Romance Weekly #LoveWriteChat

 

 

 

 

 

Hey! Romance Weekly is 6 months old today. Happy birthday to us. Were celebrating all day on our facebook page and starting today we’re taking our weekly author blog hop in a new direction. It’s fun. It’s entertaining. It’s open. And you’re invited to hop along!

 

from SoulMate Publishing

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

 

Thanks to Sarah Hegger, darling author of wonderful medieval The Bride Gift for the introduction.

This week’s theme is from Jo Richardson, author of Cursed be the Wicked.

 

 

My Top 10 Romances of All Time

 

Jane Eyre

1. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

Because she refuses to be less than she is and he loves her for it.

 

2. Natural Born Charmer – Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Because she’s prickly and desperate and he falls for her purple lollipop eyes.

 

3. Faking It – Jennifer Crusie

Because he’s a con artist and she’s an art forger. (Need I say more?)

 

The Princess Bride

4. The Princess Bride – Samuel Goldman

Because he proves himself worthy over and over again.

 

5. The Firebrand – Susan Wiggs

Because the hero sees the heroine’s inner beauty and falls in love with it.

 

When Harry Met Sally

6. When Harry Met Sally – with Billy Crystal & Meg Ryan

Because husbands and wives should be best friends.

 

7. The Gift of the Magi – O. Henry

Because they gave what they valued most to make the other happy.

 

8. Catch of the Day – Kristan Higgins

Because she’s clueless Malone is in to her & he refuses to let her clean for him.

 

Brigadoon

9. Brigadoon – with Gene Kelly & Cyd Charisse

Because time stops when they’re together & I love the way they dance.

 

10. Small Town Girl – LaVyrle Spencer

Because she is a story master and this old one-that-got-away tugs at my heart.

 

 

 

In Her Dreams

It’s tough to narrow down. What’s one (or two) of your top romance movies or books? Please let me know (below).

 

Then I’m hopping over to Katherine Givens, author of In Her Dreams to see her picks. Come with! She’s at

http://katherinegivens1.wordpress.com/posts/

 

Stuck Overnight in an Airport

So I’m stuck in the airport overnight on my way home from a writer’s conference in Texas enroute to Montreal. Big storm heading east and flights are cancelled. All of them. The local airport hotels are packed-booked too. My options are few.

Quick! Mad dash to the end of the terminal where there were a few scattered club chairs with actual padding. Screech. Detour to a souvenir shop. Buy two blankets—the a/c is chilly— a pillow, some snacks, a drink, and boom. I claimed my space.

You see, this is not my first overnight at an airport.

Frankfort, four years ago, with mother and both daughters.

We were ill-equipped. No extra layers. No warmth. No padding. We did have entertainment. Dominoes. Played Mexican train for hours.

We staggered around bleary-eyed , occasionally shivered, and made up ridiculous word games, like taking the first letter off our names and replacing it with ‘h’. So Kim became Him. Jennifer was Hennifer. Lisa was Hisa. The funniest was my mom’s name. Mary Lou. She became Harry Hoo. No matter what letter we substituted, hers was the height of hilarity. Larry Lou, Mary Moo. Dairy Doo. Parry Poo.

Maybe you had to be there.

My other overnight airport stay was not so fun. Mostly because of anxiety.

Husband Edward and the girls and I were stuck in the Caribbean. My father had just suffered a heart attack and we were trying to get home as fast as possible to be with him. It was one of those flight-delayed, finally-boarded, wait-in terminably-on-the-tarmac, then forced-to-deplane nightmares that had my kids burst into tears along with several drunk revellers.

The drunk revellers took the party back into the over-bright airport, but my dashing darling saved the day. Er, night. Clever man found the airport VIP room, where for $50 we shared a comfy couch in a darkened area and were fed unlimited sandwiches and soft-drinks.

My room for the night

Sigh. I’m about to go plug my computer in and read for a bit. Cuddle up with my airplane blanket and C-shaped neck pillow. I’ll tell you how the overnight goes.

Oh yeah. The kicker?

Tomorrow’s my birthday. Nice present. Huh?

 

What about you? Got any overnight airport stories to amuse me while I’m stuck in Detroit International?

Fun Fluff & Other Stuff

Happy TGIF! 

Helping me celebrate the beginning of the weekend is J.J. Devine, author of The Cheyenne Bride and the newly released Into The Darkness. She’ll tell you more about her work in a moment, but first Zee Questions Pleeze:

 

 

 

Getting to Know You:

 

What did you have for breakfast? I don’t eat breakfast often, when I do it is usually brunch, (bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, or maybe pancakes and waffles)

What are you wearing? LOL, in my defense it’s almost bedtime, so jammies

When was the last time you cried? When my granddaughter passed away.

What was your favorite Hallowe’en costume? Well, seeing as this is one of my most favorite holidays and yes, I do dress each year to go out with the grandchildren, my costume is always a witch J

What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether or not they have a sense of humor. I love to laugh.

 

The Good/The Bad

 

Worst habit: I’m a smoker

Worst movie: Traffic, yuk

Worst food: Liver hands down

Worst alcoholic drink: Beer, gross, I’m a whiskey woman myself J

Worst vacation: I love vacation, even the bad ones, like planning a week long camping trip and it rains the whole time. I’m still up for it J

 

Fav fruit: Peaches (I was born in Georgia and spent a good part of my growing up running in and out of that state)

Fav dessert: Cherry Cheesecake hands down

Fav color: Red

Fav sport: I’m not into sports, but if I had to choose, baseball

Fav flower: Roses

 

This or That:

 

Soup or salad: Salad

Fame or fortune: You mean I can’t have both, LOL. Hmmm, probably fortune

New York or LA: I’ve never been to either, but if I had to choose LA

Jeans or yoga pants: I’m a country girl, so jeans all the way

Mac or PC: PC

Twitter or facebook: Both

Manicure or pedicure: Both

Dogs or cats: Both

Nightie or pj’s: Pjs

Coffee or tea: I’m a southern girl so sweet tea all the way

 

The Really Important Things:

 

What store do you shop at the most? Walmart, because I hate to shop and I can get everything in one place

If you could be any (other) nationality, what would it be? Native American, I love the rich history of their culture.

You own a yacht. What do you call it? The Dreamer

What’s your favorite sports car? Mustang

Do you let your sig other buy jewelry for you on their own or help them pick it out? We’ve been married almost 29 years, so yes I do. He knows my taste and does a very good job at picking out jewelry. In fact the necklace he bought me for Christmas has gotten more compliments than any other piece of jewelry I own J

 

More This or That (Just ‘Cause They’re So Much Fun):

 

Thanksgiving or July 4^th: July 4^th

Morning or night: Night

Summer or winter: Both

Chocolate or vanilla: Both

Print or ebook: Both

Rock or pop music: Both

Heels or sneakers: Both

Europe or the Caribbean: Oh oh both for sure J

Wealth or health: Health

Fly or be invisible at will: Fly definitely, couldn’t you see it, me in my witch’s costume, flying around town on Halloween night J

 

More about J.J. Devine:

 

J.J. Devine grew up loving the written word. She spent her days daydreaming and imagining what life would be like if she lived between the pages of the books she read. Today, she still spends her days dreaming. Only now she pens them into the romance novels she enjoys writing to share with her readers. On her down time, she enjoys spending time with her hubby, children, grandchildren, and pets. As well as helping to bring public awareness on the subject of domestic violence.

 

 

Author Links:

Website:

http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/

Blog:

http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/ramblings-of-a-writer.html

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/JJDevineAuthor?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JjDevine2010

 

July 9, 2014 with the help of Soul Mate Publishing I just released the first of my paranormal series, Into the Darkness. It’s a coming into oneself story about a young woman, Raven, who believed for the first twenty-five years of her life she was nothing more than a mortal woman. Imagine her surprise when she not only found out she was part witch, but the man who sired her was a vampire. The story takes you on Raven’s journey from innocence into finding her true self. Of course she has the help of a very sexy vampire, Dragon. You may have met him somewhere out there in the blogging world the last few weeks. He does love to visit the world wide web a bit J

You can grab your copy of Into the Darkness on Amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Darkness-J-J-Devine-ebook/dp/B00LMS9D2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405398961&sr=8-1&keywords=into+the+darkness+j.j.+devine

 

Social Media = Friend Glue

John Lee

 

Don’t you love that social media has changed our ability to foster friendships? I mourn all the great friendships started before everyone had a computer and a facebook account that wasted away because I was too cheap to phone or too lazy to find a stamp and walk to the mailbox.

Like Lila, my amazing roommate from University who married her high school sweetheart, went back to her hometown of Thunder Bay and became an A-1 theatre director and actress. Like TJ, another awesome roommate from early radio days in Sarnia, who became a successful producer and writer in Toronto. And like RosieMary, another flatmate who moved from Montreal to Tremblant—only two hours away—to become a ski bunny and is now a naturopath.

Why didn’t we stay in touch? My part in it was that I suck at letter writing. Actually I suck at letter mailing. ‘Cause I’d often write the letters, but they’d never make it out of my office to the post-office. Then time would go by and I’d be embarrassed for not calling/writing/etc. which made even my crippled communication attempts whither and die. Ergo, Kim’s history of crappy maintenance of long distance friendships.

 

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

Thank Heavens for facebook and Twitter and Viber and email. Because of the convenience they offer, I don’t let that happen anymore. Tomorrow I am re-uniting with my dear friend and fellow writer, Sarah Hegger at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio, Texas. When we shared the same town, we were gym buddies, community meeting partners and became fast friends in our quest to write romance novels and get published. She moved to the other side of the continent a year ago but merci to social media, this is a friend I didn’t lose touch with. In fact, we’ve only gotten tighter. Sarah is published now and as her number one fan, please forgive the blatant promotion of her Amazon chart topping medieval on the side of this blog. (It’s a damn good romance)

In other good news, Lila, and TJ and I are friends on facebook, but so much life has gone by it’s almost inappropriate to try to re-kindle the closeness we once had. Thus, the mourning. The connections I have with them now are bittersweet.

 

What about you? Does social media help you maintain friendships or do you think it makes relationships superficial? Is it a help or a hindrance?

 

Fridays: Fun Fluff & Other Stuff

The Bride Gift, Soul Mate Publishing

Welcome!

It’s Friday. It’s July (my fav month) and I’m launching a new weekly feature, introducing an author friend and asking them all manner of unwriterly things.

This week it’s Sarah Hegger, author of The Bride Gift, an Amazon #1 Bestseller.

After this fun & fluffy interview, she’s going to tell you a bit about her next medieval book, Sweet Bea. She’s releasing it September 1st, but you can pre-order it right now.

 

 

Getting to Know You:

 

What did you have for breakfast? Yoplait 100 calorie Greek Yoghurt (to counter the pizza)

What are you wearing? Shorts and a tee-shirt. It’s 100 degrees out there.

When was the last time you cried? On the weekend.

What was your favorite Hallowe’en costume? A sexy witch I made for myself.

What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Arms, yum!

 

The Good/The Bad

 

Fav fruit: Cherries

Fav dessert: Ice cream (Haagen Dazs), oh and baked cheesecake

Fav color: Green

Fav sport: Cricket

Fav flower: Iris

 

Jason Kelly

 

Worst habit: Drinking out of the bottle/carton

Worst movie: Last Exit to Brooklyn (great movie but so depressing I couldn’t shake it)

Worst food: Fish Blech! Yuck!

Worst alcoholic drink: Pretty much all of them

Worst vacation: Montreal at Christmas 16 years ago, freezing cold and no snow

 

This or That:

 

Soup or salad: Soup

Fame or fortune: Yes, please

New York or LA: New York

Jeans or yoga pants: Yoga Pants

Mac or PC: Mac

Twitter or facebook: Twitter

Manicure or pedicure: Pedicure

Dogs or cats: Dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs

Nightie or Pj’s: PJ’s

Coffee or tea: Coffee (when my husband makes it for me.)

 

The Really Important Things:

 

Polly C.

What store do you shop at the most? Nordstrom (I have a shoe thing)

If you could be any (other) nationality, what would it be? Spanish

You own a yacht. What do you call it? Amanzi (Zulu word for water)

What’s your favorite sports car? E-Type Jaguar

Do you let your sig other buy jewelry for you on their own or help them pick it out? He has great taste in jewelry.

 

More This or That (Just ‘Cause They’re So Much Fun):

 

Thanksgiving or July 4^th: Thanksgiving

Morning or night: Night

Summer or winter: SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla

Print or ebook: ebook

Rock or pop music: Rock

Heels or sneakers: Heels

Europe or the Caribbean: Both

Wealth or health: Health

Fly or be invisible at will: Invisibility.

 

 

Who am I?

 

Sarah Hegger

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Draper, Utah, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

 

She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

 

Sweet Bea

 

Lyrical Press

Is anything sweeter than revenge?

 

In a family of remarkable people, ordinary Beatrice strives to prove herself worthy. When her family is threatened with losing everything, she rushes to London to save them. Unfortunately, she chooses as her savior the very man who will see her family brought low.

Garrett has sworn vengeance on Sir Arthur of Anglesea for destroying his life when he was a boy and forcing his mother into prostitution for them to survive. He has chosen as his instrument Sir Arthur’s youngest daughter, Beatrice.

Can Beatrice’s goodness teach Garrett that love, not vengeance, is the greatest reward of all?

 

 

Available for preorder on Amazon

 

Thanks so much Sarah. Fun getting to know the author behind the great stories. Please leave a comment below of you liked this feature.

Romance Weekly #LoveWriteChat

from SoulMate Publishing

 

 

 

If you’ve just come from J.R. Richardson, author of the fabulous Cursed be the Wicked, the lady who penned this week’s questions, welcome! If you’ve come from somewhere else, welcome, welcome! This is my stop on Romance Weekly’s author blog tour.

 

 

How often do you write?

 

I want to write everyday. I don’t. I probably get to write 4-6 days a week. Sometimes it’s new words, sometimes it’s editing. If I’m in the new words phase, it varies between 200-2,000 words, depending on whether I have narrations or other demands. If I’m editing, I try to do 2-3 chapters a day. I haven’t figured out how to add up word counts during editing days. And how do you figure time done plotting? Anybody? I dream of spending 6-8 uninterrupted hours a day writing. That’s my goal – so far unattainable, but as the kids get older and my husband gets more and more supportive and understands that I need unbroken quiet, my hope grows. (Because like Elna Rae says, where hope grows, miracles blossom)

 

Do you think it’s important to your craft to write as much as you can, and as often as you can?

When I write more I produce more. But I’ve gone through times when I haven’t been able to meet my word counts. I don’t want to derail myself by thinking if I don’t write as often as I can that I’m a failed writer. You only fail when you stop trying. Life will let you write more sometimes and less others. Sometimes we need to refill the well, so we don’t run dry and that’s part of the process, too.

 

 

Stephanie Gauvin on Mt Assiniboine

What is your opinion on the saying “if you don’t write every day, you’re not a writer”?

For me it’s similar to acting. I am definitely an actress. What I call a “career” actress, because I’ve been able to live off nothing other than acting for over 20 years. I don’t get an acting gig everyday, but I do land 3-4 of them a week. I acted and practiced the craft for several years before I could “quit my day job”. It’s the same working in any art. You must practice your craft, hone those skills, until you are marketable. I act when I’m not getting paid to act. I notice my own feelings, emotions and those of others. I observe people. A lot. Since I’m primarily a voice actor, I read out loud and “play with my instrument”. In effect, I “act” daily. This is transferable to writing. Or painting. One of my artist friends, who happens to be in Who’s Who in American Art, responds the same way whenever some one asks her, “How long did it take to do that watercolor?” “30 minutes and 30 years,” she’ll say. There’s more to writing than writing. There’s reading and thinking and observing. And social media. Can’t forget that.

 

Ok, hop with me now to Veronica Forand’s blog. She’s a multi-award winner, Veronica is. Including being a Finalist in the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.

http://veronicaforand.com

 

 

Description—How to Make Readers Fall In & Never Escape

From my fav social media jedi and Texan writer guress, Kristen Lamb:

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Sidewalk chalk art near Regent’s Canal in London.

Today we’re going to address a topic that—GASP—I don’t believe we’ve ever covered in almost 800 blogs. Namely because it is a tricky one to address. We’re going to talk about description. For those who never use description or very sparse description? Don’t fret. That’s just your voice. Readers like me who looooove description will probably gravitate to other books and that is OKAY.

Personally, I’m not a fan of austere modern houses with stainless steel everything and weird chairs no human could sit in and most cats would avoid, but? There are plenty of people who dig it. I also don’t like a lot of knick-knacks and clutter. Makes me want to start cleaning.

Same with books. Not too little or too much. Yeah, I’m Literary Goldilocks.

Plain fact? We can’t please everyone. Description (or lack thereof) is a component of…

View original post 1,838 more words

Romance Weekly #LoveWriteChat

 

Welcome!

Thanks to Amy Jarecki author of the Highland Force series for the invitation to land here on the Romance Weekly blog hop.

These questions are from author Jeanne McDonald, who releases The Certainty of Deception today. (Join her facebook release party—Woot! 3p.m.-11p.m.Eastern Standard)

 

How did you go about choosing the names for your characters?

 

Sometimes I go on baby naming sites, like http://www.20000-names.com/ or http://www.sheknows.com/ Most of the time, however, the names just come to me along with the character. Sometimes a main character begins with one name and changes names on the third or fourth re-write. Ruby in Stolen Kiss started life as Vero (pronounced the French Canadian way- rhymes with arrow). Arabella in Stolen Heart began as Annika. But the character that developed in the story didn’t match the name and kind of insisted on switching. People I know can influence name choices. Tukie Cohen was inspired from awesome women in my town with unusual names like Twinkle, Honey and Cookie. The names of the hero and heroine in my WIP came to me very quickly. Dane and Eva. They are such opposites and so much fun!

 

Where did the inspiration for your current book come from?

Nineteen years ago in March I was holed up in a Norwegian hutel (not a hotel) during a white out, while my husband skied the tops of the Jotunheimen mountain region. After failing the “check-out” I was unable to cross-country ski the distances to go hut-to-hut and stayed put. My newly weaned (for aforementioned trip) ten-month-old daughter (home with grandparents) and I cried about our separation. The story poured out over three days and I tucked the notes away for posterity. (19 years—that’s a generation, right?) P.S. It has nothing to do with snow.

 

What methods do you use to ensure you have no plot holes (journal, storyboard, outline, editor, etc.)?

 

I’m too superstitious to use a word like “ensure” regarding no plot holes, but the method I follow is three fold. The story kernel gets a page. I run this page through the Late and wonderfully generous Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat 15 Beats system. At this point, I usually spin a journal or two for my main characters, so I get to know them, their voices and their problems better. Lastly, (my most recent development) I use Lisa Miller’s Plot Safari guidelines (from the Margie Lawson school) to really develop the plot. By this time, I have a good solid 40 pages to use as a guideline. At any point during this process, I may send off notes to my incredible Critique Partner, the inimitable Sarah Hegger for eyes, Yeas, and Nays. I also have two other really talented CP’s who I hope to continue working with who tell me where I went wrong after the ms or parts of it are completed: Brenda Margriet and VC Monroe (Vicki Mixon). I’m extremely fortunate to have their input. And am open to new ideas to help keep the writing organic and fresh.

 

I am really curious to see how Regency Romance author Collette Cameron answered these questions. (especially if she reveals how she came up with the hero and heroine’s names for The Earl’s Enticement – swoon) Join me in checking her out by clicking here:

http://blueroseromance.com

 

The GREAT BEGINNING of Victoria Barbour

Talented author of medieval and contemporary romance Sarah Hegger launches a new weekly event “Great Beginnings” on her blog—to coincide with great beginnings to our weekends, perhaps? Love her fun interview questions and downhome from Newfoundland author Victoria Barbour’s responses:

Romance Weekly #LoveWriteChat

Welcome!

Thanks Beth Carter for the hand-off. (Watch for her release of Thursdays at Coconuts—don’t you love this cover?—in August)

Happy you landed here. It’s the Romance Weekly blog hop where twenty plus romance authors answer the same 3 interview questions and you get insight into the (sometimes) zany minds behind the stories you love. Thanks to Tessa Gray for this week’s questions.

Do any characters you’ve written into your books remind you of yourself? Explain which ones and why?

Ruby the main character in Stolen Kiss reminds me of my inner people pleaser. Like with Ruby, people pleasing was a good coping strategy for a chaotic childhood, but in her/my twenties became the biggest roadblock to mature (lasted longer than a couple years) love. Arabella, the heroine in Stolen Heart is a manifestation of my inner geek. Though I love sciences, I went into arts. Ara took the other direction and became a renowned shark biologist who doesn’t see how she could ever balance a long term relationship with her work. Also, something I struggled with. And Mari, the heroine of Stolen Love is my nurturer, who must draw clear boundaries (like I have to with kids, husband, expectations of others) or lose her sense of herself to love.

 

Was there a teacher or mentor in your life who helped nurture your writing?

 

Apart from the hundreds of published authors I’ve read and the tight clutch of critique partners who inspire me by letting be part of their own process? Yes. I’m learning now from Margie Lawson how to revise my work using her incredible (patented) Deep EDITS method. It’s really helped the anal plotter in me have a security blanket of techniques to trim, tailor and tighten my finished product. She’s going to be at the RWA conference in San Antonio and I’m doing an Immersion class with her in October in Colorado. Can’t wait!

 

Every author has the moment when they doubt their ability to write. When that happens to you, how do you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue? What do you do to inspire yourself?

 

Read the work of others. If it’s good writing, it inspires me to emulate. If it’s bad writing (and we’ve all know that’s out there), I’m motivated to create something better. Sometimes I take a movie or Netflix break and absorb the stories of others. Having had success as an actor helps because I really believe in transferable skills, especially when the subject matter—capturing human emotion and growth—is the same. Connection with others, with life and nature (especially water) all help build the fire and itch to plot and stitch words together.

 

What fun questions! Please keep the blog hop going. Next stop, the award winning (and very loveable):

http://veronicaforand.com

 

 

(This is Veronica’s October release)