A Killer Beginning

Carlene Love Flores, Writing, ,

MP900315536

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“He saves his tears for his brothers.”

 

And here are a couple of my favorite book openings:

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Mermaid Carlene

 

 

Fishy Kisses,

Mermaid Carlene

 

 

 

 

 

Fun, Free Promo. No Really, I’m Not Kidding.

Avery Flynn, Marketing

OK, grab your beverage of choice and take a dip in the Waterworld Mermaid lagoon for a little bit of promo fun.

Recently, I came across a free website that helps you make digital wallpaper. This is a great gimmie to post on your website for fans to download. Or if you have a street team, you can provide member-only wallpaper with your characters’ quotes, book covers and more.

WWMWallpaper1

Super cute, right? Just click to see a full-sized version you can download and use as your digital wallpaper.

I started out by doing a quick Google search for customizable wallpaper programs. Here’s the one I used to create the wallpapers featured in this post. All you have to do is pick a background, add images and text and bam! you have wallpaper.

WWMWallpaper2

You can add any photo you’d like to the backgrounds provided. They have solid backgrounds too.

 

There really isn’t a learning curve for this. The most important thing is to hit the save button before adding additional elements to the wallpaper. Also, you can add as much text as you want, but there is a limit to how much you can add at one time. When you reach that limit just place the text where you want it, hit save and then add more text until you have everything on there that you want.

WWMWallpaper3

This one’s my favorite version. Which one has your vote?

Cool, right? You could use this for book releases, author branding, celebrations or just about anything else. How fun would it be to have a contest for the best fan-produced wallpaper? That would be a great way to get others to help you promote your books.

A Tale of Four Covers

Alethea Kontis, ,

(Crossposted from Alethea Kontis)

Sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield. Yes, folks, HERO really is getting yet another cover. This is the way of publishing, and I am so glad I have you all along for the ride.

When I was but a wee lass attending the Ingram Publisher’s Showcase (may it rest in peace), Harlan Coben once gave a hilarious talk–with slides–about the progression of his book covers. One of these days, maybe I’ll be able to give a similar talk. It may go a little something like this:

Once upon a time, I was approached by Harcourt and asked about a cover concept for HERO. I was sent various pictures of various models holding various swords, from which my editor and I picked the one we felt most resembled Saturday Woodcutter. Here’s what we chose

image009

…and here’s what we got.

Hero First Pass Cover

Now, I really couldn’t complain — Girls With Foofy Dresses on the Cover have been proven to sell more copies by the Marketing Powers That Be. Plus, it more closely resembled ENCHANTED, which I was told to believe was a good thing, since ENCHANTED actually did pretty well.

And hey: it’s gorgeous. If Saturday had to be wearing a dress, she should be wearing the only dress she’s worn in her life, right? The one from the first ball in ENCHANTED. It actually *does* factor into the novel…in a sideways sort of fashion.

I only made a few nitpicky comments, just to be a Good Author and earn the “cover consult” we so painstakingly negotiated into the contract. One of those points was “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was someway to have dragons in the filigree?”

So they came up with this:

Hero (2) filigree

Which was AWESOME! I made tons of swag with this cover. The ARC has this cover. I made tons of swag with this cover.
I am now trying to give away all my swag with this cover, because a Professional Calligrapher happened to be in the neighborhood and did this:

HERO (3) filigree

…and again, I can’t complain because it’s just MORE GORGEOUS. Subtle and intricate and beautiful.

And then a Beatific Cover Angel descended from the sky and said, “Behold! Harken ye unto my words and your book will be adored by bookstores the world over.

So more tweaks were made. Some roses were added to the filigree, like ENCHANTED. A tagline was added to the top, not like ENCHANTED. Lo and behold, we once again had a new cover, blessed by the angels and now–once again–officially signed off on as the new-new-new-reallysupernew cover of HERO.

HeroAprilFools

ISN’T IT GORGEOUS?!?

Your thoughts are welcome in the comments below. And, as always, sharing is encouraged.

 

Mermaid Out of Water

mermaids, Pintip

It may seem like all we mermaids ever do is sit around the lagoon, sipping fruity drinks with paper umbrellas and writing books, but that’s simply not the case. And I have the pictures to prove it.

First of all, we don’t always imbibe tropical drinks. Sometimes, we drink champagne, too.

photo (10)

Once in a while, we’ll even venture onto land.

We might take our mer-babies to the playground.

photo (11)

Or visit the cupcake store and pick up a dozen red velvets.

photo (12)

And of course, we love going to the bookstore!

photo (13)

What about you, my watery friends? Where have you wandered today?

A Librarian from Philly Swims with the Mermaids (And A Giveaway!)

Denny S. Bryce, Giveaway, Interview, mermaids, ,

4971733468_79bd541da1_oby Denny S. Bryce

I met Dena at one of my pop culture/fandom obsessions, a small but fabulous convention called Phauxcon, an annual gathering in October of fans of science fiction, romance, popular culture, Doctor Who and much more. Of course, after a few lively conversations, I invited Dena to hang at the Waterworld Mermaids pond and she said yes! She is a fan of Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, romance, reading and more reading (more than 250 books a year). She knows a lot (in fact this is part 1, and you’ll see part 2 at the Denny S. Bryce blog next week!). And yes, she likes to share, so be prepared to be wow’d!

Denny asked Dena: Hey, how did you end up a librarian?

I became a librarian because both my parents are librarians, although I spent the first 21 years of my life running in the opposite direction. I have a drama degree  but discovered quickly that while it was easy to get jobs in theatre, it was pretty hard to get paying jobs. Then one day at dinner with my parents, I was actually enjoying our conversation about libraries, and the next day I applied for grad school.

A few years later, I’m the Department Head of Philbrick Hall at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. My department houses the fiction, movie, graphic novel, and Teen collections. My specific collection responsibility is maintaining the Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror sections. A lot of what I do is keeping up to date on new releases and new trends in my collection area. I read about 250 books a year and spend a lot of time ordering books (both print and ebooks) for the collection. I also do a lot of reader’s advisory – recommending books to patrons. The internet is a huge help because I can use it to track down next books in series, find out when a favorite author is coming out with a new book, figure out the name of “that movie” starring “that guy”, and discover almost anything else I need in just a few seconds while my patron is standing at the desk. It’s amazing how often they think I’m magic… It’s also amazing how often I DON’T need to check online. My brain is stuffed full of book trivia that I don’t realize I have until I need to access it.I still wake up some mornings and giggle over the fact that I’m getting paid to do what I love.

Denny asked Dena: What is the most surprising trend you see at libraries or in the library industry?

This isn’t a surprising trend, but the rise of ebooks and other digital media affects the library hugely. Our ebook offerings have exploded over the past year or so, and not only local patrons are noticing. I’ve heard of a bookstore in Alabama telling their customers to get a Free Library of Philadelphia library card so they can borrow our ebooks. This then poses challenges to how we view and serve our community. We are a local organization, but we are all of a sudden becoming a national and even global presence. So how do we balance serving the people of Philadelphia with the demands of a wider community? I don’t think that this question has been truly answered yet.

There are other issues that are library specific in the ebook world. Lots of publishers don’t sell ebooks to libraries. There’s a huge issue in the library world right now surrounding publishers not wanting to allow libraries to lend their ebooks at all or limiting the number of times an ebook can be lent. For example HarperCollins only allows an ebook to be checked out 26 times before the library has to repurchase it. Some publishers quadruple the price of an ebook for libraries. And this is just the Big 6 publishers (if they sell to libraries at all). It’s also much harder to get self-published ebooks into the the library system. For example, my absolute favourite romance of 2013 was Courtney Milan’s A Kiss for Midwinter. It’s not available for me to purchase for the library at all, even though her previous books are available and circulate very well (I push her a lot). It’s a completely different delivery method – instead of just placing an order and having a book shipped to me, the author has to actively get their book in with one of the ebook library distributors (in our case Overdrive). I also fell in love with Gene Doucette’s Immortal series, which is published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop (who also first published 50 Shades of Grey) but their ebooks are not available via Overdrive. It’s so frustrating to have our hands tied and not be able to provide so much to our community. This article from Forbes outlines some of the basic arguments that are going on in the library and publishing world surrounding ebook distribution.

Denny asked Dena: What are fiction writers getting right, what are they getting wrong?

Denny's Mermaids

I think that fiction writers are getting far more creative with connecting with the community of readers and reaching their audience. There doesn’t seem to be the same reliance on publishers to do all the promotion for them. Authors are interacting with readers on a far more personal level via blogs, web pages, Twitter, and Facebook. When I couldn’t buy a self-published Courtney Milan ebook for my library (The Duchess War) I left a comment on Milan’s web page, she replied right away, and the next week the book was available in Overdrive (I’m still waiting for her latest to show up).

If they don’t have a traditional publisher, authors are getting far more savvy about self-publishing. It used to be that my knee-jerk reaction to anything self-published was that it was vanity press project and not worth my time to read or buy for the library. That’s definitely changing. Hugh Howey is an example of a very successful self-published author (and he’s now been picked up by Simon and Schuster). Courtney Milan and Sylvia Day moved into self-publishing. And there are different distribution models that are appearing and being successful as well.

Dena’s Top Pics for 2012:

Top romance books read in 2012: A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan, No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper, A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant.

Pick one of Dena’s top picks in your comment below and if your name is drawn you will receive an e-copy of the book!

One last gift from Dena for today!

She creates booklists for the Free Library webpage. Go here, here and here, to visit Dena’s lists! Enjoy!

Thank you Dena for joining us in the Mermaid’s Pond!

Help! My Tush is Getting Bigger–But I Have Deadlines!

Health, Loni Lynne, mermaids, Motivation

Yes–goofy title but I shoot from the hip–which is part of my problem lately *sigh*. My hips have always been in trouble of causing conflicts–I could never do the ‘Bump’ without sending my dance partner into the next county.

And it hasn’t been getting any better sitting at my laptop on a daily basis trying to ‘bump’ out my next novel. 

I’ve read all the ideas from other authors in similar situations–let me see if you’ve heard of them, too:

  • Get up and move around every 15-20 minutes or so  (great idea if I wasn’t in a 1k1h frame of mind–so I try for after every session).
  • Keep healthy nibbles on hand to curb appetite  (this one from Weight Watchers meetings) –does baked tortilla chips and fresh salsa constitute healthy nibbles, as I sit at my laptop?
  • Go for a walk to clear mind and work out the kinks.  (This I do love to do but dealing with 20 mile an hour wind and cold days makes it difficult to force myself to get out there. Yeah, I’m chicken! But then it would probably be a great thing for my hot flashes–that have nothing to do with my sex scenes I’m writing.)
  • Plan healthy meals–(I laugh at this one, only because my hubby has been watching and drooling over Food Network shows that have nothing to do with healthy meals–and he’s the one who takes on the cooking–it’s his hobby.)

Okay, you get my drift–I’m looking for any excuse NOT to do the right thing.  I want satisfaction without having to sacrifice my writing time.  I’ve tried things but never found the right combination to maintain.

I’ve made a pact with hubby that we really do need to focus on our health. We are not getting any younger. I want to do things and go places with him as we go into our solitary years (if that really happens) as middle-aged adults.  I want changes but I don’t have the time to work out like a Hollywood Actress after giving birth. I’m an author who wants to work on my career and yet keep healthy doing so–behind a desk.

So I would love to hear from you on great suggestions–whether you are a writer yourself, or someone who has a desk job and trying to find the time in your schedule to work out.  Please, any help and ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Raising my cup of vanilla bean latte to you all (which could be part of my problem?).   😀

 

 

 

Just Another Day

Kimberly MacCarron, mermaids, , , ,

 

by Kimberly MacCarron

As writers, don’t we love to read interesting stories? Some people wonder where we get our ideas. Sometimes there is a random story or an idea, but other times it could be just a day. Just another day.

Take February 19th for instance. Google it. Research some of the most interesting things that have happened on that date throughout history, and you have yourself a story. During my fun research project, I must admit that I’ve read more than I ever wanted to about cannibalism and murder for hire. But it sure does get your creative juices and just plain curiosity running.

Wouldn’t it be interesting for a character to know some strange and random piece of trivia like the first prize was inserted in a Cracker Jack box on this date back in 1913?

Or maybe one of the 800 people killed by one of the sixty tornadoes in the southern U.S. in 1884 was the great, great grandfather of the character in your book. Or—even better—the reincarnation of one of them.

If you’re into murder and suspense or a legal thriller, you might be interested to know that on this date in 1859 Daniel Sickles was the first man acquitted of a murder charge on the grounds of temporary insanity. And you should definitely check out that story! It seems that scandal in political circles was big back then as well. He killed the son of Francis Scott Key, who was the district attorney of the District of Columbia, and happened to be having a little thing on the side with Sickles’s wife. I guess Sickles didn’t much like that, so he shot Key right in front of the White House. Good times. Good times.

For those with a little thing for a mob story, you might be interested in the demise of Frank “The Dasher” Abbandando at the young age of thirty-two. This contract killer for the infamous Murder Inc., gang was executed at Sing Sing in New York on this date in 1942. Guess Dasher didn’t dash fast enough to avoid the electric chair.

Probably the most disturbing story of this date involved the famous Donner Party. And this wasn’t a party with streamers, balloons or tuxedo-clad men serving champagne. It’s sad. It’s disturbing. It’s tragic as tragic can get. After starting out from Missouri in May of 1846 on their way to California, this group of ninety got trapped in the snow in the Sierra Nevada. After starvation, disease and injury took the life of many in the party, most of the survivors resorted to cannibalism. Only forty-eight survived. The first of the rescuers reached them on this date back in 1847. Yes. You read that right. More than nine months under those awful conditions! While reading this story, I wanted to cry. There was an account of a young girl who actually took part in eating her own mother and sister. This story is a testament of what human beings will endure just to survive.

But on a happy note, how ‘bout that Cracker Jack fact?

I’m not saying that my next YA will be about cannibalism or mob activity or even a plea of temporary insanity, but researching a specific date might just get that creativity flowing.
Happy Birthday to Amy Tan, Victoria Justice, Jeff Kinney, Smokey Robinson, Seal, Jeff Daniels, and Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543)! Come on! I know he’s dead and all, but the guy discovered that the earth is round. We have to include him!

Happy February 19th, and may you all have an endless supply of Cracker Jacks.

Now you pick a random date and research it. It’s fun! I promise!  Report back and tell me one interesting thing.  🙂

Eros Steams Up the Waterworld Mermaid Lagoon.

Avery Flynn, Guy Day, Interview, ,

You may only think of Eros on Valentine’s Day, but he’s thinking about your love life year round. Thanks to help from Tall, Dark and Devine author Jenna Bennett, Eros is steaming up the Waterwold Mermaid lagoon with Avery Flynn.

No! Not that way. You pervs. 🙂

So how do you feel about the whole fat baby in diapers image you’ve got?

TDaDHow do you think I feel, Avery? I mean, look at me! Does this look like a baby in diapers to you? I’m a primordial god, born of Darkness and Night in the abyss before the earth was formed. A Greek god, no less. Tall, dark and divine. Diapers? Sheesh.

 

*Drools on self in the lagoon because he’s right, the man is HOT* The bow and arrow, are they real or just public relations?

Real. Unfortunately. But I’ve put them away, I swear. They’re nothing but trouble. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s much better when people fall in love without the arrows. Just look at what happened with Psyche. Three thousand years wasted on the chit, and it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for those bloody arrows. So no more arrows for me.

What advice do you give to the lovelorn?

Keep looking. There’s someone out there for everyone. Sometimes it just takes divine intervention to find them. Call Made in Heaven if you run out of patience. (Hey, a god’s gotta make a living somehow. It’s not like I can snap my fingers and have electricity, you know. ConEd still wants to get paid.)

Made in Heaven, I love the name of your matchmaking business. What’s the explanation for those who seem to fall in and out of love constantly? Is it a love addiction or have you started drinking heavily again and are just flinging arrows this way and that?

I’m not drinking. Why would I drink? I have Annie and an endless supply of cookies. It’s a good thing I’m immortal and unchanging, or I’d be fat by now.

I imagine Dion might have something to do with it, though. D’you know Dionysus? It sounds like something he’d be a party to.

It does sound like him. *sigh* He’s so dreamy. What are the three worst places to meet true love?

The worst places? Dionysus’s bar… although it worked out all right for me. Prison. Boot camp?

I’m not sure it matters. True love is true love, right? It conquers all. Even prison. Or boot camp.

What are your favorite romantic movies?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Casablanca. The Princess Bride.

Excellent choices! Kissing a frog – could it work?

You’re the one down there in the water with the frogs, sweetheart. Why don’t you give it a try and let me know?

You know, I just might. 🙂



TDaD-500px




Get to know Eros a little better in Tall, Dark and Devine by Jenna Bennett.






Eros, the Greek god of love, swore off the useless emotion after his ex ran off with some Viking godling. He’s lost all interest in his matchmaking business, Made in Heaven, until he spots the sweet baker who works across the street. Before she stirs his sullen heart, he’ll match her and get back to his ambrosia-laced wine in no time.Lonely baker Annie Landon has given up on finding Mr. Right. What she needs is Mr. Right Here, Right Now, and this so-called “Greek God” she’s heard is on the rebound sounds exactly like the perfect kind of distraction. But picking up the bitter, workaholic is easier said than done…especially when he seems unreasonably determined to match her with someone else.



			

	
	

		
			



							


	

		
				

			Our Valentine Gift to you…A Collection of Heroes
		

		
		

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

	


		

		
 


Hero Collection


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




From Alethea


Alethea Valentine


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


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


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


 


From Avery


Avery Valentine


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


 


From Carlene


Carlene Valentine


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


 


From Dana


Dana Valentine


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


From Denny


jesse williams 4


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


From Diana


Diana Valentine


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


 


From Susan


alex


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


HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FROM THE WATERWORLD MERMAIDS


 


 

			

	
	

		
			



							


	

		
				

			Crap-balls, Glitter Umbrellas & Awesomesauceness
		

		
		

			Kerri Carpenter, , , , 					

	


		

		
The tides are changing in the Kerri-verse. ‘bout time too.


To say I’ve had a bad year is such a drastic understatement that it makes me laugh. And roll my eyes, which are currently bedecked with my favorite blue mascara from Sephora. A nice accent to my knee-high black boots. Sorry, but during a bad year, you can still look really fabulous. But I digress…


RefleDiva-Kerr-ina-avatarcting on my year of craptasticness, I have to admit that the doom & gloom didn’t start last year. Nope. I’ve been living in a life coma for quite some time now. I didn’t realize it, but I think I’ve been sabotaging myself. However, I’ve finally defeated Evil Kerri and have some things to be really proud of in my life, and it’s bringing a whole new perspective.   Continue reading →