Category Archives: Carlene Love Flores

A Killer Beginning

Carlene Love Flores, Writing, ,

MP900315536

“I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors…”

Those are the very first words of the Miranda Lambert song, Mama’s Broken Heart.  Every single time I hear it, I’m like, “I can totally see that girl.  I know who that is.  I know what she’s feeling, where she’s probably going, and who she’s after.”  And it’s not because I’ve ever been there or done that.

It’s one of my favorite openings ever because less than ten words in and you have to know the rest of the story.

And then I sit there, awestruck, and try to come up with my own attention grabbing openings.  It’s really tough, y’all.  😉

I think to accomplish a great opening line, it helps to identify your strength.  What do you feel most confident about in your writing?  What gives you that thrill inside when you’re in your zone?  Are you great at Dialogue, Characters, Emotion, Action, Grief, Humor, Mystery?  Whatever it is, make that the primary focus of the first words on your page.  Or  answer this question: What is something you’ve seen in your lifetime that you’ve never ever forgotten?  Something that you can close your eyes and even though it may have happened when you were a kid, it’s still very familiar and still means something to you?

My strength, for example, is dark emotion.  Usually, the first bits I get of stories are these little emotional hits.  Here are a couple rough openings I’ve come up with and keep in my files for upcoming stories:

“Death had coddled my babies and nursed my gram and pops.”

“He saves his tears for his brothers.”

 

And here are a couple of my favorite book openings:

My brother, Orrin Sackett, was big enough to fight bears with a switch.  Opening line from Louis L’Amour’s The Daybreakers.

(Y’all, I’m not kidding, “Mama’s Broken Heart” just started playing on the radio as I’m typing this.)

“But mother is always dying.” Opening line from Lauraine Snelling’s On Hummingbird Wings.

 

What are some of your favorite first lines, whether from a song or a book or a poem?

For the writers out there, do you have a particular opening of your own you’d like to share with us?  How do you decide the very first words to your stories?

Were you by chance curious to know how that Miranda song ends?

…Well, this ain’t my mama’s broken heart...

Mermaid Carlene

 

 

Fishy Kisses,

Mermaid Carlene

 

 

 

 

 

Our Valentine Gift to you…A Collection of Heroes

Alethea Kontis, Avery Flynn, Carlene Love Flores, Dana Rodgers, Denny S. Bryce, Diana Belchase, mermaids, Susan Andrews,

 

Hero Collection

To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, the Mermaids have assembled a hearty and handsome collection of heroes for all our fishy friends. Here at the lagoon, we celebrate diversity in writing, living and loving, something I was so pleased to see come through in this real life and fictional collection.  We hope you enjoy.

From Alethea

Alethea Valentine

In high school, I had a poster from the movie Sidekicks on my ceiling (among many others). I used to dream that Jonathan Brandis and I were great friends. When he committed suicide in 2003, I was wracked with irrational guilt. Maybe if I had written to him, or even attempted to reach out…maybe nothing. Maybe not. I’ll never know.

But as authors, we have the power to make people live forever.

Recently, our Man Wars Mermaids started posting pictures of their schoolgirl crushes, so I hunted down this picture of Jonathan. I was just starting notes for Beloved–I needed a different kind of hero for Friday Woodcutter, someone a little lost and a little angry and a little dark despite his fair coloring. In that moment, Tristan Swan sprang to life.

 

From Avery

Avery Valentine

Treasure hunter Jax Taylor is a Southern charmer with enough sex appeal to melt the polar ice caps. Brought together with ex-fiance Veronica Kwon by their dying mentor, the two agree to an uneasy partnership. Together they’ll climb a magic beanstalk to the cloud kingdom where they’ll find riches, zombies and passion. Meet Jax for yourself in Jax and the Beanstalk Zombies by Avery Flynn coming soon from Lyrical Press.

 

From Carlene

Carlene Valentine

Ever wonder what it is in those great big heroic hearts of firefighters that sends them in to the station each day?  Marcus is not only family but he’s a real-life hero and I’m so tickled he answered this for us.  “I’ve always been one to jump at the chance to help people. Knowing I get to do what I love for a living with my Brothers and Sisters from my second family is a blessing!”  He’s not just a hero, he’s a sweetie too. His beautiful wife, Erica, (sorry ladies, Marcus is taken) shared that Marcus once told her to take off for a week, no explanations given.  I guess when your honey asks you to do this, you just nod your head yes.  Good thing she did because it was a sweet Tenth Anniversary surprise vacation.  Sigh….

 

From Dana

Dana Valentine

There is a lot of hero inspiration available in the world of romance writing but for this Valentine’s Day I’m celebrating the heroes of the armed forces. These men and women are real heroes. They spend months away from their loved ones when they deploy, often live in less than ideal conditions and have no choice where they spend their holidays. To me a real hero is someone willing to stand between the innocent and danger, and these folks definitely fit the bill. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Happy Valentine’s Day!

From Denny

jesse williams 4

Actor Jesse Williams inspires:)…good looks, sure, but those eyes, those eyes, even in black and white, his eyes shine through. He is the inspiration for my antagonist (hero) in my paranormal romantic thriller…the log-line…In post-apocalyptic Washington, DC, a vampire hunter ‘on-the-edge’, seeking revenge for her partner’s death, and a hot-headed homicide detective, looking for answers about his past, team up to investigate the murder of a high profile politician and discover a cult of assassins in a dark and twisty tale of lust, addiction, sacrifice and love. Happy Valentine’s Day.

From Diana

Diana Valentine

What may you ask is my husband’s feet doing in the midst of all these jaw-droppingly gorgeous guys.  Well, the call to action was a half-dressed man, wasn’t it?  My DH is my hero for so many reasons, but last year when my feet ached so badly I couldn’t walk another step in my heels, he took off his shoes in the metro (subway for you non-DC people) and gave them to me!  For me that’s the most romantic thing in the world and I’ll love him forever for that … and so much more.  Happy Valentine’s everyone!

 

From Susan

alex

    Alex Geerman is from Aruba, graduated from my hometown’s high school and worked as a trainer in a local gym until his mother sent his photo to a New York modeling agency.   Now he travels world-wide on photo shoots, and has been featured on several romance covers.  Do you want him on your next book?  I do!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FROM THE WATERWORLD MERMAIDS

 

 

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

Carlene Love Flores, mermaids, Writing

Ticking Clock

Good morning fishy friends!  I’m actually going to blog about “writing” today on my group writers blog and not cute boys or cute boys or cute boys.  And that is because it’s contest judging time for my local writing chapter’s annual unpublished writing contest, WRW’s Marlenes.  This is my second year judging and the entries I received this year were very impressive.  There wasn’t a single head hop which stood out to me because I can admit that was my biggest mistake when I first entered my own submission.  More positives were that the characters were all well written and likeable.  The premises were all genuinely unique and interesting.  And there were some really good synopsis’ included at the end.

If the stories I read lacked anything, it was a clear understanding of the Ticking Clock.  I pulled this definition from Mary Buckham and Dianna Love’s power plotting book, Break Into Fiction.  The Ticking Clock is “an internal or external element in the story that creates a limit to how much time the character has to complete his or her immediate external goal.”

Have you ever been reading a book or a contest entry and everything is going just fine.  You’re enjoying the story well enough, but pretty soon, you start to wonder why is it so important that this is happening?  The material is good, but it’s not exciting you to keep turning the pages.  It could be because of that missing ticking clock.  I’m going to go ahead and refer to this little guy as Tik Tok (Return to Oz).

What Tik Tok does for your story:

-Gives your story purpose, urgency & excitement

-Assures good pacing, making it a page turner

-It doesn’t have to be “in your reader’s face”

That last point is important because I got to thinking that for a contemporary genre writer, you may not have exploding bombs to diffuse or kidnapped victims to rescue before time runs out.  Maybe your Tik Tok is a high school reunion the heroine has to be ready for or maybe your heroes are rockstars and you have a band about to go out on the road and tour.  My current WIP’s Tik Tok is the pending birth of a baby–the hero and heroine want to be free of their demons before this new life enters the world in two weeks. See, completely normal life events but important enough to get one’s butt in gear!

Whatever the element creating that time limit for your story is, it MUST be essential to your character’s pending goal.  It has to be detrimental enough to ignite them to do whatever they have to do to meet that end.

Often I think the author probably has this in their head but fails to weave it into their story early on.  Most contest entry lenghts I read this past week took me to about the third or fourth chapter.  As the reader, I should feel the pressure urging your characters on by that point.  The earlier the better in fact.

To find your Ticking Clock, ask yourself why it’s so important for the characters to be accomplishing whatever it is they are doing in a timely manner.  The Tik Tok is the motivator to this happening.  They have a goal.  It’s essential that they accomplish it.  Now what candle are you going to light under their butt to move them to action?

Fishy kisses signed, sealed and delivered, on time!Mermaid Carlene

 

 

 

I Heart Sherrilyn Kenyon & Super Fabulous Dark-Hunter Giveaway!

Carlene Love Flores, Giveaway, mermaids, Motivation, , ,

Happy Friday Fishy Friends!  I’m completely excited about today’s post because I’m giving away one very special Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark-Hunter novels collection set.  *Giveaway info at the end of this post*Mermaid Carlene

But first I’d like to share a fun story with you.  So, I firmly believe that if you love something, you should love it well.  Just always remember that love is respectful.

So, a few years ago, I was still relatively new to the DC area, settling into my home and continuing to quietly work on writing.  I was so new to it back then that I had no idea about writers groups, contests, or conferences.  But I was VERY familiar with Sherrilyn Kenyon’s books and had become a huge fan since being given “Seize the Night” at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.   During a regular check of her upcoming appearances in my area, I saw that she was going to be doing a signing in some place called Leesburg, VA.  I could tell by the event details that this wasn’t just a regular bookstore signing because it talked about a retreat and organization that went by the initials WRW.  Well, I was a little skeptical, so I did some research. I fully intended on figuring out how to get to this signing.

That’s when my silly little brain started doing all this crazy-fantastic spinning.  I discovered several things in rapid succession:

1) WRW stood for Washington Romance Writers and they were a local writing chapter falling under the main organization which was RWA.  WRW was indeed hosting a local retreat in the spring where Sherrilyn Kenyon would be the keynote speaker and there would be a signing for the public in the area around the same time.  They also had a writing contest called the Marlene and the winner would be announced at this retreat where Sherrilyn would be in attendance as a special guest.

2) RWA stood for Romance Writers of America.  They had a wonderful website that taught me all about their Golden Heart writing contest and an annual national conference.  And, Sherrilyn Kenyon just so happened to be slated as their Keynote Speaker that year as well!

3) I had to see Sherrilyn Kenyon.  (Being around her is like chicken soup for the soul and I want lots of that.)

Sherrilyn and Carlene

BOOM, BAM, POW (that’s my brain on Sherrilyn Kenyon)

4) I could join these organizations, both RWA and WRW, submit my little (actually quite huge) love story manuscript I’d been working on to both groups.  I could win the contests, be presented my awards and Sherrilyn Kenyon would be in the room watching my acceptance speeches where I would profess my love for her and then everyone would live happily ever after.  And we might even have slumber parties and talk endlessly about Valerius Magnus and Acheron.

Fishy Kisses

Slightly crazy, I know.  But fun, right?  Long story short, I joined both organizations, entered both contests, didn’t win the awards but came away with a few hearts of gold who give great fishy kisses and had the time of my life listening to Sherrilyn speak.  At the WRW retreat, on May 1, 2011, I won the basket Sherrilyn had donated to the raffle! Inside that basket was the wrapped, five-book set that I’m giving away today.  I’ve never opened it.  It has sat beautifully amongst my Sherrilyn book collection.  I own each of the books individually and have read them several times each.

Sherrilyn Prize

I hope that whoever wins these treasures will read them and fall in love even harder than I did.

I would not be the reader I am nor the writer I’m becoming if it weren’t for Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Thank you—Xoxoxoxo

So friends, I’d be oh so happy to hear your stories of fervent love & admiration…pretty please?

 

*Giveaway details: This giveaway is open until 10:30pm Eastern Time on Sunday, January 27, 2013.  At that time, I will randomly choose one winner from the commenters to this post and announce the winning name in the comments section.  Please be prepared to share your snail mail address with me so I can send this one of a kind gift your way! *

Five book set includes: Night Embrace, Night Pleasures, Night Play, Kiss of the Night, & Dance with the Devil.

Swimming with the Mermaids: Carlene Love Flores

Alethea Kontis, Carlene Love Flores, Interview, ,

If you have never experienced in person the gorgeous and amazingly pure sweetness that is Carlene Love Flores, then I suggest you check your calendar and make an appointment to do so at your earliest convenience. If I could convey the effervescent loveliness with which Carlene so subtly reminded me to get my coughing, virus-ridden duff out of its funk and post the interview I did with her last month about her fabulous debut release, Sidewalk Flower, you, too, would wish you had such majestic and judicious grace.

I am as blessed and honored to have her as a Mermaid Sister as I am proud of her release…which just so happened to launch on my birthday. How’s that for awesome karma?

*************************

Alethea Mermaid: Tennessee, California, Australia — what special meaning (if any) do each of these places have for you?

Carlene Mermaid: Let’s start at the end and work our way back (which fits since this is how I wrote Sidewalk Flower-Trista and Lucky’s story.) When I think of Australia, I see brave people with gorgeous voices and a tenacious, fighting spirit. I can’t imagine Jaxon James (Trista’s best friend) being from any other place.

The first time I drove through Tennessee was years ago in the fall. I fell in love with the state that day and when fictional native son, Lucky Mason, stepped up to the plate to be Trista’s hero in Sidewalk Flower, I fell in love with him too.

Southern California is everything I know about being young at heart and free but also a place you have to leave sometimes to find yourself. I was honored to have made this trip with the heroine of the story, Trista Hart.

Alethea: Music is very important to you and your work. Do you listen while writing? Was there a “Sidewalk Flower” playlist?

Carlene: I do love music with all my heart! I listen to it most hours of the day & night and leading up to every scene I write. But during the actual writing, I prefer to be alone with those thoughts. Here is Sidewalk Flower’s playlist:
“Why I’m Feeling Blue” by Casey James (Lucky’s song)
“Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood (Trista’s song)
“Better Than Me” by Hinder (Jaxon’s song)
“The Dead of Night” by Depeche Mode (Sin Pointe’s song)
“Talk About Suffering” by Debra James (Gramma Grace’s song)

Alethea: What is it about a man in a cowboy hat?

Carlene: Intriguing, isn’t it? I’m a big fan of men in hats. Also men without hats. Hey, everybody look at your hands! Now let’s safety dance. Sorry, I just had to go there in the name of 80’s music. Hmm…I also like Men in Trees. I miss that show…

Alethea: Have you ever driven cross-country?

Carlene: Oh yes! Road trips are my favorite and so when I had the chance to hop in the truck and drive from Virginia to California and back, I was in heaven. Where else can you listen to music, ride with the windows down and watch the sun setting in the rear view mirror? Here are a few pics from that trip: http://carlenelove.com/2012/08/08/my-favorite-cross-country-road-trip-pictures/

Alethea: Who are some of your favorite fictional heroes?

Carlene: Gosh, I am hands down the biggest broken record when it comes to talking about my favorite fictional hero, but since you asked…Valerius Magnus. ☺ Swoon. I am very jealous that you are Facebook friends with him. But can I just geek out a little here and say how excited I am to be officially sharing Lucky Mason with the world?

Alethea: Who inspires you — in both fiction and real life?

Carlene: There is so much I appreciate about life and the people living it. I’m inspired by the weak and the brave. The hurt and the whole. People with unshakable faith and those on the brink of losing it. I’m inspired when people don’t give up.

Alethea: What’s the coolest thing about being a Mermaid?

Carlene: I can think of many cool things about being a Mermaid, but the coolest by far, is calling the ocean home.

Alethea: What would you say are your Mermaid super powers?

Carlene: Well, whatever you do, don’t Google Mermaid Super Powers! The results are full of unimaginative fluff. Of course we exist, and of course we are super and powerful 😉 My super power is that I believe in make believe.
[Edited to add: I believe Carlene’s Mermaid Super Power is her beautiful purity of spirit. Am I right? Mermaids, feel free to chime in with your opinions below!]

Alethea: What’s next for you?

Carlene: Now that Trista and Lucky’s book is out, I’m spending time convincing Jaxon James it’s a good idea to tell the world his story next. This is where that Aussie tenacity I mentioned earlier comes in to play. But underneath it all, he’s a good guy. It’s really not his fault he can’t stop thinking about Trista’s long lost baby sister…

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Thank you, Carlene!

If you have any other questions for Carlene, feel free to add them to the Comments below. And if you haven’t yet picked up your copy of Sidewalk Flower, now’s your chance!

Starting at The End

Carlene Love Flores, Writing, , , ,

Sometimes to know where to start, it helps to look at the end.  Mermaid Carlene

My first book is coming out this Friday and although the story is told in chronological order, it didn’t start out that way.

When I began writing Sidewalk Flower, the first scene that came to me was gut wrenching and dark.  It was so powerful and for a long time, I thought because of that, it had to be the book’s opening.  My thinking was that with such a powerful opening scene, it would be hard to put down.  In the business, it was the hook I was sure I needed.

Then I learned from a Savvy Authors Editpalooza workshop that sometimes it’s best to let the scenes happen organically.  That way the reader has a chance to build up to that powerful event and experience it as it was meant to happen.

Once I let go of the place I’d originally envisioned for that knock-out scene in Sidewalk Flower and put it where it belonged in the time line, I realized it was absolutely the way things were meant to be.

But, I also learned that by writing that last scene first, it allowed me to get to know my characters more deeply and the rest of the story as well.  I believe it was one of the biggest strengths of writing my first book that would become published.  Knowing where I was going because I’d already been to the end.  So I don’t believe I would change the order in which I wrote the story.

 I just finished re-watching one of my favorite movies, Neo Ned, starring Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union.  (I love the tag line: Love is not a Race) My Neo Ned DVD Continue reading →

Birthday Party in the Pond & Special Guest Turtle from Adam Ezra Group & Giveaway!

Carlene Love Flores, Giveaway, , , , , , , ,

Welcome to my birthday party, fishy friends!  Today I’m turning 36 again and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend 11:16 than sparkling up my fins and splashing around with you all.  And…we have a very special guest with us today!  His name is Turtle and he is the real, live, soul-rockin’ percussionist for the band, Adam Ezra Group!  So the way I see it, this party needs three things:  lots of fun, unending rounds of Shirley Temples, and presents! (Giveaway info at the end)  The music is pumping and the grenadine and cherries are bobbing around in the 7Up so let’s get started!  First I am honored to share this little talk I had with Turtle so pull up a lily pad and enjoy! (Pushes play on “She’s Just a Girl” by Adam Ezra Group)

Carlene: Hi Turtle!  It was so cool meeting you on your birthday back in May so thank you so much for being here on my birthday and chatting about all things musician!  As a musician (who I’ve seen give your all on stage-you rock!) how do you decide how much you’re going to keep for yourself and how much you’re going to share with the audience?  Or is that never a question?

Turtle: That is really not ever a question with me, it’s not a conscious decision. It really depends on the crowd, the energy in the room. For me it’s all about that transfer of energy. You send something from the stage and the crowd turns it into something and sends it back to the stage. Hopefully that keeps happening until both party’s are exhausted. Continue reading →

Bring a songwriter to the pond: Welcome Julie Butler!

Carlene Love Flores, Interview, Writing, ,

Ask a writer what inspires them and often the answer you’ll get is music.  Naturally, I’m curious about the artists behind these inspiring songs.  I recently poked my nose into the Nashville area and asked the gorgeous voice and richly talented songwriter, Julie Butler, to sit down and have a chat about her “songwriter” self.  Her answers blew me away.   Be sure to check out the lyrics she wrote about mermaids at the end!  Yes, she’s pretty fabulous.

 Me: Hi Julie!  Let’s jump on in the water.   Can you start things off by sharing a little about your “artist self”?

Julie: Carlene, my artist self and my “daily-grind self” struggle with each other on a regular basis. There is some very real pain connected to my creativity. There’s guilt (for not doing enough creatively). There’s a lack of confidence (because my mom is the creative one – not really, but I thought so for many, many years.) There’s shame (because I always thought I would be DOING SOMETHING BIG (LOL) and making my living doing something creative instead of working in the corporate world. There’s also guilt because I never finished college, and I believe that has held me back creatively.

My artist self is extremely shy and she lacks confidence. But she has a lot to say and is becoming more and more impatient with me holding her back! I’m thrilled that you asked for my input on “Bring a Songwriter to the Pond.” Continue reading →

Ghosts in Mermaid Lagoon Free Short Story Anthology

Carlene Love Flores, Dana Rodgers, Denny S. Bryce, Free Read, Giveaway, Kerri Carpenter, Kimberly MacCarron, Loni Lynne, Masha Levinson, Susan Andrews

A cold chill has invaded the Waterworld Mermaid lagoon. Is it merely the firm grip of fall or something far more sinister?

Find out for yourself as we bring you a month-long short story anthology featuring ghost stories from mermaids Carlene Love Flores, Dana Rogers, Denny S. Bryce, Kerri Carpenter, Kimberly MacCarron, Loni Lynne, Masha Levinson and Susan Andrews. On October 31 our Ghosts in Mermaid Lagoon free read ends with a massive giveaway.

So step right into the lagoon, the water is perfect for tales of ghosts and mysteries of the great beyond.

Guy Day Pictorial: The California Cowboy

Carlene Love Flores, Guy Day, ,

Sometimes we don’t have to ask a question to get an answer.  Translation, sometimes a girl is just too darn shy to go up to a shirtless man and say, “Hey there, um, excuse me, sir, um young man…wow, you’re really cute…I, I, I, I mean, what I mean to say is what is your perspective on being a cowboy in southern California which is traditionally known for soulful surfers, not country cuties ?  Wow, you’re not wearing much, are you?”

Please enjoy the photos I took during my recent vacation home to East County San Diego and the stop I made at KSON’s Country Fest.

I give you:  A day in the life of a Southern California Cowboy

What I Would Have Asked: Dearest Will & Kate, is this your first rodeo?

 WIWHA: First the royals, now surfers?  Are you here with security?

Continue reading →