I was at a writing workshop a while ago where a woman (an unpublished writer) stood up and asked an editor on the panel why they don’t buy books with regular guys as the hero. When they asked her to clarify, she said “you know, men who have a few pounds to lose or those without a full head of hair.”

The editor’s answer–women look to romance novels to give them a fantasy, an escape. Most of them want the handsome hero not the average guy next door.

I know some authors have their heroes be not quite handsome…maybe his features are more rugged rather than chistled. Maybe he broke his nose as a kid so it’s not quite straight. Those guys I can handle. But an overweight, balding one…ummm not so much.

How about you? Do you like the heroes in the books you read to be good-looking? Or doesn’t it really matter?

It used to be that fast food consisted of hamburgers or some other fried or grilled meat/fish, fries or rings, and a choice of soft drinks or shakes. The only other option was pizza, which may or not be a fast food.

I’m not the person to ask, since I enjoy pizza any time of the day.  Yes, that includes cold at breakfast. 

Now we have a whole lot of options from seafood to pastas. Some claim they aren’t really fast food. Hmm, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.

The general ambiance of hard plastic chairs, plastic trays, drinks served in paper cups and your food wrapped in paper/in a plastic basket/on a paper or plastic plate sorta lumps them all together in my opinion.

Some are reputed to be healthy. And maybe they are.

Subway sorta grabbed the honor first when overweight Jared lost a lot of weight eating their sandwiches. My hat’s off to him for the weight loss, and for not hurling because he ate the same thing everyday for months. Or was it a year?

Either way I’m impressed because I get bored with one-day old leftovers.  Unless it’s pizza.   

In our office, the gourmet sandwich places get a lot of our employees’ business. For me, the portions are way oversized and still way too salty. They are emergency food to me – places I hit when it’s the quickest option.

What’s your take on fast food? Do you shun them? Have a favorite place or food that you find yourself craving?

One of my sons is an avid golfer and loves to watch golf when it’s on TV. In fact, ever since we got high definition TV, I’ve started watching golf tournaments, too. And it was always more interesting when Tiger played. Not that the other golfers aren’t good. But Tiger has a presence, you know? Some people can walk on stage and everyone pays attention. Tiger has that. Apparently, I’m not the only one who believes this. I understand that the TV ratings are actually DOUBLE when Tiger plays.

My son says that Tiger’s personal life makes no difference to him – he just likes to watch him play golf. No doubt that’s true. And it’s nobody’s business that he cheated on his wife. Repeatedly. It’s a private issue that the two of them have to work out. Unfortunately, the public bought into his squeaky-clean image that was hugely promoted by a bunch of overpriced name-brand products (overpriced in part, because of the enormous sums of money they paid him to endorse their products). You’ve got to wonder if these people didn’t know what Tiger was actually up to, but that’s a whole different blog.

Some of my friends say Tiger’s obviously got some obsession with sex, since there are rumors that  his handlers would  get “dates” for him with women he didn’t know, but was attracted to. (Reminds you of a john and a hooker, doesn’t it? Only, I’m thinking it’s probably a lot cleaner). Anyway, he’s not the first – what about David Duchovny and Charlie Sheen? Or even Bill Clinton? Supposedly, these guys can’t get enough, either. My question is: Is this really a mental illness – an actual addiction? Or is it just plain old immaturity – having to get horizontal with anything on two legs. Isn’t there a point when we all grow up and understand there are limits on our behavior? Is the label “sex addict” a cop out? Are these guys just a bunch of hound dogs who need to develop some maturity? Or is this a real thing?

 I’m wondering what you all think.

Before I break into my featured ramble, I want to thank Terri Brisbin and all of the ladies at Jaunty Quills   for inviting me to guest blog.  It’s always a treat to interact with readers and writers in a new-to-me venue. I must admit though, after my initial glee I experienced a blip of anxiety.  What should I blog about?

Just when I was starting to break into a sweat, I flashed on a time when Terri and I participated in a panel discussion at a local library. It was a long time ago, but I’ll never forget one specific question launched our way (although I confess I’m paraphrasing).

“Is there ever any part of you in your heroines?”

I was surprised when a couple of the authors answered, no. Their heroines were nothing like them—complete creations of their imagination and research. I wondered suddenly if I was guilty of some major writerly faux pas, because, well, there’s a little bit of me in all of my heroines.

Sometimes it’s something in my background—a past hobby or occupation, a relationship with a family member, an experience with a friend or beau. Sometimes it’s a talent or a skill . . . a belief or a fear. . . a desire or a dream. Having something in common with my heroine enables me to bond with her on an emotional level. I feel her. Even if she’s fiercely different from me in all ways but one. That one thing fuels my passion and pen.

In Out of Eden, my upcoming release from HQN, I have two things in common with my heroine, Kylie McGraw. We both grew up in a small town in Indiana. We both dreamed of ‘getting out’ and traveling to an exotic land. Those two things gave me an awful lot of material to work with. That said, in many ways, Kylie is nothing like me. Those portions aren’t the easiest to write, but they’re almost always the most fun. There’s a lot to be said for living vicariously through one’s heroine!

So here’s my question(s) to you.

1)    As a writer, do you incorporate any of ‘yourself’ into your heroines?
2)    As a reader, do you ever read a passage and wonder if the author is writing from personal experience?
3)    And lastly, for the fun of it…. Kylie’s dream is to tour China and Japan. Mine was to visit England and to see Paris at least once. (Mission accomplished!) What about you. What’s your dream destination?

Beth lives in New Jersey with her husband, two zany dogs, and one crazy cat. In addition to writing, she also works at her local library and travels to exciting lands whenever possible. To learn more about her chaotic life visit her website at www.bethciotta.com

I am no clean desk diva.  As much as I’d love to sit down to write at a tidy, organized, dust-free desk—the perfect workspace for a romance novelist determined to throw herself with unrelenting passion into her creative endeavors– I am ashamed to say my desk looks like a tornado blasted through the room, swirled up a pile of papers, and plopped them down in a messy heap.

Argh.

Another shameful admission: it’s not just papers.  There’s my daily calendar smack dab on top of the pile, where I jot notes for my coming week, keep track of my daily word count on my current writing project, and put reminders of appointments.  Poking out from beneath the pile, as though gasping to escape from the weight of excessive disorganization, is my thesaurus—an invaluable writing tool that I’ve clearly neglected.  And I see amongst the chaos my files of notes for my Knight’s Series, bits of scrap paper, and a few crumpled chocolate wrappers that haven’t yet made it to the trash.

Double argh.

I guess you can call me a dirty desk delinquent?

I don’t consider myself a messy person.  However, there are weeks (like last week), when I have commitments every day and therefore when I am at my computer, I’m busy answering emails or taking care of writing-related matters, such as getting quotes for bookmarks for my May historical romance release, A Knight’s Persuasion, and doing PR for a February 13 book signing.  In the back of my mind, I remind myself to clean my desk, but the reminder sifts its way down through the list of my priorities until it settles somewhere near the bottom.

I will dust and tidy my desk this week.  I’ll sort through the papers, set my thesaurus back in its rightful place within easy reach, put the pens back in their holder, and finish my filing.  I have to wonder, though, if there’s a more systematic approach to desk organization than letting it become total chaos, and then plunging in to the rescue.  This dirty desk delinquent wants to know.

Do you have tricks to keeping your desk tidy?  How do you stay organized?

To read an excerpt from A Knight’s Persuasion, click here

Years ago I did almost all the research I needed to write about Regency England. I spent about a year reading everything I could get my hands on. I’d read a book, look at the sources that author used and read all those books. Read and repeat.

Finally I had either read everything cited or the works cited were unavailable. And mostly everything was becoming repetitive by then anyway. I compiled bunches of notes in huge binders and labeled them accordingly: Travel, Entertainment, Food, Gentlemen’s Pursuits, Country Houses, Servants, and so on. Now, after writing about 12 Regency historicals (not all of which have been published), I rarely have to consult my library or my binders.

You would think if I had it so easy, I would use that to my advantage. But what do I do? Instead, I decide to write about something I haven’t researched extensively: ships and sailing.

It’s not that I really want to write a book that takes place on a ship. It’s just I keep coming up with plots heading that direction. So finally I succumbed and am now working on a book set mainly on ships. It’s not even due until June, so it will be a while before readers see it. That’s a good thing because I’m pretty far behind the curve in the research department.

I don’t know what other writers do, but when I’m writing a draft and come to a point where I need to look something up, if I can’t do it quickly, I make a mark and go on. My mark is XX. Then later I can search all the XXes and do the research then.

So far I’ve written 50 pages, and I have a lot of XX. That tells me I might want to do some research sooner rather than later. I’ve found one of the best sources for researching things, like ships or castles, is children’s books. When I wanted to write medievals, I bought a bunch of kids’ books on castles. Some where illustrated and others just talked, very simply, about life in a castle.

So I adopted the same approach for researching ships. I ordered a book showing the inner workings of a nineteenth century ship. I also ordered a couple of movies that take place on ships of that time, most notably Master and Commander. I don’t know how I missed that one when it first came out. Until those arrive, I’ll be searching the internet.

As a reader, do you ever think about the research an author does? As an author, how do you handle research?

I forgot to announce the winner from my January 14th Blog. It’s Deb H. Deb email me at Emily at EmilyMcKay.com with your snail mail and let me know which book from my backlist you’d like.

I’m ending week 3 on my healthy eating/exercise program and, last night while on the treadmill, I realized what I’ve done differently this time. I’m realistic.

Initially when I began I wanted to do 90 minutes on the treadmill. But it quickly became apparent that 90 minutes wasn’t going to work. In fact I had to really plan to get in 60 minutes. So I reset my goal to 60 minutes. Although it was still stretching me to get that amount of time in every day it was something I “could” make work and feel successful. I didn’t do 30 or 45 minutes because that would have been too easy. Now I’m focusing on increasing the speed at which I walk during that hour.

When I started I also looked at what was one thing I didn’t want to give up…and it was a certain lunch that I have every week with my friend. It would be very hard to fit the number of calories (almost 1,000) into my daily 1560 and still get my five fruits and vegetables and 2 milk products. So I decided that on that one day, I would give myself permission to go over my points total. I usually end up going over by about 350-500 calories. But it’s planned and I feel good about it. I don’t feel like I’ve “cheated” because I’m not. It’s part of my own “program.”

So, what’s different this time? Why am I doing so much better and feeling satisfied? Because I’m being realistic about my goals. And this time I’m going to be successful!

How about you? Do you have some goals that you’re focusing on?

Three days before Christmas, my washing machine died. I paid a guy $49.95 to come out and tell me what I already knew. It would cost more to fix the old clunker than to buy a new one.

Unfortunately, I had piles of laundry as yet unwashed, and we were leaving the next day to spend the holiday with my parents. I debated taking all our dirty clothes with us (a la college), but we already had so much stuff to haul there and would undoubtedly have as much to haul back that it just didn’t make sense. So I sent Ultimate Sportsfan on a quest for a new washer we could have delivered the next morning before we left.

It took him three tries, but he finally found a place who could deliver a washer the next day, and he bought us a nice new shiny one. The washer arrived on time, I did a couple of loads, and we were off. But when we returned and I tried to wash the remainder of the clothes, it wouldn’t agitate.

So I called customer service, who promptly told me they would send someone to fix it in 10 days. Ten days? What? I just bought a new washer to replace one that didn’t work, and now I was going to be 10 days without.

I have to say that normally I’m very nice to service people on the phone. I did phone solicitation in college, so I can appreciate politeness, but I threw a fit. I asked to talk to the manager and their supervisor and everyone I could until they promised to fix the washer the next day.

And the guy who came out did so in about 10 minutes.

But then it started making a loud squeaking noise. At first it was just kind of squeaking. I could ignore that, even though USF bought that washer because it was supposed to be super quiet. But as the days passed, the squeaking got louder. So loud, in fact, that we couldn’t hear the TV over it. So I called again and this time I was fine waiting a few days to have the machine repaired. It still washed clothes…just loudly.

But a day before my scheduled service appointment, the customer service people called and told me that I should cancel my appointment. The squeaking was normal and would go away with use. Well, I’d been using it at least once a day for 2 weeks, and it was getting worse not better. So I said no, I wanted to keep my appointment.

Can you believe the service person actually got mad at me? She was really miffed that I insisted on keeping my appointment. Is this customer service in the recession? Try to convince customers not to fix problems in new appliances that are under warranty and less than a month old?

The same guy came out again the next day, and he told me he saw a note that they had tried to dissuade me from having a service call. But as soon as he heard the squeaking, he knew something was wrong. Again, five minutes later, it was fixed.

So what’s your worst customer service story? I know there are some way worse than this!

My lovely assistant Miss Lucy, modelling one of my creations

So, I don’t get out much. I’m a writer and fairly solitary despite a tendency toward social butterflydom. Once I’m out in a crowd I love the interaction, the attention, but when I’m home in my PJ’s with the cats and my computer, that’s good too.

However, when you are a shut in, you need something to keep you sane. Sure, I have my writing — which I love — butcreativity thrives on creativity. Did you know that? It some ways it makes no sense. You might think that the well of creativity only holds so much, and if you try to do too many things it might dry up. Not so. I’ve found that engaging in creative hobbies actually feeds my creativity on paper as well. For example, I love to make things. I make jewelry and accessories. Right now I’m teaching myself to make a mini top hat. I’m also working on hair fascinators, earrings, purses… I’m considering opening an Etsy store just so I can empty out my craft room! But with every item I make, my creative flow increases and I find that the days I make something with my hands are often the best days for me writing-wise as well. It’s wonderful. On days when I’d rather take my eye out with a fork than write, I can usually fix that problem simply by making a pair of earrings or finding the right arrangement of feathers for a fascinator. Even if my head hasn’t solved whatever plot problem it’s having while my hands are busy, I’m generally in a much better frame of mind to tackle said issue after making something pretty and shiny. I’m not sure how it all works, or why, but I like it. Any of you brilliant dears out there know if there’s a chemical reason for this?

Meanwhile, I would like to know what YOU like to do to recharge your batteries. What are your hobbies? Do you knit? I’ve always wanted to knit or crochet. Maybe you quilt or make dolls — I’d like to try that too. Or maybe you paint ceramics? Tell me your hobbies and why they fulfill you and I will randomly select one poster to win a pair of earrings hand-made by yours truly!