Romance Writers Weekly: July 14, 2015

I'm so not into sports, however, I love being motivated by music, so I think I can manage today's question with ease. Susan Scott Shelley asks:

A player's walk-up song (aka Entrance Theme), whether he's heading to the pitcher's mound or the batter's box, can tell a lot about him. What song would you choose for yours?

I honestly can't imagine me "walking up" to any place that requires music (I've already gotten married so that's taken care of). So I'm doing a little creative interpretation of the question. Because for me, "walking up" in the professional sense means sitting at my keyboard and feeling the groove to write. 

Alas, this means multiple songs, because I'm very much inspired by music. But it depends on the piece I'm working on. I'm currently working on several projects but the two that seem to be the most greatly impacted by music are Alpha Wars and the fifth book in my Heart's Ease series. So that's what I'm sharing today. 

Alpha Wars

First up, my alter ego, Hannah Hunter. I'm loving this series about Irish shifters, especially the bad boys. I'm a die hard traditional music fan, so when I started thinking about the Faoladh and the Conroicht, I had no trouble imagining big burly men who love to lift a pint and sing sad Irish songs. Here's a song I've listened to a lot while writing this one, sung by The Navigators, one of my favourite Newfoundland bands. 

 

Book 5 of Heart's Ease

I'm positive I've posted this before, however, nothing has changed. I was driving one morning listening to Newfoundland's own Tom Power who graces our national radio program, CBC's Radio 2 Morning. And on comes this song by Whitehorse. Bam. My hero came to life as I listened. I mean, come on.  "I'd don't have much, but I've got the good stuff." That lyric sums Will Walsh up to a T! It's my power anthem for this book, without a doubt. 

And because this book is starting to take up a lot of my headspace, it gets two songs! "I don't know where and I don't know when, but I know  we'll be lovers again." Atta boy, Passenger. This is Will's softer side. The side no one sees but our heroine. 

So there you have it. My "walk-up" songs. Now let's go see what my friend Betty Bolte has chosen. I'm always stoked about musical posts. I mean, come on. Romance writing and music? What a perfect combination. 

Also, if you've read something by me and think you know a song that sums up the feeling or mood or whatever, feel free to share it in the comments.

Passionate Kisses: Allie Boniface

When I was approached about joining this awesome group of romance authors for the Passionate Kisses boxed set, I really had no idea just how many wonderful authors I was going to be working with.

Today I'm excited to have Allie Boniface here sharing some of the images that she thinks best sum of her work. And just like I have a bit of a fascination with icebergs, Allie loves lighthouses. That speaks to my Newfoundland heart. 

Book? Beacon of Love

Inspiration? Every lighthouse I've ever visited

Lindsey Point? Small coastal town with plenty of secrets...

Lucas? Hunky handyman

Sophie? Precocious news reporter 

Romance? Sensual to steamy

Next? Inferno of Love, book 2 in the series! 

Allie? Teacher, writer, music-lover, workout devotee and chocoholic 

Click on Allie's boots to learn more about her!

Romance Weekly: May 20, 2014

I can't believe this is my first blog for for May. Not sure how things went off the rails, but here I am, back again and ready to join those awesome authors who make up Romance Weekly. This group of romance authors have been so helpful to me, not only in getting me to blog, but in all the support they offer. So a big shout out to you all today. Also, thanks to Carolyn Spear for today's questions! 

1. If someone could observe you writing without you knowing they were there, what strange practices would they catch you doing?

First of all, stop creeping around and watching me work! If I'm in public, it's fair game, but if I'm working in my car, as I often am, then you're either peeping in my window, or worse, lurking in my backseat! Just stop! Okay. Now that I've got that off my chest, here's what they'd see. I make faces when I'm writing so that I can describe my characters. I also tend to play with my hair a lot. I spent too much time online looking at pretty clothes and underwear so my characters can look nice. And I bite my lips. 

2. Other than a creative outlet, how does writing benefit you?

It keeps me sane. I wonder what I'd do if I didn't write? There are so many stories and voices in my head that if I didn't let them out on paper, who knows what I'd be like. Perhaps I'd walk around talking to myself all the time. I love writing, and my style of writing (Pantser) comes from me creating a form of self-entertainment. I'm always surprised by what my characters are saying and doing, and it keeps me interested. When I was a teenager and writing teen romances, I wasn't writing them for my friends. I wrote them for me. Because I wanted to read the story I was writing. It might be cliche to say that if I didn't write, I wouldn't be me, but I think it's true. 

3. How do you feed your muse?

I live life. It's that simple for me. I do what I always do. Hang out with friends, talk to people, pay attention to the world around me, escape to books and movies. I have sad moments and happy moments. And all of that messy business of life gives me the experiences and motivations to develop characters that are real and stories that are surreal. 

So there we have it. Another week is done. Now pop on over to see how the lovely J.J. Devine answered these questions (and check out her book right here!) 

Romance Weekly: February 18, 2014

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all..... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

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This week's three questions are great. I've decided to use Against Her Rules for this post, since it's the only novel that's currently out in the world. But no worries, I'll talk about the others soon. 

How did you get the idea for your book?

Against Her Rules was a mad-dash Nanowrimo creation that came to life in it's first draft in just eleven days. Because I write by the seat of my pants, I had no idea when I sat down to write it just what was going to come to life. The only thing I knew for certain was that it was going to be set in Newfoundland, and my hero was going to be a hot Scotsman. In fact, when I first started writing Cam worked in the oil industry. But from the moment he popped onto the page, I knew he had the soul of an artist. How could I made him a tycoon? Plus, I didn't think Elsie would fall for an oil baron. Still, as I dug into the novel, I realized that this was going to be a series. I couldn't create a town like Heart's Ease, and a place like Elsie's Inn and just give it one book. I knew as I wrote certain characters that I was creating people that I would revisit time and time again.

How did you decide on the title?

With great difficulty. Sometimes titles pop into my head before I even start writing. And other times, the book is alive for eons and has no name. In the beginning I was going to call it Heart's Ease. I think that's the title I used in my pitch to the publisher. Then, once I'd decided it was going to be a series, I started playing around with different Heart's options. I think for a while Heart's Temptation was on the table. But once Crystal (my cover designer) and I started working on the cover, it came to me. I just looked at the picture of the couple, imagined that I was watching Cam and Elsie kiss for the first time, and it just made sense. Against Her Rules was born that day in May. 

What motivated you to get the book completed and published?

Rejection. When I heard back from the publisher I'd pitched it to, and they weren't interested, I was dejected. And then I started to learn more about self-publishing. After a sleepless night spent reading and researching this new publishing opportunity, I made up my mind. I was going to publish it myself. Why? Because I believe in my stories. And I believe others will enjoy them. And perhaps most of all, it was finally a way to fulfill another of my life's ambitions. It's amazing what having a infant that you want to spend as much time with as possible will motivate you to do. And for me, it was made possible by awesome friends, and the most supportive husband a gal could wish for.

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So there you have it. My answers for this week's Romance Weekly. Now I'd strongly encourage you to pop on over to LaNora Mangano's blog to see how she answered these same three questions. It never ceases to amaze me how every author has travelled a different road to get to our common destination. 

See you next week! 

Daily words and other things

Wow, I'm a terrible blogger. I just came back from the Romance Writers of America conference in Atlanta, and there were all kinds of handy morsels of information handed out. One of those was, if you're not blogging regularly, don't blog. Well, I don't know about that. I like to use my blog to keep me accountable. Being a deadline oriented writer and all, it's very helpful for me to have a public forum to say "Here's what I need to accomplish, and here's how I'm doing." It didn't work so well for the Regency... yet... but it worked out great for Against Her Rules.  

So here's what I'm now holding myself accountable for.  

1. A daily word target of 5000 (this may change if I find I'm missing that target too often)
2. Three novels ready to come into the world in October. Yes, you read that correctly. THREE! In October. All the the Heart's Ease series.  
3. A Christmas themed novella (shorter novel) ready for a November release. 

So how am I going to do all of this? Well, I met some very inspirational self published authors at the RWA event, namely Bella Andre, Barbara Freethy, Liliana Hart, and Tina Folsom. They gave so many workshops and were willing to share their advice, followed by a "Go do what I say" warning. So I'm going to do what they say. And see if it works.  

Thanks ladies for the inspiration, and for sharing your wonderful knowledge. And thanks to those of you who read my blog, and my novels. There'll be a lot more Heart's Ease in our future.