Category Archives: mermaids

Expectations, Infidelity and the Terminator

mermaids, , ,

I am an avid reader (and hopeful aspiring author) of Harlequin Blaze, the hottest and sexiest line of their category line stable.  In it you will find the trademark hot-lovin’ in a variety of positions, locations and with or without accompanying toys.  This line is lava-hot but also promises a happily- ever-after (HEA) or a happliy-for-now (HFN) ending for one man and one woman – an emotional connection in addiiton to the sexual one.  If you want sex with multiple partners of either gender, you need to look elsewhere (like the Harlequin SPICE line).

So, when I picked up and read, ‘Reckless Pleasures” by Tori Carrington (a long-time favorite of mine) I was thrown by my reaction to the plot.  Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

”Six months apart is a long time. For security expert, Megan McGowan, it feels like forever since she’s felt the strong arms of Darius Folsom around her. Since Dari’s military deployment six months ago, every minute apart is another minute that Megan finds herself tempted . . .

Bad boy Jason Savage is Dari’s best friend – and partner in the new security firm Dari and Megan have formed. Only as Megan and Jason work closely together on an emotionally charged case, the attraction between them goes from hot to nuclear meltdown.

But even as Megan’s libido screams “Oh, yes!” she wonders if it’s possible to love one man – and give in to her hunger for another . . .”

 

Hmmm . . . . now let me caveat that I am not a book reviewer. I know what I like and what I don’t. I like some plot points (celebrities and sports stars) more than others (cowboys) but I can always enjoy a good book.  And this was  good book.  Tori Carrington is a solid writer who delivers hot sex, well-developed characters, and an intriguing plot.  This book was no exception on those points.

But, I had to struggle to complete it and at the end it left me . . . well, I was many things. I’ve had my fill of stories about infidelity and the consequences (and, it has totally ruined my enjoyment of “Total Recall”) and this book was well-timed to be caught up in my thoughts on that  area of discussion.  And, add to the mix that I work for the military and many of my friends have deployed and faced this very occurrence – so yeah, I have baggage on this one.

I had a hard time liking Megan or Jason and I was disappointed in Dari and his reaction to the news when he returns home, injured due to an IED. As a writer, I was intrgued by the thought of tackling infidelity in a Harlequin Blaze novel but I was also left with a sense of disappointment of reader expectation. After much thought about my reaction, I determined that the source of my disappointment wasn’t the storyline or subject matter – it was the fact that because of the reactions, excuses, explanations, and feelings of all three interested parties, I didn’t get the sense that any of them were “the one” for the other.

The love story, the connection between the hero, heroine or third wheel, didn’t grab me enough to make me emotionally invest in the story.  I wasn’t turning the page with that gut-twisting, angst and my inner voice saying “You were meant for each other.”  And that is the source of my disappointment – I didn’t fall in love with either of the men and I didn’t want to be Megan.  The book was well-written and it did get my attention but not for the reason I read romance.

This book has created a stir for many readers and the Web is full of blog posts and book reviews on the subject matter.  The bottom line is this: whether they love it or hate it, it has garnered a reaction from a great many people.

What books have you read that didn’t live up to your expectations but “stayed” with you anyway? Are there some plotlines, stories, subject matters that you will not read?

Robin

Asking the Right Questions

Alethea Kontis, mermaids

Hello, world, and welcome to June!

It doesn’t feel like this year should be half over yet. I know that the older we get the quicker time flies, as each second becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of our overall lifespan…but six months into 2011? Really?

And even more incredibly than that…how on earth did I manage to interview 30 authors on my website in the month of May?

It all started out innocently enough: I had a laundry list of authors on my to-do page that needed to be addressed, and I had my fairy goddaughters for Bring Your Child to Work Day. It was a match made in heaven. We came up with a list of fun and silly questions and decided to send them to everyone.

Yes, everyone.

Within a week I had twenty sets of answers from fiction authors whom I’ve known and respected for a very long time. Add to that five authors from the Magical Words Blog, and I was left with only a week to fill on the fly once I got back from the Nebula Awards. Easy-peasy-Japanesey.

What I didn’t realize when the girls and I came up with those quick and silly questions was how incredibly insightful they would be. (More than few of them were turned into Mermaid Profile Questions.) The interviews weren’t only fun to read, they were intriguing and inspiring. They were everything Barbara Walters hopes she can get out of her victims and more. (You can see the full list of interviews here.)

In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams told us that the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42. What we don’t know is the question. There is much wisdom in asking the right question.

I learned some very interesting things last month. I learned that I am not the only author who chooses coffee or tea depending on the situation, or who is afraid of really silly things. I learned that writers dream big…but also realistically. When asked to list three things they wanted to do before they died, most people listed incredibly attainable things. When asked how many words they wished they could write in a single day, most people’s goals were easily reachable. (Only Avery Mermaid and I really went crazy on that one.) And I found so many more things to put on my Princess List.

Writers are clever. Writers are funny. Writers live to experience things. Writers thrive on a sense of community. Writers love answering questions (but often hate choosing between two things). But most of all, writers are real. We build our castles in the sky, but we know our foundations must be planted firmly in the ground.

Last month, I learned things I never knew about friends I’ve had for…well, for some, around a decade. It is amazing how much you can find out about a person by asking a silly question. What’s your favorite word? Your favorite dessert? Your top 5 desert island albums? What schoolyard songs do you remember? How about your favorite board game as a child?

What are some other great silly questions? Go on, ask them.
If we’re lucky, we might just stumble upon Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Critique Groups–Where Talent Abounds

mermaids,

So you’ve decided to take that leap and write the romance you’ve always dreamed of writing. Your mother, sister-in-law, husband and best friend all think it’s wonderful–that’s great! But while having them read your story might help with the kinks, your fellow writing peers are the ones who know what editors are going to look for. As it is, Editor X may not even like what you have, just because they did. That is where getting involved with a critique group is so important for a writer . . . on the ‘write’ path.

Being involved with a wonderful critique group (mine meets once a month and enjoys each other’s company) is a blessing when you are serious about your writing career. Critiquing is taking the good with the bad with a touch of diplomacy and a lot of encouragement from others in the same boat as you. Some people prefer not seeing who they are critiquing with at first and building the personal relationships along the way. The internet is wonderful for those writers, where others are comfortable making the leap of faith right off the bat and meeting face to face.

A part of having a great critique group is having someone to run/moderate your group with an eye for regulations, ideals and morals to make everyone comfortable. I am thankful for our ‘group leader’ who is excellent with handling those issues and supporting our group.

Since our start up, we’ve recently had two of our members’ books contracted to be published. There are others in our group who are already published within the romance industry and share in both giving and receiving ideas, comments and encouragement to help others in a positive role and to continue in their endeavors. Even published authors have a need for a readers view–from grammatical errors to character and plot flow.

If you are starting out in your romance writing career or path, check with Romance Writers of America or your local Romance Writers of America chapter to see if they have a critique group. Find a group you feel comfortable with but not so comfortable that they won’t give you constructive criticism now and again when needed.

A couple of things to remember before joining a critique group:

• If you get a critique, you need to give a critique too (even if you’re not sure how–read it from a readers point of view until you can understand and see things within each other’s context–grammar, POV, plot and character development, etc. Not everyone sees the same things in all submissions. That is why many eyes are better than one.).

• Remember the golden rule–treat others with the same respect you would want to be treated. Give your opinions gently, recommend changes with an open mind, but remember it is still ‘their’ work, their brain child.

• Be able to take criticism with an open eye towards others but remember not everyone is going to see the same thing. If you get various points made on one detail from quite a few people in your group–look at it as maybe something that needs a change. But if it’s a random thought from one individual take it with a grain of salt–it may be just one persons opinion but you know where you are going with your story.

• Also, if someone is an expert in a certain area dealing with your book (I’ve been blessed with a partner who is a history major and was able to point out historical situations for me in one of my books) take to heart who may be reading your story, you need realism. Ask them questions to help guide you in the right way. They may even read over your finished story to check for inaccuracies. Just remember to thank them in the long run.

• Encourage, celebrate and communicate! We’re all on the same path. Even those who have been there, done that, and have the contracts–it doesn’t end with one book. Celebrate each other’s big and small accomplishments in their journey–you could be the next winner of a contest or the next one signing a contract with an agent or editor and will want to share the news with everyone.

Tell me about your critique group(s), tips or any questions you may want to share with others. I would love to hear from you.  Hugs!

Who Are You Meant To Be?

Dana Rodgers, Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, Motivation, Writing

You know how some things are a secret? Like the chocolate stash behind the canned vegetables at the back of the pantry. Yep, no danger of anyone finding the mini candy bars hidden there in my house.

Writing was one of those things for me.

I grew up in a less than ideal home and I used writing as my outlet. Over time the journal entries and poems of my youth evolved into short stories. Not very good ones at first, but it was still satisfying to see the story in my mind come to life on the page. And yes, for those of you wondering…I do in fact carry on conversations with my characters. In what other profession is it possible to get paid for talking to your imaginary friends? Yeah, in most places they medicate you and introduce you to a little thing called a straitjacket!

But I kept my writing a secret. No one knew. Not my friends, not my family, not even my husband, a wonderful man I have been married to for almost 18 years! I never set out for it to be a secret. It’s not like I lead a double life as a secret agent or anything. I just never felt good enough, talented enough to make my deep, dark, crazy dream of being able to walk into a bookstore and one day see my name on the shelf a reality. So, I didn’t say anything.

Then about three years ago a friend asked me to be a beta reader for her manuscript. She knew I was an avid reader and I jumped at the opportunity to give her feedback. Boy, did she get more than she bargained for! Fortunately, she was so happy to get constructive feedback that she called me again and again to ask questions and get opinions. In return, I was thrilled to be involved with a real author; after all she had an agent. We worked well together and I quickly became her critique partner.

Since that fateful day, Anita Clenney has encouraged and cajoled me into coming out of the writer’s closet and embracing the insanity that is the publishing industry. I have written my first full-length manuscript and pitched it at the WRW Retreat. Although, I have been fortunate enough to receive multiple submission requests I now realize that it doesn’t matter. The true gift that my friend has given me is confidence in my own abilities. She has opened a door to an entire community of incredibly talented nut jobs that talk to their characters too.

My friends and family have been very supportive since my coming out. The first time my husband read an excerpt of my work he said, “Holy crap! I had no idea you could write like this!” and “Oh yeah, now that I know, can you edit my master’s thesis on water management in Europe?” For the record, I would rather edit an entire manuscript than his incredibly dry academic thesis again.

And by the way, my dream of seeing my name on the bookstore shelf came true April 29, 2011. My friend and critique partner, Anita Clenney, published Awaken the Highland Warrior (the first in a trilogy) and bless her heart, she dedicated it to me.

The point is we all come from different places and have taken different journeys to get where we are today. For some of us the path has been relatively easy, tripping over wonderful opportunities at every turn. For others, the road may have been wrought with challenge and constant reminders of past failures. But the question I ask is this–Have you ever looked back at your life and thought… Wow, that was so not worth it. I really wish I hadn’t tried. Or, do you more often look back and think… That was such a great opportunity. I wish I had learned to _____________. Or, I should have _____________.

At the end of the day, no matter what your journey is, put it all out on the line and see what happens. Because you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take and along the way you short change yourself out of being who you’re meant to be.

 

Who Needs Best Friends?

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, Uncategorized, ,

Whether it’s in real life or found on the big screen or between the pages of a favorite book, we need best friends.

Anyone who’s been through either good or difficult times can appreciate the steadfast friend who remains at your side.

As a writer, I can’t imagine having a main character without the benefit of a best friend.  Sometimes they provide comic relief or that voice of reason.  Whether that best friend is quirky, serious or just sweetly loyal, I love best friends!  Love, love, love ‘em!

Where would Lucy be without her Ethel?  Probably not in as much trouble, but, come on, where’s the fun in that?  Can you even picture Fred Flinstone without Barney Rubble?  Or Spongebob without Patrick. 

There are, of course, the stories with best friends that have you reaching for your tissue box.  Beaches.  Bridge to Terabithia.  My Girl.  Fried Green Tomatoes.  Charlotte’s Web.  Those are the stories that make you want a best friend just like the one you read or saw—even though the outcome of that friendship may be about loss and pain and learning to go on without them. 

Mohammed Ali once said, “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain.  It’s not something you learn in school.  But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”  So, so true.  We usually do learn the important lessons from our friends because they’re the sounding board for our hair-brained ideas, and if we’re lucky, they’ll manage to talk us out of them!  From the crib to nursing home, we depend on our friends.  No pun intended on the Depends.  Well, now there is…

What does friendship mean to you?  As a person?  As a writer?  What are the qualities that a best friend has to have as a supporting character in a book?  For me, they have to have a strong sense of loyalty and acceptance.  You can tell a lot about people by their best friends.  In some ways, they help define us.  They help us to understand ourselves, and, sometimes to accept ourselves—faults and all. 

Many times best friends come together because they have so much in common.  Others join forces because they’re so different and can somehow, someway balance out each other’s weaknesses and complement their strengths. 

Writers are an amazing group of friends when they finally meet.  Who else can fully appreciate the need to talk to imaginary people?  Who else can understand the mad scramble for a pen and paper while driving because you just thought of an amazing idea?  Who else can sympathize with you as you hit a bump in the publishing road?  No one else gets why a rejection letter from a complete stranger can feel like someone close to you just broke your heart.

Within the past year, I was lucky enough to become part of several amazing groups of writers.  My Unsinkable Sisters (and one lone brother) from the 2010 Golden Heart Finalists.  My MargaRITA sisters, the YA finalists from that same group.  RWA and the smaller chapters—WRW and YARWA.  And, now, my very own Waterworld Mermaids, who recently joined forces as first-timers at our local conference. 

When you think of best friends in books, movies or real life, who comes to mind?  Who inspires you?  Oprah and Gayle?  Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer?  Laverne and Shirley?  And, when you write those secondary characters—best friends for your hero or heroine—what character traits do they have to have? 

I’ll end with an anonymous quote I once read:  “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

So, when life kicks you in the butt or things don’t seem to be going your way, make sure you have the friend who will remind you not to forget your dreams and the songs in your heart.  Someone who will pick you up, dust you off, and then give you another swift kick in that same butt—but in a good way.

Look, Ma! No hands!

mermaids, Motivation,

My junior year of college, I was sitting in the library, typing away on my laptop, trying to finish up a term paper, when it happened: my hands froze. Not good-God-the-library-is-cold-I-wish-I’d-brought-a-sweater froze. Not even kill-me-now-I’m-never-going-to-finish-this-paper froze. No, I mean my hands physically froze, as in the muscles from my neck through my shoulders through my elbows through my forearms through my hands froze up, so that I couldn’t move them. And they stayed that way for a week. I couldn’t brush my hair. I couldn’t bring a fork to my mouth. All I could do was lie in bed, terrified that my life was never going to be the same again.

And it wasn’t. In the last 14 years, I’ve seen countless doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors. I’ve tried Western medicine, meditation, and acupuncture. I’ve had a variety of diagnoses. Fibromyalgia. Repetitive strain injury. Myofascial pain syndrome. And my personal favorite, “It’s all in your head.” Yeah, right, Buster. You try experiencing the kind of pain that makes you curl into a fetal position and scream, and then tell me that I’m imagining it.

Still, I tried to continue down the path I had set for myself, the one that was respectable and practical. In spite of the confusion over what was wrong with me, I knew one thing: one of the main triggers for my pain is typing. So I hired a typist, installed a voice-recognition program onto my computer, and got permission to take my exams – even the bar exam – orally. After graduating from law school, I went to work at a corporate law firm. I was miserable, but everything was progressing according to plan. And then I had another flare-up.

Another round of doctors. Three more months flat on my back. Six months of physical therapy. Six months of disability leave. In the midst of this pain and anxiety and suffering, I realized something. My body wasn’t punishing me. It was talking to me, in a way that I could not ignore. It was telling me, Get off of this path. This isn’t what you’re supposed to be doing.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had one dream, one passion – to be a writer. But parental expectations, discouraging teachers, doubtful friends, and “prestigious” opportunities made me set this dream aside.

I think the voice inside me was sick of being ignored. It had to speak louder and louder until I finally listened. Until I finally understood that I had to pursue my dream. For if there’s one thing that I can do in spite of this disability, it is write – or more specifically, dictate into my voice-recognition program. I can “write” sitting in my recliner, so that my head and shoulders are fully supported. Or, when things are really bad, I can “write” flat on my back underneath a glass coffee table, my laptop face-down on top of the glass, while I dictate into my microphone.

Fourteen years ago, I never thought anything good could come from this pain. But there has. The pain reminds me on a daily basis to listen, really listen, to the voice inside of me, the one who knows me better than anyone else. The one who has the power, finally, to make me happy.

What does the voice inside of you say? Do you struggle with contradicting outside forces? What made you finally listen to your voice?

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato…

mermaids

I Am Number Four…

And I’m not talking about the bad movie (based on the NYT Times Bestseller by Pittacus Lore – aka James Frey and Jobie Hughes) that hit the theaters less than a month ago, and is already available on Blue Ray. No, I’m referring to this blog. This is the fourth time in the last hour I’ve started my first Waterworld Mermaids blog, and I have drawn my line in the sand: this one will be the one…

So, prepare yourself. The number four has been my lucky number for more than three decades. Who knows what awe-inspiring blogging will happen in the paragraphs below. What key learnings (God, I hate that phrase…so corporate and annoyingly smug) will you walk away with in the five minutes it will take you to read my first Mermaid blog? (And being the optimist that I am, I assume you’re still reading).

Continue reading →

She’s Got a Ticket to Ride

mermaids, , ,

Writers talk a lot about finding time to write.  I’m one of the writers who works a full-time job outside the home.  I’m a librarian and not because I love to read (that’s for another blog).  It’s enough to say I have to find time to write.  Or make time.

There were years when I couldn’t make any commitment at all to a writing schedule.  Family, illness (I’m an MS patient), career, and a loooong commute all conspired against a writing career.  Now, though, the kids are grown, the MS is under control and I’ve changed my schedule so I can take the train to my job in the Bronx.  No car, no every 6-week oil changes, no zillion $$ in gas each month.  And almost ten hours a week to sit back, think and (gasp) write.

Riding the train is all about the schedule – the minutes it takes to get from here to there.  My schedule puts me on the train at 7:04 a.m. every weekday.  I change trains at 7:52.  That’s 48 minutes when I can write.  A take-out cup of coffee, get up the stairs and across the causeway to the tracks, and I’m back down on the platform in time to claim my favorite seat.  Even better, morning trains are super quiet.  After all, we just woke up!

When I decided to start writing again, I started carrying a notebook with me in my satchel.  Now I settle back and pull that moleskin out.  Slip the elastic, move the bookmark to a fresh page and note the date.  For this morning:

5/18 Why her?  His usual GF – dark, sensual, stormy.

Her: cool, blonde, composed

— his challenge:  rattle her cage

Why him?  Her usual – stormy artist BUT she has broken that habit.

Wants a stable life

Sam = bad boy  Nicole =control

Yes, these are just notes on what the main characters’ normal dating patterns are and how these two people will be thrown off balance.  But I can begin to visualize the scenes Nicole and Sam will be pushing each other’s buttons and what they might think as the action unfolds.  Plus, I promise myself that I have not finished my writing for the day until I’ve made those notes into paragraphs in a scene on the laptop at home.  Turning the pages back this evening, I saw a cryptic note:  Keep Grandma?  Dad?  Nursing home?

Well, I did keep the grandmother in the story, but the father is currently dead.  Which means I have to write a scene of mourning for lost father/daughter bonding opportunities.  Which means I’ll begin drafting that on the train sometime soon.

In four more weeks, though, school will be out and I’ll be off for the summer.  I won’t be riding the train in the morning again until September.  Or will I?  I’m considering buying a $139 monthly commuter ticket for June, July and August and making myself get on that train.  Just to keep myself in the habit.  I could be riding the rails, watching the scenery spin by and having nothing to do but scribble in that notebook or maybe even bring a laptop.  Who knows?  The MTA might just be my new office this summer.

Join Me on the Nothing’s Impossible Carousel!

mermaids, Motivation

In three days, I will celebrate an anniversary.  There won’t be any champagne toasts, no moonlit stroll, not even a single long stem, red rose….Well, actually there is one of those.  It’s rather permanent and its garden is very secret.  Only a handful have ever seen it.

This anniversary is of the day, five years ago this Saturday, when I learned for myself, that nothing is impossible.

I remember getting the phone call from the late Darrell Ives, (may his generous spirit rest in peace) as he boarded the band’s charter plane and let me know that he and the guys were on their way to me.  He mentioned where they were staying and asked me to meet him at the venue.  My heart had landed somewhere between my toes.  I was about to meet my musical heroes of the last twenty years and their head security man had just spoken to little ole me like I was a real person, one of the gang.

Somewhere along the way I think we forget that about ourselves.  We’re real.  And so are our heroes.

Whether they are musical legends, a favorite author, a teacher or a friend.  A troop or even a mermaid.

So I spent that day and night with these very real men who turned out to be just as normal as you and me.  And the next day when I woke up and the ride was over, I decided that I wasn’t going to get off—EVER!  I was gonna keep going round and round, believing in possibilities.  After all, I had just proved it to myself.  What else did I need?

This month I became a mermaid, because five years later, I still believe that nothing’s impossible.  Just don’t forget to put yourself out there (ahem…fellow writers).  We tend to catch a little more magical dust when we’re not holed up inside all the time, wondering about the possibilities.

So, what’s your proof?  What makes you believe?  I’d love to hear those stories.

Waterlogged

Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, , ,

I like to read in the bathtub.

In fact, reading a good book in a nice, warm bubble bath is on my list of favorite things to do. Sure, I’m a writer, but I was a reader first. And trust me, there is no better place to read than in the bathtub. (Except for maybe the beach. Hmmm….)

But reading in the bathtub is not a simple process. Many years of plotting and field research have contributed to my idea of a perfect evening. So here are my thoughts on this sacred ritual.

What to Read
Now, I don’t have to read a Nora Roberts (swoon) novel, although it is preferred. However, since I have pretty much read all of Nora’s books at this point, I’ve had to branch out.

Hard covers? I don’t think so. Hard covers are for bubble bath virgins. Unless you have impressive arm strength, or are some kind of martyr, this is just not going to work. I suggest sticking to bath-friendly paperback options.

While I prefer romance novels and other works of fiction, I do sometimes include magazines during bath time. People magazine is one of the best due to its light weight and short articles. I adore Glamour magazine but sometimes it’s just a tad too heavy and the bottom of the pages edge dangerously close to the water. I would also think long and hard before bringing In Style or Vogue in the water with you.

E-reader folks ? Don’t even consider it!

Bath Accessories
I like to keep it simple. Sure, I’ve purchased a bath pillow in the past but honestly, a washcloth strategically placed behind my neck can offer the same support. And I like to keep a dry hand towel nearby… just in case.

Next, find your bubbles. This is kind of like finding your signature drink at a bar or favorite coffee beverage at Starbucks. I prefer lavender-scented bubbles myself.

Some people go for bath salts. This is a personal choice. If I use bath salts, I like to mix them with my bubbles. Bath salts by themselves might smell wonderful, but I like the look of frothy bubbles.

Candles add a certain ambiance I enjoy. However, please be mindful of how you hold that paperback or People magazine when a lighted flame is involved. And find the right scent. Bath time might not be the ideal time to spark up that pine tree or Christmas cookie-scented candle. I enjoy matching my candle aroma with my bubbles.

Music
Again, this is a personal choice. I love to play music while I write. In fact, I don’t know if I could write in total silence. But reading is a different matter. In my humble opinion, Nora does not need accompanying sound. But if reading to music is your thing, go for it. Just keep any electronics far from the water.

I hope I’ve given some good bath time suggestions. If you’ve had an unproductive day of writing or just a lousy time at whatever you do, think about running an indulgent, luxurious bubble bath tonight with a book in hand. I promise it will make you feel better.

So now you all know what I’ll be doing later. Reading, relaxing and dreaming of the day someone can’t wait to read a book written by moi in their very own bathtub. (Paperback version, of course.)