Emotion - can you ever have too much?

Emotion is the beating heart of a book, too weak and the story struggles and dies but can you have too much? I've never given much thought to the power that authors wield  over readers' emotions but I've listened to several books recently that have had a huge impact on my own. This has made me think carefully about what I want to write and think - 'what effect do I want to achieve?'.

1) Me Before You - this book is brilliantly written and Jojo Moyes had me hooked from the start. A lot in the narrative resonated with me in a good way to start with but as the story progressed I found myself increasingly on edge. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn't read it yet but I will say the book had me sobbing buckets. I don't think I've cried like that over fiction since Jilly Cooper killed off a character's pet dog (actually she does that a lot!). I loved the book, cared about the characters and it kept me rapt but at the end I felt...well a bit crap if I'm being honest.

2) Recipe for Love was a sweet and gentle contrast. Listening to it soothed me and left me feeling gently uplifted, soft and positive about life. In fact much as a face to face meeting with Katie Fforde leaves you! As though she is giving away a bit of herself to every reader. 'Me Before You' made me feel much more but on reflection I'm not sure I wanted all those feelings, not that it was healthy to experience them.

3) Believing the Lie by Emily Barr was utterly gripping. I couldn't press the pause button on my iPhone and stayed up very late listening to the end. There are dark emotions in this book yet there was a positive tone to the heroine and the resolution of her story was satisfying. Despite the main character's frequent protestations that she wasn't a survivor she most certainly was and the story was uplifting, at least I found it so. 


It is incredibly subjective. Who knows what will touch readers, what stories will make them feel, what old wounds may be opened up...

I have some books by favourite authors on my phone that I cannot listen to. There is one no-go subject area that when it crops up, as it frequently does, I press stop and never revisit the book. I wonder if the authors who write about very dark emotions, who perhaps have never experienced them first hand have really thought about how the reader will feel, how their words will effect them.

I have no objection to writers who want to write 'real' endings or explore complex issues and would recommend all the three books above heartily but I know that, depending on my mood and resilience I would pick the book that left me uplifted, hopeful and taking that little bit of positive energy from the author. 


And if I write that is what I hope to achieve.

How much emotion is too much? I've heard that question a lot. Also the recommendation that we should double the emotion in every scene (a tip that did improve my writing). My personal opinion is that no amount of emotion is too much but it should be applied wisely.

All word processing software should come with a warning: Words are powerful, use with caution.

The Year of the Minx

Happy birthday to us!

This week this blog turned 2. To celebrate the occasion, Sally Minx is generously giving away free copies of her first published novel, Catch Me a Catch, to all our lovely blog followers. You can download the book from Amazon or Amazon UK.

A year ago we were just like any other one year old. We were just standing on our feet and taking our first wobbly steps. A few of us were published with smaller presses, a few were working with editors, a few of us were still clinging to the nearest chair and wondering how we were supposed to get across the great divide between published and unpublished.

But 2012 is a whole new ball game. We're excited toddlers now, running around as fast as we're able and sticking our fingers into every open lighting socket we can find. It's been so electrifying a start to the year that we're calling this The Year of the Minx.

You already know that Maya Minx has sold to Harlequin Presents, but behind-the-scenes we have 5 (!) Minxes all working on revisions for various editors, one with very exciting news we're not quite ready to share, and the remaining two both have editors excited about their work.

Can it get any better? Yes it can!

To continue the festivities, we'd like you to share your good news with us. Today is the day for sharing the joy, whether it be big or small. All good news is worrth celebrating. And in return for sharing, you get to help yourself to a cupcake.

Author Spotlight - April Vine

Today, for the first time ever, we have a South African author in our spotlight. April Vine lives among the Winelands in the Cape and writes hot, hot, hot stories!

April, what is your writing process?

Hmmm...wish I had one. I’m all over the place from writing thousands of words in one day to skipping three to four days in a row. But I am learning to right that disorderly flaw by writing consistently. So far all I’m consistent in is still being inconsistent!

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

The only method that keeps me at it is a deadline looming over me, other than that, I go shoe shopping  But sometimes it’s just a case of putting one word in front of another.

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

I’m a huge sugar fan and yes even forty minutes on the treadmill four days a week isn’t enough to deter me from eating sugar in the least. Recently though I found myself exercising more for mental fitness rather than physical and I’m only twenty years old, so I don’t know what’s up with that ;)

Do you believe in writer's block?

I do believe that writers get blocked for some reason or another. My personal writer’s block is more similar to a self-sabotage effort than in not knowing what to write. Usually when I’m whizzing through writing a book, I’m suddenly struck with a dire need to polish the spoons.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?

Not an actual incident as such, but I have used certain traits in my characters that I’ve seen in the people around me. But I also write erotic romance deep undercover, so they’ll never know they turned up in a book of mine 

In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?

Oh, it’s so different! For one, it’s given my internal editor a new surge of life which in turn has downplayed my word count considerably from when I was unpublished. I thought it would get easier. It doesn’t. It gets harder.

Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?

It isn’t?  I usually do a few interviews when I have a new release, but that’s about it. I do have twitter and facebook as well but I’m not there always.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?

Promotion, any form of promotion scares me. I have to physical remind myself to be more cyberly social on a daily basis, but in that I’m inconsistent as well. I think if you write good books, readers will find you so it pays to better your craft with every book you put out there. For me writing is a never-ending learning journey.

What did you learn while writing this book?

That I love writing paranormal erotic romances. It’s my first one and I can’t seem to switch back to contemporary which is what I wrote before.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?

The end! I know my hero and heroine got their happily ever after, after all so my job is done.

And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?

Oh, I think Sebastian would take her to the Swiss Alps in all luxury of course and he’ll make it his mission to keep her warm all the time ;)

The Blurb:

Staid and straitlaced Michelle Stein has two thoughts fueling her mind…
1. Floor the first man to walk into her antique shop.
2. Throttle her three witch-practicing aunts.

They promised her a tiny spell to fix her ridiculous inhibitions, but instead mischievously delivered a full-blown, sanity-squashing lust spell. The temporary curse apparently has no boundaries either…since the first man who walks through her door is the same man who broke her heart ten years ago. Despite Michelle’s vociferous resistance, Sebastian becomes the only man who can appease her unending physical hunger.

Thirty, heirless and restless, Sebastian Gray is drawn back home to Cape Town to claim the only girl he ever loved. What he finds in her place is a hotly bewitched erotic seductress. Now with the reparation spell her aunts cast gone awry, Sebastian might be on the losing end of a futile battle against a strength-ascending hex, no matter how hard he tries to keep Michelle satiated, alive…or even just human.

Unbound is available direct from Ellora's Cave, or through Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, and AllRomance eBooks.

How sport relates to writing (yes, it really does)

Nobody who knows me will be surprised that today I am relating writing to sport.

Today my beloved West Ham United (bless me, no one can accuse me of being a glory fan!!) are playing for the chance to be in the play off final in the Championship. Basically what this means is we were not good enough to be promoted automatically and so have to play off for the final place in the Premier League.

So in my analogy the Premier League is published author status--everyone else wants to be up there with the big boys and girls. Those who have already been promoted have done their revisions and had their manuscript bought (like the very wonderful Maya Minx). Those in the play offs, like West Ham, are doing their revisions (like the incredibly talented Sally Minx, Romy Minx and Sri Minx) and the best thing about the publishing business is rather than there being only one spot to be filled in published paradise there's as many as needed!

Those who fail in the play offs will have their revised manuscript rejected, those who didn't reach the play offs have rejections. However, there will be another season/another manuscript and so another chance to reach the Premier League. Some of those authors currently up there in published paradise may stop writing or concentrate on other things so there are always opportunities for those who want it badly enough.

It's a season long campaign, it's not all about one game/one story, it's about improving week on week. It's about finding new players/plots when the ones you have are not working out. It's about writing cracking dialogue/having players regularly scoring goals. It's about being brave enough to delete the stuff that isn't working/letting players go. But most of all it's about having that one story that hits the right editor's desk at the right time all wrapped up in sparkling writing. It's about having a Robin van Persie right there in your word document ... kinda!!

Now feel free to comment and tell me I am mad (I already know this!) or tell me what you relate writing to in order to make it all make sense :-)

May Hotties Poll

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a sport fan, with the exception of Formula One motor racing. And the last sport on earth I'll actually consider sitting though an entire game of is golf. That said, I'm reconsidering my position on this sport ... and this is why:


German Martin Kaymer:

Australian Adam Scott:

Californian Rickie Fowler:

Italian Matteo Manassero:

US player Steve Stricker:

Australian Jason Day:

Colombian Camilo Villegas:

And the #1 ranked golfer in 2011, Englishman Luke Donald:

It's actually going to be a pretty tough call this month. Unlike our previous poll which was a total walk-over for A Man Called Valance.