Happy Valentines Day!

I saw the best meme the other day! And it inspired me to make sure I wished all my readers a Happy Valentines Day. (You can view the meme here)

As a romance author, I clearly have a soft heart (or a soft head, according to some people). I believe in the power of love and happily ever after (and no, my life hasn't been that proverbial bed of roses). You might be familiar with the Eric Idle song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life? (or not, I'm including a link if you want a giggle). Life isn't always perfect. Our significant others aren't always perfect, but as I tell my husband when he comments on how much he hates the cat after she's barfed up her dinner, "but you love her all the rest of the time, right?" (He won't admit it, but he does.)

My personal opinion is that love starts with you. You have to be comfortable alone before you can be comfortable with someone else. My husband is a very independent man, and I know that he doesn't need me in his life - he wants me in his life. Knowing that allows me the freedom to be who I am. He doesn't depend on me for his happiness. Likewise, I love having him in my life. He is generous and supportive and kind and loving (and hard-headed sometimes). Even when I get really mad at him, I wouldn't trade him for anyone else.

When I was dating, I remember a friend telling me I was "too picky" after I'd throw one of the frogs back into the pond. But you know what? I didn't want to settle. I wasn't looking for someone to keep me from being alone, I was looking for someone I could co-exist with, someone I actually liked and who understood me for who I was.

Whether you're unattached or in a relationship, I'd like to help you celebrate this Hallmark Holiday. To thank you for reading my blog today, I'm offering Heart for Rent, with an Option FREE. Visit Smashwords today or tomorrow only, and use the following coupon code when you check out.

Heart for Rent, with an Option

Coupon code XD48N

Kundigerin 2, Gathering Mist, is with the editor and I'm planning an April release! As a bonus, if you prefer your romances with a paranormal twist, you can read Mist on the Meadow (Kundigerin 1) for free at Smashwords if you act today or tomorrow, also.  Coupon code SB48M.

Editing - stumbling blocks

While I'm fine tuning the second in The Kundigerin series, I thought I'd share with you some of my stumbling blocks.

I run through a checklist my editor gave me before I send it to her. I'm excited to see the progress I've made during my writing journey, noting that I don't make as many writing errors as I used to. Just as I started patting myself on the back, I went in search of the word "saw." There are places it belongs in a manuscript, but I don't want to tell you how many times I told what the character saw rather than showed what the character saw. This distances the point of view, and even knowing to watch for it, I used "saw" way too many times during the course of the story.

      She saw the beach below.
      Below, the brilliant blue of the sea met a strip of beach.

See the difference? Yep. Me, too.

Maybe some day I'll see all these mistakes on the first draft. Maybe. Not holding my breath.

That's why I do a final run-through at the end to check for all the things I know I should have done, to make sure I actually did them.

Naming characters

Another frequent question I get is how do I name my characters. Let's start with some of "the rules."

Rule 1 - don't name two characters with the same name, or the same first initial.  This avoids confusion. Also, don't name characters with "rhyming" names, like Eddie and Betty, or Terry and Mary.  I did read a book once that had two characters with the same first name. One of them was killed off about halfway through, so I was thoroughly confused when the second one showed up without warning.

Rule 2 - be conscious of the visual a certain name provides. If you name a character John Wayne, your readers won't see a businessman in a suit. Iconic names will immediately bring something to mind. Make sure your character's name matches the image you want to project. "Susie" isn't likely to be mean and nasty, whereas "Susan" might want to be treated with respect. "Sue" might be an easy-going person.

Rule 3 - avoid giving a character two first names (another rule I flubbed starting out). John Thomas. Christian Scott. People will confuse which name is the first one and which is the last.

So where do I get my character names? Well, let's face it. the ones that come immediately to mind are used quickly, and I have to keep a character map to keep from reusing them (and I will admit I failed in a couple of places when I was first starting out). Two of my favorite "man" names are Tom and Bill (no, I don't know why), and those two names continue to creep in on me. I now have a database of names that I have used and which books I used them in. This helps for continuity in a series, and it helps from using repetitive names or alliterate names (with the same first letter). So now that I've used Tom and Bill, where do I go to find another name?

There are baby books, and when I've been searching for something ethnic, I go that route first: "What is an Irish boy name?" Some people use names of the teachers they had in grade school, or people they've met briefly. One of my writing buddies had someone she worked with ask to be put into one of her novels. (I have friends like that, too!) It's a name, it doesn't have to be who that person is. I've used disc jokey names. I've opened a phone book. I've gone walking in a cemetery. I've even taken last names from street signs. And my most recent favorite place to get names? Professional sports. I've combed through the World Cup soccer teams, I've stolen a couple from the NFL. I've borrowed some from baseball and some from basketball. Generally, I cross-match first and last names to prevent association with the real-life counterparts (who are donating nothing more than their names). And then there are the ever-popular middle names. My grandmother's middle name, etc.

Usually, I pick out my characters' names first, and the story tends to revolve around them. The names speak to me as loudly as my concept does, and there have been times I've had to change the names. The story I'm working on now started out with Elisa and Tom (! - go figure, Tom? Maybe that's like "every Tom, Dick and Harry?") I've already overused Tom, so I had to change out my main character's name. I think the new name works! And Elisa is parallel to Marissa (from the first in the series, a character who figures prominently in the second in the series), so her name had to change, too. I think my characters are happy with their new names, and along with recording the names I've used, I'm now recording new names to use as they come to me to make my life easier as I work on new stories!

Fan question of the day - Where do you draw your inspiration?

This is a question that comes up frequently. Where do you get your ideas? Are the characters in your book "real"? Which all comes back to where do you get your inspiration? My hairdresser used to ask me every time I went to visit her. For her, it's amazing that I can come up with names and places and situations. For me, it's second nature.

I draw inspiration from a moment in time. Something I see. Someone I see. My stories generally revolve around that one moment in time. Imagination is a beautiful thing, and it creates a story around that moment. My heroes/heroines don't come from big screen heartthrobs so much as an identifying characteristic I see in someone I know, or while people watching.

Here are examples of story origins, examples that show up only briefly in the final product.

Touched by the Sun - Pompeii, and the Holy Grail. The "moment" was connecting the two after watching a Nova show on volcanos, and then an Indiana Jones movie. A light bulb went off when I realized St. Paul had been in southern Italy a believable period of time after the Last Supper.

Living Canvas happened because of a picture I bought (like the one on the book cover). I bought it because I could see myself sitting in that painting. It was very like a place I'd spent a lot of time at growing up, staring over the water. It was peaceful. The concept of inserting myself into a painting brought on memories of Night Gallery, a T.V. show I watched growing up, and somehow the two meshed together to become the story.

Mist on the Meadow started with a "moment of grace." Something that caught my eye that made the world stop spinning for just a moment: a buck standing at the edge of the woods on a winter day, huffing so that it's breath made a cloud in the early morning air.

Heart for Rent, with an Option started with a walk through a french market in... France. The fresh produce, the tangy, freshly-ground spices. The town of Aix-en-Provence.

Return to Hoffman Grove. I'm going to embarrass myself if I tell you the moment from this book. It's there, in the book. I had a Facebook conversation with my former tennis coach which sent me reminiscing down memory lane and there it was, front and center, a random memory from my time on the tennis team.

I've purposely left out Intimate Distance, mainly because I wrote that during a very dark period in my life. There is a moment, but I'd rather keep that one to myself.

This is the place where I remind you that although I draw on personal experiences when I formulate my books, they are not autobiographical (except, maybe, for that one moment). I read a quote recently where people tend to assume authors write about themselves, unless you tell them that something is autobiographical, in which case they tend to NOT believe you. My stories are made up. They're all in my head. Fiction. I sometimes include "truth is stranger than fiction" moments, which have made people call me out with "that would never happen" (but it did). I had one friend blush after reading Living Canvas because she said she pictured me as Audrey. Nope. Not me. Yes, I traveled to the places I wrote about, but no, I did not meet a handsome stranger during my journeys and end up living happily ever after.

Don't get me wrong, I am living my happily ever after, but the Big Guy doesn't make an appearance in any of my stories. I'm keeping him all to myself.

Binge reading ... and what's next

I'm at the stage between books. All the things I've been neglecting while trying to perfect my latest love child are staring me in the face. "Spring cleaning" the house, catching up on my favorite authors, visiting friends and venturing into the outside world.

I dusted my house. Top to bottom. Cupboard fronts, door panels, everything. It's a start.

I'm reading +Jill Shalvis, adding the rest of the series that I haven't read to my wish list so I make sure to read them all. Was reading one last night and had a laugh out loud moment, which prompted the Big Guy to look up from his Kindle Fire to ask what I was laughing about. The book.

Had lunch with one of my dearest friends.

And in a couple of weeks, I'll be meeting and greeting at the Elgin Literary Festival.

But an author's work is never done. While I'm fine tuning, waiting on my critique group to catch up, and preparing Gathering Mist for the editor, I'm thinking ahead to "what's next."

A few years back, I wrote a book that I shelved. Epitaph. It's a ghost story, and a love story. But it was deeply flawed in several places. At the time, I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I set it aside and moved on. The story still haunts me (hah! a ghost story haunting me!), and I'd like to fix those flaws. I keep telling myself it will be next up when I find myself short of story ideas.  WHOOPS! No shortage of story ideas? So now I'm doing a balancing act again.

Remember when I mentioned, before I started writing Return to Hoffman Grove, that I couldn't decide between Cinda's story and Kundigerin 2? And then Cinda tapped me on the shoulder, demanding page time. Decision made. And now? I'm trying to decide between THREE stories. Kundigerin 3 - Max's story, fixing Epitaph, and the idea that keeps nagging me about Tromp L'Oeil. The first two are no brainers, I know the stories, just have to put them down, so it makes sense to tackle them -- plus people reading the Kundigerin series who are enjoying it might be anxious to see that resolved. But it's the tromp l'oeil story that has been occupying my mind.

Friends, fans, readers, anyone care to push me in one direction or the other?

1. Kundigerin 3 - Max's story. Finish the Kundigerin trilogy. Marissa and Wolf have two new friends, (you'll meet them in Kundigerin 2) and the four of them need to stop an evil genius. The plan right now is that it will be told from Max's point of view (Marissa's little brother) - he is the new secret keeper and has to chronicle the family legacy, along with the confrontation that is to come.

2.  Epitaph - a haunted house ghost story about a willowy young woman and a newspaper feature writer, haunted by the newspaper guy's dead sister and chased by her killer.

3.  Murals - a mural artist paints to escape a troubled past. This romance will not be a paranormal.

Anyone care to weigh in?

Stepping out into the world

Next month, I will be taking part in the Elgin Literary Festival, an event organized to promote literacy and celebrate the written word. I will be in stellar company, including the NYT best-selling author, Simone Elkeles (and if you've ever met her/seen her/heard her, you know she's a hoot. I swear this woman has no filters). She's the keynote speaker, and every address I've heard her deliver has been highly entertaining (if slightly "blue").

Authors, by nature, tend to be introverted sorts, so stepping out into the limelight can be overwhelming. I've posted on this blog before about "gearing up" to meet people. I'm not painfully shy, although I am the one who would prefer to stand quietly in the corner of a room and observe rather than step up and introduce myself to everyone at a party.

I am always happy to meet the people who buy my books, happy to introduce newcomers to what I've written. I'm excited to be part of a panel at this event, which more or less puts me "on stage." Excited by the opportunity, and yet it will require a skill I've only developed within the last ten years (and probably only six, but who's counting?): speaking when I have something to say.

As the youngest of four girls, I grew up in the shadow. Don't speak unless spoken to. Mine was the fourth (and therefore least important) opinion. For years, I deferred to my older, and therefore wiser, sisters. Eventually, we all grew up. I'm not that mouse in the corner anymore.

In my professional life, I was able to speak to people individually with ideas, but often struggled in large groups. Those individuals helped me to break out of that. One friend in particular encouraged me to share my "great ideas" with the group. I credit one of my mentors/bosses with giving me the opportunity to prove myself, and there were enough "individuals" who'd heard my voice to push me forward and give me the confidence to speak to the groups.

As an author, I've been able to translate this confidence into approaching people I don't know, especially at events like this one. If they're at a literary festival, that means they like books. I write books, what a coincidence! Instantly, we have something in common, something to talk about. And if they like MY books, well, that's a bonus. And that's what keeps an author writing.

Baby its cold outside!

As I'm trying to think of what words of wisdom/glimmers of brilliance I can share today, the only thing I can think is BABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE.

Ruby's @ Bryce Canyon, 5/2013

I'm a summer person. I don't mind the 90 degree heat (although I could live without humidity and be much happier). I'm not going to complain about how hot I am during the summer, and that's because of days like today. Arctic air is spilling down into the Midwestern United States. We've had a relatively mild spell, and not much snow to worry about, but we couldn't escape winter forever.

So my mind wanders to other times and places to escape the lethal wind chills. Like my visit to Utah, during the spring, when the weather was changeable. Warm and 70 one day, 32 and snowing the next. Or Arizona at 110 degrees at 10 p.m. That's the thing about the United States. We get it all, from the arctic tundra, to the sizzling deserts and everything in between.

But enough whining, complaining, shivering. Still working on edits for Kundigerin 2. I think I have all the plot holes filled, so now it comes down to readability, flow, and then to the "fine grit" sandpaper of pulling out overused words, unnecessary words, etc. So I better get back to it.

Anon