Monday, December 1, 2008

Guest Blogger ~ Devon Gray

Today, our guest blogger is Devon Gray! Her newest release, Playing for Keeps, just released this last month at The Wild Rose Press-The Wilder Roses. Please join us here at The Menagerie in giving her a warm welcome!



Available Now from The Wild Rose Press- The Wilder Roses: Playing for Keeps by Devon Gray.

Here is a quick blurb:

Pasts are best left behind, hidden deep in your memory—that is where I buried mine. The feel of his hands and mouth on my body, the height of sensuality I reached beneath his touch. I'd fought so hard to forget—how could just the sight of him bring it all back, forcing me to become lost in him?

Again.

Years before I had watched him, craved him—a guitarist in a band riding the wave to stardom—my brother's best friend. On the verge of womanhood, I never dared to reveal how I yearned. Until a cold New Year's Eve when I offered myself as the woman I'd become, bringing to fruition the deepest of wants. As that night turned, so did my life. Devastatingly so.

I never dreamed I'd become another of his one night stands.

Can pasts be exorcised if they come back to haunt you? And when a notorious playboy who broke your heart offers you his…how do you know if he's playing for keeps?


What I learned from writing this book:

1. It is imperative to have a synopsis before you begin to write a book.

2. Recording studios sometimes keep their gold and platinum records in the bathroom.

3. A man would not describe a woman’s eyes as “lake” blue.

4. It is imperative to have a synopsis before you begin to write a book.

5. If you are over thirty and are trying to get a record deal you have a better shot of becoming president.

6. Jimmy Choos should not be italicized in a manuscript.

7. It is imperative to have a synopsis before you begin to write a book.

8. It is difficult to write a love scene from the male point of view…in first person.

9. If you are a teenaged recording artist performing in bars, you have to have your mom or dad with you at all times.

10. It is imperative to have a synopsis before you begin to write a book.

I cannot even remember how many false starts this book had. The problem? I bet you can hazard a guess. I embraced my pantser tendencies and was left with over a year of frustration as a result. I would work the plot one way, only to discover my conflict fell apart. I’d go in a different direction, just to find my characters fell flat. I put it in a drawer and wrote another book, Addicted, which released this past August. It wasn’t until I was asked to participate in an anthology based on Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne” that the story finally came together in a way that made sense. Maybe it was the music connection, who knows. I have to say, though, that I have learned many valuable lessons from this experience. Like it is imperative to have a synopsis before you begin to write a book.

Please visit me at www.authordevongray.com

9 comments:

April Vine said...

Hi Devon
Mega congrats on being #1, PFK deserves nothing less. I’ve tried the synopsis before the book theory and failed miserably. And when I knew I wasn’t sticking to the synopsis, it became a matter of, oh, I’ll just change the synopsis to the point where the synopsis and the book become two completely different things. I’m still figuring that out but I do agree with you, totally, on the imperativeness of a synopsis first.

Devon Gray said...

Thanks for having me today! April- as for the synopsis thing...I'm still struggling. What I have to do now is sit down and keep working on the synopsis UNTIL I complete it. If it takes a month, it takes a month. It is just so much easier writing from an outline. I am hoping that with time this will become old hat and I can embrace my pantser tendencies during the outlining process. Sounds great in theory- LOL!

Helen Hardt said...

Hi Devon, and congratulations on the success of PFK! It's on the Sony, waiting to be read. Now I just need to find the time ;).

Very interesting comments about synopses. I rarely write to an outline, but when I do, I find that it does help, especially when writer's block strikes. The problem is, I'm such a pantser that I often end up going in a completely different direction. And, unfortunately, I haven't found a cure for writer's block at the outline stage, LOL.

Helen

Cari Quinn said...

Hi Devon!

As someone who read Addicted and can't wait to read Playing For Keeps, I know your process works, whatever it is! Keep writing the books and I'll keep reading them!

Wishing you much success! :)

Catherine Bybee said...

I downloaded PFK this weekend. I hope to get it from the 'to be read' file over to the 'read' file soon.

Devon Gray said...

Thanks for dropping by everyone! I hope that you all enjoy PFK...once I got it going it was a joy to write!

Devon

Chris M. said...

Thanks for being here today, Devon! I got a kick out of your post... So, how imperative is it to have a synopsis before you begin to write?

Christina Phillips said...

LOL on the synopsis! I'm glad you sorted it out, Devon, because I absolutely loved Playing for Keeps!

Kealie Shay said...

Wow, I didn't know that about the music industry! And is it really important to have a synopsis? LOL

Thanks for being our guest today, Devon. I loved Addiction and I'm looking forward to reading Playing For Keeps.