Sex on fire

Posted on October 15, 2012 | 27 comments

It’s Music Monday!

It’s a very special Monday, as far as I am concerned. While you are reading and listening to this post, I will almost certainly have disconnected the internet and muted the phone. For today I return to work ‘proper.’ It is my first day of writing the last part of the Rock Star Romance Trilogy.

Yes, I am officially writing in earnest, and at full speed, my third book, Sophie’s Encore, so that it will be in your hands on 7 September 2013. 

As befits the final part of a trilogy, things will seriously hot up here. So what better song to get me (and you) in the mood? “Consumed with what’s to transpire…” Well, that totally captures it for me today!

Kick back and enjoy… and I’ll see you later, much later…

 

Rock on!

Do you have a special song for kicking off a new project, whether a book or any other undertaking? Something to get you in the right frame of mind? I’d love to hear it!

But please remember to stay the right side of copyright law and keep it legal by posting official videos only. Thank you!

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Sophie’s Run ~ Cover Reveal #sophiesrun #cover

Posted on October 12, 2012 | 35 comments

This is it!
Give it up for the glorious cover of
Sophie’s Run
Part 2 in the Rock Star Romance Trilogy
Coming from Sapphire Star Publishing on 7 February 2013.

Ready?

Wow. I am in love. A huge Thank You goes to Amy Lichtenhan and Chad Lichtenhan for their patience, good humour, great ideas and endless cheer as I changed my mind time and time again. You see, I had various conflicting visions for this cover and Amy patiently looked at all of them, gently but firmly guiding me onto the right path. And Chad is a hero for making all the little tweaks and changes that I kept heaping upon him. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, the team over at Sapphire Star Publishing totally rocks.

Thank you for this amazing cover!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sophie’s Run

Her famous star remains her rock while life takes her on a little detour…

Who says that the road toward true love is straight and even? Sophie is certainly discovering that it is anything but.

So she has finally found the man of her dreams. Well…she knows who he is, even though she hasn’t actually quite met him yet. When she misses her opportunity, her life goes crazy. Rock star and ex-fiancé, Dan, keeps getting in the way of her new romance—even if he is just trying to be helpful. A fire, an impromptu mini-trip with Dan, and a dreaded wedding later, Sophie is still struggling to meet the love of her life. Just as she is getting it together with her perfect man, best friend Rachel commits an act of unspeakable betrayal. And to top it all, her new boyfriend leaves her lying in the mud.

Sophie has had enough. Confused and distraught, she decides that it is time for radical change. Surprising herself and shocking her friends, she embarks on a secret journey that eventually gets her life back on track.

Coming from Sapphire Star Publishing on 7 February 2013!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you very much to my lovely, amazing author and blogger friends who are taking part in my cover reveal today!
I’d like to dispense big hugs to:

A.L. Jackson
Melanie Robertson-King
Sheryl Browne
Stephanie Keyes
Tobi @ Forget the Housework

Feel free to hop on over and say ‘hi’ to these great friends!

Now the stage is yours. I’m dying to hear what you think! 🙂

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Criminal overuse

Posted on October 11, 2012 | 23 comments

Editing.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my scary alter ego, the Queen of Hearts, who helps me to cut the length of my manuscript. The carnage of Sophie’s Run is complete, and I dropped below the target word limit. Mission accomplished!

However, there’s more to editing than the structural stuff. There is the fine-tuning, too. Today, I share three of my personal red flags: exclamation marks, the humble word, ‘just’, and the humbler still word, ‘then’. (I’m going to bore you with serial commas and other fine points of grammar some other time).

JUST THEN! I’m a liberal sprinkler in a first draft…

Just! Then! !!
Exactly. These three things feature heavily in any of my first drafts. There is a very simple reason for this, which is that I write as I would tell  the story out loud, with flourish and panache and a lot of excited gesturing. Alas, the written word is a little less forgiving. Or perhaps it is more forgiving as it doesn’t need as many of these filler words and marks. The reader is generally with the story, paying attention, reading eagerly. And she will notice if I use the word ‘then’ five times in a row.

Thankfully, writing is not like cooking. It is perfectly ok to overegg the pudding, lean heavily on the salt and make free with the pepper because you can take it all out at the end. And that’s what I have been doing.

Get this. I had 750 (give or take) exclamation marks in the first draft of Sophie’s Run. I’m surprised none of the characters had shouted themselves hoarse.

I found 450 occurrences of the word ‘then’ and 500 occurrences of ‘just.’ Shocking, I know.

…but I carry out a vendetta on my liberalism when I polish the manuscript.

The exclamation points were easy. I clicked through them (yes, all of them) and took most of them out, except where shouting or emphasis was indicated. There are less than 150 exclamation marks left which, in a word count of 119,281, is a lot more acceptable. We’ll see what my fabulous editor over at Sapphire Star Publishing makes of that number. I’m fully expecting to cut some more.

Eliminating ‘just’ was an electrifying experience. I discovered a whole array of alternatives, and got some amazing insights into the many varied meanings of this humble little word. Of course, I knew all of that instinctively, having previously learned it formally at school, but I hadn’t given it much conscious thought for a while. Viable alternatives include, but are not limited to:

simply
only
exactly
precisely
at that point

Interestingly, there was many an instance when ‘just’ just wasn’t needed. It could go. Completely. It was a filler. An empty word. A naughty word cluttering up my word count! Be off with you, just!

So I thought I’d seen the worst of my criminal overuse, but no. I hadn’t even started until I touched then. See, then was everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I found one sentence with three lots of then in it. Obviously it wasn’t as clumsy as ‘then, and then, and then.’ No, my writing, even in its unpolished stage, is a little more refined than that. But still, a lot of then‘s were being had. Too many.

Most of them went. Yup, eliminating then was a killer experience. And the then‘s that stayed? They had a legitimate reason for staying.

However, something even more riveting happened while I was on my then extermination spree. As Word displays searched-for terms in their context, I found some highly amusing typing mistakes. Gone now, kapow! I found and seized opportunities for linguistic variety: kerr-ching, done! I cut out a couple of sentences altogether. Eureka.

Even though I focused on three red flags, I ended up polishing the entire manuscript and I am delighted with the result. The changes are subtle but they make me happy. I sent the manuscript off to Sapphire Star this lunchtime… and here’s to hoping that my editor feels the same about it as I do! Because that, of course, is the real test. I promise to keep you posted on how that goes, too.

Until then, I’d love to hear about your red flags. Which words or phrases do you criminally overuse?

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Posted in Miscellaneous

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This is NOT it.

Posted on October 10, 2012 | 20 comments

No. Definitely NOT.

But if you come back this coming Friday, I can reveal to you the absolutely stunning cover for Sophie’s Run!

See you then? 🙂

20 Comments

Posted in Progress Updates, Rock Star Romance, Part 2: Sophie's Run

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Off to party with Carol E Wyer! #surfinginstilettos

Posted on October 8, 2012 | 6 comments

Now that I’m back on track, computer-wise and health-wise, and following my earlier jubilant Music Monday post, I have decided it’s time to party with my good friend, Carol E Wyer, as she celebrates the lauch of her e-book, Surfing in Stilettos.

I’m off! I have put on my party shoes and can be found at the fabulous Surfing in Stiletto party at www.facing50withhumour.blogspot.co.uk Come and join in for some fantastic prizes, surprises, and desirable shoes! Rock on!!

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Hallelujah

Posted on October 8, 2012 | 18 comments

It’s Music Monday!

Today’s clip is a little bit unusual for this blog. However, I can’t think of anything better to celebrate the return of my laptop to very good health, as well as me finally getting the better of this cold that’s been bugging me for over two weeks. You’ll know this piece, I promise you. It’s a classic. And it’s jubilance and power are simply awesome. Enjoy!

If you’ve read Sophie’s Turn, you might recall that a classical choir has some significant importance in there somewhere… so really, this is actually quite topical, if admittedly slightly extraordinary.

How about you? Can you be a musical chameleon and pick music of any kind that expresses your mood?

As always, I welcome your musical responses–just simply keep them official and legit, thank you!

18 Comments

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Hall of Fame celebrates with Dana Mason: Launching Dangerous Embrace!

Posted on October 4, 2012 | 17 comments

Roll out the red carpet!
Open the champagne!
It’s time to enter the Hall of Fame!

Today, we’re partying in honour of my Sapphire Star Publishing sister, the one and only Dana Mason! Dana launches her debut novel, Dangerous Embrace today and I am really excited to be part of the launch day extravaganza.

Dana shares her road to publication…

When I started writing Dangerous Embrace, I had no idea it would lead me here. I didn’t even think I could get my best friend to read the story. Until Dangerous Embrace was sent out for editing, Amy and Katie from Sapphire Star Publishing were the only two people, besides myself, who had read the novel from beginning to end.

When Sapphire Star posted the Month of Romance contest on their website, I decided to take the leap and submit. It was my very first submission for Dangerous Embrace, and the novel wasn’t even finished. I was still in the process of revising and editing. Fortunately they didn’t require completed manuscripts for the contest.

I couldn’t believe it when on the morning of March 10, 2012, I received the email from Amy offering me a publishing contract. I remember getting out of bed in the wee early hours of the morning and creeping into my office to check my email. While I didn’t think I had a chance of getting a positive response, I still hoped.

The rest is history…

…indeed! In fact, this is where it all begins. HUGE congratulations on your launch day, Dana, I am so excited for you. This is a tremendous moment and I hope you’re having the best time… ever! Here’s an excerpt of your masterpiece, let’s take a look…

Dangerous Embrace: the excerpt

Sarah pried open her heavy eyelids and turned, trying to focus on the clock. “Ow, dammit!” She clenched her teeth and looked down at the sling tied to her arm. The smothering realization pressed on her chest. When the nausea hit, she flung the covers off and rushed to the bathroom, fighting to get to the toilet before her stomach heaved.

When the painful dry heaving stopped, she lay back on the cold tile floor, exhausted, and waited for the room to stop spinning. Her ragged breaths roared in her ears and seemed to echo in the quiet room. When her breathing slowed, the silence ebbed around her in waves, but when footsteps approached the bathroom door, she tensed again.

A bead of sweat dripped down her scalp and at the same time someone tapped at the door. Her pulse spiked and she fought like hell to remember who brought her home from the hospital.

She closed her eyes. “Who’s there?” The waver in her voice pissed her off. Gawd-please don’t let me be pathetic in front of whoever this is.

A hesitant and completely unfamiliar man’s voice said, “Are you all right? Do you need something?”

Sarah sucked in a hard breath. “Um…” She exhaled slowly. “Who are you?”

“Mark Summors.”

She stiffened and tried to sit up. “Do I know you?” she asked her voice pitching.

“I can explain if you open the door.”

She steadied herself against the bathtub. The sling had slipped up her arm, exposing the trail of bruises. She swallowed another wave of nausea and tried to put the pieces together. Mark Summors? She glanced around for something to use as a weapon just in case, then she wanted to laugh-and cry. Who the hell was she kidding? She rolled her eyes. Good plan, Sarah, take on a strange guy with a toilet brush.

“Can I come in?”  His voice was muffled as if he was resting his face against the door.

“Go ahead.” She clamped her mouth closed to suppress a shiver, then said, “It’s unlocked.”

The door eased open and a cup of water shot out at her.

“Oh, thank you,” she cried out, relieved to wash the disgusting film out of her mouth. She snatched the cup out of his hand and gulped it, letting her eyes lift above the rim to see his face.

“Ah.” Sarah choked and inhaled the water. She set the cup down, almost upending it as she dropped it. “Oh my God!” She would never forget those intense blue eyes, just like she would never forget the smell of her attacker’s breath. They were all thrown together in the same horrifying memory.

Wow! You have totally got me hooked. I can’t wait to read the whole book, it’s all ready and waiting for me on my Kindle!

And for all of those out there duly intrigued, as me, you can get your very own copy of Dangerous Embrace on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Last thing… let’s hear about you, Dana Mason, the author! 🙂

About Dana Mason

Dana Mason started writing to prove to her computer geek husband and her math & science geek kids that she actually has a brain; it’s just a right functioning brain instead of a left. She’s lived all over the country and uses that experience in her writing and character studies. Her debut novel, Dangerous Embrace, is the first in a contemporary romance series about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don’t hold on to what’s important. Second chances don’t come easy…but sometimes love is worth the risk.

When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training. She’s also a board member on the local Art’s Council and does what she can to support the art community.

As an avid reader and movie watcher, she always requires a happily ever after ending.

Visit Dana at her website or blog, follow her on Twitter, find her on Facebook or check out her author pages at Sapphire Star and Goodreads.

Rock on, Dana, I hope you have a terrific launch and I’m sending you big, completely harmless but loving hugs!!!

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CentreStage with Melanie Robertson-King: of portraits, mansions and stone circles…

Posted on October 3, 2012 | 24 comments

Welcome to CentreStage!

CentreStage features fantastic authors from around the world. These authors might write for you about their lives, their writing, their books or any other experience that they’d like to share. Each feature is different, each feature is unique. Today, we’re off to Canada to meet with fellow loveahappyending.com featured author, Melanie Robertson-King. Welcome, Melanie!

A Shadow of the Past… How did your first novel begin its life?

My novel didn’t start out as that. It was an overgrown short story that I wrote a number of years ago (1999/2000) after a friend of mine said I could write something every bit as good as a ‘famous’ author. I pondered the idea for a while then it came to me. I would centre my piece around a portrait, a derelict mansion, and a stone circle.

A portrait, a derelict mansion and a stone circle ~ You got me hooked already. Why these things?

The inspiration for the portrait came from a photo I got from one of my cousins of my grandfather and his first wife taken in 1876 to commemorate their marriage (I’m a romantic; I don’t actually know if that’s why they had their picture done or not, but it sure sounds good). In the beginning my characters were the mirror image of the couple in the portrait.

So, I needed a house to hang the painting in. I fell in love with this spooky old derelict mansion in 1993 when I visited the area of Aberdeenshire where my father was born.

Two down, one to go. What would a novel set in Scotland be without a stone circle? And since this one was in the same area and on the farm at the B&B I stayed in.

Once I had these items, the words flowed from my fingers onto the page. I marvelled at my creation as it came to life before my eyes. I thought to myself, Wow, I’m an author!

That sounds… easy! I bet it wasn’t as straightforward as that?

Another friend came across a creative writing course in a newspaper I didn’t subscribe to and brought me the ad. I took the plunge and signed up.
A number of knock backs, set backs and the like with the short story (that I thought was fab) and I gave up on writing fiction. I turned my hand to non-fiction articles and had success with them.

But you didn’t really give up?

I had a wonderful instructor back in the days of my creative writing course, and with his coaching and encouragement, turned that short story into a novel.
That piece, known back then as Sarah’s Gift, underwent a number of changes over the years, including a new title. A Shadow in the Past as it now goes by is far more evocative.

Before I pitched to my current publisher back in October 2011, I had revised my ‘masterpiece’ a number of times. And since landing the contract, well, I’ve revised it many more times but now I can say, and with authority, I AM an author!

You definitely are, Melanie: congratulations. It’s wonderful to hear how you came up with the ideas behind your masterpiece. A portrait, a derelict mansion, and a stone circle: magic ingredients, indeed. Thank you for sharing the backstory behind your novel. Now tell us more about the book itself…

A Shadow in the Past

When a contemporary teen is transported back in time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen year old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland and has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.

Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret. Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, and confronts them head on then suffers the consequences.

When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

A Shadow in the Past is widely available from these sources: 4RV Publishing, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,  Barnes & Noble and ChaptersIndigo.

Don’t forget to visit Melanie on her website or her blog, Celtic Connexions; or follow Melanie on Twitter as @robertsoking. Melanie is on Facebook and she also has an author page at loveahappyending.com!

So Melanie had a constellation of very precise objects that inspired a story, and a whole novel. How do you get started on your ideas?

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Missing You

Posted on October 1, 2012 | 17 comments

It’s Music Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great start to the week! I’m posting today’s song for three reasons.

One, it’s a classic, as far as I’m concerned (obviously).

Two, we had some very special friends visiting over the weekend. We don’t see them very often and it was painful and bitter-sweet to waive them goodbye at the door, watching them drive off, not knowing when we’ll see them again.

And three, I am still without my darling laptop and I am feeling the pain. Greatly.

So here goes, for everyone who’s missing someone or something…

Rock on. Isn’t it gorgeous? Makes me go soft and gooey every time, the pain and the contradiction, the defiance and acknowledgement:

I ain’t missing you at all (missing you!)

Perfectly expressed. Do you have a bittersweet feel-good song? I’d love to hear about it.

If you do choose to embed a link, please respect the artist’s copyright and keep my blog safe by using only official sources, e.g. a video uploaded by the band itself or by VEVO. I reserve the right to delete clips from dubious sources. 🙂

17 Comments

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Me, and the Queen of Hearts: Split Author-Personality Syndrome

Posted on September 28, 2012 | 19 comments

Editing.

This little word puts the fear of God in a lot of writers. #amediting is an oft-seen hashtag frequently accompanied by wailing and proverbial gnashing of teeth. Many authors, me included, confess to a certain amount of dread when it comes to editing.

I wonder why. Because when it comes to it, I perversely enjoy it. Ignore the initial pain and frustration; once I knuckle down, I find the process quite exhilarating and ultimately rewarding.

My work process involves two broad types of editing. ‘Me’ editing, aka the author edit. And publisher editing, aka… well, publisher editing. Right now, for my second novel, I am working through stage one, ‘me’ editing.

Having let the manuscript rest for a good few months, I have taken another good, fresh look at it and got the red pen out. Why? Well, for one, I had to. I know Sophie’s Run is at least twenty-five thousand words too wordy for commercial publication, so they had to go. And second, because I wanted to. I felt the need. With a bit of distance, I wanted to go through my work and make sure that it still zings for me. There are certain things I learned from the publisher edits of Sophie’s Turn that I wanted to apply rightaway. I’ll talk about that some other time.

Me. Myself. And HER.

Today, I want to talk about this weird split personality that I have discovered. There’s me, and there’s The Other. My Inner Editor. She of the Ruthless Cutting Mindset. The Queen of Hearts.

So, the cutting. The bloodlet. That’s the part I dread and fear most. And yet surprisingly, it’s turning out to be quite easy. I appear to have grown a second head, one that is dispassionate and detached and ruthless. An Inner Editor has quite unexpectedly and without invitation taken residence in this new, second head of mine that isn’t even attached to my normal pair of shoulders. I kid you not—that’s exactly what it feels like!

I might be reading along merrily, quite enjoying myself, when my Inner Editor pipes up, quite brusquely—not to say, rudely—and instructs me to cut, cut, cut. “Can’t you see,” she’ll tell me in no uncertain terms, “that while this scene is fun, it’s also just excess fat? It doesn’t advance the plot, it’s not necessary. Take it out. Use it some other time.” Honestly, she really is like the Queen of Hearts, all Off With His Head (or rather, Out With The Scene!). Thus out come the scissors, and my office floor swiftly resembles a cutting room floor.

Me… and HER. Isn’t she scary?
Would *you* argue with her?

She’s usually right. It’s not that what I was written was bad, or wrong. On the contrary, I am quite often deeply attached to the scene in question. But if it’s not essential, then it has to go. If I can transplant the joke somewhere else, I will. If I can tell it in fewer words, I shall. And the end result: a pacy, fast, page-turning read (if I say so myself) that is better than it was before.

How much has she made me cut? I don’t know yet. I was going to start putting these edits into my manuscript in Word but owing to a small computer crisis, I’ve had a small delay. I can tell you, though, that I have cut at least four chapters; that there isn’t a page without at least five lines crossed out; and that a lot of excess verbiage has been clipped. I’m not entirely sure whether I’ve culled the required 25K but I don’t think I’m far off. And there are a few scenes that I have point-blank refused to take out (yet) even though Inner Editor was spitting with fury at my ignoring of her very relevant suggestions. These are my back up, my cushion, my fall back. With those, I will scrape over the all important finish.

I’m zinging with zest. I have this tingling in my toes that tells me I’m on to a good thing. The book feels sumptuous yet lean, luxurious and fast. Thank you, Inner Editor, and please forgive all the abuse I hurled at you. I love you, really.

Of course, this isn’t it. When I’m done, Sophie’s Run goes back to Sapphire Star again; my lovely publisher, has, of course, already read my second masterpiece, but now it’s time for the full-on, no holds-barred, all-out publisher edits.

Bring it on!

How do you approach editing? Do you have your very own Queen of Hearts sitting on your shoulder?

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Posted in Progress Updates

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