Kimber Chin | What's In A Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet". Ummm… okay, Shakespeare. That's why Juliet fell in love with Romeo and not some guy named Fred. Yeah, somehow, I'm not buying the names are meaningless sales spiel.

Why? Because names aren't meaningless. They're important. That's why most parents spend the entire nine months trying to decide on one (I, on the other hand, was named after the toilet paper and one of my brothers was named after a box of tissues). They set expectations, invoking feelings and passions.

For the rest of your life.

I know this first hand. Who do you picture when you hear the name Kimber Chin (or, if you prefer, the Dr. Seuss version Kim Chin)? Perhaps Lucy Liu from Charles Angels and Kill Bill? Or Ziyi Zhang from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Or…

I'll stop naming gorgeous Asian actresses now before I get depressed. You see, that's SO not me. Even the top Photoshop expert in the world (i.e. my hubby or so he thinks) can't make me look like Lucy Liu. I had to marry to get that last name. My background is Irish, my two sisters are redheads, and I'm paler than Casper, the Friendly Ghost.

Names are even more important for our fictional characters. I doubt any of the great characters in fiction were named carelessly.

There's the wicked George Wickham in Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice. I just knew with a name like that, he'd turn out to be a baddie.

What about Elena Michaels from Kelley Armstrong's Bitten? She couldn't be plain Ellen Michaels, no, because there is something just a tad bit off with her. Hhhmmm… like being a werewolf, perhaps?

Dr. Jekyll, from Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is also betrayed by his name. When I hear Jekyll, I think jackal, the animal, the beast. Not exactly good doctor material.

Sisters are extremely interesting. The D'Averette sisters from Margaret Moore's King John series share a surname emphasizing their ties to their land (De meaning of or from). However, they have very different and distinct first names, stamping each character as an individual. Lady Adelaide, with her almost masculine given name, is a woman of strength and bravery. As for the second sister? I've never met a meek Gillian, dull appearance or not. Lady Elizabeth or Lizette, with her amateur theatrics, won't be tied down to a single moniker. Margaret Moore doesn't say so but I'd bet big money Lizette is a Gemini.

In my first novel, Breach Of Trust, quiet, unassuming Anne James has the plainest name I could think of. Or almost does. She isn't a Smith, is she? No. I thought James more royal and, as our hero, the oh-so-French Philippe Lamont, can attest to, Anne can be a royal pain in the… well, never mind. She appears mild mannered (the Anne) but is truly fierce (the James). Contrasts.

What fictional names do you find interesting or amusing (Dumbledore, anyone?)? Do you try to guess the character's personality by his or her name? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Kimber Chin
Author of Breach Of Trust (Champagne Books)
http://businessromance.com/

Diane Dean-Epps | What If?

"My newest book, KILL-TV, is one of my "what if," stream-of-consciousness moments parlayed into a plot. As a mere lass in my twenties I spent several years working in the radio and television industry where lessons abounded daily, minute-by-minute deadlines were de rigueur, and my video-to-script writing cost me all use and feeling in my verbs.

Back in the day," when I discovered the magic wrought by shoulder pads and their seemingly mysterious ability to make my waist appear smaller than it actually was, I came up with another mysterious point to ponder: What if I wrote a comical and suspenseful story that was based upon a combination of irritating characters I’d worked with in broadcasting and, lest there be any residual hostility on my part necessitating expensive counseling, I just plain killed ‘em off?” You know…cheap therapy. This began my year-long journey into the development of my most ambitious novel to date, KILL-TV, just by virtue of continuity, scene changes, and plotting gyrations.

While some kind folks, to whom I am not related, have commented that I am mildly amusing, humor does tend to always find its way into anything I write. Having said that, maintaining a humorous tone, snappy dialogue, and a fast pace can be a daunting task, but it lent itself well to the setting of the broadcast journalism world, a world that looks pretty danged different from the inside out. I’m often asked why I left the “glamorous” world of broadcasting for my full-time gig as a teacher of Generation Y-ME?! to which I reply cleverly, "Because." Truth be told, as I neared thirty, I was subjected to the tandem aural experience of hearing my biological and sociological clocks ticking; I wanted to contribute to society and use what little experience I had gained to serve people other than myself. Go figure how that kind of thinking can be achieved and channeled through a girl who refused to shop anywhere, but at a store rhyming with, "Lacy’s," until she was…well…thirty.

It may be said that humor is in the mind of the humorist – okay, you got me – I said it and I’m not so sure it makes sense, but just keep in mind, this is my wrap-up and I’m trying to sound all smart, profound, and what-not. With a book that is touted as "humorous," the trickiest part is creating a connection with the reader by accessing the commonality of the absurd and the things that make us all laugh. Being funny is extremely subjective and when I’m fortunate enough to be in front of someone, whether I’m doing stand-up, or just performing one of my "bits" gratis, I at least have the dual advantages of vocal and facial inflection. Writing does not offer this and no amount of exclamation points, italicized words, or clever dialogue can make someone laugh if the tone hasn’t been set first.

In writing, one way I establish tone is to rely upon situations that have happened, but then exaggerate the heck out of them. This is how I created the scene between Leslie and the recently deceased, Lincoln, where she gets her cute little knit top stuck on his tie clasp. As she attempts to set herself free by rocking back and forth in his lap, she creates the illusion that she is in an unseemly coupling with the boss, and this is in full view of anyone walking by in the outer hallway area, which is just on the other side of the control room glass partition. Combining the horror that a character would feel over discovering her dead boss with a slapstick type of physical interaction that is misinterpreted by a key character is no mean feat, but I hope I’ve succeeded. It is my fervent hope, desire, and wish that I have created a tale in KILL-TV that amuses the masses who will graciously welcome these characters into their lives, even briefly, and perhaps beyond if the alliterative protagonist, Leslie Lloyd, agrees to a future foray into my next book.

Diane Dean-Epps
www.dianedeanepps.com/

Sheila Roberts | Dieting

Dieting can be hazardous to your health. Take exercise for example. A girl could get Plantar Fasciitis jogging across the mall to Cinnabon. She could sprain her wrist fighting with her husband over the last piece of chocolate. You’ve got to be careful. Okay, you’ve got to be serious, too, which is why this last year I finally brought in diet reinforcements: my girlfriends. Dieting is something a woman shouldn’t do alone. It’s too hard, too lonely, too discouraging. But with girlfriends along for support, you’ve got a fighting chance to win the fat wars. The power of female friendship is huge. At least that’s what I’m betting on.

And that’s why I wrote my current book Bikini Season. I know I’m not the only one out there who struggles against the call of chocolate éclairs, potato chips, and banana cream pie. I’m hoping that after reading about my characters’ diet adventures women will get inspired to start their own diet clubs. I’ve offered plenty of great recipes in the book to help you on your way. And, speaking of helping, feel free to visit my website (http://www.sheilasplace.com/) and enter the diet tip contest. Let’s keep the girlfriend power going.

Sheila Roberts

Meg Waite Clayton | In Defense of Happy Endings

Happiness is boring,” and “Riding off into the sunset is not true,” insisted a Noted Author at a symposium I attended earlier this month on the proposition that happiness simply cannot make good literature. And as I resisted – just barely – the urge to pull Sense and Sensibility from my backpack, he lobbed up this comment about Austen unprompted: She is “done for” because we’ve entered “a divorce culture.” One can no longer rely on one’s mate.

I flipped to the back of the journal in which I was taking notes: Pfhew, the photo of my husband of twenty years was still there.

“At home later, I Googled “happy ending”: what I got was nothing about literature and everything about a massage that … well … people do seem to like. As I sat in that symposium, though, I had only my own favorite books to stack up against the Noted Author’s no-happy-endings admonishment. Among the classics, five of my eight favorites qualified, I decided, for happy ending status: Pierre and Natasha, Princess Marya and Nikolay, and even young Nikolinka all leave us with a sense of contentment and hope in War and Peace, as do Dorothea in Middlemarch and pretty much everyone in Austen’s books. Despite the tough spots in To Kill a Mockingbird, it ends with Atticus’s “youthful step … returned” and even Boo Radley emerging as a nice guy when one got to know him; most people are in real life, Scout learns—unlike in books! As for Mildred Lathbury, the most excellent of Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women? She ends up feeling as if she “might be going to have what Helena called ‘a full life’ after all”—even without finding a mate on whom she couldn’t rely for her happiness anyway, if the Noted Author is to be believed. Admittedly, my other three favorite classics tilt toward deadly endings, with an emphasis on suicide—but only three of eight. And, yes, my favorites among contemporary works do tend more toward cautiously hopeful rather than unabashedly happy, but if the choice is happy ending or sad, most would fall on the happy side of the line.

Which I understood the Noted Author to say puts me at best as someone who sticks her head in the sand and at worst a person who doesn’t care about the sad condition of my fellow travelers on this earth. Which maybe I am – we’re never the best judges of ourselves, are we? But here’s the thing: I get the grim truth from The New York Times and NPR every morning; I get an evening News Hour of it from Jim Lehrer. When it comes to books, I like to feel better when I turn the last page than I did when I opened the cover. That’s much of why I read: to experience joy, and to discover hope. And isn’t it hope that moves us forward, that inspires us, ultimately, to put our own shoulders to the task of making this world a better place? Isn’t that – the power to change the world – the defining greatness that makes the best of literature endure beyond whatever culture we might or might not be in at any given time?

Meg Waite Clayton
author of The Wednesday Sisters (Ballantine, June 17, 2008)
www.megwaiteclayton.com/

Kathleen Long | The Gifts of Writing

I want to thank everyone here at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today. I was sitting at my computer this morning trying to settle on an interesting topic for today’s blog. My new series? My future plans? My typical writing day?

Instead, I found myself thinking about the gift of writing—or should I say gifts, plural. Writing has brought so many layers of good to my life—new friends, new challenges, new skills—that describing those gifts would take all day.

Then, the best “gift” of my life announced she was awake for the day. That was the moment I realized a toddler’s chattering was the perfect place to begin—and focus—this blog.

Did writing bring about my two-year-old? No, but my writing career taught me to work hard and chase my dreams. In life, just as in writing, there aren’t any shortcuts. Our daughter came into our lives after a ten-year pursuit of parenthood, and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of the journey. After all, each step brought me to this wonderful moment filled with alphabet songs and questions and belly laughs.

My writing journey has been no different. Writing—like life—is about doing the legwork.

Writing is about believing your dream is worth chasing. It’s about dusting yourself off and trying again each time you face an obstacle in the road. Writing is about reading—how-to books, favorite authors, market news. Writing is about learning—pacing, plotting, story techniques. Writing is about writing—first drafts, second drafts, third drafts, and more. It’s about starting over time after time simply because you refuse to quit and because the need to write is part of who you are.

Writing is about setting the alarm to wake up two hours before your family to steal time in front of your computer. It’s about staying up far too late—or early—because the storyline in your head won’t take no for an answer. It’s about rolling over at 3am and thinking, wait a minute…what if my heroine said this instead? then racing downstairs to make notes or fire up the laptop.

Writing, for me, is its own reward.

Writing is about setting free the words and characters and places in my mind that come to me so clearly and purely I couldn’t ignore them even if I wanted to.

Writing is about creating worlds into which readers might escape for an hour or two or three.

The Body Hunters is my first trilogy—my first series—and I loved the process of creating the cast of characters and their stories. Developing the series provided me with the opportunity to form a longer-lasting, deeper connection to the characters in my mind. I hope the series will provide the same opportunity for connection—and escape—for readers.

Escape. That one powerful word sums up why I write.

At a particularly difficult point in my life, a book pulled me out of the fog of grief that had overtaken my every thought and movement. A book carried me away, helped me turn the corner toward becoming whole again. Since then, books have been my escape time and time again—be they books I’m writing or books I’m reading.

That particular book gave me the kick in the pants I needed not just to live again, but to write again. That book made me want to provide that same escape for others.

I sat back that day and decided to value my dream enough to chase it.

To every author out there—both published and as-yet unpublished—thank you for believing in yourself enough to chase your dream. Without you, I might still be stuck in my fog. Instead, I’m headed upstairs to help a two-year-old start her day. I can’t imagine a greater gift than that.

Please visit me at www.kathleenlong.com for the latest news and release info, and at www.thebodyhunters.com/ for the latest on The Body Hunters trilogy and just what inspired your favorite character or scene. Join me all this week over at the www.eharlequin.com/ Forums where an entire thread has been dedicated to discussing The Body Hunters. Most importantly, thank you for stopping by today, and thanks again to Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog!

Shelley Bradley | Unintentional Voyeur

It’s an occupational hazard. Authors don’t mean to spy and eavesdrop on people but it happens. Recently, I found myself at a restaurant for a Sunday lunch with my family. It was an upscale microbrewery/sports bar. All dark wood, brass, and plasma TVs everywhere. Great food, too. But even with all that going on around me, I was riveted by a couple two tables away. I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. But their bodies were talking- shouting. I just couldn’t help myself from "listening".

He was huge. I live an area that a lot of pro football players call home, so he may have been one. Regardless, he was at least 6’ 4”, blond ponytail, hulking shoulders. Gorgeous, frankly, with this interesting untamed air. Normally, he would have been enough all by himself to snag my attention. But he was sitting across the table from a woman. She was short and petite with dark, pixie hair. She had this interesting guarded expression. Gorgeous was leaning literally halfway across the table as he spoke, shoulders forward, eyes on Pixie. Whatever he was saying, he meant it. And his attention was nowhere but on her. She looked at her fingernails, her cell phone, her food, the table, and occasionally up at him with a shy glance. I don’t think she had a clue that I could actually see longing on her face. He must have seen it; I doubt the guy was blind. Every time she sent him one of these stares, he leaned a bit more toward her, until I swore he was going to climb across the table to get to her. And when they stood up to leave, he was all protective, possessive touches. She seemed a little jumpy and unsure, but finally settled against him. He honest-to-goodness smiled like he’d won the lottery. Then she moved away again. They walked out the door, her with car keys in hand.

Where am I going with this? Well, anywhere, really. For me, this is one way ideas are born. It was clear this couple knew each other, though my guess is not terribly well. I never heard a word they were saying. So in order to assuage my curiosity and fill in the blanks, I had to make SOMETHING up. The resulting story that’s brewing in my head is so delicious, I can’t stand it. A lot of deadlines are in-between me and this idea, but just seeing these two sent my head in a totally unexpected and thrilling direction.

There’s a saying: "Caution. What you do may appear in my next book." So true. Even if you don’t know it, I might be watching. And you could wind up immortalized in fiction.

What kinds of events or people do you notice when you’re out? Do they make you wonder what their lives and conversations are about?

Shelley Bradley - Sizzle from the Heart
A PERFECT MATCH ~ Samhain ~ May 13, 2008 (e-book)
www.blogger.com/www.shelleybradley.com

Shayla Black - The Wicked Edge of Romance
DANGEROUS BOYS & THEIR TOY ~ Ellora's Cave ~ May 28, 2008 (e-book)
TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS ~ Pocket Paranormal ~ August 26, 2008
www.shaylablack.com/ www.doomsdaybrethren.com/
MySpace!

Celeste Bradley | When I Grow Up

Why is there no period of perfection between zits and gray hair? Why can't I ever be at the beginning of a trend instead of two years behind it? When exactly do I get to feel like a grown-up?

When I grow up, I want to be that confident woman who smiles more than she worries and who is happy with her body because it is strong and healthy. I want to be the woman who gets dressed only once, who can wear a scarf with flair, who puts on paisley without ever considering if it makes her look just a bit like an overstuffed sofa. When I grow up I want to meet new people and remember their names and their jobs and what makes them laugh--and never ever stare at them the next year without any fragment of recognition.

When I grow up I want to be on time for all appointments, wash my hair before it needs it and be on first name basis with everyone at the gym instead of the ice cream parlor. When I grow up I want to never be late with the light bill or lose a check or forget to give my kids lunch money. I want to listen to people talk about investments without my eyes glazing over or feeling faint. I want to start my taxes on January 1st and start my Christmas shopping in August.

When I grow up I want to be always patient and kind and generous and never make grumpy, envious snap judgements about other women because they wear scarves and wash their hair before it needs it and make regular appearances at the gym.

When I grow up I want to be just like me--only completely different.

Hmm...my forty-mumble birthday is coming. I'd better hurry up.

Celeste Bradley
celestebradley.com

"The Heiress Brides" are racing to the altar!
DESPERATELY SEEKING A DUKE (March 2008)
THE DUKE NEXT DOOR (April 2008)
DUKE MOST WANTED (May 2008)

Karen Harrington | When a man loves a woman…who murders

When a central character is still deeply in love with someone you and I would judge harshly, for, say, murder, that presents a challenge for the writer. How can readers be sympathetic to a misguided, love-struck protagonist? And does a writer necessarily have to sympathize with him?
I know all about this challenge.

In my debut novel JANEOLOGY, Tom Nelson is still in love with the woman who has destroyed his life. He misses her. He craves her. He wants to touch her. He wants to talk to her over a cup of coffee the way they used to as friends. But this is never going to happen.

The story begins with Tom’s horrific discovery that his wife Jane drowned their toddler son. An act he feels is so out of character that it defies logic. Now, he judges himself harshly for still loving the woman he thought he knew. The world quickly vilifies Jane and urges him to join in their group hate. If that weren’t enough, prosecutors charge him with ‘failure to protect’ believing he should have known Jane was ill and shielded his child from her. This legal charge only makes Tom delve deeper into questioning his love for Jane. Was it misplaced, he wonders throughout his own trial? Is he, in fact, partially responsible as the prosecutor alleges? And what does he make of his attorney’s bold defense: that Jane’s nature and nurture conspired to make her ill-equipped to be a loving parent?

I began writing this story with the central question: what causes a mother to kill her own child? I could not ignore this question. It didn’t seem to add up that a mother could be pouring Cheerios one minute and be altered the next. Someone in her family, I reasoned, had to have witnessed the decline. It had to have taken place over a period of days, weeks and months – not overnight. While the horrible murder sets JANEOLOGY in motion, the novel is really a story of a man desperate to for understanding.

The idea that we sometimes miss changes in loved ones precisely because we love them began to take shape. I realized, at least in the fictional world of JANEOLOGY, that a spouse like Tom could indeed still love the person he originally knew without acknowledging the person she had become. We are all guilty of this at times. Time stands still in the face of love. And that is what happens to Tom Nelson to his profound detriment.

I invite you to read an excerpt of the novel by visiting my website http://www.karenharringtonbooks.com/

You can also view the video trailer for JANEOLOGY below, which so hauntingly couples water imagery with hints of dark family secrets trickling down among the generations of Jane’s troubled family. The unrelenting tribal drumbeat of the music ratchets-up the tension until you feel like the hairs on your neck stand at attention and you have to know what happens. (Fortunate author that I am, this trailer was created by THE inventor of the novel trailer art form, Kam Wai Yu, who has been developing this art since the 1980s.)



Thanks to FreshFiction for inviting me to blog here today among so many great authors.

See you on the bookshelves!

Karen Harrington

L. J. Sellers | Taking the Plunge

At the end of last year, I decided that 2008 would be different. I had several goals:

1) start a new novel

2) work on my novel first thing every day, even if I had to get up an hour earlier

3) find or create paying work that I enjoyed more than what I was currently doing to earn a living

4) sell my detective series to another publisher

By March 1, I had accomplished the three things I had control over—although not the way I expected to. January first, I began to outline my new Detective Jackson novel with working title, SECRETS TO DIE FOR. I began getting up at five o’clock to write for an hour before I went to work. At the time, I worked as an editor for an educational publisher, a demanding job that left me too mentally exhausted at the end of the day to feel creative enough to fill blank page after blank page (which is how a novel comes into existence).

Next, I started sending out letters to agents, publishers, and writers, announcing my services as a fiction editor. And I contacted some corporate clients and magazines about nonfiction editing as well. Then I took the biggest step: I asked my employer to let me cut back on my hours at work, thinking it would be long slow transition to self-employment. They promptly laid me off.

Thank you very much.

Terrified, but joyously liberated, I plunged into a new routine: Write for three or four hours exclusively on my novel first thing every morning, break for an hour of exercise, then freelance edit for others. And the work poured in—enough to pay the bills. Now in the evenings, instead of trying to squeeze in a little bit of uninspired writing, I have time to network and market my novel that's currently in print, THE SEX CLUB. Most days I’m at my desk from six in the morning until ten at night, but very little of it feels like work.

I love my new life! My bathroom is perpetually untidy, dinner is often an unimaginative freezer-to-oven meal, and there's laundry backed up everywhere. But yesterday, I passed page 150 on my novel, so who cares? My husband says he's never seen me so happy. It's the first time in my life that I've put my personal writing first. Making a living, raising kids, taking care of extended family, and keeping the house together were always a priority. These things are still important, but they are no longer most important. (Don't call child services; my kids are adults now.)

My goal is keep it going for as long as possible—because I finally feel like my real self. I know that not every writer is in a position to make this kind of change, but I heartily recommend it if you can.

L. J. Sellers

http://thesexclub.net/

Kathryn Caskie | Romantic Frame of Mine

Sometimes it's hard to get into a romantic frame of mind when its time to sit down and write, even when a deadline looms. For instance today. Two days ago, the sewer line from my 200 year old house to the street suddenly burst sending raw sewage into the air and across the yard. Yeah, how romantic is that? And then I see the outrageous bill, for digging up my entire yard to replace piping--none of which it seems is covered by insurance. There is no working plumbing in the house last night or today, the dogs had to be shuttled off to a kennel and the kids to a neighbor's house. So I have a little time alone--except for all of the plumbers with backhoes, shovels and long lengths of pipe--and it's time to write a love scene.

So how do I do it? How does an author write a rich, emotional scene when the world is not cooperating? I know of a fabulous New York Times bestselling romance author who pours herself a glass of white wine and then sits down to write three love scenes all in one sitting. I know another who watches sexy movies. I know another who calls her husband and asks him to come home for an early lunch. All very...inspiring.

Me? I read. It doesn't have to be steamy stories, or even Regency-set. I just need to read. Reading transports me like nothing else. Books can whisk you away to another time and place...where toilet paper isn't dangling from a limb and one plumber isn't daring the other to eat the five-inch worm he just dug up. Today I just happen to pick up The Seduction of an Unknown Lady by Samantha James. Within the span of a single page I was in her lushly detailed world, not my own. I was her heroine for an hour or so.

Then I opened the chapter I had been writing the day before. I read it aloud (I have this quirky way of launching myself into the scene--I read my pages in a British accent, but its not the Queen's proper British--it's more Monty Pythonesque. It embarrasses my kids, which is, I suppose, part of the fun of doing it. But it works!) Then, I close my eyes and watch the scene unfold in my mind. The characters come to life and I listen. And I write. The world outside my office has dissolved and Regency London has taken its place.

If ever there was a means for time travel, it would be reading. It takes us away and allows us to experience another reality for a while. Let's us forget our own troubles, replacing them with worries about choosing a gown for a ball--and whether the sexy hero is going to kiss you...um...I mean the heroine that night.

Books are pretty powerful things. If they were a drug, they'd be illegal. But they're not. They're only $6.99 or so. How great is that?

Kathryn Caskie's new book, How to Propose to a Prince, is on the shelves now! Stop by her web site for excerpts, fun and contests. www.kathryncaskie.com/

Susan Whitfield | Tangled in seaweed and Testicles?

Genesis Beach, my first novel (published in 2007) tells the story of an investigative intern on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast, who is trying to solve the murder of a millionaire. Imagine her surprise when she discovers he was beaten to death with a sock! She pursues a prime suspect who is a slippery rascal (to borrow a phrase from the movie, Pretty Woman). While in pursuit, Logan Hunter must deal with a hurricane that wipes out most of her worldly possessions. At the same time she is having recurring sleep terrors that threaten to derail her when she realizes she may have been molested as a toddler. Her strength and determination keep her in the hunt, and she nails the killer even though she trusted the wrong person.

Just North of Luck evolved out of my need to carry on with Logan Hunter’s character. (Reader feedback indicated that she was likable and, perhaps, worthy of a few more adventures.) Logan is assigned to corral some bootleggers in the remote mountains of North Carolina when two murders occur. Once the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) is called in, Logan takes the lead and teams up with hunky Chase Railey, a local detective. Together they pursue the killer but not before more victims are added to the list. The serial killer is targeting school employees and using a diversity of means to off them, causing some of the murders to be classified as accidents. Over the months of investigation, Chase introduces Logan to Appalachian festivals, including The Testicle Festival. Yes, that’s what I said. Now, I must explain that there really is NO festival like this in North Carolina, as far as I know. However, I thought it would be fun to add such an event to an intense setting. It adds humor, I hope, (Logan is coerced into eating the delicacies), shock, and a much-needed break from the gruesome murders. Logan gets her first taste of love when Chase takes her to his cabin, and together they zero in on the killer. So, this book offers killing folks, eating testicles, and making love.

When I’m not writing, I’m reading. I keep a basket of books by my sunroom rocking chair at all times. I read all genres. At one time in my life I read only best selling authors, but the more I visit book and writings sites, the more unknown authors I read. I have found many writers who have become cyber friends of mine, “talking” through email and blogs, offering advice and encouragement, and reading each other’s work. Isn’t that great? Ah, the wide world! I’ve collected reviews as well as blurbs from some of these awesomely nice folks, and have reciprocated when asked to do so.

I’m often asked where the ideas come from. My answer? Reading, television shows, comedy acts, billboards, phone books, editorials, eavesdropping (just kidding). You get the idea. I have more ideas than I will ever be able to use! I’m also fortunate to live in a beautiful state where I can travel from the mountains to the sea in one day. There are many gorgeous regions here for inspiration.

My first video trailer (for Just North of Luck) is posted on my website, www.swhitfield.com/

I welcome feedback for this blog, my site, and the trailer.

Special thanks to FreshFiction for having me as a guest blogger. Keep reading! Susan Whitfield

Sandra Schwab | Battling Writer's Block

Most writers know – and dread – it: the horrid mid-book blues. That point when the sizzle disappears from your story and it becomes the most awful thing written in the history of mankind. No, indeed, the most awful thing written in the history of the whole wide world! Really, if dinosaurs would have been able to write, even they would have produced so much better stories than you! You are a fraud! And should you ever manage to finish the book and to hand it in, your poor editor and agent will most certainly drop dead because of the awfulness of it. And it will be all your fault!

As you might have guessed, I am intimately acquainted with the aforementioned horrid mid-book blues. Only in my case, it's doesn't happen when I reach the middle of a book, no, it usually happens when I reach the end of chapter 3. I happily scribble away for the first 50-75 pages and then, all of a sudden, I'm stuck, my characters are stuck, my Muse has vanished, and the story has screeched to a perfect standstill. What is a poor writer to do?

1) Phone a friend and whine.

2) Eat chocolate. (Lots of chocolate.)

3) Stare at the blinking cursor on your monitor until you've become raving mad and start banging your head on the keyboard.

The effectiveness of such measures, however, is dubious (especially if you manage to damage your notebook or AlphaSmart in the course of the head-banging-on-keyboard). More drastic methods are called for!

4) Kill your characters off in an interesting way (e.g. drop a mountain or meteor onto them; let a vulcano erupt; they even might become the victims of an awful - and deadly - alien attack!) Unfortunately, this wonderful way of battling writer's block isn't unproblematic as most editors don't seem to think the death of the protagonists in the middle of a romance novel is such a good idea. (Duh.) So this brings us to:

5) Skip ahead in the story and write the love scene.

Tried and tested method, which I successfully applied while writing Castle of the Wolf after my poor heroine had been stuck on a steamboat on the Rhine for months on end. (I even thought about letting her fall into the river and find a watery grave in the muddy waters of the old stream, but see notes on #4.) With Bewitched, my next novel, though, things were not that easy: a love scene was not to be found (only the aftermath of a love scene) and the story flowed along sluggishly at best - in other words: the Muse kept pouting. Obviously she wanted to be entertained.

6) Entertain your Muse by giving your characters fictitious books to read

Which is why the heroine of Bewitched gets to read a lovely shilling romance (= the 19th-century equivalent of massmarket paperbacks): "The Horrible Histories of the Rhine" is a gripping story full of daring knights and hapless damsels in distress, ghastly monsters, glorious adventures and true love (of course), and whenever I got stuck in the story proper I simply worked on another snippet from "The Horrible Histories." And why was this so effective and wonderfully entertaining? Because the daring knights and hapless damsels are, in fact, my colleagues from university. *ggg* For example, the beautiful Alexandie, who is kidnapped by the awful Green Man in "The Horrible Histories" is in real life Alexandra, whose PhD project deals with the motif of the Green Man in literature.

Naturally, even though I had successfully battled writer's block while writing Bewitched, I still thought the reading of the manuscript might prove fatal for my poor agent and editor (luckily, it didn't). And so I had to apply method #1 and #2 anyway, only this time after I had handed in the book.

***

Thanks for having me here at the Fresh Fiction blog!

Best wishes from Germany,
Sandra Schwab

To learn more about Sandra and her stories, please visit her website at http://www.sandraschwab.com/, where you can also read an excerpt from Bewitched. Or listen to Sandra reading from the novel.

Christina Meldrum | MADAPPLE: What is a “crossover” book?

My first novel, MADAPPLE, is coming out this May from Alfred A. Knopf. The publisher sent out advance copies of MADAPPLE to book buyers and reviewers. A surprisingly large number of these readers have asked me: “Why is this a teen book?” “Did you write it for teens?” “Shouldn’t the book be categorized as adult fiction?” Truth be told, I didn’t write MADAPPLE for a specific audience. I just wrote the book I wanted to write. My editor sees MADAPPLE as a “crossover” book—that is, a book that spans the genres of adult literary fiction and young adult (“YA”). Yet, because of the way the publishing industry works, the book must be categorized as one genre or the other. Hence, it is being marketed as YA with the hope that it will reach adults as well.

When I was a teenager, J.D. Salinger, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Hermann Hesse, Harper Lee and Sylvia Plath were among my favorite authors. I was captivated by the antics of Harper Lee’s Scout. I identified with Salinger’s Franny. Were these authors thought of as YA authors? No. Yet, today, I think some of their books certainly would be categorized as YA. The question: Does it matter? The answer: I’m not sure.

As a teenager, I was transformed by literature. I was not yet juggling the responsibilities of job and family, and I was not entrenched in my belief system. Rather, I was curious about and welcoming of new experiences and ways of thinking. I longed to understand the world and my place in it. And I had time to be curious! Reading was a way to learn about the world. It also was a means of escaping the world, during those awkward teenage moments when I needed to escape. Even today, some of the books that are most dear to me are books I read first as a teen, including Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Salinger’s Franny & Zooey, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf. Those books became part of the fabric of who I am as a person.

For this reason, when I first learned MADAPPLE would be published as a YA novel, I was excited—and somewhat overwhelmed. It seemed both an awesome and daunting opportunity. I was thrilled by the prospect of reaching a population of people for whom reading is potentially transformative, yet I felt the responsibility of this as well. MADAPPLE is arguably controversial. It certainly has mature themes. I tried very hard to address these themes with sensitivity. And I certainly did not write the book seeking controversy. That said, I did write the book with the hope that it would spur thought.

Like many first-time novelists, writing was not my day job. When I began writing MADAPPLE, I was a litigator. I spent my days formulating arguments for my clients, selecting and emphasizing those facts that supported my positions. In each case, opposing counsel would do the same, emphasizing the facts that behooved his or her client. In theory, truth somehow filtered through: the judge or jury would sort through the relatively extreme arguments and parse out what was fair and true. In actuality, each argument oversimplified reality, and the ending result, while perhaps as fair as was feasible, often had little to do with truth.

In writing MADAPPLE, I hoped to build on my experience as a litigator and explore ways in which we humans, in our attempt to understand the world, at times simplify it and thereby distort it. I wanted to think about how we create categories, based on what we want or have felt or believe is socially acceptable, and then divide the world into these categories.

Specifically, I wanted to explore the dichotomy between science and religion. As Aslaug, the protagonist of MADAPPLE, says, “Science describes the world, it doesn't explain it: it can describe the universe's formation, but it can't explain…how something can come from nothing. That’s the miracle.” Yet religion absent science also seems insufficient. If God exists, would not nature be a means by which to understand God? The more I researched the natural world in my writing of MADAPPLE, the more I appreciated Einstein's belief that genuine religiosity lies not in blind faith but in a “striving after rational knowledge.”

Ultimately, I hoped MADAPPLE would be a contemplation on faith: faith in God; faith in science; and the way in which faith can both open the mind and confine it. And I hoped Aslaug would be an embodiment of this contemplation on faith. An isolated girl whose daily existence is utterly dependent on the natural world—on foraging—and who interprets the world through this lens; but whose emotional life, due to extraordinary circumstances, becomes fueled by religion and mythology. When these two ways of seeing the world collide in Aslaug’s trial for murder, the reader must ask: Is the devil in the details, or is it God?

In the end, the categories fail: the answer is both.

To learn more about MADAPPLE, please visit my website at www.christinameldrum.com/.

Thanks for reading!
Christina Meldrum

Michelle Monkou | Sauntering Down Memory Lane

A friend recently celebrated her wedding on the beach of Cayman Islands. The bright blue sky, turquoise water, and white sandy beach provided a romantic setting for the couple in love. The photos from her wedding remind me of my April release – No One But You – that beautifully highlights a bride standing on a beach ready and waiting for her perfect match.

No One But You, Harlequin Kimani Romance, introduces the first in the Ladies of Distinction series about sorority sisters who pledged together and now face life after university. Basically after college, Jackson Thomas chose his family business over Sarafina Lovell. Now Jackson is back, and Sara plans to give him one sultry goodbye kiss to prove she’s moved on. His sizzling kiss awakens memories of passion too hot to ignore.…

I am happy to have Essence Bestseller Francis Ray share her thoughts about my book: No One But You . . . is romance at its best - fun, sexy, memorable.

Although I write romances, I am an avid romance reader. From 13 or 14 years old, I read romances that had lush settings in Australia, Argentina, English countryside, and so on. Yes, I could have easily enjoyed reading my book in a quiet corner, but I derived great pleasure in discussing the book.

In high school, way before there was such a thing as bookclubs, my friends and I read the book and then conducted major discussions. At first, it was only my friend and me. Then as others heard about our lively conversation, they wanted to join. We didn’t have rules. However, if a person wasn’t an avid reader and, heaven forbid, not an avid romance reader, then she wouldn’t be a good fit with the group. We read almost a book a day and probably two or three books over a weekend. Granted we didn’t have video games and the multitude of TV channels to tempt us.

This connection between romance books and friends has not diminished over time. Being a member of Romance Writers of America places a person in the middle of active, supportive writers, but more importantly readers, of romance. I’m convinced that a writer cannot be a good writer if she does not read.

I won’t pretend that our discussions were always intellectual and thought provoking. Sometimes it simply was sharing common appreciation like when we talked about heroes -- their motivations and conflicts -- never gets dull. And yes, a full discourse about which celebrities match the hero would make the discussion complete. At 15 years old, sharing page numbers of fabulous bodies described in Johanna Lindsey’s books reduced us to a group of giggling girls. Now several decades later, I can still enjoy a few minutes of frivolity with my girlfriends over a romantic, sensual, handsome hero.

I am grateful for the ties between romance books and friendships. Each served to strengthen the enjoyment of the other. I look forward to continuing my deep relish of the latest romance books and the new friends that will come my way.

Introduce a friend to a romance book.

Michelle Monkou
http://www.michellemonkou.com/

Larissa Ione | Keeping It Real

"Write what you know." We’ve all heard it, and maybe we’ve even stayed true to that. But what happens when you need to write about something you don’t know?

Well, that’s where research comes in.

Now, I love research, and right now, I’m researching something I’ve always been interested in – modern and ancient Egypt. The problem? Trying to blend fact with not only fiction, but paranormal fiction, and strangely enough, while there is a ton of information about ancient Egypt, information on modern Egypt, outside of politics, is lacking.

See, I’m working on the third book in my Demonica series, which is set mainly in Egypt. The first two books, Pleasure Unbound (July 08,) and Shadow Lover (April 09) were largely set in New York City and in an underworld hospital. New York was easy enough to research, since there is oodles of information available (plus, I was constantly bugging Stephanie Tyler, my Sydney Croft writing partner, for details, since she lives there,) and the hospital was easy, because I made it up, using real hospitals and my depraved imagination (hey, it’s a hospital run by vampires, demons, and werewolves – it takes a little depravity to come up with the creepier details.)

But trying to work sketchy information about modern Egypt and Egyptian culture into a world where paranormal creatures and their human enemies collide both above ground and below? Well, that’s proving to be a challenge, especially because I’m a stickler for detail and getting it right.

I don’t have a problem manipulating gray areas into something that works for a fictional situation, but I absolutely hate getting details wrong – so much so that when Stephanie and I were writing the first three books in the Sydney Croft Storm series (Riding The Storm and Unleashing The Storm, both available now, and Seduced By The Storm, available September 08,) I contacted several meteorologist friends for information, even though I spent 15 years working in the weather field for the US Air Force and National Weather Service, and I know meteorology. But I wanted to make absolutely certain that our fictional weather machine could, theoretically, do what we needed it to do.

So what about you? As a reader, how important to you is technical detail (whether or not you know it’s accurate?) For example, I have NO idea if Tom Clancy’s incredible detail is accurate or not, but he writes with such authority that he could tell me the earth has two moons and I’d believe it. So does technical detail help pull you into a rich world, or does it bog down a story for you?

Larissa Ione (http://www.larissaione.com/)

Sydney Croft (http://www.sydneycroft.com/)

Jade Lee | It's All In The Accessories!

My mother always stressed accessories in dressing. Me, I wanted to be DOING something, not fussing with finding the perfect earrings (which always fell out) or the best necklace (which banged against things when I played). The worst, of course, was when she criticized my footwear. I was a sneaker girl. Actually, I didn’t mind nice shoes. A good pair of heels could give me a lift. But I HATED pantyhose. And since every good girl (in my mother’s mind) wore nylon stockings with her shoes, I became all about the sneakers. She allowed me to wear footies with athletic wear. (Remember footies? Cotton socks with little balls on the end or low socks that weren’t even seen beneath your Keds? Much better than pantyhose!)

Well, childhood habits (or traumas) shape the adult persona. I became one of those women who silently abhor her LACK of a shoe fetish. I never understood the desire to wear 5 inch platforms or those spike heels that left pock marks in the linoleum. Pedicures felt good, but why get the nail polish when no one ever sees it? In short—I wore athletic shoes. Good, closed toed, comfortable, arch-supported New Balance footwear.

And then Love Spell (Dorchester) asked me to write a novella about shoes that gave the unknowing wearer a magic power. Well….MAGIC POWERS I could understand! Oh wait, they warned me, I would have to WEAR these wonderful magic shoes (minus the magic) in public, too. My fellow anthology mates went on a festival of possibilities. Leather boots or delicately sculpted sandals? Iron toes or black leather? The possibilities were endless! But for me, the idea of spending an entire conference in spike heels sent me into a spasm. Until it occurred to me that SOME footwear is comfortable AND cool! And if I had a heroine, for example, who felt just like me—simple practical footwear required—then I could give those lovely Chinese Mary-Janes an awesome KUNG-FU POWER!!!! Even better, I could wear those shoes all day, every day and not fall on my face. Score!

So, if you like awesome kung-fu powers (even if it is shoe-inspired) then please check out our new anthology: These Boots Were Made For Stomping! My practical and sweet high school English teacher kicks gang butt in…you guessed it…”Kung-Fu Shoes!” And if you are one of the millions of women who understand the search for the perfect shoes, you can visit http://www.hiheelia.com/ where awesome boots and strappy sandals are available for your purchase! Seriously! (Not, alas, my cute little Mary-Janes.) My publisher has created the website to sell the shoes available in the book! How cool is that? (Though your magic power may vary.)

Enter my ONE DAY ONLY BLOG contest, TWO winners will win a copy of DRAGONBORN!

Jade Lee
www.jadeleeauthor.com/

Dragonborn, March 2008

The Tao of Sex, Blaze Jan 2008

TemptedTigress, June 2007

Robin D. Owens | Writing Fantasy

One of the wonderful things about writing fantasy is that you can make up your own worlds – and all the names. :) Sometimes naming things – planets, continents, rivers is fun (Huckleberry Finn River, Great Platte Ocean, Hard Rock Mountains). It can be easy. I knew I wanted a Celtic background for my "Heart" series so naming the planet Celta didn't require much thought.

But naming the planet in my Summoning series (average American women summoned to an alternate dimension to fight invading evil) was harder. This planet was sentient (and who's to say they aren't?), it's weak because an evil, alien Dark has been feasting on it for years. But it loves the people who are trying to save it and themselves (oh, and creatures – the flying horses and magical shapeshifter animal-companions). The language is French based, and I tried several names that didn't work. I finally decided that the defining characteristic of the planet was love, so it became Amee.

It's also very cool to map the planets. I did a hand drawing of Celta, found software to make it more real looking, then have recently gone beyond my drawing of two continents to the whole world. All fun and motivating to write more about wonderful places.

The best thing about writing your own worlds, though, is sharing it. All my coworkers at my day job got to pick a river or a mountain or whatever to name. I got the Ruby Ananda River from that. Or I can offer contests to name things. I have a passion flower called An'Alcha from that, and, of course, the Plano Straight – that's a huge geographical feature on Celta. I've had characters (murder victim and cop in Heart Quest) named by my readers.

That's the most fun of all, sharing the world with readers who enjoy it as much as I do.

Blessings

Robin D. Owens
Robin, EXCERPTS: