Category: Musings

MJ’s Musings: Book Bingo-Three (Or More)’s Company

Yes indeed, this year’s Book Bingo Challenge included a square for reading a ménage book. I figured reading a paranormal-sci-fi space alien type book would work much better for this square than a standard romance.

I went with No Limit, by Susan Hayes. The book is Book 5 in The Drift Series. I was pleasantly surprised that there was an actual, compelling plot that didn’t revolve around sex.  I didn’t need to read the first four books in the series (which I may go back and do). The story was well-written and well-motivated. I do love me some good space romance. This book hit on all levels without being gratuitously graphic.

MJ’s Musings: SEP-Nobody’s Baby But Mine

Nobody’s Baby But Mine is a little creepy in that there is a slight stalker element. The heroine wants a dumb man to father a child for her, so she sets her sights on a football quarterback who says “ain’t” in a southern drawl and makes assumptions. Bad assumptions, all the way around.  The hero may be from North Carolina, but being from the south is the only assumption the heroine got right. Almost.

Tricking the football playing into getting her pregnant is morally wrong; the heroine knows it, but her longing for a child who won’t be a genius (the heroine is a physicist who’s always felt like a freak because she’s smart), but who will be normal outweighs her morals.  Twice.

There is a secret baby (for a couple of pages), a marriage that’s anything but convenient, and a truly lovely romance that unfolds as the hero and heroine get to know each other.

The cast of secondary characters is interesting. I adore the hero’s hillbilly grandmother. The secondary romance, between the hero’s parents is interesting, and showcases what a brilliant author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is. The subtleties tying the primary romance to the secondary is extremely well done. At first, I didn’t like the hero’s father, but with each re-read of the book and my own development as an author have made me appreciate exactly what Phillips did here.

Four stars.

 

MJ’s Musings: The Importance of Research

Any author worth her royalty check knows the importance of research.  Many authors I know would rather research than write. They get caught up in learning something new. I’m the same way.

I’ve had a couple of  “run-ins” with others when it comes to research.

The first two were from my contest diva days. I entered a lot of writing contests sponsored by RWA chapters.

A contest judge told me I should rename the region in which my story was set, because Thousand Islands sounded too much like a salad dressing.  I live in upstate New York, about 90 miles from the US-Canadian border, which runs through the middle of the St. Lawrence River,  the stretch of which is known as The Thousand Islands. The salad dressing was created there. Much later, a couple of people I met produced a documentary on the origins of the salad dressing. The judge should have done her research.

Another contest judge marked me off for not doing my research when I referenced a laser ID number on a diamond. “Impossible,” she wrote. “Diamonds are the hardest substance on earth.” True, but they can be cut. And yes, the diamond industry does laser ID their stones. My former brother-in-law worked in Manhattan’s diamond district and confirmed this for me. I’d done my research. The judge had not.

At my very first book signing, a woman started haranguing me about romance authors not doing their research. I countered with very specific examples. She huffed and puffed and claimed, “Then romance authors need to let people know this.” I should have countered with, “Do you demand the same thing from Sci-Fi authors? Mystery authors?” Why should why romance authors be held to a different standard?

If not for Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Wolf and the Dove, I would have lost many games of Trivia Pursuit, because I might not have otherwise known the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066.

Sometimes, though, even with the internet  authors don’t get the research right. One of my favorite authors in one of my favorite books, put the Mayo Clinic in upstate New York. Yes, the Mayo Clinic is in Rochester–but Minnesota.

Research matters.

MJ’s Musings: Book Bingo-Published in 2018

I filled in my PUBLISHED IN 2018 square with JD Robb’s LEVERAGE IN DEATH, book #47 in the popular IN DEATH SERIES.

I am addicted to Eve and Roarke and the rest of the characters. They are my friends. I love how the characters continue to grow and mature.

I always wonder how JD Robb (a/k/a Nora Roberts) can come up with fresh, new crimes with fresh, new motivations.  This story smacked of true events from earlier this century.  While many people didn’t like this book, I disagree. The story gave us a look at how behind-the-scenes machinations can steal our retirement funds. (OK, maybe not specifically, but I can connect the dots!)

And it did fill in one of my Book Bingo squares.