishing house told me they wanted a title with the word “petticoat” in it.
*I had to rewrite parts of the book to better reflect the Pride and Prejudice theme the new title suggested.
*The original manuscript did not mention the word “petticoat” once.
*I based Freddie’s appearance on a 2000 Vanity Fair cover with Heath Ledger featured.
*Charlotte looks like a cross between Jennifer Garner and Julia Roberts. How lucky is she!
*The inkling for the plot of the book came from watching the 1982 Anthony Andrews/Jane Seymour version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Haven’t seen it? Go now and rent it! (You’ll thank me)
*Charlotte is from Charleston, SC. I’ve never been there, so I did a lot of research just to get the right feel for my descriptions. Now I really want to go to Charleston.
*I have been to England twice.
*This is the second book I ever worte.
*Freddie was a tough hero to write. Writers: beware how you characterize secondary characters. You may have to turn that fluffy character into a hero later on.
*Freddie’s valet, Wilkins, is my favorite servant from all the historicals I’ve written.
*There’s an excerpt posted on my website and a contest!

After giving the matter quite a bit of serious contemplation of late, I have decided that I must be a major romantic. Of course, what else would a romance writer be? This should come as no surprise. But it has only been recently that I have realized how easily I am reeled in by even the slightest hint of romance in any form. A guy proposes to his girl on the scoreboard of a football game they are attending and I shed buckets of joyful tears. I’m a sucker for that crackling romantic tension, that chemistry between a couple that brews just beneath the surface of all of their interactions. Even as a kid, I always had to have a touch of romance in whatever I was reading or watching at the time to keep me interested. (Darn it, were Jim and Trixie ever going to get together?!) As an adult, my reading choices are invariably romances, and I read very few books outside the genre.

I’ve already mentioned what a big fan I am of some of the great supercouples on soaps. I was only a casual observer of Guiding Light until the show paired up Jonathan and Tammy, and now I am such a junkie I go into withdrawal if I miss an episode. And it’s not just soaps. I always liked the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the moment Angel appeared they had me hooked. By the time they finally paired her up with Spike, I was a goner. And I was a major Lost fan from the beginning, but that kiss between Kate and Sawyer last season sealed the deal and made it can’t miss T.V. for me.

It’s not just books, television, and movies, either. There is a reason why the screen saver on my computer right now is my all-time fave pic of Gambit and Rogue of X-Men fame. And yes, I admit I played through both Final Fantasy X and X-2 on my Playstation 2 just for the pure joy of seeing Tidus and Yuna reunited. Sigh…

And if a love story has a bad ending, forget about it. In Kim Land, Jack survived the sinking of the ship and lived happily-ever-after with Rose at the end of Titanic. And Rhett’s famous line to Scarlet at the end of Gone With the Wind would have been completely different. Something more along the lines of “Frankly my dear, I DO give a damn!” Come to think about it, maybe that’s part of the reason I became a romance writer. So I can write love stories that are guaranteed a happy ending.

Yep, I’m definitely a romantic.

Have you seen the line-up for tonight? Two Lost episodes, a new Criminal Minds, and a special edition The Biggest Loser – three of which are on at the SAME TIME! Now if I didn’t have a TIVO that could record two shows at once, I’d be really fretting about how to handle this sticky problem. As it is, I’m not quite sure which we’ll watch live and the others recorded. It’s a predicament, I tell you.

Ironically, I’m not a certified TV junkie, but there are certain shows I don’t miss. Alias, Lost, Criminal Minds, The Biggest Loser, and American Idol (and on occasion Survivor). So the fact that three of this not-to-be-missed shows are on at the same time has my head spinning. What will those without TIVOs do? It’s a sad, sad situation. But I wanted to examine why these shows are so captivating.

Lost – if you’ve been in America the last year, you’ve heard about this show. It’s breaking all kinds of new ground with TV and it’s nothing short of mesmerizing. I knew I was going to start watching this show when they started advertising it last year before the pilot – after all it was coming from the creators of Alias. But I was expecting a science-fiction/horror type show and what I got was an intense character study full of mystery, suspense and intense sexual tension. The archeytypes are so clear and I find it so fascinating that they’ve taken mirror archetypes and shown how different environments can produce different behaviors – the original survivors vs. the tailies. Guess that’s the Sociologist in me coming out. But the writing is brilliant and if you’re not watching it, get yourself to Wal-Mart and buy season 1 on DVD (or rent it from Netflix). Come on…jump on the wagon…we’re all waiting for you.

Criminal Minds – now I bet a lot of people are missing this show because it’s on opposite of Lost and that’s truly unfortunate because it is the best crime drama on TV. Now I know Nielsen is out there screaming about the ratings of CSI and I can get behind those shows cause their fascinating, but lets face it the dialogue is laughable on all three of them (the original is the worst though). But the thing I find most annoying about the CSI’s is that they’ve created great characters and have done NOTHING with them in way too many seasons. But I’m getting off track, I’m supposed to be telling you of the virtues of Criminal Minds. Two words, folks, Mandy Patinkin. He’s amazing. For those of you who actually watched the other hospital show the year ER came out (Chicago Hope) will remember him. Or more likely, we all know and love him from The Princess Bride, but he plays a top-notch profiler on this show and his character is rich and wonderful. The other characters are well-developed as well and the chemistry between them all is great. The storylines are clever, the dialogue is dead-on and cinematography is really different and cool.

The Biggest Loser – I know a lot of you are rolling your eyes, I did the first season and ended up not watching it and I could just kick myself. If you think you cry with Extreme Home Makeovers, then watch out, this one’s a real tear-jerker. I will admit I have some problems with the show, I don’t love the challenges and I don’t love when people are made to feel badly for “only” losing 2 pounds, but overall the show is encrouaging and incredibly uplifting. Right now they’re doing special edition shows which are unique because the contestants don’t spend as much time at “the ranch” and must do the majority of their weight loss on their own at home – a much better way to ensure they’ll keep that weight off. Tonight it’s two engaged couples competing for a $50K wedding. (excuse me while I have a side-line rant. Seriously, $50K for a wedding?! Come on. Who needs to spend that much on a wedding. I just got married last year and our entire wedding was way less than $10K. My dress – which was beautiful – was less that $700. And with the divorce rate so much higher and people are spending these obscene amounts of money on weddings – it makes no sense to me. My philosophy was, be picky about a few things, but at the end of the day we’ll be married and that’s what it’s really all about.) Okay, sorry about that. In any case, it should be really interesting to see the dynamics of couples competing together.

Thank goodness American Idol isn’t starting tonight else it’s likely my head would split open.

I finished the manuscript last week, shipped it to my editor and then began my week(s) of freedom. I take a break after every book because there is always an element of burn-out when I finish. So as I take care of all the things I neglected for the past few months I start mulling time periods and characters. I consider a new hero and heroine and think all the books I’ve written so that I don’t “repeat” a character. Not that the same conflicts can’t exist in other characters, but I want each story to be original. So if I had a character that had issues with independence, I can repeat that, as long as that character and his (or her) counterpart deals with it differently.

How does everyone else come up with a new conflict and new, fresh characters?

The other thing I’m going to do before I start the next book is learn how to do updates on my website. My husband gave me Front Page for just this purpose, but I haven’t even slipped the disk into the computer yet. Chicken I guess .

Sometimes just getting there is the hard part. Whether we are resolute this January, or just carrying on as normal, this month is a hot one for health and fitness clubs everywhere, as well as good intentions galore. We say we are going to run, swim, bike, do aerobics, walk and get in shape physically and mentally. And for a few days or weeks maybe we do. Then the statistics stagger for the number of people that continue the hard fight. But sometimes showing up is half (or more than half) the battle.

I know for me getting to the pool and then jumping in the cold water is the hard part. The actual swimming isn’t so bad (well, usually — we all have our days), and I usually feel great during and after a good workout. But getting to the pool? My brain always forgets that good feeling of working out and instead concentrates on the thousand reasons not to go or countless other things I have to do.

In a similar fashion, when I’m trying to write, sitting down in my chair and opening my Word document is the hard part. Writing (again, usually) isn’t so bad. Getting there is.

So for those New Years resolutions…maybe instead of saying that you are going to do XX amount of weights, cardio, swimming, etc., or that you are going to lose XX number of pounds, or that you are going to type XX pages a week, you should try one that says you are just going to show up at the gym, club, exercise video, street, writing chair, XX times a week and then take it from there. Just get there.

(I cross-posted this to another site, I know, sorry, but this has really been on my mind lately!)

The discussion of where characters come from reminded me of a quote about male directors always casting a more handsome version of himself as the lead protagonist. (Certainly true in the case of Tim Burton. ) In romance novels, readers want a hero we can fall in love with, and the heroine is our placeholder. As writers, we often create our fantasy hero, and then write a younger/thinner/taller/whatever version of ourselves to be the heroine. I’ve also heard it said that the writer is every character she creates, be it hero, heroine, villain, second fiddle, or scullery maid.

Taking this a step farther, there’s an interesting school of thought that discusses writing as free therapy. Sure, it’s fun to wreak revenge on the high school bully by making her the villainess in a book, or cast your favorite actor in a role he’d never actually play. But it’s more than that.

Anyone who’s read Jennifer Crusie’s earlier books can tell she had problems with an ex somewhere along the line. Ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, there was always a psycho ex in her stories. Clearly, girlfriend was working through some issues. (Oh, and we know she likes dogs. My favorite is still Fred from Anyone But You.) This is not a bad thing – my big compliment to Jenny is that I rarely read contemporaries, but I read all of hers.

At the workshop where this writing-as-therapy idea was presented, I thought about the stories I had written or was working on. To my surprise, I realized all of my manuscripts featured heroines who had to take on a leadership role because their father figure had died or otherwise left the scene. My parents separated when I was 14. Dad moved out of state, and I was the eldest child still at home. Hmm.

The flipside of analyzing the issues explored in your own writing is that you’ll never read other writers the same way again. There’s one multi-published author in particular who comes to mind. She’s the epitome of professional in person — very polished, refined. Genteel. Yet her books often have some eyebrow-raising stuff, like ménage á trois, BDSM, and voyeurism. Just what is going on behind that prim veneer of hers?

I went through a period where I didn’t like to read books where the hero or heroine had children, didn’t matter if it was a child from a previous relationship or a baby/child they had together. Now, I kind of like those books.

What about you? Kids in? Kids out? Or don’t care either way?

I’ve been substitute teaching again (Yes, I know. I asked for it.), and the experience gave me the chance to observe lots of different personalities all smooshed together for a 55 minute class period. It also gave me a bit of insight into the process I use to develop characters.

My main characters almost always develop out of the story itself. I go in knowing a few traits and add and refine as I write and rewrite. Lots of secondary characters evolve out of necessity. In Pride and Petticoats (February 2006), I needed the hero’s mother to be a bit demanding and overbearing. I needed scenes where she didn’t approve of the heroine, Charlotte, and where she played off the beleaguered Freddie, my hero. I also needed a character with a certain personality to play Cade, Charlotte’s old friend and the man Freddie suspects of spying against England. That character proved a bit more complicated because he had to be someone Charlotte could trust but someone with Freddie could suspect.

But not all characters come out of necessity. Sometimes my characters actually resemble real people (don’t worry, Mom, not you). As I said, I was subbing this week for the same classes three days in a row, and while I sat in there and tried to teach but mostly observed, I saw students who could be such great characters.

First, there was the student who told me straight out the first day, “Ms. Bolks, you have to understand my place in this class. I’m the effeminate gay boy. Everybody hates me.” What a crazy thing to say to someone you don’t even know! And how many zillion possibilities does a statement like that open up for a writer. What’s this kid’s life going to be when he grows up? What does a childhood like that do to a person? Make him a great advocate for the less fortunate? Make him a villain?

Speaking of villains, I met the perfect villainess. From the moment, she walked into the classroom I loathed her (Sorry. I know, you thought teachers liked everyone the same). She sauntered into the classroom late, greeting everyone and talking over the directions I was trying to give, and then basically told me off when I chastised her. At another point, she informed the class that her daddy “was loaded.” That same period, she passed around a billfold and told everyone she was collecting change. I watched incredulously as almost every student emptied their pockets to put money in her change purse. Some kids even gave her dollar bills. What is that?

Is she a new breed of bully? Is she a poor rich girl who thinks the normal rules don’t apply to her? She blatantly cheated on a test yesterday. I mean, she just turned around and said in a normal speaking voice to the girl behind her, “So, what did you put for number one? Two?” Anyone want to venture a guess what this kid’s going to be like in ten years?

I think as writers, we have to play so many roles: editor, director, grammarian, psychologist. I don’t think a writer can be great without being able to do some analysis.

So here’s my new writing creed: I aspire to know what makes my characters tick. I aspire to create vibrant backstory for every character — even the walk-ons. I aspire to see the possibility for plot, character, and conflict in every situation.

I discovered last week during a trip to the doctor’s office to take care of a rather nasty ear infection that I have high blood pressure.

I’m not certain why this was so totally surprising to me. Maybe because I’m only 34 and have never had any indications that my blood pressure was a problem. But after ten years working in the hectic, hair-pulling world of day care, followed by two more years of dealing with irate customers on the phone on a daily basis as an order processor, I suppose I should have been expecting it. Of course, I’ve been assured that this is genetic (Both my maternal grandfather and mother have high blood pressure.) and not stress-induced, but I beg leave to doubt it. Perhaps I was a bit naive, but I always believed that if my dreams ever came true and I became a published author, all of my troubles would disappear once I was able to quit my job and write full-time. I have found to my dismay that this was a myth of my own imaginings, and that things can be just as stressful for someone who works from home. You simply exchange one set of problems for another set of a different sort.

Take yesterday as an example. I am relatively certain that I announced to all and sundry at Christmas dinner that after New Year’s Day I planned on getting to work on the proposal for my next book and would be busy for several weeks. Meaning that Aunt Kim, the all-purpose babysitter and errand-runner, would be unavailable until further notice. Fast forward to yesterday at 6:00 a.m, when I am awakened by the phone ringing. It’s my sister. “Kim, you won’t believe this, but my babysitter just backed out and I need you to babysit…” Is that a migraine I feel coming on? I give thanks that I’m not on deadline yet and resign myself to another day of getting nothing done. (And the blood pressure shoots up a notch.)

At noon, after trying to type between losing six straight games of CandyLand in a row and dealing with a meltdown at lunch time in which it took me forever to figure out that she was throwing a fit because Aunt Kim forgot to peel the crust off her peanut butter sandwich, I think my blood pressure finally shot off the charts. And the day was only half over…

I have to admit, I don’t know how stay-at-home moms do it, and I have the utmost admiration for them. Believe me, I know how lucky I am, and I wouldn’t trade my life for anything, but it’s days like this that make you realize that life can throw you a curve, no matter who you are or what you do. But another day has dawned and I’m ready to face it and actually get some work on this next book done! Ack! The phone is ringing. Where are those blood pressure pills…?

If I didn’t like Margo so darn much, I’d be much annoyed with her post from yesterday because I’m NOT DONE! ARGGGGG! And the perpetual holiday is driving me nuts. Enough already, I need my schedule back. The Professor is back at work today, I’m heaving to Curves, I’ll come home and write (hopefully more than 1 page), eat lunch while watching Mission: Organization, then perhaps write some more (or finish putting up the rest of my Christmas decorations.) But here I am digressing again – I am so good at that.

So not done. That’s the state of my current manuscript, which, by the way, is due at the end of April. But I’m a draft writer. Meaning I don’t revise at all while I’m writing and do several drafts of the book. But I’m not even done with the rough draft right now. I had good intentions to get it done before Christmas, but then I got revisions based on the proposal. And they weren’t good. Basically I had to change something major (ie., my hero!) and since I’m a draft writer when I’m finally done with this draft, the first half of the book will have one hero in it and the rest will have another. HA! No biggie, right?

It’s okay, I’m a professional, I can do this. I can fix it later. That’s my motto, by the way, while I’m writing. I can fix it later. Even during the second draft, I’ll make notes, “fix this later” or “add mystery stuff here” or “make this sexier.” Really helpful notes like that. Eventually later comes and I have to fix all this stuff. Frankly the fixing-it is never easy, but at some point you have to face the music and get the work done.

I don’t mean to gripe so much and imply that I hate my job. I don’t. At least not all of it and not all the time. But at this stage in the book, it’s always a struggle. A few more scenes and I should hit the point where things move along quickly and then I’m done with the rough draft. YEAH! Celebration time. Then I’ll let the manuscript sit for a week or two before I read it straight through, making notes the whole time, and then jump into round one of revisions. I know I’ll get there eventually, but I’m not there yet.

Write, write, write. I can fix it later. Anyone want to chant with me?