Category Archives: Susan Andrews

A Very Mermaid Valentine Message + Giveaway!

Love, love, love, love, love. It’s Everywhere! We hope you enjoy this sweet Valentine’s Day message from the fantastic fiction writers that are….Us! The Waterworld Mermaids! Please get comfy and watch as Alethea, Kerri, Pintip, Kim, Carlene, Masha, Denny, Susan and Dana share some of our love worthy favorites…

Thank you so much for tuning in and letting us share. So now we’d like to know, what are some of YOUR romantic favorites? We’re talking books, movies, television shows, poems, plays, couples, quotes, guys, gals, desserts, songs, flowers, etcetera. We’d love to hear from you!

GIVEAWAY: We will randomly select one lucky commenter to receive a wonderful bundle of books, including Besphinxed (ebook) by Alethea Kontis, The Darkest Lie (ebook) by Pintip Dunn, Falling for the Right Brother (ebook) by Kerri Carpenter, Sidewalk Flower (ebook) by Carlene Love Flores, and Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher (paperback) by Seana Kelly. Winner will be notified here in the comment section of this post on Sunday, February 18th, at 8:00 pm Pacific time. Good luck!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

With lots of love,

The Waterworld Mermaids

(Thank you to each of my fishy sisters for sending me their words and letting me read them for you! xox)

Mermaids Immortalized in Romance Fiction (And a giveaway to boot!)

7Hello fishy friends!

How’s everyone doing? I hope your 2016 is off to a great start. I’m humbled and honored to say January is wrapping up very nicely with the release of my eighth published novel. Let Me See (Book 2 of the These Three Words series) just came out today. I’m so very happy I get to share this story with you but guess what really has me smiling?

I’ve missed my fishy sisters so much since moving away from their area nearly two years ago. But today I get to be with them again. Sort of.

I hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt from my new release in which the Waterworld Mermaids become immortalized in romance fiction. **Be sure and leave a comment below for a chance to win a free e-copy.** Let’s see if you can spot them…

Copyrighted Excerpt from Let Me See (These Three Words, 2) by Carlene Love…

Jay normally spent as much time out front chatting with the guests as he did on stage performing for them but right now he wanted a few extra quiet moments alone to let the importance of tonight sink in.

“Jay, come.”

Having thought that, Marie was rarely persistent with him like this. So he followed her out front, forgetting for the time being that he was only half-dressed for his solo. He ran his hand over his abs, rubbing away some of the sweat already sticking to his skin. He’d barely crossed paths with Julian but the bump-in had been enough and he had the man’s angel wing glitter all over his black pants. Jay dusted it off as best he could, eventually giving up. Jay hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. He left the newsboy hat that would—pardon the pun—cap off his college prep outfit in homage to Maggie, in his locker and followed Marie out front. One thing he recognized for sure was the extra pep in her step. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she was playing Cupid or something ridiculous like that. Too bad he couldn’t just tell her he’d officially taken his heart off the market, for good, two weeks ago when he’d been stood up again by the girl who had somehow taken his everything prisoner.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and followed her out, pumping himself up for the night and walking to the beat of Gabe’s solo song.

“So you guys had a pretty successful adoption event at the last shelter drive?”

“Yes, Marie. Why do you ask? You sure are talking to me a whole lot tonight. I mean, I love it. But, do you swear everything is okay with you?” He’d do anything he could to help her. She worked hard and he knew she had issues she kept hidden. Jay knew how that could eat at a person.

“I’m in the mood to do some good and you think there’s something wrong with me? Gee, thanks, Stud.”

He wasn’t sure exactly what to say back to her, to be honest. It was tricky with Marie because Jay knew he had to keep his flirting to a minimum, remembering how wrecked it had made him when D had gotten too loose with his flirty words for Kelley. “My apologies to the lady.”

They walked single file through the last bits of the cramped back hallways until they got to the door that led into the public portion of the club. Jay took an extra-long step to put him in front of Marie so that he could get the door for her. He ushered her through but then noted how she quickly jumped back in front of him. Guess she really wanted to be the leader.

“Accepted. And you’re right, it is odd that I’m feeling so chipper. It’s freaking me out but I’m going with it for this night only. I just feel like this burst of goodness came inside earlier. Apparently your sister’s spirit of positivity has its claws in me tonight.” She winked and smiled softly at him. “Anywho, recognize anyone?”

Marie suddenly stopped walking when they’d only made it a few feet into the club, clearly waiting for him to stop too and have a look around. Okay, he’d play along and checked out the bar area since that was where he associated Marie as being most often. “Drunk Al. Tina and her mom and her sisters. Um, Brad?” He noted the faces he could see this far in the dark.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat and pulled him around by the suspender until he was facing the stage. She let go and the elastic snapped his skin. It didn’t really hurt but he let out a yelp just to tease her. “Ouch.”

Now he did see a ton of familiar faces. “Do you really want me to start naming everyone? Cause there’s Liz, Kerri, Dana, Kim, Alethea, Pintip, Susan, Loni, Masha, and Denny, just for starters.” It gave him an immense feeling of joy that so many of the regulars were already here supporting the cause. “Oh, and let’s see … Lynne, Robin, and Avery. I can keep going—Jen, Keely, Deb, Denise, Sue, Lil. Ooo, Becky’s looking supa-hot tonight. She turned fifty in here last week, you know. Still fricking gorgeous. Did you know she’s the drummer in a band? I think I’m going to give her a late birthday lick later on. In fact, I think I’m gonna go over there with my sexy self and lick her right now.” Of course he was just teasing, watching Marie’s face get more and more perturbed with him. It was his playful payback to her for bringing him out before he’d gotten dressed and then being so secretive. But honestly, who did she want him to see?

“Ugh. You’re impossible. And you wonder why I don’t talk much to you boys. Gabe—”

But she may as well have stopped speaking.

The second he changed his line of sight to the stage where Gabe currently held court as a half-dressed military hero, he saw the one thing he never would have expected, not in a million years at this point.

She didn’t even have to turn around for him to know.

*****

Eek! I hope you liked it!

Take my friendly fishy advice. If you find yourself missing those who you care about and can’t be near, write them something. Whether it’s a letter, an email, a text, or yeah, in this case a novel. Reach out. Let them know you’re thinking of them. I call it a paper hug. xoxo

**Giveaway Info: Say hi, or better yet, say hi and leave a message for someone you’re currently missing in the comments section and I’ll enter you into the drawing for a free e-copy of Let Me See. Winner will be randomly picked on Sunday night, 1/31/2016. Good luck!

My best to you and yours!

Fishy kisses,

Carlene Mermaid

Let-Me-See-evernightpublishing-JayAheer2016-3DrenderAre you sure you’re ready to see what’s inside?

Two hearts beating…      

S Club dancer and extrovert, Jay, has worked very hard for this eye-opening moment with his reluctant and shy friend, Kelley. Unfortunately, a humorous attempt to get her to open up serves to push her further away. Now it’s nearly impossible to convince her he’s not just out to play.

Hundreds of scars in need of hiding…       

For good reason, Kelley has yet to let Jay see all of her whereas he takes his clothes off nightly for a living. Her respect for him runs unmatched because she sees who he is inside. There’s just no way to ever reciprocate and that’s not fair to him. His interest in her has never made sense. The best option is convincing Jay there really is nothing to see.

One dark night to shine some light on their healing…

Sometimes, it just takes one very patient man, one dimly lit room and one safe set of arms.

Check out more from Let Me See HERE at the Evernight site or HERE at Amazon. xoxo

From The Heart

Susan-Mermaid-avatarSeveral weeks ago I sort of volunteered to give a talk at our school’s annual faculty retreat. The day is filled with breakout sessions, much like the typical romance writing conference.  Usually, the experienced teachers are quick to propose their pilgrimages, their prayer retreats, their journey of faith through the study of art… anything that might help fill a day of Teacher Detention.  They’re the wise ones of the faculty:  they know how to fill time.  I’m not a popular teacher:  I sit in the peanut gallery.

So why, this time, did I put myself in the hot seat?  My work BFF, raised in the evangelical Christian tradition, summed it up:  “You have been Called. Do It.”  I thought for a second, told myself stop thinking, and shot off a possible topic to the organizer.

My proposal, on Finding God in the Midst of Suffering, was accepted immediately.  What? No argument?  No questioning?  No “gee, we appreciate your thought, but…”  Nope.  In this game of Tag, I was It.

Librarian that I am, I started with marathon research, viewing the topic from every conceivable angle. The results were depressing.  With good reason:  how could the human experience of suffering, with all its dimensions of pain, anxiety, despair, and agony not be depressing? We’re not talking about build-your-own sundaes here.

I printed out pages and pages of learned examinations of suffering.  Those genius brains had written volumes that avalanched down the high hills of history and buried unassuming teachers alive.

Every single time I tried to read these papers, my eyes glazed over.  I couldn’t do it.  I had nothing.  Do you hear me, world?  Nothing!

Worse, I was facing off against a more experienced teacher.  His talk was on Gratitude.  Great, I complained at home.  I get the widows and orphans.  He gets the cool people, the ones who are easy to please.  Who doesn’t want to be happy?  Having been programmed against the Catholic high school equivalent of Kristan Higgins or Nora Roberts, I printed out 15 handouts.  Nobody would come, I figured.  I stopped trying.

When the hour of doom came, people trickled in, picked up the handouts from the chairs, and, to my surprise, didn’t get up and rush to find a seat at the (better) (happier) (more fun) celebrity talk. More people came in. We ran out of handouts. The room filled. What were they thinking?  Didn’t they know they were in the wrong room?

Raymond introduced me.  I was petrified, mortified,  A Beautiful Mind come to life.  “It’s not my job to make you feel better,” I said, to start. “ Or solve your problems. And everything that goes wrong in this talk—“ I pointed at the friend who’d put me here “– is all his fault.”

They laughed.  Then, as I assured them we didn’t have time to cover all my stories of suffering, they began to quiet.  When I touched on my problems with post-partum depression, the room went dead still.  Nothing I said was complex or earthshaking.  It was me sharing, my own sad, stupid experiences.  My own struggles to find my way back to the light.  And three verses of Scripture I hoped would guide them, and me, through the shit-storm.

And somehow, it worked.  This presentation, weak and ill-prepared, this testimony, touched my peers. Not just immediately, but every day for a full week, people shared their own experiences privately.  And thanked me. Praise can be humbling.  Disconcerting.  Confusing.

I found myself in a conversation with a fellow teacher, a woman I admired and feared.  Her congratulations were difficult to take, and I’m afraid I blurted out how bewildered I was.

“Are you kidding?” she said.  “It was so completely different from anything we’ve ever had at retreat before.  And you said what you felt, and you were honest.  And you said things that were real.

Now, taking this back to the perpetual Mermaid topic, how does this story speak to writing?  We writers put ourselves out there, every day.  We kill ourselves to tell stories.  Our audiences compare us to award-winners, childhood favorites, geniuses of the craft, and the other writers who inspired us to take up our pens.  I can’t compete with the Greats.  But I can tell stories and this is what readers look for…  the fresh, new, personal voice.  We can’t compete with the Noras and Kristans in RomanceLand, but we can entertain.  We can share our stories and touch people.  All we need to do is speak from the heart.

Learning to Keep Your Balance

Did you ever have a moment where a challenge you’ve known of for a long time seemed seemed to suddenly, magically resolve?Susan Mermaid

My lovely, talented, rapscallion son, Skitch, graduated from college two years ago.  He needed five years to complete his studies in engineering.  I was happy to give him that extra year – he chose a very affordable state school and I had (at the time) sufficient funds to help out.  We were thrilled when he was ready to fly the coop, get a job and spread his wings.

squidolin6But the graduation gift…  what to give this only son, who spread himself among so many interests and passions?  He suggested, and hubby liked the idea of, an electric violin.  But the best electric violins cost many thousands of dollars.  They need accessories, expensive ones.  We don’t know anything (much) (nothing) about electric violins.  And even Skitch wasn’t sure which one he might want.  Or how much he would use it.  Did an elementary school viola career equal (merit) the cost of such an expensive instrument?

Plus, the family was now short on cash (thank you, recession).  Our dearest son didn’t press, and the idea was dropped.  His father fretted from time to time, feeling we were being ungenerous.  A graduation gift is customary.  We’d let it slide.  Were we good parents?  Over and over, I assured him that we were, our son loved us unconditionally, and a gift would eventually be discovered, procured and delivered.  And we would forget all about it again for several months.

Last month, I exited CVS with my usual mix of necessary (toilet paper) and unnecessary (lipstick) items.  New York, for once, was enjoying a perfect blend of sunshine and mild weather.  I glanced left and, as usual, and saw the rows of bikes outside the village bike shop.  Bikes.  Surely, after all this time… Could it be so easy?

My request was simple:  bike for 25-year old man.  Needs more than a sidewalk cruiser, but not that $2000 cliff jumper over there.  No tricks, or challenging courses, no big drops.   Young man in question still gets crazy ideas, so it needs to be able to take a beating.  And he still lives in a college town, so any lock or cable needs to be able to survive that caliber of thief.

bike

Forty minutes later, I was texting my son with questions and sending photos.  Two weeks after that, we arrived at his apartment with a bike, carrier, helmet, tire pump and (most important) a gnarly cable lock.  Since then, he’s gone riding several times a week, hoping to build up enough mileage to cycle-commute to work and back.

Happy boy, happy and relieved father, brilliant mom.  Thus, the saga of “what do we get Skitch for graduation?” closes.

Which brings me to the real topic today:  how many grand plans for our writing have we made that go unattended?  How many minor disappointments do we harbor?  In some ways we allow ourselves to construct these disappointments, all on our own, simply by allowing the time or opportunity to slip past.  Okay, circumstance occassionally visits them upon us and we watch, helpless, as all our lovely plans are shattered.  The editor or agent request gone stale.  The rejection that continues to sting and fester.  The rewrite that goes so badly we give up – and can’t forgive ourselves, even when we know it was for the best.  Or, the story that’s dry, parched, neglected and, sadly, left alone (thank you, dearest husband for that addition). Sometimes we allow ourselves a little moan but, mostly, we let ourselves “live poor.”

In Skitch’s case, the lack of knowledge, compounded by lack of money bred the lack of gift – a kind of “living poor” that wouldn’t let go.  We don’t have the money for a violin.  We don’t know how to buy a violin.  Hubby let this fester and I tried, very hard, not to absorb his disappointment as my own.  I had to believe that one day we would be able to solve the problem.

Enter Bikeway!  I do have the money for a bike, Skitch already knows how to ride a bike, I can afford a bike!  Once I had the Smaller Gift idea it happened.  I even used my new “live with the money you have” mantra and paid cash.  Well, debit card, but it really was “cash.”  My bank account knows the truth…

Having gone through this now, I want to bring this lesson to my writing.  Enough disappointment with what I have not accomplished.  More celebrating the tiny steps.  The finished (begun) paragraphs, pages, outlines, scrawled notes, gathered ideas.

This journey as a writer is a process of discovery all its own.  The more I know about my writing, the more I try (and fail), the better I know myself.  How can I mine this newly realized (lesson) (discovery) knowledge of “small victories” and use it to conquer “living poor?”

What would you do with this discovery?

SusanMermaid

What I Did on My Summer Vacation


Susan MermaidThe joy of being a school librarian:  I’ve made it all the way to summer!  Yippee!  Twelve weeks of nothing!  No commute, no kids, no bells, no bag lunches!  Nothing! What could be better?

What could be worse?  I have twelve weeks of nothing, and I know exactly what can go wrong:

  • Summer  can be wasted.  On Twitter, Facebook, shopping (especially shopping!), lazing by the pool, etc. Friends call it “the time to relax that you need/want/yearn for.”  I call it “time wasted.”
  • Time can be stolen, even though I agreed to the theft.  I will fly to Saint Louis next week and listen to several days of educational conference material.  But I want to learn something, so that’s good.  And I am happy for the bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, and other celebrations.  Still, it is theft.
  • I will need additional time, once I return, to recover my writing mojo.  So far, I’ve started well, but I’m aware that all interruptions have an additional price.
  • I work better wclutterith deadlines.  In fact, I’m missing two at this moment:  getting my Mermaid post up in a timely manner, when I should have drafted it last night, or even last week. And sending my WRW retreat prize submission to Gail Barrett, who kindly agreed to look at my synopsis and chapter today.
  • A house filled with clutter is a time thief.  I spend precious time looking at and worrying about the clutter on my dining room table.  Why don’t I just clear it off, you ask?  Because I might need that!  (Case in point:  I suddenly feel compelled to take a particular basket and stow it in another room, so I don’t have to look at it.).

Clutter = Thief!

Aware of these pitfalls, I also know that I write more efficiently when I am sequestered.  I’ve posted before about how I enjoy working on my writing when riding to work on the train.  Peter and I drove to Philadelphia over the weekend to a niece’s bridal shower.

notebook

I brought writing tools with me and spent the time – three hours back and forth – planning the synopsis that is now late.  But I used the six hours (well, four of them, probably)!  I thought, wrote, planned, talked and told my story to my captive audience as we rode along the New Jersey Turnpike.  It was productive in very much the same way as my train rides to the Bronx.

 

I’m also reminded of sister Mermaid Pintip’s recent post on making her own home-based retreat.  I need to find that RWR article, and Pin’s Mermaid follow-up, and craft my own ongoing retreat.  The public library is only a mile from home, and it does NOT have books and papers and outdated statements littering a dining room table.

Once upon a time, I got up and dressed and sat down at my computer (an Osborne!) at 9 a.m. every weekday.   This was in the early 1980s, when Peter and I planned our lives so we could afford my career as a full-time writer.  I worked three hours, broke for lunch, then allowed myself to do housework, groceries, whatever was needed to keep the house and our married life comfortable.

Those were good years… can I find that discipline again?  Or have the years of child-rearing, illness, graduate school and career stolen that urge?  Can I get it back?  And can I forgive myself if the quest proves impossible?

Reflecting on all of these ideas, I want to do certain things this summer in order to hit my own expectations for a successful vacation:

  • Schedule my writing sessions as I used to, once upon a time
  • Claim my space
  • Celebrate the milestones
  • Forgive the rough patches that slow or stop me.

What rough patches do you anticipate this summer?  Will you celebrate when September comes?

SusanMermaid

 

Mermaid Blogoversary: Getting Our Freak On AKA Paranormal Day

mermaid logoBy Avery, Denny, Loni and Masha

Hey all! Thanks so much for hanging out with us during our blogoversary blowout week. There are 13 mermaids in the lagoon, so we broke the week’s posts into groups via genre – just like the tables were grouped by genre at the very first Washington Romance Writers retreat we all attended together. Cool, eh?

This year for our blogoversary, we’re telling tales (not pulling mermaid fishy tails) about some of our favorite memories from that first retreat. Be sure to check them all out and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the bottom of each day’s post to win a fantabulous prize pack that includes a $25 Amazon gift card, books, reader goodies, a mermaid nightie, a Waterworld Mermaids water bottle and fun stuff galore!

Avery:

Avery FlynnOne of my favorite memories of meeting a mermaid was meeting Kimberly MacCarron. There I was sitting quietly in a corner — OK, you know that’s a lie. So there I was chatting up a complete stranger before one of the workshops started. I stopped talking ever so briefly to suck in a breath when BAM! the woman next to me starts talking about the difficulties of making Persian rice. It was such a total non-sequiter and she talked with such passion, I knew we were destined to be friends. Either that or we’d have a who-can-talk-more battle to the death. That crazy woman with the waving hands and sarcastic tweak to her tone was none other than Kimberly MacCarron who to this day can talk me under a table without even breaking a sweat.

Denny:

Denny S. BryceMy memories of my first WRW Retreat are sketchy. It was of course the weekend when I entered into the land of Mermaids, but I actually wasn’t in the mood to attend. I’d never been to the Retreat. I had tried to attend one or two times, but it was always sold out by the time I’d mailed in my registration. So, my  critique partner Joy Daniels (Danielle:) said I had to go, so I signed up. I didn’t mingle much outside of the orientation for first-time members, but I do remember sitting near Mermaid Alethea. She was very chatty (and a little scary:)…she kept telling me I needed to write short stories. Every time I saw her she said ‘You should be writing short stories.” I didn’t ask her why. I just nodded and smiled.
The only other clear memory I have was sitting next to Sherrilyn Kenyon during lunch. I didn’t know who she was though. Sorry, but seriously, I didn’t. After a few minutes of chatting (we didn’t talk about writing either), I learned she was very nice, funny, and she talked a lot. I do recall saying to myself, “Self, if everyone at WRW is like her, this could be fun.”
Then someone stood up and said, now I’d like to introduce our keynote speaker, and the gal sitting next to me stood up, and I grinned, thinking, I bet everyone thinks I really know her.
Okay, that was a typical all about ‘me’ moment,  but I can’t lie during the weeklong celebration of the Waterworld Memaids blog-anniversary, right?
Loni:

Loni Ren Faire It was after the final session on Friday night, before everyone went their separate ways (some of us to the small bar at the hotel).  I was walking down the corridor in between the dining area and the break-out rooms when someone said, “I could sure use a drink!”

I replied, “Me too.  An Amaretto and Sprite would really hit the spot.”

The woman turned to me and said, “Really? I’ve never heard of that.”

“Well, let’s go see if they have some.”

The next thing I knew we were sitting at the bar with a drink and talking about our stories and our lives. Within minutes it was like we were old friends.  Susan asked me about my book I was pitching (which is now my debut novel, Wanted: One Ghost) in the morning.  I told her how nervous I was.  It was my first time to pitch—ever!!

Needless to say, she was there for me the rest of the weekend.  It was great!  We exchanged emails and when I got home, excited to have had two full ms. from my pitches, I went to work on preparing them to send.  Susan emailed me about the group forming of a bunch of virgin-WRW retreat ladies who were putting together a blog page—had never done one of those either.  The rest they say, “Is history!”

Masha:
Masha MermaidSo there was this table.  It was supposed to be inspirational.  Inspirational writing, that is. Turns out, everyone at the table wrote everything but inspirational.  A glitter infused chickie, who had more energy than two thousand fireflies in a small glass jar, decided to rename the table. It was no longer inspirational, but that’s what it turned into.
So there we were. A motly crew of writers. I listened as they told their stories, fascinated by the different journeys. I don’t usually feel comfortable crowds, even less so when forced to speak. But at this bouillonbase table, I felt comfortable, safe.
So there I was that night. At home. Because that’s what I do. Hellicopter around like a wordless specter. What I later found out were my soon-to-be sisters were hooting it up.  Mermaid style. At a game of Jeopardy (or such). As usual, I missed out, but that’s okay. It was by choice.
A few days later I got an invite to join them in the sisterhood of mermaids. Me. The one who never says much. Who doesn’t participate with gusto.  And is always more present in spirit than in person.
And for me, that’s how it began.  They’ve put up with my missing deadlines, complaining, tardiness and continued hellicoptering. And they’ve done this without question, without recriminations and always with support and a hearty “we’ll be here.” And so I thank them.. again, from behind the computer screen, because that’s where I feel safe. The writer journey is a tough one, but these women make the road less lonely.  Thank you.
Mermaid Anniversary Prize Pack
Now it’s time to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win a fantabulous prize pack that includes a $25 Amazon gift card, books, reader goodies, a mermaid nightie, a Waterworld Mermaids water bottle and  fun stuff galore!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mermaid Blogoversary: Contemporary Day!

by Carlene, Dana, Diana, Robin and Susan Mermaid

 

Carlene: Holy abalone fishy sisters and friends!  The Waterworld Mermaids are two years old which means it’s been two years sinceMermaid Carlene what was easily one of the best experiences of our lives—The 2011 Washington Romance Writers Spring Retreat.  Which in turn means it’s been just as long since we made these precious memories at that retreat.  Keep in mind…we were all FIRST-TIMERS!  The Contemporary Genre Mermaids hope you enjoy our trip down memory lane:

Played Romance Jeopardy for the first time…with Roxanne Rustand as my teammate!  I jotted down something beautiful she said at the Unpublished Author Roundtable: “God doesn’t give the desire if he doesn’t give the talent.”

Pitched for the very first time…to Jenny Bent, who was awesome and let me know it was totally okay that my book was driven by the characters rather than the plot.  Seriously important because as a newbie, you’re not sure if these sorts of things are okay or not!  They are!

While attending fellow WRW member Michelle Butler’s “Healthy Writer” session where she referenced Bridget Jones’s Diary, I totally thought she was the real Bridget Jones who the movie was based on!  She looks remarkably like the gorgeous Renee Zelwegger so of course my newbie self jumped to that conclusion!

Cried.  A lot.  Cried even more when I saw that Kristan Higgins was also crying while Sherrilyn Kenyon gave the most beautiful and inspiring keynote speech I will ever hear.

 

Dana MermaidDana: What did I take away from my first WRW Retreat…

 

WRW Retreat was a much more intimate conference than anything I had attended before. I loved having the opportunity to sit down and chitchat with other writers, editors and agents. It was so great finding a group of people who didn’t think I was crazy for having conversations with fictional characters.

I kicked off that retreat by assisting my friend and critique partner, Anita Clenney, at her very first book signing ever at Turn The Page bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland. I’ll never forget it, because she sold out. I also met Alethea at that book signing. I was awestruck with her glitter princess awesomeness.

I am a huge Sherrilyn Kenyon fan and had a huge fan girl moment when I accidently wound up sitting by her in the bar one night and talking about her car collection. She is apparently as much an autophile as I am.  Then, the next night, Sherrilyn was our keynote speaker. She was so incredibly poignant as she spoke candidly about the obstacles she faced before getting published, and then the long road she traveled and hard work it took to be where she is today. I remember looking around and realizing there weren’t many dry eyes in the place. So now, every time writing gets hard, the words won’t come or some obstacle lands in my path that makes me question what I’m doing, I mentally go back to that night and remind myself of all the reasons to keep writing.

Romance Jeopardy is NOT FAIR! But so much fun!

And the best thing I have taken away from that first WRW Retreat is all the great friends!

 

Diana: I remember feeling totally overwhelmed that I was among such incredible writers and people.  The women at WRW were smartdiana mermaid — I mean Ph.D smart, funny, talented and beautiful.  It was like being thrown on stage at the Miss Universe contest (times 10!) — at the last minute and totally knowing you couldn’t compare.  But, they made me feel so very welcome and I am thrilled to be part of this chapter and this group.  I’ve learned so very much and am very grateful to everyone at WRW.

Hugs!

 

 

Robin MermaidRobin: – Rooming with someone you do not know can be a wonderful experience. I roomed with my soon-to-be fishy sister Pintip and she helped me with my first pitch.

-Everyone at the retreat was so supportive and took the fear out of pitching and submitting your work to American Author.

The speakers were awesome and they taught me that the definition of success is different for each person and you need to find your own definition and make your own goals.

 

Susan: I’m incredibly grateful to be a Mermaid.  How can I be anything else?  This was a pack of newbies, all coming in on their very SusanMermaidfirst conference, many of them new to writing, who bonded over two days and decided it just wasn’t right to let that go.  They even accepted a past-published Mermaid who’d clipped her own fins years back and was finally dipping a fin back into the waters.

They kept writing, not just their own stories, but excellent blog posts and emails to one another and here we are, two years later!  My hat’s off to all the lovely Mermaids who swim in this pond.  Happy Anniversary!

 

Thank you so much for swimming at our party today!  Do you have a favorite contemporary romance book or author?  Let us know, we’re always on the lookout to make new memories.  What better way to do that than with a good, tried and true love story?

 

Mermaid Anniversary Prize Pack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Prize Pack!  Books, A Nightie, $25 Amazon Gift Card and a WWM Bottle!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peter Andrews swims with the Mermaids and shares his tips on HowToWriteFast!

 

petergreatlakes

Addressing the crowd at a Great Lakes event.

I’m thrilled to introduce Peter Andrews to the lagoon today for a different sort of Guy Day interview.  Peter has been writing and earning a living at it (!!!) for many years.  He keeps a blog on how to write fast, and teaches online courses on the same subject.  A writer, hubby, great dad, and all-around good guy, he even makes dinner!

It’s exhausting work, let me tell you!  So, first, let me offer the nice man a drink with an umbrella…  and let the questions roll!

1. What if you finally can sit down to write and realize you can’t get started?

Starting is dependent on preparation. Before you finish writing each day, you need to determine what you will work on the next day (or next definite session). This is a promise to yourself. And you keep it. You can still do other things, but you need to commit to work forward.

How not to write fast (duh)!

2.  What if you’re suddenly not in love with your book?  

Everyone falls out of love with their books.  Occasionally, a book is just a bad idea. So be it. Usually, though, we forget why we love the book. The passion fades. I always write out why I MUST write the book before I do more than a few pages. Ten or more reasons. In complete sentences. Designed to persuade me to persevere. It almost always works.

3.  Susan profiled your “bagel” practice for unknown words in an earlier post.  Is there a story behind this?  (pretty please?)

It used to be the Next Best Thing in our quest to write fast.

When I was writing a lot of science articles that were jammed with facts, I kept coming to screeching halts. I lost my momentum, over and over again, as I looked up names, dates, places, and materials. I realized I needed a placeholder that would be unlikely to be in my final copy. Bagel was born.

4.  Do you have a “think positive” mantra that gets you going in the morning?  Susan says you get up at the same time as her (she has to be up at 5:30 a.m.) and you’re already working when she comes into the kitchen at 6:15.  Are you secretly a machine?

Well, it could be the Puritan genes, but I think I just have found work that I am passionate about. Writing is what I was born to do.  (it’s true)

5.  What’s the most you’ve ever written in a week?

I don’t know. I’d estimate 15,000 words. Not heroic, but exhausting for me.

6.  What are you most proud of?  

It changes. I am delighted by the script and the novel I just finished. But I have also gotten a real thrill out of writing a speech and hearing laughter (or seeing tears) as it’s delivered.

7.  Do you have plans for the blog you run?  www.howtowritefast.blogspot.com

The blog will keep going. It already has led to courses (an online version begins on Monday), and, eventually, I’ll edit up the material from these into a book.

Peter

Peter’s blog offers every writer ideas for increasing their output.  Find it at http://howtowritefast.blogspot.com.  

He is also teaching an online course this month at  http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/workshops.

 

Thanks, Peter!  The Mermaids are all clapping their fins and splashing around, now you’ve given them the keys to How To Write Fast!

Susan-Mermaid-avatar

 

 

 

A BAGEL, ANY KIND, TOASTED AND BUTTERED – JUST AS LONG AS IT GETS THE JOB DONE

from mermaid Susan Andrews:  SusanMermaid

There’s a problem I’ve experienced as a writer sometimes that just knocks me on my back.  Mind you, I can plot, draft, write and create.  I carve out time to write.  I’ve created a little space for my books and my papers.  I’ve learned to draft manuscripts on the train, to use my phone for making notes and jotting down ideas.  I have a nifty new keyboard for my iPad.  I’ve even discovered the charm of the Yonkers Will Public Library for its blissfully silent study tables.

But, every once in a while, right in the middle of things, I get stuck.  That one word, the one fact I was so sure I knew, escapes me.  It’s right there, ready to be typed and, at the same time, out of sight.

I’m frozen.  Stuck.  My dream of being A Productive Writer is smashed at my feet, at least for the moment.  And, frankly, I’m a little pissed.

However, I’m blessed to know (and be married to) a very clever writer, who makes his living writing.  And has met deadlines for nearly thirty years.  Who also has his moments of grasping for a word, a phrase, or an idea.

He tells me, “Susan, you need a bagel.”  Damn, that man has good ideas.  RaisinCinnBagel

Here’s the idea:  You type along, thinking good thoughts, getting into the groove of your writing, and suddenly you’re not sure what the next word is supposed to be.  Peter (aka Word God for this post) types “bagel” and continues writing.  Since his non-fiction work is science writing, and bagels have never figured in any of his published science articles, “bagel” is his preferred word for “silly me, not able to think of that just now.”  When he’s ready to revise, he also cleans up the “bagels” and gives himself the time to think of the proper word or phrase.

I’ve started using it myself in my work, and it’s marvelously freeing.  “Bagel” allows me to keep working.  It’s a funny, cute, small way to acknowledge that a draft isn’t intended to be perfect right out of the box.  I’m able to forgive myself for not knowing the word and move on.

Just this past week, I used it when I saw a hole in my plot.  “Bagel”, I typed.  “Insert sex scene here.”

Dang, that’s a lot of bagels.

Peter Andrews writes the How to Write Fast blog at www.howtowritefast.blogspot.com.  He has a hundred tips like this one for the WannaBeProductive writer and will be featured on April 29 in a Waterworld Mermaid Guy Day interview.

bagel

Our Valentine Gift to you…A Collection of Heroes

 

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