The Writing Playground

Its Christmastime again and where is our focus? Not on doing good and celebrating the season. Our minds are on more important matters, like, “Where’s the food?”

This holiday season, we here at the Playground bring you our annual round of recipes. Whether you are looking for something quick and easy for your family get-together or the school bake sale, you’ll find some helpful hints right here. We’re not interested in spending all day in the kitchen. There are better, more important things to do, like read and write and, okay, spend time with our families.

Instigator - I’m always looking for something quick and easy to throw together for all those holiday parties. This is one I’ve been using since I was in high school and it always goes over well with the crowd.

Dump everything together into a crock pot. Simmer until ingredients combine, stirring occasionally.

Everyone is always surprised to hear the recipe when I give it out. The grape jelly is unexpected but really adds something to the flavor of the sauce.

Problem Child - Quick and easy are two things I love, but the peanut butter, raisins, and oatmeal in these means I can claim they are healthy as well! (Bonus!) And while the Playfriends seem to know variations of this recipe under different names, we always called them No-Bake Cookies.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, cool slightly, then add:
½ c peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 c quick cook oatmeal (uncooked)
¾ c raisins

Playground Monitor - Need something to nibble on during the holidays? Something to contribute to a bake sale? A small gift for a party hostess or neighbor? This can be baked in one large loaf or in mini loaves you can put in plastic wrap and tie up with a colorful ribbon.

3 cups Bisquick
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Pour into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour 10 minutes or until done. Cool 10 minutes and remove from the pan. You can also bake in mini loaf pans. It should make at least 3 or maybe 4 mini loaves. Bake the mini loaves for 30 minutes or until done.

Smarty Pants - This is a quick and easy dip to take to parties or for entertaining at home. It's creamy, delicious and savory to offset all the sweets. People love it and I rarely take home anything but an empty dish. It's also a nice make ahead dish - have it all ready to go in the fridge, then top with the cracker crumbs and bake when you're ready to serve.

8 oz Cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 TBSP chopped green onions (optional)
1 package of bacon pieces (3 oz) Oscar Mayer Real Bacon pieces in a little pouch
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers

Soften the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Add mayonnaise, Swiss cheese, green onions, and 1/2 the bacon pieces. Mix well. Transfer to a baking dish and top with remaining bacon and crushed Ritz crackers. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly.

Serve with the crackers or chips of your choice. I find it goes nicely with more Ritz crackers or Fritos scoops.

Angel - Nuts have become the snack of choice around my house, lately, and spiced nuts make a great giveaway or addition to other gifts. I’ll be adding these to a package with a mug, cocoa packets, and some of PM’s pumpkin bread for teachers’ gifts this year. Real easy and they make the house smell delicious.

Butter a cookie sheet, then spread out the pecans. Drizzle with butter and sprinkle with season salt (to taste, I like mine with quite a bit). Stir pecans until thoroughly coated.

Bake at 300 for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch closely for burning. Nuts are done when they emit a strong roasted smell and turn dark brown.

We hope these recipes give you something new to add to your arsenal of gifts and goodies this holiday season. Happy Holidays!

As originally printed in the June 2007 issue of NINK (The Official Newsletter of Novelists, Inc.)

I recently took a cruise with my family and decided - en route - to set my next novel on a cruise ship. My heroine might even eat the same cheese soufflé I enjoyed my second night at sea, drink a dozen or so of those fruity tropical drinks I tossed back while tanning on the pool deck (what were they called again?), maybe even have a fling with that well-tanned, perfectly proportioned cabana boy (boy, did he ever earn his tip!). But if I thought using these juicy tidbits in a novel would make the trip deductible for tax purposes, I’d really be tripping.

As writers, we are constantly on the lookout for interesting locales in which to set our novels and may come up with ideas while on a personal vacation. Unless the main purpose of our travel is for business, however, we can’t deduct our travel expenses even if we happen to use information we gather on our trip in our writing.

Here’s what the IRS says. If the primary purpose of your travel is for business reasons, the trip is deductible. If the primary purpose of your travel is for personal reasons, you cannot deduct the trip. Sounds simple, huh? Once you’ve proven that the primary purpose of your trip was for business purposes, you’re done, right?

The IRS could still deny your expenses. The IRS allows you to deduct any expenses that are “ordinary and necessary” in your line of business. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in a particular industry. A necessary expense is one that is “helpful and appropriate for your trade or business.” (See IRS Publication 535 “Business Expenses.”) Arguably, travel for research purposes is not only common and accepted in the writing industry, but such travel is also generally helpful and appropriate in describing a location with authenticity. Sometimes a writer just can’t get a true feel for a setting without actually visiting the location and taking in its unique sights, sounds, and scents. Then again, many writers can’t afford the time or expense to visit every locale in which they might set their novels. Many writers simply take a trip to the library or spend a few hours in the bookstore’s travel section to perform research about a setting, without ever visiting the actual place. Hmm, the waters are getting muddier now, like the Red River that runs through Shreveport, Louisiana, to which I recently took a tax-deductible trip. Fun place!

Even if the primary purpose of travel is for research, the IRS could debate whether the travel expenses were truly “ordinary and necessary.” The good news is that the IRS generally won’t second guess a business owner unless the travel expenses are unusually lavish or extravagant, which may indicate personal enjoyment was a significant consideration for the traveler. As long as the amount of your expenses is reasonable and you can show that the main purpose of your travel was for your writing business, you should have nothing to worry about.

What if the primary purpose of a trip is for personal purposes, but you take side trips to particular destinations for research purposes? You’re in luck! Even if the main purpose of your travel is a personal vacation, you can deduct the cost of specific activities on the trip if they relate to your business. For example, let’s say my husband and I decide to take the kids to the Grand Canyon. I take a day trip south to Sedona, Arizona, because I’ve heard it’s a mystical, romantic place with fantastic rock formations and I’ve considered setting a novel there. Although I find geology interesting on a personal level, the primary purpose of my trip to Sedona is to get a feel for the place for my book. While there, I take extensive notes about the colors of the rocks and their intriguing shapes, the artistic nature of the town, the unique Pink Jeeps loaded with sunburned vacationers. Disappointingly, as a tax advisor, I am immune to the powers of Sedona’s spiritual vortexes and have no out-of-body experiences. Come tax time, while the costs of travel to and from the Grand Canyon would not be deductible, the extra costs I incurred traveling from the Grand Canyon to Sedona would be, including the terrifying, nearly vertical ride up the rocks in the Pink Jeep and the cost of having my pants dry cleaned later.

What if you drag your spouse or a friend along to keep you company? Are their expenses deductible? Probably not. You can deduct expenses for another person’s travel only if that person is your employee, has a bona fide business purpose for the travel, and would otherwise be entitled to deduct the expenses. Shucks. Moreover, the fact that a spouse or friend accompanies you may make your travel appear to be more personal than business related. It’s best to travel alone when it’s safe and reasonable to do so.

A writer once asked whether she could deduct the costs of a trip she took for research purposes that turned out to be a bust. After traveling to the location, she realized the place was not an appropriate setting for her book after all. In that case, go for it. Just because the trip proved fruitless does not transform a true business trip into a personal one. Salesmen go on fruitless sales calls all the time, but just because they fail to drum up business doesn’t mean they weren’t on the job.

Another writer asked if there are any guidelines as to when the research has to be used. She’d originally planned on writing a book set in a particular place just after she returned from her trip, but you know how that goes. Another project insisted on being finished first and it might be years before she’ll actually get around to using the information she compiled on her travels. Although the fact that the information has not yet been used might cause the IRS to question whether the trip was truly for business purposes, the writer should still claim her deductions since she knows the trip had been primarily for research. If she were audited, there was no doubt she could look the IRS agent in the eye and claim in good faith that the trip was primarily for business purposes, without having to cross her fingers behind her back.

Not sure if the primary purpose of your trip is business or personal? Ask yourself this question: “Hey, gorgeous, would you take this trip if you didn’t expect to use what you’ll learn in a writing project?” If your answer is: “No. If not for my writing, I’d stay home,” then the primary purpose of your travel is for business.

As always, it’s important to keep good records of your expenses, so be sure to hang on to any receipts. You should also keep any notes, photos, or video that you take while on the trip, as well as any brochures, maps, etc. that you collect to prove you performed research during your travels.

Don’t forget that only 50% of the cost of meals and entertainment while traveling is deductible. Be aware, too, that the allowable deduction for luxury water travel is subject to certain limits. The IRS has also established guidelines and limits for foreign travel. See IRS Publication 463 “Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses” for further details.

Oh, the places you’ll go! Oh, the expenses you’ll deduct!

For further tax tips, check out the “Tax Tidbits” page on Diane’s website, www.dianeobrienkelly.com. While you’re there, sign up for her quarterly newsletter full of tax tips and writing news!

Recently, some the Playfriends of the Writing Playground and our families ventured south to sample the delights (and occasional nightmares) of Disney World – the happiest place on earth. I couldn’t help but compare it to a writer’s happiest place on earth – the writing journey – and wonder just how the differences in writers’ different personalities and processes would lead them through this new and exciting territory called writing a book.
As an author involved in the writing community locally and on the World Wide Web, I encounter so much variety in the ways authors approach the very personal craft of writing. All different, all right for them. The choices are fascinating, yet the destination of a finished book remains the same. Let’s explore this wide, wondrous landscape to learn about these processes.

     I’ll admit up front that I’m a detailed plotter. Yes, the outlines, character photographs, storyboards, the whole nine yards. I spend weeks at this stage, just as I put my packing list together for our trip to Disney a month in advance. In fact, almost six month’s worth of planning went into the Disney trip, though the majority of the work didn’t fall to me, thank goodness. My plotting preparations allow me to thoroughly know my characters and destination before I get started, which jumpstarts my brain into fleshing out my skeleton notes with the details that will make the story come alive.
     But not everyone likes to get down and dirty with the details beforehand, because it can lead them to feel like they’ve already written the book. For everyone on the Playground that plots ahead of time, there are two other authors who like to throw their clothes in the overnight bag at the last minute and head out with only a destination in mind. The spontaneity and newness inherent in this path keeps their excitement for the project at a high level and allows them to uncover the mysteries along the way.
     Preparation time can even extend throughout the actual writing process. There are those, like me, that continue to revise, readdress, and revisit their pre-written plans throughout the process, though the majority of the work is already done. There are those who do no planning at all, simply letting their characters take them at will and only pausing when they realize they’ve written themselves into a corner and need to backtrack. There are also those who spend each night planning out which park they are going to the next day and what they want to accomplish while they are there. These authors may not have the detailed notes for the whole book already on hand, but they may do some prep work at scheduled intervals to help keep themselves on track.

The Magic Kingdom has a little bit of something for everyone, just like the romance genre. How you approach your destination, where you linger the longest, and what appeals to you the most will determine your overall experience in the end. Park time is unique to each author. Once your project is done, your traveled path will look like no one else’s.

Carousel—Carefully crafting traditional romance elements.
Peter Pan’s Flight—Losing yourself in building a fantasy world for your characters to explore.
Haunted Mansion-Setting the parameters, lore, and rules for paranormal elements.
Pirates of the Caribbean-Adding dashes of adventure to flavor the story.
Character meet and greets-Focus on character development, creating heroes and heroines that the reader will fall in love with too.
Monorail-Following a carefully laid plot from one destination to another.
Frontier Land-Creating a historical world, with carefully chosen details and the flavors of the time.
Thunder Mountain Railroad VS It’s a Small World-Setting the right pace, whether speeding around hairpin turns or meandering through a magical setting.

At the end of the day, everyone in our group had one thing (whether ride, character, or show) that they simply loved and wanted to do over and over again. But let’s face it, we didn’t all love everything. As an author, neither will you. Some parts of the manuscript will flow like a downhill stream. Others are as hard to tackle as an expert mountain climb. Give yourself permission to suffer through what you have to (can you say Small World over and over again with my youngest?) to get to the parts you really enjoy! Also, you may need to spend a great deal of time in one area, like world building, in some books but not as much in others. The choice is up to you, your characters, and your goal.

Writers face each phase of the writing journey differently, even the aftermath. One funny thing I’ve learned about myself is that I deal with the closing of a writing project about the same as I do a trip of any kind: I crash. Give me at least a day (for Disney, it was two) where I have nothing to do and no obligations. I’ll sleep late, veg on television reruns, take a nap, maybe read a book. Nothing requiring me to be coherent or perform well. As much as writing is a part of me, it requires work, stamina, and perseverance. When a project is done, I need a break.
Other people may approach it differently. Some are those mysteriously energetic people who unpack the moment they walk through the door. Me? A month later I still have a suitcase open at the end of my bed. Maybe you are energized enough by typing The End to eagerly jump into a new project or revisions on the one you just finished. Maybe you still want to write, but need a change of pace, like tackling a non-fiction article or short fiction piece. You might need to embrace the distraction of planning and plotting. No answer is right, because each author’s needs are unique.

     Authors often see someone more successful than they are, more efficient than they are, or more prolific than they are and think, “I just have to do it that way.” This isn’t necessarily true. Just because it works for that New York Times Bestseller, doesn’t mean it will do the same for you.
     That’s not to say you can’t learn something new. I often find myself tweaking my process by adding some new activity here or there, and letting go of things that aren’t working for me. Being a panster or a plotter doesn’t tie you down to one way of doing things either. You may jump in with both feet until you understand the layout of the land, then stop after chapter four to plot the rest of the book.
     There are no guidelines you must adhere to on your writing journey. All that matters is reaching the destination with a finished products and happy thoughts.

As originally printed in the July 2007 issue of NINK (The Official Newsletter of Novelists, Inc.)

The only thing worse than paying taxes is paying more tax than you have to. Yet every year taxpayers fail to claim deductions to which they are entitled. Once three years have passed since the original tax return was filed, it’s too late to amend that return and the taxpayer loses the unclaimed deductions for those years.

Non-cash contributions to charity. A taxpayer is generally entitled to deduct both cash and non-cash contributions to qualified charitable organizations, up to a limit of 50% of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. Many writing organizations qualify as tax-exempt charities because they serve educational and literary purposes. Authors often donate their books or other items to writing organizations for giveaways at conferences, in raffle baskets, or other fundraising events. You can deduct the fair market value of such non-cash items contributed to qualified organizations, regardless of how much you actually paid for the items. Thus, even if you purchased your books at a discount, you can still claim a deduction for the full market value of donated books. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s the law.

Health insurance premiums. Another commonly missed deduction for self-employed taxpayers is the deduction for health insurance premiums. Self-employed persons can deduct 100% of the cost of health insurance premiums for coverage for themselves, their spouses, and their dependents if they have a net profit and if they establish the insurance plan under their business.

Unfortunately, however, if you are covered under a health plan offered by your or your spouse’s employer, you can’t deduct any part of the premiums you pay for that coverage. Sickening, huh?

Higher education expenses. Pursuing that MFA or simply going back to school to attend a few writing courses? A variety of tax benefits are available to taxpayers who incur higher education expenses on behalf of themselves or a dependent. Tax credits may be available for tuition and other fees, as well as deductions for interest paid on student loans. To see if you qualify, check out IRS Publication 970 “Tax Benefits for Education,” available at www.IRS.gov.

Retirement contributions. Even if you participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you may also be able to open a SEP-IRA and contribute net earnings from your writing business. What’s more, you have until the tax filing deadline (generally April 15th of the following year) to contribute to your SEP-IRA. For the nitty gritty, see IRS Publication 560 “Retirement Plans for Small Business.”

Professional fees. Fees paid to a publicist, editor, agent, lawyer, accountant, or other professional are generally deductible as a business expense. If the fee relates partially to your business and partially to personal matters, such as tax return preparation fees, the amount of the fee should be pro-rated so that only the business portion is deducted on your Schedule C. Depending on the nature of the fee, the remainder may be deductible as an itemized deduction.

Losses in a no-income year. The rumor that you can only deduct your expenses if you have income in a given tax year is flat-out wrong. The truth is that if you are operating a writing business, you can deduct your expenses regardless of whether or not you received income during that particular tax year. It’s perfectly legal to claim a net loss. Moreover, given the way in which advances and royalties are paid, it’s not unusual for a writer to receive a nice chunk of change in one year and nothing the next.

Unfortunately, many alleged tax pros incorrectly advise their clients that business expenses cannot be deducted in years in which no income is received. If your tax pro says your expenses aren’t deductible, slap him across the face with a copy of this article and tell him to go back to school.

Educator expenses. A significant number of writers are also teachers. For several years now, educators have been entitled to deduct up to $250.00 of the amount they spend during the tax year on materials used in their classroom or on the job. An educator is defined as a person working in a public or private elementary or secondary school who serves 900 hours or more during the year as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide. The deduction has been available whether or not the taxpayer itemizes their deductions.

Be aware, though, that this deduction was originally set to expire in 2005 and was only at the last minute extended by Congress through the 2006 tax year. The eleventh-hour extension caused much confusion since the tax forms had already been printed without a designated line on which to report the deduction. It’s a toss up whether this deduction will continue to be allowed but, if you’re an educator, it can’t hurt to save your receipts just in case.

Telephone excise tax refund. For the 2006 tax year only, taxpayers were entitled to claim up to $60.00 as a credit for a federal telephone excise tax that was repealed. However, per communications from the IRS, many taxpayers who appeared to be entitled to the tax refund did not claim it on their returns.

Oops! I missed a deduction. What can I do? If you missed these or any other deductions in the past three years, it’s not too late to file an amended return. Returns for the 2004 through 2006 tax years can be amended by filing Form 1040X, also available on the IRS website. The IRS will even pay interest on the amount refunded to you. Wow! But don’t get too excited. That interest will be taxable.

Claim those overlooked deductions and go wild!

For further tax tips, check out the “Tax Tidbits” page on Diane’s website, www.dianeobrienkelly.com. While you’re there, sign up for her quarterly newsletter full of tax tips and writing news!

The Playfriends loaded up collectively 35 pairs of shoes and made their way to DC for the RWA National Conference in July. Amongst the minglings, we did manage to make it to several workshops. For those of you at home, we’re recapping our favorites and sharing our newfound knowledge. Put on a pair of your snappiest heels to read these and pretend you were there with us. Enjoy.

The idea of this workshop intrigued me. While I don’t consider myself a suspense writer, many of my novels have a backbone of suspense that runs through them. So I was more than willing to check this one out! One intriguing point Linda made was that suspense isn’t just about serial killers, it is about the mystery inherent in the story itself. The writer’s use of various techniques to keep the reader guessing, whether it is “who done it” or “will they ever”. Suspense is asking a question, then making the reader wait for the answer. The ideal way to create a suspenseful story is to intersperse small, medium, and large waves of suspense throughout the plot, pushing the reader forward to find the answers.

1) Create obstacles and conflicts. Identify 3 problems the protagonists face, then add 3 more, and continue to add as problems are solved throughout the book. This way you stretch the characters to the limit of their abilities.

2) Make sure the obvious solutions don’t work. Complicate the solutions so the character has to work for them, and thus showcases their desperation to achieve.

3) Start things, but don’t finish them right away. Raise questions that require a search for the answers. Set up delays that keep the hero and heroine from confronting issues at once.

4) Create uncertainty and doubt about the character’s ability to accomplish a task. Make the task something outside their comfort zone or talents, something they’ll have to strive for. But remember to keep the character sympathetic.

5) Don’t forget to create suspense on the tiniest of levels: Remember those chapter hooks! Vary sentence length and structure. Shorter sentences make for a faster read. Long sentences meander to the point.

6) Remember that setting can be utilized as a conflict. Weather, terrain, strange houses, darkness… all can create obstacles for characters.

7) Create ticking time bombs within the timeline of the plot. Characters who must marry or make a decision by a certain date, the deadline on the ransom note, the weakening of a character without the medicine they desperately need, all up the suspense factor because characters are racing against the clock.

How To Sell to the London Office of Harlequin Mills and Boon by Tessa Shapcott and Shelia Hodgston, M&B Editors
Recap by Problem Child

Okay, so I already sold to the London office, so I technically could have skipped this workshop, but I went as both moral support to a couple of friends and show the other attendees that I support HMB in all ways :-)

Even so, it was a good reminder for me as I start a new book (especially after the troubles I had with the last book). The tips Tessa and Shelia gave about how to make your proposal stand out are exactly the same things you need to keep in mind with every single book you write, so I share those tips (coupled with my interpretation) with you – whether you’re subbing to HMB or not.

1) Start with your characters and let the plot evolve from there. This is good advice for several reasons: one, your characters are the most important part of the book. Letting your plot evolve from your two, unique characters means whatever you do will have its own unique and fresh twist on whatever hooks and plot points you use. It also assures your characters aren’t doing something out of character. Secondly (as I found out the hard way), marrying yourself to a plot point ties your hands. If you’re always thinking about how to get your characters to that plot point, you’ll miss out on the possibilities that come up while you’re writing, and may have to try to force your characters into something that’s not really in them to do. This equals disaster. And many rewrites. Trust me on this.

2) Understand your conflict. You must have internal conflict for both your hero and heroine. External conflict isn’t enough to carry the book. No matter how great that external conflict is, it can’t be the focal point of your story. Use it as a jumping off point, but the meat of your story – the heart of your story – must come from inside your characters. Good internal conflict is both believable and sustainable for the length of your book.

3) Conflict isn’t argument. (Says the girl who loves to have her characters fight with snappy dialogue.) Anyone can fight and bicker, but what else is going on? Think of an argument as having two layers: what the characters are fighting about on the surface and what they are really fighting about inside. Bickering for the sake of bickering isn’t conflict, and you risk having your reader lose interest in and respect for characters who seem to be either constantly PMSing or with a major chip on their shoulder.

4) Use dialogue. The M&B editors love dialogue. They call it the “key to giving life, energy, and pace to your writing.” In my experience, keeping your characters talking means you have less of a chance of veering off into an info dump in your narrative.

5) Get your characters together quickly. Don’t wait twenty pages – or even worse, several chapters – to have them together on the page.

6) Innovate, don’t imitate. Yes, you need to keep the editorial guidelines in mind as you write, and you need to know what the line is like generally, but don’t try to be just like Kimberly Lang (I’m enough for anyone, from what I understand). They already have a Kimberly Lang; they need a different voice. Don’t be afraid to take the classic hooks and put your own twist on them. There’s a lot of room within those editorial frames to let your personality and your voice shine.

Let me just say that the London editors are fabulous – all of them. They are always looking for new voices for the lines. They really do read their slush submissions carefully, and if they see something they like, they’ll work with you.

And I’ll go ahead and put in a plug for the current contest the London office is running. Submit a synopsis and first chapter for a Presents novel for a chance to win an editor for a year. All the details are available on the I (Heart) Presents blog (www.Iheartpresents.com). They’ve already bought several of the entrants – not just the winners from last year’s contests.

“You Say Tomato, I Say To-Motto: How Character Motto Influences Plot, Conflict and Other Story Elements” by Susan Gable
Recap by Playground Monitor

I must admit I had no idea what a character motto was, but being a fan of George Gershwin, the title of this workshop intrigued me. Once I stopped humming about tomatoes, tomahtoes, potatoes and potahtoes, I found this to be quite an interesting class.

Susan Gable defines character motto as “a deeply held personal belief, stemming from the character’s backstory, that impacts the way s/he views the world and the way s/he behaves.”

For example your hero’s motto might be “Look out for number one” because in his childhood no one ever cared enough about him to make sure he was okay. He was picked on at school because of his shabby clothes and the teacher chastised him in class for not having the proper paper and pencils. As an adult, he vowed never to suffer again if he could help it.

His motto may be revealed in setting details and behavior, such as the fancy car he drives or the luxury condo he rents at the beach every summer for a week.

The real fun comes when you make your character act in a way that’s completely opposite his motto. Have him make a promise to a dying friend so that he has to start taking the focus off himself and look out for someone else. And if that someone else is the heroine, you’re going to have some interesting interaction, especially if their mottos are at odds.

According to Gable, the motto, the theme (motto of the overall book) and the conflict will develop as you write the story. Let yourself dig deep into the characters’ biggest fears and make them face those fears. Remember Indiana Jones’s fear of snakes? And what did the movie script do to him? They put him in a snake pit.

Make one character’s fear what the other one has to learn. A heroine who sees the world through rose-colored glasses is paired with a hero who trusts no one. A hero who lives life to the fullest is paired with a heroine who can’t take chances.

When you pit your characters’ mottos and fears against each other, when you take those characters, put them up a tree and start shooting at them (figuratively, of course), you have great conflict, a strong character arc and hopefully a book an editor wants to buy.

You can learn more about Susan Gable at her website, www.susangable.com.

You Get Me Where I Live: Why Your Manuscript’s Missing Your Reader by Tara Parsons, Patience Smith, Krista Stroever, and Denise Zaza
Recap by Smarty Pants

Brave souls attending this workshop were told to bring the first two pages of their manuscript to be read aloud and evaluated on the spot by the varied panel of Harlequin editors. Although I attended, I hadn’t prepared in advance and was not one of those who got told their babies were ugly in front of fifty other people. I have to say the editors were tactful, but honest in their evaluations.

I’ve heard a million times how important the first page or even the first line can be, but this workshop really drove it home in a frightening way. They said that in the developing world of digital publishing, the reader can’t flip over the book and read the cover copy. They read the first page, so it must take the place of the punchy book synopsis. It’s got to reach out and grab the reader, grab the editor and make them keep reading.

Here were a few highlights:

1) The opening line is so important. At least eight manuscripts were eliminated on the first line for having the exact same, predictable openings. Make sure you have a voice, even in that first line. Don’t open with a name. Don’t open with dialogue. Do something different that hooks the reader without resorting to over the top gimmicks. Make them ask questions and want to read more.

2) Start the book off with action, not setup. Something must be going on. They held up multiple samples with characters driving cars, talking on the phone, relaxing, taking in the scenery or thinking about how bored they are. If that’s where your story starts, you’re starting in the wrong place.

3) Provide enough detail in the first page or two for authenticity, but not enough to glaze over the reader or overburden them. Don’t introduce six characters right away. Don’t go into a detailed description of something insignificant. Don’t rattle off a bunch of dialogue. Drop the reader into the world you’ve created and give them time to adjust and grow with the characters. You’ve got hundreds of pages so don’t throw it all in the first two.

4) The last and most important thing they mentioned was to make your writing stand out (in a good way.) Let your story and your voice sweep the editor away and capture their attention. Sadly, they didn’t elaborate on how exactly to do that, but I say to let your voice shine and start off with a bang.

That's it! Hope you enjoyed our quick overview of DC (we of course left out the evenings in the bar and agonizing over our hairdos, but you get the big picture. :)

Unless you count letters to the editor in Cosmopolitan and TV Guide, I began my writing career in late 1999. I’d discovered a television show in syndicated reruns, and while searching for info on it, I found a message board devoted to the show. It included a section for something I’d never heard of – fan fiction.

I read some stories and they ranged from very good (two authors from this fandom currently write historical romance for big New York houses) to very bad. At some point the words “I can do this” flitted through my brain, and I wrote my first story in early 2000. It’s still posted online (and no, I’m not telling you where) and when I read those early efforts I cringe.

I knew nothing about story structure, point of view, speaker attributions, dialogue tags or the magic words “Goal, Motivation and Conflict.” I just slapped words on paper and let ’er rip.

In 2001, someone began posting a series of really well-written stories. She garnered all sorts of praise and finally admitted she’d paid her way through college writing romance novels. We huddled around like birds in the park, ready for whatever bits of information she’d toss our way. She even convinced several fanfic writers their work was good enough to sell.

Then someone recognized the story she was writing and said it was a category romance from Harlequin. Before we made any public allegations of plagiarism, I was tasked with finding a copy of the book to make sure she’d actually lifted passages from it.

Passages? Oh no. She’d copied word-for-word, changing only the character names and location. She was banned from the message boards and her posts were deleted. And obviously those of us who’d been scrabbling around for her bits of wisdom tossed those bits out. Who wants to take advice from a plagiarist?

Something good came from that incident. I discovered romance novels. I loved the one I read to verify the plagiarism and went back to the store to find more of her books. I combed the internet for websites about romance novels. I found author sites and a site where authors chatted almost nightly.

One of those chats led me to an author whose books I adored, and I emailed and told her so. A year later when her husband set up a website community for romance writers, he asked me if I’d consider the job of review coordinator. I jumped on this and in addition to reviewing, I also moderated chats. I got to chat with authors from all genres as well as a champion rodeo bull rider and a Navy SEAL.

I sat back and took in all the information these published writers gave out during the chats. They were the real deal, and their information was spot on. The dream of writing began to emerge again, but this time I wasn’t going to use someone else’s characters or the universe they’d developed. This time it would be my own hero and heroine and whatever situation I put them in.

I started a novel, joined RWA and went to my first national conference all by myself. I attended a workshop during every time slot until I finally hit the wall on Friday night and fell asleep in the middle of a presentation. My brain was on overload and my body was beyond exhausted.

I came home all fired up to finish my novel. I’d also joined my local RWA chapter and began to attend meetings. God gave us all two eyes, two ears and one mouth, and I’ve heard using them in that proportion is a good plan. So I watched, I listened and I learned about story structure, point of view, speaker attributions, dialogue tags and the magic words “Goal, Motivation and Conflict.”

But I didn’t finish the book. Instead, I began another one. I had the first two pages critiqued by a multi-published category writer during a workshop at the 2005 RWA conference in Reno, and she had good things to say about it. I began outlining the book, targeting it for a particular category line. Then they changed their guidelines and I just couldn’t make the book fit. I couldn’t turn my flawed but loveable hero into a jerk.

So I abandoned it and turned my attention to writing for the confessions magazines where I’ve enjoyed considerable success. But every time someone in our chapter got their PRO pin, I felt just a little bit envious, which was silly because all I had to do was do the work and I could get a PRO pin too.

As writers we worry about whether our characters are properly motivated, but who or what motivates the writer? Some are motivated by money, a contract and a deadline, others by the sense of satisfaction from putting words on paper and still others by the hope of fame and glory. I enjoy writing – sometimes – but I had no contract to nudge me to finish a manuscript. Of course, without a finished manuscript I had no hope of ever having a contract. The same goes for fame, though I’ve been around the business long enough to know that not everyone is a Nora or a Linda Howard or a Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Then last fall, one the Writing Playground’s Angel gave a short presentation at our RWA meeting about National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. In short, it’s a novel-writing program where one puts words onto the page in hopes of writing a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. Quantity is stressed over quality. You create word vomit. Yep, you read that right. Get the story on paper first; you can edit and revise later.

When she first talked about the program, I thought anyone who participated must be one French fry short of a Happy Meal. Then the following month our chapter had its fall retreat at a beautiful mountain location. We relaxed, we had fun, we ate a lot, we had a murder mystery party and we also had a plotting session. And for the first time ever I took a deep breath and tossed out the book with two chapters. I got great feedback and suggestions from the group, and slowly the idea of finishing it during NaNoWriMo began to take shape.

NaNoWriMo started two weeks later, so if I was going to participate, I had to prepare. I sifted through years of notes and put them in order by chapters (or my estimation of chapters). I even made a plotting board. And on November 1, 2008, I began to write.

I had to write 1667 words every day to hit my goal. Some days I did, other days I didn’t, and still other days I wrote double or triple that to stay on task. My family ate a Thanksgiving dinner I ordered from the grocery store deli and I put off Christmas shopping until the first of December. Some days I hit my word count by noon; other days I hit it at 3:00 AM, and I’d swivel my desk chair around and fall onto the futon in my office to sleep.

On Saturday, November 29, I went to the bookstore for a write-in with Angel, and somewhere around 5:00 PM I typed the fifty-thousandth word. I uploaded my manuscript to the NaNoWriMo website and a screen popped up and declared me a winner. I put my laptop in my car and walked through the shopping center by the bookstore. The air was brisk, the Christmas lights were sparkling and I’d just finished writing fifty thousand words. I felt as if I were walking six inches above the pavement. I had no idea how good the accomplishment was going to feel.

But I had one little problem. The book wasn’t finished. I spent December preparing for the holidays. I spent the first part of January undecking the halls and getting ready for a vacation. And then in mid-January, eHarlequin.com announced an online pitch contest. Writers could enter a one-page single-spaced synopsis for a FINISHED manuscript for a chance to win one of five slots to pitch to a Silhouette Special Edition editor.

Ooookay. I came back from vacation and promptly came down with the worst cold I’d had in years. The synopsis was due by March 4, so I still had time. Once the cold had eased, I began writing the two missing chapters and I struggled miserably. It sucked; it sucked big time. But I’d come too far to quit, so I pushed on and emailed the synopsis of my first draft on February 27. All I could do then was wait until the five finalists were announced on March 9.

That was the longest morning in my life and to top it off, I got my first-ever speeding ticket. When the announcement was made, I wasn’t one of the five. I was one of ELEVEN writers picked to pitch just three days later.

After I finished screaming and letting everyone know I’d finaled, I emailed everyone I knew who'd ever done an online pitch and got some great advice. They told me to be able to hone in on the characters' conflict, to be able to verbalize what made my book perfect for Special Edition and to be able to rattle off the hooks used in the story.

One writer told me she’d been asked what authors she read and what Harlequin/Silhouette lines she liked. "Tell them what else you've written," another said. "Let them know about all the stories you've sold to the confessions magazines. And if she asks, let her know you're involved in RWA."

Smarty Pants read the first three chapters for me in case I got asked to send a partial. Another chapter mate read them too and even met with me at the coffee shop to help me drill down the conflict to its core. And a third person read the entire book and offered some very constructive criticism that would make the story stronger. Can you say “self confidence issues?”

The day prior to the pitches, I learned I was second in the line-up. Because there were so many of us, we only had ten minutes each with the editor. "Let her take the lead and ask questions," we were told. So that's what I did. I also used all the other advice and I made a cheat sheet -- a Word document open in another window so I could cut and paste if applicable.

Then before I knew it, my turn came. I took a deep breath and entered the chat room. After telling me she had a giggle over the title (and adding she hoped I wasn't offended by that -- and I definitely wasn't) the editor said she loved the premise and it was "classic SSE."

"Can you tell me a bit more about the characters and conflicts?" she asked next.

She then asked me to clarify a bit of the external conflict and I answered that one off the cuff.

Next she asked about a turning point in the book and I answered that one off the cuff too because it's one of my favorite parts of the book. "They seemed to have such an intense emotional connection I wondered if this was about the sex or the relationship, but I see you just answered that! J His plan adds an interesting subtext."

Second sigh of relief despite not knowing I had interesting subtext. Sometimes you just get lucky.

After she asked me what the hero did for a living and I explained, she said, "Well, I would definitely like to see the full ms for this, since it's got so many classic elements which do well for SSE. Can you send it to me at the New York office?"

I spent the next month editing and revising and polishing with the goal of sending it in on my birthday, which was also Good Friday and the day my weather alert radio kept shrieking. At one point the civil defense sirens forced me to the utility closet with a battery-powered radio, my manuscript and a green pen (I don’t edit in red because I hate the sight of so much blood).

At about 6:00 PM that afternoon, I dropped my manuscript into the chute at the post office and the wait began.

Remember the PRO pin I mentioned earlier? My pitch contest entry qualified me for PRO and I received my pin at my next chapter meeting.

Lots of people would say I was pretty lucky. I agree. I define luck as that point where opportunity meets preparedness. Opportunity knocked and I got ready for it.

So what motivated me to finish the damn book? For so long I’d watched other people write books, and I finally decided I wanted to stop being one who couldn’t.

“Slush Pile” is almost a bad word. No one wants to be in the Slush Pile – they clamor for pitch appointments, enter contests, and try every trick in the book to bypass the Pile. You’d think it was one of Dante’s Circles of Hell the way people try to avoid it.

But the Slush Pile isn’t a bad place. Many great authors have been bought from the Slush – including yours truly. Sure, it’s not fancy and it doesn’t give you a really cool story to tell folks that leaves them gaping, but the Slush Pile is a time-honored and tested way of getting the attention of an editor and selling your first book.

So how can you stand out in the Slush? How do you get a overworked editor who’s read dozens of submissions already today to notice you? They’re pretty basic and straightforward, but here are my tips for climbing to the top of that heap.

1. Follow the guidelines. It sounds so simple, but you’d be amazed at how many people don’t bother to do their homework. Do they want just a synopsis? Three chapters? Five pages? One chapter? Any particular format? (Don’t stress too much over fonts, etc. If it’s important to the editor that you use Verdana but not Ariel, they’ll specify it in the guidelines. Otherwise, just use good old basic manuscript format.) Snail or email? Do they accept attachments?

2. Be professional. Following the guidelines is part of presenting yourself professionally, but there’s more. If you’re submitting by snail mail, don’t get cute. No glitter, no pink unicorn paper with purple ink. Don’t bind your manuscript with a pair of handcuffs (a rubber band is all you need). Don’t send chocolates or gifts. All they really want is a good book. If you’re submitting by email, be sure your spam filter is set to receive messages without making them jump through flaming hoops.

3. Write a good query letter. This is the first thing the editor is going to read; be sure it’s clean, free of typos and well-written. Be sure to include your contact information. Basically, your query letter needs three paragraphs, minimum.

Paragraph one: Title, genre, word count.

Paragraph two: Your pitch. Kira has an article in the archives about crafting a pitch. The exact same rules apply here. Get the editor interested in your book and give them enough info to know they want to read it.

Paragraph three: About you – if you have writing credentials, here’s the place to list them. If your education or career is important, list it. Don’t waste time or space telling them about your dog or your kids or your newbie-ness. What they really care about is your book.

This is a business letter, so stick to business. I’m not saying you have to be overly formal; because of my personality, my query letters tended to have a lighter tone. But letting your voice or your personality come through in the letter doesn’t mean you get to go over the top with cute or whimsy or write your query letter in the voice of your protagonist.

4. Write a good, clear synopsis. Yes, synopses suck. You gotta write them anyway. There are many fine articles by people smarter than me out there on the internet about writing a good synopsis. Google it. My main advice is to keep it short, let the tone of the book show through. As Miss Snark used to say, the main purpose of a synopsis is to make sure that aliens don’t suddenly arrive in chapter 14. Be sure you tell how the book ends. If the editor only wants a query letter and synopsis first, this is your chance to shine. Make both the best you can.

5. Send the pages they ask for – and make them good. Yes, this goes back to follow the guidelines: send the amount of material they ask for. And if you can send pages off the bat, count your blessings. As much as folks get all excited about pitching face-to-face with an editor, it always boils down to the writing. (Here’s the advantage the Slush Pile has over Pitching.) Make sure your pages shine. THIS is what’s going to get the editor’s attention. Your storytelling skills, your writing, your characters – if those are good, it will trump your synopsis (trust me, I re-wrote almost an entire book).

6. Be patient. Yes, the lag time is difficult. These things take time. The guidelines should give you an approximate response time. Plan to wait that long plus half that time again. Then you can follow up (in the same manner you queried: snail or email). Write a reminder on your calendar of when you should be checking back, then go do something else. Like write another book.

Don’t sneer at the Slush Pile. The editors aren’t. If they didn’t want to find new authors, they wouldn’t accept unagented submissions at all. As far as I can tell, I’m not treated any differently from any other writer just because I came through the Slush Pile and they got an editor’s attention some other way. (And agent Slush Piles work much the same way. Same rules apply.)

So finish your book and polish that query letter. The Slush Pile awaits you.

Hidden Treasure-Historical Truth : A Pirate’s Life for Me
By Katherine Bone

“Yo ho! Yo ho! A Pirate’s life for me.” Piracy dates back to the 7th century B.C. Attacks at that time were limited to the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas where kings like Assyrian King Sennacherib tried to stop pirates from terrorizing the Straits of Hormuz. In the 4th century A.D., Alexander the Great led an unsuccessful campaign against pirates in the Mediterranean. Women and girls were captured and traded for ransom by Greek corsairs in the 3rd century B.C. In 67 B.C., the Roman General Pompey led a mighty fleet to force pirates out of the Mediterranean and during the 1st century A.D., Emperor Trajan tried to do the same. In the 8th century, Vikings brought piracy to Europe. Their descendants, the Normans, conquered Britain paving the way for Eustace the Black Monk to terrorize the English Channel until his beheading in 1217.

During the 15th century, piracy found a golden age when the Americas were discovered and Spain returned with Galleons weighted down with gold. Among pirates, freebooters, stemming from the Dutch vrijbuiter (vrij, “free”, buiter, “booty”), men like Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake were enticed to privateer for the Crown, an act which gave them special permission to raid Spanish Galleons. This was legally done providing Hawkins and Drake, and other known Captains, could produce an official license signed and sealed by the Crown. Failure to produce this sealed letter resulted in death as in the case of William Kidd who was tried for piracy in 1701. Kidd claimed his crew had mutinied and vehemently protested his innocence, claiming he had a privateering license to prove it. When the letter was never produced, Captain Kidd was forced to ‘dance the hempen jig’.

‘Dead men tell no tales’, unless their bodies are left to rot hanging in chains, sending a macabre warning to all pirates to ‘belay’ their ‘addled’ ways. Alas, in Captain Kidd’s case, the irony is profound. Recent evidence proves the Captain’s privateering license was legitimate. A London Public Record’s Office amazingly found Captain William Kidd’s official letter in the early 1900’s, 200 years after his hasty execution.

Piracy in the Caribbean, whether legal or not, enticed seamen out of their droll existence. A pirate’s life was riddled with danger and most did not live past 28 years old. However, those statistics did not stop men from seeking to escape nagging wives or the law. Most pirated willingly, thirsting for adventure and freedom. And there were instances aplenty where men were waylaid or consigned to a pirate’s crew when drunk, after battle, or during surrender of a captured ship. Being pressed into service and swearing allegiance to a Captain’s flag often proved more entertaining than death, but depending upon the Captain, being part of the crew could also be a living hell.

A life at sea was mixed with scurvy, disease, and deprivation which killed more men than a broadside or the hangman’s noose. On the sea, stores of beef, pork, butter, and oatmeal were often depleted or spoiled. Men were subjected to eating rats or ‘hard-tack’, biscuits oftentimes riddled with weevils, in order to stay alive. Beer was the preferred drink and most ships carried 10,500 gallons of it to pacify the crew. Having 3,500 gallons of rum on board did much to allay mutiny. Traditionally, rum was watered down and flavored with sugar and lemon into something called ‘grog’. Be it, beer, rum or grog, anything was better than the alternative… drinking slimy, foul water.

Captains varied from ship to ship. Some had severe rules and breaking them brought about inventive modes of punishment. Aboard ship there was to be no women, stealing, secrets, violence, dirty weapons or danger. Historically, rare few walked the plank. But the fact remains, no matter the punishment, the results were horrendous.

     * By Moses Law, a man could not survive more than 40 lashes so men were usually given 39 instead. Yet stories prevail of men receiving 100 and living to tell the tale.
     * The Cat-o’-Nine-Tails was a whip with 9 knotted thongs interlaced with sharp objects and made of cow or horse’s hide, which filleted the skin off men’s backs.
     * Marooning was especially harsh. Men were stranded on an island without food or water, their only saving grace, a pistol with one shot to end their lengthy suffering.
     * Sweating involved forcing men to run by cutlass point around the main mast until they collapsed in exhaustion often bloodied from continuous poking. If still alive, victims were placed in a barrel filled with bugs who then feasted upon exposed flesh.
     * Keelhauling was doubly feared. Stripped naked, men were tied to ropes, thrown overboard and pulled under the ship, down, around and up, until their bodies were bloodied by razor-sharp barnacles or eaten by sharks.
     * Men were tossed into Davy Jone’s Locker, shot at, oftentimes dragged behind the ship at the end of a rope until overtaken by hypothermia or until they drowned.

To achieve success on the high seas, Captains needed a firm backbone, steady hands, strict rules, and a worthy crew. Each member was expected to pull his own weight, to do what he was told, or to suffer the consequences. Mutiny, windless sail, and a fleet of pursuing vessels were a Captain’s worst nightmare. Whether dictator or a democratic leader, an elected or selected Captain maintained order at all times.

     * Aiding the Captain on his voyage was the First Mate/Quartermaster, who was the Captain’s right-hand man, a man who handled rations and meted out punishment.
     * The Boatswain or Bosun was a Junior Officer in charge of rigging, sails, and keeping the ship’s decks clean.
     * The Carpenter replaced damaged wood, plugged holes, and often times performed surgery on the injured when a surgeon wasn’t present.
     * The Gunner had to be an accurate marksman with years of experience. But ideally, the entire crew knew everything about the guns and how to operate them.
     * A Surgeon was, at times, hard to find. He performed amputations, repaired other injuries and treated disease.
     * Powder Monkeys were young boys responsible for loading and cleaning the guns.
     * Finally, the Cabin Boy was the youngest crew member who assisted the cook and cleaned the Captain’s cabin.

In whatever ship commandeered, Galleon, Sloop, Schooner or Frigate, pirate Captain’s flew special flags commonly referred to as the Jolly Roger. Many believe the term comes from the French joli rouge, pretty red, which developed into Jolly Roger because some pirates flew red flags. It has also been suggested that Jolly Roger stems from the English word ‘roger’ for vagabond, and ‘Old Roger’ a common reference for the devil. Recently, a connection has been made to the Knights Templar who flew a red flag with crossed bones when they disbanded in 1312 and began to rove the seas.

Ideally, pirate Captains designed their own flag to employ a personal brand. Whether red or black, skull and crossbones, skull and cutlass, devil, skeleton, or arm wielding cutlass, the anticipated reaction of the Jolly Roger was realized time and again amid the haunting strains of “Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate’s life for me.”

Check out more articles on historical life and times at Kathy’s website, www.kathybone.com .

Everyone’s path to publication is different. We all start at different times and at different places in our lives. Some wait until after the kids are grown and gone while others pound on the laptop with a baby in their lap. Some people spend years perfecting one book while some crank out manuscript after manuscript. We all write different types of stories with our own unique voices.

Aside from the few people who sell their first book right out the gate (which we are given free license to privately despise out of pure green envy) there’s usually a familiar learning curve for us all. We all start out not knowing what we’re really doing. We write, enter contests, get feedback, and write some more. After a couple books, a couple contest placements or even wins, and a couple ‘good’ rejection letters, you’re on the right path. It might take four or even fifteen books to the ultimate goal of having your book published, but you’re learning and growing.

Now you’re getting close to selling. You can feel it. Everyone keeps telling you how close you are. That editor or agent has had your full manuscript for a few months now ─ okay, exactly ten months and four days. Don’t act surprised, you know exactly how long your projects have been out too, despite how you might try to distract yourself with other things. No news is good news, right? In the meantime, you’ve started and maybe even finished more books, done research or taken classes on subjects for future projects, taken time out to recharge your batteries, and even stooped so far as to clean off your desk. (Tragic, I know.)

I think this is one of the most frustrating places for an author to be. The almost-sold zone. We can all learn and improve our writing throughout our careers, no doubt, but you reach that place ─ that point where all the feedback is good and it's simply a matter of finding the right editor at the right time with the right project ─ the Wicked Publishing Triangle ─ more mysterious than the Bermuda Triangle, more frustrating than a Rubik’s Cube. This is where the head banging truly starts.

“You know that place where almost being published meets I’m so frustrated I could give up? I’m there.”

So close. So far. You’re in limbo. When you hit this point, you know it. Before, when you sent things out, you would go back to the familiar cycle of entering contests, sending drafts to critique partners, and starting something new.

Now, entering contests doesn’t really make any sense. You’ve already done well in that area, already have a book with the editor you’re after ─ it’s really just a waste of money unless you need that ego boost. I only enter the Golden Heart now, and not because I think it will help me sell my book, but because I want to be a finalist and be involved in all that hoopla at Nationals. Critique partners start sending back nearly untouched copies of your book with a note that says, “I loved it. This is THE one.”

It all sounds wonderful. You’re hovering on the edge. And yet, there you hang. And hang. And hang. The only step left is the biggest one. The sale. You feel like your progress has come to a screeching halt because you can't take that leap on your own. You stand there, hold your breath, and wait. Then you turn blue. Then you give in and start breathing again before you pass out. Then you start to get irritated. Then you start to look behind you at everyone else and the pressure builds. And yet, there you stay. You see others pass you by. And you think about throwing in the towel.

I think the problem with being in this spot is that it leaves the author little control. In this industry, whether you're published or unpublished, all you can ever really control is your writing. You can’t do anything about who does or doesn’t want your book or how the cover will look. You don’t get to determine the print run or if you get in a book club. All you can control is the writing. As a bona fide control freak, this makes me insane. But I’m working on it. I don’t really have a choice in the matter.

So why is it that being so close, you’re more convinced than ever that it might never happen? I think it’s a mind game. My ego trying to convince me to quit writing before the industry squishes me like a bug.

This is really less of an article and more of a shot of encouragement. I wish I could offer five steps to guarantee publication, but that's just not reality. At this point, all I can pass along is the wise advice given to me. This is the absolute worst time to give up. This is the time to soldier on, keep pushing. You’ll get there. We all will. As long as we keep fighting.

How do you make your characters pop off the page? What makes them the kind of people your readers stay up till midnight for only to open their eyes in the morning consumed yet again with their story?

Uh, I’m not sure. As long as I’ve been writing, I’ve struggled to find the answer to these questions. Just when I think I might, maybe, possibly have the answer... Yeah, no. Something happens – like revisions, critiques or just rereading my work - and I realize I don’t quite have it.

Since coming up with believable, interesting, likable characters is something I constantly struggle with, I recently decided to take a class – Plotting via Motivation with Laurie Schnebly Campbell at WriterU (writeruniv.com). And while I don’t think I learned anything I didn’t already know, I discovered something about myself.

I need to be constantly reminded about the characterization tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years. And I think that’s where my problem boils down to – I get into writing and start focusing on how to fit all the pieces of my puzzle together, and forget to remember the people – and picture – that’s forming on the page in front of me.

So, now that I’ve shared my personal revelation maybe I should share the characterization tips that I was so eloquently reminded of in the class.

Likeability factor – people generally want to read about nice people. There’s a simple reason for this – as the reader we tend to place ourselves in the role of the main character. And in a romance we tend to fall in love with the opposite character. We don’t want to be a mean and nasty person, nor do we want to think we’d fall in love with someone who’s despicable.

Ultimately though, you can’t make your characters too perfect. Perfect human beings aren’t interesting – or really likable for that matter. We all know someone who thinks they’re the end all and be all...my guess is you probably avoid that person as much as possible. And we don’t want anyone avoiding our characters!

Everyone has a flaw – and your characters should too. Something they don’t like about themselves. An inner seed where their desires aren’t very noble or heroic. What’s the one thing about them that they’d prefer no one in the world knew? Or the one thing about themselves they’d readily change?

Motivation – Yes, I realize this should probably be a no-brainer but I don’t just mean the character’s motivation for the overall story – although knowing that and keeping it front and center in your mind as you write is important. I mean their motivation at each step, in each scene, at each turning point, at each crucial relationship moment. How does what they want in that moment align or oppose their overall goals and motivations for the story? If they’re acting against what they’ve said they want, why? And would they really act that way?

Another thing to keep in mind as you set up your characters at the beginning of the story; you have a greater source of conflict if you set their motivations and goals to oppose each other. Although, giving them the same goal but providing the characters with opposing ideas on how to reach that goal can accomplish the same thing. It’s easy to realize that a character who wants freedom probably won’t see eye-to-eye with a character who wants nothing more than family. But how about two characters that want safety above all else? One’s idea of achieving that is locking themselves into a closet until the danger passes. The other’s is to pursue the danger and eliminate it at all costs. Lots of room for conflict when they disagree about the approach to achieving their goal.

The Power of Why – My four year old daughter certainly understands the power of why – it drives mommy to frustrated fits when repeated incessantly. But when you’re digging into the motivation of your character that one simple word is undeniably important. It’s so easy to simply scratch the surface, come up with something that’s believable and maybe entertaining. But the deeper we dig into a character’s motivation the stronger and more dynamic their story will be. The one thing that struck me as the golden piece of wisdom from Laurie’s class was that you keep digging and tormenting your character with questions and whys until you get to the thing that makes them unheroic. Because at that point they’re real – and like us. Until then they’re just the hero in a story doing the heroic thing. And while pleasant on the surface, that isn’t the kind of story that will keep you up at night until two AM.

A flawed character fighting outside sources and inside demons makes for a much more interesting and gripping read. Especially when we know at the end they’re going to triumph over everything and not only find the thing they most desire, but fall in love with the person that makes them better and whole.

I’m certain I’m not the only one who’s ever read a book with flaws - maybe some not so great writing, plot holes or contrived situations. But as long as the characters enmeshed in those contrived plot points have grabbed at my heart strings and caught my attention I continue on for the ride because I CARE about what happens to them.

While there isn’t a formula or magic code for writing interesting and emotionally gripping characters I definitely think these tricks will help me make mine as compelling as I possibly can. I hope they help you as well. And if you ever have the chance to take a class from Laurie Schnebly Campbell I highly recommend it!

Open up the RWR and you'll see how every chapter and their sister is running a contest. You hear about finals that lead to requests that lead to sales. It's easy to see why many new writers think contests are the path to publication – after all, slush piles are too slow, it's impossible to get an agent, and editor pitches are the scariest thing on earth.

There are many writers who can trace their “Call” back to a contest entry. There are many more who can't. And contest finals and wins are no more a guarantee to sale than a ouija board's assurance.

Even though folks told me contests were a crap shoot, I still entered them, crossed my fingers, and then got ulcers over the results. Contests can be very helpful. It's like the old adage: If one person calls you an ass, ignore it. If two people call you an ass, ignore it. If three people call you an ass, ignore it. If four people call you an ass, get fitted for a saddle. If a manuscript does the contest rounds and you keep getting the same comments, you might want to give them some thought. But at the same time, you get random comments from unknown persons that can bring joy or kill your soul. But how do you know?

The answer is, you don't. You just have to listen to your gut when you get contest results back in order to decide which ones have merit and which ones were written by judges clearly off their meds.

In order to make my point, I'm going to break the vow of silence we all seem to take when it comes to scores and tell you mine. Both of my 2009 books—The Secret Mistress Arrangement and The Millionaire's Misbehaving Mistress-- made the contest rounds before they sold. (Under different names, of course.) I won't name the contests, but here are some of the results.

TSMA:
Contest 1: Out of a possible 100, I received a 92 from Judge 1 and a 63 from Judge 2. (One point away from getting an discrepancy judge.) The first thing I learned from this contest was not to enter contests that only offered two judges in the first round. After all, with scores that far apart, which judge was to be believed? Judge 2 said my writing wasn't easy to read, the story had too much padding, and the dialog was too chit-chatty. Both judges said I needed to work on showing, not telling.

Contest 2:
Out of a possible 130, my scores were a 123, a 99, and 130. Comments included show, don't tell, needed more conflict, needed more spark.

Contest 3: On a 9-point scale, I got a 8, 6, 6.5, and an 8. Comments included GMC (3 judges) and no compelling hook.

And finally, the all important Golden Heart: 7.5, 7, 7, 8, 7 (for a total of 36.50, just barely squeaking me in to the 2nd quarter). Of course, no comments on the GH, but I think all of those 7s put me firmly in the “meh” category.

Contest 1:
I did really well in this one—out of a possible 100 points, I got 100, 100, 100, and 93. I also got a full request from the judging editor (which she never had a chance to read since I sold book one to a different editor after I sent it to her and had to pull it from consideration).

Contest 2:
I knew I would only get two judges this time, but I was flying high from the awesome scores in contest one and feeling pretty good about myself. Judge One said it was excellent and even recommended an editor she thought would like to read it. Judge Two called me a racist, said my writing was stiff, told me to find a critique partner and suggested I get a thesaurus. Ahem.

Oh, and the Golden Heart? 8.8, 8.5, 8.7 and 5.5 (37.8, Top quarter). 5.5? Isn't that the equivalent of “don't quit your day job, honey”?

For clarity, I'll tell you that Book One was the first book I ever wrote and Book Two was my third full manuscript. Book Two was a lot stronger out of the gate just because I'd learned so much in the meantime.

So what did I learn from the contests? Well, I did learn that my conflict is often not as clear to the reader as it is to me. After crying on many a writer's shoulder, I learned that I had a strong voice that was likely to polarize readers into loving or hating me (and I was told to just deal with that—you can't please every reader). There were times the scores had me questioning if I had any talent at all, and a particularly harsh critique on a different manuscript nearly caused me to give up.

What should you learn from my experience? Contests are a crap shoot. Yes, but we all knew that already. I guess the most important thing I want you to take away from this is that contests – while fabu in many ways – are not the be-all, end-all ONLY path to publication. A manuscript might not do well in contests, but the first round of most contests aren't judged by editors, and it's the editors you are trying to get the attention of. I'm not saying those first chapters were perfect, but they were good enough to get the attention of an editor, and that's what was important.

I have fond memories of the slush pile – after all, I came out of it. If you are killing yourself in contests (and reaping lots of heartache) because you're trying to bypass the slush pile, why? Keep entering contests, use the feedback, bask in any glory you get, but submit the old-fashioned way as well.

You might just find an editor likes your stuff better than contest judges do. And, after all, isn't that what you're really wanting to hear?

True Confessions, True Story, True Love, True Romance and True Experience (hereafter referred to as the Trues) are magazines published by Dorchester Media and have been around for generations. My mother told me she read them as a teenager in the 1940’s.

In April of 2004, an email loop for aspiring writers hosted a chat with a woman who had enjoyed considerable success writing for these magazines. I wasn’t able to attend the chat, but they posted a transcript.

I studied the information she gave and wracked my brain for a story idea. The first story that popped into my head was about a family member, her philandering husband and a woman she thought was his mistress. I began writing it and then stopped for some reason. (Let’s just say I’m easily distracted.)

Fast forward to late 2005 and I discovered a Yahoo group for people who write for the Trues. I joined, read through all the archived messages, asked a ton of questions, and when the editor asked for IRS horror stories, I wrote one. I mailed it on February 2, 2006 and on March 3, 2006, I received a contract in the mail for it. I’m sure the scream I let out caused dogs to bark two or three counties away.

Confessions (and I will use this term to refer to stories for all five magazines) are always written in first person point of view and use past tense. They are written as if YOU are telling the story to your best friend, and you’re telling her about something that happened yesterday, last month or even five years ago.

My granddaddy always said there was nothing certain in life but death and taxes. As I stood in the blistering July sun and watched them lower my husband’s casket into the ground, I had never felt more certain of anything in my life.

This is the opening of “Death and Taxes,” the first story I sold. Unlike most short stories or novels, where the action starts at point A and travels to point Z over the course of the tale, a confession sort of starts at point F, then goes backwards to point A and moves through B, C, D and E before picking the action back up at F and then moving through the rest of the alphabet.

Point F will be some sort of dilemma, a crisis or some utterly awful “uh oh” moment in the heroine’s life. If you’re familiar with writing romance novels, it’s what’s often called the “black moment.”

Khaki pants, black polo shirt, red ball cap. Check, check and triple check. He was dressed exactly as he’d said he would be. This had to be the man I’d met through a singles website and chatted with for six weeks.

“Forgive me,” I muttered and looked heavenward, for I’d told him a little lie. Instead of black pants and a red blouse with my hair down around my shoulders, I had on jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, and my hair was pulled up in a casual ponytail. This was my first time to meet a cyber-lover and I had to check him out to make sure he was really a twenty-three-year-old aspiring actor and not a sixty-year-old retiree.

I drew in a deep breath to steady my nerves and pulled open the door to a local bookstore and coffee shop. As I stepped inside, he turned away form the order counter and looked straight at me.

A knot formed in my throat and I was dizzy with shock. This was no stranger. I’d been having cyber-sex with my best friend’s son.

This is the opening of “Virtual Nightmare,” which was submitted to True Confessions but bought for True Love (the editors will often swap stories). The heroine has definitely had an “uh oh” moment, but how did she get there? The next part of the story is a transition back in time. This particular story goes back to when the heroine discovered she was pregnant and rushed into marriage with her boyfriend. The action follows them through the years, and after her husband leaves her for a younger woman, the heroine signs up for an online dating service to meet men. A match leads to online chatting, which in turn becomes cyber sex and the two arrange to meet. She dressed differently than she told him so she could turn tail and run if she didn’t like what she saw. She’d planned to break things off anyway. Imagine her surprise when her suitor is her deceased best friend’s son.

For most of the Trues, you’re going to think scandal, gossip, rumors, anger, tragedy. Your heroine will be affected by these in some manner. In the first example, the heroine’s husband had committed suicide after being harassed by the IRS. In the second, the heroine discovered she’d been engaging in behavior that her friends would consider scandalous.

I said this was true for most of the Trues. True Romance and True Love tend to have more of a romance element in them, but as evidenced by my example above, there can still be scandal. In the end of “Virtual Nightmare” the heroine has met a man her age and there’s a hint of a satisfying ending.

The question I’m asked frequently is “Where do you get your ideas?” and “Are these stories true?”

Some writers are fortunate enough to have a multitude of crazy relatives and friends who keep them in story ideas for years. Others have to look elsewhere for story fodder. So once you’ve told on all your family, where do you get more ideas?

I use the internet, especially websites with news of the unusual. Magazine and newspaper articles are full of ideas and cable TV is a veritable gold mine of story possibilities.

My first sale came about when the editor of True Confessions said she wanted something about IRS horror stories. I did a little online research, found a true case and fictionalized it. In the real case, the husband was a big-city attorney; in my story he lived in a small town and owned a cabinet shop. I’d read that the Trues wanted characters to be more blue or pink collar. However, that no longer holds true. I’ve written about female soldiers, college students, a pharmacist and a woman running for public office.

The public office story came about when a friend who writes for Harlequin Blaze posted on her blog about finding a flyer on her windshield at the grocery store. It was some glamour-type photos of one of the candidates for coroner, and the photos had been lifted from an online dating website. The caption at the top read “Would You Want This Woman to Be Coroner?” I turned that into a story called “Running Mates,” which sold to True Romance and has the candidate’s campaign manager hiring a private investigator to look into her sleazy opponent. Of course, the candidate falls for the PI and they live happily ever after.

I wasn’t the only one who found that scenario interesting. Another Blaze author used it in one of her books, only she wrote about a woman running for city council and she falls for the bail bondsman who bails her out of jail when she rams her car into her opponent’s. Same post on a blog – two entirely different twists on it.

“Wedding Belle Blues” was the result of a series of emails on a loop regarding an impending wedding. “Love Unexpected” is basically the story of how my son and daughter-in-law met and my son’s romantic proposal. “Love at the Journey’s End” came about when an editor called for beach romances. It’s about a woman who breaks off her engagement when she sees her fiancé kissing another man. She’s already paid for the honeymoon to Key West and takes the trip alone. The B&B owner has a son who’s run away from life after the murder of his wife. Woman meets man and at the end you know they’re going to become a couple.

I read a news article about a woman who cancelled her wedding because her fiancé was cheating but couldn’t get a refund on the reception because of the late date. So she decided to have the reception anyway and use it as a charity fundraiser. One of the editors wanted stories set in Texas, so that incident became “The Texas Bride’s Revenge.” Another time the editor of True Romance was concerned that she had lots of Christmas stories for her holiday edition, but nothing for readers who celebrated Kwanzaa or Hanukkah. I’m not black or Jewish, so I figured I’d just have to skip that assignment. I’d been doing research for a story on girls who sell their eggs to infertile couples and make enough money to pay for college. While clicking on various links brought up by my search engine, I stumbled upon a website for – Jewish egg donors! Bingo! That became a story called “Abraham’s Promise.”

I’ve learned not to get too attached to either my titles or character names. In about 75% of my sales, the title and/or character names have been changed. Per the contract you sign, Dorchester Media purchases ALL rights to the story and they can change what they want. I personally thought “Death and Taxes” was a fabulous title. They thought “My Personal Horror” was better. We all agreed that “Abraham’s Promise” was good. And “Wedding Belle Blues” (it was set in the deep South) became “Wedding Bell Blues.”

I don’t get a byline on my stories, but my name does appear on the check. J But this way I don’t have to worry about family members knowing I wrote about them.

All of the magazines pay by the word and generally want stories between 4000 and 8000 words. Mine have run from around 4K to slightly over 10K. Dorchester pays on publication (actually, a month after publication) rather than on acceptance. Several of the magazines have feature columns that pay a flat rate of $50 or $100. With these features, you submit and wait. They do not send out rejection letters for these nor will they engage in any communication concerning them.

Writing for the Trues has given me not only extra income to help pay for my writing expenses, but it’s kept my accountant happy (and since I sleep with him, I want him to be as happy as possible). After 28 short story sales and six short feature article sales, I’ve built myself a nice writing resume too.

In April I’ll be teaching a class called “Airing Dirty Laundry”, so if you’re interested in learning more, check at http://www.heartofdixie.org/workshop.html for more info.

Prince Nico Cavelli knew what it was like to be the product of an indiscretion, and that’s why he was always very, very careful in his relationships with women. But when a woman from his past ends up in a prison cell in his country, he realizes he might not have been as careful as he thought. While Lily Morgan insists she is only in Montebianco on business, a photo in her possession makes Nico think otherwise. The toddler in the photograph bears an amazing resemblance to Nico.

I love a good secret baby book! Playground friend Lynn Raye Harris takes readers to a faraway place with Cavelli’s Lost Heir, her second book for Harlequin Presents, but also ties the story back to her southern roots. I loved the emotional tension between Nico and Lily and then the sexual tension it morphed into once Nico makes an offer Lily would love to refuse but can’t. This is a book you’ll definitely want to get when it hits the shelves next month.

First Stop: the Taj Mahal. Next stop: a dream proposal? Tamara Rayne is travelling through India on the trip of a lifetime. She’s determined to forget her husband’s infidelity and bring the old confident, fiery Tamara back! Love isn’t on her itinerary, so Tamara hardly notices when blast from her past maverick entrepreneur Ethan Brooks boards her train…

Ethan wanted Tamara ever since he met her. Now, Ethan decides he’s waited long enough…

There’s a lot to enjoy about this book: a spunky heroine, a to-die-for hero, and Nicola Marsh’s wonderfully engaging style. As part of the “Escape Around the World” series, this book takes us to India – not what I’d consider a typical romance novel setting – and Nicola’s story of the Palace on Wheels and the sites of India are likely to boost India up on your “places to see before I die” list.

A warning, though: Do not read this book hungry. The descriptions of the food are going to make your mouth water and have you craving Indian food – even if you are not a fan of Indian food. (I was never fond of Indian food, but this book has me rethinking what I thought was Indian food and craving things I’ve never tried and can’t pronounce.) More info on this book at www.nicolamarsh.com

Lynn Viehl’s new Kyndred novel Shadowlight launches a new direction in her Darkyn series, focusing on members of the Takyn. Reading of the Darkyn series isn’t required first, though, as Viehl fully introduces us into this new world. Jessa Bellamy finds her carefully built world turned upside down when she becomes the target of a company willing to kill her for her DNA. Her only hope? Gaven Matthias, who shares her paranormal powers, can ensure her safety in ways she can only begin to imagine.

For fans of paranormal romances based in medical and psychological science, similar to Christine Feehan’s Mind Game series, you’ll definitely enjoy this ride! The book is fast-paced, despite the need to set up an overarching storyline obviously meant to carry the series through numerous forthcoming books. The twists and turns are unexpected, the attraction between the hero and heroine hot and immediate, and the conclusion as satisfying as one would wish for. Which doesn’t mean there aren’t unanswered questions begging for a new book to answer them. An added bonus is the reintroduction of characters from the Darkyn series, which I love. This book is a Must Read this Halloween!

I’m very excited to give my review of our own Kimberly Lang’s The Millionaire’s Misbehaving Mistress. And while I absolutely have to say this book is FABULOUS I don’t want you to think I’m giving it a thumbs up just because she’s a friend. I mean, this book really is a keeper.

As Dallas’s most eligible bachelor and heir to his family’s fortune, billionaire Will Harrison knows how to handle the paparazzi – but his little sister Evie is a worry…

Miss Behavior, etiquette expert Gwen Sawyer, has only three weeks to work her magic on Evie before a society ball, and so moves into Will’s luxurious penthouse. However, she discovers too late that etiquette is the last thing on devilishly handsome Will’s mind…

I loved the sizzle and heat between Gwen and Will and I also have a soft spot in my heart for Evie. There’s no doubt that Gwen and Will are perfect for each other…not only do they push each other’s buttons but they also bring out the best in each other. Trust me when I say you’re going to love this book!

Sookie Stackhouse has a 'disability' - she can hear people's thoughts. The annoying gift has made the Bon Temps waitress the town weirdo and dating is just out of the question. Until a man strolls into Merlotte's Bar - a man whose brain is blissfully silent. Vampire Bill. Vampires have always lived among us, but the recent advent of synthetic blood called True Blood has allowed the to 'come out of the coffin' and live openly among humans. Bill Compton is one of the mainstreaming vampires, come to Bon Temps to claim his family home.

Sookie can't help but be drawn to the mysterious stranger, especially when the silence of his brain brings a peace she never thought she could have. Unfortunately, not all is well in Bon Temps. Women are dying - women with connections to vampires. The closer Sookie gets to Bill, the more danger she's in.

Dead Until Dark is the first in a series of 9 (currently) books that follow Sookie and her misadventures with the supernatural underworld. I read all the books and watched the first season of True Blood on Netflix in 3 weeks and now I'm waiting for book 10 coming next May. The books are fun, sexy and smart. Just know that once you start, you'll keep reading to the end.

Alejandro de Ramirez had risen from bullfighter to corporate mogul, leaving bodies of bulls and men in his wake. Finally he is able to seek revenge against Rebecca Layton, his former lover as well as a formidable businesswoman in her own right. In a hostile takeover, Alejandro gains control of Rebecca’s business – the one she’d inherited from her father after his untimely death – and makes Rebecca an offer she can’t refuse. His body still responds to her even after five years, but just as he never flinched as a bull charged at him in the ring, he maintains his matador’s calm and poise as he waits to strike for the business kill.

Rebecca is devastated by the takeover of Layton International. She’s also unprepared for how Alejandro still makes her pulse race when he’s near and appalled at how her body responds. Despite the obvious attraction, can she be strong when Alejandro charges like a bull with his sensuality, his good looks, the memories and the attack against her business?

Lynn Raye Harris is no stranger to the Playground. She’s a member of Heart of Dixie RWA along with the Playfriends, and she and PC have this lunch mojo thing going. She writes hot sexy romance set in glamorous surroundings, and Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge is no exception. Alejandro is as alpha as they come – a former bullfighter. How much rougher and tougher can you get? Yet when you learn the secret that can bring him to his knees, your heart will break for him. I can’t tell you more or I’ll spoil things. ;-)

Lynn and her sexy heroes are a great addition to the Harlequin Presents line, and the Playfriends are excited for her publishing success.

Rhonda Nelson’s Letters From Home is a fresh twist on the tried and true “letters from a secret admirerer”. When deployed US Army Ranger Levi McPherson receives letters with the sexiest fantasies of a hometown girl, with him as the star, he’s determined to make all her dreams come true on his next visit home. Natalie Rowland is ecstatic to have whatever part of the man she’s loved her entire life that she can, but she knows forever isn’t part of the plan. Levi is career military with plans to travel the world, while she’s grounded in the community around her.

I loved Natalie, because I identified with her so much. She’s artistic and driven to create, but she’s also organized and willing to take control. She and Levi give as good as they get. In the end, they are forced to compromise for the sake of love. I cheered them on the entire way.

Drunk and obviously wildly attracted to each other, Rina McAllister and Chase Carden stumbled into a Las Vegas wedding chapel and signed up for a fake wedding, complete with Elvis impersonator. In three days, Chase was shipping off to war, so why not have a little innocent fun? For the reception, they spent the evening together setting the sheets on fire. But when morning dawned, Chase woke to an empty bed.

Now eleven months later he’s returned as a reluctant hero. Oh, and Rina informs him that their fake wedding wasn’t so fake after all. They’re legally married, which will cause them both a whole lot of grief if anyone finds out. They can get an annulment and save both their careers if they fill out all the proper paperwork and if they can manage to douse the fire still burning between them.

Take one sexy air force pilot, mix in his feisty by-accident wife, stir with an attraction they can’t fight and top it with someone sending anonymous threats and you have a perfect read for the beach or by the pool. Just be sure to have a cold drink handy because you’re going to need it when Kira Sinclair’s writing heats up the pages.

Ella Mackenzie is ready to start a new chapter in her life. After her roommate's upcoming nuptuals, she's packing up and moving to the Gulf Coast to start a new job as a computer programmer. The last thing she has on her mind is a tryst with sexy attorney Matt Jacobs. He's taken a week out of his schedule for his friend's wedding and some much needed R&R. He can't think of a better way to spend it than in bed with Ella. It's an offer she just can't refuse. And besides, it won't go beyond the next few days, so what's the harm...right? They'll find out the hard way when the week is up and their complicated lives conflict with the desire for something more.

In Kimberly's debut book she sets the bar high with likeable, witty characters. The story is flirty and fun, promising readers an enjoyable escape. I look forward to more from this exciting new author. :)

I have to admit, once I’d cracked the first page of Kresley Cole’s Kiss of a Demon King, I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, even though I’d loved the previous installments of the Immortals After Dark series. More specifically, I was afraid I wouldn’t like the HEROINE, Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions. You see, it becomes clear pretty quick that she’s evil… she’s an evil sorceress. The hero fated to be her mate is the proud King of the kingdom her brother has captured, Rydstrom Woede. She traps the good and true King in an attempt to fulfill a prophecy, forcing him to become her lover and husband.

Though she isn’t my most favorite type of heroine, I quickly forgot my reservations as I became entangled in the heated battle between the two lovers for control of their relationship, not to mention their lust. Let me just say, this battle was HOT. And I came to understand much more about Sabine as the story progressed and found myself rooting for her to be the woman Rydstrom needed her to be, even if it was a little bad. And Rydstrom, well, let’s just say this demon King had me shivering with anticipation. Yum! The book concludes with a classic Kresley Cole ending that is completely unpredictable and satisfying. I can’t wait to see where this series takes us next.

In The Book of Scandal, by Julia London, Nathan Grey, the infamous Libertine of Lindsey travels to London to retrieve his estranged. After three years apart, the only thing that could force Lindsey and Evelyn to face each other and the misunderstandings, pain and unforgettable devastation of losing their son is the threat of a scandal that could cost them both everything. It doesn’t take them long to realize that memories aren’t always clear and that neither one of them was really present as their marriage crumbled under the weight of grief.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book and I highly recommend it. It pulled at my heartstrings as these two parents dealt with a situation I hope never to encounter. While both characters make mistakes, the true test of their love and relationship is that they fight just as hard to recover from the damage done and come out stronger on the other side.

It’s a classic story of how a devastating life experience can test and weaken a relationship. In The Book of Scandal the value is found in the fact that while Lindsey and Evelyn initially allow the situation to dig a chasm between them, they eventually find a way to bridge that gap back to each other.

Blazing Bedtime Stories - Kimberly Raye, Leslie Kelley and Rhonda Nelson

Reviewed by Smarty Pants

Cupid's numbers are down. Way down. He's on Venus' naughty list and no one wants to annoy his mother, especially him. Determined to increase the love, he decides to tackle three women featured on the kissmyasscupid.com website. Each has given up on love and told him, in no uncertain terms, where he can shove it. If he can bring love into their lives, there's hope for everyone. Boy, are they in for a surprise...

Once Upon a Bite by Kimberly Raye is a take on Beauty and the Beast - in the bedroom. Shay Briggs swears off sex when her last attempt at love ends with Bobby Dean Barnes running off with the newly crowned Miss Pumpkin. The meatballs fly and her video rampage has made her the center of Skull Creek gossip. Her willpower is tested, however, when wolfishly handsome Matt Keller comes to town and feels the urge to tame the beast.

My, What a Big ... You Have! by Leslie Kelley is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlett Templeton doesn't believe in fairy tales. An author of atypical children's books, she strives to tell the truth - there isn't always a happily ever after and sometimes the princess has to save herself. When she stumbles across Hunter Thibodaux in the woods on her way to Grandma's house, she finds she may have to revise her position on the subject.

Last, but not least, is Rhonda Nelson's story Sexily Ever After, a take on The Ugly Duckling. This was my favorite story of the three. Juliet Swan has always been in the shadow of her beautiful sisters, a quiet shy artist more interested in paint than makeup. As Valentine's Day approaches, she lets herself get talked into a blind date. It quickly goes sour and when she's accosted by a news crew and asked about the wretched holiday, Juliet doesn't hold back. After the fallout from her brush with infamy, she turns to her work, painting an erotic mural for a well to do businessman. When Gareth Harper, her sister's ex-boyfriend and former crush, shows up to build a sex grotto, Juliet allows herself to be transformed into the swan she always was and the sparks fly!

Overall, three great stories just in time for Valentine's Day. They're short, sexy, and just what Cupid ordered. :)