Don't panic!

Sorry for the scary title. But writing is a scary business.

An aspiring author once said she envied me because, as a multi-published author, I didn’t have to be afraid when I started a book. Afraid that I’d fail. Afraid that the ideas would desert me.

I disabused her of that notion. Although writing may be rewarding, even exhilarating, it’s also daunting and dangerous in its way.

Take the book I just started writing for Harlequin American, the eleventh in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries. I’d set up an appealing hero and heroine, an interesting plotline and good conflict. What could go wrong? 

Well, as I began the second chapter, I sat staring at my computer thinking, This is too predictable.

Despite all the interesting elements, it was clear how the story would develop, where the conflicts and discoveries would come, and how the couple would resolve them.

If I’m already bored, the reader will be too. Never mind those idiots who don’t read romance novels but go around proclaiming that our books are all alike. They aren’t. Certainly not the good ones, and that’s what I try to write.

So I typed a note to myself: Make something unexpected happen.

And, after I played around with ideas and reevaluated my characters, it did. Nothing earth shattering or genre bending, I assure you (and my editor, who may be reading this). No aliens will land atop Safe Harbor Medical Center and no miracle-producing babies will be born in the maternity ward. I just found a twist to keep things interesting and produce additional tension and uncertainty for my characters.

I’m sure I’ll experience a few more scary moments before I finish the book, times when I'll wonder if I can pull it off and if these people really will fall in love in a dramatic, sparkling fashion. But that’s why, even after selling 93 novels, I never get tired of writing them.

Thanks for reading!

Jackie

www.jacquelinediamond.com

The M.D.’s Secret Daughter (Sept. 2012)

A Summer Picnic Recipe

Summer's here, and with Canada Day (July 1)...

...and Fourth of July celebrations...

...just around the corner, I thought I'd share one of my favorite picnic recipes for a fresh new twist on a timeless classic ~ potato salad.

Lee's Favorite Potato Salad

1-1/2 pounds red-skinned new potatoes

1 sweet yellow pepper
2 or 3 green onions, sliced
1/4 pound sugar snap peas
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried dill (or 3 tablespoons fresh, chopped)
salt & pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes in half, cook till tender, drain and set aside to cool. Cook the peas in boiling water for 1 minute till they turn bright green, chill under cold running water and drain. Core and chop the yellow pepper into bite-sized pieces. Put the vegetables into a serving bowl and sprinkle with dill. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and salt & pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss and enjoy!

Until next time,
Lee
www.LeeMcKenzie.com
The Daddy Project (Dec. 2012)

It's Expensive to go Cowboy!

As many of you know...I love anything cowboy--clothes, music, furniture, jewelry, food...and you'll find plenty of "cowboy" in this magazine!  If you haven't read this before...check it out.  You'd be surprised what you'll learn about cowboys and the cowboy culture in America.

Years ago before "Cowboy" became popular my husband and I would take Sunday drives in Texas and stop at barn sales or out-of-the-way places that sold "rustic junk."  I'd always find something I couldn't live without and slowly over time I've collected some fun cowboy things and a few "conversation" pieces.  Today "cowboy" themed decorating is more popular than ever but it comes with a hefty price-tag! 

Since I write cowboy stories and have to describe their homes in my books, I thought it would be fun to share some furnishings from a website I sometimes use to help describe items in my books.  http://www.lonestarwesterndecor.com

Okay, it looks like my photos aren't showing up--apologies for that!  But if you have time today, hop over to the website above and check out all the neat items.  I bet you'll find something you can't live without!

If you have a favorite decorating theme in your home, share a link to one of your shopping sites!

Happy Ever After...The Cowboy Way! 

Marin Thomas

Arizona Cowboy (April 2012

A Cowboy's Duty (Aug 2012)

Beau: Cowboy Protector (Nov 2012)

All My Heroes are Cowboys

Facebook

Twitter

HONORABLE MEN

I love it when my blog date falls on Father's Day because it gives me an opportunity to honor my dad as well as yours.

Happy Father's Day to all the important men in your life!

Today, I'd like to talk about two men in my life. One's real. The other's fictional, but so real to me I feel as though he's stepped off the page and stolen my heart.

First, my dad.

Along with the wonderful traits of being a good husband and father and family provider, he had a few quirks. One of them was being the eternal fixer-upper.

From a couple of pieces of plywood and a few two-by-fours, he could make a set of bookshelves that doubled as a room divider. From a snarl of old twine, he could crochet a sack to keep his extra cash safe when he went off on a road trip on his motorcycle. He could transform a pile of chicken bones and a handful of herbs into the best soup you've ever tasted.

But my dad could never take a set of directions or a recipe and follow along step-by-step. Oh, no—he had to do things his way.

So does the hero of my August Harlequin American, HONORABLE RANCHER.

Ben Sawyer's way is to offer a hand in friendship, to be there when folks need him, to live up to everyone's expectations. To be the boy next door to the woman he's always loved from afar. The widow of his best friend.

Until...

Until he realizes he can't live his life following along step-by-step.

Until, like my dad, he decides to throw away the directions and do things his way.

This decision changes his life and that of the woman he loves...and just about everyone else's in the small town of Flagman's Folly!

Hmm...

I think it has suddenly hit me why I love and respect and look up to Ben Sawyer.

And why I dedicated HONORABLE RANCHER to my dad.

~~~

On this special day, I hope you'll take a moment to honor the special men in your life—and to leave a comment or share a story about one of them here.

 All my best to you,


Barbara


~~~~~~


Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

Casting Call

 

As authors, we go through a set process when creating our storylines.  For me, it starts with the germ of an idea, and then I begin my "Casting Call".  Sometimes, I have an inkling of what my characters look like from the onset.  They may be based on an actor or actress I'm familiar with.  Other times, I scan the internet until I "discover" the person I'm looking for.  I can't write much beyond a few paragraphs until I've cast my main characters.  I guess you can say they become my inspiration.

 

In essence, authors are directors.  I'm geared towards theatre and cinema so I tend to treat each book as a film from start to finish.  Storyboards are my detailed outlines.  My chapters are my scripts, complete with those little brass fasteners (hey don't knock it...they work great for a fast binding solution).  Every dialogue is acted out before the words ever hit the page.  Yes, there are even rehearsals, of sorts, to ensure a scene works. And my neighbors have been forewarned...I'm not crazy, please don't call the men in white coats to come and take me away...it's an author thing.

I create a headshot sheet, similar to the one above, with my hero and heroine for each book.  My desk is an old farm table and it's covered with headshots from the series I'm currently writing. Characters from one book inevitably end up in another, so I keep them handy.  Each one is in a clear plastic sleeve so I can tuck character bios or notes safely inside.  If you walked into my house right now, you would think I was casting  a movie.  And in a way, I am.  As authors, our characters need to come to life and leap off the pages.  If they don't, we haven't done our jobs.

Now I'm curious...

Fellow authors: What process do you go through for creating your characters?
Fellow readers: Do you ever envision the characters playing out the scenes before you?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Amanda Renée
www.AmandaRenee.com

Double Trouble, my Harlequin American Romance debut will be released March 2013.
     

Book Signings, Family Reunion...Travel

If it’s summer, I must be in...Melbourne, St. Augustine, Tallahassee.  I might not be exactly sure where I am, but I know what I’m doing.  Or at least, I think I do.  With the release of my third book for Harlequin American, five book signings, a magazine interview and a family reunion all falling in the same week, things have been a little on the hectic side.  But it sure has been fun!  I’ve loved meeting old friends and making new ones at the book signings.  Catching up with family and swapping stories with my cousins at the reunion.

Unfortunately according to hubby – he’s in charge of knowing where I’m supposed to be and when we have to leave to get there – I’m supposed to be in the car in just over an hour.  So this will be short.  I’ll post more as soon as I get home.  Promise! 

Until then...

Night time visitors

I live in the city.

I want to state that upfront, and I might need to remind you later. It's a small city, but it hasn't been farmland for over forty years, according to the neighbors. So when I hear a noise on my back deck, I think: home invasion. My mind leaps to episodes of Criminal Minds. Not being TSTL or wearing a white see-through negligee, it doesn't occur to me to go unarmed to the door.

So I pick up my cell phone, just in case. I have a stick. Because, [sigh] let's face it, I know what lurks outside my sliding glass door. It'll be a raccoon or possum. They visit regularly. As do the skunks, but they make noise and odors out front more than in the backyard--of my city dwelling.

But no, not this time. It was this critter, seen here ready to go far, far away. (I hope.)   

. A big-toothed, sharp-clawed groundhog

We put up with her stealing the veggies out of last year's garden. Stripping the green beans bare. Munching on lettuce. Eating one bite of each green tomato before discarding it.

For all the watering in 100 degree plus temps, the weeding and hoping we did, we got one salad out of the lettuce, three batches of green beans, four Roma tomatoes (no Big Boy, no cherry, no Steakhouse), and no squash, zucchini or whatever else we planted that never appeared as more than a stalk.

Then this year we investigated under the deck for its home. A deep burrow right up against the foundation. Hence the cage.

But we were too late.

We now have Gary, the baby groundhog. Gary is too light to trip the live trap. He has a deep love of grease from near the grill (which he was licking up just before I snapped this), just like his mom. Right now, he's too small and uncoordinated to climb onto the picnic table to get at the flowers and veggies that await planting. But he's a digger. His home isn't as deep, but it appears to be in the same place where he was born.

So we'll be borrowing the trap again, hoping Gary gets in it to be taken to safety. Because now there's a hawk perching on our fence every day. Waiting.

Did I mention I do live in the city?

Do y'all have any unexpected animals visiting you?

Megan

P.S. I've escaped the zoo and am on vacation, so if I don't answer, assume I'm somewhere in the wilds without internet.