How much fun can one girl have?

Since none of us Minxes managed to get to Caerleon for this year's RNA conference, we've invited debut Mills & Boon author Scarlet Wilson to guest blog about the conference this weekend instead.

Welcome Scarlet!

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The Gala Dinner

It didn't start well.  The train to Newport in Wales was packed with a variety of dogs and children crawling down the aisles.  At one point I ended up with two unknown babies sitting on my lap. However once we arrived in Newport I recognised some fellow women scrambling with cases and shared a taxi with the lovely Freda Lightfoot to Caerleon.

Jan Jones and Roger Sanderson spend a lot of time organising the conference and their planning was very evident.  There was a huge range of topics covered in tee programme and the hardest thing was picking what to attend.  I have to say that this year I was naughty and ducked out of a few lectures through sheer brain drain. 

Scarlet with M&B editor Flo Nicholl

But the ones I attended were fab.  The conference started with Celebrations and this year there were a lot of members with good news of sales.  It seems great that when we continually hear about tightening purses and less income, writers are still considered a priority.  There was an award winning panel with Louise Allen, Elizabeth Chadwick and Jill Mansell all answering questions on how they wrote.  I was amazed to learn that Jill Mansell writes all her books longhand with a Harley Davidson fountain pen!  I was even more amazed when Fiona Harper (who writes for Mills and Boon Romance) pulled out her moleskin notebook from her bag and showed me that she writes long hand too - her next book was sitting right in front of me.  I nearly snatched it and ran away!

The Mills and Boon editors delivered a talk on being Unpredictable - their latest buzzword.  They want new twists on the old stories and are still keen to acquire new authors.

M&B editor Anna Boatman, Romance author Nina Harrington and Flo Nicholl

Sphere books also delivered a talk, they are also acquiring authors - admittedly only a few a year - but specifically asked for timeslip stories and WW1 and WW2 women's fiction.

Jenny Hutton and Anna Baggaley from MIRA and Mira Ink gave an overview for their line, highlighting all areas that sell well in women's fiction and teenage fiction.  They also have new websites www.mirabooks.co.uk and www.miraink.co.uk

My favourite talk was given by Fiona Harper on getting emotion on the page and keeping it there.  You could have literally heard a pin drop in the room while she was speaking.  She has promised to put her notes for the talk on her website www.fionaharper.com

Scarlet with M&B Romance author Fiona Harper

The conference ended with agent Carole Blake and her client Elizabeth Chadwick letting us know how they were 'A Perfect Match'.  Their working relationship has lasted longer than Carole's two marriages and they were a true doubleact!

It was a perfect end to a great conference and after the long journey home to Scotland I am now going to spend the next few days in bed recovering!

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Thank you Scarlet! The Minxes look forward to meeting you again next year, at the Penrith conference.

Scarlet's debut novel for M&B Medical is It Started With a Pregnancy, out in September. Scarlet will be back here in September to talk about her book.

Words of wisdom from Trish Wylie - Part Three

This is the final part of our Friday series on how to start your romance novel, with Trish Wylie. It's been great fun having Trish here being Minxy-next Friday will be lonely without her!
I know everyone is dying to read what she has to say, so without any further ado, here's the final section.
Take it away, Trish!

8/ Back-Story.


The trick with back-story is to remember it is in the past. While relevant to the characters and containing the key to their emotional conflict, it is the ‘here and now’ the reader is most concerned with and for that reason the writer should focus the story on what is happening as it happens. Think of meeting someone for the first time and having them tell you their entire life story in one sitting and you’ll get an idea of how it would be for the reader to wade through a back-story dump at the beginning of the story. Instead, as it is in real life, the characters will get to know each other better as the journey continues, with hints of the past and the experiences that made them the way they are trickled through conversations, inner point of view (to assist the readers understanding) and their reactions to the things that happen.

9/ Theme.

Every story has a theme. Since more often than not this is used to help the publisher title the book and create appropriate cover art, the easiest way to get an idea of the themes used in a specific line within category romance may be to look at how they are marketed. For example, if there’s a baby or children on the cover or the mention of a father or mother in the title, there’s a good chance the theme is family. Put the word ‘Cinderella’ in the title and the theme may be self-image, self-acceptance or a character discovering the truth in the old adage that looks aren’t everything. Put the word marriage in the title and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Outside of category romance the theme may not be as obvious on the cover or in the title, but since every story ever told has themes based in mythology as far back as when the first stories were told around a campfire, I can guarantee there will be one.

10/ The Hook.

Quite simply the hook is a question that requires a reader to keep reading in order to discover the answer; curiosity driving them forward as it would for any of us in real life. The easiest way to create a hook is to start with something that profoundly changes the character’s world, the question becoming how they deal with it and what they will do next. If an external problem is solved too easily, the PLOT comes to a standstill, so every time something seems resolved, there must be something else to take its place so the story can continue and the characters have something to do. Think of it as a domino effect; the external problem leading to reaction and action which in turn leads to another action and another reaction and so forth until the internal problem comes to the surface in the black/all is lost moment and the characters are able to deal with it.

It may seem like a lot to pack into the beginning of a story, but pick up any book at random from your keeper shelf, read the opening chapters, and you will discover each of these points are there. Having said that, when starting out on a new story, many of us don’t get it right the first time, even when we’re supposed to know what we’re doing. But don’t panic if that happens! Beginnings continue to be a weak point for me, but theoretically, now that I know what I’m looking for I can go back and strengthen it with my trusty check-list at hand. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful too and if you do, my work here is done...

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 pick it up 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 - Stephanie Draven

Today we're delighted to have hugely prolific author Stephanie Draven join us here at the minxes to tell us a little bit about herself, and her books. Take it away, Stephanie!

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

Exactly five years ago to the day, I faced a career crisis. I’d been dreaming of publishing my books for years. I’d been working at it, taking classes, collecting rejection letters, and beginning to think it was never going to happen. I was at a low point. And that’s when I received a most extraordinary opportunity. I was offered a job as a special assistant to a U.S. Congressman.
Now, if I had to choose any career other than writing books, it would be that of a speechwriter and this job would have been a stepping stone in that direction. It would have been an opportunity to do something meaningful. It was almost my dream job. Almost. If I took this job, I’d have to give up my dreams of publishing my books. That was a certainty. The demands of the job wouldn’t allow for both.
And I had a choice to make. Would I go for a sure thing, or continue to pursue a dream that might never become a reality? I’m a very practical person, so the decision seemed clear to me. I would have to take the job.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. And turning down that job was one of the most terrifying and angst-ridden decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Sometimes I still wonder if I did the right thing.
It would be almost two more years before my first professional sale and six months more before I was offered representation by my agent, the fabulous Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill. After that, things went very quickly for me. Since then, I’ve sold four full-length novels (all of which will have been published within this year) and six novellas!

2. What do you prefer writing, novellas or full length?
That’s a little like asking do you prefer dinner or dessert! I love the accomplishment of writing a full-length novel, and the room I have to sprawl and show off. But the novella is a special kind of art form that really replenishes the creative well and helps me rediscover the joy of writing!

3. You write paranormal, what challenges does that present?
You have to build a world for any fiction that you create, but paranormal romance requires that you build a world that defies the rules of the universe. That’s quite a challenge to do that and fit in a satisfying love story to boot!

4. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?
What if the monsters of ancient mythology still walked the earth...and what if you found out that you were one of them? That’s the premise for my Mythica series and I’ve had a blast exploring the stories and symbols of Greek mythology. I’ve always loved the idea of sirens. They’re certainly the bad girls of ancient lore and I write very smart books for very bad girls, so it was a natural pairing! Also, I’ve always wanted to set a book in Annapolis. I lived there for a year and it’s one of my favorite places in the world.

5. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
I want to be a New York Times Bestselling author. Is that too much to ask?

6. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?
I was a storyteller long before I could read a book!

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?
I’m very fortunate to have a romantic husband who has filled my life with love and romance. It’s very difficult to choose just one moment, but I’m going to say that spending a day luxuriating on crisp white linens with the ocean breeze flowing in through the windows is definitely my happy place.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?
I wish I’d known how much time I’d spend doing things that have nothing to do with writing. Wow. The task of getting people to know about your work, much less read it, is a full-time job all in itself!

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?
Have lots of product to sell! Beginning authors spend too much time obsessing on making their first novel better. This is an important stage, but you have to learn when to move on and just write more and faster and better.

10. Tell us about your latest release.
Siren Song is a bite-sized romance that stars a modern-day sexy siren and the ancient triton she tries to seduce. He was banished from his home because of his weakness for sirens before and now he’s determined to resist her. When I started writing the story, I thought my siren would be a very wicked girl, but in the end, she turned out to be one of the sweetest, most innocent heroines I’ve ever written. I love when I get to turn expectations around--even in my own mind!

11. I hear Mills & Boon have replaced Nocturne Bites with the longer Nocturne Cravings, does writing Nocturne Cravings appeal to you?
Yes! I’m following up Siren Song with something much darker for the Cravings line entitled The Fever & the Fury which will star one of the furies as a heroine and the phoenix who teaches her how to accept pleasure instead of giving only pain. It should be scorchingly hot!

12. What’s next for you?
In November, my newest full-length installment of the Mythica series will be released. It’s called Dark Sins & Desert Sands and is about an Arab-American soldier who has been broken by torture and turned into a mind-controlling minotaur whose first vengeful act is to capture his beautiful interrogator. It might be a little controversial, actually!

Thank you so much for the interview, Stephanie!
You can find out more about Stephanie and her books, and read an excerpt of Siren Song at her website: http://stephaniedraven.com/
Siren Song is available as an ebook now from Mills & Boon here

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