Today is my parents’ 61st wedding anniversary. How’s that for longevity?
They knew each other 3 months before they were married. How’s that for romance?
They’re the main reason I believe in love-at-first-sight.
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Day: May 17, 2015
WIP Wednesday: My Newsletter
When I sold my first book, a friend suggested I start a Mail Chimp account right away. Mail Chimp is a popular newsletter program. It’s free. It’s easy to use. So I signed up for an account and put a “Subscribe to my Newsletter” tab on my Facebook author page. There is also a spot to sign up here on my website–far right column, scroll down a bit.
And that’s where I stalled. With the pending publication of my second book (and some other exciting prospects in the works), when I saw an on-line class for Mail Chimp, I immediately signed up. I finished the class earlier this month. If nothing else, I now have a better sense of what I want to accomplish with my newsletter. And, in my usual fashion, I know more about what I don’t want than what I do want.
So Issue One of the Comptonplations™ Newsletter is now a work in progress. I plan to issue it the first week of February. There will be exclusive newsletter subscriber content. There will be a list of places where I’m guest blogging, and the topics I’ll be covering. I will issue a newsletter only when I have something news-worthy to announce. I think this will be fun!
WIP Wednesday: Neva Brown
It’s Work In Progress Wednesday, and I’m delighted to welcome author Neva Brown to Comptonplations.
MJ: What are your top three dream destinations, and why?
NB: Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales. I have ancestors from these places and would love to spend time where they lived and do research.
MJ: Name one thing most people don’t know about you.
NB: I am, by nature, shy.
MJ: What’s the top book on your TBR pile?
NB: The Traitor, by Grace Burrowes
MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?
NB: Watercolor and oil painting
MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?
NB: Religious- “Amazing Grace” / secular – “Love Me Tender”
MJ: Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version of the story?
NB: Yes. Gone With the Wind.
MJ: What do you normally eat for breakfast, of do you skip it and get straight to work?
NB: Hot tea and toast spread with crunchy peanut butter.
MJ: Name one writing-related website you use a lot.
MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.
NB: A printed article on POV, a notebook with all kinds of notes for my WIP, a copy of my first book, Casey’s Courage (to remind me I can write).
MJ: Great idea! Do you listen to music when you write?
NB: No. I like the quiet with just the characters talking to me.
MJ: Do you collage your story before writing?
NB: No. My characters refuse to go along with me. I go along with them and hope for the best.
MJ: What do you love most about your WIP heroine?
NB: The strength of the heroine when things get tough.
MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?
NB: Her not recognizing her own worth.
MJ: What genre is your current WIP?
NB: Historical
MJ: What is your favorite genre to read?
NB: Romance.
MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?
NB: I often change the hero and heroine’s names after the story is well under way. Usually the way they handle themselves brings to mind a name that seems to fit.
MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?
NB: Never!
MJ: How did you chose the setting for your current WIP?
NB: I read an old diary of a man who traveled the southern route to California in the early days of the California Gold Rush 1849—the route the Texas Argonauts traveled.
MJ: Now it’s time for the lightning round. Cinco de Mayor or St. Patrick’s Day?
NB: St. Patrick’s Day
MJ: Last movie you saw in a theater?
NB: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games)
MJ: Favorite TV Show?
NB: NCIS (The original, with Mark Harmon)
MJ: Favorite band when you were in high school (Marching band doesn’t count)?
NB: BobWills
MJ: Coke or Pepsi?
NB: Coke.
MJ: Favorite ethnic food?
NB: Mexican.
MJ: Now to the meat of the matter. Can you share the first few sentences of your current work in progress with us?
NB: This is from By Clear Water.
The crack of rifles, death screams of her father and brothers shattered the peace. Leslyn jerked to her feet. The dish pan full of fresh-washed tin plates and cups clattered to the ground and rolled into the creek. She stifled her outcry with her fist. It’s happening just like the wagon master said it would. Blood-chilling screams sent her running toward the wagon where her mother prepared beds for the night.
MJ: Oh, great hook! And you have a book coming out soon, too. As in, today! Gorgeous cover. It’s available at Amazon.
MJ: How can readers stay in touch with you?
NB: My website, on Facebook, via Twitter, LinkdIn, and Google+ .
MJ: Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!
Capitolfest Reaffirms My Faith in Story
TV Stevie and I attended Capitolfest this past weekend. We love the Capitol Theatre in Rome, NY, and their annual three-day, silent/early talky movie marathon is always a high point in our year. The above photo is of the theatre’s 1928 original installation Moller organ. This beautiful instrument more than earns its keep over the film festival weekend.
The very first movie of this year’s event was a 1922 silent western, Partners of the Sunset. Within the first few minutes of the film, I found myself grinning. Some aspects of story never change. Ninety two years ago, the story started with two “poor relation” sisters inheriting a ranch out west, from a distant uncle, with the stipulation they must live there for one year in order to inherit. The movie was a romance novel on the big screen. I loved every second.
Miscellaneous observations: George Bancroft and Alec Baldwin share a certain look at times (and camera angle), as do William Powell and Tom Hiddleston.
One of my favorite movies of the weekend was something called High Treason, a dreadful 1929 “futuristic” pic that contained precognitive flashes of both the Holocaust and 9/11. If I had known about this movie back when I was producing my bad movie TV show, I would have tried like crazy to get my hands on a copy. It was so bad, it was good, like Plan 9 From Outer Space.
The best movies of the weekend were three dramas:
- Ladies Man (1931)
- Forgotten Faces (1928) (silent)
- Laughter in Hell (1933)
Good story telling doesn’t rely on gimmicks, and these three movies prove that. I did, however, think the HEA ending of Laughter in Hell was a bit abrupt, but many movies this festival had the same issue, like rock songs before the Beatles started composing specific endings.
One more miscellaneous observation: I had a “tiffany” this weekend. If you read my blog, you know I hate special effects used for the sake of using special effects. I loathed The Dark Knight for that reason alone. Bang-bang-blow-em-up makes me crazy. This weekend I realized I don’t like a lot of 1930s movies for a similar reason. But special effects weren’t the new toy in that era. Sound was. And far too many movies have a gratuitous scene of a woman singing. Frequently, she’s not even a particularly good singer. But we have sound, by gum, we’re going to put a song in the movie. Most often, the singing-scene could be cut and the story would lose absolutely nothing.
And that’s a wrap.
Tag, I’m It!
This post is part of a blog tag, where writers share a bit about their writing process and their books, then tag three other authors to do the same.
Thanks, Patricia Patterson, for the tag!
What am I working on?
Three things (I’m a glutton for punishment!):
- I’m revising the second book (And Jericho Burned) in my Toke Lobo & the Pack paranormal romantic suspense series.
I’m writing the third book (Daughter of the Moon) in the series.- I’m plotting a novella for an anthology my critique partners and I plan to self publish.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I like to think of it as paranormal “light”. Other than werewolf heroes, there isn’t much woo-woo going on. And my guys—the band—are inept in Keystone Kop-like manner, which injects a bit of humor. Paranormal romances these days seem overly dark and gritty. I say, why be gritty when you can be happy? My werewolves are essentially happy guys.
Why do I write what I do?
Why do I write werewolves? I like the idea of alpha males–really alpha males–whose first priority is family. Nothing else matters to them. And I like the idea of strong women standing up to those guys and making them rethink outside their norm. And, of course, the women learn a thing or two about love, too.
Why do I write romance? Because life isn’t always easy, and sometimes a person needs a diversion. I think it’s good for readers to not only escape into the fantasy a romance novel provides, but also see how other people work through what life throws at them, even if it is fiction.
How does my writing process work?
I come up with an idea. I jot down a lot of notes—different sizes and colors of sticky notes are this writer’s best friend! I run ideas by my critique partners, who are the world’s best brainstorming team. I also do a lot of what I call “dream walking.” In that magic time between sleep and waking, my brain tends to think about my stories, and I often have “tiffanies” about plotting. I’ve learned to keep a pad of paper and pen next to the bed and have gotten quite good at scribbling in the dark. Eventually I open up a new Scrivener file and start outlining scenes. I love Scrivener, because it gives me the ability to rearrange scenes by simply dragging them to where I want them.
Now I’m tagging three more authors.
Nicki Greenwood
Nicki Greenwood graduated SUNY Morrisville with a degree in Natural Resources. She found her passion in writing stories of romantic adventure, and combines that with her love of the environment. Her works have won several awards, including the Rebecca Eddy Memorial Contest. Her first book, EARTH, debuted in 2010 through The Wild Rose Press.
Nicki lives in upstate New York with her husband, son, and assorted pets. When she’s not writing, she enjoys the arts, gardening, interior decorating, and trips to the local Renaissance Faire.
Contact Nicki at her website:
Email Nicki at:
Linda Mooney
Linda loves to write sensuously erotic romance with a fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction flair. Her technique is often described as being as visual as a motion picture or graphic novel.
A wife, mother, and retired Kindergarten and music teacher, she lives in a small south Texas town near the Gulf coast where she delves into alternate worlds filled with daring exploits, adventure, and intense love.
She has numerous best sellers, including 10 consecutive #1s. In 2009, she was named Whiskey Creek Press Torrid’s Author of the Year, and her book MY STRENGTH, MY POWER, MY LOVE was named the 2009 WCPT Book of the Year. In 2011, her book LORD OF THUNDER was named the Epic Ebook “Eppie” Award Winner for Best Erotic Sci-Fi Romance.
Kristina Mathews
Kristina Mathews doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t have a book in her hand. Or in her head. But it wasn’t until she turned forty that she confessed the reason the laundry never made it out of the dryer was because she was busy writing.
Kristina lives in Northern California with her husband of more than twenty years, two sons and a black lab. A veteran road tripper, amateur renovator and sports fanatic. She hopes to one day travel all 3,073 miles of Highway 50 from Sacramento, CA to Ocean City, MD, replace her carpet with hardwood floors and serve as a “Ball Dudette” for the San Francisco Giants.
Check them out next Monday (March 24) to learn more about their writing process and their books.