All About the Writing

Six Sentence Sunday: Summer Lovin' Part 4

Here's one last snippet from Summer Lovin'. It's right after Mia and Luke shared a dinner that Luke cooked, followed by a kiss that was interrupted by the puppy, now nicknamed Hellboy:

If Hellboy hadn't had such a short attention span the previous night, Mia might have given in to the urge to have her very first fling.

She adjusted the lawn chair so it was in a reclining position, and then grabbed the tube of sunscreen. She couldn't take a chance on falling asleep and getting sunburned, and after tossing and turning all night, spending way too much time reliving the kiss, she could barely keep her eyes open now.

Talk about a kiss. It made her want to—

She squeezed the tube of sunscreen so hard it came out in a huge splat.

To celebrate the arrival of summer, and to thank you for stopping by each week, I am giving away a free e-book copy of Summer Lovin' to anyone who wants one. Just let me know in your comment if you're interested, and I'll email you a coupon code you can use to read this on the e-reader of your choice.

Now I'm off to read YOUR Six Sentence Sunday snippets!

Why I Love My Nook

I'm still in the honeymoon phase with my beloved e-reader, since we won't have our one-year anniversary until November. I'm not quite sure how to handle that milestone, though, since the first anniversary is traditionally celebrated with PAPER, and these books are made of e's, not pulp.

But I digress.

Since I love many, many things about my Nook, it's entirely possible there will be sequels to this post, with roman numerals differentiating my ramblings on the topic. But right now, the thing I love most about my Nook is. . .

Bookmarking.

Yes, of all the features my Nook possesses, this is the one that makes my heart flutter the most.

I have a love/hate relationship with bookmarks for paper books. I absolutely adore all the promotional ones I've received from authors, with the glossy printed covers, and tantalizing information about upcoming releases. I've collected a zillion of them over the years, and for all I know, I've got a first-edition bookmark hidden somewhere that's worth a fortune.

But that's my problem: I can't ever find these beautiful bookmarks when I need them. They disappear. I suspect they're all hiding in the same place. I just can't figure out where that is, nor am I willing to devote any of my valuable reading time to a scavenger hunt.

Don't suggest that I turn down the corner of the page. I refuse to do that, as I've mentioned before, because it feels like I'm causing the poor book to scream in agony if I do. I don't really like to place a book face down either, but I will do it, very carefully so as not to break the spine, if I can't find something to use as a bookmark.

Which brings us to what I usually do -- try to find something, anything, to use as a bookmark.

I'd forgotten how creative I am at this until the other day when I noticed something sticking out of a book on the lower shelf of the coffee table. It was a nail file, a hot pink zebra-print thing, marking my place in a book that I hadn't returned to in a while. In fact, I'd been wondering what had happened to that particular nail file. Now I know where it is the next time I snag a nail. But then I'll have to find something else to serve as a bookmark so I can use it for its original purpose.

Over the years I've used grocery receipts, envelopes, embroidery thread, pens, movie ticket stubs. . .

When you're a packrat, there is an endless supply of potential bookmark material within reach. There is also an infinite supply of frustration when you can't find the item that is living out its life as a placeholder for your reading material.

But with my Nook, I just have to tap the upper right-hand corner of the screen, and it places an adorable little flag-looking bookmark there. Heck, if I forget to do that, it creates a bookmark for me. The next time I wake up the Nook, it presents the screen I was reading the last time I was there, whether or not I was conscious enough to ask it to.

So while there are many reasons to wax nostalgic about "real" books (and I'm one who doesn't ever want them to disappear), I can say this with the utmost confidence:

My Nook can beat the bookmarks off paper books, every time.

Six Sentence Sunday: Summer Lovin' Part 3

Mia is trying to explain to hunky car-washing neighbor Luke how the puppy in her arms helped cause the damage to his car. To Luke's amusement, she uses words like "devil hound" and "Satan's minion" to describe the animal he thinks of as a dust bunny with legs:

The dog licked her cheek once, as if it would prove his innocence, then stared at Luke with the most solemn expression.

"He looks like he was rolled in adorable, and then dusted with cute."

She smiled, banishing the frown that had been hovering there since he'd opened his front door. "That's the problem--it's disguising his true nature."

"Do you hear what she's saying about you, buddy?" Luke asked, scratching under the puppy's chin.

The dog whimpered, putting his paw over his nose.

Thanks for your comments, and your camaraderie. This is a great way to spend a Sunday!

Friday Free-for-All

Surprise!

I'm posting on Friday, because there were a few things I wanted to mention.

First up, my two latest posts on the Heroes and Heartbreakers blog. I did a post titled Not-So-Ordinary First Kisses from Loretta Chase, Laura Kaye, and Julia Barrett. There are some great first kiss scenes there, so scoot over and check them out.

The other post is about Ruthie Knox's latest book, About Last Night, which just released a few days ago. This is a wonderful book, and I had a tough time choosing a favorite part to write about. I finally picked a scene that reminded me of a Regency heroine dealing with her future in-laws. Go check it out and let me know if you agree (or not!)

And next, Angela Quarles has tagged me for a Lucky Seven meme, with the rules as follows:

• Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript (fiction or non-fiction)
• Go to line 7
• Post the next 7 lines or sentences on your blog as they are (no cheating, please!)
• Tag 7 other authors to do the same

So here are my lines, from Lord Wastrel, an upcoming Regency historical. The hero, Hugh, has just come home from a very long night of partying and carousing and well, being a rake, only to learn he has a young daughter he knew nothing about. He is the girl's only parent now, since her mother, Hugh's former mistress, has died. He's not quite ready to embrace fatherhood though:

"I cannot have a child in my life right now," he blurted, with more ferocity than he had intended.

The little girl stepped back from him. Her bottom lip quivered, and for the first time she lost her composure. Hugh could feel a wrench in his heart, and even though he resisted the odd emotion, he was powerless against it when tears started pouring from those innocent blue eyes.

His daughter. And he had been the one to finally make her cry.

The lump in his throat nearly choked him.

 

And here are the Lucky Seven:

Melissa Johnson

Silver James

Linda Morris

Rachel Kall

Sarah L. Blair

Erica Monroe

Tonya Burrows

Hope everyone has a great weekend. We'll see you back here for Six Sentence Sunday!

Downsizing the Down Time

I've been seeing a lot lately about five-year plans, and planning for the future. I even wrote a post about five-year plans a while ago. I'm really feeling the need to revisit this topic, because it seems like time is slipping out of my grasp at a faster rate each day, and I'm convinced I can take control of it if I make plans.

And not only make them, but follow them.

Otherwise, time has a dreamlike quality. It's there, and then it isn't. I end up blinking, rubbing my eyes, wondering what happened to the past six months, and trying to convince myself maybe I really was asleep, because I couldn't have possibly lost such a big chunk of hours if I was actually conscious.

Of course, it's not easy to convince myself to plot out my life when I'm a self-proclaimed pantser. It's actually kind of funny, not to mention ironic, that the only way to get my pantser-based stories written is to write down detailed scenarios of how to spend my daily hours.

But despite the humorous irony of it all, it makes sense to chart out some things I need and want to accomplish the next few months. Because we all know it may be the beginning of a heat-filled summer now, but in a couple of minutes we'll be toasting the New Year, making heartfelt promises to do better in 2013 than we did in 2012.

My contrary self wants to complain about all the constricting restrictions that planning ahead can cause. But my practical self responds that there is plenty of room in each day to goof off, or change gears, or whatever we want to call that "down time" that holds together our productive moments.

My goal is to downsize the down time and supersize the productive moments.

I can start by putting on the calendar the things I've committed to, such as guest blogs and my own blog posts for each week. Then I write down what I'd *like* to commit to, such as the publication date for the next self-published books, to coincide with the scheduled guest blogs, so I can capitalize on having my name out there at the same time as my books. With these items firmly in place, I can work backwards, to today, to strategize what needs to be accomplished to meet those goals.

It's tricky to plan for some things, since there's a huge unpredictability factor in place, especially in the world of publishing and books. However, that's not always a bad thing. For example, the novella I sold to Samhain came about from a completely unplanned Twitter conversation with other writers. (It also reinforced my belief that I need to keep checking Twitter constantly throughout the day. That's a hard habit to break now.)

I can't plan for everything, but I can choose to make better use of the hours in each day. It's an incredibly satisfying feeling to see the accomplishments pile up. It's also great motivation to keep going, to see what else can be added to the Finally Done pile.

Even better, it's a relief to not have to deal with the guilt of seeing the sun go down and telling myself, "Oh well, maybe I'll get to it tomorrow."

Having these concrete deadlines helps to change "someday" into an actual day, filled with achievements. 

Six Sentence Sunday: Summer Lovin' Part 2

It's my favorite time of the week again!

Last week Mia, the heroine, and Bootsie, the puppy she's dogsitting, watched the hunky next-door neighbor while he washed a sporty little BMW. After a while, Mia dozes off, and when she wakes up, she discovers Bootsie chewing up her favorite shoes. She does everything she can to get the shoes back before they're completely thrashed, but the puppy is winning the battle, so Mia finally decides to distract him with a ball. She tosses it just a little too hard though:

The dog raised his head, the shoe forgotten, and watched with Mia as the ball flew over the fence, picking up speed.

Mia cringed, praying for a lucky bounce into the neighbor's grass. The ball hit the driveway and then practically leapt into the driver's side headlight. The breaking plastic made a tinkling sound as it drifted to the asphalt, bits of red and yellow glittering in the sunlight.

Mia heaved a sigh, and then bent over and picked up her doggy co-conspirator.

"You better hope he thinks one of us is cute."

Thanks again for stopping by. And there are lots more to check out at the Six Sentence Sunday website.

 

The Curse of True Love Series

I have been working on a fun project, and couldn't wait to give you a little sneak peek into it. I hope to have the first book available on Amazon and Smashwords in the near future.

It's "The Curse of True Love" series, and each story has Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, trying to play matchmaker in Regency England for couples unable to find true love on their own. . .only she ends up placing a curse on the lovers instead.

There are three books in the series. The first is Lord Wastrel, and if you've read Lord Midnight, you've seen an excerpt from Lord Wastrel already. I've also posted snippets in various places, so I'll provide links for those soon. The next two books in the series are titled An Unwilling Duchess and A Debutante's Wager.

In Lord Wastrel, Felicia Selby has been dubbed "Flighty Felicia" by Society because of her numerous failed elopements.  She has lost enthusiasm for the quest to find her one true love, and vows to become a spinster instead.  Moments later, at a betrothal ball, a chance encounter with Aphrodite changes Felicia's plans. She falls instantly in love. Unfortunately, the object of her affection is the groom-to-be.

Hugh Longford, Lord Weyson, has been called Lord Wastrel for many reasons, all of them well-earned. When his illegitimate young daughter is delivered into his care, Hugh gives up his wild ways. This reformed rake is determined to find the perfect mother for the child he adores, and he needs someone respectable and scandal-free. However, what Hugh gets is Felicia, who disrupts his carefully-laid plans for the future, but offers him a love and passion he had never expected.

I hope you'll find these a fun read. Now I've got to get back to writing/editing/revising/polishing!

The Fear of Starting a New Story

Whenever I finish a story, I like to take a little break, so I can recharge my brain, and rejuvenate the muse. Yet I hate to be away too long, because then I worry that I won't remember how to write.

(That bike-riding analogy doesn't really work, since the last time I tried to ride a bike, as an adult, after transporting myself everywhere on the two-wheeled version of freedom as a child -- well, let's just say I managed to jump off before we both went sailing down a hill.)

The longer I stay away from writing, the easier it is to think I've completely forgotten how to put words together into sentences, and sentences into stories. Which is why I come up with some damn fine excuses for not writing. It's amazing how creative I can be when I'm worried I've lost all ability to create.

Starting a new story has its own set of anxieties. Will I like these characters? What if they're not as awesome as the last story I worked on? Will they like me, or will they run away whenever I try to tell their story? It's like the first day in a new school, checking out everyone else who seems to know each other, and you feel like the interloper.

The writer is always going to be the outsider, looking inward, in order to dredge up a story and characters that have not been formed yet, and worrying that it's the same tale that's been told before, and more exquisitely, by somebody else.

Yet when I finally drag myself to the laptop and force myself to sit and type, it's always a flat-out miracle how comfortable it all feels. Why did I stay away so long? It's like I'm meeting up with long-lost friends, and we can't stop chattering to each other.

Fear is a writer's constant uninvited companion. We treat it with healthy respect, because we know what it can do if it's allowed free rein. Still, the best way to harness that fear is to sit down amongst our new characters and become friends with them, leaving the doubt and anxiety on the outside of this cozy circle.

The fear never disappears, and we don't need to let loose of it entirely, but we ought to make it work within our parameters.

One new word at a time. 

Six Sentence Sunday: Summer Lovin'

Since summer is finally here, I decided to share some snippets from my first self-pubbed work, a romantic comedy novella titled Summer Lovin'. 

Mia is dogsitting at a friend's house. She's lounging in the backyard, talking to the Bichon puppy while she watches the hunky neighbor guy washing a car, trying to figure out what his job might be:

"I wouldn't have expected chauffeurs to be so muscular, but he is getting a pretty good workout with that wax on, wax off routine. See how his arms flex each time he washes the hood of the car? Hey, I know--maybe he's a music video stud."

The car washer/chauffeur paused for a moment, the sponge gripped in his hand.

Mia buried her face in the puppy's furry neck and giggled.

To her relief, the hunk bent down to pick up the hose and started spraying the suds off the car.

There are lots of great writers sharing their sentences at Six Sentence Sunday. Go check them out!

Oh, and if you haven't heard my latest news, feel free to check out my last post: Sold!