Tawny Weber | Your Inner Self...Costume Fun

In my upcoming Blaze, FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME, my heroine is attending a class reunion costume party. The rule? To wear a costume that represents her career--without being obvious (ie: no police uniform for a cop). Zoe had a cute costume in mind. One that would show her sense of humor and prove that she was sexy yet fun. Sounds great, right? Just how I’d like to handle going back to see people after a decade. Except there was a little mix-up with Zoe’s costume. Instead of cute and clever, she ended up with black leather and a riding crop. A studded dominatrix costume is hardly the impression she’s looking to make on her old schoolmates. Even if it does bring out her strong-willed inner self.

And somehow, by wearing the dominatrix costume and being pushed out of her comfort-zone, Zoe digs a little deeper and faces her own strength--to say nothing of facing all the wildly sexy times her costume inspires with a gorgeous costumed hunk from her past.

How about you? What’s your favorite costume idea? And what costume would you wear to represent yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments section by clicking here and we’ll randomly choose one person to win a book of their choice from my backlist!

Tawny Weber | Spontaneous Goal Setting

Before the confetti settles, the champagne bottles are tossed into the recycling bin and the sound of fireworks dies away, talk turns to that time-honored New Years tradition... Resolutions.

Or, as I prefer, setting goals. I love goal setting. I’m big on writing lists and color-coding is definitely my friend. There’s something so satisfying about making a plan, setting a goal, and then working through the steps to see it become a reality. Call me a control freak, but it’s the only way I feel like I have much say in this crazy roller coaster that is life.

Isabel Santos, the heroine in my January Blaze, DOES SHE DARE? is exactly the same. She’s all about success and has not only a yearly goal list, but a five year, ten year and life goal list. Wow, even *I’m* not that obsessive. Then again, as goal focused as I am, even I wouldn’t write a Man Plan. But Isabel did. She based her plan on the hottest guy she’d ever known, listed her ultimate sexual fantasies, and created a set of rules to let her maintain control.

This got me to thinking. My planning and goal setting bleeds into every aspect of my life. When I travel, I make a packing list. I write menus for the week so I know what to get at the grocery store. As a writer, I have a career plan and am a die-hard plotter. I can’t imagine doing it any other way. And while this works great for me, I’m a little envious of those totally spontaneous people out there who decide on Saturday morning to take a trip and toss a few things in a tote before running out the door to destination unknown. The pantzers who write with the assured faith that the story they are writing is going to unfold beautifully for them as they go along.

For me, as there was for Isabel in DOES SHE DARE?, goal setting is vital. But that total focus on the goal has some definite pitfalls (as Isabel finds out!). And then there are those spontaneous types who simply live for the moment. Like Isabel’s hero, Dante Luciano. People like Dante have an awareness of opportunity that many goal setters don’t. It’s like a special sense that lets them grab onto a random happening and turn it into a huge success. They don’t need goals or resolutions, they simply make the most of whatever comes their way. And boy does he make the most of what comes HIS way!

Hmmm, ya think that created a few sparks when a total goal setter finds out the object of her Ultimate Man Plan is so spontaneous he travels with just what he can fit in his Harley’s saddlebags. Definitely!! What’s even more fun than watching Dante rearrange Isabel’s plans is watching the two of them fall in love.

My plan for the New Year is to embrace it all – goal setting AND to be more open to opportunities. It’s going to be all about flexibility –which is what both Dante and Isabel had to learn (and no, I don’t just mean to have the wild love scene on the Harley like they did *g* although flexibility did come in mighty handy then, now that I think about it).

How about you? Are you a planner or totally spontaneous? Or maybe like I’d like to be –somewhere in between? Do you make New Year’s Resolutions or set goals? Or do you simply take it as it comes, with that extra awareness of opportunities?

Tawny Weber’s latest Blaze, DOES SHE DARE? is in stores now. Tawny’s so into goal setting, she and her awesome CP, Beth Andrew’s even giving a workshop on it for From the Heart Romance Writers, http://www.fthrw.com/ starting early January. She’s also hosting a chat on http://www.eharlequin.com/ to discuss the Ultimate Man Plan and how to create your fantasy guy. And you can check out more goal setting tips at www.TawnyWeber.com/goals

Tawny

Tawny Weber | What If and Why?

What if and why are two of my favorite things to ask. I'm notorious for asking them in writing and in life. (I think I ask often enough I drive my husband a little nuts, to be honest). I've what if'd everything from the idea that we are really all just microscopic beings on the thumbnail of a giant (hey, I was twelve) to the slightly-obsessive emergency kit I packed for the drive through a snowstorm for a family emergency (hey, I'm a California girl... how was I supposed to know those flutters weren't a storm? and we MIGHT have needed those empty tuna cans and tealight candles for heat... really, we might have). And I ask why more than an eight year old. Just ask my eight year old, she'll tell you!

A psychologist might refer to it as catastrophic thinking (taking what if to its highest degree of drama) but for a writer, it's mighty handy. After all, the question of “what's the worst thing that could happen” is what provides me with plot and conflict. Better yet, what if is what keeps the reader turning the pages. When I read a book, I'm always wondering, always asking -what's next? Why? When I'm writing, I love to think what if, and use that to keep tossing conflict and issues at my poor characters for them to figure out. Why is always in the back of my head. Why do they do this, why don't they do that?

This what if process can apply to any type of story, from paranormal to historical to suspense. My stories are pure fun... of the sexy kind. But that what if angle is always there. For instance - in my May 2007 Blaze debut I asked myself what would happen if a cop went undercover for the first time and was totally out of his element. Why would he be so uncomfortable? And what if, at the same time, a bad girl was dared to prove she was still just as bad as always. Why does she care what her friends think? What if she ended up with the wrong guy? Tada... DOUBLE DARE was born. I kept asking why, pushing the what if's and why's, playing with the idea, but that core question was the premise of my first sale and the heart of Audra and Jesse's story.

For my upcoming January release, DOES SHE DARE? I asked what would push a gal with major goal setting tendencies to create the ultimate Man Plan. Not only was it fun to ask the what if's for this story, it was even more fun to keep adding to them. What if this goal-setting gal wrote a Man Plan? Why did she think she needed a plan to hot up her sex life? What if the hottest dream guy she could imagine showed up on her doorstep? What if he got his hands on her plan? What if he was the one guy who could ruin everything she'd worked for... would she risk it? Why? (See how that works?)

What if and why -they are my favorite writing questions. How about you... do you ever ask what if? Do you make up stories to go with the question? When you're reading, do you ever ask yourself why on earth the character is doing THAT???

I know I do...

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