Writing Advice from author Kat Cantrell

If you love romance novels and have always dreamed of writing one, you’re in good company. You’d be hard-pressed to find a romance writer working today who didn’t start out as a reader first. Guess what? If you’re a reader, you’ve already completed the all-important first step toward the goal of becoming an author! Reading is critical to understanding a bunch of important things like voice, structure, plot and character. Now you should target your reading to the specific type of story you want to write. If you’d like to write for Harlequin Desire, read as many as you can get your hands on. Study them and learn from them. Each line has a particular “feel” to it and always includes certain elements. Harlequin posts writing guidelines on its website so you don’t have to guess, but it’s always better to see it in action, so to speak.

Then the next steps are:

1.       Sit down and write.

2.       No, really. Set a goal and write.

3.       Not sure what goal to set? Start out with 500 words a day. Then write 500 tomorrow. And the next day. I work on my books every day. Yes. EVERY day, even Christmas.

4.       Read some craft books. I like Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon. But there are many, many great ones. If you already know you have a particular weakness, like you have no idea what I meant above by “voice”, find a book on that.

5.       If you don’t know your weaknesses, join a writer’s group. Romance Writers of America is one a lot of us belong to. Harlequin.com has a community forum with a particular area for writers. Talk to other writers. Find people to read your writing who can help you get better. I still have a friend read my stuff even though I’ve written fifteen books (Hi, Jen!).

6.       Be prepared to work hard and be realistic. Most authors will tell you it takes two years and at least two manuscripts to sell to a publisher like Harlequin. It took me two years and five manuscripts. Your mileage may vary.

7.       Go back to #1 and do that. You’d be surprised how many people get bogged down in craft books and writer’s forums and forget to actually, you know, write the book. You can’t sell a manuscript to any publisher if it doesn’t exist.

About Kat Cantrell

KAT CANTRELL read her first Harlequin novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. What else would she write but romance? She majored in Literature, officially with the intent to teach, but somehow ended up buried in middle management at Corporate America, Inc. After three years and many thousands of words, her dream of publication finally came true. When she's not writing about characters on the journey to happily-ever-after, she can be found at a soccer game, watching Friends or dancing with her kids to Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Writing Space Tour: A photo tour of Jennifer Hayward's writing space

My cozy writing area my husband built for me 

The full artwork for my first two books I was lucky enough to score on a tour of Harlequin – The Divorce Party and An Exquisite Challenge

My lucky orchid – I had one on my desk when I won Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. I don’t like to write without one

Notebook of scribbly story lines -  Always by my bed at night to jot down ideas so I can sleep! Used nightly…

Always coffee… I love this mug! I also collect Starbucks mugs from every city I visit to keep the caffeine drip going.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would you change and why? by Gina Lamm

Hi! Thanks so much for having me here today! KISS THE EARL’s release has been something I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time, and I’m so pleased to be able to share it with all of you! J

                The topic for today is this. If I could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be, and why?

                That’s a tricky question. Could it mean changing history in the larger sense? Or maybe just my personal timeline? Stopping myself from making a huge mistake would be great, obviously. Who hasn’t wished for that every second day for their entire lives? But then again, could I effect a change that would make the world a better place?

                As far as my personal history goes, I don’t know that I’d go back to change things if I could. No, I’ve DEFINITELY done things that I regret bitterly. But, if I hadn’t gone through those experiences, would I be the person I am today? Would I have still learned those lessons, learned to appreciate the things that I do? I don’t know. I’d be afraid of screwing up worse in a different way. That’s kind of the lesson of time travel, isn’t it? Lots of times people that go back in order to change things end up messing things up much worse in a different way. So as far as my personal history goes, no, I don’t think I’d mess with it. I love my life now. I’ve got a family I adore, the best husband in the world, and I’m getting to share my stories with all of you. PLUS, we’ve got twins on the way. I don’t want to lose any of that.

                But for the world, that’s a much broader and trickier question. Honestly, I don’t know. If I could prevent tragedy, sorrow, hunger, disease? Of course I’d want to do it! But how to pick just one thing?

                I don’t have the answers. I wish I did! And one day, when time travel is a reality, maybe we can answer these questions. But for now? I’m happy playing pretend. J

                Thanks again for having me today, and I hope that you all enjoy KISS THE EARL!

                XOXO,

                Gina Lamm

About Kiss the Earl

A modern girl’s guide to seducing Mr. Darcy

When Ella Briley asked her lucky-in-love friends to set her up for an office party, she was expecting a blind date. Instead, she’s pulled through a magic mirror and into the past…straight into the arms of her very own Mr. Darcy.

Patrick Meadowfair, earl of Fairhaven, is too noble for his own good. To save a female friend from what is sure to be a loveless marriage, he’s agreed to whisk her off to wed the man she truly wants. But all goes awry when Patrick mistakes Ella for the would-be bride and kidnaps her instead.

Centuries away from everything she knows, Ella’s finally found a man who heats her blood and leaves her breathless. Too bad he’s such a perfect gentleman. Yet the reluctant rake may just find this modern girl far too tempting for even the noblest of men to resist…

Gina Lamm, a bellydancing, wisecracking, marshmallow-addicted geek, loves nothing more than penning funny, emotional tales of love, lust, and entertaining mishaps. Married to a superhero, she lives with her beloved family in North Carolina, surrounded by tobacco farms, possums, and the occasional hurricane. She also writes erotic romance for Ellora's Cave  under the pen name Regina Cole. Visit www.ginalamm.net

5 Things You Didn't Know About author of Omari and the People

1.  I began writing Omari and the People right after I graduated from Chicago Theological Seminary.

2.  My fascination with the desert began when I used to play in the great sand dunes in Northwest Indiana. The great climb in the story was inspired in part by a climb up "Mount Baldy" in the Indiana Dunes State Park. 

3.  I was beaten senseless by street gangsters after I spoke out about gang violence at a City Council meeting in Gary, Indiana. This incident is alluded to in an early scene of the novel.

4.  I played congas in the Indiana University Soul Review band. That might explain why I described the drumming in the story with such detail.

5.  Most of the guardsmen in the story were descriptions of fellow Marines of Second Battalion, Second Marines ("2/2").

About Stephen Whitfield

Chicago-born Stephen Whitfield began writing as a Marine Corps print journalist. His writing has appeared in military publications, as well as the Kansas City Star and the Jersey Journal. He holds degrees from from Loyola University Chicago, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Indiana University. Stephen currently resides near Orlando, Florida.

You can reach Stephen via his: Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Omari and The People

In an ancient time, a people made homeless by a devastating fire are led across a treacherous desert by a thrill-seeking thief, to a land he doesn't believe exists - and he started the fire. 

In a squalid ancient city on the edge of a desert (based on descriptions of the African Sahara’s Empty Quarter,) a weary, thrill-seeking thief named Omari sets his home on fire to start anew and cover his many crimes. When the entire city is unintentionally destroyed by the flames, the cornered thief tells the displaced people a lie about a better place to which only he can lead them, across the desert. With the help of an aged, mysterious woman who knows a better place actually does exist, they set out. The disparate people must come together to fight their way through bandits, storms, epidemics, and more. As a result of Omari's involvement with Saba, a fiercely independent woman who is out to break him in the pay of a merchant whom he has offended, his ability to lead - his very life - is jeopardized.

How I Get My Ideas For The Novels by Sue Duff

I tend to ask “why” and “what if” kinds of questions about the world around me. A sure sign of my curiosity! So when I went in search of a new type of superhero, I drew upon my love of earth and space sciences. At the time, it felt as if natural disasters were on the rise in frequency and intensity. I began to wonder why. My protagonist, Ian Black and the Weir, a magical race of beings, developed from there.

I loved the idea that a magical race had lived among humans for thousands of years. Stewards of the planet, they ensure that the surface of the planet is in harmony. But that felt typical and done before (and teetering in a soapbox kind-of-way), so I, quite literally, dug deeper. Earth’s surface is its own ecosystem, but the planet is made up of vast “innards.” There’s an entire, untapped world beneath the earth’s crust. Incredible mysteries exist under our feet! What if the Weir could control the energies generated by the planet itself? Magnetic fields, gravity, electrical forces, tectonic plate shifts? The list of possibilities erupted like a volcano!

Of course, any good storyteller knows that heroes, like humans, are flawed. Even magical beings need to have conflict or dramatic elements. My hero, Ian, didn’t inherit the Weirs powers as predicted and as a child, he turned to illusions to dabble in what he couldn’t do naturally. The Weir are dying out. In this modern time, it dawned on me that magical beings might turn to science to combat their eventual demise. The perfect blend of contemporary fantasy and science fiction adventure emerged!

I ended up with ecological undertones in the long run, but the conservation messages are eclipsed by a compelling, epic story driven by a cast of characters that will win the hearts, or villainous disdain, of many. The five book series races toward an ultimate battle to save Earth, and really the universe itself! But what shape will Earth be in when it is all said and the final chapter has ended? After all, it’s not wise to mess with Mother Nature.

About Sue Duff

Sue has been writing since high school but never became serious about it until a skiing accident laid her up for an entire summer and she turned on the word processor to combat the boredom. A couple years later, her first urban fantasy novel, Fade to Black, was a finalist in the RMFW Colorado Gold Writing Contest. By day, she’s a dedicated speech-language therapist in an inner city school district to pay the bills but her life as a writer is her true passion and the creative outlet keeps her sane.

Sue is a member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and The Pikes Peak Writers. Her creativity extends into her garden and the culinary arts. She is the second oldest of six girls with an avid reader mom and her dad, the family’s single drop of testosterone in a sea of estrogen. Fate thought it hilarious to give her a son but maternal instincts swing both ways and she didn’t break the little bugger. She lives in Colorado with her miniature dachshund, Snickers and hears from her son, Jonathan whenever he needs something.

To get the latest news, updates on events or the scoop on future novels in The Weir Chronicles series, subscribe to her.

You can reach her via: Website | Facebook (Author) | Facebook (Books) | Twitter | Goodreads 

About Masks and Mirrors

Ian Black’s commitment to safeguarding Earth has come at a price. His career as an illusionist is at a standstill and attending to the planet’s needs has distanced him from his best friend, his guardians, and the woman he loves. When presented with an opportunity to perform, Ian seizes the chance. But moments before he takes the stage, Ian encounters the mysterious Jaered and a rebel force fighting to protect Earth alongside the Weir.

Jaered is determined to stop a malevolent Weir from releasing a drug capable of wiping out the last vestiges of their race and plunging Earth into self-destruction. But when Jaered is willing to sacrifice an innocent child to obtain the drug for himself, Ian risks everything to uncover the secrets of the rebel forces and their true intentions for Earth’s survival.

Ten things that inspire me…by Alicia Rae

1.    My family—I’m very blessed to have a husband and family who truly support me unconditionally. That is the greatest inspiration any writer could ever ask for. 

2.    My three boys—They continue to amaze me every day with their free-spirited imaginations and pure hearts.  

3.    My readers—There is nothing sweeter than hearing that someone loved one of my novels. Each time, it makes me want to stop what I’m doing and go back to my writing cave. 

4.    Love—Every girl dreams of falling in love and having her perfect happily ever after. I love to give that to my characters, and I hope to share their stories with others. 

5.    Reading—There is nothing better than losing yourself in a story.  I fight the battle very often. Do I read or write? I’m very passionate about both. 

6.    Authors—I have so many favorite books. I could never choose just ten. So many authors have made me cry, melt into a puddle, and laugh out loud, causing my husband to look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Then, I’m usually left with a major book hangover. After reading an unthinkable amount of books in 2012, I give many thanks to all the authors who inspired me to write love stories of my own. 

7.    Emotions—We all have them, and we try to control them, tame them, or let them flow. I have taken a leap of faith in the writing world as I poured my emotions into The Beautiful Series. I took a chance on myself when I wrote Beautiful Chances, My Beautiful, Beautiful Dreams, and now, Beautiful Ties.

8.    People—At heart, I am an observer. I love to watch people interact, smile, and laugh while they embrace a moment. Life is too short not to take a chance on your dreams. 

9.    Music—I have always loved music. Since I started writing, my love for it has intensified. Now, I find certain songs unleashing scenes in my mind, forcing me to run and search for the closest thing—paper, napkin, or anything within my reach to write my ideas down on. 

10.    Day-to-day living—You never know what is going to happen the next day or even the next moment in your life. I’ve learned to be thankful for each moment, every person, and every experience that I have. 

About Alicia Rae

Alicia Rae is a Contemporary Romance Author who lives in Dekalb, Illinois, with her husband and three beautiful boys. Alicia has a passion for reading all types of romance, writing to bring a story to life, and photography.

Thank you to my dear sister, Kels, who showed me a few years ago how much I truly missed reading. And to my loving husband, for not throwing away my Nook, and planting the seed of writing in my mind. I am forever grateful. Xo

Readers, words cannot thank you enough for supporting me along this incredible journey. I hope you enjoy my novels as much as I do writing them. I thank each and every one of you.

Believe in yourself and follow your dreams...

You can connect with Alicia via: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Author Goodreads

About Boundless Fate

Colton Kingston’s livelihood has been reduced to a pile of black ashes by a tragic act of arson. After sending away the woman he’s loved since the tender age of five, a dark hateful revenge threatens to overtake his heart. Colton knows pushing her away is the only way he can keep her safe.

Paige Summer’s has endured her fair share of obstacles in the past, and refuses to give up on Colton and the life they share together. As interferences try to tear them apart, Paige is determined to stand by Colton’s side and remind him of their love and its strength.

But at every turn, tragedy continues to strike and more devastation falls upon them.

Will Colton and Paige’s love be boundless? Or will revenge conquer their fate?