Book Buying & the Economy

Whoo-hoo! I’m officially excited now because, in one day, I will have successfully gone one month without buying a book.

This seems like an odd thing to celebrate, so let me explain. I love books. LOVE them. In fact, I have over 500 print books and at least half as many electronic books. However, with the recent economic situation, I decided that I needed to exercise a little restraint with my buying habits.

Hence, my month-long test of control.

To keep myself from cracking under the pressure, I’ve been using the greatest resource available to writers: the library. I love my local library. This resource allows me to check out as many books as I want, including the new and backlist titles from big name authors.

I go into my local library so much that I have my card number memorized, and the librarians know me by sight and name. So although I haven’t been spending a ton of money on books this past month, I have been reading every day.

I am allowing myself to purchase at most three books come March 1st (one print, and up to two electronic titles). My first buy? Mona Lisa Darkening by Sunny.

What about you? Has the economy affected your book buying habits? If so, how?

Love scenes: Responsible adults or free-wheeling horny toads

By Tamara Hughes

I’m in the process of writing a love scene in my new book, and I’m contemplating whether my couple should be responsible with contraception or if I should let their hormones get the best of them and avoid the topic altogether.

This really hasn’t been an issue for me in the past.  When writing historicals, you don’t have quite as many options.  Sure, I suppose there were a few ways to avoid pregnancy (among other things) during that time, but unless I want my story to get overly-complicated, it comes down to either they have sex or they don’t.

This new novel is current day, however, and as such comes with modern day issues and problems I have to either choose to ignore or find some way to incorporate.

I’ve heard different opinions about this, both for and against.  On one hand, in today’s world of diseases and unplanned pregnancies, should two adults really have sex without the issue of protection coming up?  I mean, I like to think of my characters as smart, responsible people.  Heck, I’ve even heard the argument that as a writer, I have a responsibility to my readers to address issues responsibly.  I’m not sure I agree with that.

On the other hand, there are those readers who like to pretend.  They like to be absorbed in the fantasy, and not have the distractions that exist in reality.  Many see whipping out a condom in the middle of a love scene as distracting, something that pulls them from the story.

So what do you think?  Do you have more respect for characters that deal with today’s issues or do you prefer the fantasy?

While I find nothing wrong with either choice, I see myself making my characters grapple a bit with reality.  Even in my historical, I have the possibility of pregnancy come up after the big moment.

The trick I suppose is finding a way to make reality more romantic than it sounds.  We’ll see.

Have a great day.

Tami

It could be worse!

By Jessica Darago

I just finished up judging seven entries for Washington Romance Writers’ annual Marlene contest. I really enjoy judging, in a masochistic sort of way. It’s procrastination I can feel good about!

But I do sometimes worry. I’ve entered a half-dozen RWA sponsored contests with The Serpent’s Tooth and finaled in about half of them. I’ve gotten some great feedback…and some not so great. Them’s just the breaks. Not everyone is going to “get” your story, and not everyone will share your taste.

When judging, I do my best to read deeply and carefully for the author’s intention, and I try to explain my scoring thoroughly, so even if the contestant thinks I’m wrong, she won’t think I’m completely off my head.

Some may still think I’m off my head, though.

Be that as it may, I offer you, gentle readers (and writers) a little video to cheer you the next time you receive feedback that makes you make your WTF face. It could be way worse. It could be like this:

A bit of dialogue

I’ve had a lot of fun posting my entries on Love Conquers because I don’t have to worry about comments from judges or votes–less stress. LOL

I do appreciate all the comments given on my previous posts and the wonderful support the ladies of Love Conquers have provided.

Today, in honor of the fourth round for American Title V, I’m offering up the dialogue scene I had selected for the contest.

Set-up: This particular scene highlights the attraction between my characters and the attempts the heroine, Wynne, makes to convince the hero, Seth, that she should be allowed to return to her apartment to get some items. Seth’s reason for refusing her–just a little thing like a serial killer who has targeted her and even proved he was watching her in her home when the killer called.

Enjoy, and please, let me know what you think.
Qaey

 

The instant she straddled his lap he knew he was in trouble. “I thought you didn’t like seduction as a distracter?” His body hardened in arousal and the flush in her cheeks told him she could feel it too.

“If you use it, no.” She scooted closer. “When I use it, it’s a negotiating tool.”

“Negotiating tool.” Seth nodded and fought to keep his grin hidden. “What if I’m not inclined to negotiate?” Like hell, his thoughts chortled, especially if she keeps moving against me the way she is.

“Let’s give it a shot before you decide anything.”

He was sure his expression was intimidating, but not intimidating enough to dissuade Wynne.

“Point number one.” She smiled, draping her wrists over his shoulders. “By letting me retrieve some of the things from my apartment, I’m saving you money so you don’t have to buy toiletries and other supplies.”

Seth allowed his arms to unfold and his hands to settle on her hips. Shaking his head he assured her. “Money isn’t an issue. I’ll be reimbursed for any necessities you require while under my protection.”

She lowered her lips to his. “Point number two. Having my books and laptop here will allow me to focus on something other than the situation.”

“You can do that,” he whispered back, his fingers dipping beneath the banded hem of her sweatshirt to caress the silky skin on her back, “without your books and laptop.”

“Are you offering to keep me entertained, Deputy Vassar?”

He could feel her smile against his lips. It took him longer to remember his name than it took to figure out offering to keep Wynne entertained for a week was a dangerous proposition. “I’d be more than happy, Miz Smith, to keep you company.” But he did it anyway.

Round Four (gulp)

I always seem to be the blogger on the opening day of voting. It’s getting scarier with each round. This time I’m going to remember to breathe. I’ll take time to walk and stretch during the first couple days.

There are only four finalists left. In the end, only one will be standing. Of course, we all want it. The thing is, we all wrote great books, otherwise the Dorchester editorial staff wouldn’t have chosen us.

I’ve been watching the American Idol auditions (I told myself I wouldn’t do it this year, but I was sucked in again. I’m so weak). When they eliminated some of my favorites, I was screaming “No!” at the TV, and telling my husband, “I don’t know how they could do that. They’re wrong, wrong, wrong.”

But for whatever reasons, it wasn’t the right time for the person. You can’t rail at the judges (though a few have tried). It’s done, it’s over, and the eliminated singers have to make the best of the rest of their lives.

So much of it is subjective. During the eliminations on Wednesday night, Simon told some of the singers the decision wasn’t unanimous. So at least one person wanted them to stay.

I want us all to stay. I would love it if we all sold to Dorchester. And who knows? Only one of us can win, but maybe we’ll all sell. Why not? It can happen. After all, we are fabulous.

So for all of us, I’m leaving with this video of Jennifer Hudson — who didn’t make American Idol — singing “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going.”

Two Unrelated Topics/Barb Longley

Kevin McKidd, I just like looking at him!

Well, here we are on the eve of another round of voting and I’ve been thinking about the first romance novel I ever read—and still have! It was Dianna Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER. Prior to this book, I’d never really visited the Romance section of any bookstores. I’d hung out in self-help, new-age and science fiction for the most part.

At the time, I was going through a very painful time in my life, and Dianna’s story took me out of my own misery and into a compelling love story between two people from very different eras. Sigh. After that, the romance section of Barnes & Noble and Borders became my favorite hang out spot. I renamed the romance shelves to the “Happily-Ever-After” section. Do you remember your first romance book? What led you there, and what was the book?

Topic II

Again and again, in fact.

I don’t know about Evonne, Qaey or Michelle, but being eliminated from ATV has been a mixed bag of emotions for me. On the one hand, there’s the huge disappointment and a tiny bit of envy. (Yes, I’ll admit to those feelings. I am human, after all.) On the other hand, there’s a bit of relief that I don’t have to spend the next two weeks promoting. I work full time, and let me tell you, promoting while working is a challenge, as Qaey pointed out with her hundreds of loops.

Lately we’ve been talking (by we I mean the Inksters, the critique group I belong to) about whether or not we would enter ATVI, if they have one, or a similar writing contest spanning months. The other discussion centers around promotion. Does it make a difference? Would the results have been the same had we just settled back to watch?

I enter a bunch of RWA chapter contests, and every ms I’ve entered (3) has finaled a few times in various contests. I’ve gotten a few requests that way, and It was always part of my “5 year plan.” Seems really easy and stress free to me now! I’m not sure I’d do another contest like ATV, though the benefits and the learning curve are tremendous, and if you win of course the benefit is huge. What do the rest of you think? Evonne, Michelle, Qaey, will you enter again this spring if RT and Dorchester come up with another similar contest? Those of you biting your nails down to the quick today, would you do this again?

Love is in the Air…Or is it?

 Ah, l’amour. This time of year calls to mind nostalgic thoughts of candy hearts; paper Valentines with cringe-worthy couplets (for instance: Roses are red, violets are blue, here is a Valentine just for you! I just made that one up.); lots of chocolates and plenty of hugs.

Fast forward to present day. As adults, most of us associate Valentine’s Day with three things: chocolate, jewelry and romantic movies. However, lately I’ve noticed something…odd about Hollywood’s take on romance.

It’s depressing. Take for instance the current Box Office hit He’s Just Not That Into You.

This movie is a “romantic comedy” based on the pseudo-relationship advice book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Behrendt formerly wrote for Sex in the City, so you know his relationship advice must be spot on, right? Right?

 In all fairness, the book is supposed to be a humorous take on the ways women deceive themselves trying to make a failing relationship work when the answer is simple: maybe he’s just not that into you. It makes for an interesting romantic comedy, a genre known for its fluffiness, sometimes ditzy heroines and deus ex machine happy endings.

 I have to confess: I haven’t read the book. I’ve skimmed it (a sacrilege for any self-respecting bibliophile, I know). But I do plan on watching the film. While it promises to deliver some laughs at the expense of the somewhat chaotic and neurotic lives of the characters (which includes the “we’re roommates but I want more” character of Jennifer Aniston; the “we’re married but I’m oblivious that he’s unfaithful” character of the Jennifer Connelly; to the “I can’t figure out why he hasn’t called me back so I’ll obsess about it and cyber stalk him” character of Ginnifer Goodwin), He’s Just Not That Into You also promises to deliver some meaningful lessons on life and love. Here is one gem from the actually book, courtesy of http://holliesquotes.com/lovemisc/notintoyou.htm:

 Every man you have ever dated who has said he doesn’t want to get married or doesn’t believe in marriage, or has “issues” with marriage, will … rest assured … someday be married.  It just will never be with you.

 So like I said: this isn’t your ordinary “romantic comedy.” It’s real.  No fluff advice promising you ways to make a guy fall back in love with you, or to snag that elusive Mr. Right. There was a time when romantic comedies followed strict rules: Guy meets girl. They fall in love. Some obstacles appears to seemingly stumble their faith in each other. Love wins out in the end, they marry and skip happily into the sunset.  Not this film. Although it does deliver a traditional happy ending for some of the main characters, others experience a non-traditional happily-ever-after.

 According to Exhibitor Relations, the film took in 27.8 million dollars during its debut weekend. Not bad for a romance with bite, huh?

 So here is my question to you:

 

How much reality do you want in your romance?

mcslist: Notes from my tea towel: a list of Scottish words

by Marie-Claude Bourque

When I found out about being a finalist in the American Title, I was in the middle of a great online course with Sharron Gunn at Celtic Heart RWA, called Castles of Scotland. I had promised my classmate to send them a list of Scottish words.

You see my Scottish family often send me linen tea towels and this particular one I have list 24 Scottish words with their definition. So here I am, as promised but 6 months later, sharing the notes from my Scottish tea towel:

 

 

 

Braw:  Fine pleasant, especially weather (“It’s a braw day the day.“)

Mauchit: Dirty, filthy, sticky, muddy. (“Lookit the colour o’ ye, ya mauchit wee to’rag.“)

Dreich: 1. Drab 2. Dreary (referring to weather or a sermon)

Glaikit: Stupid, senseless, silly. (“He stood there wi’ a glaikit look oan his fizzok.“)

Besom: 1. Obstreperous girl or woman (“Dinnae pou’ yer brither’s hair, ya wee besom.“) 2. Woman of low moral standing; a hussy (“Thon  yin’s a right mucky besom.“)

Scunner: 1.To feel  aversion 2. To produce a feeling of disgust or loathing 3. A strong dislike (“Tak a scunner” “‘git oot o’ ma face ya wee scunner.“)

Laldie: A trashing, a sound beating, punishment (“Jist wait till ah get ma hauns oan ye, ya wee bugger. Ah’ll gie ye laldie“)

Canny: 1. Cautious, careful, hesitant, unwilling to rush into things. 2. Frugal, prudent (esp. with money) (“He’s that canny he aye pays for his round wi’ empty lemonade bottles.”)

Fankle:  1. To entangle, twist. 2. To knot. 3. To coil, wind. 4 to disorder, complicate. 5. An entanglement (“Dinnae get yerself in a fankle.“)

Drookit:  Drenched, soaked through. (“Ah fell in the burn an’ got drookit.“)

Wabbit: Exhausted, out of breath; unable to function due to extreme tiredness (“Playin’ wi’ thae weans has gote me wabbit.“)

Gallus:  1. Self-confident, daring; cheeky. 2. Stylish, impressive (“He’s pure gallus, by the way.“)

Teutcher:  1. One who derives from the Highlands of Scotland; more commonly used by city folks to describe rural dwellers. 2. Gaelic-speaker (mostly to each other)

Drouth: 1. Drought; long or extreme period of weather without precipitation  2. Thirst; dry mouth usually caused by excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages the previous night . (“Man, ah must’ve hud ten pints last night. Ah’ve got an awfy drouth.“)

Stramash: An uproar, a violent commotion or rowdy behavior, a melee. (“And players from both teams have now become embroiled in what can only be described as a giant stramash inside the penalty box.“)

Birl: To spin around, to revolve rapidly. (“Ah tell ye, efter a’ that dancin’ ma heid’s fair birlin.”)

Couthie: 1. amiable, sociable, esp. persons (“Och, she’s a couthie soul, so she is.“) 2. Comfortable, pleasant, snug (“Here, there’s a couthie wee pub doon-by.“)

Blether: 1. Person who chatters incessantly, someone who babbles on and on (“That wee yin o’ yours is an awfy blether getting.“) 2. To engage in conversation, long-winded or idle talk (“Ah met yer granny doon the toun, we hud a richt gid blether the gather.“)

Thrawn: 1. Twisted, distorted or mis-shapen. 2. Stubborn or obstinate (“Jeez O, yer thrawn auld bugger.“)

Wheesht: 1. A call for quiet or silence, used as an interjection Wheesht! to bring about,  or continue, the silence of others – esp. children (“Will ye wheesht, you pair! Ma heid’s loupin.“) 2. Quite, hushed “Haud your wheesht.” is to hold one’s tongue.

Greet: To cry, weep. (“Stope greetin’! It wisnae that sair.”)  greetin’ face cry baby, one who is prone to tears or constantly miserable.

Fouter: 1. One who muddles through, aimless, exasperating person (“Yer a fouter, gie it tae me, ah’ll dae it“) 2. A fiddly, troublesome task or job (“This is a right fouter, this“) Foutering “Yer foutering aboot! Stope it!“)

Skiver : 1. One who avoids tasks or work in general, a shirker. Skive (“Ah cannae be arsed wi’ this – ah’m  away fur a skive”) 2. Splinter of wood embedded in the skin.

Eejit: Idiot, simpleton, one not possessed of all their mental faculties, one who is unable to properly conduct their own affairs (“Yer off yer head, ya eejit. That’s no’ real dug.“)

 

Now I’ll be honest, but most of these words are unknown to me. But in my household, I do often hear  Teuther, Greetin’, Blether and Yer off yer head!!!

Happy Scottish writing everyone!!!

You say you like creamy best. I like chunky. Why can’t we just get along?

By Tamara Hughes

Last week there was a big uproar after some comments Stephen King made in an interview with USA Weekend.  In the interview, he said, “…Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”  Given the great success of Meyer’s Twilight series, the public outcry was thunderous…as I’m sure King knew it would be.  He is, afterall, in the midst of promoting his new book Stephen King goes to the Movies.

So what struck me wasn’t his less than stellar opinion of Stephanie Meyer’s work, but the underlying question.  What constitutes a good writer?

Obviously, this is subjective.  One one had we have Stephen King, and on the other countless fans of her books.

Typical of me, I missed the big wave of praise as each book in the Twilight series came out.  It wasn’t until I heard about the movie that I became aware of the phenomenon.  I saw the movie, liked it, and decided to give the book a try.  I wanted to see if the magic on the screen also existed on the page.  Alas, with the American Title competition and everything else, I only picked up the first book in the series last Monday.  And, well, wow.

I know there are those that aren’t big fans of the books.  Let’s face it Twilight has minimal action.  It’s mostly about the relationship between Bella and Edward.  Even so, I was transfixed, eager to find moments in my day to read more.  What sucked me into the story was the chemistry, the tension, between the two main characters.  Their every touch and every word sparked little electrical currents between them.  Much better than the movie.  What can I say?  I don’t have time to read, and I still finished the book on Saturday, and had to buy the next.  Then I was a total bum on Sunday and read over 300 pages of New Moon in one day.

Now back to the question.  In my opinion, a great writer isn’t necessarily one that is careful to keep every scene in one point of view or uses perfect grammar and punctuation.  To me a great writer is one that creates a compelling story that takes hold of you and shakes you – immerses you in their dream world so deep, you just want to ride the currents until it’s over.  This isn’t an easy feat to do.  And yes, bad grammar and incorrect point of view can pull you out of the story if you’re not careful, but it’s still the story itself and the craft of reaching out to the reader that matters the most to me.

What do you think?  As a reader, what’s important to you?

Have a great day!  And good reading.

Tami

Let Go

by Jessica Darago

At the beginning of this year, like at the beginning of every year, I set a few goals for myself. Not resolutions, exactly; more like guidelines signposts. If there’s one thing you can say about the eight AT-V finalists, whether we’re now in or out of the running, we all passed one dilly of a signpost back in 2008, like one of those neon South of the Border billboards with giant 3-D sombrero on top, and it said, YES, YOU ARE A REAL WRITER.

(Okay, being a South of the Border billboard, what it actually said was probably some atrocious, offensively ethnocentric pun about hats or chili peppers, but I haven’t had my coffee yet, so just roll with me here.)

The first few weeks…nah, the first few months of the contest became a mad dash to get all our contest entries ready and to learn and apply something, anything we could about publicity to get people’s attention and get out the vote: bookmarks and guest blogs and Facebook and all the networking we could handle. Meanwhile, our “real” lives never let up, not our jobs or families or laundry or cleaning or commuting or community work or reading for our critique partners or judging RWA contests or–

Hey, wait a minute. Where did the writing go?

I turned 37 yesterday. One of the advantages of a February birthday is that it’s a lot like having a second New Year’s. You can see, very quickly, how you’re doing on your plans for the year and adjust accordingly before things get so far off the map that they’re unrecoverable. So I looked back at the previous five weeks, and here’s what I found.

Words revised: 0
New words written: Under 1,000

And I thought, “What the hell have I been doing?”

Turns out, I’ve been tending to my job(s) and my family and my laundry and my cleaning and my commute and my volunteering and my critique partners and my contest judging and my contest promotion and–

And I know I’m not the only one.

We live in a world that asks us (and, sorry to say, especially asks women) to put aside what we want to do and need to do for what we “should” do. We let ourselves get buried by what’s unimportant, because we think we have to do it all. We have to meet everyone else’s goals. We have to say yes. We have to win.

What a silly notion.

Today I’m going to do something I find very difficult. I’m going to be imperfect. I’m going to say no. I’m going to be a person who makes time for herself. I’m going to be a writer again.

Does this sound familiar? Are you getting nothing done because you’re too busy doing it all? If so, I have a present for you: By the power vested in me by absolutely nothing whatsoever, I hereby absolve you of the requirement to clean your bathroom grout with a toothbrush, to drive two hours there and back to a one-hour yoga class, to cook for every bake sale or potluck your church/kid’s school/office has, to keep up with every writer’s mailing list and social networking site out there, to do anything that stops you from doing what you love.

Let go.