Posted in Thoughts, writing inspiration, Writing tips

Following Other Authors (part 2)

Again, I paraphrase Neil Gaiman when I say, I’ve learned to write this novel. When I was writing Roxy’s Betrayal, I had to rely heavily on what I’d written in the previous book, Janie’s Secrets because they shared a parallel timeline. I had no idea how difficult this idea would be. First, I’m not a plotter/outliner. I write by the seat of my pants, also known as being a pantser. That is not to say that I don’t plan or research or have an idea of where I’m going with the story beforehand, I do. It is one of the things that insulted me about the craft book I purchased which said pantsers have no idea where they are going with their story.

Although I don’t outline my stories, I know a few things about my story and main characters before I start writing my first draft. I know some of my character’s backstory, I know or have an idea of how I want the plot to end or the climax of the story. Much of this I figure out in my fast draft. Which in truth is very much like an outline but in a story form. I call it my skeleton. I write the story as quickly as I can without much detail then I go back and add flesh, feeling, all that stuff that makes it come alive.

With most stories I start with a character or a scene, an idea that has come to me like a seedling. From there I ask questions, shed a little light on it. Some stories come to me whole, I just have to write them down, others I have to work at to find what makes all its pieces and parts fit together. Roxy took a little more work. Not only was I writing Roxanne’s story with a parallel timeline to Janie’s story. I had to figure out how she was going to meet and fall in love with Jorge, an accused murderer. Why they were trying to rescue Janie’s daughter and why they didn’t just ask for help.

I wrote several scenes as they came to me but had a difficult time bringing everything together. The bigger the series gets the more difficult it becomes to mesh each story into the next. I want to layer the family dynamics, their past hurts and future relationships, define their roles inside the family as well as give them a fun sexy romance with some suspense and drama.

I had Roxanne as part of Janie’s Secrets and there is even mention of her in Red Steel, but she was just an elusive idea not completely developed. Until I finished Janie’s Secrets, I really didn’t know who Roxanne was. As I started my fast draft for Roxy, I began to realize I’d misunderstood her. This is where backstory helps to flesh out the character. It is one of the great points in Lisa Cron’s Story Genius. That without backstory there is no story.  

Each novel requires a little different process. Now, if you are like the amazing Sarra Cannon, you may have discovered what works best for you to find your muse and productivity. Her methods change very little during the process of writing her novels. She has a master plan and is able to stick to it.

For me, I’ve been developing my plan as I go. Chrome Pink was written with everything thrown in and then whittled down. Titanium Blue was planned with sticky notes and written during my first NaNoWriMo, at least the first version. My middle son and his wife were great resources during this writing. White Gold was also done with sticky notes to help plan it. Evergreen Crystals was another difficult novel because I wanted to write a true romance with their happy ever after, but I couldn’t do it without killing people, so, I let my dark side out and had fun with it. I’m beginning to think I’m a little scary, I blame it on my children. Red Steel was a lot of research, but I actually carried around a small notebook and wrote down ideas, often texting my firefighter son about what this would look like if it exploded. I really want to go to some of their training exercises. Janie’s Secrets was a recycled story with a few additions. Now I’m working on the brothers’ stories. My problem is, I know Remy’s story but it’s not time to tell it yet. I know Seth’s story, but he needs seasoning. I know Trent’s story, but should he come next or should I work on Cole’s story. As I started working on Trent’s story, ideas for Cole came to me, I’m attempting to write both books in tandem but deciding which one will come first will be interesting. I don’t know if I want another parallel timeline, but I may cross timelines.

There are so many ways to tell a story so how can there be only one way to write them?

Posted in backstory, my books, Thoughts

Don’t Worry, I Still Believe in Happy Endings

Don’t Worry Be Happy

I believe in happy endings.

While I can’t quite call myself a romance writer, I still believe in happy ever after, or happy for now. Okay, maybe happyish. Since I like to blow things up and kill people off (usually the bad guys), not everyone is going to have their happy ending. Well I’m usually happy about it. I’m having way too much fun thinking of new ways to make trouble.

My mom said recently, “I didn’t know you had such a dark side.” Truth is I’m a nice person, except to my characters and I’m a pretty happy person. I work at being happy. It’s not always easy. Sometimes life really sucks, and it is too easy to get mired down in what is wrong. Over the years I’ve had to give myself pep-talks, allow myself to have a brief pity party and then get on with living. I’ve had to deal with unpleasantness and realize I’m stronger than I ever believed. I’ve had to decide to be happy and sometimes I’ve had to fake it until I felt it. That’s not saying I don’t have my blue days, my crying jags, my broken-hearted moments, I just choose not to live there and some days, like battling the characters in my stories, it’s a real fight to find my happy. But having a job where you can kill off the bad guys, blow things up and not have to worry about getting your hands dirty is pretty therapeutic.

road accident car crash on an city road highway

Mom also mentioned she wished I’d write some “nice” stories. Don’t get me wrong, my mom has become one of my biggest fans, she often proof-reads my stories before I publish them. She has a great eye but she’s at an age where she likes up-lifting stories of hope and faith. I get that but that’s not where I am in my own journey. I think for me, writing the Leeward Files has allowed me to get out some of the darkness that has touched my life either in reality or through contact with others. To keep all of that hate and anger bottled up can destroy a person, like my character Phil. He is so twisted by what was done to him that even though he is trying to do what is right, he goes about it in very wrong ways. It’s not that Phil doesn’t know right from wrong, he just doesn’t see why it should matter if the results are good.

The Leeward Files has become a labor of love. Most of you who have read the series know it is loosely based on my hometown of Aurora, North Carolina. My town is dying. I love this town and would love to see it revitalized. There is so much potential here. When I look at this town, I see what it could be. I see Leeward without all the murders and sex trafficking. We really don’t need all of that here. The town is surrounded by water, the Pamlico Sound, the Pamlico River and South Creek border the peninsula. Farmland and forest still dot the landscape. The community, while not perfect, is like a big extended family. When we lost our home to fire people came together to help us, people we didn’t even know. When the backside of town flooded during Irene, people worked together to rebuild. Every day I am inspired by the people and beauty of this place, yet down town is dying. We have no grocery store. Windows are being smashed out. People are leaving. Houses are sitting vacant. Burned out homes are being allowed to sit as eyesores because no one can afford to have them torn down. When I imagine what I’d do if I won the lottery or managed to snag a movie deal, I’d have to fix up this town I love. I’d love to bring back some of the beauty and charm and make it a place people would want to come to. Anybody got a winning lottery ticket I could borrow? How about a movie deal, I’ve got some great books that would make awesome movies, and I know a town where we could film it! I’m just saying, I know a guy…

In my series, The Leeward Files, Evergreen Crystals was to be my happy ever after story for my previous heroines: Rae Lynne from Chrome Pink, Dana from White Gold and Jenna from Titanium Blue. The three best friends have found the loves of their lives and plan to settle down. Jenna and Tar plan to stop their divorce and try to be a family again. Rae and Logan are expecting a baby and she has agreed to marry him even though she terrified she might ruin his life. Jake is feeling the pressure to propose to Dana with both of her best friends getting married but is that the right course for them? Not everyone has to get married and have babies to have a happy ever after. I really thought Evergreen Crystals was going to be my sweet romance story. It is romantic, it’s sexy but I couldn’t resist killing somebody and causing trouble and well, it still has a happy ending. Don’t worry, be happy. Now as for the next books…he, hee, heee, I did tell you I’m having too much fun blowing things up. Well, let’s just say, the next three books are giving me a lot of therapy.

So, if anyone goes missing or if there is a mysterious fire, it wasn’t me. I prefer to do my crimes on paper, it’s less messy that way. If you like suspense thrillers with strong romantic elements set in a small southern town, check out my Leeward Files Series and thanks for stopping by.

Posted in event, inspiration, my books, News, promo

You Are Invited to a Book Signing

Evergreen Crystals is the fourth in the Leeward Files Series. Most of you were expecting Red Steel and that’s coming soon, I promise, but I thought I could whip out a little holiday romance, give the gals of Leeward their happy endings and move on, BUT….

When I started writing Evergreen Crystals it was just going to be something sweet and fluffy for the holidays. I thought, I’d write a truly romantic story for my heroines and let them have their happy ever after, but I stalled. The quick story wasn’t so quick. In fact, I was having trouble getting started. When I tried to write just a happy romantic story my brain seized, and I couldn’t think what to write. I couldn’t do it. I was getting depressed and worried and it was getting down to crunch time. I mean, if you’re going to have a holiday story, you should really have it out in time for the holidays, right? The writing is usually the easy part because after the rough draft comes the revisions and rewriting, the editing and more editing, the publishing and proof reading and editing some more. Yeah, I was running out of time. Should I scrap this idea of a happy holiday story and just write my firefighter story? But I needed closure for Rae Lynne, Jenna and Dana. They deserved a little happy in their lives.

We often tell people stuff, give them advice but we don’t even hear our own words. This is what happened when I attended a writers’ retreat after a hurricane. My friend and fellow Pamlico Writer Adrienne Dunning went to Murfreesboro for a writers’ retreat. Y’all may remember me talking about my adventures on my website, “An Exotic Retreat in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.” During this retreat I met some amazing people both published authors and unpublished. While sitting around the table our last day together, I was offering words of wisdom to one of the unpublished authors when my friend, Adrienne cornered me and pointed out that I was doing just what I was telling her not to do. I was trying to force the story to be something it was not. As we talked, I realized she was right. As much as I wanted to be a true romance writer, I am not. I like to kill people and blow things up and create mayhem. I like a little romance, a lot of sex added in but that doesn’t lead the story. Once I embraced my darker side and just decided to have fun with the story, it all began to flow. It’s true. Trying to force a story to be something it is not, doesn’t work. Can I write romance? Sure, I can. But if I’m having fun writing my stories my way, why worry about a label, except for when trying to market them. So, from now on, unless I’m writing for an anthology or something, I’m just going to enjoy the journey and write.

I hope you all will check out Evergreen Crystals, and if you’re in Aurora or Eastern North Carolina, Thursday, December 5th at 7 pm, drop by the Hazel Guilford Memorial Library and celebrate with us. We will have games, prizes, gifts and a lot of fun, come join us. Thank you all for your support. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

White Gold book signing HGM Library Aurora