The winner of J.K. Coi’s IRON SEDUCTION is…….

JANGA!!!

The winner of Randi Alexander’s novella HER COWBOY STUD is……

DONNA!!!

Congratulations! You ladies should see info in your inboxes in the near future. (Could I throw in one more “in”? Ha! I did!)

Today we have Harlequin and Signet author, JESSICA ANDERSEN, author of the Novels of the Final Prophecies visiting the ship.  This paranormal series about the Doomsday prophecies has lots of plot twists, some amazingly hot characters, and all the emotional angst a reader could want.  Her latest, SKYKEEPERS, is out in stores now.  

I’ve already read SKYKEEPERS and I officially think it’s my favorite so far.  Michael is deliciously tortured; Sasha, sassy and strong.  And their sexual tension?  To die for.  If you’ve read Ms. Andersen’s work before, you’re in for a real treat with this one.  Don’t miss it!

Take it away, Doc Jess!

**********************

Hello, and thanks to Marnee for inviting me to visit and talk about SKYKEEPERS: A NOVEL OF THE FINAL PROPHECY!  

One randomly selected commenter will win a signed copy of NIGHTKEEPERS or DAWNKEEPERS, which are the first two books in this sexy series of paranormal thrillers. And, of course, SKYKEEPERS is in a bookstore near you now!

Here’s the blurb:

Ancient prophecy holds that 12/21/2012 will bring a global cataclysm. Mankind’s only hope lies with the Nightkeepers, modern magic-wielding warriors who must find their destined mates and fulfill the legends to defeat the rise of terrible Mayan demons in the last few years leading up to 2012.

In SKYKEEPERS, Michael Stone is a man with a dark secret that has skewed his magical abilities dangerously toward the underworld. Seeking redemption, he sets out on a perilous mission to save the daughter of Ambrose Ledbetter, a renowned Mayanist who died before he could reveal the location of a hidden library. The Nightkeepers must find the library before their enemies gain access to its valuable cache of spells and prophecies.

Sasha Ledbetter grew up hearing heroic tales of an ancient group of powerful magi who were destined to save the world from destruction. She never expected that her bedtime stories would come to life in the form of Nightkeeper Michael Stone, or that she’d hold the key to the warrior’s survival. As Sasha and Michael join forces to prevent the imminent battle, sparks of attraction ignite between them, and they’re forced to confront the unexpected passion that brings them together … and also tears them apart.

This series (and particularly this book) often looks at what makes people afraid. In the largest sense, the overall arc is about the fear of death and endings: The Nightkeepers are fighting to keep the world from ending, and to keep themselves (and future generations) alive. But more, it’s about the fear of failure: The Nightkeepers’ parents sacrificed themselves in an effort to short-circuit the 12/21/2012 countdown, but it continued and their children grew up orphans, in many cases not realizing their true natures. Now reunited, the modern magi are struggling to find their footing amidst new magic, ancient prophecies, and things that go bump in the night.

Within each story, the hero and heroine must deal with more personal fears. In SKYKEEPERS, Michael fears the loss of control—of his temper, his soul, the situation around him … and his heart. Likewise, Sasha fears change, growth, and learning the truth about her father and herself.

I think we can all relate to these fears, some of which might reflect back on our own lives. The concept of a relatable fear is in part what makes us (as readers) connect with a story, even if it’s about something that might not be in our immediate lives, such as Mayan magi, or vampires, or spacemen … The world of the story might interest us, but without a relatable character, it’s just a world.  It’s the characters that help us connect.

Beyond the ‘big picture’ stuff, smaller fears can become important details that help bring your characters to life.  In the fourth book in this series (DEMONKEEPERS, April ’10), the hero is recovering from a demonic possession that kept him trapped inside his own skull for nearly a year. As such, he emerges badly claustrophobic, to the point that he avoids his own couch because its soft, enfolding cushions and high arms make him feel trapped. 

Most often, these small details about a character emerge as I’m writing the story. Sometimes I don’t even know why someone has a certain phobia at first, only to see it later and think, “Duh. Of course!”  But by the same token, (as a writer) don’t be afraid to think about your characters’ phobias and use them as quirks, or clues into that person’s backstory.  As part of this, I’ve always thought that it’s interesting to look at the wide variety of phobias out there, and think about where they might stem from, and what interesting behaviors those fears might create.

Here’s one of mine: I have to minutely check over my earmuff-type hearing protectors every time I put them on, whether for mowing, nail-gunning, target practice, or whatnot. This is contrary to my overall character, as I’m fairly easygoing about my equipment and its state of repair (my significant other is the maintenance guy in the family- I tend to use what’s available, then complain when it breaks).

So … what does this mean?  As a writer, if I had an otherwise casual (borderline too casual) character who insisted on obsessing about one piece of equipment (hearing protectors), I would ask myself: why?  An immediate answer in this case might be that I might be afraid of going deaf. Maybe I have a family history of deafness, or already have some hearing impairment, making me hyperconscious of hearing protection.  Okay, that’s not bad … but it’s not the case here. 

So let’s go a level deeper.  What might have happened to this character (me) to make her obsess over her hearing protectors?  Well, in most cases, I use hearing protectors with a built-in radio (thus why I use earmuffs over earplugs). That might suggest that I’m easily bored, and don’t like being left alone with my own thoughts when doing activities that require hearing protection (check and check). But it also suggests that something might’ve happened with the radio, thus causing my paranoia.  Did it short-circuit, zapping me unconsciousness one day?  Nice try, but no. 

For me, the answer is another fear that I think many people can relate to: Spiders.  Now, I don’t love spiders, but I’ve learned to tolerate them without screaming and bolting. For the most part, anyway. But one day a few years ago, I shut off the mower mid-chore one morning, stripped off my gloves and ear protectors, and went inside to get a drink. When I got back to the mower, I skipped my usual (and semi-casual) “check to make sure nothing crawled into the earmuffs” routine—it’d only been a couple of minutes, after all.

Well, I hadn’t mowed much further when there was a tickle in my ear.  Thinking it was a stray piece of hair, I pulled off the muffs, scratched my ear, put them back on, and continued mowing. The tickle returned; I repeated the scratch, this time glancing into the muff to see if there was something in there—a piece of grass or something.  I didn’t see anything.  Tickle, look, scratch. Rinse; repeat. 

This went on for a good ten minutes before I finally shut down the mower, took the headphones all the way off, and examined them in detail, only to find a BIG, JUICY BROWN SPIDER hiding all tucked up under the lining.  Aaahhh!!!  It looked like he (she?) had been hiding up there when I took off the muffs, and then when I put them back on, s/he would come out in the nice, warm darkness to explore MY EAR.  Urgh.  (Shuddering at the memory.)

From a character standpoint, we could go deeper with this, into how I had an uncle who suffered a catastrophic aneurysm in his forties, and a grandmother with late-onset Alzheimers. I’ve got an ego about being fairly intelligent, make my living as a writer and technical editor (both brain-critical jobs), and live with a low-grade fear of brain injury: I ride showjumpers, and although I always wear the latest in crash helmet technology, head injuries are unfortunately a risk in the sport. And while I intellectually know that there’s an infinitesimal chance that the spider could have crawled up inside my ear canal and laid eggs, and then that the resulting progeny could have somehow burrowed up into my brain, thereby damaging it … I had nightmares for a couple of weeks after that incident. Seriously. I would wake up, convinced there were baby spiders coming out of my ear and I couldn’t remember my own name.

Thus we arrive at the otherwise-casual character who obsesses about her ear protectors.

Will I ever use this particular detail and backstory for a character?  Maybe. Probably not. But I think it gives an interesting perspective on how small details can provide larger insights into characters, and how it’s important to keep both large and small details in mind when writing a story. 

So tell me … what small, strange thing scares you (and if you’re willing to share … why)???

*****

Dive in there, ladies and gent, let’s give ourselves the creeps.  And don’t forget, one lucky commenter will receive a signed copy of NIGHTKEEPERS or DAWNKEEPERS!

Now we all have our own specialties in writing. I know when you write, you have strengths. Maybe you’re great with description or setting (like Teresa Medeiros) or sexual tension (like Lisa Kleypas) or bad sex that leads to great sex (like Eloisa James—doesn’t that fried chicken scene in Your Wicked Ways crack you up?) Me, I like dialogue. Banter and wit is my idea of foreplay in real life as well as the written word. If I’m writing a scene and completely blowing character, plot, and description and setting, I try to get a conversation going just so I rebuild my writer’s self-esteem before it shreds entirely.

However, dialogue is not exactly the meat and potatoes of the story. It’s more like the frosting. It’s fun; it’s flavorful; and for many, it’s their favorite part, but it’s probably the nutritional equivalent of ho-ho’s. Possibly it’s most important value is how it paces a novel. Dialogue is quick and feels like action even when the characters are sitting in a coffee shop. Because talking is an action; and action is good.

However, consider the other part of dialogue: what isn’t said.

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;

But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends.

We turn clay to make a vessel;

But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.

We pierce doors and windows to make a house;

And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends.

Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

–Tao Te Ching, Chap 11, tr. Waley.

So if witty banter is not your forte, remember that’s not necessarily the important part of dialogue. Think about every Black Moment you’ve ever read. It’s all the things your hero didn’t tell the heroine until it was too late that is revealed in the Black Moment. Like he loved her. Or oops, it was her he wanted to marry all along, not that hussy he’d been engaged to for the last 300 pages. Or he was a jerk, but he didn’t know how to apologize for it because who is good at apologizing? No one, exactly. We hold our cards to our chest just as closely as we play them. It’s human nature not to reveal too much because, frankly, there are things we just won’t even admit to ourselves. That empty dialogue reveals just as much character as anything spoken aloud.

What about you? Do you think dialogue is a meat-and-potatoes sort of aspect of writing, or do you too think it’s more frosting? Who are your go-to authors for the best banter and dialogue? Does anyone else watch TV shows for dialogue tips? (I get some of my best dialogue and “plotting” (braiding) tips from watching re-runs of Friends.)  If so, which shows do you enjoy watching for this?

For Sin, I found the perfect presents.  You know those times when you’re looking and looking for the right gift, and then you see it.  That thing that just screams out a person’s name.  These shirts not only screamed Sin’s name, they screamed her exact words!  Aren’t they cute?!?

While I was trying to figure out what to get Marn, this commercial came on television and I just knew I had to get this product for her.  Not only is Marn the only one of us who wrote an entire manuscript this year, she’s the haggled mum of a toddler, holding down a regular job, and working on making her family bigger.  Don’t ask us why, we’re not really sure. Though we understand the desire to *practice* making the munchkins.  So for Marn (and Mr. Marn who I do believe will be sending me a financial thank you for this one) I have this.  We’ll expect a full testimonial as to the effects and benefits of this product. J

Shopping for Lis was tough.  As the mistress of the Hottie, I knew whatever I found, it had to be hot.  Real hot.  With this present, Lisa can enjoy the fittest, hottest bodies all year long.  Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. 

And we come to the Captain.  You might think I would go for the obvious, something Harry Potter-ish or anything with Jack on it.  But when you really think about it, do you think there’s anything left in either of those arenas that she doesn’t already have?  Yeah, I don’t think so either.  So, I went a little obvious but put a twist on it.  The Captain is about to get her own new cabin here soon, so I figured she needs some new pirate essentials.  Every pirate captain needs her own, fully-accessorized pirate bath.

I do hope all my shipmates like their presents.  Here’s the question of the day.  If money, size, and practicality were of no concern, what is the perfect gift for you.  Time to dream ladies.  Dream big!

So thank you, from your pirates.

Unless you’re living under a rum bottle, you know the movie Twilight hit theaters this past weekend.  The book upon which the movie is based is immensely successful.  In fact, the four books in the series have sold over 25 million copies.  Not bad for a Mormon mom who says her main characters came to her in a dream.  I need to pay more attention to my dreams.

I have not read the books, but I did see the movie on Friday.  I wasn’t overly impressed, but to be fair, I’m not the target demographic for this thing anyway.  My question is, did the hype do more harm than good? 

Most of us here long to have our Romance novels on the bookshelves someday.  But getting them on the shelves is only the beginning.  If we don’t get people to actually buy them, that first book will be the last book.  And getting people to buy them involves creating buzz.  Getting our name out there, getting our covers out there, shouting our blurb from the mizzenmast and hitting up every contact we’ve ever made to let us drop anchor at their blogs for a day.

But if you go through all the trouble of hyping the binding off your book, you’d better be able to deliver.  You better have a story that meets the high expectations and then if you’re lucky enough to find success, you have to write another story and do it all over again.

So today we’re going to talk about expectations.  Do you worry about giving people what they want?  Or are you confident that if someone would just publish your book, you know the readers will love it?  And what book, movie, or television show has let you down lately?  What hype have you bought into and then wanted to demand your money (or time!) back?

The planning started back in the spring and to say I’m relieved it’s over is an understatement.  Not that I regret doing it or that I didn’t have a great time, but man that was a lot of work.  In a moment of insanity, I took on the position of registrar so my work doubled in an instant.  My goal was to have all attendees pre-registered before the day of the event.  My chapter was skeptical I could pull this off, but I’m happy to report I did.  Our goal was sixty attendees and thankfully, we hit sixty-two.  Mission accomplished!

Our speaker was the incredible Debra Dixon and if you ever have the opportunity to attend one of her workshops, GO.  I cannot say that often or loud enough.  And since Ms. Dixon and I have found that we are long lost sisters, if you go, tell her Terri said hi.

There was obviously all kinds of craft and industry things discussed and I promise to blog on those once I get my feet back on the ground and more sleep on my done list, but today, we’re going to talk about the crazy things that only happen to me.

So I send Deb Dixon a picture of myself so she’ll recognize me when I pick her up at the airport.  Then, on a whim, I color my hair the night before she arrives.  In the picture, my hair is light brown with blonde highlights.  As I type this, my hair is almost black.  I kid you not.  So when I finally walk up to Deb, the first thing she says is, “You don’t have blonde hair!”  Yeah, great start.

Luckily, she thought it was funny, forgave me pretty quick, and we set out into five o’clock traffic on a Friday.  Two hours later we completed the forty-five minute drive.  We made it just in time for dinner which was great once we got to the restaurant.  I might have taken a couple of wrong turns.  The problem was, I’ve walked Williamsburg during the day.  Never driven it at night.  But we got there….eventually.  And only had to park two hundred miles away so that’s not too bad.

Exhausted, I crashed as soon as I returned to the hotel.  My mistake was waking up at 2 am to take care of business.  For some reason, I could not fall back to sleep.  Between the worry about the next day, the life stuff back at home, and the snoring on the other side of the room (love you Bev!), sleep wasn’t coming back.  I listened to the iPod, checked email on my cell phone, tossed for about two hours.  Still nothing.

When the alarm went off at 6:30am, I wondered how angry Cathy would be if I called in sick.  Since I know Cathy was an officer in the Navy and would likely kick my arse, I headed for the bathroom.  Here’s where the strangeness doubled.  I turn around to start the shower and realize something looked odd.  There was the tub.  The new fangled curved shower bar.  The little rug and the complimentary bar of soap.  Then I realized, there was no curtain.  No. Curtain.

This is how tired I was.  I actually started looking around for the shower curtain.  As if the maid decided to play some irritating game of hide and seek and I was certain she’d put the thing on the shelf above the ironing board.  Yep, I looked there.  Nothing.

Now I start contemplating taking the shower without the curtain.  It’s not my bathroom, what do I care about water on the floor?  If the maid wasn’t so good at hide and seek, she wouldn’t have to clean up the mess.  But then I remembered my roommate would need that bathroom in another half hour so nixed the idea of creating a man made lake in the Days Inn. 

Before anyone worries I went to the conference all stinking and greasy, I did take a bath.  And that’s the TMI portion of today’s blog.  Okay, maybe we hit TMI at the “taking care of business” point but stay with me here.

The conference was fantastic and I had the time of my life.  I even pitched Marnee’s book and got her a request. That’s right, I’m THAT good.  But all I wanted at ten o’clock that night was to crawl into my bed and sleep until 2010.  This, of course, never happened.  When I got to my friend’s house to pick up my kiddo, I stepped into chaos.  Long story short, mastiff nearly kills boxer, owner needs stitches, blood everywhere, and tears flowing. 

One trip to my house only to learn my friend (who is at the ER) still has my house key, another trip to her house and I finally reunited with my pillow sometime around 1am.  Have I mentioned I’m tired?

So, here’s my question.  Do these things happen to other people?  Do you ever think you have everything figured out and have it blow up in your face?  Have you ever taken a shower without a shower curtain and figured out how not to make a mess?  If so, please share.  I’m taking notes.

As I mentioned yesterday, unless you’re living under a rock, you know the Olympics are going on right now in

Then when I was the age that many Olympians are, I remember thinking that I hadn’t accomplished enough in life because these people were traveling the world, winning medals or just competing on that level and I could barely get to school or work on time.  Now I can watch the games, enjoy all the human interest stories, and understand the commitment and dedication it takes to reach that level without beating myself up or feeling inferior.

What does this have to do with writing?  Everything.  I’ve only been in pursuit of this publishing dream for less than two years.  In fact, I probably only admitted to myself just last year that I really do want to be published.  The birth of this dream happened when I met a group of talented women on the Eloisa James (then sans Julia Quinn) Bulletin Board and a bunch of us took part in the Avon Fanlit contest back in 2006.  Some of those women have gone on to finish multiple manuscripts, final in and win contests, and even sell their first books. 

In comparing my progress to these women, again it’s as if I’m watching those Olympians achieve their dreams while I sit idly by on my couch.  But this time I know it can be different.  Fortunately, there is no dream age for achieving that published status.  The only person who can shut me out of this game is me.

Publishing is my Olympics.  I’ve started my training by attending workshops and conferences.  Taken courses and received feedback from others that can only serve to make me better.  But this is only the beginning.  There is a huge amount of work ahead of me. 

When did you take up the dream of publishing?  Are you early in your training or are you a veteran in the field?  Have you given yourself a deadline to reach your goal or are you content to keep at it for as long as it takes?  In writing or anything in life, what dreams have you chased and how did it feel when you reached your goal?

The countdown has begun.  This is my last blog before I leave for the RWA National Conference in San Francisco later this week.  *pauses as crew applauds*  Very funny.  Wenches.

This is my first national conference and my first time traveling cross-country.  I’m actually more excited than I am nervous, but I’m sure I’ll start shaking like a leaf once I walk into that hotel and see all the other attendees milling around.  It’s almost as if it doesn’t feel real yet.  As if I’m going to wake up Wednesday morning and realize I’m not actually going anywhere.  Which would really suck since I have this suitcase packed to the brim sitting in my living room.

You would think, being the procrastinator that I am, packing is the last thing I’d do.  But no, packing is all done.  I even have a fancy new binder (for the handouts I have to print myself…gah!) and a sassy little schedule spreadsheet I color coded.  I know, this may be the most anal thing I’ve ever done.  But never fear, there are several things I’ve put off so I haven’t lost my charming “I can do that tomorrow” ways.

I have three goals for this trip.  Have fun, have fun, and have fun.  Seriously, that’s it.  I mean, I intend to learn lots of craft stuff that will inspire me to come back and finish my WIP by the end of September (stop laughing!) and meet as many people as I can.  It’s all about the networking, baby.  But the bottom line is, have a good time!

Now, here’s the cool part.  Anyone who isn’t going to San Francisco can still do the same things I’ll be doing.  Turns out, there are online conferences going on for those not able to make the trip this year.  First up is the Not Going to Conference Conference.  Isn’t that a great name?  This one is courtesy of the Romance Diva’s.  The virtual conference runs from July 30 to August 2 with lots of workshops and prizes.  Registration is free and you never know what contacts you’ll make by taking part.

The other option is the Left Behind and Loving It Conference which actually starts today.  Multi-published author, Lynn Viehl, is offering workshops and prizes all week long on her Paperback Writer blog.  Everything from plotting and editing to branding and a Q&A session, this is a great opportunity to have the conference experience all from the comfort of your own home.

Then there are various other blogs that will keep you in the action.  The RWA National website will have frequent updates throughout the event and pretty much any other blog you visit on a regular basis will be talking conference.  I know you’ll want to be here Friday because Santa O’Byrne (who will be here tomorrow as well with her own pre-conference blog) and I plus any of our friends we can recruit will post a “conference so far – who we’ve squealed at and who is taking out a restraining order against us” blog. 

EDITING!!!  Can’t believe I forgot to mention where you can get your blog hook-up all in one place.  This fantastic woman named Judi put together all the blogs regarding the conference in one place.  Go HERE for everything conference at your fingertips.  (And we’re there too!)

Now it’s time for the questions.  If you’re going to San Fran, are you packed?  Are you calm?  Or are you freaking out on the inside?  If you’re not going, will you check out one of these online conferences?  Will you surf the net to every site you can find to follow the action?  Or would you rather do what we should probably all be doing and spend the time writing?

In case you haven’t heard, and that is highly unlikely if you spend any time at all on this ship, I’m heading off to San Francisco next week for the annual RWA National Conference.  I’ve attended a smaller conference in New Jersey, but never the Nationals.  I’ve also never been anywhere near the west coast.  To say I’m excited is like saying Nora is kind of successful.

Though I’m a plotser (or plantser or whatever we’re calling the plotter/pantser combo this week) in my writing life, in real life I pants it all the way.  I rarely plan ahead, take everything as it comes, and never, absolutely NEVER, make lists.  Until now.

Last week on the Romance Bandits blog, Blaze author Tawny Weber covered the topic of getting organized and prepared for the conference.  She ever suggested making a schedule spreadsheet complete with color coding. Her timing was perfect as I’d just had a dream – make that a nightmare – the weekend before that I had arrived in San Fran without any of the things I needed.  Say what you will, but the Universe was telling me to get my arse in gear and get prepared.

First thing I did – make a list.  This is SOOOOO unlike me it’s scary.  I hate lists.  I have a friend who makes lists about making lists.  It’s a constant battle not to choke her when she tries to push these lists on me.  So the fact I succumbed to this task says a great deal about my anxiety.

I learned several things from the list.  One, for the amount of bathroom items required by me daily, I should be much better looking.  Seriously, the bathroom stuff took one side of the page.  And I kept adding to it.  But almost all of these items are packed (travel size items are my friend!) and marked off the list.

Another thing I learned is that shoes are not a big deal to me.  I’m taking my tennis shoes (wearing them on the plane actually) and the heels I’ll wear to get all prettied up for the awards ceremony.  Not another pair made it on the list.  With my bad knees, everyone will just have to deal with me in tennis shoes.  Otherwise, the pain will drive me to tears.  And for the record, I’m not pitching so no worries on me going in to impress an editor or agent in tennis shoes.

The final lesson was that one list leads to more lists.  I now have the list of things I still need to buy, the list of items I will wear that day, and the list of items I need to do prior to leaving.  It’s like a disease that keeps spreading.  Though I admit, for a person with my memory issues, I should probably embrace list making more often.

What about you?  Do you make lists before a big trip?  Do you make lists for everyday things?  Or does making a list send you over the edge?  Could you make it through a four day conference with only two pairs of shoes, or would you need a separate suitcase for foot gear alone?  If you’re going to Nationals, what’s on your list that I might have forgotten to add to mine?

PS: Tune in next week when I talk about creating spreadsheet schedules and picking the right workshops.