And the winner is: Jonathon Rhys-Meyers

Last week we announced JRM as the winner of our Irish hotties poll. Since he got my entire vote, I happily volunteered to do this tribute post.
 

We bloggers often joke about the heavy research we put in to bring you these blog posts. (Of course it's a joke, because we love it!) But sometimes research can also lead you to dark places you'd rather not go.

For example, I loved JRM in Bend it Like Beckham, sighed over him in August Rush, and thought that his performance of Henry VIII in The Tudors was the best I've ever seen, because he captured the mercurial, young, adventurous King who attracted such devotion, rather than the bloated, slightly mad king who is usually portrayed.

But as I did my research and read news articles about JRM I discovered another side of him: the bad boy side.

So I'd love to know from everyone who voted for him last month - what appealed to you most? His hypnotic blue eyes, his boyish good looks, his movie roles or his bad boy image?

This month's Welsh hottie poll looks like it's going to be a much more closely contested race. If you haven't already voted, please head over to our right sidebar and place your vote. Pictures of the contenders can be found here.

Author Spotlight - Nell Dixon

The Minxes are very excited to have author Nell Dixon here with us today. Nell's pretty modest, but last year she won RNA Love Story of the Year for Animal Instincts from Little Black Dress. Today is  a very special day in a couple of ways for Nell, the first is... (shhh it's a secret) it's her birthday - Happy Birthday, Nell! And the second is that it's the Launch Day for her book, Making Waves.
And now for the minxy questions...

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

Five years ago in 2006 I’d seen the release of my first published books and I was thinking about writing Blue Remembered Heels which went on to become my first book for Little Black Dress.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

This particular book, which is a short novella, was from an idea I’d dreamed up with my then critique partner, the wonderful Jessica Raymond. We wanted to create a small fictional Cornish seaside surfing town. I love being by the sea and the summer surf community atmosphere is fabulous. Lots of gorgeous guys in wetsuits and pretty surf bunny girls, sunshine and heavenly Cornish icecream, what was not to love?

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

In five years time I want to be top of the NYT chart – what writer doesn’t? It’s kind of like my dream to win the lottery or move to the sea. I want to still be creating warm feel-good stories that readers enjoy and give them a small escape into another world for just a little time.

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?
Oh, this is tough. I love Jennifer Crusie, Jessica Hart and Liz Fielding so pretty well most of their books. The last book I read that I thought I really wish I could have written though is Queen of the Big Time by Adrianna Trigianni. I really loved that book, she’s a wonderful writer.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

I am a huge reader, I read anything and everything – except horror and really gory crime. As a teenager I adored Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt, Violet Winspear and Betty Neels. I love the Peoples Friend magazine and their pocket novels and I fell in love with warm, tender romance which made me feel good, made me laugh and made me cry. I decided I wanted to try and give other people that same feeling from my writing.

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy?

 For me a love scene always reveals something about the characters, quite often they are opening themselves up and making themselves vulnerable to the hero or heroine for perhaps the first time so I get very involved in the emotions of the scene rather than the mechanics. I try to make the reader’s heart bump a bit faster for my characters at those times.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?
Mr Nell is not big on romance as anyone who knows us will tell you. This Christmas though he bought me a Kindle, even though he couldn’t really afford it. It wasn’t that he’d spent the money but that he knew that above anything else he could have found for me it was what I wanted more than anything. He knows how important books are to me.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?
This is another tough one. I wish that I’d made the most of the time before I was published enjoying the process more instead of angsting so much over everything.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

To keep writing, that at the end of the day the words you produce are the only thing in this whole crazy publishing world that you have control over.

10. Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release is called Making Waves – it’s a re-release of my out of print story which originally came out with Moonlit Romance as a duet as A Taste of Summer. It’s short, fun and feel good. If you like hunky surfers, Cornwall, and a big dollop of miscommunication then it’s the story for you. It’s released by Astraea Press, a new sweet romance e publisher.

11. What’s next for you?

Well, I’ve an exciting small project coming out later this year with two other authors so keep an eye on my facebook page, website and Twitter feed. I’ve another audiobook coming out with Audiolark. I also have some more things in the pipeline but again I can’t say anything just yet. I’m working on more new material too.

Thanks so much for joining us here today, Nell!
Find out more about Nell at her website, here
And her latest release, Making Waves, can be found at the Astraea Press site, and also at Amazon.co.uk here (It's also at Amazon.com for non UK kindle owners like Minx Sally),

Motivation

In my previous post, I explained why I loved the TV series version of The Vampire Diaries, but the book version not so much. I said that the book never really made me care enough about the characters, and that many of the characters came across like cardboard cut-outs. Since I wrote that post, I've been mulling over why that is, and I think I've come up with an answer.

Motivation.

In the books (at least the first two, since I haven't had the enthusiasm to read beyond those) the reader never really gets a sense of what the secondary characters want. Their sole pupose is to give the main character, the heroine, someone to react to.
An example: her aunt is a student, engaged to be married, looking after her two orphaned nieces, and who makes her dislike of the heroine's boyfriend clear. Period.

Considering how much more information the written word can share compared to a film camera, I feel the author missed a few tricks here.
What does the aunt want from her life? Is she getting it? How does she feel about her situation: is she coping, resentful, happy, tired? Is she pre-occupied with wedding preparations? Or even: how did she meet her fiance, a shadowy character who barely exists except as a name on the page?
A simple line here or there showing any of the above could have rescued this character from cardboard cut-out territory!

In the TV series, the screenwriters have given every single character, no matter how minor, motivation. They all want or need something. They all have flaws and strengths. They all have feelings. Suddenly they become real people. They become characters that the viewer cares about.

Watch the first couple of episodes and do this exercise: Make a list of the supporting characters. Then next to each one name their flaw, their strength, their desire, and their main emotion.

For example: The heroine's aunt Jenna.
Flaw: too young to be responsible for two orphaned teens.
Strength: her humour and compassion.
Her desire: to help her niece and nephew cope with their tragedy and raise them as good people, all while completing her own studies.
How does she feel? Out of her depth, inadequate, determined.

Even though she's a minor character who appears in only a couple of scenes, we get all this from her interaction with the main characters in those scenes.

Now I want you to do this same exercise for every character in your own WIP. Do they all have strengths and weaknesses? What are they feeling? What do they want? Will they get it?

Even if this background information never makes it onto the page, you will know your characters well enough to turn them into real people. Though I do suggest, even if it's just a line here or there, that you should at least make it clear to the reader what this character wants and why. Yes - even for the supporting cast.

Because it is the Why that makes readers care about your characters, and if they care, they'll keep turning the pages.

Man of the Month Poll: Welshmen

Firstly, an important announcement: The winner of our first Minxy Man of the Month poll is...

The very lovely Jonathan Rhys Meyers, with a very impressive 66% of the votes.

Now, I'm way too old to be a fangirl, but if I was going to adorn my bedroom walls with any man, it would be Jonathan. I freely admit I think him so beautiful, just looking at him makes me want to cry. Here's a reminder just how beautiful (as if you need one):

Watch out for a special post soon, entirely dedicated to him. Sigh.



And now, Welshmen: Wales is a tiny country - only 160 miles long by 60 miles wide and with a population barely above 3 million. You wouldn't expect a lot to be going on, but Wales does have more than it's fair share of buff young men. For this month's hot man poll, the Minxes have cast all other duties to one side (well, all other duties apart from dealing with proofs and work requested by editors) and bravely trawled through countless photographs of the fittest males to hail from this principality, to bring you five to chose from:

First, a duo of Jones boys:

Steve and Gethin

(Sadly no relation to myself, so I can't promise to introduce any of you.)

Actors, Ioan Gruffudd and
Owain Yeoman

And for those of us who prefer our men to be of a certain age, the man I'd most like to see in a bare chested fight with Daniel Craig for the title of Best Bond: Timothy Dalton

Vote for your favourite and we'll let you know the results soon.

Suddenly I feel very homesick for Wales.

PS Here's a photo of Tom Jones - especially for LilyS (see comments):

I'm saying nothing.

And, after a special request from my lovely friend, Judy Jarvie, here's Shakin Stevens;

My mother always said Shaky was better looking than Elvis Presley. I'm not sure about that, but he was rather easy on the eye in his younger days.











And, for Sue:

Michael Sheen                                                           and    Gareth David Lloyd

As Sue pointed out, Gareth was Ianto in Torchwood. How could I have forgotten him? And with me calling myself Welsh and a John Barrowman fan, too.

Finally, for Chris:

Mike Phillips                                              

and another lovely Jones boy, Kelly:

Author Spotlight - Rebecca Royce

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

I wasn’t writing yet. Five years ago, I was thinking about writing and I was home taking care of my first son, not sleeping very much.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

Alpha Wolf is the latest installment of the Westervelt Wolves series. Each of the brothers were introduced in Her Wolf, the first book. I knew who each of the men were at the beginning of the series and their individual stories opened up in my mind as we went along.

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

Still writing. It's hard for me to imagine exactly what that will look like.

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (But who doesn’t wish they’d written that series?) and anything by Nalini Singh. Also, I loved, loved, loved Everlong by Hailey Edwards.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

I discovered Christine Feehan and Paranormal Romance when I was on the beach in the American Virgin Islands. Reading Feehan made me want to write and then I just started devouring all Paranormal Romance I could get my hands on.

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy – or neither?

Neither anymore. In the beginning they were definitely cringe worthy but now I’m so invested in the books and the

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

Ralph and I took a trip to Paris and we ate at this really wonderful restaurant called Guy Savoy. Unbelievable food. The best in my entire life. The whole evening was just amazingly special. The atmosphere, my husband, the food, being in Paris…It stands out as the most romantic of my life.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

How much time I would spend having to do ‘non-writing’ things.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

I advised a friend of a friend to join a critique group. Don’t even consider publishing until you have.

10. Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release is called Alpha Wolf and it is the fifth Westervelt Wolves book. It is Michael Kane’s story.

Here is the blurb:

In search of his sister in New Orleans, Michael finds his mate instead. But Scarlett is broken, nearly destroyed. With doom around the corner, Michael Kane has no time to lose. If he can save his mate, perhaps there will be a chance for all of them. Or maybe it’s already too late.

Left with no other choice, Michael will have to teach the wolves in the New Orleans pack how real Alpha shifters behave, while showing his mate he is a man of his word.

Buy Link: http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/alphawolf.htm

11. What’s next for you?

Up next is something of a change for me. I have written a Young Adult Urban Fantasy novel, the first in a series, called Initiation. I’m really, really excited about it - and it releases today!

For information on all my work, you can check out my website www.rebeccaroyce.com or my blog http://www.rebeccaroyce.blogspot.com/. I also post at Paranormal Romantics on Tuesdays.