Writers Wednesday

Oh Lordy, I am such a flake.  Not only did I skip Five on Friday, but I also completely forgot about Tasty Tuesday.  I have no excuse.  But I hope to redeem myself by another wonderful Writers Wednesday.

Featured on today's Writers Wednesday is an author I only recently discovered.  The talented and quite awe-inspiring Ms. Amanda Hocking.  I've seen her books popping up on my nook often over the past couple of months and I finally bit the bullet and purchased one of them after reading this blog post by the author.  I began reading through her blog and really liked her style, so I bought her book.  And guess what?  I loved it!  I am, obviously, a fan of paranormal romance.  But Ms. Hocking has a refreshing style and voice that causes her readers to become absolutely obsessed with her writing.  It is a quality I've always wished for, but, sadly, never achieved.

The first book I chose to cut my teeth on, was Switched.  It is the first book in her Trylle Trilogy and it is about a girl whose mother tried to kill her when she was little, claiming she was a monster.  It turns out that her mother was right.  Changelings, trolls and teenage hormones.  Add in some philosophizing on what family truly means, and what's not to love?

If you have a kindle, you can check this one out for $0.99.  If you have a nook, you can pick it up for the same price at barnesandnoble.com.  Can't beat that deal.  While I wouldn't put this book up for any literary awards, it is a great YA read.  And truly, I would much rather have my daughter reading these coming-of-age books then, say, the Twilight books, which I feel send harmful messages to impressionable teenage girls. 

As an adult reading this story, I found myself often annoyed at the characters' reactions and interactions, but I felt they were true to the age group.  And this book is aimed at a young adult audience, and I think young adults will find a lot to relate to and commiserate with pertaining to the characters.  It is interesting and engaging, even if you, like me, find yourself rolling your eyes at some of the teenage antics.

So give it a try.  Let's see if you become as addicted to Ms. Hocking's stories as I have.

Writers Wednesday

Featured on today's Writers Wednesday is the talented Ms. Elizabeth Peters.  More particularly, her Amelia Peabody mysteries, begining with Crocodile on the Sandbank.

Why-oh-why has it taken me so long to discover this gem of an author?  She has been on my radar for ages, but for some fathomless reason, I have never delved into her books before now.  What a crime that was, for the Amelia Peabody series is unutterably brilliant.

Amelia is a strong, forthright, vastly intelligent heroine the reader instantly falls in love with.  She is courageous, loyal and wonderfully outspoken.  She has no patience for ridiculous conventions put in place by even more ridiculous men.  It is a light, fun and witty adventure that takes you from the stuffy scene of Victorian England to the wonders of Egypt.  I am hoping that the compelling storytelling and characters hold up for the rest of the series (I think it is up to 19 now).  Ms. Peters seems talented enough to pull it off with sufficient grace and style.  I can't wait to read the rest of this delightful series.

If you haven't read this book, you must rectify that situation immediately.  I really must insist.

Good Wednesday, me'lovelies

Tasty Tuesday

My goodness, are those cobwebs?  Let's just dust those aside, shall we?  I am quite embarrassed by the state of things around here.  In my defense, the poor housekeeping of this blog is somewhat justified.  I have been recovering from a rather serious car accident I was in early last year and have only just had the time and energy to get things situated in cyberspace. 

After such a long absense, I find myself at a loss as to what I should say.  In an effort to spruce things up, perhaps we should institute a new tradition, yes?  I had my Five on Friday (which will be returning this Friday...I know, I know, you can hardly contain your excitement).  So now, for your (and my) culinary delight, I would like to introduce Tasty Tuesday. 

I realize this has nothing to do with reading OR writing, but we all need to eat, yes?  Feel free to leave your own recipes for next week's Tasty Tuesday.  I will try them and put my favorites on the ol' blog.  I confess to being a comment whore.  I love 'em, I need 'em, I gotta have 'em.

Without further ado, today's Tasty Tuesday recipes are:

Poached Pears
6 Forelle pears (or other small-ish pears)
2 tablespoon mulling cider spice mix
juice of one lemon

Place the pears, spice mix, lemon juice and water in tall saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the pears are just soft (poke with a toothpick to check).


Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and allow to cool on paper towel or baking rack.


Chocolate Sauce
4 oz Cadburry (is there any other) semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon honey

Place the chocolate in a non reactive bowl and set aside.


In a heavy saucepan set over medium high heat, bring the cream and honey to a strong simmer. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes then slowly stir until the mixture comes together.


Ice Cream
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
1 cup (200gr) granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean

In a large saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, and sugar. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape the inside with the tip of a knife. Add that pulp (the seeds) to the pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium low heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let steep as it cools to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight. Strain if desired.

Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's intructions.
 
I'm planning on enjoying this tonight with a nice port, or perhaps merlot, plugging in my ipod to this loverly, and finally doing some writing.  I tried yesterday, but was woefully unsuccessful.  I have a good feeling about tonight, however.  I am feeling inspired.
 
Happy March, my lovelies.

The Power of Prologue

In writing circles there is a debate going on about prologues. And let me tell you, if you thought something as innocuous as prologues couldn't possibly be controversial or titalating, think again. There are very emotional arguments on both sides of the spectrum. Some people are in love with prologues and absolutely refuse to let go of them. On the flip side, others claim that a prologue is just a way to cheat when coming up with an opening hook. As for me, I'm somewhere in between, but leaning more toward the champions of the prologue.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every book should have a prologue. In fact, I think a writer should consider carefully whether or not a prologue is really neccessary before writing it. I am brainstorming for a new book right now about a 1000 year old fairy woman who has been in isolation for hundreds of years until she meets a 19th century sexy scientist. I was tempted to start off with a prologue, but after considering it I realized that there was nothing I could say in a prologue that couldn't be incorporated as back story throughout the story. On the flip side, Savage Grace begins with the death of Evangeline's mother. While her mother technically dies before the story begins, how she dies is of vital importance to the story. Hence, I determined that her death scene would work best as a prologue.

So when is a prologue appropriate? When I am considering this in my writing I have several questions that I answer with brutal honesty before making a decision.

1. Is the prologue neccessary to set up the main story?

The purpose of a prologue is to relay essential backstory that cannot be done any other way. This is done in a different voice and POV than the rest of the novel, in order to set it apart. As with my example above, the information should occur in a diffent time and/or location than the rest of the novel. And allow me to stress again that this information must be neccessary to the rest of the story.

2. Does the prologue have an exceptionally compelling hook?

If you decide to write a prologue, keep in mind that it is essentially a false start to your story. I know many readers who simply skip prologues (I have been guilty of this at times). As such, you must make certain that you have an almost supernaturally compelling hook. Something that will tell the reader that it is worth their time to read the prologue (false start) before the first chapter (actual start).

3. Are you using an exciting prologue to cover up an unexciting opening chapter?

As a reader, there is nothing that annoys me more than a gripping, edge-of-my-seat prologue followed by a dross opening chapter. If the only reason you are using a prologue is because you have no effective hook in your opening chapter, then you are using it for the wrong reason. If you open with an entire chapter of info dumping and backstory, then you need to rewrite the opening and consider dropping the prologue. The opening chapter must be exciting and compelling, otherwise you'll just annoy your readers.

This is my opinion; what's yours? To prologue or not to prologue. That is my question.

Bodice-Ripper Defined

While writing and perfecting my first book, Savage Grace, I participated in several peer-review author websites as well as some local writers circles. While I was submitting it for peer-review, I received several comments along the lines of "be careful, this [insert section here] could make people think this is a bodice-ripper" (or some variation thereof).

It could be that I was born in the wrong generation, but I wasn't quite sure what defined a "bodice-ripper". I gathered from the comments I received that it was considered a bad thing. So I relied on my old friend google and came up with several definitions. Starting with:

"a romantic novel containing scenes in which the heroine is sexually violated"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Okay, definitely not any of the books I have or every would write. Kind of offended that people would even think my books would be classified as such. Moving on to the next definition:

"The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. ..." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodice_ripper

This is a very good description of my books. I call it romance, but some apparently consider it a bodice-ripper. Let's move to the next:

"A sexually explicit romantic novel, usually in a historical setting, especially one involving the seduction of the heroine" en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Bodice-ripper

Sure, that one works for me as well.

Of these four definitions, the only one I take issue with is the first about the heroine being raped by the hero. After reading these, I must say I am a bit offended by the term "bodice-ripper". It seems to imply that romance books have less merit than pieces of literary fiction. If I enjoy writing and reading romance some people might think that I am something of a mindless drone. Just because I enjoy Eloisa James and Julie Garwood doesn't mean I can't enjoy W. Somerset Maugham or George Orwell (two of my absolute favourite authors, by the way).

Think of it this way. There are thousands of movies in existance. Some of them are very important movies. Schindler's List, The Last King of Scotland or Hotel Rwanda, to name a few. But I have no desire to only watch these serious, important (and sometimes downright depressing) movies. Sometimes I just want something that is fun and emotionally satisfying. Something like Never Been Kissed, The Proposal or Singing in the Rain.

There are many very talented, intelligent people who write romance. Julia Quinn is an ivy league graduate with a post-graduate degree on top of that. I enjoy philosophy, history, psychology and politics. I read the NY Times and the Wallstreet Journal cover-to-cover on a daily basis. I am a subscriber to the Economist. I watch Charlie Rose and C-Span. I also enjoy "chick-flicks" and, apparently, "bodice-rippers". Does that make me a mindless drone? If it does, then I am remarkably comfortable with that determination. The world would be a better place were there more such "mindless drones" in the world.

What Happens In London

Before yesterday I had never read a single book of Julia Quinn's. Then I was at the grocery store on Saturday night looking at the magazine ailse. I happened to see a book entitled What Happens In London. Now tell me, who wouldn't pick up a book with that title? It just demands to be read. And the fact that it is trade paperback and only cost me $7.99 was just icing on the cake. So while I almost always read my romances via e-book, I bought this one in hardcopy (if anyone wants to borrow it, let me know and I'll ship it to you).

Why do I love Julia Quinn? She is like a modern Jane Austen (honest to god). Her delightful asides and hilarious sub-plots and characters make it impossible to stop reading. I started it Sunday morning and finished it Sunday afternoon. It was unputdownable. The only disappointing part is that I have to wait until next year to read Seb's story. I loved Seb even more than I loved Harry. Of course, she has apparently published a dozen other books to keep me busy until then, so I'm not too disappointed.

Harry Valentine (yes, a slightly cheesy name, but don't hold it against him) is not your normal romantic hero. He is what the ton would have called a bluestocking (does this term apply to men and women both?). He works for the War Department (because what self-respecting Regency hero doesn't, really?). The catch is that he has a very boring desk job. He is a bit of a linguist and is in charge of translating documents from Russian to English. He doesn't like danger or espionage or subterfuge.

Olivia, who I would hate if she weren't so damn likeable, is the Original of the Season. Breathtakingly beautiful but seen as somewhat cold (not because she is cold, but because she is often distracted by her amusing mental tangents and forgets to listen when people are talking to her). She is hilarious (and if she weren't so clumsy, I really would hate her).

You will love the scene where Olivia and Harry read at risqué gothic novel while sitting on their respective window ledges. My heart is all atwitter just thinking about it.

In case you want a sneak peek, this is also an Avon book, so you can read the first 60-something pages here:

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Rumors and Gossip . . . The lifeblood of London

When Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fiancée, she doesn't believe it for a second, but, still, how can she help spying on him, just to be sure? So she stakes out a spot near her bedroom window, cleverly concealed by curtains, watches, and waits . . . and discovers a most intriguing man, who is definitely up to something.

Sir Harry Valentine works for the boring branch of the War Office, translating documents vital to national security. He's not a spy, but he's had all the training, and when a gorgeous blonde begins to watch him from her window, he is instantly suspicious. But just when he decides that she's nothing more than an annoyingly nosy debutante, he discovers that she might be engaged to a foreign prince, who might be plotting against England. And when Harry is roped into spying on Olivia, he discovers that he might be falling for her himself . . .

Where Do Your Ideas Come From???

Today was a bad writing day. It was like carving the words into granite. Chip, chip, chip. Wow, I got half a letter T. Chip, chip, chip. And there's the rest of it. On and on it went all day long until I got all of two hundred words written. Awful words at that. I'm certain I'll scrap most, if not all of it tomorrow (technically today, as it is 3:20 in the morning).

So what's my point in revealing this to you? I'm so happy that you asked. Because after spending all day forcing the words out with a sledge hammer, I decided to call it a day and go to sleep. Unfortunately, as soon as my head touched the pillow my mind was suddenly full of ideas. Now I have two hours (if I'm lucky) until the wee one wakes up and I still can't turn off my mind. On the plus side, I've written four thousand words tonight plus outlined my next book.

My question today is this: Where do you get your ideas? And, perhaps more importantly, what do you do when the ideas stop flowing?