Category Archives: Writing

This is My Brain…(This is My Brain on Vampires)

mermaids, Writing

I don’t care what you say – we all write fantasy, time travel, dystopia, urban fantasy, paranormal romances, steampunk (okay, maybe not steampunk)…but more importantly, all of our heroes are vampires.

What? No, you say? I don’t write that. I write contemporary romances about contemporary heroes and heroines be it series, single title, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, historical or novels with romantic elements. (Calm down!). So maybe you don’t write fantasies or supernatural stuff. But all of your heroes are still vampires.

(This is My Brain, okay?)

I see vampires in every character written, and I bet if you were to take your contemporary romantic hero or heroine and give them fangs, you’d discover I’m right. Or just leave off the fangs, but drop them into an urban fantasy, and I bet your hero would end up the hero at the end.

Try it, seriously. Think about the simple things that make every day people vampires.

  • Businessman – a thirst for power
  • Cowboy – a master of the reins…(hehehe)
  • Marketing/Public Relations Manager – an obsessive, multi-tasking, neurotic organizer (okay, that’s me in my day job:)…
  • Doctor – too easy
  • Lawyer – way too easy
  • Romance Writer… also too easy…
  • Or….Rat Catcher!

I recently finished reading The Strain, the first book in a trilogy co-authored by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and what did I learn? Rats are freaking cool—scary, filthy, and blood thirsty, but cool. Especially when the habits, skills, and survival techniques of rats are the foundation for the mythology of a vampire epidemic in NYC. By the end of the book, I was actually smitten with a contemporary character who was a rat catcher. Seriously. Not a vampire, or vampire hunter, not a wise old yodalike figure, or super smart doctor-type, but a rat catcher, a strong, funny, handsome male hero smart enough to know how to kill the bad guys.

(remember, my brain:)

I recently watched some of the BBC’s Doctor Who, the most recent five seasons, after never having watched Doctor Who before. And what did I discover? OOoo…Doctor Who…filled with irony, conflict, obstacles, all wrapped up in the ‘last’ Time Lord, nearly 1,000 years old, a master of forever (vampire); incredibly lonely, incredibly selfish, incredibly loyal (vampire), obsessed with his companions (mesmerizing vampire personality), and might well have killed more creatures than any creature in the history of the universe (or in all of time)…. so, yep…Time Lord aka vampire, vampire, vampire.

But what if Doctor Who was Dr. John Smith, a contemporary doctor at Hospital X who meets a widow while on vacation–and its a romantic comedy! Give him all of those traits in the paragraph above without the supernatural or science fiction twists and turns, and you’ve got a multi-layered deeply textured contemporary character – or another word for (wait for it!) — vampire (and yes, it’s a comedy).

I adore the strange, the dangerous, the underbelly of society, and I like writing stories about fringe personalities with bad habits who live in familiar cities, that I tweak to be a bit different, askew, not quite right.

I also love romance. Destined, and hard fought, funny, sad, sincere, beautiful, ever lasting, that grows out of camaraderie, similar goals, and the same foe—you know—daredevil lovers who are daring and/or real devils, but also sexy, weak, strong, and exaggerated – so think about it – everyone, everywhere writes about vampires (at least in my brain, they do:)…

How about your hero – vampire?

(Just say yes.)

Some of my favorite vampire books, films, television:

  •  Gone with the Wind
  • A Tale of Two Cities
  • A Wrinkle in Time
  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Anything by Stephen King
  • Anything by J.D. Robb
  • The Godfather
  • Bambi
  • The Sound of Music

Comments? Questions?

(Please stop by tomorrow, Friday, February 3, when there will be no mention of vampires – NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Romance Author – Francis Ray – will be this month’s interview at WaterWorld Mermaids – Don’t Miss It!)

What Plantar Fasciitis is Teaching Me about Writing

Kerri Carpenter, Motivation, Writing

I have plantar fasciitis, a condition in my foot that is extremely painful. It’s an inflammation of the plantar fascia (a band of tissue) that runs underneath your foot and basically feels like someone is stabbing you repeatedly with a really hot machete. A lot of people have this condition, especially runners.

My usual way of dealing with health issues involves a lot of crying, whining and then ignoring the problem altogether. However, when I trip getting out of bed because my damn foot is so sore, even I have to admit it’s time to deal.

Interestingly, I’m finding I have similar stubbornness where my writing is concerned. What’s that? My first pass at a manuscript is NOT perfect as is? It won’t win any awards? WHAT! Break out the crying, whining and procrastination. Luckily, I have figured out some ways to deal with both my foot issue and manuscript woes. Continue reading →

Getting What You Wish For

Marketing, Motivation, Writing, , , , , ,

Just in case you didn’t hear me shouting it from the rooftops . . .  I sold my first book!  Lori Wilde’s Indulgence line at Entangled Publishing will publish SOUTHERN COMFORT sometime in the near future (and you know I’ll let you know when!)

Even after having days to process the amazing moment of getting the call (described in detail on my blog) I still crack a crazy grin whenever I think about it. But, I quickly realized that I now had some work to do.

And, don’t get me wrong – I love every minute of the “next step” tasks. But, they did make me sit down and seriously reorganize and plan to maximize every opportunity I worked, hoped, and dreamed about.

Obviously, I need to prepare to hunker down and complete my edits when they arrive.  Turning in a quality book which will wow my readers is the number one priority. In addition, I need to complete the sequel, SOUTHERN NIGHTS.  Second only to making sure SC is the best it can be is the desire to sell the next book . . . and the next . . . and the next. I’m in this for the long haul.  This will required me to step up my dedication to my 2k per day word count and keep to my schedule.  I work full-time. I’m married and have two small children. I can’t waste a minute of writing time.

In the end it’s all about the writing. Period.

Next, I need to focus on and put into action my marketing plans.  I’ve read tons of books on the topic of marketing and branding and my favorite is “We Are Not Alone” by Kristen Lamb.  When I first read it, I knew that I wasn’t at the point where I needed to spend the money on getting a website designer and researching marketing tools and giveaways, but now I am.

So, I’ve embarked on that part of the journey. My attorney filed my incorporation papers last week for the creation of “Burning Up The Sheets, LLC” (I’m a lawyer and needed to do this for my peace of mind due to liability concerns) and I’ve chosen a website designer and just need to give him the go-ahead.  I’m updating my biography and filling out paperwork for my publisher and setting up an author page on Facebook (stop by and “like” me!)

It’s all good. It’s all fun. It’s exciting and terrifying and the most wonderful thing all at the same time.

So, be careful what you wish for . . . you just might get it. And, I hope you do.

Robin

As Fake As A Three Dollar Bill

Writing

Are you sitting down? I have big news. The blue hair in my author pic? Totally fake. So is the name Avery Flynn.

Now, I realize my confession is not on par with Paula Deen announcing she has Type 2 diabetes while making a hamburger squashed between two donughts*, however, writing under a penname is not without its problems.

One danger is creating a situation I like to call the big fake out. This is what happens when you fall so deeply into your author alterego that you forget it’s not real.

An example of this is AJ Llewellyn. AJ identifies as a transgendered man but was blogging as a gay male going so far as to write “blog posts about coming out, being a victim of gay bashing, and even hired a man to sign for him at a booksigning,” according to Dear Author. AJ apolgized to readers, but it was too late for many. They felt betrayed, not because AJ wasn’t a guy, but because the self biography had become fiction presented as reality. None of that had anything to do with how well AJ writes or the quality of his books, but it may well have permanently limited the audience for his books.

Another downside to a penname is feeling like your pants are going to catch fire at any moment. There are a set of my fellow writers who know me by my real name. Others who, along with my readers, know me as Avery. It’s still weird to type Avery at the bottom of an e-mail or sign it on the first page of a book. I can’t help it, I’m a Midwesterner at heart and it seems like a lie – a white lie – but still a lie. And even though what I say and do as Avery, I’d say with my real name, I feel funny.

So why write under a psydonym? Lots of reasons, chief among them being my writing won’t put fill my fridge and pay for my kids’ shoes – yet. Until that happens I have to keep the day job, which requires I keep my author life separate from my real life. Bummer, I know. But if you buy more books and I’ll come out of the closet. 🙂

* The donught hamburger his is a real thing. Here’s the recipe.

Write What You Know

Alethea Kontis, Motivation, Writing

“Write what you know.”

Ugh.

I hate this cliche bit of writing advice. I first heard it as said to Jo March in Little Women, and then again and again as I dove into the deep, Olympic swimming pool of the writing world.

The trouble with this advice, as with all cliches, is there’s quite a bit of truth in it.

Which is so annoying.

How does one write about magical worlds and special girls with secret powers and evil queens and glittery unicorns when one lives in THIS world? I mean, look around. This world is full of dirty clothes and dirty dishes and traffic jams and bathroom scales and taxes. Taxes, for goodness sake.

Ugh. No way.

The work around this (for me) was to make my life magic. This sounds impossible, but it’s really not. What do you want your forte to be? Become the expert in that field. Vampires? Steampunk? Space Flight? Mermaids? Look it up. Research it. The more you do…the more you find things that parallel your own life.

Trust me. It’s creepy, but true.

There’s another cliche: “Art imitates life.” That one’s true too.

For me, it was the fairy tales — true allegory if there ever was some. Once I sunk my teeth in deep enough, it wasn’t hard to see the parallels in my own life. I am a third child of a third child and a first child of a first child. I was a lost girl in a dark wood who came out the other side a princess. My youngest sister traveled the world to find her fortune, and now jewels fall from her mouth whenever she speaks. My father, the storyteller, once used fairy tale logic to hide top secret information in plain sight. And my mother…well…this is my mother.

‘Nuff said.

Productive? Prolific? Sign Me Up!

Book Review, mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , , , , , ,

I am so happy to bring my first book review to the Waterworld Mermaids’ lagoon immediately after posting on the problem of Fear.  Being a writer who spends way too much time worrying about not writing, I am always hoping to find words of wisdom that might help me embrace my craft.

       The Productive Writer, by Sage Cohen, is one book in my arsenal.  Ms Cohen writes as both a business professional and a poet.  She believes, as she states early in her introduction, that productivity is a lifestyle choice.  I used this book extensively last winter, carrying it in my satchel and dipping into it for reading on my train rides to and from the Bronx each weekday morning.  I could dip into a chapter (“Transforming Your Realtionship with Time,” or “Writing in the Margins of a Full-Time Life”, among others) and meditate on ten or so pages.  Even if I only scanned the headings of part of a chapter, I felt comforted and reinvigorated, ready to face the task ahead.  Productive Writer remains at my elbow here at home most days.  After Thursday’s post and responses, I think it needs to go back in my satchel.

Last Saturday, I was the lucky winner of Hillary Rettig’s The 7 Secrets of the Prolific.  I’d just been treated to a presentation from this speaker at a CTRWA monthly meeting, and was thrilled to know that I would be taking her wisdom home with me.  Ms. Rettig writes that, yes, writers procrastinate for many reasons.  She takes time to examine perfectionism, resource constraints, time constraints, bias, internalized oppression and exploitation, just to scratch the surface.  In discussing these, she seeks to help us change our inner dialogue and unsnarl the spaghetti that keeps us blocked from fully embracing our mission to be productive. 

I know that these two books, alone, won’t make me the writer I dream of becoming.  They are tools.  But the wisdom and insight contained in each helps provide a re-dedication to my talent and goals.  Suddenly, I’m looking forward to all those train rides this winter…

 

The Productive Writer is available in print and as an ebook at both amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

The 7 Secrets of the Prolific is available as an ebook at amazon.com. Print copies can be purchased at http://hillaryrettig.com.

Fear

mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , , ,
Focus!

Focus!

Fear is good.  It keeps you safe.  Fear keeps you from going down the wrong street, trusting the wrong people, taking risks that are bad for you.  Fear that runs amok and takes control of your life, though, keeps you from enjoying some of the most productive and marvelous moments possible:  working on your chosen craft and enjoying the fruits of your work.

Witness my inability to contribute to the Mermaid short story effort this Fall.  I was silent, unable to compose even a scrap of an idea for that wonderful festival of creativity.  Yes, I was trapped in a web of fear, a crawling, deadly hive of poisonous fear that kept my fingers frozen for weeks that stretched into months.  Why?

Because I was silly enough to trigger a word count on my Lake Effect manuscript instead of just keeping on with the writing.   Argh!  I wasn’t going to finish by my self-imposed deadline!  I’d failed!  Again!   At which point I took refuge in endless edits of material that I wrote last year, instead of taking time to reflect and re-evaluate, to mourn and then do the brave thing:  work forward.

Even now, I get distracted by the details of my story.  Is the father alive or dead?  If I use the alternate opening for Chapter One, will it be possible to achieve the light-hearted style I’d embraced in the original?  Is there a sister or not?  And should Desmond and Nicole break up at the very start of the book, or should I shift that scene back to Chapter Ten (which remains suspiciously blank)?  Do I need to take a break and do my makeup?  Isn’t there laundry that has to be put on?  How tidy does the house need to be before the plumber arrives?  And, oh yeah, how about registering for the RWA Anaheim conference?

my life on jan 18!

You know what that is?  Uh huh.  It’s my fear, taking it out in the sneaky distractions of every day life.  I’m not going to see anyone today, I have clean clothes, the plumber already called and said he can’t be here until next week, and Anaheim isn’t sold out.  Stop making excuses, girl, and get back to work!

Do you make excuses?  I do.  Let’s share and see if we can unsnarl the distractions and excuses we make to justify not getting our work done.

 

 

The Subtraction

mermaids, Motivation, Writing, , , , ,

I am a busy person.

Yeah, yeah . . .  so are you, right?  We are all busy.  On my living-my-life list (it is so much more than just a “to do” list)  I fill many roles:   wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, band member, attorney, author, girl scout volunteer, basketball mom, mentor . . .  whew!  I really don’t know how I get it all done but, in the words of the very funny Ron White: “I’ve seen me do it!”

But, I’ve realized that while I’m trying to get it all done, there are some things I’m not doing very well.  And, really – what’s the point of that?  So, since I refuse to make resolutions, I decided to  make a change. I just didn’t know what to call it – and it seemed like something so momentous needed a name. All the biggies have a name, right?

The Apocalypse.

The Change.

Oprah.

So, I was reading the weekly newsletter from one of my favorite artists – Ali Edwards – and she was talking about subtracting things instead of adding things and it resonated with me. That is how I’ve been feeling since the New Year – what can I remove from my life to make room to experience other things more fully? I call it  . . .

The Subtraction.

Ali said it best: “Subtraction is not always about taking things away to make room for more. Sometimes it’s simply to create space. Space to breathe. Space to listen. Space to see.”

I. Love. That.

So, I’m making room to feel, see, and taste the things I really want to devote my energy towards:  family & friends, writing, art, physical fitness.  I’m getting control of things that detract from the space I am creating.  I’m scaling back on my internet time.  I’m declining requests to run things on various committees – I can serve on them and not be in charge.  I am cutting back on the amount of work I bring home.

So far, I’m seeing a great shift in my productivity and my attitude.  I’m less-stressed, I have written more words. I’m enjoying time with my family more.  I’m completing the P90X workout.  I’m scrapbooking (see some of my projects on this post).

It feels good.

Are you ready for “The Subtraction?”

Robin

Mandatory Mermaid Fun & Giveaway Day!!

mermaids, Writing, , , , ,

Every now and then, the Army has what it calls Mandatory Fun.  Usually it’s a day when the soldiers are required to show up to work (no shamming at the house) but usually in a PT uniform and instead of doing their normal training or job, they get to play sports.  It’s Mandatory.  And it’s Fun.   Kind of like our day today here at the pond!

And…Did I mention it’s Giveaway Day???  The prize that will go to one lucky randomly picked commenter is a lovely “Out of this World” Lush gift box!  You’ll for sure want a shot at receiving this Space Girl Bath Bomb and Rock Star Soap duo in the mail!  Must live in the US and be prepared to share your physical address with me-but I promise not to swim up to your doorstep uninvited 😉

So are you ready to have a little flipper fun?  Okay, me too.  Here we go.  Today we are creating our own personal merpeople- mermaid, merman, it’s up to you but it’s Mandatory!  All you have to do is leave a comment with 1) a name for your mer-being of choice and 2) some little tidbit describing him or her!  It can be just one word or a slew of them!  That’s it.  Mandatory.  Mermaid.  Fun.  You have until midnight Sunday, January 15th, to leave your comment and I’ll announce the winner here in the comments on Monday, January 16th.

I’ll get things started…I recently spent some quality time with Triton at the Court of Neptune fountain and what can I say?  The conch-wielding magnificent man of the sea inspired me here today.  He had been busy blowing into his shell, making the most awful trumpeting sound, but something about the frizzling noise worked to calm my nerves.  Traffic had been hellacious getting into DC that day.  Seeing he had a thing for music, I asked if he could take only one record back to sea with him, what would it be?  Wouldn’t you know dear Triton has a soft spot for Elvis Presley’s Hawaiian Wedding Song?  Yes, touching.  I thought so too.  He spied a worn paperback of Seize the Night tucked protectively in my bag and inquired about it.  Shyly, I told him of my secret obsession with vampire hunting Roman bad boys, one in particular as it were.  (Mighty Poseidon bless Sherrilyn Kenyon)  The mention of this very Roman surname gave good Triton’s handsome face a sour pickle kind of scrunch but he seemed to get over it soon enough.  Alas, our noontime popular culture exchange came to an end.  But not before he let me know he was heavily upset that his fountain sat dry as a bone and had been for a few days too long.  I told him I’d look into it and he insisted I snap a picture for evidence.  He wished me well and bid me adieu in the traditional fishy kiss way.  As I slowly walked away from the fountain, a heartbreakingly beautiful merman swam into my mind, drowning out all other thoughts.  His valiant name, Elvis Mermagnus.  His hair, shiny and black.  His hands, soft as the inner petal of a rose.  His fins?  So brilliant I’d bet my last breath the color turquoise hadn’t existed until he’d been birthed.

 

Setting Writing Goals–With a Little Help from My Friends

Motivation, Writing

As writers we are constantly looking for ways to sit our butts down and focus on our writing.  But making the time is not always easy.  With family, work, social issues and anything else that might come along–we tend to sacrifice our writing time.  I know I’m a culprit!

Though I haven’t made any New Years resolutions this year, I am trying to be pro-active with my writing.  I may not be able to sit down for 8 hours and write every day but I can dedicate some time each day to writing.

I tried to do the NaNoWriMo this past November but with a revision, two contests I was judging (for my first time) and life happening, I couldn’t find the proper time to get motivated for a 50k goal.  I felt I cheated myself this year for not doing it even though I was working on my writing–but mostly it was revising.  It didn’t count.

Then I received an email from a friend of mine about the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival.  When I read about it I knew they understood what writing was all about!  It wasn’t about competing with others or just writing it was about setting goals for myself and working on my story anyway I could–whenever I could.  I got to set the goals I needed and earn rewards to reach them.  Also, having a cheering section of friends and fellow romance writers is always a blessing as I’ve found them the most personable people in the world.

So if you are looking for a chance to set goals for yourself this next month (during a time when things seem to be less hectic –don’t quote me on that because I’m knocking on wood) go to rubyslipperedsisterhood.com  or rsswwf.com and sign up to join in.

 

 What are your writing goals this year?