Writing Time-Out

I'm currently taking a time-out on writing while trying to prepare our house and family for our move to England. I'm hoping to find time to write once we get settled. I've purchased a few more writing technique books for the long plane rides back and forth.

Lessons in Love

Powerful love stories is what I would love to create. Those stories that make you still believe that there is a soul mate for everyone and true love is real. My husband mocks me for liking the movie "The Village". But it truly fits the hero's journey. And the love story... The scene on the porch between the two main characters. That's what love is about. It's pure and innocent and strong and unyielding.

I also like stories that the love is almost painful to bear. The misunderstandings convolute the characters actions. So the question to ask at the beginning of every plot is what will take center stage in this story the internal battle or the external battle. There has to be a little of both or the story will tend to be flat.

I've actually found "The Joy of Writing Sex" to be very interesting. It's based less on what Romance authors would write and more on how sex scenes can be woven into novels written by fiction novelists. Not that romance authors aren't fiction novelists, but there is a clear distinction. The author dwells not on the (pardon the term) ins and outs, but what's going on (ummm) underneath it all. How to make a scene move the story forward. Not just sex for the sake of sex. I agree with her and looking back at most of the novels I've enjoyed, the sex moved the story forward as part of the external dilema or in character development/realization. I don't want to write p*rn*graphy(stop the bots). Sex without plot without motivation without the hint of love. The characters don't have to be in love at first sight. Most of the time they fall into lust at first sight. There's a connection. They talked about that connection in "Ugly Betty" tonight. The sweaty palms, heart racing. The connection that makes you believe there is a chance of love here.

Alas, I don't know how to quit this post. I know I should draw some conclusion, but frankly, I don't feel like it right now.

Room to Write by Bonni Goldberg exercise

Food as symbolism

Katherine turned back to the stove and added more salt to the chicken noodle soup on the stove. The apple timer buzzed. She stepped back off the stool and pulled twelve perfectly browned rolls out of the oven. She put two hot rolls on the tray next to the lavender she had picked before the clouds that had threatened earlier in the day finally opened up to drench the garden. She filled the large blue and white rose bowl with the hot soup and added it to the tray. Carefully and slowly she picked up the tray and carried it into the room where her mother lay.

At Last

Okay, so I haven't been the best at keeping up with this blog, but my other one has been doing great. I haven't made the time to write lately. Plain and simple. I've ordered three writing books and when there are exercises will post them here (in case anyone wants to be a critic to my writer). The books are :"Room to Write" by Bonni Goldberg. This book is supposed to contain a lot of exercises to stretch your writing muscles.; "Plot & Structure: ..."(lots of other words to make a really long title) by James Scott Bell. I'm hoping this will help fine tune my skills as a novelist.; And drumroll please......."The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers" by Elizabeth Benedict. Please don't make me try to explain what I hope to get out of this particular guide. They'll get here Tuesday. I'll probably be writing some by the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

Waiting for Vacation

Unfortunately, time has not been my friend lately so I've found no time to write. I'm patiently waiting until we go on vacation to finally get some uninterrupted time to write. As always when ideas buzz around in my head I write it down in one of my many notebooks or a new word document.

What if...

A writer's best ideas come from what if's and what would happen if's. Brainstorming exercises should always include a what if part. So take the premise of a friend's novel what if the boy you loved since high school was suddenly available and you had one night of passion with him. Then what if that passion resulted in pregnancy and he wanted to be involved. Sounds like a normal romance novel, but the idea is to throw in a twist which she does. What happens when the couple is threatened with miscarriage of the one thing that brought them together. Once in a Blue Moon by Celia Stuart www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/onceinabluemoon.htm I had the great honor of helping read and critique this book prior to it selling.

So what's your what if? What if your brother would go to any extreme to prevent you from marrying someone else, including calling an old friend that you had a crush on. What if the person you thought was your true love but dumped you, came back into your life when you were engaged to someone else. Ah, I could go on and on.

Links, links, links

One of the things I've found while starting back to writing is that there are a lot of links out there. I thought I'd post some of the interesting ones I've found or was told about.

http://www.karenafox.com/money.htm
One of my favorites. This shows what publishers are offering in the way of advances and actual payout.

http://www.passionatepen.com/romancepubs.htm
Publishers - links to publishers and whether or not they take submissions

http://dancebluebonnet.com/
What's a website without giving props to someone who's helped you along. This is one of my crit partner's website.

http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwToc.jhtml;jsessionid=XBESJY5BBBDFLLAUEAKSAOQ?module=Header
Amazingly or not so amazingly, Harlequin has a really good site.

Aspirations of a Writer

Given my need for creativity and the ability to break free from the mold of being a CPA, I have always wanted to write. I do a lot of writing in my current job but it's defined by the standards of the industry. What I truly want to do is write for passion. Not for an error someone made when posting a cash receipt, but to tell a story. Of course, I love a happily ever after, so I've made my way toward starting to write romance novels.

I know, I know. Romance novels, bodice rippers. With the new wave of erotic fiction and romantic erotica, I find myself still having trouble talking about body parts in such descriptive ways. Mind you, I like reading it, but I have trouble writing those portions. With my family and my career, I haven't had much time to write. I've got a couple of works in progress. One's still holding the towel, the other is pissed as hell for being taken, one is sketched out and waiting for sex toys, and the other is being researched.

Here's hoping I actually finish one. Can a mother of two quit her career to stay at home with her children and write romance? A question which will sadly be left unanswered as the woman in question needs funds for the children in question and to be able to afford the house in question.

So here in lies the adventure, is it possible to work full-time and be a mommy and wife and crank out a novel worth publishing? That's what this blog is truly about. Growing out of the Berry Patch.