Innovation

• Write what you know
• Write what you love to read
• Be true to your voice
• Every writer has their own, distinctive voice
• Write from the heart
• Innovate, don’t Imitate

Since the RNA conference last July, when the editors from HMB repeated that last phrase over and over, we Minxes have discussed ad nauseum what exactly they meant by it. I'm pretty sure I asked “What kind of airy fairy advice is that? Of course they don’t want us to imitate what others have written, but what do they want?”

It took The Vampire Diaries (see my series of previous posts) to make me realise that actually all the above advice, which we’ve heard dozens of times, phrased in endless ways, all boils down to just one thing: when you write, you have to be true to yourself.

I imagine that a lot of you blog readers out there might be going “duh!”. You probably know this already. But it was something I only discovered after a couple of days wallowing and wondering why I even bother to write when clearly my work is nothing more than mediocre, and if there’s one thing I don’t want to be it’s mediocre. I want to be stellar. (And just in case you think I’m being a tad arrogant here, read my earlier post, which were not entirely about The Vampire Diaries).

For me, realising this was a bit of a bombshell. Being true to oneself is the theme of my published novella, Let’s Misbehave. I try to live this in my every day life. So I’m not sure why it took me so long to cotton on when it comes to applying it to writing!

I’m not entirely sure of the answer (feel free to help me out here) but I suspect it might be because I haven’t yet discovered where my voice lies. I think that I fall somewhere between HMB’s Modern Heat and Romance lines (now wonderfully combined into the new Riva line in the UK) because that’s what I love to read. But is it really what I need to write?

We all know (we’ve heard it often enough) that you have to be passionate about what you write, because that passion will come through in your writing. I’d like to take this a step further and add that if you want to be extraordinary, then you need to be more than passionate, you need to write the stories that only you can write.

At last I understand what the editors at HMB are telling us. You have to write the stories that are true to your voice. And your voice is you.

So this is how we can each be extraordinary. By knowing ourselves, by being true to ourselves, we can rise above the mass of romance novels that are being published every day and we can each reach extraordinary heights.

Don’t imitate. You will never be able to write Harry Potter or Twilight, Frankenstein or Wuthering Heights. Not because it’s already been done. Not because you’re not a great writer. But because you are not JK Rowling or Emily Bronte. You’re you, and you should celebrate your uniqueness by writing the stories that are yours, and yours alone.

I know this is easier said than done, and might take a while to figure out, so I’m heading off now to write, and write some more, until I find where my true voice lies. While I’m off finding myself, please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Have you found your ‘voice’ yet, or are you still searching? Have you tried to write for a certain line and got nowhere only to discover that perhaps your voice lies elsewhere? And do you have any magic tips on how to fast track all this soul searching and jump straight to extraordinary?

Man of the Month Poll: The Scottish Hotties

Before you feast your eyes on this month's picks, we need to announce the winner of our Welsh Hotties. Due to some last minute pleading for votes by Romy Minx, Timothy Dalton was beaten out (just!!) by Ioan Gruffudd who topped the poll. Given the mature vote is proving very popular, we have another in this month's poll :-)

As resident Sporty Minx, I was very embarrassed to discover this guy for the first time when having to do my (very) extensive and time consuming research for this post. This is Dario Franchitti, naturally of Italian descent but born in Scotland. He is a racing driver and a previous winner of Scottish Sports Personality of the Year award and could be a dark horse for winner of our Minxy poll, too :-)

Next up is Minx favourite David Tennant, the former Dr Who. According to that mine of information, Wikipedia, he will become a father in the next couple of months.

Our next offering is Ewan McGregor who, despite his immense success, is probably still best known in Britain for the cult film Trainspotting.

 Next up is an actor who has had parts in many of Britain's best loved series including Taggart, Casualty and more recently, Coronation Street.

Gray O'Brien's character is unfortunately no more but hopefully it won't be too long until he is back on our screens :-)

I'm not too sure what I can say about our next hottie that hasn't already

been said in the last 81 years. I was amazed when I read that. I can't believe here we are, in all honesty, offering you an 81 year old man as a hottie but how good does he *still* look? Sean Connery definitely still has it!

Paul McGillion is another actor, best known for his role in Stargate Atlantis. This is another Scottish hottie new to me. Never before have I been more grateful for the beauty of research :-)

Last but more definitely not least we have another Minx favourite, John Barrowman. I must say, I thought his short appearance in Desperate Housewives

was fab. I'm hoping against all hope that he somehow survived the explosion because I really loved his character. Gotta love a good looking villain.

So, what are you waiting for? Find the poll on the right hand side bar and get voting for your favourite Scottish Hottie. We're looking forward to seeing who will win the poll at the end of this month :-)

Author Spotlight - Sally Clements

I checked the blog to see who was up on Wednesday, and it's me! Argh! I love asking the questions much more than answering them, but here goes!

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?
Five years ago I was writing only in November during Nanowrimo, I made the decision to really put everything into my writing by dedicating time and effort into it full time about four and a half years ago.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?
While on a 'writing romance' course organised by Inkwell Writers Workshops in Ireland, we had a number of exercises to do. One was to think of the first line of a romance novel. A little voice muttered in my ear 'you can bite me if you have to.' It was my heroine, Tempest MacKenzie to my hero Jake. The book took form from that moment, although the first line changed!
3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
I hope to still be happy and fulfilled writing. Being published is lovely, but writing is my joy, so if I can hold on to that I'll be happy!
4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?
I love romance, but I also love crime. The answer to the question for me has to be Marcus Sedgewick's Revolver, such a slim volume, but totally fascinating and really well written.
5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?
I love Patricia Cornwell's books and Jeffry Deaver's and looking back there were so many influences through the years. I loved PG Wodehouse, Agatha Cristie and Ed McBain (especially Ed McBain, I have an awesome collection!) and always wanted to write something that someone else would love.
6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy?
Never cringe-worthy, but I have to work up to them. I can't write a love scene cold, I always have to start at the sensuality and write like mad to the end of the love scene. They are so important to the story and the characters and I love writing them. My characters often are teasing, tender and witty in love scenes, and that's all them, so it's a lovely surprise to me when they open up in the love scenes. (I'm a bit of a pantster!)
7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?
I couldn't isolate just one - and like many of our authors who have been spotlighted, I think its the little things that are really romantic, like gifting me with a lie in and taking the school run!
8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?
I started a blog and connected with other writers before I was published, and finding a community of like minded souls was fantastic, and the day that the minxes formed was the icing on the cake for me. I wish I'd known that I would one day not find the dreaded R quite so painful, I guess I'm growing a thicker skin, but at the beginning every rejection was a complete body blow, because I didn't realise that I was perhaps not sending my stuff to the right publishers (or maybe my early stuff really was that bad!). It helps to know that everyone gets them.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?
To saturate your writing with all five senses. And to rewrite (constantly!)
10. Tell us about your latest release.
Bound to Love is the story of impetuous Tempest MacKenzie who dives headlong into danger without regard for herself to rescue others, which gets her into a lot of trouble! When she sees a gorgeous stranger being kidnapped on his way from the British Museum, she comes to his aid, but finds herself kidnapped too. My hero, Jake, is cautious and logical, and Tempest is his idea of a complete disaster, but they are forced together in a plot to thwart a heist and save his mother, and find love along the way.
11. What’s next for you?
I was asked to do revisions for a new story, and have sent them off and am waiting (nervously) to hear what the editor thought of them - and I'm about six thousand words off finishing a new story, Marrying Cade, with another new story bubbling in my subconcious!

Bound to Love is available as an e-book from all the usual places, and also available in paperback from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and Salt Publishing. (Don't be frightened by the giant picture of me that comes up on the Salt site!)

Thanks so much for letting me be Gabby Minx for the day, Minxes!

Acting out of character

I am nothing if not consistent. It’s a Monday and I’m blogging, which means this post will have a lot to do with writing, and at least a little to do with The Vampire Diaries.

Consistency

In order to be believable, your characters should be consistent. In real life, most people behave in set ways. I obsess about The Vampire Diaries and writing (no necessarily in that order). Your colleague who keeps his desk exceptionally tidy is unlikely to suddenly turn into a complete slob. The devoted PTA mom who volunteers in the tuck shop and runs the lift club is hardly likely to take off unexpectedly for Vegas without telling anyone.

Exceptions to the rule

Yet as important as it is to keep your characters consistent, behaving in believable, established patterns, there are exceptions to every rule.

There are two instances when you might want your characters to deliberately behave out of character.

Firstly, inconsistent behaviour can spark a really interesting story. Did the neat freak colleague snap because he came home to find his wife had left him and taken everything? Why did the PTA mom suddenly take off for Vegas, leaving her family in the lurch?

Secondly, inconsistent behaviour can add depth to your characters. By exploring why your characters are behaving inconsistently, you can discover new layers to their conflicts.

Example: The young woman who dreams her whole life of getting married, runs away from the church on her wedding day. Why can’t she face going through with this marriage? Has she just learned something that changes everything she believes in?

Moderation and Motivation

I was raised on the maxim of “all things in moderation” and this is one instance where that definitely applies.

A character who swings from one extreme to the other, never being consistent, is simply going to annoy the reader. But get him or her to act out of character just once, at the moment when it has the greatest impact, and you’ll have your reader gripping the edge of the seat.

Similarly, too many characters behaving inconsistently, and it’ll appear to the reader that you don’t have a grasp on your characters. As the writer, you need to make a conscious and deliberate decision as to which character is going to behave inconsistently, when, and why.

As always, we’re back to Motivation. Readers will forgive you (and your characters) almost anything if they understand the why. You just need to decide how and when you’re going to reveal the why.

The easiest way is to give the reader advance warning of what’s coming. The bride is on her way to the church when she discovers that her parents, devoted to one another for thirty years, were never really married. The reader, following her POV, understands her realisation that maybe love is more than a piece of paper and a big white dress. (Whether her fiancé understands is another matter entirely!)

Shock Tactics

Alternatively, you can leave the reveal until after your character has done something completely inconsistent with who they are. Don’t let the reader see it coming. Don’t leave clues along the way.

Take the reader on a journey right to the altar, where the groom hears that his bride has done a runner. Allow the reader to experience the shock with him. Then shift to her POV, where she's getting on a plane for the Bahamas, and then reveal her motivation.

This may be a little harder to pull off in deep POV, but in the hands of a skilled writer, this technique can have your reader gripping the edge of the seat (and leaving hubby to cook dinner!).

This is where The Vampire Diaries comes into this blog post.

In the penultimate episode of Series 1, we meet the vampire Isobel, played by Mia Kirshner.

Isobel makes her appearance quite late in the series. She’s a fairly new vampire, and she has history with a number of the regular characters.

Throughout this episode we see her as deceptive, heartless and inhuman. She threatens, she blackmails, she hurts, she kidnaps. By the end of the episode the viewer has come to know Isobel quite well. They understand that she is capable of absolutely anything to get what she wants, including murder. And we fully expect her to laugh at the moment she commits murder.

* Spoiler Alert *

Her final scene of the episode is only about two minutes long. Isobel has achieved what she set out to achieve. This is her moment of triumph. She sits in the back seat of her car as she is driven out of town; presumably out of the series. She makes a phone call that turns the entire episode upside down.

In that final minute of the episode the viewer learns Isobel’s motivation for her ruthlessness, and discovers that she really does have a heart. Her inconsistent behaviour is not that brief moment of softness at the end. Her inconsistent behaviour was her role throughout the entire episode.

As the end credits roll, the viewer starts to replay the episode in their heads, seeing everything in a completely new perspective.
That is powerful writing.

The Caveat

As the awesome Bob Mayer often says, you need to understand the rule before you can break it.

You need to know your characters exceptionally well before you let them run amok. And for maximum effect, your readers also need to know (or think they know!) your characters well enough to recognise when they are behaving out of character.

Finale

The question I’m going to leave you with today: Why do you think the PTA mom ran off to Vegas?

Anything Goes Friday

Firstly, congratulations to Lorraine Minx, who has won a Kindle from Mills & Boon for the Riva bag she designed, and to Jo C Minx who is this month's Featured Member on the Mills & Boon Community Site.

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This week-end is your last chance to vote for your favourite Welsh hunk, if you haven't already. Voting closes at midday on Monday (UK time). To view the contenders, click here. (And please, please vote for Ioan Gruffudd - I cannot believe he's being beaten out by Timothy Dalton at the moment!)

In this slot next week, we'll announce the winner and post the pictures of our next set of hotties: the Scots.

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The Romance Reviews is a new site for both readers and authors. Tuesday 1st March is their official launch day, and they are running some fabulous contests and launch give-aways throughout the month of March, so check it out.

Romance Junkies is also running contests for readers and writers, sponsored by Carina Press. There's something for everyone, so don't miss out.

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The Wild Rose Press have sent out a submission call on their Yahoo loops. They're looking for romances along the lines of category novels, with secret babies and uber-rich heroes, so if you have any subs lying around gathering dust, send them in. Click here for the submission guidelines.

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And finally, thanks to Lacey Minx for this link, reminding us that Happy Ever Afters can be found anywhere.