A few of us had a great idea for this week's blog... we wanted to do a Thursday Thirteen entry for who we'd want to "star" as the heroes of our stories. It's amazing what a hunky bunch of menfolk we chose!

Here's the list (in no particular order):

The topic: Name your dream actor/actress to play the role of one of your characters in a wip or published work.

The results:

1. Gina Ardito would love to see Christian Bale as Kyle Hayden, the tycoon fallen on hard times (or has he?) from A Little Slice of Heaven, soon to be released from The Wild Rose Press.
2. Debora Dennis has her heart set on Josh Holloway to play the part of the ultra-sexy reclusive restauranteur Zane Maxwell in her current wip, Dinner and a Movie Star.
3. Shelby Reed sees Jude Renaud, the hero in her latest book, is a combination of Australian actor Daniel Goddard and someone she's never seen.
4. Zee would like Damian Lewis to portray Zeke, medic in Vietnam on leave between tours, who hops in a taxi with his destiny.
5. Sandra Cormier pictures William Petersen playing the part of David in her novel, The Space Between (The Wild Rose Press). A mature fellow with some sexy vibes.
6. Leslie Ann Dennis would love to see Chris Evans play Conlan MacGregor, the hero from her Scottish book, Reason to Believe (from The Wild Rose Press)
7. Katie Anderson would love to have Viggo Mortensen play Caleb Stone in her WIP, Bad Wind Blows.
8. Ellie Heller would love to see Jason Isaacs as Niccolo Machiavelli Hynson, the former secret ops man who grows to embrace his Elf heritage and accept the leadership role he finds himself in.
9. Ali picks Jake Gylenhaal as her ghost, Josh, in Melanie.
10. Sadie Cole would like Jared Leto to play her hero, Alexander in First Kiss.
11. Paisley Scott would like Chad Michael Murray to play Spencer, her latest hottie hero.
12. Even tho Zara Penny didn't have a chance to answer this, I'm assuming she'd choose George Clooney for any of her heroes.
13. Hunter Cole isn't as excited about the look of the hero in his WIP, but shrugs and claims he wouldn't turn down Colin Farrell if he begged him to be in the movie, like a big cry-baby.

Who would YOU choose... if your story went to Hollywood?

I write 'Romances'. I also, like many of my fellow RWUers, write in other genres. I write stories that are fantasy, suspense, and what I think would be termed urban or futuristic fantasy. However, all of my works have a romance in them. But…and you knew that was coming, didn't you?…the tales I write in others genres are not 'Romance' stories. In my 'other' stories, the story arc is not about the relationship and romantic love between two people. I do admit they do have, mostly, an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Hey, I am a 'glass is half full' kind of person! (I should thank Wikipedia for helping me with a standardized 'romance' definition!)

Many, many 'main stream' and/or 'literary' novels, new and old, have romantic love in them. Nicholas Sparks is clearly an author who incorporates romantic love in his novels. As for F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hello? What crib sheet doesn't list 'romantic love' as a main theme in The Great Gatsby? Anna Karenina, please, do we need to go there? Of course, not all these stories have the emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending a 'Romance' novel does. However, they *do* have one key element, a romantic love which enmeshes itself so firmly around the story line that the novel would not exist without it.

In other genres romance is also a frequent element. Fantasy novels are rife with 'life bonding', 'soul mates' and other pairings. In these stories the pairings are not the main thrust of the story arc. However, the romantic relationship (or forced non-relationship) between lead characters can intertwine intimately with the development of the plot. Here you more often have the second element, the 'happy ending', that you don't always with literary novels.

I could go on, but I think you see my point: within many 'non-Romance' genre books are romances. There exist outside our 'genre' stories where the relationship and the romantic love between two people impact the story line.

To that end, I'd like to share with you, and I hope you share with me, some favorite 'non-Romance' genre writers whose 'romances' you have enjoyed. Or at least found memorable. ;-)

My list to start us off:

Piers Anthony: Many of the Xanth Series

Kristen Britain: Green Rider Series (with only two out, I'm still on tenterhooks how the romantic element in this will be resolved!)

Julie Czerneda: Particularly the Species Imperative Series

Sharon Shinn: Particularly Summers at Castle Auburn

Mercedes Lackey: The stand-alone By The Sword

Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

Elizabeth Peters: Any Vicki Bliss Novel, although as I recall all have a romance element

And, of course, Jane Austen (a preemptive strike to avoid getting sixteen posts about her :-) ).

I could go on, but what novels or authors would you list?

Labels: Britain, Czerneda, favorite books, genres, Romance Writing, romantic love, Sparks

We all have authors we admire, usually for their craft in writing, but sometimes for more. Who can't help but admire JKR for her perseverance and dedication to writing the Harry Potter novels? (No, I do not want a discussion on the merits of said novels). Or Stephen King for creating The Haven Foundation, a nonprofit organization which makes grants to freelance writers and artists experiencing career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or other emergency or personal catastrophe?

Those authors deserve our admiration, without a doubt. However, for me, the authors I admire as much are ones that are kind and helpful to novice writers as well as those that extend a sympathetic ear to a new author's worries, trials and tribulations. Clearly some of my admiration simply has to do with the more personal level of interaction I have observed and experienced.

Thus, this week, I want to pay my respects to a favorite author known as much for her thought provoking 'what if' scenarios as her kindness and support to writers: Julie Czerneda.

I was recently reading the forward to a novel by Ms. Czerneda. Yes, I read forwards, I am geeky that way, and I was struck, yet again, of why I admire her, not just as an author of fiction, but also as a chronicler of the writer's life.

As I read the passage below, I thought: Yes! I need to put *this* in the blog. Not only because of how well she has phrased what being writer is like; but also due to how well her sympathy and understanding of a writer's life extends out to the reader in this piece.

The book I am referencing is the ten-year anniversary edition of A Thousand Words for Stranger issued by Daw. In her new introduction, she says, and I quote:

Writers are a curious species; the writing life even more so. We tell ourselves stories,not the way regular people do, but with word-by-word effort. Dreams become insufficient. We're compelled to lock them down, polish them, hoard them on hard drives and paper. We dare to compare them to the work of others. Worst of all, after months and years of labor, we hand our most treasured fantasies to strangers. And wait.

Yes! That's it! Working to make all those stories, ideas and dreams into real, solid, precious wholes. Then, argh, the agony of letting go and waiting…and waiting.

So here I am, given a chance to voice my opinions and thoughts on the RWU Blog; however, when someone else has expressed something so well, so eloquently and so compassionately, I daren't do more than share her words. Particularly when I admire her so much.

Julie, I bow to you. Not just for your wonderful, thought-provoking writing, but also for the kindness, understanding and encouragement you give to new writers (and established ones as well).

And before you ask, no, I do not have a professional relationship with her. This is fandom, pure and simple.
So..who do you admire as a writer/chronicler/mentor?

And please, remember, NO FAN LINKS. People who know her know where to find her.

Labels: Czerneda, Daw, JKR, Julie Czerneda, Mentor, new author, Romance Writing, Stephen King, Support, Thousand Words for Stranger

I’ve discovered something fascinating about the writer vs the reader in me. As a WRITER, I research the heck out of places in which my characters will be lovingly placed. I jump in with both feet, figuring out the smallest facts, or using some unique architecture of the area, I also try to include an interesting landmark or two to make it really authentic.

Now, having said that… and understanding how much time and energy goes into painstakingly learning all the fine details and explaining them to the reader in some sort of narrative or pages of beautifully-worded description, as a READER, I have a problem going to “those” places the author describes.

In my mind, I place the characters and the settings in a familiar place. Always. I have always done this and I guess I’ll always do it. No matter how many meringue-topped castles the author described in her historical romance set in 18th century Russia, to me, they’ll be somewhere I can walk in and out of in my memories. It doesn’t take away any of the enjoyment I have reading the book. As a matter of fact, since it IS a familiar place to me, I find it comforting and find the story even MORE enjoyable since I can almost imagine myself sharing the scenes.

As a reader, I go along, learn the characters, catch up on their lives and fall in rhythm with the plot, the time period, the backstory, etc. As the descriptions come into play, I follow them until I know what all the surroundings in the story actually look like. But, after the initial set up is complete in my head, they’ll suddenly change to a place where I’ve either lived, or a family member’s lived, or maybe a place I’ve visited -- sometimes even a school I went to, etc.

I remember reading Gone with the Wind in eighth grade. Tara in all its antebellum splendor, so beautifully described by Margaret Mitchell suddenly morphed into my grandmother’s house. Granted my grandmother had a large house (it used to be an old boarding house in the 30’s) but it wasn’t anywhere close to the mansion Ms. Mitchell described. But in my mind, it was the perfect setting for Scarlett to meet Rhett.

My grandmother’s front room with its hardwood floor, fireplace and floor to ceiling windows was always the perfect place to stage fancy balls. The “ton” of every Regency I ever read had their ball hosted by Grandma. Every strong-willed heroine who was ordered to go upstairs to change her daring ball gown used Grandma’s flight of wooden stairs that looked down on the entryway, in full view of every arriving guest to the home. No matter how hard I tried to relocate the characters, they always felt at home at Grandmas. BTW, she’s 90 yrs old now and no longer lives in this house, but don’t tell the new owners I’m still using it, ok?

Although Grandma’s house was my favorite stage, I used other places as well. My old childhood home had a lovely study that I consistently used (and still use) for any and all offices used by any and all handsome, brooding heroes (and the wayward heroines that were discovered in there amongst hundreds of books). There weren’t REALLY stacks and stacks of books in there – it was just a simple study with a roll top desk and a few built-in bookcases, but my mind embellished it with rich wood panels and 12 ft ceilings filled with fascinating tomes. Sometimes there was a cozy hearth in the middle of the room with a velvet settee beside it and a snifter of brandy being carried by an aloof manservant…

See what I mean?

Do you generally “see” the story unfold in places that – though embellished - are familiar places to you?

PLEASE, tell me I’m not alone in this!

Labels: Gone with the Wind, GWTW, regency, Rhett, Romance Writing, Scarlett, settings

Heh. Bet that got your attention, didn't it? LOL! Well, I mean it -- in a way. As writers, all of us are faced with "creating our characters" or "makin' babies' of a sort. Honestly, it's one of my very favorite parts of the process. I'm very much a character-driven writer, and as such, I'm extremely careful with the entire process, from conception to birth. Some come into being very easily, while others -- whew -- others are real pains in the neck. But just like children, you're going to have some that are just better behaved than others.

I was asked for some advice earlier this this month about how to direct characters that have made cameos in earlier works and now are the stars of their own stories. These folks can either be a piece of cake to deal with -- or if left unattended for awhile, they can be the most difficult S.O.B.'s to deal with, bar none.

"But how can they be so difficult, Leslie?" you ask. "You've already molded them and given them motivation and we as readers have grown to love them from those other books they randomly appeared in. Remember?"

Argh. Yes. I remember. But think about how you'd feel if you were that character I'd lovingly created, mollycoddled and then...deserted. No, no, not on purpose. Of course not. I'd never willingly neglect my baby. But sometimes... well, sometimes there are other stories that cry out to be told and, well, the one that hollers the loudest gets my attention first.

Alas... this is where we run into trouble. It starts when we pick that character up again and put him/her into a starring role. Holy bull in a china shop, it's near-impossible to direct these folks now. Why? Simple. You see, after you gave birth to them, you released them into a world you created and guess what? They've continued to live and interact in this place without you! (gasp!) And how dare you come in and try to tell them what to do, when to do it and with strangers they've never met before? They've been getting along perfectly fine without you, thankyouverymuch. Hmph!

Er... you see what I'm saying? Basically, our little babies are now all grown-up and, as you probably know, grown-ups are so much harder to raise then kids. These characters can be guided though. Oh, yes... it can be done, but you have to conjure up a pretty hefty dose of patience. Keep that in mind when you're thinking of writing a series. When Peter Jackson decided to film all of the Lord of the Rings movies at once, I thought he was certifiably cuckoo, but now I get it.

As difficult as your characters can be, however, you always love them and you always want them to be the best they can be. Even if their best is to be a horrible, wicked villain. Hey, it happens. It's like that old commercial where the guy goes, "No one ever says: I want to be a drug dealer when I grow up." Shyeah, whatever, dude. I've had a couple of kids that were major drug runners, an embezzler and -- permit me to brag -- a pretty saucy crack whore. Oh, those crazy kids, they'll grow up to be anything! (And hey, every story needs a little flavor).

Have fun makin' your babies! Keep in mind the newer ones are generally more willing to listen to direction and can be manipulated easier than their older brothers and sisters. Heck, they're just thrilled for the attention, y'know? But enjoy it while it lasts. They grow out of this cute stage fast and before you can turn around good, they're off on their own, doing their own thing, living their own life -- without any help from you.



*sniffle*

Oh, my precious babies....!


Leslie Ann Dennis is the author of Reason to Believe, coming soon to The Wild Rose Press.

Labels: babies, creating characters, Romance Writing, writing

The untimely death of Heath Ledger led me to think about the one DVD I have in my possession which features this remarkable actor – A Knight's Tale. It is loosely based on one of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I had a small copy of the book, but couldn't wrap my feeble brain around the medieval prose.

That led me to think about another book that's been sitting around the house for a few years – The Hack's Tale. David Hughes attempts to tap into the minds and travels of three writers: Chaucer, Jean Froissart and Giovanni Boccaccio.

He attempts to illustrate how these three contemporaries heralded the beginning of the media age – forerunners to our news shows, newspapers and hordes of paparazzi following Britney all over the globe. He sees reporters. Hacks, if you will.

But I see three writers who traveled to new places, whether to escape the plague-ridden crowds in the big cities, to hole themselves up in villas to write in peace, or to sit in dark, damp drinking holes to observe the unwashed masses over a few pints.

Was it so different seven hundred years ago? Instead of our own feet or the hooves of some rented horse, we hop into cars, trains or planes in order to seek a place where we can find our muse. Those of us who are lucky enough to afford travel can use this method. For the rest of us, only a quiet corner of the dining room will do, or we must soak up culture from other sources – movies, documentaries or reference books. Or that recent and most efficient tool, the Internet.

How do you do your research? Do you travel? Do you sit unnoticed in a tapas bar in Spain to absorb the local flavour? Or do you use my method, gliding all over the world on a cyber surfboard, catching what I can with electronic fingers?

--Sandra Cormier

Labels: Chaucer, The Hack's Tale

...my week has come to an end (I can hear the cheering all the way down here in South Florida). Rather than ramble or muse, I'll leave with a simple poll and hopefully some of our audience will chime in.

On e-books:
Have you purchased one and would purchase one again? (based on convenience and price - not the story)
With the popularity of e-books rising, would you consider purchasing one this year?
Or, do you prefer the book in-hand and aren't partial to e-books?

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!
Love,
Sydney

I wanted to wait a little to post after miss Rebecca (I LOVED the content) and it made me think: what do you remember most from a book? or maybe I should phrase it what do you look for in a book?

I just finished reading Rhett Butler's People (as a HUGE GWTW fan, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this) and I'm absolutely amazed. There were mirrored scenes but the perspectives were so different, yet BOTH authors "understood" the characters! (I don't want to post spoilers, but the ending had me going "NO!!!" and begging for a sequel)

What I remembered:
1) how the same scenes were described by two people and BOTH were amazing
2) (unfortunately) the headhopping POV. but it didn't matter, the book was so engaging!

What I was looking forward to in the book:
1) Rhett's perspective
2) revisiting the story from another angle
3) more characters!

And all were answered.

Okay, back to the point. On another chat, we were discussing cliches in romance and redundant categories. In Leigh Michaels 'Writing the Romance Novel' she breaks down romances by theme: era, hidden baby, chick-lit... etc...

During the thread, someone had mentioned reading the same(paraphrased) line in two different books - same theme. (No, I'm not touching on Cassie Edwards, promise!)

Which someone replied, there is no new material in romance.

ACK! Say it isn't so!

BUT, what do you think?
When you look for a new book, do you consider these:

1) familiar author
2) desired theme (era, hidden baby)
3) if you read a specific category/line (erotic, sweet, teen) will you read a new author because it's that line?
4) friend's recommendation

Whoops, I guess there are several questions in this post :)