Category Archives: mermaids

NaNo for you, but NoNo for me

mermaids, Motivation, Susan Jeffery, Writing

Susan-Mermaid-avatarThat’s right.  I didn’t do NaNo this year.  The final days of last November brought on a sly, simmering uneasiness about my health.  It was a feeling I couldn’t quite shake, but knew I ignored it at my own peril.  Yes, nineteen years with the unpredictable and unforgiving disorder of MS have taught me to respect my intuition – if you’ve got the shakes, Susan, for God’s sake slow down.  And, if you know me, I’m an all-in or a who-cares kind of girl, and I felt it unwise to  subject myself to another month of NaNo stress.  Writing is meant to be fun.  Why spoil it with another trip to physical therapy?

Instead, I embarked on an entirely different type of insanity.  One where *I* was making the rules (sort of).  In fact, I have been on a writing hiatus this month in order to preserve my sanity (what little I have).  And do you know what?  It sucks.

I’m taking an online course to earn graduate credits and earn the next level of fifteen hours so I can also earn another raise at work.  That is, beyond the yearly seniority raise that’s built into our contract with the school.  If I can look smarter by earning additional graduate credit hours, I get more cash in my pay envelope:

*Right.* Like I said, mo’ money.

So, I’ve been taking this course on using primary sources at the Library of Congress.  I go around hunting up really cool pictures that I might be able to use in my teaching:

How did the Civil War turn out for these two?

And not paying enough attention, so I find this, which I sent to my son.  He lives in Binghamton, so it seemed like the right thing to do:

Panorama of Binghamton, NY – 1909

 And he liked it a lot, since he recognized the landmarks (the town hasn’t changed much in a hundred years, which is part of its charm.)

Then my local writing group, CTRWA, reminded its members to enter the chapter’s “fun” contest:  the Marga-RITAs.  Chapter-only, it celebrates the best and the worst in our writing.  Categories like “most creative and anatomically impossible sex scene” and “best run-on sentence” help exorcise the misery of our writing “errors”,  while we celebrate another year of writing good stuff (“best use of adorable child and/or cute animal” is my fave)(you are so going down this year, Kristan Higgins!)

Do you have any idea what it feels like to find your writing, hidden away while you slave over primary sources in pursuit of filthy lucre in your day job?  It really stings!  Little gems of prose are discovered, just waiting for the tacky margarita glass that is the prize (I have two).

What say you, Mermaid friends?  Did you ever have to go on a writing “diet” to achieve other… er…. achievements?   How did it feel?  And, knowing how it felt at the other end, how hard was it to get back into the writing swing of things?

Enquiring minds want to know!  SusanMermaid

 

 

Racing Like a Snail

mermaids,

Today, I’d like to talk about a little snail named Turbo. (And yes, if this is sounding familiar, then it probably is. I am referring, of course, to the Dreamworks movie, Turbo, which released this summer. I apologize in advance for any spoilers I am about to give, but pintipsince this is a kids’ movie, I hope you’ll forgive me.)

Turbo is a snail who dreams of speed. In fact, his dearest wish is to race in the Indy 500, as crazy as that sounds. But it’s not so impossible, after all. Turbo gets into the engine of a drag racer, and his body is infused with nitrous oxide. Presto! All of a sudden, he’s super-duper “turbo” fast. Blue-streak lightning fast. Upwards of 200mph, qualifying for the Indy-500 fast. Just as he is about to win the race, however, his powers desert him, and he must inch his way to the finish line with his own snail-intrinsic abilities.

My son LOVED this movie. And I loved it, too, but for different reasons. It was cute to see a character yearn for something for which he is so absolutely unqualified. Exciting to witness his transformation with the receipt of his super powers. And satisfying to know that it was the abilities he had all along that allowed him to prevail.

Sometimes, in this high-speed world of publishing, it can be easy to feel like a snail. An ordinary, garden-variety writer, Theo, wanting desperately to succeed as big bad author, Turbo. Super powers, in the form of a 200 mph contract or a coveted award or mega sales, seem to be all we need in order to succeed.

Unfortunately, we’re not cartoon snails in a movie, so we can’t expect these powers to appear magically in our laps. So what, then, is a writer to do?

Believe in our own intrinsic abilities, of course! Inch, after slow painstaking inch, word after slow painstaking word…and maybe one day, we, too, will realize we never needed those super powers, after all.

Or so we can dream. Right?

Have you seen Turbo? Thoughts? If not, what movies have you seen lately that have inspired you?

Trusting Your Innards at 40,000 Feet

mermaids

So there I was, gliding 40,000 words into my WIP when bam!  Nope, it wasn’t a bird hitting my rudder.  It was the realization that I didn’t have an external plot.  Okay, so to be fair, it’s not that I didn’t have one per se.  I did.  It just sucked big dinosaur eggs.  I’m a plotter by trade and that nagging little feeling I had when developing my GMC, character arcs and plot points, that the external plot was less than turgid (hee, hee)… well, I should have listened to it.  But instead, whether spurred by laziness or cowardace, I pushed forward.  For a while, all was going well.  Until I got to the dreaded middle.  I can’t exactly say it was sagging.  It just wasn’t defying gravity.  Not the way I envisioned at the teenage portion of my book.  But nevertheless, I muddled forward, still eager to convince myself what I was feeling and sensing could be fixed with a little tummy sucking.  I stumbled and staggered for a few thousand more words until I couldn’t lie anymore.  I was sagging.  And it wasn’t pretty.  At that point, I took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.  I had a few options.  I could muddle along, pretend nothing was sagging and continue to stuff my burgeoning girth into a dress that no longer fit.  Or I could opt for the Spanx route, throwing a few superficial plot twists in the hopes of hiding the bulges.  As I began to think of what contrived fiction I could toss onto my sagging body of work, I realized that at some point, if this thing were to ever get published, the Spanx would have to come off.  And there I’d be.  Spanxless, saggy and bulging.  What a pretty picture I would paint.

And so I began to think the unthinkable.  Re-write.  I reached out to a few folks to get their perspective.  Opinions differed.  Some suggested to move forward, finish and then edit.  Others thought starting over was prudent.  As I muddled my options, I realized that I couldn’t move forward.  It would be like buying a dreamy dress, four sizes too small, and vowing to go on a diet.  Been there.  Tried to do that.  Didn’t work.  But the thought of trashing all that work didn’t sit well either.  I still remember when I finally donated my dreamy dress.  It was painful.  It was only when I pulled away from Goodwill that I realized… duh!  I could have had it altered.  And so that’s what I decided to do; implement a few alterations.

I went back to the plotting board and this time, worked out all the knots I had lazily ignored.  The new (and hopefully) improved outline meant that yes, I would have to chuck some of the words.  Maybe even many.   But the innards were still there.  Story idea, theme and even the characters (although I have to admit, one of them got a facelift, complete with a new profession and motivating goal).   I just shaped the plot.  And you know what?  As I went back to zero word count, I didn’t feel sick.   And I didn’t feel like a gluttonous moron who should have known better than to ignore good nutrition and feast on the doughnuts of laziness.  I felt invigorated and eager to write.  I can’t say I’m thrilled to have discovered my sagginess at 40k.  Around 4k would have been better.  But at least it wasn’t 140k.  And I’m glad I didn’t take the easy way out by trying to put a wig on an armadillo.  Just like the proverbial pig in lipstick, I’d still have an armadillo.  Except now, it would probably be mad.  And saggy.

Shrugs, Smiles and Sex

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, , , , ,

by Kimberly MacCarron

As writers, we’re supposed to write what we know. Apparently I know lots about shrugging, smiling and sex.

If I do a find and replace with the words ‘shrug’ or ‘smile’, there would be a gazillion replaces going on. Now, the sex is another story. I don’t use the word much, but, boy do I like to write about it.

This poses a significant problem for me because I write YA. Teens tend to smile and shrug a lot. I’m sure they even have sex. But shouldn’t it be a little bit harder writing sex scenes for teen readers?

Apparently not.

During this month of NaNo, I started writing a paranormal adult contemporary. I’m about 9,000 words in, which totally bites when we’re way past the halfway mark. On the other hand, I started a YA book at the beginning of October, which I had trouble writing. I’ve gone back and forth between these two books like the fickle woman I am.

Yesterday, I got to the halfway mark in the YA. Want to know how I did it? I decided my characters would have sex. Then I wrote almost 5,000 words leading up to it.

For all you writers out there who are stuck in your manuscript: write what you know.

I apparently know sex. After all, I am a mom of five kids. 🙂 I think sex makes the majority of people happy. Maybe I shouldn’t advocate that as a YA writer, but, hell, let’s be honest. Teens go back and forth between being on top of the world and being in the pits. That was most of us as well at that age.

I’ve written five YA romances now, and I always intend for my characters to have sex, but it never happens. It came close–just about as close as possible–in my last book, but it didn’t happen. I do plenty of hinting at the end that it WILL happen, but I’ve never written a sex scene for teens. That made me rethink things. I shouldn’t be writing FOR teens. I just need to be honest in the story and write it that way.

I think this is what motivates me today to write. I am going to write that sex scene. And I’m going to curb the smiles and shrugs. Unless they’re really, REALLY sexy smiles and shrugs. Today it’s all about the sex.

What about you? Do you write what you know? Do you get stuck when you’re trying to make your characters NOT do what they clearly want to do? What infuses excitement into your writing day?

Off to smile while I write. No shrugging allowed.

Contemporary Romance Author Sugar Jamison Swims with the Mermaids

Books, Denny S. Bryce, Interview, Marketing, mermaids, Publishing, Writing, ,

Denny's MermaidsI met Sugar this past summer at RWA Nationals in Atlanta. I don’t remember what we started chatting about, I just recall that I laughed and laughed and laughed some more. It was a very good first meeting. After that, I kept running into her (I swear I wasn’t stalking), and then I complimented her on the cover of her then new release and fabulous title: Dangerous Curves Ahead. By the end of RWA Nationals, I’d found a new bud and a new author I truly enjoyed. Today, she’s taking a few minutes to join us here at the pond. She also has a giveaway (all you need to do is comment to be eligible for a chance to win)! So let’s get started with an introduction and then we can dive into the questions, and Sugar’s fabulous responses. Enjoy!

photo 1

From her official bio: Sugar Jamison is a southern belle trapped in a New Yorker’s body. With a love of big hair and high-heeled shoes, she spends her day at her very normal day job and night dreaming up sweet but sassy romances.

Denny: How long have you been writing and what was your inspiration for the Perfect Fit Novels?

Sugar: I started writing my senior year of college after reading Jennifer Crusie’s BET ME for the second time. I figured it wouldn’t be so hard to write a romance novel. I was wrong. Writing romance is much harder than I thought it would be, but it’s also so rewarding.

Denny: What has been the biggest surprise about the reaction/response to your Perfect Fit series?

Sugar: I don’t know if anything surprised me about the reactions to the Perfect Fit series. Except maybe how many people took exception to my heroine referring to herself as “FAT”. The book is about a plus sized woman. Real women call themselves fat. ALL THE TIME. It’s not a bad word. I’m not degrading myself when I use the word and neither was she. Overweight, plus sized, big. It all means the same thing.

Denny: How much do you love marketing and social media? What have you found works best in promoting your books?

Sugar: I don’t love marketing, but the team at Saint Martin’s Press does a good job spreading the word about my books. I really like Facebook. I update my fan page daily. I feel like most of my readers hang out and connect with me there. I don’t really like Twitter that much, but other people love it. As far as promotion goes, I’m not sure what really has worked in terms of sales. I took out ads in a few places, but honestly I don’t think I got a return on my investment. Goodreads giveaways and the Free Book Friday I found gave me more exposure to readers than anything else. I’m sure there are other things I could be doing but usually I find that word of mouth has worked the best. I get emails from readers who’ve told me that their friends recommended that they read my books. That is the best feeling, much better than getting reviewed by a big magazine.

Denny: Did you have a pre-launch strategy for finding readers? If so, what was it:)? (yes, inquiring minds – noisy ones like me, what to know!)

Sugar: Nope. Sometimes I think I suck at this whole author thing. My publisher sent out review copies all over the place. I think that really made the difference. But I teased it on Facebook and Twitter. I had really great friends who spread the word for me. I’m very grateful for them.

Denny: What did you think I’d ask that you were hoping to answer?

Sugar: I get asked what advice I would give writers. And it would be… besides writing a great book is to build your backlist. Write as much as you can and put out as much as you can, in whatever format you choose to publish in. But make sure that whatever you publish is polished and professional looking.

Denny: What’s the Next Big Thing for Sugar Jamison?

Sugar: My next Perfect Fit book is out February 25th. Thrown For a Curve. I LOVE my hero in this book. I fall in love with each of my heroes, but I really LOVE LOVE LURVE Colin who is my sexy Irish bad boy. My other big thing is that I have another series of books coming out for Harlequin’s Kimani linphoto 2e. The first book is LIBERTY (Ginger Jamison) is also due out February 25th. Here’s a description. When Ryan Beecher returns home after a long deployment overseas, Lexy barely recognizes her husband. The man who left Texas for Afghanistan was cruel and abusive. The man who comes back to her is a badly injured stranger with amnesia—and no memory of their life together.

photo 3Lexy can’t believe how much Ryan has changed. The wounded marine is now gentle, caring and tender. And his touch awakens yearnings she’s never felt before. As he takes them both to the point of no return, can Lexy trust this lover who seems to live only for her pleasure…as he seeks his salvation in her healing embrace?

A poignant and erotic story of longing, secrets and second chances, Liberty explores the limits of desire and the boundaries of love.

Thank you Sugar!

It was great having you in the pond. And readers – COMMENT BELOW to be eligible to receive a copy of “Have Yourself a Curvy Little Christmas” by Sugar Jamison (and if you’re nice – and only a tad naughty – we may be able to give away an e-copy of Dangerous Curves Ahead, too!)

 

Cheers!

Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, , , ,

Last month, my brother got married in a beautiful ceremony in New York. I gave a toast at the rehearsal dinner and in true Kerri-fashion, I stuck to what I know best – TV, movies and Pearl Jam (well, that was more for my brother). The toast is below and you’re all going to think I’m nuts. But my brother got all the references!

Welcome to the family, Danielle!!!

KevDanKer

Among many things, my brother and I share a very strange unique sense of humor. Possibly because we spent a lot of time together watching movies, TV shows and listening to, of course, Pearl Jam.

A lot of Pearl Jam.

When I thought about what I should say tonight, it seemed pretty clear I needed to talk about his journey. And where better to start than… Continue reading →

A “Too Many Books, Too Little Time” Blog Post: Have You Read Any African American Historical Romances Lately?

mermaids

Denny S. BryceThis is a total Catch 22 (Google if the reference is too old for you:) moment. Now that I’m writing almost full-time, I’m also getting the chance to read more. I have a huge stack in my “to read” bin, but lately I am  reading a lot of contemporary romantic suspense and straight-up thrillers. (Some authors I’m very excited about include Robin Perini, Stephanie Freeman, Carla Cassidy, and many more). Additionally, I belong to a Book Club (a quick shot out to my pals in the Phauxcon Book Club) where the diversity of the reading material is giving me even more opportunities to explore and enjoy. Last month, I made the book selection and got to re-read one of my favorite thrillers, Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. This month the book is an oldie by the late Robert Ludlum entitled The Chancellor’s Manuscript (excellent espionage suspense).

But now I’ve gone off and discovered a new genre (new to me, that is:). One of my new pals from the 2013 RWA National Conference is Piper Huguley. She was a 2013 Golden Heart finalist in historical romance, and a Top 50 finalist in Harlequin’s SYTYCW contest in the inspirational historical romance category. She writes African American(AA) historical romances. There is this HUGE world of readers and lovers of  historical romances that feature African American characters (which means there are other ethnic groups that have books out there, too) but I must admit, I did not know about this genre until I met Piper – which just shows there’s a lot of reading and exploring for me to do because its some damn rich story telling, and just wonderful stories, and I love history.

So I was going to share some authors in this blog post who write in this category, but kept coming across one name that dominates (see below).  Not a bad thing, domination, but what does it also say?  I ask because I’m naturally curious (and a marketing person, too) – why aren’t there more authors writing AA historical romance? I’ve talked to African American readers of AA romance who are devotees of historical romances across the board. I visited webs pages on Amazon where readers have read all of Beverly’s 30 books, and are requesting more authors, and more books. Is this an example of a niche that is too small for publisher’s to ‘buy’? Or like me, are publishers/editors just not as savvy about all of the potential of this category? What if the extremely popular AA historical book The Help had a romance as the central story? Would you have bought it?  Read it? If you aren’t black would you pick up a book that has an AA historical romance? Or do you pick up books because they get a good review from a trusted reviewer? Or is this void an example of another opportunity for self- publishing or digital publishers who are naturally ‘risk-takers’? Honestly, I don’t have answers, and I’m curious about what you think:)…

Beverly Jenkins (apparently the Queen of this genre is published by Avon and has a TON of books she’s written)

So my journey will begin with me reading some of the books by Beverly Jenkins…!!!

A Time For Thanksgiving…

Dana Rodgers, generosity, mermaids, ,

th-1It’s November… The days are getting colder, it gets darker earlier and Christmas is just around the corner.

What do you think of when you think of November? NaNoWriMo? The time change? Veteran’s Day? Thanksgiving? For me, November is a time for giving thanks. Here are a few of the things I am thankful for in my life:

  1. I am thankful for my family. Without the support I receive from my husband and children it would be impossible for me to work a full time job, take care of the day-to-day stuff and still find time to write.
  2. I’m thankful that my family is healthy and that we have a roof over our heads and food on our table.
  3. And I am thankful for my job and my co-workers. Just like most of the rest of the world, I’d rather win the lottery and spend my days lounging on a sandy beach somewhere. Preferably with a hot cabana boy to bring me fabulous fruity drinks, but since that sadly doesn’t seem to be an option, I am thankful that my job allows me to take care of my family and save for college, and that my coworkers make that cursed day job tolerable most days.
  4. I am thankful for my friends. I feel so fortunate to be blessed with so many wonderful angels in my life, like every single one of the Waterworld Mermaids. These people lift me up when I am down and challenge me to be better person everyday.
  5. And finally, I am thankful that I live in a time and place where my accomplishments are directly related to how hard I’m willing to work. I have found that the things that are the most valuable in life are those things you have to strive for. I’m glad I get the opportunity to follow my dreams.

So, now that I’ve shared my top five, it’s your turn. Please take a moment to share some of the things that you’re thankful for.

Thank you Veterans

Carlene Love Flores, mermaids

Mermaid CarleneGood Morning 🙂

Today I was all set to talk about my new favorite movie and how I believe within it I’ve found the perfect example of “revealing character”. At last month’s Washington Romance Writers meeting, the brilliant author, Alma Katsu, spoke to us about that topic in relation to conflict in a story. I’ll save that post for my slot next month because this morning, as I was about to schedule my post, I received an email from my baby brother letting me know he is set to deploy soon.

When someone you love and care about writes that email or leaves that message, “I’m deploying”, how do you respond?

For me, it’s a mix of pride and understanding. I think the reason for this personal reaction is that I’m extremely proud of anyone who serves their country so selflessly. I find that type of courage comforting. Having sent my hubby off on several deployments, I know first hand of the ways a person will grow from the experience in a way I think only this can do for them. There is also a part of me who believes with everything I have that each person on this planet has a distinct journey in life that they were meant to travel. For some of us, that includes deploying to conflicts around the world. Having negative thoughts in my heart about a loved one’s deployment seems counterproductive. So that is where my heart lies as I let it settle in that baby brother will be setting out on this part of his journey soon.

On November 11th, Veteran’s Day, who will you be celebrating, missing, appreciating? Please share, I’d love to celebrate them with you.

My list includes the following for their courageous service in:military-child-21868868

Hubby, Operation Iraqi Freedom

Dad, Vietnam War

Grandpa Barney, Korean War

Grandpa Wiley, World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War

Family friend Susana, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom

Baby brother…fair thee well and see you when you get home 🙂

To all of our Veterans, past and present, I appreciate you all.  And above all else, Thank You.

Fishy Kisses,

Carlene