Many of you might remember when I announced earlier this year that The Professor and I had become parents in a rather unorthodox way – we are currently foster (though very soon, adoptive) parents to two very precious little girls. To say that this has changed my life is a gross understatement. Those of you who are parents know this. I mean who hasn’t heard when they’re pregnant – a baby changes everything. Isn’t that even the tagline for some commercial – though I can’t recall what the product is. In any case my life these days doesn’t really resemble my life from even this past March.

It’s obviously affected my day-to-day activities and my writing has suffered. In hindsight, I wish that when they’d arrived I decided to simply take some time off, have maternity leave, if you will. But I didn’t do that. Instead I tried to write amidst the sleepless nights and the emotional stress of becoming overnight parents to two little girls who have not been given the best in life. And frankly it hasn’t gone well and it’s driven me a little nuts, unnecessarily I think.

But alas that’s not even what I want to talk about today. The other thing that has been shoved to a back-burner is my own health. Now I know what you’re all thinking, I can’t be a good mom if I don’t take care of myself first, but honestly how many of you actually do this? Before the girls I was an avid Weight Watcher, I never missed a meeting and I’d lost nearly 40lbs. I think I’ve only been to like 3 meetings since April and well, let’s just say at some point I stopped pretending and just put the program on hold.

Well, today the girls started a Mother’s Day Out program that they’ll attend twice a week. And it just so happens my WW meeting is on Tuesday mornings. It felt so great to walk in there this morning and start over. I told my leader that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I don’t want to even think about these past few months or the weight I’ve gained back or how I haven’t exercised and I haven’t made healthy eating choices. Today is day one, a new beginning.

Now I could wallow in this and think about how many new beginnings I’ve had. I’m one of those who has struggled with my weight my entire life. But I know from experience thinking those sorts of thoughts only hurt me. And the fact of the matter is, my weight will always be an issue. Even if I lost all that I wanted to lose, I would still have to work my program to maintain because I have food issues. This is not an unusual problem otherwise we wouldn’t be the fattest nation. So I know I’m not alone.

My question to you, is how do you get back on the wagon? What are things you do to get your mind in the game, whether it be getting back to the gym, eating better or starting something else you might have let fall to the wayside.

Treasure Me, the 3rd book in Robyn DeHart‘s Legend Hunters series sold to Germany, that will complete the trilogy in that country.

Most writers have a spot in their home (or their local coffee shop) that they call their office. I have a lovely office in my house – though I do wish the walls were painted – and I’ve written books in it. Though lately, since we got the girls, my office is also the room where the baby naps and sleeps and so I’m working elsewhere in the house most of the time. Despite this, it’s still one of my favorite rooms in the house. I’ve actually rearranged some of the furniture, and these pictures are from when we first moved in, but you’ll get the gist.

My favorite spot in my office is my big cube shelf. It contains all my research and writing craft books. I have books on all aspects of the Victorian period, other bits of English history, some Scottish books and then I have some books that are specific to the books I’ve written. I have several books about Sherlock Holmes as that was a main aspect of my book A Study in Scandal. Then I have books on chocolate factories, Atlantis, Pandora’s Box and I have an actual bound copy of the Illustrated London News from 1865 – this was the inspiration for my paper in Courting Claudia, my debut novel. The shelves are organized by category and everything is neat and tidy and I just love to sit there in the evening while I rock the baby and gaze at my books full of tidbits that someday might become a crucial plot point.

I’m going to stop before I totally geek out about all my writing craft books. On top of that shelf I keep copies of all my books, including foreign copies as well as the awards I’ve won. It’s a great place to come for inspiration when I’m feeling down about my career or I’m stuck in a certain story.

I also have my TBR shelves in here – for you hard-core readers, you know that’s my to-be-read pile which translates to two bookshelves stacked double on each shelf. And this doesn’t even include the mounting list on my Kindle. I’m so far behind it’s scary, but hey at this rate I don’t think I’ll ever run out.

Hidden in the closet of my office are my scrapbook supplies – I have tons. Colored paper and alphabet stickers and templates and oh, the list goes on. I don’t get to scrapbook as much as I used to, but given the opportunity I love to pull out my supplies and make pretty pages. So I guess technically this room could simply be called my creativity cave. Well, and part-time baby sleeping room these days.

In any case, do any of you have a home office or a cubby where you do crafts? What’s your favorite part of your house? Tell me about your special spot and I’ll pick one lucky reader to win a copy of my e-novella, Her Gentleman Thief.

One of the things about writing that I didn’t realize when I first started was how profoundly personal it would be. Perhaps that makes me an idiot, but that aspect kind of took me by surprise. But I suspect that writers, genre fiction and romance writers, in particular, are very much in tune with their own personal issues – the things that make us tick, that big bag of crud we drag around filled with our greatest fears and insecurities. I suppose song writers probably are equally as aware, but I digress. The point of all of this is if you pay close attention you start to notice things about you – not all of them are the icky things either.

Recently I was reading a book and I had a big epiphany that doesn’t really surprise me, as I can clearly see the pattern in my reading tastes and several of the books I’ve written myself, frankly I’m surprised it took me quite so long to notice. Especially when I look back on a post I wrote here four years ago. So here it goes….when it comes to guys, those romantic hero types, I really am drawn to the pursuer. I suppose this might be why I don’t gravitate toward the more traditional alpha hero because they aren’t always pursuers.

The book I was reading recently that brought all this to my attention was Suzanne Enoch’s The Care and Taming of a Rogue. Now Suzanne is one of my very favorite authors, she’s definitely my go-to gal whenever I need a good pick-me-up because her books are just delightful and perfect in all the right ways. And I love, love, love her heroes. And her heroes are always pursuers, even if they don’t quite understand it themselves, they are completely captivated by the heroine, just can’t get enough and go after her full-throttle. Their unwavering pursuit just makes me feel all gooey on the inside. This is what romance novels are about for me.

Now there are plenty of great ways to put together a romance novel, but at their core, it’s either boy pursues girl or girl pursues boy and both work. But for me that one that makes me come back again and again is the former. It even happened in my own love story. When I met The Professor I wasn’t so sure about him. He was really smart, an intellectual and frankly I felt a smidge intimidated and wondered what we’d ever talk about. And he was so very different from any man I’d ever dated or been attracted to. But he pursued me deftly and it worked.

So how about you? What kind of hero do you gravitate to? Do you notice when you’re reading which character is the pursuer?

Robyn DeHart’s Legend Hunters trilogy sold to Turkey. Seduce Me, Desire Me and Treasure Me will be released simultaneously in Summer 2013.

Right now I have a digital short story, set in Regency England, available for both Kindle and Nook. For those of you who don’t have e-readers, you can download apps on your phones and I know for at least Kindle you can read them directly on your computer. But I also know for some of you this isn’t your cup of tea and that’s totally fine. I published this story for a few reasons, one, it’s a different time period for me and a nice little change. Also it’s short enough (and cheap enough) that readers who might not be familiar with my full length books might be willing to give me a try. Hopefully they’ll love it and buy the rest of my books.

In any case, here’s a little teaser from Her Gentleman Thief. Oh and I should point out that despite the title, this is not the fourth book in the Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society series though I have plans to release that book (also digitally) sometime late this year, early the next. I’ll keep everyone posted as my details firm up.

Excerpt: Her Gentleman Thief by Robyn Dehart

Annalise bravely looked up to meet the highwayman’s gaze and found herself locked in by the most stunningly beautiful green eyes. And were it not for the silk black domino mask tied behind his head, she might have forgotten who he was and what was happening. The lantern-light flickered off his face, of the features she could clearly see — a strong jaw, sculpted lips, a hint of a day’s growth of whiskers — it was quite evident that he was devilishly handsome.

“Take me with you,” she said.

You can buy a copy for only $0.99 for your kindle or for your nook.

Also today I want to show off two of my newer foreign covers because they’re so lovely, they’re worth sharing. Here we have the German cover for Seduce Me

And the German cover for Desire Me. Which is beautiful, but I think kind of looks like the cover for a western historical.

And one last thing to share today, The Professor is guest blogging at Lila DiPasqua’s Midnight Dance Blog Party and you should go check out what he has to say. He’s sharing all kinds of insider details on the DeHart household. And actually all this month you can meet other romance husbands there, it’s sure to be a great time. I’m also giving something away so be sure to check it out.

So how about it, readers, are you interested in hearing from husbands or other family members of your favorite writers? If you could ask them a question, what would it be? And what about foreign covers, do you like to see how the different countries market and package your favorite books? Well, I can’t give away something there and not here, so one commenter here will win a copy of Her Gentleman Thief.

Robyn DeHart’s Desire Me has just sold to Germany and should be released in spring 2012!

As most of you know I’m pretty noodle-y about the whole writing process. Basically I’m just a writing geek. But the truth of the matter is that whenever I’m struggling with something (writing or otherwise) I have a tendency to dig my heels in and analyze everything, uncover every hidden nuance of the situation. With writing this has happened a lot because frankly I struggle a lot, as I think most writers do. It’s a challenging career, though that doesn’t mean that there isn’t love there just that it takes considerable work.

Lately I’ve been struggling with my current book. I’m at the revisions stage, meaning that I’ve got a rough draft that I’m know trying to make into a book that people will actually want to read. One of the things I often wrestle with at this stage is character stuff and this book is giving me problems. Both characters, but the hero, in particular. Now there are two things I look for when I’m working on this, something I call character essence, though I suppose I probably should call it their core, and the relationship dynamic.

So this character essence or core is hard to describe. It’s something I look for to sum up that certain something of the character, that something that makes the character feel real and unique. It gives me the right feeling so that I know how to get them on the page and keep them consistent. If I can’t find this for a character then I have to keep fumbling around until I get it right because without this, it’s really just words on the page.

The relationship dynamic boils down to the chemistry, the sparks that fly between the hero and heroine. It’s that magic, the big sigh effect that brings readers back again and again to your books. In my opinion this dynamic, though different in every book, has enough similarity with an author’s books that it’s why we tend to gravitate toward our favorite authors. Like I know when I read a Suzanne Enoch book I’m going to get a certain relationship dynamic, it’s what I love about her books and I get it every time.

So not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else, but there you go, the thoughts in my head. The good news is, after some brainstorming with Emily yesterday, I think I’ve got all of this figured out for this book that’s been giving me trouble. So I sure hope this means that revisions will fly by now. I’m ready for this book to actually be a book.

What about your favorite authors, what is it about their books that make you come back again and again?

Every writer has their process. It’s as unique to each of us as the tone of our books. And eventually if you sit back you begin to see the pattern in your own work, the steps you have to take to make the magic and transform that brilliant idea into a book people can read. Writing is a lot like putting together IKEA furniture. At first it seems like since you’re a relatively intelligent person who can read and walk upright that you’ll be able to do it and then after a while that little cartoon man begins to mock you and you end up in a heap on the floor with a splinter, a half-empty bottle of wine and mascara streaming down your face.

As a writer, I’m fascinated by other writer’s processes. Perhaps because I’m always looking for new tools to add to my bag of tricks, and partly because there’s that need to justify the way I do it, to make certain I’m not a complete hack. So if you’re ever around a group of writers, you’ll hear things like this, “What do you write? Oh, are you a plotter or a panster? Oh yes, don’t you just hate synopses…”

Not that anyone asked, but here are mine…

Idea – either I spontaneously get an idea or a manufacture one, either way, pretty exciting stuff.

Brainstorming – this is just the rudimentary brainstorming, not really specifics, just possibilities, again exciting. This has got to be one of my favorite parts. Perhaps because in the midst of brainstorming (which can truly be quite magical if the ideas are working) Emily and I get to gossip a lot. But we only ever talk about nasty people.

Character work – while this part can be challenging, it’s also fun, it consists of finding the right picture to use as my inspiration, so I get to spend quite a bit of time on-line looking at sexy actors. Ryan Reynolds, or Johnny Depp or Hugh Jackman, pick your poison, it’s research, I tell the Professor. It’s my job to find out what *other* women find attractive. I also work on archetypes, Myers-brigg, GMC, conflict and connection b/w hero & heroine, character arcs, etc.

Plotting – the story rises from the characters’ GMC, their relationship and their growth, again, this part can be challenging, but is also in the fun category. I use Scrivener, real index cards, post-it notes, Excel, sometimes all of that, sometimes only one, just whatever I need to get the book into focus.

Proposal – this is the three chapter/synopsis stage and this is where it becomes painful. While working on the synopsis, I’m never more aware of the fact that I’m just making stuff up (I realize that is the case ALL of the time, but it doesn’t always feel that way). The synopsis is certainly not easy, but I find this exercise so useful because it takes the jumbled mess in my head and it puts it into a semi-organized state. It also forces me to look at the external plot a bit more – I tend to build from the internal stuff and forget there has to be action going on. When I hit the chapters, sometimes the opening scene is clear in my head and flies onto the page, but frankly this is rare. Most of the time it takes me much longer to write these first 3 chapters than it does any other chapters in the book. They are daunting to me. I know the characters, or at least I know things about them and I know how I want them to come across, but I haven’t yet let them loose to walk and talk on their own. And with the series, it adds even more complexities of taking a secondary character who thus far has only had dialogue and digging into their internal thoughts. I often call my critique partner to whine about the fact that I’ve forgotten how to write a book, I’m a total hack and I’ll never get done. This stage is hard, and painful and really not all that fun, in fact it’s my very least favorite part and it’s my very slowest stage. It’s like swimming through molasses while a mound of fire ants chase after you.

Rough draft – the pain from the first three chapters usually lasts until chapter 5, possibly 6, and then I begin to hit my stride. I get into the fun part of the book, the middle. I know, some people call this the sagging middle, but for me, it never sags, it flies. Not to say it’s easy, hardly, but I tend to know more of what’s going on, I get to really get that relationship going and it’s just the best part of the book. And then I hit the ending, the last 2 chapters for me usually go at lightening speed during this draft, sometimes only ending up 10-15 pages worth of material. I rush it, I admit it. Because by now I’m just ready for it to be over with and I know the ending will probably have to change. I should mention that at some point during this rough draft (possibly more than once) I make a frantic call to Emily for emergency brainstorming (okay this isn’t the only time she gets a frantic call, it happens all the time) because I’ve realized that I’m missing something huge (almost always my big, black moment, which I swear I had at the time of synopsis writing, but it has since shrunk to a small, slightly grey moment). I should also note that I do not revise as I write, so the rough draft is full of notes, questions and blanks for me to catch during the next round. This used to be my favorite part, but not so much anymore, but it has its moments.

Read-through – this is what happens after I’m done with the rough draft and usually ends up with another phone call to the critique partner where I whine and complain that the book is total crap and I won’t be able to fix it. But during this read-through, I make notes to myself on everything, big (new scenes) and small (punctuation or word choice). Then I write a revision letter to myself. This part is not fun.

Revisions – these are my revisions, not those from my editor. This used to be my least favorite part, but I think that’s because I didn’t know what I was doing. Now I kind of like it, but I’m only just getting used to saying that, so don’t make me repeat it. I’m a layer-er – which means that I go through the manuscript 4-5 times at this stage. The first two being the biggest moves. I add new scenes, I delete stuff, I fix all the things that are inconsistent with character, because now I really know them, I layer in emotion and texture and make sure I’ve been clear about all the elements of each character’s GMC, I look up research questions that I left blank in the first draft, sometimes I rearrange stuff. It’s major surgery. My rough drafts are often 100+ too short, so the layering really is significant. So begrudgingly I say this is the fun part.

Critique – I have a few readers that get the whole thing at this point, the first time they’ve seen it and they give me feedback. I sometimes take it and sometimes ignore it, but it gives me reassurance having other eyes look at it before I turn it in. This part is just fine.

And then I’m done and can turn it in. At this point, I know it’s the best I can do, but I’m still nervous as hell that it’s awful. But I’m still feeling happy that it’s over with and I’m beginning to fall in love with my next idea which is sure to be easy and wonderful…

So why am I writing all of this? Well, I’m working on revisions right now and they’re going far too slowly for me. And I’m certain the book is terrible and I should scrap it and come up with a new idea. But I won’t do that because I know from my process that all of those emotions are normal for me at this stage. I also know enough to know that how I’m feeling about something is not the same thing as the reality of that something. Oh, there I went and got all philosophical on y’all.

In any case, if you’re a writer, tell me about your process so I can steal your cool methods. And if you’re a reader tell me something interesting about what you do, are you an organized person or do you fly by the seat of your pants and wait for the day to take you where it will?

So chances are you’ve probably heard something recent about all the piracy issues with electronic books. Authors are losing money and people are angry and the other side seems not to see the big deal. This all happened several years ago with the music industry. I think it goes hand-in-hand with some other trends we’ve seen about. So what is the big deal? Is it wrong to download a free copy of an electronic book if the author didn’t give permission to do so? Is it stealing? Is it cheating?

I don’t know if any of you are aware of another significant problem in our society, but as you all know I am married to a college professor, and this is certainly something that affects our lives. College kids cheat, at an alarming rate. I’m sure it starts earlier because frankly they’re quite good at it, taking plagiarism to a whole new level. This semester alone The Professor had 2 students from two separate classes cheat on a final paper, one of these students was a graduate student so we’re not talking about an 18 year old kid here. And the level of deception is sophisticated. I’m not talking the purchase of papers though that clearly is still happening despite universities efforts to prevent such behavior.

In a recent new story there was an ethics professor who caught a rather large number of students cheating on a test and he gave them all the opportunity to come forward and turn themselves in even though he already knew exactly who they all were. During the news segment they interviewed some random college student and he was quoted as saying, “everyone cheats, it’s just the way it is.” I’m saddened by this though I don’t completely believe it either. My nephew graduates from high school this Friday and will start college in the fall and I know he’s a person of integrity and would never consider cheating, and I know he can’t be the only one.

But the mentality seems to be that this is harmless behavior, but let’s consider for a moment that if you cheat on a paper and you don’t get caught chances are you’ll do it again. But where does that end? Then do you cheat on your resume, add some “white lies” to get the job? Do you then borrow a co-worker’s idea and pass it off as your own? It’s harmless, right? What about in your family? Do you cheat on your spouse? It’s just an emotional affair so that doesn’t count, right? Where does it end? How harmless can it be when the behavior stems directly from your own personal ethics?

So what do you think? Is it okay to download a book for free? Is it the same thing as borrowing from a library? What about cheating in school? Is it okay to cheat just this once?