When You Aren't sure What to Blog About...

I was given a picture and told to write a short for it. Okay. Can do. The bones of the story came right to me. But here's the thing. Every once in a while, I get in ruts. I know what I want to write, but I can't get myself going to do it.

Same thing goes for blogging. I'll be going through my day and say, OH! That would be a good thing to blog about. Then when it comes time to blog here on MA...zilch.

It's frustrating. I love blogging here on Fridays and when I can't think of anything, I want to cry.

Does anyone else have this issue? Some days the words aren't there? Yeah, that's me.

What's worse? I just saw a show on TV with cowboys. Guess what? The brain is running a mile a minute on those cowboys. Figures.

I guess I'll go back to the vampire photograph Stephanie Burke and Cheryl Dragon picked for me. Grin. That's going to be fun!!!

To Prologue... or Not To Prologue...

That is the question...

What does this stem from you ask? Don't worry, I'll tell ya... I've been working on a story... for a looooooong time. I love the characters, and they won't let go. I wrote out the story, and had Mysti read the first rough, unedited draft. We both agreed it was too short and needed a lot more detail.

Then, as happens a lot, the story changed a bit. A character I thought was a secondary character took exception to that and pushed to the forefront and what started as a rather sweet, if hot M/F morphed into a much hotter M/F/M - M/M/F story. As I rethought and rewrote and reworked I realized that I needed to tell a bit more backstory. I wanted everyone to know HOW these two amazing guys who may have never looked at another man that way were drawn to each other along the way. But to do that, I figured ... I'll do a Prologue!

Then, recently, while in the midst of refining what I started with I read a blog post by a rather well-known editor. She said that she doesn't even read the prologues of submissions, or if she does, she doesn't really count it toward her opinion of the book as they're not usually something she finds relevant... or something to that effect. Basically, she questioned the need for a Prologue at all. And suddenly I was stopped cold in my writing as I angsted... ask Megan, I'm seriously good at the angsting! (No, I don't care if it's a word, angsting is part of my vocabulary, deal with it!)

As a reader, I actually enjoy the Prologues. I like knowing a bit of the "before all this" story. I love knowing that there are characters in this story that have a decided back history and I feel like the voyeur who knows something the characters to come don't. Now, I'm wondering... if it's such a bad thing that an editor doesn't even really read them... why do I like them so much? And will it hinder this story's possible appeal?

All that aside, I like where my Prologue goes, I like how it gives a hint of what's to come, and doesn't give it all away... so I know it's staying. And as Megan would tell me, "Just finish the damned thing so I can read it before you worry so much!" But, I wonder... and that's my question... As a reader or even a writer... what are your feelings on the usefulness of a Prologue?

Rock On... Or Country On?

I'm here, I'm here! I know, Tuesday is my usual day, but Megan and I thought we'd hang out here together today... much easier to head out on the town from one place, don'tcha think? I haven't seen her yet, so I guess it's just me and the CBs for now... ;-P

I seriously had a hard time thinking of anything to talk about today. What do you mean you can't believe that? I am so mild-mannered, and quiet and... yeah, sorry, even I don't believe that one, lol.

Okay, in all seriousness... I know it's something I talk about a lot, but I love music. Lots and lots of music. I'm not like one friend who has more albums than he can really count, but I do have a lot of music. I have everything from Classical and Opera to Goth Metal and Harder rock with a little Country and even some Musicals soundtracks thrown in there too. Not a day goes by that I'm not found humming or singing something I heard, or even found with headphones on while I do chores. Even my writing is influenced by music... heck MEGAN'S writing is influenced by music I hear, lol. There have been times I've called her after hearing a song and asked her how come her characters were in my head telling me they like that song.

While I am a visual writer (I just love me some inspiration posted in front of me when I write... or just for the hell of it, but hey... can you blame me?), I do have stories inspired by songs I hear... Heck, I have an entire series of stories inspired by several bands I love and the music they make. I even have playlists on my iPod that are labeled with specific names of stories I am working on. It might come from having danced my whole life... who knows. All I do know is that music is integral to my life more than just dancing or liking music. Below is a song that has been the inspiration, and that I listen to all the time.



I know, I know, it's kind of a silly video, but the song is what I'm rockin', lol. So, how 'bout you? What does music mean to you? Annoyance or essential? What's rockin' your MP3 player? I'd love to know... I'm always lookin' for new music! Until next time... Rock on! :-D

Wait, Who's That Girl Again?

Hey all, I know I've been gone a long time... sort of. I pop in now and then for interviews and hotties with Megan, but for the most part I have been seriously incommunicado. Some of you are most likely thinking, "Kealie? Who's this Kealie person?" I know, I didn't call, I didn't write (in more ways than one)... but I have very good reasons. Can you guess what they might be? I'll give a hint:



Yup, that's right, there's a new addition to the Shay household. It wasn't an easy time of it, and there were more important things than keeping up online. Yeah, don't worry, you're not the only people I forgot to keep up with... Just ask, Megan, Mysti, and JennyKat. Add more complications after the fact, some scary "We came this close to losing you!" comments and I had to take a few steps back and try to get better before I could be my bad self again. Since I'm feeling more like myself again, and am somehow managing to find at least a few hours in the day for myself, I'm back!



So, hopefully, now that I can think again, and my characters have decided that I've had enough of a break, my mind and muse are going crazy telling me I'm on notice and need to get some of this stuff I had to put off for a bit DONE! So, that's the plan.



I've missed being here, I've missed my girls, I've seriously missed the Cabana Boys (who are now the best looking babysitters in the world!), so here's keeping my fingers crossed that nothing else gets thrown at me... cuz I think I'm done for the year. :::nods:::

Challenges!

I've been stuck in a rut for ... well, we won't go there, but it's been rough. I hate it. I want to write. I have ideas. But man...getting them out there. You know, on the computer, that's a toughy.

I called Kealie, cuz I can't not talk to her, and I said, yanno, this sucks.

"So...set a goal? You can do it."

First I did a headsmack. Then I went, duh! I mean, man, I've got at least four guys wanting to get horizontal...vertical...hang from the chandaliers....anyway, they want to get frisky and not just in my head.

"How about 2k a day? You can do it."

Again, headsmack. Duh to me. Yeah, I can do it. Instead of putzing around and staring at the computer...I'm going to get down to it. I got my first 2k done last night, so I'm jazzed. And looking at the man on the side there...well, he doesn't hurt. Yanno? (wink, wink).

Enjoy. I'm off to get another 2k under my belt. Or to use the belt to restrain one of them...or something. You get the idea.

Series? Seriously?

I'm running late again, today... but I'm here! And, I have a question. You don't have to answer, but it's something that I wonder about, as a writer. I know the answer for myself as a reader, but as a writer I'd love to know: How do you feel about book series (serieses?)?

Bear with me here. I know as a reader, I love to hang out with characters from previous books. I love to go back to the worlds that sucked me in the first, second or third times I visit the different worlds I read about. But that's me!

As an author, I love when a secondary character jumps up and down and hollers, "Look at me, look at me... I'm just dying for my own story!" I always want to go back to my worlds and revisit characters that spoke to me... As I"ve mentioned before, Megan and I have a series of books we're working on, and there are already a few characters' stories that we've mapped out, and we're excited to see them take shape. I think the problem we're running into (or maybe it's just me... lol, I am a bit obsessive) is that there are so many ideas we come up with, ideas that would be great to incorporate that it can be a bit overwhelming. What do we include? What would just be... minutiae? How much can be woven into a series of stories to keep you coming back, and how much "cliffhanger" would be too much to make you stop reading? Is it okay to have the immediate story resolved with the main characters of THAT book but still have some... mystery to keep you coming back for more in the next book? Help me out here... what would you love to see in a series?

PG to X-rated and Everything in Between

I'm a bit blank this morning -- just finished up edits on "Blue Light Special" and my brain is mush, so I'm stealing a post from my virtual tour from May. Enjoy!

PG to X-rated and Everything in Between

I love love. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t prefer reading books that included a little romance ... after all, even Cinderella kissed her prince, and who could forget “Lady and the Tramp” and its spaghetti scene?

As I grew older, I moved on from “Snow White” to “Forever” by Judy Blume where ... OMG... the heroine HAS SEX with her boyfriend. It all ends very badly, and I’m sure it was meant to teach me a lesson, but all of us seventh graders knew exactly which pages had THAT on it and we returned to them again and again.

By eighth grade, I was reading Harlequin Presents (not those dull romances where nothing happens... oh no, I wanted my characters to get it on) and found myself intrigued by all that tension and crackling fire between men and women.

By high school, I was feeling a little bit of that crackling myself. So THAT’S what it’s all about. I’ll admit to being a late bloomer—no nookie in high school for me—but I indulged in plenty of necking and lots of letting my guy make it to second and third base and, oh yeah, it was the ultimate. And I knew then that S-E-X was really all that.

When I started putting pen to paper, though, writing sex scenes was really difficult. I loved, Loved, LOVED writing tension: those little shivers when he brushes your hand, the tingles from head to toe during that first kiss, the tension low in your gut when his tongue touches yours and you feel him hard against you. One of my writing friends used to write these great stories, with incredible plots that were terribly romantic, and then she’d send them to me with the request to add that all important sexual tension. It was, by far, my favorite thing to write.

But strangely enough, I just couldn’t bring myself to pen “the act”.

That all changed when I was challenged to write something for Whipped Cream Reviews’ short story page. Another pre-published friend and I gave it a go (and it became the beginning of The Menagerie Authors – the website and blog I share with three other awesome erotic authors) and I had a BLAST! Sex was fun, fun, fun! And, shockingly, it was published (it’s here if you’re interested in seeing my very first attempt: http://tinyurl.com/2we7vnr).

There was no going back. Writing a LOT of sex is almost easier than not writing sex—your characters can live “if it feels good, do it”. They need motivation, of course, and I prefer to have the emotion there, too, or else it’s not erotic romance, but it was freeing.

I’ll be honest, I still like writing sweeter romance, but not too sweet. I find it somehow abnormal when I read stories where the main characters don’t even kiss before professing their love for one another. There have been seven month babies since the dawn of time – it happens. After all, to quote George Michael, “Sex is natural, sex is fun...”

Go ahead. Indulge. Read it. Write it. Live it. ;-)

Getting Done

I had no idea what to write about more than five minutes prior to opening this. Yes, I know, I've been a tad derelict when it comes to actually coming over here. I make it for interview day and then totally blow it the rest of the week.

I'd like to say the boys are keeping me busy. (They are, you know) But it's also about working for the man (men). Someone's gotta bring in a couple of bucks (bucks, boys, not studs... I have you three and that one that sorta wandered in the other day... sorry, he looked lost) Anyway, I have to work. Oy. Yeah, it's a tick overwhelming at times, but I've been trained to be one of those people who never says die (Kealie chimes in: Writer Goonies Never Say Die!). So I buck up and go to work.

Am I complaining. Nope. But, my writing career has hit the stall button (stalling? i'm not stalling.... Stall-ling... huh, stalling...). I have the ideas and I have the drive, but good gravy, I don't have the flippen time. I want to. Heck, I've got a ghost adventurer story and a hunk to match, screaming in my head to give him a chance to have his say and way with the woman he's in love with.

Have you ever said, I'll play hookie for one day so I can do what I want to for the day? I want to know about and maybe get some good tips. Hey, the muse needs let off her leash every once and a while too, ya know...

10 Things I've Learned...

Yup, that's right. I'm doing a 10 things post today. I'm doing it because I am at a total loss as to what in the world to write about today... I'm sure you really don't care to hear: "I'm still working on edits... and that's all!" Sooooo... I figured I would do a 10 Things list blog post. :-D

Bear with me as we go through them:

1) I am deathly afraid of commas!
Apparently I'm not the only one! I have found that there are many of us out there who are afraid of commas... only they won't admit it like that. Come on, suck it up. Join me: "Hi, my name is Kealie, and I'm afrad of commas!" Okay, not everyone is afraid of commas, but all authors have some issue with their writing that they constantly have to keep an eye out for in the midst of their edits. One friend is the queen of "passive" writing; another can't write certain words to save her life (you know which ones... this is the Menagerie after all). But everyone has issues or quirks in their writing that usually gets caught eventually but they are always there.

2) I'm not as smart as I thought I was!
I've found that there are only so many ways to say certain words that are associated with certain body parts... My thesaurus is overused... and I still have a hard time finding new words. Honey pot is one I will NEVER use... it just sounds so funny to me. It's hard to think of other words, but honestly, we all need to start a database. Who wants to do that? Any volunteers? No? Dangit...

3) My muse is a Hootchie Mama!
No, really, she is! She brings home so many new characters... that are almost all invariably men. "Look who followed me home! Can we keep him?" No, honey, we can't. Why don't you bring the girls back? "Cuz, they don't interest me. I just seek out the sexy man flesh." *sigh* So, see, she's Hootchie Mama, she's always got these men she's showing up with, and it's apparently my job to find their heroine. Ah, well, at least she likes to hang out with me.

4) My muse has a serious case of "I-don't-care-what-you're-doing-itis".
Nope, Hootchie Mama has no sense of propriety. She doesn't care if I'm driving, working, teaching a dance class, taking a shower... you get the idea. She will pop up in the middle of whatever it is I'm doing to lay out her idea that she has. And she's persnickety, so when I invariably have to blow her off to... yanno, finish showering or driving she takes her idea and hides it from me. Then I have to cajole her with chocolates and online "window shopping" to try and get her to give it back to me when I actually can sit and write it down!

5) My characters can give my kids a run for their money in the annoyance department!
Yup, my kids can be super annoying. They can bug me until I'm ready to scream. But, my characters are worse. I swear, they can give my rambunctious kids a run for their money! "Kealie... Kealie... Kealie... are you going to listen to me or do I need to take my story and go somewhere else?" "WHAT!" "When are you going to work some more on my story?" ARGH, when I can! And then hope they stomp off in a tizzy.

6) My BFF is an enabler.
Yes, she is... and she'll be the first to admit it. Enabler is defined as: : one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior. Now, we could mean this in so many way, but the main one is that my girl sends me off to find hotties... she pushes me to take a break when I need to... she also pushes me toward my writing and getting it published... and if THAT isn't self destructive than I don't know what is. :-D Thanks, Megan!

7) "Crazy" is relative.
Or in the south we call that "eccentric", maybe a little tetched. But if you stand and talk to any other writer you'll find that in many peoples' eyes... we're ALL a little crazy. It's all relative, though. Yes, I talk to myself as I wander through the store - but my characters are talking to me. Yes, I talk about fictional characters in my head like they are real people - but if I don't think of them as real people, then how will I make them real on the page? See... crazy is relative. And honestly, I don't really care if anyone thinks I'm crazy... I'm still me.

8) My characters can be mutinous pirates when they want.
"MUTINY! MUTINY! We want our sex NOW not later in the book after you build the tension... When ARRR ya gettin' us inta bed?" They hijack my story and the next thing I know I'm writing a scene that I didn't think they were ready for. But what do I know, I"m just the writer. I may have to start instituting the policy of forcing them to walk the plank... we'll see.

9) I'm not as big a slut as I thought I was!
I'm not! Why are you laughing? I'm finding that even I have boundaries. There are certain things that I can't even think on, much less write about them. Things that make me so squeamish that I have to hit my forehead if I even think of them. I once thought that I didn't have any inhibitions, that I could and would write anything and everything to titillate... ummm... yeah, nope. There are certain things I cringe at and I have to hit the delete button and hope I can fix the scene with something else. :::shudder::: Just thinking about them make me want to wash my brain out with bleach.

10) Anyone who says this business was easy - LIED, or never did it themselves.
There is nothing easy about writing for publication. Absolutely nothing comes easy. And anyone who tells you differently is a LIAR - or they never did it themselves. It's worth it, and sometimes it's downright fun! But it's never easy. Even when I think I have an idea and the story is pretty fleshed out, there are so many things that need to be taken care of after the fact to bring that story to life. If I ever find the person who says "Writing for publication is easy!" I'm gonna put my 4 inch stiletto bootheel up their butt sooooo far they'll become best friends with a proctologist. Yes, I know, what a vivid picture to leave you with. Sorry bout that... nah, not really. :-D

Anyway, how about the rest of you? What have you learned about being a writer? Do any of these ring a bell? What's your favorite part of the process?

So... What am I Doing Again?

Yes, I have those moments... who doesn't? You walk into a room with purpose. You are there to do something. Then you stop, turn in a circle, scratch your head and think, "What did I come in here for again?" Half the time, I can't remember what it was that I was in there for... until I walk out of the room and am in the middle of something else. *sigh* I'm not even "of an age" when it's expected. I blame it entirely on my children... and being blonde. :-D

I went out of town last week to the Lori Foster Reader Author Get Together. Some of you met me there, and know my "real personna". I kept hoping that the time away from home would mean that I would get some writing/editing/ANYTHING done without the interruptions of my children/spouse/dog every five minutes. Nope... I got a big fat NOTHING done. Well, not nothing, I saw some of my favorite people! But nothing with my writing got done.

Now, I'm home, my kids are out of school for the summer... fun, right? And I'm slowly getting more done. Right now, I have two major projects going with my writing: 1) I am going through the second round of edits for Appearances (working title) in which I'm adding more content; and 2)I am adding some more to my Cowboy per the request of an editor who is interested in it (I know YAY! right!). Add to that the stories that are running around my head and the outlines that I'm working on and you can imagine why I'm wandering through rooms wondering, "What am I doing again?"

So, below are the nifty little avatar thingies I found for my stories. That little raisin guy cracks me up. So, if you want to cheer me on, I won't turn it down, lol... and hopefully, I'll have awesome news soon... :-D

2nd Round of Edits on Appearances:



Additions/Edits to Cowboy:


Anybody else have issues getting to their butts into a seat to finish edits or even a story? Anyone? What do you do when it seems the world is conspiring against you and your muse?

Be An Individual

Your Fashion Style is Girly

You dress to look beautiful and show off what you've got Dresses, skirts, heels... whatever it takes to turn heads You love feeling like a girl in any setting Even your workout clothes are cute and feminine!

What Kind of Fashionable Woman Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

What does this have to do with me and my writing? Not much, lol. Okay, I can figure out some way that it relates... somehow...

Anyway, the reason it came up was because of an experience I had with a good friend of mine. She is someone who is much more comfortable in jeans and t-shirts, but occasionally, she needs to dress up. So... we went shopping, and she dragged me along, cuz she doesn't do shopping very well. We ended up having to take two trips. But, that's beside the point.

A comment she made about my style and taste in clothing made me stop and think. I wear what I like, end of story... at least as far as I'm concerned. It could be something that others find trendy, or it could be something funky that caught my eye. I started thinking on how each character I write is as different from another as night is from day. I'm rather eclectic in my characters as well, or at least I seem to think so. :::shrugs:::

Spending time with my good friend reminded me that every story has the good friend, the secondary character. Yet in my mind they always end up with their own story and the main characters... become the secondary characters. Does that make sense? Each of my characters is an individual, just as each of my friends are individuals. I hope each time I pen a story that I've described a new character and that I'm not just regurgitating the same heroine over and over and over again. :::gag:::

I know that a bit of myself makes it into each heroine... but I just started to realize recently that my friends and family show up a bit in each of my secondary characters, who eventually become main characters in their own love story. My friend who is much more comfortable in blue jeans and sweats and has a total of three pairs of shoes is just as interesting as my friend who is up to date on all the latest fashions and has more shoes than even I think one can wear. (I know Megan and Mysti are laughing here) The main point is that each one is an individual, just as each character I write is an individual. I'm sure if each of my characters took that test up above... each one would have a different result. In the end, I just hope I can do them justice and let them be individual.

How about the rest of you? Do you ever struggle with making your characters each distinct and individual? Have you ever noticed that you DON'T succeed?

Feeling A Little Bit Writing Bi-polar...

Yup, you read that right. I'm feeling a bit battered and bruised and neurotic as I write this post. "Why?" you ask? Cuz I got a response from another ePublisher for my Cowboy story... and they're passing. *sigh*

Once again, the editor was perfectly nice and informed me that I had a great voice and was very talented... BUT she's going to have to decline this story. Have you ever just wanted to bang your head on your computer? That's how I felt... and still do. But, where does the bi-polar part come in? Glad you asked!

I had the pleasure recently to take part in a series of online workshops given by funny, sassy, wonderful author D.D. Scott. She does great classes about Muse Therapy. In one of the classes of the workshop she talks about "Writing Bi-Polar: I Suck vs. I'm a Genius". Go ahead, laugh, and nod your head all you authors out there... cuz you KNOW it's true and you know just what she's talking about. But if you ever have a chance to take one of her "Muse Therapy Workshops" I'd suggest that you RUN not walk to participate.



Anyway, in one of her lessons she gives suggestions on how to get past the lows of rejections and... "I suck!" moments. One of those suggestions is a "Quotes to live by" document or shoebox to help get over the downers, and keep you in the uppers (wow, that sounds bad... but truly it's not). And since I am currently dealing with my own personal "I SUCK!" moment, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from my own "To Live by" document:

“When the world says, ‘Give up’, Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’” --- Author Unknown

This one is probably my mantra right now. This story has been worked and reworked to the point that it doesn't even really resemble the original story... okay, except in a purely superficial way.

"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again!" Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Frank Sinatra did his version of it as well.

This one has actually been a part of my life...well, for most of my life. I have been dancing (ballet, modern, jazz, etc.) since I was ... well, let's not say how young I was and suffice it to say I've been dancing almost 30 years and just go from there. Anyway, it's something that is a bit of a dancer mantra... everyone falls, and if you quit just because you didn't get it perfect the first time, you're never gonna make it in this business. The same can be said for writing for publication. If you let the first, second, third... hell, the HUNDREDTH rejection make you quit, then maybe it's not the business for you.

"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." ~ Author Unknown

This one gets me in soooooo many ways... and you know it does you too. Yes, sometimes we're little nuts. LOL And yes, if we hold our ground, we may just get to where those roots will help us grow.

So, while I'm feeling a bit down, and wondering why in the world I do this to myself, I think that my years and years of dancing, auditions, rejections and sometimes downright nasty comments about my physique (yes, those horror stories are true in most cases) have lent themselves to my philosophy on writing for publication. Nobody got it perfect the first time.

Heck, it's something I tell my little dance students, "Do you think that when I first tried this step that I got it perfect on the first try?" Granted, invariably they tend to nod their heads and think I did in fact master it in one try, but I quickly correct them, "NO! I fell, I tripped, I had to do it over and over again sometimes over a matter of years before I got it just right, and sometimes I STILL mess it up and I've been doing it for 30 years! The point is that you keep trying and eventually you'll get there."

Yeah, I know, I need to take my own advice. LOL And on that note, I think I'll go and set my Cowboy aside for a bit. Not for good, just until I can take another look and see if what is truly wrong with it is something I can see. Until then, I'll pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again with another story. How about the rest of you? Do you have something that helps you get past rejections? Do you have a quote that you want stapled to your forehead so you can always remember it?

Wishin'... and Hopin'... and Thinkin'...

Right now I have that song in my head... but somehow I'm quite sure Ms. Dusty Springfield never meant them in the context that I'm using them. I'm still waiting to hear if my Cowboy story has been accepted. But until then, my writing life goes on.

Lately, I've been editing my "Appearances" story (which probably won't stay titled that... it's just how I first thought of it, lol). And I'm finding certain characters are coming up so much clearer than they originally did. They're growing and evolving in ways I am constantly surprised by. I wrote this one at the same time that Mysti wrote her Shut Up and Kiss Me when we did it as sort of a writing challenge. We were trying to get the ball rolling and get something done... anything done. Mysti popped up in my IM window and said, "I have an idea" which usually makes me cringe... some of her ideas are a bit out there. Like yanno... "I have an idea... we should write erotic romance!" :-D

So, Mysti had an idea... we needed to just make it a challenge. We had two days (might have been three...) to write a story that was approximately 7500 words. She finished hers long before I did, but I have a very hard time making my stories shorter... I want to share the information and more of the story. Anyway, the end result was my Cowboy story that originally ended at almost 13,000 words. But I wrote it within the time limit we'd set. I can remember thinking that I liked this story, but feeling pressed to finish in the alloted time. And I'm sure that showed in the first draft.

As so often happens with a story, it started out one way, and it quickly jumped over into a different direction than I had originally planned. Once I hit save that last time I popped up in her window... "Done!" At which point she demanded I send it to her immediately. Ugh, I really hate sending anyone a first draft... I know there are mistakes in there, I know that I've twisted the plot and left out the conflict. And while I do better with criticisms than I do with praise (go figure) I always feel a little sick to my stomach when I first open up a document that has been looked over by a crit partner and see all those crossed out lines and comments along the side. Each time I think, "That's an awful lot of red!"

Mysti looked at it and sent me her comments and edits. And my first thought? "WOW, that's an awful lot of red!" LOL. Then, after taking a deep breath, I read through all the comments and edits and then closed it and set it aside. I'm not a person who can do the first or second round of edits on my stories immediately. I have to read every comment that was made, and then let it germinate. Let it sit and let my subconscious brain pick it apart and put it back together again. Besides, I was in the middle of second or third round of edits on my Cowboy, so I continued to work on those.

Now, Cowboy is off, and waiting in someone else's hands and Appearances can take center stage. As I go through and add words... or change words that I apparently love too much (clenched anyone?)... I am once again amazed at the way a story can change and evolve and grow. Characters that may have been a bit bland can take on a whole new appearance. They can steal a scene, or in some cases an entire book. They can go from whiney and not all that admirable to bitchy but lovable. I love the journey I go on each time I step into the worlds in my head. I love how I can see, taste and touch what I'm trying to get down on the screen. I absolutely adore the voices in my head (yes, even when they are screaming at me that I'm not getting their stories down fast enough). Basically, I pretty much love everything about writing... okay, I could do without the emotional angst as I wait for a response to my inquiry... but nobody's perfect, lol. Maybe if I can keep my mind on editing Appearances and writing some more I won't go as crazy... then again, maybe not. Guess we'll all have to wait and see, lol.

Family, Feelings and Funny Happenings

I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to write about today. And honestly nothing was coming to me. Still no news on my Cowboy story that I sent off to another publisher. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I can't stay in a state of constant... freaking out, lol. So, I check my emails a little less... hmmm... neurotically, and I hope for the best and work on my other stuff.

This week I have had family in town. And while I love and adore my family, they are a loud, rambunctious group of emotional vampires. I love being around them, but by the time I get home... I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Now imagine doing that over and over again for an entire week and then having the spector of the in-laws coming into town for a big birthday for one of my children and you'll see what my life is right now.

Among the chaos, there is fun and laughter and downright silliness... especially when you get members of my rather large Irish/German family (on my mother's side) in one house. It blows people's minds when they see all of us together, but they soon start to believe me when I say, "I'm the quiet one." No, really, I AM the quiet one. Those of you who know me are rolling your eyes, "Uh huh.... suuuuuuure you are, Kealie!" But once you see my entire family in action... it starts to make sense.

The night before last we had about 25 family members (Yes, they were ALL related to me in one way or another) gathered in my parents' house. We honestly don't need a reason, but add the fact that my sister who doesn't live here came down for a visit with her husband and children, and we have ample reason to gather and wreak havoc.

This time, there seemed to be a bit of a... passing of the flame if you will. For years my family has played a game called May I. It's a... "bastardized version" of Gin Rummy (according to my sister). We've been playing this card game for as long as I can remember. As children we watched our parents and listened to them howl and holler at each other when someone took a card they wanted or skunked the whole table by going out and leaving the others with hundreds of points in their hands. As we got older we were slowly taught the game and after the first hand you won... you were on your own. As each of us has grown into adulthood, we've progressed and excelled at the game until we had to have our own table of cards away from the adults.

At this family get-together, only the younger generation played the game, while the older generation stood by and commented or talked amongst themselves. So, me, my one cousin, my other cousin's fiance, my sister, her husband and the baby of the family, my youngest cousin who just turned 18 last month set about playing our own game of May I. Slowly, the volume grew (nothing new in a large family) and the older generation started to make some... complaints. "You're getting too loud over there!" Which would set the rest of us at the table off into paroxisms of laughing... remembering some of the more heated games of recent memory between those same people.

We did our best, but really, we're family and we enjoy poking fun at each other. My brother introduced us to his pregnant wife that night (no I had never met her before, and no we weren't invited to the wedding... things were a bit strained at first). And then convinced her that she needed to join in the game. Since the girl comes from a family of six, where she was the only girl, we figured she could handle us. At one point, she looked at the other five of us at the table and asked, "Are you sure you aren't siblings?" Considering that she was married to one of my siblings and one of my other siblings was at the table with her husband we were a bit confused. "Who?" And she pointed between me and my cousins. We had to laugh... "Well, we might as well be. We were raised more as siblings than as cousins." And that explains it all. We were raised more as siblings, we were there for every major event, we were there every month for the family get together, we were there for weddings, birthdays and baptisms... and even though there are times when I want to bang my head against the wall... I wouldn't trade that for anything in the whole entire world.

Now you're wondering what in the world this has to do with writing... nothing... and everything. My family is the reason I believe in Happy-Ever-After. I saw on a daily basis parents and aunts and uncles who shared their love with the rest of us. I watched my mother and father kiss in public and hold hands and have seen the same from my aunts and uncles. It taught me the kind of love I deserved, and I refused to settle for less. My family is the reason I can look at my cousin who has yet to find a man willing to take on a single mother with some issues and think, "Someday, I'll write her story." Because I love her, and want her happy, I will be there when she does find her One and I will share in her joy.

When a character pops into my head, I can honestly say that they have quite a bit of my family in them... whether it's a stubborn determination to refuse to settle... or a spunky heroine who feels no shame in the shape of her body because she had a family of big beautiful, women with curves. Our life experiences mold our writing. They speak to us, and through us, and go out into the world as an example of who you are and what you believe. I hope that I can make a reader laugh the way my family makes me laugh... I hope that I can put forth that emotion that I learned at the feet of the women in my family who never gave up and never took no for an answer, and in the process they raised some pretty spectacular friends that I am lucky enough to call family. That's the feeling I want to put in my stories. I'm sure you'll let me know if I fail at that, lol. :-D

Anyway, everyone have a beautiful Tuesday. I'll be hiking Valley of Fire with my family and storing away more memories to bring out and look over again... but not until it quiets down a bit around here. LOL

Why ... Torture Them Of Course!

I know with a title like that you're wondering if I'm bringing out the whips and manacles. Not this time... :-D

It has been brought to my attention more than once that one of my weaknesses when it comes to my writing is that I don't have enough conflict when I bang out that first rough draft. One of my dear friends, and published authors, has this discussion with me all the time. I once asked her, "Well, how the hell do I remedy that?" and her reply? "Why... torture them of course! You can't just have your hero hanging from a cliff by his fingernails... you have to pelt him with rocks too."

Okay... I can do that... maybe... *sigh*... okay, maybe not that easily. I truly do have to struggle to torture my characters (unless it's what they like, but that's a whole 'nother blog). And as I go through edits on the first draft of my Rocker romance I've been watching a certain movie in the background. Yes, I can do more than one thing at a time... can't you? LOL Anyway, so I've been watching Moulin Rouge. Yes, yes, cheesy, and sucky ending... but if ever there were a pair of tortured characters these two were it. My all-time favorite scene in the movie is the Roxanne Tango.



Something about that scene gives me chills every single time. As a dancer I admire the sensual, crisp movements of the dancers. You can taste the angst and anger and passion. And THAT is what I have to add. I have to add that angst and passion and make my reader FEEL it as if it were their own. Who knows if I'll succeed, but I'm determined to give it my best shot. So, before I go gather my rocks and work on my aim I have a question for all the authors out there: How do you make yourself torture your characters? And to the readers: How much is just too damned much torture for you to read?

How DO You Do It?

I recently came to the conclusion that no matter what plans I make, sometimes I can't make the time to write. And it drives me insane. But, I am a mother of four boys under the age of eleven... the youngest just turned two. Yes, he has jumped right into the "terrible twos" with both feet. My children are my priority, but sometimes my characters don't seem to understand that. LOL

In light of the scheduling conflicts of late, I decided that this past Sunday I would take my laptop with me to my parents' house. We were heading out there earlier than usual so that we might enjoy the Superbowl (YAY, SAINTS BTW!!!). I figured that everyone would be occupied with their stuff and I'd be able to sit either on the couch or in one of the myriad other rooms and get some writing done. I'm in the middle of trying to finish another short story for Whipped Cream and running through one more set of edits before I send my Cowboy off to another publisher for consideration.

Would you like to know what I found out this last Saturday? Yes, you would? Here goes: When it comes to interruptions... MY MOTHER IS WORSE THAN MY KIDS!

My mother knows what I write, and she's proud of me. But she's squeamish... about me writing it, her reading it... and me reading it. My day and evening went something like this:

"Whatcha doin?" As she plops down in the seat next to me. "What's that?" As I quickly close out the rather graphic sex scene I'm working on and open a game of solitaire. "Are you playing a game?"

"Well, Mom, I was writing. Now I'm playing solitaire." At which point she'd lose interest. She'd watch the game for a bit then wander off to torment her grandchildren. Something she and the boys all enjoy, I promise. So, I open up my story...PLOP.

"OOOOHHHH.... are you writing a new story? What's this one about?" Yanno, there are two couches and a recliner and she HAD to sit next to me every single time. Yes, yes, I love my mother and we're close... "That's awful erotic... don't let your father see that!"

*sigh* Really, Mom? I thought I'd read it to him and give him a heart attack. I close the laptop completely and talk for a few minutes until she loses interest again and wanders away. Really, she's not usually this ditzy... but she was in rare form on Sunday. How do you explain these things to someone who is clearly interested... but probably wouldn't be too happy with the details?

She's sort of this way when I'm reading a book on my ebook as well. I tend to load my more erotic books to my eBook reader... no covers to leave people wondering... lol. Those conversations are fun too:

"Whatcha reading?" And while I would NEVER say this to her... I am always tempted to give her ALL the gory details...

"Well, Mom, let's see, this one is about a female submissive who is a pain slut. And the Dom who knows how to control her. My favorite scene is when he pulls out his bull whip... No, that's not a euphemism... it gets me hot to read the description of the crack of the whip and the sounds she makes as it hits her..."

NOT gonna happen! But isn't it fun to have such an imagination. I shared this story with my two Menagerie ladies, Mysti and JennyKat and they both laughed at me. I truly to adore my mother, and I know she honestly is interested... but I wonder if she really wants to know the details. She might be open about sex... but not that open. So, while I'll never speak to my mother in that way... it sure was funny to have the conversation in my head.

How do you do it? Do you just accept that some days you're not going to get done what you need to get done? I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend... and that you bet on the Saints. :-D Happy Tuesday!

The Spirit Is Willing...

So, I know I've blogged about this before, but it's something that seems to be a constant struggle for me lately. How do you find the time to write when life and the world seems to be out to get you?

As the holidays rush by and another year comes to a close I find that I'm only a little bit closer to my goal of being published. Yes, I have a couple of stories "finished" but nothing that is quite ready for submission... again. I actually have two finished: one that only has some minor edits left before I'm willing to resubmit it anywhere else and one that has been sitting and waiting patiently for me to get to the editing part of it. The one I'm working on has two of my characters stuck in foreplay for quite some time now. Not because I don't know what's going to happen but because I can't seem to find the time to just sit down and work on it.

This last year has been a rather... interesting, and sometimes difficult year. We had two deaths in our family and a very close call. For the past little bit I have been struggling with unknown health issues that are only barely being managed instead of fixed. These events left us all shaken, and left me a bit behind on everything, not just my writing.

As I slowly dig my way out of the pile of emails, laundry and other various household chores that got put on hold I find that I'm longing for the time to be able to write. I've missed putting up my Saturday Hotties more than I've remembered to do them and most Tuesdays I simply can't be bothered to post a new blog entry. I feel guilty when I sit down with my laptop and see that I have laundry that needs to be folded and dishes that need washing and a house that is basically a hamster nest (my oldest boy compulsively shreds paper... but that's another story). The only time I might possibly have to write is taken up with other chores that need doing.

Now, all of these things don't stop the voices in my head from screaming for their stories. I get new ideas all the time and certain plot aspects seem to come when I need to be doing something else. I really really really want to get the stories told and make room for the new ones I just know are there waiting for me. It used to be so much easier to just sit down, set my timer and write until my hands ached... but no more.

So, my question is, how do you deal with writing when you can't even seem to find the time to sit down and do more than stare at a computer screen? How do you schedule your life in order to make time to write? Hey, do you think I can ask Santa for more time to write?

Editing, Writing and Submitting, OH MY!

Just got another round of edits on "Shut Up & Kiss Me" -- hopefully these are the last "real" edits... the next should just be typos, etc, and then we can get an official release date. I'm starting to set up the promo stuff as best I can without a release date. I'm having banners, a book video and a virtual tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions (want to host me? *G*), and am also working out outside interviews and what-not. I suspect I'm going to be exhausted by the time it's all said and done.

Anyone have any thoughts or secrets on promoting they want to share?

In other news, I finished and submitted another short story to my very patient editor (Lori LeBonde) at WRP, currently called "Blue Light Special". Hopefully I learned something from all the editing I did on "Shut Up & Kiss Me" and this story won't need quite as much work!

I'm also working on redoing another WIP to fit the "two rose" guidelines for WRP, because I was challenged by my editor to give it a go. *gulp* Wish me luck! Any tips on writing light bondage or menage scenes? I'll take anything you have.

Have a great rest of the week :-)

Round Two

Ever feel like this?

Alright, I'm not really sick, but I sort of feel sick. "Why?" you ask. Well, because I finally finished the requested revisions to my Cowboy story (now with the working title of Claiming Her Cowboy btw) and resubmitted it to The Wild Rose Press.

Thus, the sick feeling. Yes, I made their suggested revisions, but that doesn't mean they're gonna like it and want to keep it. So, while I wait on pins and needles my tummy has decided to flip and flop and generally give me grief. LOL

I'll definitely keep y'all updated. And (fingers crossed) hopefully soon I'll have my very own little book cover over there on the right next to Mysti's! Wish me luck, keep your fingers crossed and I'll let y'all know what happens. :-D

How Did They Know?

Okay, we authors are always talking about how our characters take over, or how they tell us something and all of a sudden things just make sense.

Well, aside from revisions and edits to two finished WIPs, I am in the middle of writing a story that involves shifters. Shifters that I have thought were wolves this entire time. Some of y'all will remember a certain flash-fiction that I did that started the whole Alpha shifter story that includes a pretty hot menage. (No, that's not in the flash-fiction, but it's hinted at.) Anyway... I sort of hit a spot that just sat there... and sat there... and went stagnant. I couldn't figure out why I was so unable to continue and why the characters seemed to be so uncooperative. Now, I've heard some authors say that there is no such thing as the characters taking over, or telling you what to write; that it's all the subconscious. Umm... even if it is, it explains the voices that demand to be heard. Leave me my illusions please.

So, here I am turning on my computer and staring at the blinking cursor wondering why I can't get the words to come. Why aren't their characteristics and behaviors easier for me to get down? Yeah, the little buggers were letting me stew... the alpha very quietly harrumphed (with his Irish accent) and informed me that perhaps the reason I couldn't get them down was because I had the wrong species of shifter down. "We aren't dogs, m'dear. We're cats." Well... excuuuuuuuuse me, but to my knowledge there weren't big cats in Ireland, so how the hell was I gonna explain that one? He just smiled and wandered off to torment his queen.

Today, I figured, "Hey, I'll just see if there is anything to this whole big cats in Ireland thing." and plugged it into that handy-dandy Google box. You should have seen the shock on my face when article after article popped up on the screen. I even found an entire site devoted entirely to the study and investigation of big cat sightings in Ireland. We're talking sightings of leopards, tigers, and even a lion or two. I don't ever remember seeing any articles about this before, so it leaves me wondering how my CHARACTERS knew it before I did.

Now, after reading some of these articles my muse took off running and things are moving along and making sense. And of course my characters are much happier now that I've stopped calling them "dogs" and started calling them kitties... Okay, they don't like kitties much either, but they agree it's better than dog.

How about you? Has that ever happened before where your characters seemed to know something before you did? How do you deal with it? Do you just go with the flow?