Fast Drafting

I came across this course on the forums at EHarlequin. It sounded like an awesome idea so I signed up for the class.

The very idea of writing as much as 5k in one day filled me with two very different emotions: complete and total fear coupled with excitement. I decided to go with the excitement and read the class notes.

Candace Havens is the course instructor and let me say that straight away I was impressed by her positivity and the clear way she presents the course.

Okay, but does it work? I would have to say yes. Based on the messages that are coming through the loop with some awesome totals being posted. Does it work for me? Yes, definitely. I love the accountability of having a group of people all striving for the same thing. And the overall premise of the course is that the more you immerse yourself in your story, the better it flows. That is something I already strongly believed in before I started the course and think is crucial.

Candy doesn't allow any negative talk on the loop. "I couldn't reach my goal because ..." or "I would have reached my goal if only ..." are not allowed. And that makes all the difference. Negativity breeds negativity. Positivity about your work breeds more confidence and the desire to reach the same word count you managed the day before. You see the words stacking up and it feels great.

The only difficulty I have had is reaching my goal in the two to two and a half hours it says you should set apart each day. Three separate #1k1hr sprints on Twitter will usually get me around 3k words which has been my best total this week. I'm not sure if that's because I spend too much time thinking about what comes next or faffing around to find the very best word to go into a particular sentence. But I do know that this course is pushing me to do the very best that I can in the time that I have available :-)

Does anyone have any courses they can recommend or tips that they would like to share this weekend?

Author Spotlight - Jennifer Probst

We're delighted to welcome New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Probst to the minxes today! Here are her answers to the minx questions...

What is your writing process?

I get lots of coffee, put one child on the bus, drive the other, come home and write. Pick up second child, get him lunch, write. Serve child’s needs for several hours and try to write. Pick up first child from school, serve snacks, write. Get dinner, greet husband, pour wine, write. Homework, baths, cleaning up, watch hubby settle down in front of tv with a relaxed expression, and I write! There is no other process I believe in then something to drink, my Ipod, and something to type on. The rest is all extra!

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?

I go shoe shopping first, then write! Balance is always my target and my goal. I do my best day to day – some are better than others due to family demands, but I write every day without fail. How? I groan, complain, tell my hubby to kick my butt, sit and stare, change my songs, but at the end of the day, I make sure I know it’s my job to write. That’s the only way I can do this full time.

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

Walk back and forth to the kitchen for more coffee? (Hangs head in shame) Sorry. Umm, to be totally honest, I used to go to the gym three times per week, and then my schedule got nuts and my physical regimen is suffering. Your question has inspired me to go back to the gym. After all, I’m still paying membership fees! I adore doing yoga too and believe it’s wonderful for clearing the mind.

Do you believe in writer's block?

Absolutely. I’ve had it and it sucks. Sucks big time! But I get through it by gritting my teeth and forcing my way through the hard stuff. Eventually I get out of the block and burst out the other end!

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

Yes, I’ve used something that happened and twisted the situation into a fictional story. It did get me in trouble, a tiny bit, when a family member recognized the incident – lol! But it worked out fine in the end and we all laugh about it now!

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

It’s just as exciting as I always thought, especially when a reader tells me how much he or she enjoyed the book. Having my name in print and finally being able to share my stories with someone other than my desk drawer or close friend is a dream come true. I don’t think I realized the extent of the business part of writing, and how busy your schedule can become. I laugh when people say I work from home so I must have plenty of free time! I think I work harder now writing full time than when I had my day job, but I’m much happier because it’s like having my own business. It’s also quite overwhelming to realize you don’t just write one great book and sit back with a smile. You have to keep writing great books and that can cause a muse to go on strike with fear – lol!

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

Promotion is key in this business besides writing a great book. I do social networking and I did it way before my books were published. I started slow, gained friends, supported people and followed blogs. I was a friend – not a writer yelling “Buy my book!” Who wants that type of friend? When the book released, I had a blog tour set up, some advertising , and sent it to many reviewers.

What is your top promo tip for other authors? 

The most important is to have a platform. You don’t have to be good at everything, but make sure you are either steadily blogging, twittering, using facebook, youtube, pinterest, or a combination. You do need a great website – that’s a basic. And be generous– I am a true believer in karma!

What did you learn while writing this book?

I learned to trust my gut. I knew this was a great story and I never let myself give up. I believed there would be the perfect editor/publisher out there that would believe in this story like I did, and finally it came true!

What was the most fun part of writing this book?

The characters! They took over the book for me, and I couldn’t wait to see what they would say or do next. I laughed out loud when I wrote it and shook my head at their antics, so the book came alive for me. How much fun is that!

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

Rome. I think he’d love taking Alexa to Rome to view the architecture and enjoy the scenery. Nick’s not the island type to just sit on the beach and sunbathe – he needs to be doing something engaging. He’d also know Alexa would love the romance of such an ancient city. Of course, when they get back to the hotel, that will be a whole other part of engagement for him – lol!

The Marriage Bargain

A marriage in name only...

To save her family home, impulsive bookstore owner, Alexa Maria McKenzie, casts a love spell. But she never planned on conjuring up her best friend's older brother—the powerful man who once shattered her heart.

Billionaire Nicholas Ryan doesn’t believe in marriage, but in order to inherit his father’s corporation, he needs a wife and needs one fast. When he discovers his sister’s childhood friend is in dire financial straits, he’s offers Alexa a bold proposition.

A marriage in name only with certain rules: Avoid entanglement. Keep things all business. Do not fall in love. The arrangement is only for a year so the rules shouldn’t be that hard to follow, right?

Except fate has a way of upsetting the best-laid plans…

Website and Blog

Goodreads

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Amazon

Barnes & Noble

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.