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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
How do you decide which books to buy?
What makes you choose one book and pass on another?
I was in the bookstore yesterday to drop of bookmarks and magnets for a signing and, of course, I simply had to check out all the new books. After picking up the automatic buys from my favorite authors, I browsed through the other new titles. As I checked out the covers, read the back-cover copy and excerpts, I started wondering how everyone else chooses which books to buy. Let's face it, we all have a budget and can only spend so much on books. So what makes you choose which books you buy? Is it the cover that grabs you first? Does the back-cover copy have to grab you? How important is the excerpt? Do recommendations from the bookstore impact your decision? Is it the line that you buy? (i.e., Silhouette Desires are always on my list because I know the stories are about today's men and women, facing many of today's problems. They're fast-paced, well-written, powerful and passionate.) What about continuities? Do you buy all books in continuity series or just the ones by your must-have authors? So how do you choose?
For me, I guess it's a bit of all these things. Usually, the cover catches my eye first and then I check out the storyline. If it intrigues me, I read the excerpt to help me decide. Of course, I usually grab the books the store clerk recommends. I also am always on the lookout for new authors and try to support them by buying a book. Even if it's not a story that appeals to me, if I know someone that I think would like it, I pick it up. So how about you? What's your criteria when purchasing a book?
posted by Metsy Hingle at 9:07 AM
Monday, January 30, 2006
Things you want to know from this New Orleans' girl
What prompted you to put pen to paper initially and take the writing plunge?
Would you believe I owe it all to Harold Robbins and my oldest daughter? It's true. I've always been an avid reader and working full-time while raising four children didn't leave a lot of time for reading. So when I did steal away a few hours, I always had a book in hand. One particular weekend, I had the house to myself and read the latest Robbins' book. It was a good book--lots of drama, romance, sex and suspense. Only it ended miserably. When I complained to a friend at work the next day, she said, "Metsy, if you want books with happy endings, read a romance." Well since I grew up in a Catholic orphanage and foster homes, the nuns didn't exactly encourage you to read romance. So I'd never read one. But I quickly made up for lost time. Hundreds of reads later, I started making noises about having ideas for a romance and wanting to write one. But I never did anything about it. Then my oldest daughter came home one day from the mall where she was working after school and said, "Mom, you're always saying you want to write one of those romance novels. Well, there's a touring workshop in the mall tomorrow on How To Write a Romance and I signed you up for it." The rest, as they say, is history.
What or who continues to inspire you to write?
For me it's like breathing. It's what I do, a part of who I am. Even if I never published another book, I would continue to write because I love writing. I enjoy discovering new characters, watching them tackle life's adversities, putting them into dangerous situations emotionally and physically, then seeing them conquer their demons. So many things inspire me. For instance, I'm from New Orleans and as you can imagine, Hurricane Katrina had a great impact on me and my family. There are also people and situations that inspire me. "Black Silk" my romantic suspense coming out in March has my heroine (a cop) on the trail of a serial killer and she becomes his next target. A few years ago, the Louisiana serial killer was captured--but not before he murdered the daughter of a friend of mind. In "Black Silk" I explore how such a death impacts the entire family.
What are some of your favorite writing/craft books and why?
"Writing the Thriller" by T. Macdonald Skillman, "Criminal Profile Into the Mind of the Killer" by Wayne Petherick and "Crime Scene the Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science" by Richard Platt. Since my single titles are romantic suspense, I spend a lot of time delving into the minds killers and the people who solve the crimes. I have to say, it makes my husband a bit nervous. He tells his friends that he sleeps with one eye open.
What kind of heroes and heroines do you most enjoy writing about?
I love the alpha male and I like strong heroines, women who can rescue themselves.
If you were stranded on a desert island what 10 books would you like to have along with you?
Hmm. I suppose I'd like a book on survival and it would be nice if I had Jack Bauer from 24 along to help. I'd also want my prayer book and book of saints--just in case there's one who can help me get off the island. For reading pleasure, I'd take "Exclusive" by Sandra Brown, "Scruples" by Judith Krantz, "Absolute Power" by David Baldacci and anything by Nora Roberts.
Tells us what your writing day is like?
It depends on whether or not I'm on deadline. Right now, I'm up to my ears in paperwork and the promotion of "Black Silk". But when I'm actually working on a book, I try to be at my machine for 8:00 a.m. I spend about 30 minutes tending to email--or at least part of it. Then I start writing. I write all day, taking breaks to go to the bathroom and to start dinner. If the book stalls or the characters misbehave, I'll take a walk with my dog Molly Brown or fool around in the garden and try to fingure it out. If the book is due soon or not going well, I'm back at the machine after dinner until about 11:00 p.m. When I'm working on a book, I write 7 days a week because it keeps the story and characters fresh for me and the momentum going.
Why do you write romance?
I write romance because I think there is nothing more powerful or empowering than love. It's what life's all about.
What is the most fun you've had while writing or researching a book?
I really, really loved writing my first continuity book for Silhouette Desire--"Secret Agent Dad". It was part of the Texas Cattlemen's Club series. I bonded with the other authors while doing that book and we remain friends to this day.
posted by Metsy Hingle at 10:04 AM
Saturday, January 28, 2006
A Second Taste of Australia
When I first sold to Desire, I didn't look beyond that wonderful, blissful, magical result. An editor loved my book! I would get to see MY BOOK on the shelves! Better still, readers would buy it, read it, and hopefully experience the emotional highs and lows, the passion and the drama, the worry and the angst of love vs conflict, along with my characters. Maybe they'd even enjoy it enough to look for my next book.
Sometime later, after the first-sale euphoria had dimmed, I started to worry about what I could bring to the line. Why would readers pick up my books? What could I offer that Desire wasn't already providing through the fabulous books by authors I'd glommed for years?
The answer came from my readers. They wrote to say they loved visiting "down under" through the pages of my book, they enjoyed the sprinkling of Australian words and phrases, they liked the touch of "different", the slightly exotic flavor in what I saw as everyday. Oh, and it didn't hurt that actors such as Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Julian McMahon, Simon Baker and Eric Bana were providing a very fine visual of the Aussie male. ;-)
So, that is what I bring to Desire: a taste of Australia...and those fine Aussie men! And I am thrilled to be joined in this endeavour by a second Aussie author who sold to Desire just this week. Her name is Maxine Sullivan (although she may decide to write under a pen-name, the jury's still out!) and I feel compelled to share a little of her story because it is so inspiring. I hope you think so too.
Maxine has been writing for 20-odd years through personal trials that would have crushed a lesser woman's spirit. She has experienced continued and consistent success in writing contests and many almost-there moments from editor requests. Those rejections, after specific editor enthusiasm, after requested revisions, are the toughest to take. I know. You believe you've done all you can, that you've provided axactly what's required, then along comes that gut-wrenching, "I'm sorry but..." letter.
Maxine didn't give up, although at times she came close. Last year was one such time, but she saw the changed Desire guidelines on eHarlequin and took up the opportunity to pitch one of her stories in the website community's logline contest. She won one of the ten places offered. Melissa Jeglinski, senior editor of Desire, requested the full manuscript. Little more than a week later, her agent rang with the good news. Melissa wanted to buy her book.
Would you believe this sale happened on Australia Day (our national day, a public holiday, a time for celebration)? Perfect synchronicity, don't you think?
Maxine's story is an inspiring example to us all on not giving up. Her dream was to sell to Harlequin/Silhouette; her dream career is writing category romance for the publisher whose books she has enjoyed for decades. I have no doubt that she could have sold, many times over, if she'd compromised that dream. She didn't and in 2007 you will find Maxine's taste of Australia added to the Desire banquet. Welcome her, congratulate her, and take heart and strength from her story. Your dream may also become your reality if you work hard and if you never give up.
posted by Bronwyn Jameson at 5:44 PM
Friday, January 27, 2006
Musing about Men and Islands...and Windows
Since I completed the spotlight questions a day or two back I have been pondering, on and off, the one about the men. So, okay, the question was not originally about the men. It was about which 10 books I would like to be stranded with on a deserted island. Because I love way too many books to choose only ten, I asked if I could be stranded with 10 heroes of 10 books instead. Which led me to recall another question in another interview: which of your heroes would you prefer to be stranded with on a deserted island?
Aside: I've been watching the first season of LOST on DVDs. Do you suppose this is why I'm stuck on the stranded-on-island scenario?
When the question was originally asked, several years ago, I went for the practical answer--Jack Manning, the hero of my first book, who'd been a builder. A useful skill when requiring shelter and/or an escape raft. Which led me to think about my other heroes, many of whom I've written since that interview. Seth Bennedict in Just A Taste was also a builder. He'd knock a raft together, I imagine, in a pinch.
But then so would any of the other heroes I've written, I decided, because that capability--the ability to problem-solve and provide and protect--is part of the promise in a Desire hero. Don't you agree? No matter if he spends his days working the boardroom in a tailor-made suit or working cattle in worn-through Wranglers, he's a take-charge, get-the-job-done, Jack-Shepherd guy. He'll work out a way to provide shelter, to find water, to catch fish. He'll fix the transceiver if that's possible and he'll build a monster signal fire and in his spare time he'll be working on that raft.
These are the qualities that define my kind of Desire hero. Sure, he'll be tall, buff and handsome. He'll have a way of moving that defines his athleticism and his self-assurance and his maleness. He'll probably have that self-deprecating sense of humor that I love in a man and a deep, sexy drawl to share his wry observations. Oh, and a killer grin. And biceps (those are a given.) All of which would make him mighty fine company on our desert island but it's really just the window-dressing.
So...what kind of man would you like on your desert island? And what qualities do you want to find once you strip back the window-dressing on a Desire hero?
posted by Bronwyn Jameson at 4:40 AM
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Spotlight Giveaway: From Australia, With Love
As part of my Spotlight week--and to celebrate Australia Day--I'm hosting a contest here at DesireAuthors.com. The prize is one of these cool Aussie bags, books by some of the fabulous Desire authors on this site (but in their Australian release format), and some extra goodies from "the land down under." Enter here and good luck!
January 31 Update:
AND THE WINNER IS...RUBY DAVIS!
Congratulations, Ruby. I hope you enjoy your taste of Australia. Thank you to everyone who entered. See you all next time I'm the spotlight author here at DesireAuthors.com.
posted by Bronwyn Jameson at 5:59 PM
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
 Q: How long have you been writing for Silhouette Desire?
My first book published, In Bed With the Boss's Daughter, was a 2001 Desire. In 2005 I celebrated my tenth Desire release, The Ruthless Groom.
Q: What prompted you to put pen to paper initially and take the writing plunge?
In 1995 I picked up a magazine, quite by random, from my mother's coffee table, and discovered a promotional feature on becoming a romance writer. I was an avid reader but I'd never considered writing until that day. The idea took hold and I joined Romance Writers of Australia and bought two of the how-to books suggested in the article. A month or so after reading the article, I sat down and started my first story.
Q: What or who continues to inspire you to write?
The college bills. Kidding. Seriously...the characters in my head. They are quite demanding about wanting their stories told and it seems that each book I write spawns a whole new bunch of people who also want their place in the spotlight.
Q: What kind of heroes and heroines do you most enjoy writing about?
That's a tough question as I've enjoyed writing all my characters to date. I do love my Australian heroes, strong and sexy and with a slightly rugged edge. I love putting them in a suit, too--there's a beautiful juxtaposition between the smooth, civilized facade and the man beneath who isn't always so smooth and civilized.
Q: If you were stranded on a desert island what 10 books would you like to have
along with you?
Can I cheat and take 10 heroes from those books instead? I actually think the 1o heroes of my ten books would work a treat...although, on second thoughts, maybe not. Recently I watched the first season of LOST on DVD (Christmas present)and the idea of ten alphas on that island, trying to establish order and the battle for dominance...scary! Back to the 10 books: one would definitely be Raftbuilding For Beginners.
Q: Tell us what your writing day is like?
I'm somewhat of a slow starter in the mornings, so I tend to start my day with email and business. Then I deal with home/family/farm business stuff. I like to start writing mid to late morning although some days I don't get going until after lunch. I write through till dinner time and sometimes need to keep going after dinner, depending on how the afternoon has gone and how much I need to get done that day.
Q: Why do you write romance?
I have always loved romance: in novels, movies, short stories, on TV series. I never considered writing anything else. I love the male-female dynamic, I love writing the first meeting, that delicious attraction (maybe of opposites or of the forbidden), I love creating the conflict/obstacles and I especially love the happy ending when these people discover what truly matters and how much it matters to their happiness.
Q: What is the most fun you've had while writing or researching a book?
I really, really enjoyed researching and writing Just A Taste which is set in the wine industry in the Napa Valley. I couldn't travel to California, but my husband and I took a driving holiday through several of our Australian wine-growing areas. My heroine in that book ran the tasting room at her family's winery so I needed to taste a lot of wines. *g* And it was so much fun transferring the language of wine-tasting to the romance between Jillian and Seth.
posted by Bronwyn Jameson at 12:18 PM
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Where are you, Mary Jo Zotter?
Just this morning, I had the opportunity to teach my daughter what I call the "Mary Jo Zotter Theory of Life." I think I'll share it with you.
My little one is in third grade and evidently this is when the early signs of female competitiveness, jealousy and one-ups-manship begin. (Sometimes they never end: has anyone watched The Bachelor? It is a virtual study in human sociology.) I attempted to teach my daughter a lesson that it took me years to learn: no matter what you have, do, are, wear or accomplish, someone will have, do, wear or accomplish something better. You cannot judge your own worth by weighing it against what others have or you will go flippin' crazy. To illustrate this, I told her about Mary Jo Zotter.
Many (don't ask how) years ago, in elementary school and then in high school, I had a classmate by the name of Mary Jo Zotter. She had long blonde (natural, naturally) hair, as straight as the times dictated was cool. She had a perfect figure, a blinding smile, a razor sharp brain, an adorable boyfriend (the very one I wanted!), flawless skin and, yes, she shook her pom-poms on a cheerleading squad that cut me loose in the first tryouts. Mary Jo, I am convinced, was put into my life as a test of my self-worth and to help me learn that I must compete with myself, not with others. I have no idea where Mary Jo is today, but I have no doubt that her house is huge and well-appointed, her kids are model students, her husband is fabulously successful, her boobs are sky high and her closet is full of designer clothes. No doubt she feeds the poor, reads to the blind and has a PhD or two hanging on her wall. But, I told my little angel as I tucked her into my side and kissed her (dishwater) blonde head, I am not competing with Mary Jo anymore. I know what I have and I appreciate the many gifts in my life, and my daughter would do well to learn this lesson earlier than I did.
Shortly after this Hallmark Moment of Motherhood passed, I logged on to my email and witnessed a professional gaffe made by a colleague in which one writer publicly (albeit accidentally!) insulted another writer. The font might as well have been pea green because that was obviously the color of the writer's petty jealousies of another's success. The situation was embarrassing, painful and so powerful in its teaching. Here we are, how many years later, and still we compete and gossip and hate and envy. What a waste of our lives and talent. What a sad, stupid thing. Did no one ever teach this woman the Mary Jo Zotter Theory of Life?
True, I live and work in the highly competitive field of romance writing, populated by ambitious, smart, talented, creative, clever and focused women who are vying for far fewer slots and far more readers than there are to go around. I had to remind myself of the lesson I tried to teach my daughter: no matter how much I "succeed" -- there will be a Mary Jo Zotter who has a better contract, a bigger fanbase, a cooler cover, a faboo agent. But I'm not competing with her...I'm competing with me. In fact, I'm not competing at all. We are in this thing together.
And that made me think about where Mary Jo is today. Does she have moments of self-doubt, unobtained goals, unrealized hopes and dreams? Or does she celebrate the incredible gifts she's been given? I hope she does.
So, Mary Jo, if you're out there, write to me: roxannestc@aol.com. I bet we'll like each other. In fact, our friendship is many years overdue.
xoxo
Rocki
www.roxannestclaire.com
posted by Roxanne St. Claire at 6:05 AM
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Never Say Never
Come on, admit it. You have one. I have several. Everyone has something you swore, at some point in your life, that you would never do, say, embrace, believe, try, enjoy or experience. And then...voila. It is another point in your life and something has changed. The very stuff you filed under "Never" is Now.
For example, I swore I would NEVER...
- Blog. Hah!
- Go strapless. Then they invented those see-through bra straps.
- Know the words to The Barney Song. Then I had kids.
- Go to the supermarket without makeup. Then I had kids.
- Act like my mother. Then I had kids.
See? You never know. My latest NSN has four legs, one tail and the cutest ugly face you've ever seen. Until September 24 of this year, I was Not A Dog person. In fact, I was the polar opposite of a dog person. I not only didn't like dogs, I was more than a little terrified of them. Hated the smell, the sound, the disgusting activities, the very concept of a dog. Never uttered the phrase "Oh, I'd like a dog" ever ever ever.
Then I had kids. (Yes, Doctor, I see the pattern.) Persuasive, dog-wanting kids who are so darn dear that it's hard to say no. (Although I do, I swear I do!) Worse, I have a husband. A terrific, accommodating, dog-wanting husband who asks for little and does so much. And I have a job that keeps me at home nearly all day, a stable life with modest travel, a house big enough to add another tenant and...a soft heart. After a year of consideration, research, vacillation and worry, we settled on an Australian Terrier -- a breed reported to be hearty, healthy, loving and smart.
Ladies and gentlemen, NEVER say never. Never say you won't love a dog. Never say you won't feed a dog from your bare hand. Never say you won't stand outside in a hurricane (literally, although just a category 1) so the pup can do "poo tinky". In fact, you should never say you won't allow the words "poo tinky" into your vocabulary. Never, never say you won't speak English to a dog. Never say you won't ask a dog questions or share secrets with it. And you can just forget 'a dog will never be on my bed.' Or, in my case, IN my bed. Never say never.
Her name is Pepper and I have NEVER loved a non-human so much.
Long ago, I had another Never Say Never. When I finished reading a book that took me on a rollercoaster ride and left me breathless and happy and wanting to get back in line for the next thrill...I used to think, "I could never do that." But just this morning I opened an email from a woman in Wisconsin who told me she'd taken that ride and my name was on the cover. I just sat here like a fool, grinning, with tears in my eyes, a bit overwhelmed as I am every time a perfect stranger takes the time to tell me I stole her sleep and touched her heart. I never dreamed I could do that. The letter made me so happy...I read it to my puppy.
xoxo
Rocki
posted by Roxanne St. Claire at 6:20 PM
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
The Thrill of the First Time
All right....I admit it. I am a virgin, rookie, first-time blogger, as green as the hills of Ireland and not nearly as pretty. But I agreed to launch the Silhouette Desire blog this week -- welcoming readers, fans and interested parties to our brand new site (isn't it gorgeous?) and our new Desire blog. We've set it up to give ourselves a chance to share our brilliant insights (otherwise known as opinions) and get a little closer to our readers.
I have resisted blogging. I read others, fascinated by many blogger's ability to magically transform into Jerry Seinfeld, able to see amazing nuances in the mundane elements of life, and twist them in the light to make readers ponder and laugh. I write *fiction* and blogging is so real.
Since I have a January Desire (ahem! THE SINS OF HIS PAST...fabulous book, reunion romance, pro baseball hero, feisty heroine, great read...end of commercial), I agreed to be the first Desire blogger, to introduce you to Silhouette Desire blogging and kick off our new web site. Our brilliant web mistress even devised some clever questions to ask the authors -- sort of spoonfeeding us blogging ideas. I may use some of those questions this week, but I've decided to try this like a big girl. Without the crutch of prepared questions. And so I started this day looking for ideas.
Guess what? They're everywhere. The first one hit me as I opened my much loved Sunday New York Times to the Style section, where I normally spend just a few too many minutes lingering over the Chanel ads. In today's "Modern Love," a weekly column of reader-written essays on the many aspects of love in our society, the editorial proclaimed romantic comedy movies as both "a source of ridicule" and an incredible aphrodisiac that have renewed the writer's interest in sex with her husband. While the author, Lainie Keslin Ettinger of Portland, Oregon, tried a book club, dinner with friends and other activities to fill her weekly night-out-away-from-kids-to-regain-her-sanity gift from her loving husband, it wasn't until she discovered movies that she calls "embarrassing" did her marriage become re-infused with sizzling chemistry and memorable lovemaking.
Movies, she says, that are "really no different from the princess stories that captivated" her daughters. Movies with a "heady repartee of pursuit and courtship" and "where monogamous commitment begins." Movies, I might add since she didn't, that make millions at the box office, win Oscars and create household names out of Julia and Meg. These movies, she exclaims with no small amount of self-deprecation, have given her marriage zest again. These movies have made her remember the delight of falling in love, the dizziness of being seduced, giving her what she calls "renewable virginity" -- and making her "float" home from the movie theater to relive the thrill of the first time. According to the writer, movies with Meg, Reese, Renee, Sandra and even junior chick flicks with Hilary (Duff, in case you're not twelve years old) were the very thing her marriage was missing, the magic elixir that finally heated her marital sheets.
Hel-lo, Lainie!!! Read a romance novel. There are hundreds out there in every imaginable iteration and they are GOOD. Today's romance novels, whether they are fluffy comedy, dark suspense or set on another planet, are NOT the "bodice rippers" that you would hide from your highbrow friends. Come on, girlfriend. Save your $6.50 admission, the $4.00 popcorn, $2.75 soda, gas and parking and pick up a paperback. Take the ride, feel the pain, wallow in the pleasure, admire a powerful woman, lust after a challenging man, solve a murder, save a child, fall in love. It's all there in the section of the bookstore Lainie's book club would skip because Oprah, it seems, doesn't believe in fairy tales.
One of the spoonfed questions on our list had to do with why we write romance or how we started. It sure is tempting to use this electronic soapbox to wax blissfully about why I like stories with relationships at their core, how I read romance straight through my college years and all the while I held executive positions at two international marketing firms, and when I decided to pursue a lifelong dream of being a novelist I chose the genre that I loved to read. But then, if you're visiting the Silhouette Desire site...you already know why.
Thanks for the chance to lose my blogging virginity. Write to me at roxannestc@aol.com or visit my web site at www.roxannestclaire.com. And, Lainie...read our books! Your husband will thank you.
xoxo
Rocki
posted by Roxanne St. Claire at 8:58 AM
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