Debut Author Joy Daniels Swims with the Mermaids

Denny S. Bryce, Giveaway, Interview

RevvingHerUp72lg-1By Denny S. Bryce

I am very excited to welcome author Joy Daniels to the Mermaid pond to celebrate her debut release “Revving Her Up” from Samhain Publishing. My critique partner and good pal, Joy’s book has received excellent reviews  (MamaKitty Reviews and Read-Love-Blog), and she’s already working on several new titles including “Unmasked”, an Entwined Erotic Romance, for Colioquy and L. Perkins Agency. So please take a moment and get to know Joy!

Q. How about the mini-bio and a little about your next big thing?

Joy said: Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to be here and to talk about my debut book and what’s coming next! “Revving Her Up” was released January 14, 2013, and is available now. Next up, I submitted a short story “Lights Out” to “We Love New York” an anthology to raise money for Hurricane Sandy relief. It comes out February 12, 2013 with Riverdale Avenue Books. I also contributed to “Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey” edited by Lori Perkins. Then soon, I’ll head back to Rapture, VA to write two more novellas (or maybe novels) in the Full Throttle series. Also, I’m planning a series about succubi and incubi. I submit where I think the story will do best. For now it’s Samhain and Coliloquy. I’m thinking of pitching my WIP to LooseID and Ellora’s Cave.

My editor at Samhain is Christa Desir, who is fantastic! And my agent is Louise Fury! I started writing December 28, 2008 (yes, I remember the date) after getting a Master’s degree in oceanography and spending 15 years in the environmental policy field. I had no writing aspirations before that – or they were so deeply repressed I wasn’t aware of them. Got my first offer for publication (from Samhain for “Revving Her Up”) just over three years later.

Q. What was the most surprising personality trait you discovered about your heroine in Revving Her Up? Your hero?

Joy said: Heroine: Sarah Lange is a strong woman who has been attracted to all the wrong sorts of men. In Revving Her Up she realizes that she needs an equally strong man like Cole. Someone she can trust and lean on, not a man she can boss around. Hero: Cole Cassidy’s previous experience with “city girls” made him much more defensive and prejudiced than he’d admitted to himself – so much so that he judges Sarah at first sight, because of her license plate and New York accent.

Q. What was the most challenging moment you experienced as you worked toward your debut novella?

Joy said: The most important aspect of any story is not the series of events that happen but how those events are experienced and perceived by the characters. Understanding how and why to switch between POVs to give the fullest sense of those experiences was my biggest challenge. (Was it a coincidence that my second novella was done in the first person? Hmm…)

JoyDaniels_headshot_cropped copyQ. What’s the best-kept secret about your writing process?

Joy said: Fast Draft (as conceived by Candace Havens) all my first drafts – 5k/day everyday (except Saturdays) until I have something that resembles my story. Then I use a shortened version of Holly Lisle’s “How to Revise Your Novel” process to get through revisions. Once I found those two processes, I became much, MUCH more productive.

Q. What character are you writing (or have written) that keeps you up at night – just one, please:)?

Joy said: The WIP that is keeping me up at night: “Nashville Trio”, a male/male/female (M/M/F) ménage about a country musician, her co-singer and the man she left behind. I am really enjoying writing Ty Monroe, one of the male leads in “Nashville Trio.” He always believed that although he wasn’t narrow, he was definitely straight. Now that he’s met Rob Porter, he’s wrestling with his attraction to a man and his growing curiosity about where a MMF threesome might lead.

Q. What real person, television or fictional character has had the greatest influence on your writing style and why?

Joy said: My background in science and technical writing had a huge influence on me – I tend to write sparely (too sparely sometimes) and focus on getting the narrative down first. At the risk of sounding totally pretentious, one of my favorite classic authors is Ernest Hemingway. At the other end of the spectrum (length and depth-wise) I love Diana Gabaldon’s writing and storytelling style.

Q:What book title (or author) is the current “hot read” on your bookshelf?

Joy said: I was on a huge epic fantasy kick but now I’m getting back into urban fantasy. I recently read the latest releases from Christina Henry, Laura Resnick and Diana Rowland and loved them, and I’m looking forward to Kim Harrison’s latest release. I’m also reading “The Black Count”, the true story of Alexander Dumas’s father, a half-slave, half-noble Frenchman who became a general in Napoleon’s army and inspired both “The Count of Monte Crisco” and “The Three Musketeers.”

Q. What’s your favorite drink on a chilly Thursday evening in January – and who (fictional or not, friend or family, celebrity or historic figure) would be sitting at your side enjoying that drink with you?

Joy said: During the day, it is herbal tea, especially rooibos with steamed almond and coconut milk, a drink that my South African agent got me ADDICTED to. Every evening I drink a glass of dry red wine, preferably a South American Malbec.

Giveaway! Giveaway! Giveaway!

Denny's MermaidsThank you Joy! Now readers it’s your turn. We’re going to giveaway an e-copy of Joy’s novella to one lucky commenter. So ask her questions, or just comment and join the celebration here in the Waterworld Mermaid pond for Joy’s “Revving Her Up”!

A Painful Instant

mermaids, Pintip

A couple weeks ago, I had a pretty spectacular fall. I was rushing around, picking up my house, when my socked feet shot out from underneath me at the top of our hardwood stairs. My entire body flew into the air, I landed on my tailbone, and then my head, and then slid — thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump — all the way down, until I laid in a crumbled heap on the floor.

Well. First of all, I’m fine. A lot achey and bruisey for a few days, but no permanent injury.pintip

My children, of course, had lots of practical advice for me.

“You need to walk slower, Mommy.”
“Don’t wear socks.”
“You should use the railing.”

But my biggest take-away from this event? Life can change in an instant. An INSTANT. One wrong angle, and I could’ve had broken bones. Or worse.

The last year or so, I seem to be receiving constant reminders to embrace each day, to appreciate the small things, to not stress so much. Or maybe these things were always present, and I’ve just been noticing them this past year. My fall is one of these things. Even though my bruises have more or less healed, my little trip down the stairs is still very present in my mind.

So today I just wanted to share this reminder with my friends in the lagoon. Your life can change in an instant. EMBRACE IT.

Swimming with the Mermaids: Carlene Love Flores

Alethea Kontis, Carlene Love Flores, Interview, ,

If you have never experienced in person the gorgeous and amazingly pure sweetness that is Carlene Love Flores, then I suggest you check your calendar and make an appointment to do so at your earliest convenience. If I could convey the effervescent loveliness with which Carlene so subtly reminded me to get my coughing, virus-ridden duff out of its funk and post the interview I did with her last month about her fabulous debut release, Sidewalk Flower, you, too, would wish you had such majestic and judicious grace.

I am as blessed and honored to have her as a Mermaid Sister as I am proud of her release…which just so happened to launch on my birthday. How’s that for awesome karma?

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Alethea Mermaid: Tennessee, California, Australia — what special meaning (if any) do each of these places have for you?

Carlene Mermaid: Let’s start at the end and work our way back (which fits since this is how I wrote Sidewalk Flower-Trista and Lucky’s story.) When I think of Australia, I see brave people with gorgeous voices and a tenacious, fighting spirit. I can’t imagine Jaxon James (Trista’s best friend) being from any other place.

The first time I drove through Tennessee was years ago in the fall. I fell in love with the state that day and when fictional native son, Lucky Mason, stepped up to the plate to be Trista’s hero in Sidewalk Flower, I fell in love with him too.

Southern California is everything I know about being young at heart and free but also a place you have to leave sometimes to find yourself. I was honored to have made this trip with the heroine of the story, Trista Hart.

Alethea: Music is very important to you and your work. Do you listen while writing? Was there a “Sidewalk Flower” playlist?

Carlene: I do love music with all my heart! I listen to it most hours of the day & night and leading up to every scene I write. But during the actual writing, I prefer to be alone with those thoughts. Here is Sidewalk Flower’s playlist:
“Why I’m Feeling Blue” by Casey James (Lucky’s song)
“Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood (Trista’s song)
“Better Than Me” by Hinder (Jaxon’s song)
“The Dead of Night” by Depeche Mode (Sin Pointe’s song)
“Talk About Suffering” by Debra James (Gramma Grace’s song)

Alethea: What is it about a man in a cowboy hat?

Carlene: Intriguing, isn’t it? I’m a big fan of men in hats. Also men without hats. Hey, everybody look at your hands! Now let’s safety dance. Sorry, I just had to go there in the name of 80’s music. Hmm…I also like Men in Trees. I miss that show…

Alethea: Have you ever driven cross-country?

Carlene: Oh yes! Road trips are my favorite and so when I had the chance to hop in the truck and drive from Virginia to California and back, I was in heaven. Where else can you listen to music, ride with the windows down and watch the sun setting in the rear view mirror? Here are a few pics from that trip: http://carlenelove.com/2012/08/08/my-favorite-cross-country-road-trip-pictures/

Alethea: Who are some of your favorite fictional heroes?

Carlene: Gosh, I am hands down the biggest broken record when it comes to talking about my favorite fictional hero, but since you asked…Valerius Magnus. ☺ Swoon. I am very jealous that you are Facebook friends with him. But can I just geek out a little here and say how excited I am to be officially sharing Lucky Mason with the world?

Alethea: Who inspires you — in both fiction and real life?

Carlene: There is so much I appreciate about life and the people living it. I’m inspired by the weak and the brave. The hurt and the whole. People with unshakable faith and those on the brink of losing it. I’m inspired when people don’t give up.

Alethea: What’s the coolest thing about being a Mermaid?

Carlene: I can think of many cool things about being a Mermaid, but the coolest by far, is calling the ocean home.

Alethea: What would you say are your Mermaid super powers?

Carlene: Well, whatever you do, don’t Google Mermaid Super Powers! The results are full of unimaginative fluff. Of course we exist, and of course we are super and powerful 😉 My super power is that I believe in make believe.
[Edited to add: I believe Carlene’s Mermaid Super Power is her beautiful purity of spirit. Am I right? Mermaids, feel free to chime in with your opinions below!]

Alethea: What’s next for you?

Carlene: Now that Trista and Lucky’s book is out, I’m spending time convincing Jaxon James it’s a good idea to tell the world his story next. This is where that Aussie tenacity I mentioned earlier comes in to play. But underneath it all, he’s a good guy. It’s really not his fault he can’t stop thinking about Trista’s long lost baby sister…

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Thank you, Carlene!

If you have any other questions for Carlene, feel free to add them to the Comments below. And if you haven’t yet picked up your copy of Sidewalk Flower, now’s your chance!

Writing Through the Angst

Loni Lynne, Motivation, Writing

I am the first to admit the winter months (after the holidays) do me in.  DSCF0313

But how can I feel this way when the first week of the new year is like a new start for me?

We all have times, whether it is the first of the calendar year, school year or just sometime we decide on a “fresh start” to things, that things are going to change for the better.  Well, I’ve gone and done it again!

Here it is, half way through the month of a ‘new start’ and I can’t get the motivation I need to do what I know I need to do.  And because of that I tend to go into a slump, emotionally at times (and trust me, the wonderful rainy, dreary weather that I’ve been faced with does not help at all).

Years ago when I was just a pup, I went through the normal pre-teen angst we sometimes face growing up (anyone remember the awkward middle school/jr. high days), family issues that arose at times, etc. During one of my lowest moments I had a wonderful teacher who noticed my troubles and sat down to talk with me. She happened to be my English teacher.  I loved to read and had pretty good grades but she realized that term I was struggling.  I poured out my woes to her.  She gave me a valuable lesson for life right then.  She said keep a journal. It didn’t have to be some pink frilly locked book  but just something that I could write down my emotions, thoughts, worries, whatever happened to be troubling me.  She told me it helps her though the tough moments but also gave her inspiration into how to handle things.

So I took her advice. But the snippets of journaling seemed much too personal to me (I know-weird). I did something a bit different with my woes and joys.  I created imaginary characters to deal with the issues. These characters started telling their own story (though at times it was mine–just through someone else’s eyes). One of these ‘stories’ I entered in a contest my English teacher told us about. She read all of the entries and called me to stay after class.  I thought I was in trouble! Instead, she was amazed with my writing. She loved my characters, the storyline and told me she’d help me polish the grammar mistakes to make it pop. (Sound familiar?) 😉

My story was a ghost story for a Halloween contest through our local newspaper. I took first prize out of a range of 12-17 year olds!  I was so excited! How could something so much fun and so easy for me get first prize?  Next thing I knew, she had me enter other contests. I didn’t always place first but I did have my share of wins and finals-county and state levels included.  I had found my joy! And the best thing…it gave me an outlet (though I didn’t know it at the time–for me it was just fun).

Now, I look back on those beginnings and feel that same angst (a bit different–probably seasonal :P) and I turn to my writing. My characters become my sounding board to bounce emotion off of, they in turn take it and run with it on their own story . Believe it or not, in the moments of danger and disaster ending hooks, there is joy and uplifting moments of excitement. Like a reader, it gives me that adrenaline boost to go further, to explore deeper to feel more–and to create what I hope to be wonderful stories to share with others.

Here is to you ‘angst’–I raise a cup of vanilla bean latte to you (in times of creativity)  🙂  .

Hugs to all!

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Kerri Carpenter, , , , , , ,

Recently, I spent a night with some of my favorite things: wine, pizza and a movie. I watched the 2011 film, Crazy, Stupid, Love., starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone.  crazystupidlove

It may have been the wine, but I really, really enjoyed this movie. There was a certain “seize the day,” but in the end, be yourself vibe that I can only describe as awesomesauce.

Of course, being the writer I am, I immediately started thinking about the movie and making it all about myself. So without further ado, here’s what I got: Continue reading →

Flipped over FLIPPED

Book Review, mermaids, Pintip,

A few months ago, Kim-Mermaid and I did a book exchange, where we lent each other ten or so of our favorite YA books to read. Among these ten was a worn, much-loved (by both Kim and her children) copy of a 2001 MG novel called FLIPPED, by Wendelin Van Draanen. Now, I don’t read too much Middle Grade, but I have frequently been charmed by the magic worlds of this genre, so I was more than willing to give it a try.

Oh. My. God.

This book sucked me in on the first page and wouldn’t let me go until long after I finished the last page. Told in the alternating first-person viewpoints of a thirteen-year-old boy and girl, it is more or less a story of a first crush. Julianna falls in love with eight-year-old Bryce’s blue eyes when he moves into the neighborhood, but he finds her, at best, annoying. When eighth grade rolls around, and he finally starts to notice her, she’s no longer sure she’s interested. Sound pretty basic?

Perhaps. But the characters! The voices! So poignant, so distinct, so charming, so REAL. I finished the book, and I thought, “I will never be able to write a book like this in a million years. I might as well give up writing right now.”

Interestingly enough, I had this reaction to exactly one other book this past year, and it was also a light, charming contemporary YA. This is not to say I didn’t read other beautifully-written, well-crafted, superbly-paced books in the last year. I did. But they didn’t intimidate me. In fact, they inspired me to learn more and work harder and continue to improve my craft. So why did I have this reaction to this book?

My theory is because the strengths of this novel are so very different from my own. Whereas I feel like I can continue to improve in the areas of writing and craft and pacing and plot, I feel a bit at a loss when it comes to being “charming.”

pintipThis insight was pretty critical for me. It kept me, after all, from giving up on writing. 🙂 It may be true that I’ll never be able to write a book like FLIPPED, but there’s room for lots of different books and lots of different stories in this world.

What about you? Have you ever had this reaction to a novel? If so, why do you think that is?

Also, if you haven’t read FLIPPED, I highly recommend you pick it up. Or if MG just isn’t your thing, suggest it to any of the preteen/teen girls in your life. I guarantee they will love it

 

The Salon Incident

Dana Rodgers, mermaids, Writing

Dana MermaidYesterday, I went to the salon to have my hair done—it looks fabulous, by the way—but while I was there I had the most bizarre thing happen. A middle-aged woman came in and asked about having her hair done although she didn’t have an appointment. One of the owners, a very nice woman I have known for years, politely explained that they were completely booked for that day but that she would be happy to schedule an appointment for her.

Instead of scheduling the appointment like any sane person, the lady went berserk in a manner any Viking conquerer would admire. In a loud, demanding voice she went on a tirade about her boss letting her off from work early for this and that they simply must squeeze her in. As you can imagine, all eyes were glued to the drama unfolding. I was shocked a grown woman would act like that. Continue reading →

Writers or Cooks: What Are You Willing to Do?

Denny S. Bryce, mermaids, Writing

Denny's MermaidsI don’t know what it is about me and cops, detectives, private eyes, lawyers, or could it be the entire judicial system, but no matter what I write, there is always, always, always, a crime, suspense, weapons, a moustache-twirling villain, and a dead body.

I’m not a cop who writes books. I’m a PR and marketing person, who writes. But PR divas, we don’t do. We strategize ways for our clients to influence human behavior – in other words we help our clients’ customers buy or think the way our clients want the public to buy or think (I love PR:).

So what does this mean to my storytelling? Lots of research, research, research.

I know. Research is required of any project you decide must be done, and that doesn’t only apply to writing a book. You routinely  gather facts before diving into any pool blind. If you’re planning a special meal for the family or friends, or just for tonight’s dinner for the hubby and the kids, what do you do? Research. Gather your materials, and you deliver a meal. Many of us cooks will readily admit that FoodNetwork.com is our best friend, except for you foodies. You are like lawyers or doctors or cops writing books about lawyers or doctors or cops. You have the expertise right there in front of you and I’m just…well, jealous.

Okay, baby rant over.

Well, if one of those dishes you decided to cook was an exotic African dish, made of goat and curry spices and something you’ve never considered eating before (like goat, which I love). Would you try and make it? Or would you leave that delicious dish a fanciful thought never acted upon?

So that’s why I do research. I can’t shove a story aside just because I don’t know anything about being a cop (and having dated a cop doesn’t count…well, maybe it doesn’t count for the cop scenes…hehehe:).

But how far will I go to learn? Would you travel to Nairobi, Kenya (if money and time weren’t a factor) to meet with the chef at the Tamambo Karen Blixen Coffee Garden to discuss how to make the special of the day  for dinner that night?

Well, I’m willing to go pretty far for my books, I think. So, I’ve actually acted upon one of my New Year’s resolutions – I’ve signed up to do a Ride-Along with the local Metro Police in Washington, D.C. Yep. I’m going to do it. Right? Sound fun?

But just in case you are more Food Network.com than classes at the Culinary Institute or stalking Bobby Flay, here are some of my favorite legal links that help make my justice system characters come to life:

Crime Scene Investigator

White Collar Crime Blog

FBI

PC World Article on Net Crime

Information Week Article on CIA Website Hacker

Police Ride Along Program (in every major city btw)

And of course a member of Washington Romance Writers (WRW-DC), Author Allison Leotta (Books: Law of Attraction and Discretion) has a website ranked among the top in the nation called The Prime Time Crime Review, an excellent source of information where a lot of lawyers hang out and chat, too. (PS, Allison will conduct a workshop for WRW-DC on February 9 all about writing and research and she’ll have special guests from the world of justice, too).

Anyway, what research tips (or recipes) are you willing to share?

Happy New Year!

Starting at The End

Carlene Love Flores, Writing, , , ,

Sometimes to know where to start, it helps to look at the end.  Mermaid Carlene

My first book is coming out this Friday and although the story is told in chronological order, it didn’t start out that way.

When I began writing Sidewalk Flower, the first scene that came to me was gut wrenching and dark.  It was so powerful and for a long time, I thought because of that, it had to be the book’s opening.  My thinking was that with such a powerful opening scene, it would be hard to put down.  In the business, it was the hook I was sure I needed.

Then I learned from a Savvy Authors Editpalooza workshop that sometimes it’s best to let the scenes happen organically.  That way the reader has a chance to build up to that powerful event and experience it as it was meant to happen.

Once I let go of the place I’d originally envisioned for that knock-out scene in Sidewalk Flower and put it where it belonged in the time line, I realized it was absolutely the way things were meant to be.

But, I also learned that by writing that last scene first, it allowed me to get to know my characters more deeply and the rest of the story as well.  I believe it was one of the biggest strengths of writing my first book that would become published.  Knowing where I was going because I’d already been to the end.  So I don’t believe I would change the order in which I wrote the story.

 I just finished re-watching one of my favorite movies, Neo Ned, starring Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union.  (I love the tag line: Love is not a Race) My Neo Ned DVD Continue reading →

Boobs on my Mind

mermaids

I’ve had boobs on my mind lately.  C’mon, you can’t blame me.  We’re romance writers.  They do factor into our lives, at least a little.    

In novels, they undulate, heave, quiver, jiggle, surge, swell, throb… well, you get the picture.

But in real life, they play an odd role.  As little girls, we’re ignorant of them until we realize half the population has them.  And then we’re fascinated, watching what other women do with them, wondering what it will be like when we get them.  Once they start coming in, they’re a tender curiosity, a diabolical cauldron of embarrassment and pride.  And then start the comparisons.  Whose are bigger, smaller, perkier, firmer?  When that first foreign hand presses against them, the alchemy of excitement and apprehension grows.  What did he think?  Did he like them?  Do I like them?  After the teenage years, we spend our 20s, getting comfortable with them.  Pushing them up, flattening, enhancing, reducing, displaying and eventually (hopefully) coming to terms with what nature endowed. 

Just when we “sort of” get used to them, the inevitable comes and they are transformed from ornamental decorations to living, breathing self-sustaining nourishing appendages.  And once again, we worry:  too much milk? not enough?.. will this cracking and bleeding ever stop?  And how is it possible that watching the eyes of a little one can melt away tiredness, soreness, frustration? 

Once they cease as a milking implement, next comes the readjustment.  A coming to terms with the memory of the perkiness of those early years compared with the remnants of the ravagery committed in the spirit of motherhood. 

And just as we’re railing at the unfairness of sagginess and stretch marks, comes a call into our world, reminding us that life is as ethereal as a spider web and that our boobs, the object of affection, nourishment and womanhood can also be a vehicle for death.   A gnarled irony gift-wrapped in a paradox that can make us toss out all the previous worries and gladly hand over those cancerious appendages to be Guillotined without a moment hesitation so we have more seconds, minutes, hours, days and years with the owners of those little eyes we once nourished.  And if we’re really lucky, to be around for the men in our lives who have stood by us through perkiness, cracked nipples, sagginess and who will continue to love us with or without our boobs. 

Remember to take care of your ta-tas ladies.