I am currently president of the best darned chapter of RWA, which is a non-profit trade association of over 10,200 members. My local chapter is Central New York Romance Writers. Yesterday, during our monthly gathering, a new member told me he chose our chapter over another chapter because our website presented a more active organization. Another member told me she went to return to her local chapter, found it no longer existed, but learned many former members were attending CNYRW.

Wow. That’s pretty empowering.

Other members who’ve come to us in the past have told us that our chapter is more exciting than the chapter they left. Other friends, who’ve moved away, say their new chapter can’t compare to CNYRW, so they aren’t as involved.

Yesterday, I sat with three other members on a panel to discuss editing: how we balance the editing life with the writing life, what we look for in a manuscript (well, not me, because I don’t acquire), the differences in various publishing houses. Char Chaffin acquires for the house for which I write and copyedit; Nicki Greenwood used to acquire for another upstate-based publisher, but now does freelance copyediting;  and Kara Leigh Miller is managing editor for yet a third small press.

Such energy! And great questions from the membership.

I’m blessed to have such a wonderful writing community.

 

 

Yesterday, Gayle Callen, Nona Raines, and I drove to the nearby city of Ithaca for the fifth annual Spring Writes — a Finger Lakes Literary Festival. This four-day event is free and is has something for everyone, regardless of genre. The first event we attended was on character building. It wasn’t the usual laundry list of character traits/what’s in his medicine cabinet sort of thing of which I was so fond when I first started writing. One of the presenters teaches psychology, and we looked at several different models of defining a personality. The other presenter, Jill Shultz, is also an author, so she was able to tie theory to practical application. Very enjoyable. And I had a “tiffany” about my own current work-in-progress

After the workshop, we wandered to a nearby restaurant to meet up with our friend Ellen Hartman. Walking around Ithaca is a wonderful experience, because it’s such an eclectic city. It is a college town (Cornell and Ithaca College) through and through.     

    

It was a bit of an overcast day, but warm and springlike. The rain held off until we were inside.

Ithaca is home to an array of quirkiness, such as this doo-ragged statue

or the electrical boxes painted to resemble apartment buildings.

 

After lunch, we followed Ellen to the Community School of Music and Arts. Her talk was in a room that was used by musicians and artists. The furniture was paint spattered. There was lots of wonderful wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere down the hall, someone practiced piano and someone else was drumming. Her workshop on how to erase cliches from your writing was not only informative, but funny. She has  a delightful sense of humor. We heard the opening pages of several wonderful stories written by the participants.

 

The next event we attended was at  Buffalo Street Books, where a panel of independent bookstore owners discussed the future of bookstores.  I know that might sound a little dry, but it was quite fascinating.  As we were leaving, I spotted a display of some Ellen’s books.

 

We all climbed into Ellen’s car so she could drive us to our next destination, Felicia’s Atomic Lounge, where we were treated to several author’s works on adolescent angst. Some of the imagery in the writing was breath-stealing. The sole male who read was so funny, we thought he should be in stand-up comedy.

So we had very full day, and other than our meals, the excursion cost nothing. There was so much going on that we didn’t/couldn’t attend. I even thought about going back on Sunday for a workshop called Shy Writers Desiring to Speak Dynamically and Reading: Finish With a Joke with Ellen’s friend Leslie Daniels and one of my favorite panelists from Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me  (NPR), Amy Dickinson.

We’ve all vowed to return next year. As Ellen said, it was great fun to just hang out together as writers.

Today is the realization of my lifelong ambition: I am a published author. What else is there to say?

How about this?

Alpha male werewolf Tokarz de Lobo Garnier will do anything for his headstrong human bride . . . except trust her. She’s a reporter, and she’s on the trail of a story that could destroy the sanctuary his pack has enjoyed since the American Revolution. But she’s in danger, and risking her safety goes against everything he believes. When the evil turns its sights on him, he must make a decision: the safety of his mate or the security of the pack he leads.

Or this?

“Compton’s debut is a gripping, sexy as hell, page turner of a werewolf novel not for the faint hearted!”

~NY Times Bestselling Author Maggie Shayne

Or this?

Please buy my book.

 

 

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:

http://www.nickigreenwood.com

Email Nicki at:

nicki@nickigreenwood.com

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.

http://www.LindaMooney.com

 Kristina Mathews