October 8, 2011

How hard to work?

Posted by Em under Getting Started, Writing | Tags: |
[8] Comments 

Good morning! Happy Saturday and welcome to fall!

This morning I sit here with my cup of coffee trying to figure out what to do a blog post about for my publisher. Granted, I will probably post some hottie pictures over there to celebrate Halloween, but it got me to thinking about how hard we (as authors and writers) work.  Now I could go into the various things here like promo or social networking or keeping our websites up to date…but that’s not what I’m talking about.

I mean the story. My story. Currently I am writing two. I have the one that I post on the blog of my alter-ego and then I have one I’m writing for a wonderful reader who submitted prompt words as part of an Anthology.

When I am working on a story, the outline generally comes pretty quickly. Something has inspired me – a picture, a prompt, a snatch of dialogue I overheard – and the bare bones of a story forms in my head. The first draft sometimes comes like water from a faucet…and sometimes like a Chinese Water Torture experiment.

Then come the rounds of edits, beta readers, submissions (rejections…ugh!), and getting to do it all over again when the story is accepted somewhere.

I have a handful of stories out now, and another handful coming soon…and am slowing down to concentrate on what I am writing, and how well, as opposed to just getting my name out there. I’ve done that. So, I guess with this post I’m inviting you on that journey.

I think Saturday mornings will be my best opportunity to do some reading and practicing, to work on the craft rather than the product (if that made sense, lol).  I am going to use both Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel and Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Best Selling Writer. Probably Victoria Schmidt’s Story Structure Architect and Larry Brooks’ The Three Dimensions of Character too.

It’s time to start working harder…for me at least. Hope you join the ride.

 

April 30, 2011

Wow…how’s that for a hiatus?

Posted by Em under Writing | Tags: , , |
[2] Comments 

*Looks around, dusts off pillows, and sits down with a cup of coffee*

Good morning, everyone…

It’s been a while, I know. I took a little time (eep, it’s been almost a year!) to develop my pen name and get some writing done. Everything so far has been under my Em Woods psuedonym. But I’m thinking that I’m going to hop back into my posting here, with the same types of topics as before. I can say without a doubt that my pen name will cross over to this blog, because writing gay erotic romance is what I do, but I will be posting primarily about writing and about the m/f stories that I’m working on in addition to my deadlines. Hhm, I like Which Word as well, so that will remain a regular feature, if you don’t mind.

Something you might be interested in, I am currently working on a menage – it’s a M/F/M story with a base in the paranormal. You’ll be meeting Jace, Lark, and Symon shortly. *grin* That story is due to my publisher by the end of this weekend and I’ll be doing some edits in the next couple months. Which puts me into the Donald Maass book.

I think I might post occassionally from my practice writing. I use The Writer’s Book of Days by Judy Reeves and I can’t rave enough about that book. If you’re looking for a great mini retreat each day…go buy this one and use it.

Okay, I’ve got to get back into Temporary Magic…

So, how about you? Been busy?

 

June 11, 2010

Prompt: Order in the Courtroom

Posted by Em under Promptly Friday, Reading, Writing | Tags: , , |
[7] Comments 

Hey all! The prompt for this is to combine sorcery with lawyers. *grin*

###

“You think you can get away with it?” Jeanie yelled across the courtroom. She rubbed her palms together, gradually moving them apart, letting the energy build between them.

A little man poked his head around his overturned table. “You’re insane!” His voice was pitchy, like he’d just breached puberty instead of their photography contract.

She glared at him, the spark in her hands turning from burnt cream to blazing red in the space between heartbeats. “Insane, Robert?”

He squeaked and ducked out of sight as she sent the ball of fire sailing in his direction. It hit slightly to the left, bursting the jury box into flames. The sprinkler system kicked on, dousing the fire.

“Stop.” Another voice sounded from the back of the room, freezing both litigants in their places.

Jeanie turned her head, slow and hesitant, in the direction of the newcomer. “Rick. How lovely to see you.”

Ice blue eyes followed her every movement when she bent to pick up her bag from the floor. “What are the two of you doing here?” His tone brooked no argument. It was either answer or spend the next lifetime in some modified Hell.

Robert bounded out from behind the table, babbling away in a thick brogue. “She started it. Rick, you know she can’t control herself. She needs a different keeper, this one does. Set fire to my shop, she did!”

“All you’re missing is the pot of gold, you freakin’ Leprechaun,” she muttered.

Rick looked at Jeanie, long and steady before continuing. “You burned down his building?”

She toed the ground, unable to meet the knowing stare of her Master. “He started that one.”

“How?”

“He said that any pictures taken at the wedding would scare people because I wouldn’t be in any of them.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “I didn’t want them to show everyone else. I wanted them for me.”

Rick focused on the Leprechaun, making him squirm where he stood. “You need to head back to your country. Now.” He snapped his fingers and the little troublemaker disappeared.

Her voice no louder than a whisper, she said, “I’m sorry.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close to him. “For what? Wanting to remember our wedding day?” He kissed the top of her head. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Are you sure you’re not mad?”

“No, love. I’m not mad.” He stepped away, assessed the damage to the old room. “Where’s the lawyers?”

“Ah, yeah. About that.” She chewed her lip, earning her another kiss. “They were the first to go. You know they don’t know any magic?”

Rick laughed. “Not in this world, honey. You have to be more careful.”

She nodded her head, eager to please. “I’ll do better.”

“Okay. Head home, I’ll fix this.”

She brushed her hand over his, gave him a quick squeeze. “I’ll be waiting.” Jeanie reached for the knob when Rick spoke again.

“Jeanie?”

She looked back over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Back in the bottle, love.”

 

June 2, 2010

Promptly: What’s to envy?

Posted by Em under Promptly Friday, Stories I just plain like | Tags: , , |
[9] Comments 

Hi all! Here’s a new prompt for ya…

****

Callie watched her friend spin on the small riser by the mirrors. The train of the cream dress was bustled and swung in a pretty arch with the rest of the skirt. Sequins shimmered in the florescent light, giving Anne a look of fairies.

“It’s perfect.”  Callie said, flinching at the hitch in her voice. Damn.

Anne stopped, facing Callie. She paused for a moment before stepping down and crossing to her best friend. “ Are you okay?”

“Yep.” Never would she tell the truth and hurt her friend. “I’m fine.”

“Sure?” Worry dipped the corners of Anne’s mouth.

Callie felt terrible. Today was about her. “I’m sure.”

A chime from the front door drew their attention to the handsome man coming their way. His dark brown hair fell to his shoulders, framing a tanned face with bright green eyes. Callie couldn’t pull her eyes away. Not even as he bent to kiss Anne in greeting.

 “Thought I’d find you girls here.”

“Jim. You know it’s bad luck to see the dress.” Anne smiled up at him, lost to everyone around her.

Callie stifled the sigh. The adoration on Jim’s face was a beacon for everyone to see and Callie wished with everything in her that someone would look at her like that. “What are you doing here?”

“Rob wants to go out to dinner. You game?” he said.

Normally Jim’s friend was two steps behind him, ready to get into whatever trouble could be found. “Where’s Rob?”

“Right here.”

Callie almost came out of her skin as the whisky-rough voice whispered in her ear. She turned to find herself nose to nose with the man. “You scared me.”

He winked at her, his brown eyes warm with laughter. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

Rooted to the spot, she stared back at him. Curious at the butterflies in her belly.

Jim cleared his throat. “Are we going to dinner?”

Callie was first to move away, taking a deep breath. “Sure.”

Anne disappeared into the dressing room, calling for Callie after rounding the door. Callie fled, glad to escape the room.

As Anne stepped out of her dress, passing it to Callie, she said, “So, what’s got you down?”

“Nothing.” Callie turned her back to escape the hard stare from her friend.

“Hhm.” Anne pushed open the dressing room door, heading back out to the lobby. “When are you going to date again? Mike’s been gone over a year.”

Callie dropped her gaze, counting the floor tiles as she walked. “I want to find someone like Jim is for you.”

“Then all you have to do is open your eyes.”

“What?” Callie looked up at Rob’s interruption.

He blocked her path, slid one hand behind her neck, pulled her forward. Slow and easy, he settled his lips on hers. When he broke the kiss, he stayed close enough their breath mingled. “Did you understand that?”

 She wet her lips, feeling the tingle from his kiss. “No. I think you need to tell me again.”

 

May 27, 2010

It’s a Long One.

Posted by Em under Miscellaneous, Writing | Tags: , , , |
[7] Comments 

Whew. Bet you didn’t know Monday came so late in the week, did you? :)

I’ve procrastinated long enough. On with my topic. Who reads your drafts?

This is one hot topic of conversation, let me tell you. Every other week on one of the social loops (yahoo) someone is posting a question about how to find beta readers, how to find critique partners, how many critique partners, do you need a professional editor, etc, etc, etc…

And those are all good questions. They basically boil down to who do you let read your drafts? Who do you trust to give you opinions? Who do you feel would benefit you the most? Who will tell you the truth… even when you don’t want to hear it? Who will offer you advice and alternative suggestions? Who will try their hardest to help you build your writing skills – instead of trying to tear you to shreds?

Bet you didn’t realize there were so many things to think of when settling in with a critique partner or beta reader, huh?

I am a firm believer in CPs. I believe that having someone else look at your work with a fresh set of eyes is the best thing you can do for your story. Plot holes will appear a mile wide to someone who isn’t actually writing the story, who doesn’t have all that back story in their mind, all nicely laid out for them.

I think it is a must – even if you’re contracted. If you already have an editor – you still need a CP. You just might not need five of them. 

I’ve settled into two CPs and one beta reader.

Everyone here knows by now that I write M/M contemporary romance under a pen name. When I write in this genre, I always talk to Mark who writes gay erotica. He is a fountain of information and never fails to tell me when I’m full of crap. Or if something is completely impossible. I think he gets the biggest kick out of pointing out my cliché moments. Probably because in the first draft, I always have so many of them. But he always follows it with suggestions, references, his thoughts. And he never fails to point out when I’ve done something well.

I have the same in my paranormal romance books like Elemental Gateways. Mark is always willing to look over something for me even though he doesn’t write this genre. But here I also have another CP. And Cindy is wonderful. She’s a teacher and fellow romance writer, so I have no doubt when she tells me something is wrong, it’s wrong. I trust her judgement and I owe a lot to her.

And, of course, my best bud – Tiffany – is my beta reader – because that’s what she is, a reader. Tiff will tell me in a flash when she doesn’t understand things (and she finds an inordinate amount of joy in pointing out my grammar mistakes… lol).

These three are my core group. They see my writing before anyone else does. I’m comfortable with that… Mostly. :D

Who do you let read your first drafts? Why?

 

May 23, 2010

Well Deserved Inspiration

Posted by Em under Miscellaneous, Sweet Sunday | Tags: |
[7] Comments 

How is everyone’s weekend going? Mine, rather well, thanks. Hubby is giving me some serious writing time and I’m making good use of most of it. I’ve put somewhere around 2500 words on paper and fleshed out the next book’s outline.

So I think we all deserve a reward…  :)

I haven’t posted anything in a while so check back on Monday and let’s talk about who reads your drafts before you submit.

 

May 16, 2010

Retreatin’

Posted by Em under Miscellaneous, Publishing, RWA, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
[12] Comments 

I’ve been gone a while… but I have a good excuse, I swear. Well, actually I have a couple of excuses.

First, my basement flooded. Not Nashville-type flooding, just a couple inches really, but enough that it completely threw me out of whack.

Second, I went to a writers conference – In Maine. Yes. Maine.

Alone.

And it was the best thing I could have done. The gals who make up the Maine RWA group are some of the most friendly and supportive people you could imagine. From the moment I walked into registration on Friday at 5pm until after the closing dinner on Saturday night, I felt like I belonged there. That I wasn’t an outsider from Michigan.

Friday night we listened to a presentation by the Maine Ghost Hunters Society. They told us about their tools, their investigations, and their experiences. They answered any question we threw at them (and you know us writers can come up with some stellar questions). We had the bonus of getting to view some unedited clips from their investigations too. Really eery and really cool.

Saturday was workshops on first kisses and sex scenes with Terry McLaughlin followed by a workshop on how to blend paranormal with other genres (loved this one!) with Joyce Lamb. Then another workshop on voice with Terry. There were pitches to Lyrical Press editor Cynthia Thomas. Yes, I pitched my paranormal. And she requested to see it. Yea!

I got to know Joyce, Terry, Diane Amos, K.A. Mitchell, and a host of others (Emily, Helen, Deb to name a couple) who are all wonderful and made me feel at home right from the start. I sincerely hope that we don’t lose touch.

Dinner out to close the retreat was amazing. Twenty-five or so of us went to Macaroni Grille. The food was good, as usual. The service was great. What could make a normal MG experience amazing? Our waiter, Chadwick, sang opera. What are the odds that a group of romance writers would have a waiter like that? So… he sang us an Italian Love Song. That’s what made dinner amazing.

So I came away with new friends, a wonderful memory and a request for my paranormal. Not to mention the time I spent walking around downtown Portland, having the most delicious bowl of clam chowder ever (from Gilbert’s Chowder House), and shopping. All in all, a great weekend.

And for sure, I’m going back next year.

Spending time with the MERWA group showed me that stretching beyond our normal boundaries, extending past our own backyards, can be just as beneficial and rewarding as helping our own local chapters. I would never have pitched there without the prodding from Joyce and Diane (I won’t mention the chocolate bribe…reward. :) ) and would have missed the opportunity to meet Cyn and have her request my story.

So… do you have anything coming up that will get you out of your comfort zone?

 

May 10, 2010

Be Happy.

Posted by Em under Miscellaneous | Tags: , , |
[9] Comments 

So, I’m running a little behind on this… but it is still worth posting because with all of the crap in this world, we deserve a little love and happiness.

What to do:
List 10 things that make you happy.
Try and do at least one of them today.
Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day and let them know.
Link back to the person that tagged you. (Ava, you are awesome!)

Here is my list of 10 things that make me happy:

  1. Kiddo kisses…even the sloppy ones.
  2. Hubby luvin’ ;)
  3. My friends, online and IRL
  4. Writing
  5. A full day of zero computer issues
  6. Visiting gaytrix.com
  7. A new romance book
  8. Hot fudge sundaes…yummmm…
  9. My Droid phone
  10. Getting this award from Ava ((hugs))

I’m hanging tight with Ava’s change and only tagging 5 bloggers. They are all in my little list of fav blogs on the sidebar – every time I see a new post pop up, I check them out. And I’m following along with Ava’s & Eyre’s caveat – don’t feel obligated to play along. I just wanted you to know your posts brighten my day. :)

 

 

May 6, 2010

In A Mood.

Posted by Em under Miscellaneous, Writing | Tags: , , |
[11] Comments 

Do you ever get in those moods where you have to rearrange something? I do. Just in case you haven’t noticed. :)

I have been working hard on my current WIP, rearranging it too. The Maine Writer’s Retreat is coming up soon (eight more days!) and I am super focused on that right now. There is going to be a workshop presented by the Maine Ghost Hunters Society and lectures/workshops by two very talented romance authors: Terry McLaughlin and Joyce Lamb.

Not to mention being able to sit next to the water and write for hours. Because I am allowing time for that.

I’m reading Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer and that is one phenomenal book. If it isn’t on your list of must buy’s – get it there. Even if you never use his Motivation-Reaction Unit technique, you will benefit from the other things he talks about. Trust me on this one.

So… what do you think of my new digs?

 

April 29, 2010

Prompt: Her Funeral

Posted by Em under Promptly Friday, Stories I just plain like, Writing | Tags: , , , , |
[3] Comments 

Hi all! Hope all you are having a great week… here’s a little paranormal prompt for ya…

###

Within the last few hours, despite the protests of the director, the drab little room underwent a transformation.

In place of shadows, curtains stood wide open, allowing sunlight to poor in on the visitors gathered there. Coffee replaced by mixed drinks. Tearful mourners by laughter and loud jokes about the wicked witch. Her relatives had turned out in droves. Most to just verify the old broad was indeed finally dead.

The whole ordeal made Amber sick to her stomach. She pushed hard on her belly to repress the butterflies desperate to escape by any means necessary.

Of course, that could have less to do with the celebration over her grandmother’s death and more to do with the woman standing next to the coffin as if she belonged there.

Amber pulled her gaze away from the pale face of her grandmother – pinched even in death. Frozen that way Amber’s father had said. White hair framed her face, a slight by her daughter who joked she needed to loosen up anyway.

None of them understood. That’s why Amber had moved away the moment she’d turned eighteen. Grandma Jenny had paid for her apartment at school, her books, her clothes. Anything she needed, all Amber had to do was call.

Loneliness spiked through her heart. Her bottom lip trembled as she stepped through the door, looking for fresh air. She stayed close to the wall and headed for the open door at the back entrance.

Every so often an aunt or uncle or friend would reach for her but her bid to be away from them kept her moving. They all thought she was oblivious, thought she didn’t know about the various plots to contest any will that surfaced. But soon they would know the truth – and there would be no more celebrating.

“Child, why are you out here alone?”

Amber’s heart leapt, tried to burst from her chest. She sucked in a breath. “So you weren’t a mirage.”

Her grandmother reached a hand to smooth back Amber’s unruly blonde bangs, stopping just short. “No. But I’m not to stay long.”

“It’s okay, Grandma.” Amber relaxed against the porch railing. “I’ll handle them.”

“Oh, I know you will.”

Amber’s eyes narrowed on another relative entering the funeral home. Vultures, the lot of them. “They won’t get away with what they’ve done.”

“Even then, before you left, you knew they were embezzling my money.”

The first genuine smile bloomed on Amber’s mouth. “I knew.”

“But you’ve sacrificed a great deal for me while in that fancy FBI school of yours.”

Her smile vanished. “I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe.” The old woman giggled. Actually giggled. “But I had to be sure.”

Amber looked at her for the first time. “What have you done?”

“Set things right.” And then she was gone.

A rustle from the doorway was little warning when faced with such a thing as a meddling grandmother.

“Amber?” His voice, deep and smooth like good summer wine, reached for her heart. He was back.

 

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