May 13, 2007

Happy Mother’s Day!

Today is Mother’s Day, so I’m assuming none of you will be hanging around and playing because you’ll either:

A. Be out doing things with/for your own mother
B. Be out having things done with/for you because you are a mother
C. All of the above

I, unfortunately, do not live very close to my mother. She was just here all of last week for her annual Mother’s Day Related Trip, but had to leave on Friday to avoid Northwest Airlines’ Expensive Flights of Sunday (coming soon to an airport near you). So we sort of had a week-long Mother’s Day a little early.

As for me, I am not a mother. Well, I’m a ‘mother’ of two kitties, but they never give me a card. Brats. So I am here and I figured it would be my job to say:

Happy Mother’s Day to all your readers and writers and friends of the Jaunty Quills.

May 12, 2007

What Pulls You Out of a Story?

Last week I was reading a book (contemporary) romance and the stilted dialogue pulled me right out of the story. I started thinking about what it is that causes me to be jolted right out of the story.

Here are some things that pull me out:

1. Dialogue. Man sounding like a woman. Dated dialogue (sounds like something from the 1960’s) Stilted dialogue which makes you think- hey, do people really talk like this???

2. When the H or H does something that doesn’t fit their character….and it’s never explained

3. Author using old fashioned words (when it’s not a historical)….slacks instead of pants for example

4. When things that happen are just waaaaay too coincidental or convenient

5. When the heroine is TSTL (too stupid to live)….thinking about making love while bullets are flying or hearing a noise and going to investigate…alone!

6. Names that don’t seem to fit the characters….I realize this one is subjective.

That’s all I can think of for now….comments anyone??

Oh, and BTW, I now have a My Space page and I’m seriously short of friends. So, if you’d like to “friend” me….I’d LOVE it! www.myspace.com/authorcindykirk Hope to see you there soon!

May 11, 2007

Does this Make Sense?

The Romance Writers of America is the national organization for romance writers. I think the membership is over 9,000 members. Some of you may be members of RWA. All of us Jaunty Quills are members.

Oh, except Jaunty. RWA doesn’t allow porcupines into the ranks–sorry, Jaunty!

Every year RWA sponsors two big contests–the Golden Heart for unpublished writers and the Rita for published writers. I’ve been fortunate to final in both but won neither. This year RWA is proposing a change in the Rita that affects historical romance–a category near and dear to our hearts here.

It used to be that there were two historical romance categories: long historical romance, books over 95,000 words, and short historical romance, books from 40,000 to 95,000 words.

It sounds straightforward enough, but it was actually kind of confusing because no one really knew how to determine the word count. I know that none of my recent historicals were over 95,000 words, but font sizes might mean more printed pages and a judge might concur that I had entered the wrong category. Many of us were worried about this, so we devised convoluted mathematical approaches to solving the word count question.

Now RWA wants to eliminate the word count problem all together, which I applaud. Unfortunately, the way they’re eliminating it is confusing. The new historical categories are Best Historical Romance to 1820 and Best Historical Romance from 1790-1945.

Great! Now I still don’t know what category to enter. My books are set anywhere between 1800 and 1815. They could be entered in either category. So do I enter both (that’s $80, by the way)? RWA says an author should deternmine where the novel fits best. How do I determine that? There are no guidelines given. And why the overlap?

I bet a lot of you read historical romance. What do you think of these proposed changes? Do they make sense to you? What would make sense?

May 9, 2007

Robyn pays homage to some 80’s movies

We’ve already established that I am a bit of a movie buff. I love them. Big time. But today I want to play homage to some movies from my growing up days - the movies I was watching as a teenager full of all those angsty teenage emotions. And that’s probably another blog right there. I admit it, I was a fan of the John Hughes movies also known as the Brat Pack movies. You remember them: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science…I just thought John Hughes was the best thing since Judy Blume. And some of my all-time favorites are among his work. Two of which many of you probably have never seen. Stay up late some nights on TNT or TBS and you might catch one of them.

She’s Having a Baby starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. This is still in my top tier of favorite movies. Kevin and Elizabeth play a young married couple. Kevin wants to be a novelist and the movie is filled with the inner workings of his mind which most of the time are vastly entertaining (my favorite is the lawnmower scene). He’s also coming to terms with his marriage, being a grown-up and ultimately becoming a father. It’s a wonderfully touching movie full of humor and charming moments. Really if you haven’t seen it, go add it to your Netflix queue right now. Go ahead…I’ll wait.

Don’t you love best friend stories? There was a great 80’s movie about this called Secret Admirer that had one of those endings that just made your heart race. Best friend romances have always been a thing for me - I love them in book or movie form. My favorite though is Some Kind of Wonderful. Eric Stoltz and Mary Stuart Masterson (and Leah Thompson) play the leads. My favorite scene in the movie is when Watts decides she needs to give Keith instructions on how to deliver the perfect kiss. To this day it is the best on-screen kiss EVER.

From the Hip. Seriously, am I the only person who has seen this movie? It’s a legal comedy/thriller, which I realize is an odd combination, but it totally works. Judd Nelson who grabbed our hearts in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire is a total hoot in this movie, written, by the way, by David Kelley of Ally McBeal and LA Law fame. Off you go back to Netflix…

And finally I can’t ignore the only movie from the 80’s I probably saw more than Dirty Dancing. Now before I go into this, I should make a confession first. I had a serious movie crush for the majority of my teen years. Frankly I shouldn’t even admit this in public because, well, because it doesn’t reflect well on my taste or judge of character, but at the time he was hot stuff. Or at least I thought so. In any case there were the Coreys…you remember them, don’t you? Corey Haim and Corey Feldman? I know you’re all thinking I was crushing on Haim…but I wasn’t, I was a Feldman girl. It started in the Goonies and just sort of escalated from there. My friends and I actually called this The Lust Boys and admittedly after seeing this movie Jason Patric knocked Corey off his throne (of course this was also about the time that Corey started going through his strange Michael Jackson phase). Once I saw Jason drink that wine, I was a goner. *sigh*

The 80’s were full of treasures like these. Okay, calling The Lost Boys a treasure is a bit of a stretch, but it’s a campy favorite. So what about you do you have any lesser known gems that you love that you want to share with the world?

May 8, 2007

Chat with Jenna and Mary Reed McCall tonight!!

Tonight I’ll be chatting with Mary Reed McCall at Coffee Time Romance!

There will be prizes and lots of fun, so be sure to stop by! It *might* be your only chance to win an ARC of SEDUCTION IS FOREVER!!

Be sure to scroll down to read Shana’s post today.

Resiliency

Ultimate Sportsfan and I have been teaching an adult Sunday school class for the last few weeks. We’re teaching from this book called If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat. Basically, the book is about getting past fears and stepping out of your comfort zone to achieve what you want in life.

Sunday we taught about resiliency, which is the ability to come back from or adapt to adversity. I think more than in most professions, writers have to be resilient. Not only do we receive rejections from agents and editors as we start out, once we publish, we receive rejections in the form of bad reviews. Sometimes a book doesn’t do as well as we would have hoped, either. But if we’re going to be successful, we have to keep the faith and keep writing.

One of the discussions we had in class was about how we react to obstacles. Since I was leading the class, I knew I had better come up with my answer in case no one else volunteered. I think the way I react to obstacles in my writing is pretty much how I react to them in life. My first response is always to give up. If my critique partners tell me something major isn’t working, and I can see that it’s going to be really hard to go back and make it work, my first reaction is to say, “Well, I can’t write this book. I might as well just toss it and give up.”

Fortunately, that’s not my last response (or I wouldn’t have any books written). After I give up for an hour or a few days (or once—a week), I decide I am going to make it work no matter what. And then I push through, doing whatever is necessary to make that book work. At times this has meant a complete rewrite. Sometimes a complete rewrite more than once. I certainly don’t claim to be as resilient as someone like a POW, but it’s nice to know I’m not a complete quitter.

What about you? What do you do when you face a great obstacle? How do you push through? I think we could all use some advice and strategies for when the tough times come.

May 6, 2007

Keeping Busy

Yes, I know I’ve been absent around here lately, and my fellow JQ’s have every right to subject me to twenty lashes with a wet noodle for falling down on the job. Believe me, I’ve gotten quite an earful from a certain porcupine, I can tell you! (He’ll never let me forget the fact that I missed his groundbreaking interview with Susanna Carr. And thanks to Susanna for stopping by and for putting up with the prickly little fellow. ) Things have been pretty hectic in recent weeks. Between wrapping up Seduced By Sin, promoting the just-released The Devil’s Temptation, and traveling for my mini book tour, it’s a wonder I don’t forget my own name, LOL. But in the meantime, I thought I would share a pic from my most recent booksigning at The Bookstore in Radcliff, Kentucky.

That’s me standing on the left with author Gia Dawn next to me and authors LuAnn McLane and Heather Grothaus seated in front of us. Thanks to Debbie Meredith, the romance manager of the store, we had a wonderful time. Booksignings can be tiring, but they can also be very enjoyable, especially when you get to meet so many wonderful readers and visit with your fellow authors. So thanks to Debbie for having us!

May 5, 2007

Plots that stress me out

Have you ever been watching a television show and switched the channel because the plot is stressing you out? Happens to me all the time (drives my husband crazy)

For example, I love to watch The Unit and two of the characters, Mac and Tiffany, are having marital problems. She’s cheated on him in the past, he’s cheated on her—(side note: it would be very hard for me to overlook these actions and consider them as a hero or heroine in my book)…anyway, her boss has fallen in love with her and wants her. This time she resists…but Mac thinks they ARE having an affair and at one point it looks like he’s going to KILL the other guy. YIKES! I like him and didn’t want him to do this horrible thing…I was seriously tempted to turn the channel. But I didn’t and he didn’t…whew….

This happens to me when I’m reading books too….sometimes I can’t bring myself to turn the page because I’m worried what’s going to be on the next page. The problem is, these are romances so I know the book is going to end happily. Still sometimes I’ve even….gasp…turned to the end of the book and read the last few pages just to make sure it ends happily.

Okay, tell me, am I some sort of wuss? Some sort of freak? Or do you sometimes get stressed over the plots of TV shows, movies and books too?

May 4, 2007

Always a Jaunty Bridesmaid: An Interview With Susanna Carr

Jaunty: Jaunty P. Quills here! This time of year I’m seeing more and more porcupine weddings being performed (ugly affairs, really. So many pastel quills, just hideous) but I am forever the bridesmaid and never the bride! I decided to take this quilly problem to an expert, Susanna Carr, author of the May 1st release BAD GIRL BRIDESMAIDS, as well as other bestselling titles like HOW TO BE A WICKED WOMAN, PINK ICE and LIP LOCK.

Please welcome Susanna Carr!

Jaunty: Okay, Susanna, you wrote a book with three stories about bridesmaids who strike back and get their men. So tell me, how many times have YOU been a bridesmaid?

Susanna Carr: I was a bridesmaid four times, if I include the time I participated in a wedding ceremony in a foreign country. At least I think I was a bridesmaid. They never really used that term. In fact, the ceremony was in a different language and nothing at all like the weddings I’ve attended. For all I know I might have been married off to one of the men, which would explain why there was an exchange of a few goats and a camel. Hmm… I may want to check on that.

Jaunty: No one exchanges Porcupines anymore. Sigh. But it does sound like you have experience. So, how do you suggest a porcupine… I mean a bridesmaid quill her man? Or woman? Or lady porcupine?

Susanna Carr: It’s really hard to seduce a guy while wearing a bridesmaid dress. There are other women wearing the same outfit as you, which is great when you’re in a police line-up (just saying), but doesn’t help when you’re trying to be memorable. I suggest getting rid of the dress as quickly as possible. Or let the guy help you with that.

Jaunty: But I don’t have opposible thumbs! I guess I’m stuck. BADGIRL BRIDESMAIDS contains three stories. Is there any novella you really connected to more than the rest?

Susanna Carr: Well, I haven’t hired a gigolo, publicly objected to a wedding, or treated the best man as a wedding favor, but not for lack of trying. However, I could connect with these bridesmaids because I know what it’s like to make mistakes, face the consequences, and find the courage to change course.

Jaunty: You are really missing out on some opportunities to be naughty, Susanna. And speaking of naughty… your books have had some really naughty titles with words like WICKED and BAD GIRL. Is that because you’re really evil and plotting to take over the world? Or is it some girl power thing?

Susanna Carr: I’m evil and I’m taking over the world. A girl has to have goals. Today the world, tomorrow the—hey, you’re caught me do the super villain monologuing. I’m onto you, Jaunty.

Jaunty: Dang it!! But it seems like you’re getting closer to taking over the world after all. I’ve heard rumors about your last book, PINK ICE, being on the Barnes and Noble bestseller list for over 16 weeks! How does it feel to be a big bestseller? Are you getting more hoity toity?

Susanna Carr: Hoity toity? Moi? Daaahling, how can you say such a thing? By the way, does this tiara make my head look fat?

Jaunty: No! But add some more quills before you tell us about PINK ICE.

Susanna Carr: PINK ICE is about three sisters, a jewel thief, and one pair of earrings that make their hottest fantasies come true. When they wear the pink diamond jewelry, the women feel powerful, sexy and sophisticated. Why, I don’t know. It’s not like guys are checking out your ears.

Jaunty: Maybe if they have an ear thing, they would. Not that I would know anything about that… Sorry, I got distracted. I’ve also had a little bird tell me that you write under a second pseudonym? What’s your secret identity and what does she write?

Susanna Carr: I write women’s erotica/romantic erotica/call it what you will as Jenesi Ash. The Susanna Carr stories focus on a highly sensual romantic relationship while the Jenesi Ash stories are about a woman’s transformation during a sexual journey.

Jaunty: In your August 2007 Jenesi Ash release, CHAIN REACTION, your heroines all receive a sexy scarf in the mail that leads to their greatest fantasy. The only thing I’ve ever gotten from chain mail was a headache. Have you ever gotten a great chain letter? Or sexy scarf chain mail? *Waggles quills suggestively*

Susanna Carr: Great chain letter? Isn’t that an oxymoron? I think chain letters are really annoying, especially when they cause chaos. How can a chain letter promise pleasure when it’s nothing but a pain? That’s when I got the idea of a fantasy chain letter and all the trouble it could cause the recipient.

Jaunty: I’ve heard you’re a twin and that your twin recommends a book or movie in each of your newsletters. Are you the good twin or the bad twin? And does that question EVER get old?

Susanna Carr: I am the good twin. Seriously. Okay, okay, let me rephrase that. I am the twin who is smart enough not to get caught.

Jaunty: Ever written a story about twins? Or plan to do that in the future?

Susanna Carr: I’ve written one novel and two novellas about twins. I liked the idea about switching identities Not that I’ve EVER done it before (successfully, so therefore it doesn’t count).

Jaunty: You’re a voracious reader and you seem to read all over the map. Do you have a favorite book? Or favorite subgenre?

Susanna Carr: I almost exclusively read romance and contemporary is my favorite subgenre. But you know what? Just give me a heroine who shares my values and a hero who knows how to protect and defend what’s his. I want to see the hero and heroine combine forces and fight for a future together. And I better get a happy ending. A story with no happy ending is like a dessert that doesn’t have chocolate: what’s the point?

Jaunty: Indeed!! Thanks so much for joining us today! And be sure to pick up Susanna’s latest, BAD GIRL BRIDESMAIDS.

May 3, 2007

Now, That’s a Hero!

Here I am, busting my you-know-what to make my deadline (an extended deadline at that!) and I come upon this little bit of inspiration. This is the hero of my current book! It has no title yet, but it has definitely got a hero!

This book will be the sequel to A Warrior’s Taking, my July 07 release. The hero (see above ) is Merrick MacLachlainn, warrior and high chieftain of his people, the magical Druzai. Merrick has had to travel to England, 1000 years in his future, arriving in 1826. There, he must search for a powerful talisman (the blood stone) that will help the Druzai combat the evil sorceress who intends to destroy the Druzai and enslave the plain, non-magical people of earth (the Tuath).

Time is of the essence, because the villainess wants to get to the blood stone first. But Merrick gets quite tangled up in the affairs of the Tuath, especially with Jenny Keating, a young Tuath woman who is connected in some obscure way to the blood stone.

So wish Merrick luck … He’s obviously got his work cut out for him, and only a few days to complete his mission.

Oh wait - that’s ME! I’m the one who only has a few days before D-day!!