April 04, 2006

OKRWA April 2006 Newsletter


From the Prez, Deborah Behrens:

How do you write?
Are you a plotter or a panster?
Do you write scenes as they come to you and piece your story together later?
Do you write an outline and follow it to the letter?

Well, I’ll tell you what, ladies, I’m a die-hard panster. No matter how hard I try I just can’t change. The only trouble I have with writing this way is that while I’m deep into one story, I have this relentless little voice in the back of my mind nagging at me with the scenes to my next one. (I know you know the one I’m talking about!) So I give into the urge, write down the scene, and go back to my current story. Now, getting a head start on that next story might not sound so bad, but last week I looked at the one hundred-plus pages of “panster material” I had written and cringed. It all seemed so scattered. There was no way I could turn all the stuff I’d written into something coherent.

Then my miracle came. I had to shuttle my son across the city, not my little city of Mustang, but somewhere in OKC. It doesn’t sound like much of a miracle, does it? But hang on a minute, I’m not finished. On the way back, I cranked up the tunes and viola—it all started coming together. My characters, whom I had left high and dry a few months ago, were suddenly back in my head thriving in their own story.

What a relief! I’d forgotten that the road and a little music make my creative juices flow. My first story was created sitting in my car waiting for my daughter’s school to let out. I weaved my second one together while driving across the country to New York. My third was helped along by a few trips to Missouri. Now the big question is—where can I go to get this one moving?

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is—whatever it is that makes your creativity flow, whether it’s music, old movies, or road trips, find it, savor it, do it every chance you get and above all, don’t ever forget it!

Deb

April 2006 Program Information:

Brad & Athena Lovelace
Husband & wife PI team
(Yes, he’s a sharpshooter with a 9MM, but does he still leave the toilet seat up?)
April 15, 2006
Crossroads Mall Meeting Room
1:00

Spotlight Interview:

Ms. Daring Do of Fiction tells How, What and When: Gena Showalter

1. Tell us what your next yummy read to hit the stands is all about? My next book is Animal In
stincts and it's my first contemporary.

There is - gasp! -- nothing paranormal in it. It's simply a story I had to tell and is about a woman's journey to empowerment and love with the aid of a self-help book - and all the delicious sex had with the hero, of course. It does have a chick lit tone, but it is a romance at heart.

2. If we can't have a poster of this hero, preferably scantily clad, can you give us 'a to die for' description.

He's absolutely, one hundred percent edible. Black hair, electric blue eyes, and yes, he works out. A lot. His name is Royce and he's mine, all mine. What I love most about him is that he's not afraid of love. He actually wants marriage and babies and happily ever after. He's passionate and tender, yet just the right amount of alpha.

3. How many books published do you have at this time?

My fifth book, Jewel of Atlantis, hit bookstores in February 2006. This book features a government agent who enters Atlantis to steal a jewel but steals a woman instead.

4. How many books have you sold and when will they be released?

I've sold a total of fifteen. Animal Instincts, my first contemporary, will be released May 1st, Enslave Me Sweetly, the sequel to Awaken Me Darkly, will be released June 1st, followed by Mysteria and Oh My Goth in July, then Playing With Fire in September, and The Nymph King in February 2007. There are more coming out in 2007 and 2008 but I don't have release dates or titles.

5. When you write your books, do you plot them out ahead of time or just write and discover the story as you go?

I discover characters and story as I write. Lately, though, I sell my books on proposal - which means I need three chapters and a synopsis - so I have to plot something. But here's a dirty little secret: I rarely follow the direction of the synopsis.

6. What is your writing process like once you begin writing a book?

In a word, obsessive. Once I start a draft, I can't stop. There's a feeling of 'must finish' that refuses to leave me. It haunts my sleep, my entire day, and becomes all I can think about. In fact, I nod in and out of conversations as scenes play through my head. I know people think I'm weird or rude, but that's okay. Once the rough draft is done, I relax and go back to being human. Kind of.

7. Do you write on more than one book at a time?

Yes. I'd prefer to work on one at a time but many of my deadlines overlap. And just as I'm digging into one book, revisions, copy edits and/or galleys will arrive for three more.

8. What do you wish you had known earlier about writing?

That it's okay to write a book the way you see it and not the way that will make it most - I'm just going to say it and probably get hate mail - marketable. We can make the trends. Time travels were not popular when Karen Moning sold Beyond the Highland Mist, but readers went crazy for that book. When I sat down to write The Stone Prince and The Pleasure Slave, I really downplayed the alien aspects. Those types of books were not selling at that point in time. But agent Deidre Knight - who did sign me with those books -- told me that the aliens were her favorite part of the stories. Let your passion shine through.

9. Were you ever taught that something that held you back in finding your own writing process?

Not very many people offered me advice, to be honest. Mostly I was told not to switch point of view in the middle of a scene, not to use the word "was", and things like that. Those are the kind of rules it's best to discard. There are times when a POV switch will have the most impact for your reader and there are times when the word "was" is the best choice.

10. Is there any advice you would give to unpublished writers?

Write your book all the way to the end before starting another project. You learn so much. And don't think about "the rules" or what's popular at the moment. Just write the book the way it needs to be told. Who knows, you could start the next trend.

11. What is your website so that readers can check out all the cool info you have on your site?

www.genashowalter.com



New Releases:

Diamonds Can Be Deadly by Merline Lovelace

If diamonds were a girl's best friend, then emeralds came a close second. So when ex-model turned secret agent Jordan Colby was sent to Kauai to locate a missing green gem, she jumped at the chance.

There was just one hitch: the presence of her ex-fiance, T.J. Scott, who'd turned his back on everything that had meant anything to him. Starting with her...

Prince Incognito by Linda Goodnight

Forced to take a little R & R after a few too many investigative...mishaps, P.I. Carly Carpenter initially viewed her vacation as punishment. Then she met blond god Luc Gardener—a man so confident yet mysterious that Carly’s inquisitive radar went into overdrive.

Spending time in Luc’s arms was no hardship, but learning about his royal standing was both a blessing and a curse. Here was the story she needed to prove her investigative worth. But by revealing that Luc was the European prince who’d gone AWOL, she’d likely lose him forever. And when he left, he’d take her finally unguarded heart with him…

Share the Darkness by Jill Monroe

Hannah Garrett has always felt safe in the dark. It meant she never had to show people the truth. On the run from a man who wants to kill her, Hannah's learned to keep to herself and not get attached....

Until she meets Ward Coleman.

Being around her sexy coworker has awakened a need she'd forgotten — and it's not just this heat wave that has Hannah hot and bothered. But she can't afford to get too close, especially when she's not sure she can trust him.

What she doesn't know is that Ward is on to her and is determined to learn her secrets. And getting caught in a hot, dark elevator is the best place to find out all this undercover FBI agent needs to know.

Beneath The Texas Moon by Elle James

By moving her son to Spirit Canyon, Texas, Eve Baxter had hoped to help Joey overcome the trauma of bearing witness to his father's tragic death. Sworn off men until her son is grown and on his own, Eve resists her attraction to the haunted cowboy, Mac McGuire. But when the town falls victim to bizarre animal mutilations and the death of a teenage girl, Eve realizes she or her son could be the next casualties and reluctantly accepts Mac's protection.

Plagued by survivor's guilt, Mac finds an immediate connection with Eve's little boy and a deep desire to protect the boy's beautiful mother. With a murderous creature on the loose, Mac fights his own demons of self-doubt the struggle to save the community, the child and the woman he grows to love.

Coming Soon from Ellora's Cave, www.ellorscave.com, Jacq's Warlord by Myla Jackson and Delilah Devlin. Click on her name to visit her website for purchase Info.

With proportions that would make Xena weep, Jacqueline Frazier despairs of ever finding a lover she wouldn't intimidate. Until the day she ignores an itty-bitty warning regarding the use of a family heirloom and finds herself swept off her feet by a knight in not-so-shining armor into the twelfth century. Eeek! No toilet paper, no cell phones and no junk food! Forced to accept the protection of the overbearing beast of a man, Rufus of Rathburn, Jacq has finally met her match.

In the midst of fighting for his land, people and life, Rufus finds Jacq to be an intriguing and infuriating distraction. But when she insists on meddling in his battle tactics with guerilla warfare, she steps over the line! At first unwilling and downright ungrateful, Rufus begins to see merit in Jacq's odd ways. But can his ego make room for the beautiful warrior woman? Will his castle survive the explosives she employs? And will a love that breaks the barriers of time, be strong enough to convince Jacq to plot a future with him in the past?

Tempting by Myla Jackson
Can be purchased at www.whispershome.com (Check Myla's Website for more purchasing info)

Elite Paranormal Investigative Agent, Reggie Gallagher, hates vampires. After dozens of beautiful women are kidnapped off the streets of Houston, Reggie and her sister set themselves up as bait to catch those responsible for the disappearances. The mission goes sour, her sistervanishes and Reggie is surrounded by a rabid pack of vampires only to be rescued by another one of the long-toothed creatures of the night. Forced to accept his protection, she bides her time with the sexy beast until she can get back out on the streets to find her only living relative and bring the bad vampires down.

When the woman he thought he loved, turned Nicolae Kovac into a vampire over four hundred years ago, he swore he'd never trust another woman with his heart. Then he saved a hell cat from a band of vicious vampires only to find himself falling for her hot temper and fierce love for her family. Together Nicolae and Reggie must find the missing sister and deal with the evil threat behind the disappearances, while fighting their growing attraction for each other.

Member News!

Merline Lovelace has had quite the month!!! She has recently negotiated contracts for SIX new novels. Two NEXT novels for Harlequin as well as THREE more Intimate Moments and ONE Nocturne fo Silhouette. Congratulations, Merline!

Donnell Epperson won first place in our own Soon To Be Published Contest with her dark paranormal, The Souleater. Alice Clary took second with Shattered Moon and Tina Novinski recived third with Rosetti Curse. Congratulations!

Elle James just contracted for book #3 in a Harlequin Intrigue Continuity called BODYGUARDS UNLIMITED. Her book will be titled COWBOY SANCTUARY. Congratulations!

Myla Jackson just contracted with Avon Red for a short story in an anthology.
Congratulations!

Market News!

Harlequin Romance and Silhouette Romance lines were both due to close in September just as a new "merged" line of traditional romances debuted. Now, Harlequin is planning to continue publication of Silhouette Romance at least until Feb. '07.

However , the new line will debut, as originally planned, in July with a continuity titled, the Bella Lucia Brides. (Our own Linda Goodnight will be writing book number 5, Married Under the Mistletoe!) At this point, Harlequin doesn't have a name for this brand-new line.

Editor's Note:
If you'd like to submit an article, new releases, contest placements or any other writing related news, make sure to email all the pertinent info to your friendly editor, Rinda Elliott at RElliott4@aol.com.
Posted by Rinda Elliott :: 9:42 AM :: ---------------oOo---------------