Not in New York ... with Zonkeys

For those like me, who could only dream of being at last week’s glamorous RWA conference in New York, I’ve decided to take you across the globe to a far less glamorous but equally exotic locale ... the African bushveld in midwinter.

I’m currently on Day 3 of a 5-day commercial film shoot, and this is one of our locations:

This is what a film unit looks like ... insignificant against the backdrop of the savannah.

And finally, just for a laugh, here’s one of the animals spotted on our current location ... Debra the Zonkey (this is for real!)

For me, this is all in a day’s work, but if you’ve ever had any questions about film shoots, or how movies are made, this is your chance to ask.

Words of wisdom from Trish Wylie - Part Two

Last Friday, Trish started her series about how to start a romance novel. She covered: The inciting incident, introduction to the characters, the external problem and the internal problem.
Today, she's continuing with part two of three - this week examining the areas, foreshadowing, setting and tone.
Take it away, Ms Wylie!

5/ Foreshadowing.


In a Romance novel, just as a hint of the beginning of a new life for the characters is present in the end, there is the promise of a happy outcome to their problems at the beginning of the story. In a sense this is easy because there is already an expectation from the reader that the characters will end up together. The trick is to make them doubt the outcome by throwing obstacles in the characters’ paths (occasions that remind them of the thing they fear most).

6/ Setting.

The world the characters inhabit should be glimpsed in the opening so the reader is grounded in their reality. This includes anything that can be seen, heard or perceived by the characters in the same way we would be aware of our surroundings. Once again this should be brief, the emotional involvement in the story stemming from a connection with the characters rather than the place they inhabit. Think of a stage play and it is the characters and what is happening to them that hold our attention rather than the backdrop; the scenery merely adding a sense of place.

7/ Tone.

The tone must be both clear and consistent from the beginning. Characters will remain ‘in character’ from the moment they appear on the page, with all of their actions and reactions making sense to the reader based on what they are told from the beginning. By setting a clear tone, we establish the ‘rules’ of the story, including the narrative and most importantly, the writer’s VOICE. Quite simply, a writer’s voice is the way they tell the story. Think of a Scorsese, Spielberg or Tarantino movie and they are each instantly recognisable as ‘belonging’ to the respective director. It’s exactly the same for writers, so while there may be no such thing as a ‘new’ story, the way we each tell it is as individual to us as our handwriting or the way we speak. Setting the ‘mood’ is somewhat different. As the characters continue on their journey there will be shades of dark and light, just as there are in real life. So while there may be moments of sadness and deeply felt emotion, there will also be times when there is humour or a tempting glimpse of how happy the characters will be in the end.

Pop back next Friday for the concluding blog post of the series - covering back story, theme and the hook.
Thank you, Trish!
 
Trish’s long-awaited book, ‘The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction’, will be out in the UK and Ireland in December 2011.
 

In the meantime, her third book, ‘Her Unexpected Baby’, is available for the first time in the USA and Canada direct from eHarlequin RIGHT NOW!
You can get it from here.


You can find out more about Trish and her books at http://www.trishwylie.com/ or follow her between deadlines on Twitter @TrishWylie

Author Spotlight - Zee Monodee

I met Zee when I was still a complete newbie writer, and her support and encouragement really helped get me on teh right track, so I am pleased and proud to have her here in our Spotlight today. Zee lives in the exotic island paradise of Mauritius and is published under several names.

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

I had just sold my first novel (The Other Side, written under the name of Aasiyah Qamar) to a big publisher over here in Mauritius. At the time, I had pretty much completed my second book, and was working on ideas for more books down the line.

I had to admit I was a total newbie back then and when I started penning stories some 6 years ago. Apart from English and literature classes I took in secondary school, I’ve never been formally ‘trained’ into writing. I had a knack for languages, all right – had a good way with words and yes, was totally wordy too. I just knew I wanted to write, and had no clue how exactly to make a career out of it. I thought you wrote, offered the book up to an editor, and if it got accepted, great. The book was pubbed, and you went on with writing the next book, and so on.

While publishing with a big print house (as was the case for my first sale) is very close to this scenario, when I started looking into e-publishing houses over in the US, I found out that being an author wasn’t just about writing books, but a totally different kettle of fish on top. I learned everything from scratch, from self-editing to self-proofing to finding critique partners and establishing my name and Web presence. I’m still learning to this day.

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

I’ve always loved a good story featuring amnesia. The buried past, the secrets just under the surface, the smokescreen of deception that hovers because the memory is blank. I wanted to write a story with an amnesiac heroine, to bring my own version of secrets and buried past to the light. I started this plot about 3-4 years ago, but back then the story was going nowhere because I wasn’t satisfied with the boring skeletons the heroine, Amelia, could bring out of her closet. I let the story stand on my hard drive, and delved into other mss.

Then, a combination of factors happened to steer me in the direction to pen Walking The Edge. It was the thick of winter here, and my son was on school break. I came down with a bad cold and tried a new medication, which threw me off my trolley while I was under its influence. I’d wake up, and not know if I was fully awake or dreaming, a sort of strange déjà vu feeling. During those moments of near-lucidity, I could hear the mind-numbing music of my son’s SpongeBob game which he bandied around on his GameBoy. This was a really weird moment in my life, and it got me thinking – what if Amelia felt like this too? She’d need to be under the influence of drugs for this to happen, and thus her cold, manipulating husband, Peter, came on board as the bad guy. What was his game?

And then I watched the movie Wanted starring Angelina Jolie, and things just clicked. I had the secrets that were lurking inside Amelia’s closet, the secrets Peter wanted no one to discover. Why? Well, *wink*, that’s in the book.

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

Still writing and putting a few books out per year, having an established reader base, making a difference in my readers’ lives, the way a good book makes my day/week better.

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

What I Did For A Duke by Julie Anne Long. I love historical romances, and I’m always in awe of how good historical authors bring worlds of times past into scope for the reader. This one caught me under a spell – it’s one of those books that read effortlessly. There’s this ‘flawed’ hero, this duke in fact, who’s out for revenge, but things don’t turn out the way he planned, because the heroine is no simpering miss. Lots of twists, turns, surprises, and these totally amazing, vivid characters that leapt off the page. That story captivated me, and I was going, “Darn, she’s good!”, about Ms. Long’s easy manner of drawing the reader into the story.

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

Vikram Seth and his novel A Suitable Boy. It’s a huge tome, but the read is riveting. It was like being in India during the times he talks about, feeling what the characters are feeling, smelling the food, discovering a new world of customs and traditions, a whole ‘other’ way of life. My ancestors hail from India, and I grew up in this Indian culture that’s somehow adapted to our adopted homeland, Mauritius, but which still bears striking resemblances to the ways of India.

I was inspired by Mr. Seth’s writing because I wanted to make people discover Mauritius and my world the way he brought the late 1940s India to life.

That’s how I started my career writing penning culture-based romances set in Mauritius. And then I discovered British authors Jill Mansell and Sophie Kinsella. Riotous romps set in England, a land close to my heart, that didn’t feature culture or traditions but which were so entertaining and fun. I wanted to write that kind of story too, and this is how I started penning non-cultural romance too.

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

I used to cringe at writing love scenes, mostly because I imagined my very strict mother and aunts reading the words over my shoulder. I loosened up afterwards though, when I realized that writing love scenes didn’t have to mean writing total smut.


Today they’re neither giggle-worthy (like, say, my first attempts that were littered with purple prose), nor are they cringe-worthy (like the ‘smut’ I was once encouraged to write). I’ve found my right balance with love scenes, which I love to write, because it’s a new dimension to bring to the dynamics between a man and a woman. Some stories beg to be written with the bedroom door closed, others let you peek in, and others take place ‘in the open’, so to speak. I usually let my characters dictate the path to their very own love scenes.

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

When my husband told me right away to go for my dream of writing. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t ridicule any mention of ‘romance’ – just gave me his unending support at a time my life was spinning off its axis. Many men in his shoes could’ve dropped me like a hot potato, because I got sick and having a wife who’s not in perfect health condition is not exactly glamorous. He stuck by me through thick and thin, and that’s the most heroic thing a man can do, in my book.

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

That it doesn’t end with selling a book! In fact, it all starts when you sell a book. I wish I’d known about things like promo, and establishing presence and name. Being an author is not being an island out there in the world. You have to be a total continent with bridges to every other land imaginable in your realm. Today I’m much more comfortable with myself as an author because I know I am doing everything I can to not be this remote, unreachable island.

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

To write your story, your way. I can’t remember exactly who said this to me. A lot of people have tried to advise me and through this advice, shape me into something I wasn’t. Of course, writing your story your way doesn’t mean you don’t care about facts and rules of grammar and story construction, etc. It simply means to be true to yourself, all the way. Ultimately, you have to be able to look into the mirror and be able to bear the image that beams back at you. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your reflection, and what better way to ensure such a thing never happens than being true to yourself?

10. Tell us about your latest release.

Walking The Edge is a novel that bridges over quite a few genres, and stands as Book 1 of the Corpus Brides series. At the heart of it, the story is the journey of an amnesiac woman who is out to find out what her erased past hides. It’s a mystery she must unravel, and along the way, help happens in the form of a French police commissioner. At first, he wants her as far away from him as possible, but events unfold that draw him to her like moth to a flame. Romance blooms between them as they go about the city of Marseille trying to figure out who she is, but what will happen when she does find out who she truly is?

This is the blurb for the story:

The next step might be the last...

A woman without a past
Left amnesiac after an accident, Amelia Jamison struggles as her instincts slowly rise from the depths of oblivion, leading her to question her life as the wife of a cold, manipulating and distant man. Wisps of a dream show her another man she may have known intimately, but is he a memory, or a figment of her imagination?

A man with too much information
After many aliases, today Gerard Besson is simply a police commissaire in Marseille. When a mysterious woman starts to follow him, he is suspicious - and intrigued. But things aren't what they seem, and as he reluctantly gets closer to her, dregs of his painful, buried past emerge and make him question her identity.

Each seems to have led several different lives
But neither is prepared for what awaits them when they cross the fine line between knowing your true self and that of your alter ego.

Danger is the name of the game, and as it catches up with them in the French Provence, both know they better be ready for the inevitable fall.

The book can be found at the Noble Romance Publishing website - buy links coming soon.

11. What’s next for you?

Penning more stories! I have Book 2 of the Corpus Brides under way, titled Before The Morning, and it will be the prequel to Walking The Edge. Book 3, the final one for this series, is still in the outlining stages.

The Attraction of a Hairy Man

It's no secret I'm not fond of an overabundance of body or facial hair, but there's something about a man with a hairdo long enough for a ponytail that really does it for me.
I'm going to take you back into the mists of time today, to visit my first celebrity crush: Shaun Cassidy. Yes, I have to admit, when I was 14, the younger half-brother of David - and Hardy Boy extraordinaire - made my teen heart race. You might say I'd set the bar quite low on that one, but compared to the boys at school he was definitely an improvement. And he was the inspiration for some of the heroes in the (dire) short stories I scribbled in my exercise book when I should have been doing maths.


He looked a bit like a girl with his big eyes and long hair. And, I suppose, the reason I liked pretty boys was because they were non-threatening - not like manly men. Manly men were scary.

By the time I was 15, my tastes had matured: Step forward Marvin Lee Aday. Otherwise known as Meat Loaf. Mr Loaf also had long hair, but in no way could he be described as girly. And, if I'm honest, I love him still. Although, he's never provided inspiration for one of my heroes - not yet, at least, but there's still time.






Then there was Robin of Sherwood. Did any man ever look as good in a tunic as Michael Praed? He was a real pretty boy - so pretty I could never have gone out with him because he was much better looking than me (and he didn't ask - but we'll gloss over that). He's inspired several heroes. And look, there's the long hair again. We saw him recently in a stage version of The Sound of Music - and he's still very easy on the eye (although, sadly, he no longer has long hair).



To this day I love hairy men:






The very lovely Josh Holloway - who is very welcome to star in any of my stories. And he's so gorgeous, he's even forgiven the facial hair.

But, sometimes, only a manly man will do. Very occasionally, a non-hairy hero will make it onto my list:

(A quick apology before I go - I still can't comment on blogs. I've tried to follow several suggestions with no luck. Will keep at it - but just want to say thank you for all the comments on my previous posts and I'll reply as soon as I can.)

Words of wisdom from Trish Wylie - Part One

Over the next three fridays here at the minxes, we are joined by Mills and Boon/Harlequin author, Trish Wylie, who is visiting to impart some wisdom about how to start your romance novel. Her advice is fantastic. Do check in over the next few weeks to make sure you don't miss anything!
Thank you, Trish, for the blog posts.
Now, over to Trish...

For many writers, the best part of the creative process is before they even open a file on their computer. But once the adventure of a new project becomes the challenge of a blinking cursor, many of us can become bogged down with angst. Quite possibly because we know how important beginnings are in the world of writing.


With some experience under my belt (that I plan to put into practice any day soon) and thanks to some extensive research on the subject, I now know there are several common ingredients every story has regardless of where it falls within the vast range of fiction. Once I knew what was supposed to be there, it made me more aware of how those ingredients were present in the books I had enjoyed. It could be argued having them makes a story ‘formulaic’ but the simple fact is, there are certain things we expect to get for our time and money, especially in a century when we can get instant gratification at the push of a button.

So what are we looking for in a strong opening? First up:

1/ The Inciting Incident.

This is the moment when something happens to change things profoundly for the characters. Prior to this they have already lived their lives and formed their personalities in the same way anyone would when they reach the same age. Think of them as people living ordinary lives (though obviously if they live in a paranormal world their definition of ‘ordinary’ may differ from ours) who are launched into a new adventure or series of challenges by something ‘out of the ordinary’. It’s the same turning point any of us can experience in our lives, the decisions we make from that moment on allowing us to take a different path from the one we were on. In a Romance, this is typically the moment when the hero and heroine meet. Keeping in mind the demand for instant gratification and we know this should happen as soon as possible, which leads us neatly into...

2/ Introduction To The Characters.

The main protagonist/s of the story should be identified as soon as possible to the reader and it should be clear which point of view we are in at any given time. We don’t need to know the characters entire life story prior to the inciting incident but we should know the basics. Their names, a description of how they look and - if relevant at that point - their job, all allow us to form an initial first impression. Not only is this typical of real life, the first insight into a character’s point of view allows us to see how the things they do and say may differ from what they thinking and feeling, leaving the reader with a set of questions that will encourage them to continue reading so they may discover the answers (See point 10). It also allows us to see how they change as the story progresses. In order to help them make that change they will have two issues to deal with...

3/ The External Problem.

As a direct result of the inciting incident, the characters will be presented with a scenario that will throw them together on the new path they have taken. How the characters react along the way reveals more of their personality - allowing us to get to know them better without the need for long explanations. Naturally at the beginning – as is the case with many of us when life throws us a curve ball – they may be resistant to change, but this is where fictitious characters differ from people in real life. Instead of avoiding the problem or sticking their head in the sand, they will tackle it head-on in a proactive manner; moving the story forward. At this point, how the external problem is resolved may seem to be what the story is about, but this is the PLOT as opposed to the EMOTIONAL JOURNEY, which brings us to the second issue...

4/ The Internal Problem.

This is below the surface on a psychological and emotional level. Initially invisible to the other characters but hinted to the reader in the beginning, it eventually leads into the ‘black’ or ‘all is lost’ moment when the crux of the problem is revealed to the characters and a happy outcome seems impossible. In all Romance novels this is literally the heart and soul of the story. What the inciting incident does is bring this problem to the forefront of the characters minds, forcing them to confront it and deal with it as the story continues. Typically what will happen is the ‘opposing’ character will in some way represent what the ‘main’ character fears most and they will recognize this on a subliminal level. Perceiving them as a ‘threat’ they will resist with one of our most basic natural instincts; fight or flight. The challenge that drives the story forward will then be how they overcome this fear to gain the reward of their ‘happily ever after’ in the end. Naturally, this isn’t possible without a change of some kind, so what the beginning of the story does is hint at the emotional block holding them apart while at the same time hinting at the ending, which brings us neatly to...

...to be continued...
The next items covered in this ongoing series from Trish are:
Foreshadowing, Setting, Tone, Backstory, Theme and Hook.
 
Trish’s long-awaited book, ‘The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction’, will be out in the UK and Ireland in December 2011.

In the meantime, her third book, ‘Her Unexpected Baby’, is available for the first time in the USA and Canada direct from eHarlequin RIGHT NOW!


Find it here.  
You can find out more about Trish and her books at http://www.trishwylie.com/ or follow her between deadlines on Twitter @TrishWylie