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May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

When Will Frank and Sarah Get Together?

When I first made the transition from writing romance to writing mysteries, everyone warned me (sternly!) not to put any romance in my mysteries. Mystery readers, they told me, do not like romance. Having always been something of a rebel, I put some romance in my mysteries, and fans loved it! Almost every fan letter I receive asks when Frank and Sarah are going to get together. And there lies the rub.

You see, when I started the series, I was hoping it would last for 3 books, perhaps 6. Few series go much longer than that. What are the odds that mine would be the lucky one? So I blithely created many obstacles to Frank and Sarah’s romance, thinking I’d never have to deal with overcoming them. Now, fifteen books later, you are no longer waiting patiently. You are actually rather impatient, and some of you aren’t being nice about it anymore.

So let me just say this: I hear you! I agree. It’s time for them to get together. And I’m happy to say that I have finally figured out how to get them together in a way that will overcome almost all the obstacles they face and still allow them to solve mysteries for many books to come. Sarah’s father has decided to take a hand in the matter in MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE (May 2012) while Frank is helping Sarah’s father solve the murder of one of his friends. We don’t know exactly what he has in mind yet, but I assure you, he’s trying to help. The solution will be revealed in MURDER IN CHELSEA (2013), which will also solve the mystery of how little Catherine came to the Mission.

Here’s hoping the new team of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Malloy will be even more exciting together than they have been apart. So let me know what you think. Are you happy? Sad? Relieved? Mad that I put a romance in the series? Believe me, I feel your pain.

 

www.victoriathompson.com

 

 
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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Running Off to Sea in Your Yacht

I’ve been in a lot of rich people’s homes, especially when I was a reporter. Most were either fussy or gaudy. But I could actually imagine living on this 143-foot yacht.

I was aboard to research FINAL SAIL, my new Dead-End Job mystery. The yacht’s main salon had hand-carved oak the color of warm honey and soft couches that begged me to sink into their cushions.

All I’d need was $12,000,000, plus another million a year to run it.

Before I could pawn the cat to get the cash, someone else bought the yacht and deep-sixed my dreams.

If you’re tempted to run off to sea with a crew of ten to wait on you, here are a few things you should know about owning a yacht.

At 143 feet, this ship is roomy and beautifully furnished, but fairly modest for a mega-yacht. Sure, it has a master state room with a king-sized bed, two queen-sized guest staterooms, two more staterooms with twin beds, teak decks, a Jacuzzi and a million-dollar sound system. But it doesn’t have its own submarine or helicopter.

I could live with that.

It also has its own staff staircase and a hidden passage so the three stewardesses can clean the rooms and the heads without being seen by the guests.

What? You think a yacht with one staircase isn’t a problem?

During the annual boat show in Fort Lauderdale, I heard a woman complain that she ran into “the staff” – her words – on her yacht staircase. She and her husband were looking for a two-staircase yacht to avoid that vexing problem. You can imagine how much I sympathized with her.

The cleaning routine on luxury yachts rivals Victorian households. The yacht’s main rooms are dusted and vacuumed twice daily, and the guest heads are cleaned after every use. Yep. Every time.

When I say “heads,” I’m not talking about the pump toilets on many boats. On this yacht, guest heads have flush toilets, marble, mirrors and mountains of fluffy towels embroidered with the yacht’s name.

The stewardesses stay in touch by two-way radio. Each time a guest uses the head, a stewardess cleans the commode, sink and mirror, empties the wastebasket, changes the towels and folds the toilet paper into points. There are soap dispensers, but if the guest used the bar of Bvlgari, a fresh one is put out.

The staff gets to keep the barely used bar – but you’d be surprised how many guests don’t wash their hands.

In some ways, the yacht crew is treated better than the Victorian staff. The head housekeeper at a great British house wouldn’t care if the parlor maid preferred black Darjeeling to Dragon Well green tea. But the yacht chef will ask the lowly second stewardess if she’d rather drink Red Bull or Diet Coke, and if she has any allergies or foods she didn’t care for.

Why cater to the yacht staff? Unlike the Victorian serving maids, good staff is well-paid, in demand and highly mobile.

When a yacht cruises from Fort Lauderdale to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, that same stewardess may work 20 hours a day. If the owners and their guests come home at four a.m after a night of gambling, that stewardess will have to serve them drinks and sandwiches or an early breakfast.

But if there are rough seas on that crossing, the seasick stewardess is expected to drag her pea-green self down the stairs to serve milady and her friends soothing tea and soft-boiled eggs.

And woe betide the yacht stewardess if the ship lurches and a gold-rimmed teacup tumbles off her tray.

On some yachts, that $80 cup will be deducted from her pay.

***

Helen Hawthorne, Elaine Viets’ private-eye detective, works as a yacht stewardess in FINAL SAIL, the 11th Dead-End Job mystery. Marilyn Stasio praises Elaine’s “quick-witted mysteries” in the June 3 New York Times. Visit her website at elaineviets.com.

 
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

If Writing Was Easy...

I’m getting back to work this summer after taking a little writing break this year. At one point, when I mentioned to a friend that I was taking a breather, she said, “Well I’m not surprised! You must run out of ideas after awhile.”

Actually… no. It’s never the ideas that are a problem, although I’ve noticed that this part of the writing process holds a special fascination for non-writers. I’m asked- more often than any other question- where I come up with my ideas.

I guess those of us who like telling stories see the possibility for a good yarn everywhere we turn. I get ideas from magazines and TV shows. From snippets I overhear from couples in bars or airports. From mythology, history and soap operas. The best ideas are usually a weird mash-up of all of the above.

So truly, the ideas aren’t the hard part of writing. I have drawers full of story ideas. And once people know you’re a writer, they often like to feed you ideas- the story of how their grandmother fell in love or the time their great-grandfather caught a killer. Everyone has a story inside them.

 

The trick is in the telling. This is the part that I find the most challenging and the reason I needed a break this year. Once you have a great story in mind, the only thing that keeps it from being a bestseller, or critically acclaimed, or beloved by a devoted core following is the talent I bring to the page. Do I have the writing chops to tell that story the way it deserves to be told? Have I revealed the information in the most interesting way so that I don’t tell too much up front, but I tell enough to keep the reader intrigued?

This is the daunting part of putting together a book. Anyone can dream up a fabulous core plot. Only the most gifted of writers can take that basic premise and turn it into a memorable, keeper shelf read that you’ll want to come back to time and time again. It’s that constant aspiration to tell a better story that can be exhausting, squeezing every bit of know-how out of a person in an effort to be entertaining.

But there’s an ad for hockey that I watched over and over again in the playoffs this season that showed my heroes making one impossible shot after another. The narration said- “if hockey was easy, it wouldn’t be great.” I think that idea applies to writing and so many other dreams we chase. If writing was easy, it wouldn’t have fascinated me for so long. It wouldn’t continue to inspire me to hone my skills and craft better stories. It’s true that some people- hockey players and writers alike- are born with more innate talent. But no one becomes great without an exhausting amount of practice.

With any luck, I’m going to be offering better stories in the future for all the effort I’ve put into upping my game. And I hope the ideas I come up with today will seem like better ideas simply because I have more skill to convey them on paper.

***We’ve all tried to “be great” in some area of our lives at one time or another, whether it was on a sports field or in a job interview. When was the last time you worked hard to bring your “A-game” to some arena of your life? How did you do and was it a satisfying experience? I’ve got a copy of my latest Blaze, HER MAN ADVANTAGE, for one random poster here or on the WS Facebook page

www.joannerock.com

 

 
Tuesday, May 29, 2012

MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN

It’s time to clasp your hands together and shout “Halleluiah.” I have wondrous news to report: my computer problems have been fixed and it didn’t cost me a cent.

No, really. I wouldn’t lie about something like that.

But wait, it doesn’t stop there . . . the process of fixing my computer also corrected a long-term problem with my plumbing.

No, I have not been smoking any sort of organic substance (or anything else). Why do you ask?

Long story short: around 15 years ago when the media company, which out of the kindness of my heart will remain nameless at this time, laid cable in front of my house, they drilled it through my sewer line.

Seriously. I might write fiction, but who could make this stuff up?

This explains why I’ve had to have my plumbing roto-rooted several times over the years, and why my plumbers found dirt in the line—leading them to make dire predictions regarding my probable need to make extremely expensive repairs in the immediate future—every time.

Apparently, the constant moisture that surrounded this hole attracted a root from my oak tree, causing it to grow straight through my sewer line, alongside the aforementioned cable. This root (which the plumber showed me and was close to three inches in circumference) had recently grown to the point where it begun to fray the cable, which led to the computer problems I ranted about last week (my apologies to MODEM, it ends up you are not the evil beast I painted you).

The cable company discovered the problem, dug it up, paid to have a plumber (who is billing them directly) come out and fix the line and shoveled the dirt back in and patted it all down. I’m convinced if a plumber I’d hired had discovered the problem, I would have been hard pressed to get the cable company to even return my call. I also rate my chances at getting the cable company to reimburse even part of the cost, if I’d first paid for the repairs, at slim to none.

Now my email works just fine and I can run the washing machine without my kitchen sink making gurgling noises or overflowing outside. And, most wonderful of all, I didn’t have to pay a cent to make any of this happen. I didn’t even have to make any arrangements, other than getting the cable company to come over and find out why my email wouldn’t always work.

So, yes, my friends, life is mighty fine at Chez Jaycie this week. And to say that I now believe in miracles is a bit of an understatement.

HOW ABOUT YOU, HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED A STRANGE UTILITY SITUATION . . . OR HAVE YOU WITNESSED A MIRACLE? IF SO, I’D LOVE TO LEARN ABOUT IT. A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER, WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com Her debut novel, Mrs. Goodfeller, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.

 

www.jayciecash.com

 

 
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Support Beats Sandwiches

Like Maria, my heroine in THE DEVIL SERVED DESIRE (out in ebook this week), I’ve battled my weight for years. I can (and often do ;-) blame it on the kids. After all, if I hadn’t gotten pregnant and had them, I wouldn’t have any weight to lose. Except the youngest is turning 14 this month, so my “I just had a baby excuse” was over about thirteen years ago ;-).

When I finally decided to get serious about dieting and exercise a couple years ago, I realized that I was no good at sticking to my goals by myself, so I needed a support system. I didn’t go to anything as quirky as Maria’s Chubby Chums support group, but I did turn to some friends who wanted to accomplish the same goals. We started walking together, trading diet tips on the three-mile loop. Then I joined a gym, and made friends in the classes I took. I’ve taken to posting on Facebook when I go to the gym or go for a run, not just to keep myself accountable, but because I have found some of my friends say it encourages them to get healthy, too.

I don’t have a high school reunion or any other big milestone, like Maria does, for my getting healthy challenge. Mostly, I realized I was now in my mid-40s and I either did it now or it’d be a thousand times harder down the road. I’ve NEVER been a person who worked out. I was, quite literally, that uncoordinated girl who was picked last for dodgeball, so for me to commit to this was a huge deal. After a year of working out regularly (five days a week), I have found that it is finally an ingrained habit. Working out has become a part of my routine, and I enjoy it (most of the time, LOL).

I did have to make it easier for myself, though, because it’s very easy to find a reason not to go to the gym. I go in the mornings, because then the rest of my day is free. The coffee’s on a timer, and ready before my alarm goes off. I lay out my clothes the night before, so they’re the first thing I see when I get up. I also get my other gym stuff ready and put it beside my keys, so I can stay in bed as long as possible, then head out. I also log in my workouts on one of two apps—Map My Ride (which lets you map your runs/bike rides and add other workouts to the list) and FatSecret (which lets you track your calories, too; it’s a free app and website). Just seeing that calories burned number gives me a sense of satisfaction, and tends to keep me on track the rest of the day.

Tell me, do you workout? Have you found any tips that work for keeping you accountable and on track with either the workout or the diet? Or have you found a way to stay on the sofa and keep those pounds off? If so, that’s the secret I’d really like to know, LOL!

www.shirleyjump.com

 

 

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Vegas anyone?

That’s where my Zodius series is set and where I’m headed this weekend for a signing with Barnes and Noble. Why Vegas?

Years ago I owned a staffing agency and worked around the clock. About the only time I took off was for a few trips to Las Vegas every year. I fell in love with the excitement of the city. Casinos, shows, great food, and so much more. I was also married to an Army man who had a deep family history with the military. All of his uncles were Special Forces, as was his father. I had an office in the Killeen, Texas area and in Austin, which meant there were a lot of military influences as well from Ft. Hood that had touched my life.

But here is where it gets interesting. My ex’s father told us from his death bed, that the secret he’d carried with him all his life, was his presence when that mysterious Roswell ship crashed. He was sworn to secrecy. He didn’t say much but he said a few things that got my thinking cap on. What happened that night when they recovered whatever they recovered? And what really happens at Area 51? Why does the government deny it even exists? I don’t know that we will ever know, but I sure let my imagination run wild. What if the government used whatever they recovered to advance medicine and create Super Soldiers? Medicine is advancing at rocket speed as it is. We can actually inject people with their own stem cells to help them regrow tissue. There are athletes paying the price to put this experimental and successful technique, to use. We are capable of so much that ethics don’t allow us to pursue. But what if the government threw out ethics? I know. Hard to believe that would happen, right? :)

I had a lot of fun creating this world and I love writing these characters who are battling emotional wars over who and what they have become, and how that impacts those around them, and the world itself. In the meantime, they still faced saving the world from itself, and from one of their own kind who believes he is the chosen one to rule all.

If you want to get a tiny glimpse of this world I just released a .99 cent short story that has its own Happily Ever After and gives you a look at several of the heroes in the series.

RENEGADE PASSION

Warning! Sexy alpha soldier out to protect his woman! There will be sparks that fly and plenty of sexy moments!

About the story:

Sonia' a gifted psychic who finds herself seeing visions of the many women who have started disappearing around Vegas. Visions that have now put her on the radar of Adam Rain, a soldier who was part of an experiment that made him a super solider, powerful and dangerous. Adam wants to control the city. He wants to control her.

Kel is also one of those super soldiers, a part of the unit called Renegades who fight to protect humanity. A soldier who once planned to call Sonia his wife until an Area 51 experiment changed his life, his future, Sonia's future. But now she is in danger, and nothing, and no one, is going to hurt her. She is his passion, his desire, his heart.

The man she believes is dead.

I hope you will give it a try. And if you are in Vegas this weekend I will be at the Barnes and Noble in Henderson from 1-4 on the 26th with t-shirts and all kinds of goodies. I’ll be signing THE DANGER THAT IS DAMION(Amazon / Barnes and Noble) and the first 20 people get THE STORM THAT IS STERLING (Amazon / Barnes & Noble) for free! I look forward to seeing you there!

SIGNING ADDRESS
Barnes and Noble
567 North Stephanie
Henderson, NV 89014

 

www.lisareneejones.com

 

 
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

SOMETIMES MODERN LIFE JUST DOES NOT COMPUTE

I’m usually a “The glass is half full” kind of gal; except when it comes to technology. Then, all bets are off. Far as I’m concerned, life today is packed with modern inconveniences.

Take my email for instance. No, seriously . . . take it . . . somewhere, anywhere you like. ‘Cause right now I can’t get no email OR satisfaction.

Hey, hey, hey. That’s what I say.

For the past couple of weeks my email and Internet have not been accessible at key periods during the day. Since my cable provider also happens to be the gatekeeper to my cyberspace access, I assumed they had too many folks hooked up to the same little bit of electronic lifeline my computer and I have been clinging to.

But after placing a call to the service tech, who—to be fair—was really quite pleasant and helpful, I was told it’s a little traitor that resides atop my desk, the monster called MODEM (sounds like the name of a lethal cartoon character or a rampaging Viking, doesn’t it), who’s responsible for all the lack of messaging in my life of late.

Me, I’ve got my doubts. I still think that amazingly popular little electronic lifeline mentioned above is playing a role. But what do I know (when it comes to technology, pretty much nuthin’ actually)? Maybe MODEM and cable have teamed up against me in some type of electronic wrestling death match.

For which, I assure you, I’m incredibly ill-suited. So put your money on my foes.

Guess I’ll find out for sure what the problem is when the repair person shows up in just two short days. For which, I’m assured, I “probably” won’t have any additional charges since I already pay the exorbitant “Grab your ankles and bare your patootie” fee that’s supposed to cover such problems.

As I’m sure you can tell, I’m not the least bit bitter.

Just think, prior to this golden electronic age we live in today, without one call, text, Twitter or email Snow White still had enough faith in her future—and a man she had yet to meet—to flitter gracefully about, crooning “Someday my prince will come.”

Me, with all the advantages mentioned above at my disposal, I’m stuck here with little or no hope, sitting around, tapping my foot, waiting for the cable guy.

HOW ABOUT YOU? WHAT TYPE OF ELECTRONIC TROUBLES HAVE YOU FACED? A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER, WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE ENXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

***

Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com Her debut novel, MRS. GOODFELLER, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.

 

 
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Monday, May 21, 2012

Lights, Camera…Story Research!

Jen: A quick introduction for those of you who don’t know. Ashleigh Raine is made up of two lifelong best friends, Jen (me!) and Lisa. We figured it best to get that introduction out of the way first so you don’t wonder why Ashleigh Raine keeps referring to herself in the third person. As Ashleigh Raine, Lisa and I write about actors and stunt drivers in our Hollywood Heat erotic romance series. But we don’t just write about Hollywood. We’ve both worked in and around the entertainment industry for more than thirteen years now. Although it’s been quite a few years since I’ve commuted into Los Angeles or worked on a movie set, Lisa still actively lives her Hollywood dream…and gets lots of great writer research in to boot! And occasionally makes me jealous, especially when she taunts me with texts mentioning touching Chris Hemsworth's arm and ogling Chris Evans's body. In those instances I'm allowed moments of best-friend hate, right?

Lisa: Let's get one thing straight...I didn't touch Chris Hemsworth's arm. I touched a cast of it made from a mold of it--which was very nice, but I'm betting touching the real thing is waaaaaay better. And that was a cast of Chris Evans's hot body--which I'd nicknamed "my boyfriend" before I knew the hot-man cast without a head was actually Chris Evans. Again, real thing probably waaaaaaay better. Random bodies and body parts--some human, some alien!--are always propped up, laying around all over the shop, and I tend to give them nicknames if I'm working next to them for too long.

Jen: Okay, for those who don't know about what you do, why don't you give a quick overview of your Hollywood job experiences.

Lisa: I was an extra for about seven years and when I'm lucky enough, I also get to work in a special effects costume shop. I work alongside sculptors, painters, engineering geniuses and leather and fabric wizards as a sort of jane of many intricate trades. One day I might be trimming urethane suits of armor used in stunt sequences, the next day hand-sewing magnets onto strapping, the following day bashing holes and setting grommets, next polishing Thor's helmet, then finally soldering LEDs onto circuit boards to make a costume light up. I rarely know what I'll be doing until I actually show up. It's always an adventure.

Jen: So for the last couple years, all your movie work has been behind the scenes, usually in costuming. What movies hitting theaters this summer did you work on?

Lisa: I worked on The Amazing Spider-Man, GI Joe 2 and Battleship while coworkers did The Avengers and Snow White and the Huntsman.

Jen: Damn, every one of those movies is a hot man smorgasbord. Is that on your resume? I work on hot men? And are you ever mistaken for a prostitute? ;)

Lisa: Ha ha. Been a prostitute extra on a few movies and TV shows! But I gotta admit that when I'm sewing the crotch into a hot man's costume, quite a few interesting images go through my mind!

Jen: For GI Joe, did you work on The Rock's costume? What was your experience like? Is he as awesome in real life as he comes across on Twitter?

Lisa: I worked on The Rock's tac vest while a cast of his smoldering hot torso stood on a worktable next to me. I set some grommets and screwed on some armor, but sadly didn't get to meet him. I did, however, work with him awhile back on a movie called Be Cool. He is a very, very nice man. Not just gorgeous. Between takes, he signed autographs for people walking by the movie set. He's very easy to fall in love with.

Jen: I remember when you worked on Battleship you told me that it was one of your weirdest costume experiences. Why?

Lisa: So there's this pile of gray foam boxes and gray nylon webbing and a bunch of magnets. I had to reposition the magnets--which were finger-biters if you got them too close to the metal plate on the sewing machine--and sew the fabric onto the boxes after repositioning them on the webbing. What? Yeah, me too. It got weirder. After I was done doing my part, little stickers were added and suddenly what I was doing made sense. These were physical parts of the actors' costumes which would be re-skinned in post-production. They were going to be CGI masterpieces rather than literally a bunch of irregular boxes on webbing. I heard the magnets were to hold a really big gun in place. Can't wait to see the movie just so I'll know what I was actually working on!

Jen: Since we both share a mad, ridiculous, huge love for Chris Hemsworth--OMG the man is so gorgeous--tell everyone in juicy detail what Chris's arms are like. And also the work you did on The Avengers and Snow White and the Huntsmen. And then let's talk about Chris some more just because he's worth sharing lots of dialogue about.

Lisa: But I never got to touch his arms! There was only one arm in the shop anyway. And I didn't get to work on Snow White and the Huntsman or The Avengers even though I really wanted to. However, while I was working on GI Joe, the girl next to me who was working on The Avengers heard about our huge love of Chris and shared with me something from when she got to hold the clipboard while Chris's measurements were being taken for the Thor costume. Suffice it to say, Chris Hemsworth is every bit the romance hero he appears to be. Tall, gorgeous and with every bit the niceness he seems to have in interviews. And when he smiles, yes, it's like sunshine. Those arms are really that big. Throughout the course of making Thor, he kept working out and outgrowing the sleeves on his costume. I'm guessing that's why he didn't have sleeves until the end of The Avengers, but I don't know for sure.

Jen: What was it like to work on The Amazing Spider-Man, and can you tell everyone what you did on the show?

Lisa: So, I was told to show up for work because they needed me for some precision trimming and gluing on both plastic and fabric. Okay, sure. Should be fun. My boss says, "Take these over to that table and wait for me so I can show you what you'll be doing." He hands me these red lumps of spandex...that look like hoods...with freakin' spiderwebs printed on them!!!!! OMG!!!! Spider-Man! I'm working on Spider-Man! And I'm not just working on Spider-Man, I'm working on SPIDER-MAN himself!!!! OMG!!!! I'm not even a fan and good golly this was huge. I just stood there, holding the hoods and my hands started shaking. I mean, this wasn't some hidden underwear seam or set of straps for a stunt costume. This was Spider-Man's face and I was gonna work on it! By the time my boss walked back over, I had to remind myself to pull my jaw back up off the floor so that I could get to the task at hand. In the end, I set the eyes in 64 or so hoods and I never got tired of it. My time on that costume is one of my most favorite experiences in my Hollywood "career".

Jen: Weren't you an extra in another Spider-Man movie a few years ago? How cool was it to revisit that mythology, this time seeing a different side of production?

Lisa: Yes, I was in Spider-Man 2 as an extra in some of the New York street exterior scenes. I remember back then that I was very disappointed they were all scenes with Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. I'd wanted to see the costume. Well, I see my work on The Amazing Spider-Man as an answer to that wish plus a whole lot more!

Jen: In closing, if you could work on only one movie coming out in the future--2013 or later--what movie would you choose and why and what would you want to do on it?

Lisa: I want to work on anything with Chris Hemsworth in it. I don't care what I'm doing--writing, acting, driving, sewing the crotch into his costume--as long as I get to do it. Why? Because then maybe I might get to have an adventure truly worth you being ridiculously, droolingly jealous about...the kind we can look back on and tell the story over and over again. Like the time I accidentally face-planted in Adam Sandler's lap. I'd undergo that kind of humiliation again, but only for you...and to land in Chris's lap no matter how embarrassing for all parties involved!

Jen: Chris’s lap is the perfect place to end our chat. It’s really the perfect place period.

If you want to learn more about us and our Hollywood loves, both the real and fictional variety, visit us on the web at www.ashleighraine.com where we have a section devoted to more of Lisa’s Tales from Hollywood. Check out our most recent erotic romance release, STARSTRUCK, book three in our Hollywood Heat series. And if you're just getting started with us, pick up book one, ACTING ON IMPULSE, at the low, introductory price of only 99 cents.

 

 
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Monday, May 21, 2012

The Setting As Character

Location, location, location. Anyone who’s ever bought, sold, or rented a house or apartment knows that’s the mantra of the real estate agent. It’s the mantra of some romance readers and writers, too. Right now, one of the most popular genres of romance novels is one where the setting is so important, it IS the genre: the small town contemporary.

A few years ago, this genre didn’t even exist. Although authors had set hundreds of romance novels in small towns, it wasn’t until the entire series-set-around-a-town concept took off -- my guess is with the amazing popularity of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River and Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove books -- that the setting truly became a character.

Whether it’s waterfront or mountaintop, clustered around a harbor, tucked into a valley, deep in the south, along the edge of the sea, or nestled into the heartland, inventing geography has become as challenging and complex as characterization in this genre, and just as vital when creating the series concept.

In fact, for me -- and I suspect the same is true of other small town contemporary authors -- the stories came second; the setting came first. For my recently launched Barefoot Bay series, I chose Florida because I’ve lived in the state for over twenty years, and I’ve personally experienced many aspects of this diverse and picturesque peninsula.

I worked for years in the colorful, ethnic metropolis of Miami, then moved to raise my children in a sleepy beachside town with stunning views of space shuttle launches. My sister lives in the rolling hills of rural north Florida; my son’s a University of Florida Gator up in quaint but cosmopolitan Gainesville; I’ve got strong connections to the historic Tampa Bay and family living in vibrant Jacksonville. Best of all, we’ve taken multiple family vacations in the Conch Republic, the uniquely eccentric paradise also known as Florida’s Keys.

But when I first closed my eyes and tried to imagine the perfect location for a series of contemporary novels where the setting would play a key role, I went instantly to the beauty of southwest Florida and the white sands and emerald islands dotting the Gulf of Mexico coastline.

The magical “barrier islands” are accessible only by boat or causeway, and the thousands islands and keys that hug the entire coast of Florida all have different personalities. Some are overdeveloped with multi-million dollar mansions, some are laid back and home to artists and retirees, others are trendy, luring tourists with world class resorts and jaw-droppingly gorgeous sunsets, while a few are charmingly stuck in the 1950’s with trolleys for public transportation and mom-and-pop businesses that close when the fishing is good.

I took the best of all those characteristics to create the Barefoot Bay series, set on Mimosa Key, a fictional island off the coast of the Naples/Fort Myers area. Before I even outlined the first book, I drafted the history of the island, a few of the most influential (and colorful) townspeople, and got a sense of the politics, businesses, neighborhoods, and “personality” of the area.

Only then did I start the process of creating the characters and the stories, launching the series with a hurricane that wipes out the homes and changes the lives of the people who live on the island’s serene and pristine inlet of Barefoot Bay. One of them is Lacey Armstrong, a single mother, a granddaughter of one of the island’s founders, and a woman who -- much like the island where she lives -- survives and thrives no matter what mother nature throws at her. She has friends and family, dreams and desires, and a rich personal history. And on the pages of BAREFOOT IN THE SAND, Lacey learns to let go of the past and find a future with one extremely sexy, younger architect who helps her change the face of her island...and the state of her heart.

No question about it, having the setting as a character has definitely influenced how and what I’ve written in the series. I’d love to hear from the Writerspace community: which small town contemporary setting is your favorite and why?

 

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Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times bestselling author of nearly thirty romance, suspense, and young adult novels. Visit her website for excerpts and info on all of her books: www.roxannestclaire.com or stop by www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire for daily updates and the occasional picture of a hot guy or cute puppy.

 

 
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Friday, May 18, 2012

Why I wrote Beautiful Sacrifice

Archaeology, especially sites in the New World, have always fascinated me. In this year of the Baktun, the Turning of the Wheel of time, all things Maya are easier to find in the news than at any period I can remember.

Naturally, that started stories condensing in the mind. I was born with a huge amount of “what if” in my imagination. In this case, I fastened on to a seemingly simple idea: What if a group of people really believed that the end of the world would happen on December 21, 2012?

Where would those believers be most active? What would those believers do to assure a place in the new world to come? How would they decide what was necessary?

Who or what would be their god, and what would he or she require of believers? How would the actions of the believers echo through the larger world of unbelievers?

What kind of heroine would find herself caught between modern believers and ancient myths? What kind of hero would be likely to intersect with the heroine and the believers? What kind of obstacles would such a man and a woman find on their way to survival—and love?

BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE is my answer to those questions. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I did researching and writing it.

Above all, thanks for loving books!

Elizabeth Lowell

 

www.elizabethlowell.com

 

 
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