Jayne Interviews Stella

Jayne: Your intrepid reporter here to bring you another interview with one of my favorite authors: Stella Cameron. Okay, so she's a friend. She also happens to be a fabulous writer. If you're looking for romantic-suspense with quirky twists and twisted bad guys, look no further (or is that farther?) Her paperback original, BODY OF EVIDENCE, is out and this one has it all, folks. We're talking steam heat and cold blooded murder. It doesn't get any better. So, Stella, tell us a little about BODY OF EVIDENCE.

Stella: Finn Duhon is the hero of BODY OF EVIDENCE. He goes home to Pointe Judah, a small bayou town, looking for a fresh start in peaceful surroundings. He’s been a special operations Green Beret, a successful stock broker trainer -- came close to death with the former, and almost died of boredom with the latter -- and now he’s going to get some excitement the way he wants it–on his own terms.

Emma Lachance, the heroine of BODY OF EVIDENCE, has big trouble: A mean, philandering husband who only wants her for public appearances in his race to be Governor, a shop called Poke Around which she loves, only her husband’s name is on the papers and if she leaves him she’ll lose the shop, and membership in Secrets, a women’s club where associates have started dying prematurely. But Emma’s going to change, she’s going to become mistress of her own fate even if she has to start with less than nothing–which is looking likely.

Finn and Emma, highschool friends, meet for the first time in fifteen years over the freshly dead body of the latest Secrets victim. It could be that these two should go back to bed–alone–get up again and start over.


Jayne: Great way to meet up with an old highschool sweetheart. But we're talking a true hero and heroine here. They don't give up when the going gets sticky.

Stella: Finn is a smart man–among other things–and you’d think it would take longer than fifteen years for him to forget that small towns can be, well, dangerous places. News travels fast, and so does gossip. Since he’s been away, Finn’s father, the former police chief, has mysteriously died. The main suggestion for why this happened makes Finn mad but some of the other ideas on the subject are much, much worse. He has some scores to settle with desperate people, and he is now a man who has vowed to put violence of any kind behind him.

Jayne: I see some serious conflict here.

Stella: Unfortunately, Emma’s ambitious husband hates Finn on sight. As it turns out, his instincts are right because Finn is going to make the man’s life miserable. Orville likes to push “little people,” like his wife, around and if there’s one thing likely to bring out the animal in Finn, it’s a bully. A bully with loose lips and a looser zipper doesn’t stand a chance, not if he’s got some hold over the woman causing Finn a lot of hot and sleepless nights. Orville was definitely never the special operations type, or the type to take on anyone close to his own size. Someone may not come off so well in this match-up–even if Finn has sworn off the physical approach.

Jayne: Tell us more...

Stella: Emma and her friends at Secrets support one another. They share just about everything, including the latest substitutes for a chocolate fix–or they just share chocolate if necessary. They could be sharing too much. It looks as if a jealous husband or boyfriend may have his own ideas about “disbanding” the group. The deeper Finn and Emma dig, the longer the trail of questionable events gets, and the more intimate they become. In BODY OF EVIDENCE, this pair are pretty intimate . . .

Jayne: This is a terrific read, folks. Mysterious murder, bayou sex and small town secrets. And, oh, yeah, did I mention this is a paperback original? That means you don't have to pay hardcover prices or wait until the hardcover gets turned into a paperback. You can read it right now! What more could you want?. Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore. Or click on one of the links below.

Suzanne confesses: It came to me in the shower!

Suzanne confesses: It came to me in the shower!

It's been a very busy and a very exciting February for me, and I'm on deadline, so I asked a few writing buddies to help me with this blog.

Everyone knows I get my best ideas in the shower or when my talented hairstylist, Michael Angelo, is working magic on my unruly curls. So that's the question I posed this week: Where do you get your ideas...literally?


JEAN BRASHEAR

There's no consistent place I get my ideas. It can be anywhere from driving down the road or sitting at a stoplight to exercising on my elliptical cross-trainer or walking through a department store. (I can literally still feel the shiver--good, sexy shiver--that ran over me when a tall guy in a long duster walked past me in a store. I turned, and he had vanished, but I built a story about a sorcerer from it.)

And seldom, once the book is done, can I remember where the original seed came from because the actual story always ranges so far from that beginning point. People watching, though, is a big part of it--the insistent urge, when presented with a shutter-quick glimpse of a person, a couple, a situation, to fill in the backstory on how they got there, what they're doing, and what might come next.

Jean's next release is SWEET MERCY, (story of Gamble Smith of her Signature MERCY), Harlequin Superromance, April 2006. www.jeanbrashear.com


SHIRLEY JUMP

My best ideas come in the car when I'm talking with my kids. We're joking about something that happened at school or something we saw on TV and one of us will say something that will take my brain off on another tangent and bam, an idea is born. Sometimes, I'll brainstorm with my seventh grader (the tame parts of the book :-) because she and I watch a lot of the same shows and have the same taste in a lot of things, so she's a great brainstorm partner.

I also do a lot of plotting while driving alone. I talk out loud to myself as I drive (which probably worries anyone in a nearby car :-) and just by having that self conversation, I work out a lot of ideas to see if they're worth pursuing. And of course, I'll cheer and do the driver's seat Snoopy dance when I strike on something especially brilliant ;-)

Shirley's latest release is THE BACHELOR PREFERRED PASTRY, Zebra Books, February 2006. www.shirleyjump.com


CURTISS ANN MATLOCK

I was just thinking about this the other day. I get my best ideas while washing dishes, then comes things that I overhear while standing in the Walmart checkout line, and experiences I have-- such as the great pantyhose debate my sisters-in-law and I had with my mother-in-law.

Do you wear panties under your pantyhose? Discussion of the matter has proved delightfully entertaining, as well as enlightening. Like the woman who said: "Yes, unless I'm out with my husband." Made a great scene in my upcoming book. I'm going to have a pantyhose poll at my site. So far we are sitting at 4 Without and 28 With. We're counting those who say they wear thongs as a With.

Curtiss Ann's next release: CHIN UP, HONEY, Mira Books, October 2006. www.curtissannmatlock.com.


CANDACE SCHULER

Hm…where do I get my best ideas? Several places. On vacation. I can't tell you how many times I've been wandering around someplace new (usually lost) or gone someplace I've been before but at a different time of the year/season/day and seen something in a different light or in a different way that evokes a mood that sparks some synapse in my brain that becomes an idea that leads to a story.

At any sporting event. I'm not a sports fan, so if for some reason I find myself at a sporting event and I haven't got a book—or it would be impolite to read the one I brought with me—I stare at the playing field like I'm paying attention and daydream. Some really good story ideas have come from daydreaming during playoff games.

Standing in line. You know, you're in a long, interminable line at the bank or the hardware store, and you can either eavesdrop on the conversation going on behind you or let your mind wander. Unless the conversation is really juicy, I usually tune it out and let my mind wander. If the line is r-e-a-l-l-y long, I amuse myself by making up stories about the people standing in line with me. This activity has lead to some useable story ideas.

While I'm cooking. Cooking is a very creative process for me and one type of creativity often leads to another. Ditto gardening.

Candace's latest release is THE COWBOY WAY, Harlequin Blaze, April 2005. Coming soon/working title: FOR THE THRILL OF IT www.candaceschuler.com

Inquiring minds want to know: Where are you when you do your best thinking?

Cheers!
Suzanne

2 Comments:

Katrina said...

Most of my story ideas (and they have stay just that...ideas) have all come to me sitting in class. While the professor is yammering on about investigational techniques, I sit in the front row, looking at him, but really thinking about the next plot twist in my story.
In classes, in one year I have thought of four ideas for stories.
The other place that ideas have struck me is while hanging out with friends. We are a loud bunch and pretty much do not care what people think of us or how we act...Some of my characters seem to have that personality.
Laying in bed is another great place of inspiration. My roommates will be fast asleep and I am laying wide awake thinking of the days events and how I can make that work into a possible story line.

11:47 AM

MathCogIdiocy said...

This morning was a good example of where my "writing" comes from. I finished the research and reread the instructions for the paper last night, but the writing was pretty well stalled. I woke up this morning with virtually the whole paper in my mind and just finished the actual typing of the first draft. This is pretty ordinary. I wake up with an idea and then work it out in the shower, while driving the car, and sometimes at work since the job doesn't require a lot of conscious attention. *grin*
Jacqui

11:53 AM

ELIZABETH RUBS EYES and SEES FREEBIES!!!

Maybe it’s just my eyes fuzzed by allergies, but I didn’t notice the new contest “button” at the top of the blog page. Such a discreet little notice.

What it should say is:

FREE BOOK from ELIZABETH

FREE BOOK from JAYNE

FREE BOOK from STELLA

FREE BOOK from SUZANNE

That’s what this contest is all about.

FREEBIES.

So how do you get yours?

Click on contest button, fill in blanks (yes, it’s strictly private), and wait to see if you get lucky.

*whispers* It’s a lot easier than writing the dang books.

Stella (cringing) JUST FOR FUN AND TOTALLY OFF TOPIC

If you won $15,000,000 after taxes, what would you do with the money?

My blogging privileges are about to be revoked . . .

Stella

ELIZABETH'S REALLY RELATIVE TIME

Suzanne’s blog got me to thinking about time in its least precise, most personal sense. That is, how we as people experience time rather than how an atom does.

What follows is Elizabeth’s unscientific theory of time:

I don’t know about you, but my first accessible memories come from the time when I was about three years old. I looked out the window at night into a black and silver world of freshly fallen snow. Another memory from the following winter is jumping from one of my father’s footprints to the next as he broke trail, walking us to the school bus. Then we left Milwaukee and moved to southern California.

At age four, I had a year of accessible memories behind me. Put another way, my experience of a year’s duration was 100% of my conscious life. A week was a very long time for me. A month was a huge block of time.

Christmas took forever to come again. Quite literally, it took my entire conscious lifetime—from age three to age four.

Age four to five was a little easier. Now Christmas was only half of my conscious lifetime away. Five to six, easier still, but still a loooooong time coming according to my own personal clock. Waiting was somewhat easier at 13 and a lot easier at 23.

By the time I was 33, the space from Christmas to Christmas dwindled to 1/30th of my conscious lifetime. At 53, it was only 1/50th of my conscious lifetime. Christmas comes along so fast now that I barely have time to put the ornaments away before the holidays are breathing down my neck again.

Time isn’t the same to a 3 year-old as it is to a 13 thirteen-year-old, or to someone 23, 33, or 93. The longer you’ve been alive, the shorter each day is, personally speaking. (Atoms continue to shimmer apart at the same rate no matter what human brains do.)

For me time now is stuck permanently on fast forward.

Do you experience time differently now than you did 10, 20, 30, 40, (gasp) 50, 60 years ago?

And would someone please explain how the hell I got transferred into my grandmother’s body?

Hobbits and Spaceships and Elves--Oh My!

I have been invited to say a few words about science fiction and fantasy, which is entirely appropriate on a blog sponsored by a group of romance writers.

You see, “romance” is a lot more than love stories. The word comes from roman, the name of a vernacular language intermediate between Late Latin and Old French. It later came to mean the kind of stories told in the vernacular, as opposed to the classy stuff written in Latin: stories of adventure, of magic, and of course, love. Later all sorts of things were incorporated, including love of nature, interest in primitive people, and even love of democracy. But one element remains constant, and has since Gilgamesh: the Quest.

Jayne has commented that one of the reasons romance novels are so popular is that they affirm the traditional values of our culture, like courage, honor, loyalty, and altruism, as well as love. I think that another reason genre fiction IS popular, and only SF and fantasy rival romance, is that they incorporate the quest. Even mystery fiction does so: the object of the quest being to find out whodunit.

Incidentally, SF and fantasy are not interchangeable terms: fantasy is a much older genre, going back to the aforesaid Gilgamesh; science fiction is a much more recent development, in some ways a subset of fantasy, in others a much more intellectual genre. Both, however, primarily rely on the marvelous. In fantasy, the quest is usually straightforward—seeking the Holy Grail, the Well at the World’s End, a new home for a colony of rabbits, a lost or imprisoned king or princess, the One Ring or its destruction.

SF tends to combine the marvelous as a setting with the quest as problem-solving: How are we going to defeat/make friends with these aliens? Repair our damaged ship? Get to where we are going?

A lot of books today talk about writing fiction in terms of the quest, with titles like The Writer’s Journey; this is very much influenced by Joseph Campbell’s classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces. According to Campbell, the quest is achieved when the hero returns to change his society in some way. In fantasy, it may be discovering the magic object that will defeat the foe or heal the wounded Fisher King (the sword or the Grail); in SF it is usually solving the problem so that we win/we make friends/fix the ship/arrive safely. And of course, one of the traditional ends of the quest is the hero winning the hand of the heroine—hence romance enters the fold.

One thing that both SF and fantasy can do is extrapolate—the “what if?” factor. In SF, it is often the future development of a culture: what if a planet was settled by members of the Society for Creative Anachronism? What if there were three sexes? What if we met a powerful enemy in space? In fantasy, it tends to be magical archetypes—dragons, enchantresses, spells, magical rings and swords—which highlight the kind of choices we make in everyday life by setting them off dramatically: betraying one’s friends (Boromir in Lord of the Rings) or not (the rabbits in Watership Down), surrender in the face of hardship or persistence in courage; staying faithful to one’s beloved or cheating. Not all fantasy is moral, of course, and SF tends to be a great deal more problematic; but the secret of their popularity is that they do maintain the core values, which is what enables the hero (or heroine!) to complete the Quest and give us a satisfying ending.

What about your favorite fantasy and SF tales, both in childhood and as an adult? Did they involve quests?

The quest-story is found in just about every culture that has recorded its tales; why do you think it is so popular?

Talpianna

Suzanne theorizes: Time really IS relative.

I'll tell you what got me thinking about Time with a capital T. (Besides the fact that I'm on a book deadline, of course.) It was the announcement that TPTB added one second to the atomic clock at the beginning of 2006.

Not an hour. Not even a minute. But one second.

Needless to say, that boggled my mind.

Funny thing about time: No matter how it's measured, there never seems to be enough of it. We all know that time flies. Time drags. Time is precious. Time is money. Time is saved. Time is wasted. Time waits for no man or woman. And time is relative.

We are a society seemingly obsessed with time. But that's nothing new. Most ancient cultures had at least some people preoccupied with measuring time, including ice-age hunters 20,000 years ago and the ancient Sumerians back in 5000 BCE.

The ancient Egyptians devised a 365-day calendar based on the rising of the star Sirius next to the sun, which just happened to coincide with the annual inundation of the Nile. As early as 3500 BCE they also used obelisks — "shadow clocks" — to divide their day into hours. Some two thousand years later they created water clocks, so they could measure the nighttime hours as well. (I can guarantee the "dripping" would have kept me awake!)

Of course, the real revolution in timekeeping came in the early 14th century with the Italians and their large mechanical tower clocks. Spring-powered clocks were invented around 1500, and, in 1656, a Dutch scientist made the first pendulum clock. By the early 18th century the pendulum clock had been refined so it was accurate to one second per day, then to one-hundredth of a second a day.

In the 1920s quartz clocks were developed and then later the atomic clock mentioned at the beginning of these ramblings. I think you'll be as relieved as I am to find out that the atomic clock is currently accurate to 30 billionths of a second per year. (Kind of makes that one added second loom a little larger, doesn't it?)

I was an English Lit major in college, so I wouldn't dream of tackling the subject of time as it relates to sophisticated mathematics and science, i.e. the cosmos, nano-technology, string theory, space travel. Time is space. Time is warped. Time and Motion. Time reversal. Sidereal Time. Ephemeris Time. Atomic Time.

Arrrrggg! Makes my head hurt. In "The Time of Your Life," Tony Robbins suggests that "time is emotion," and I have to agree with him. If I'm doing something I love — whether it's writing a scene that seems to flow, or reading a wonderful book, or watching "24" (my new favorite TV show just discovered in season – er, Day five), or standing in front of a masterpiece in a museum, or talking to my son on the phone — time feels like it flies by!

On the other hand, don't we all know the feeling of time dragging its feet when we're waiting to hear the results of medical tests, or the dentist is drilling in our mouths, or we're waiting in line at the license bureau?

There have even been a few times in my life — both good times and bad times — when time seemed to stand still, ceased to exist, had no meaning.

It turns out, my friends, that time really is relative.

So, the question I'm asking today: What makes time fly for you?

Cheers!
Suzanne

Jayne Says Aloha from Hawaii

Jayne Autographing at Hawaii's Ala Moana B&N

Alison, Ala Moana B&N Event Coordinator with Jayne


Hawaii calls! Frank and I are in Hawaii (Oahu) one of our favorite places on

Leslee Ellenson, Shauna Jones, Jayne Ann Krentz Lynn Raye Harris, Michael Little Photo thanks to Lynn Raye Harris

the entire planet and today I had a fabulous signing at the beautiful new Barnes & Noble at the Ala Moana shopping center. I want to thank the members of the local chapter of Romance Writers of America who turned out for the event, the staff at B&N and everyone else who showed up. I had a wonderful time and Frank was there to snap some pictures for the blog.

Lots of questions, of course, as always. One of the more memorable concerned whether or not I had any input into cover art. Okay, here's the down-and-dirty truth about me and cover art. Back at the start of my career when I would have given anything to have some say about my covers I had no clout and, therefore, no say, about my cover art. I was obliged to accept whatever the publisher and the art department put on the books. Trust me, I got some really BAD covers in those early days.

Today I actually have some clout and some say over my cover art. Unfortunately, it turns out I have absolutely no visual creativity. Yes, much as I hate to admit it, now, when I do have some say over my covers, it turns out I am no artist.

Sure, I can react to a cover. I can say I hate it or I love it. But I could no more give the publisher's art department an idea for the cover than fly to the moon. So, I'm back where I started -- totally in the hands of the art department. And there you have it: the truth about me and cover art.

As I was saying, Hawaii calls. The sliding glass doors to the hotel lanai are open and the tropical breezes are warm and balmy. I do believe that Frank is pouring a couple of glasses of Grand Marnier...

But getting back to cover art, how do you feel about it? What do you look for in a cover and do you really judge a book by the cover?

Aloha,

Jayne

Stella at a signing at Borders, Redmond Town Center, Redmond, WA

Julia Quinn, Susan Andersen, Stella Cameron

Today I did a signing at a local Borders and encountered a great group of people with a mass of questions. A lady asked: "How do you feel about your family members reading your books?" She elaborated that she wondered if it would be embarrassing to have people you know see into your mind.

Good question.

The answer is quite complicated. My father was the most definite example of reaction to my writing. He didn't approve of my writing anything. He called me a "scribbler" which is an oddly old-world term, and didn't think women should put themselves in the public eye at all. My husband, son and one daughter all read my books and enjoy them. Jerry does a good deal of research for me because he enjoys that. Our second daughter doesn't care for genre fiction.

But the questions was, "How do you FEEL about family members reading your books." It might just as well have applied to friends and acquaintances, I think. And I feel just fine! I'm a blessed person who has been able to do what she likes best for a living. No, it isn't always easy. Fiction= 1 writer, 1 computer (or whatever), and thin air. Fortunately some of us have all these stories whizzing around waiting to be told, but that doesn't instantly get them down on a screen and from there into a book. I'm working toward the end of another Toussaint book at the moment and I hardly sleep because I live with the characters and the plot now. Yep, I feel just fine about folks reading what I write because I give it my all.

Susan Andersen, Stella Cameron, Debbie Macomber Lois Faye Dyer, Katherine Stone

What about you as readers? Are you a proud displayer of whatever book is on the hob at the moment? Do you like to discuss what you're reading with others and maybe even say, "you might enjoy this?" Or does that only happen when you're reading WAR AND PEACE or the latest translation of a Garcia Marqeuz?

Confession time--I read WAR AND PEACE TWICE. The first time I didn't get it because I couldn't keep the names straight. Then I watched the PBS special and read the book at more or less the same time. I got it then! Guess some of us need more help than others.

Shirley Jump Discusses the Dangers of Lumping Lions in with Whales

Apparently, I don't know it all.

(Don't tell my husband that; you'll ruin my domination over this small corner of the world).

I used to think I did. Particularly when I was younger. Since then, I've grown to think of wrinkles as indications that I have learned a hard lesson. Like I really concentrated and boom! there's a crow's foot for my efforts.

I'd rather have a Mercedes.

Anyway, when I first started writing fiction, I approached it as I had all of my non-fiction articles: with an outline and a plan, all very dry, very linear. Hey, I was a smart cookie, or so I thought. Why couldn't a 60,000-word book fall into place as easily as a 1000-word article?

Uh, because they're totally different animals. I was lumping the whole zoo into one cage and the lions were eating the whales. Needless to say, I wasn't successful with those first few horrific manuscripts.

It took me a while (all that blond hair=slow learner) but eventually I realized non-fiction was written entirely from the head. You are given a story to cover, an angle to research. You find three sources who can comment on that angle, then write the piece much like a term paper: theory, supporting evidence, conclusion. Whammo, you're done. Pass Go, collect your check and move onto the next one.

Fiction, however, is written entirely from the gut. You have to get quiet with yourself so that you can truly listen to your characters. You have to trust your instincts, honed from years of reading and writing, to know whether to turn left or right at this point in the book. And then you have to have a strong faith that somehow, the ending will come to you just before your deadline.

Yes, I do find myself praying-a lot-when I'm at the end and have no idea how these two people will work it out. At that point, I'm willing to sacrifice small animals over the hibachi pit. In the end, the neighborhood rodents are saved and I somehow come up with an ending.

As I evolved as a writer, something cool began to happen. The more fiction I wrote, the more colorful my non-fiction became. I learned that a specific word choice-rhododendron instead of shrubs-could make all the difference in the world. That being tight and succinct could make a sentence sing. That having a little bit of a plan in mind can help the entire process go more smoothly. That often, the element that hangs up my middle is a lack of supporting evidence. Not bullet points, but clear indications of my character's growth, conflict and motivations.

You would have thought I'd struck gold when all that finally gelled in my head. In a way, I did. It gave me a fresh way to tackle both types of writing, and a common trampoline from which I could spring. Both genres became stronger, more indicative of what I call the Shirley Jump voice (a voice that is apparently unhearable by anyone under the age of 18; just ask my kids).

I still don't know it all, but that's part of the fun. The best part of my job, hands down, is the discovery of new information, different avenues to take. It's a lot like being at the helm of the Santa Maria with Christopher Columbus, only I get to stay cozy in my sweats and fuzzy slippers!

Considering that's about as close to a Mercedes as I'm going to get, I'll take it. The wrinkles, though, I can do without.

When you read, what similarities and differences do you see between, say, your daily newspaper and your daily fiction fix? Is there anything in common between the lions and the whales, besides the address of the zoo?


Mystery Blogger: Shirley Jump (shirleyjump.com), author of THE BACHELOR PREFERRED PASTRY

ELIZABETH CATCHES UP TO YESTERDAY

About five years ago I gave up on Christmas cards. Just stopped sending them.

Cold turkey.

Yes, I felt guilty, but not enough to do anything about it. As my daughter says, “Guilt is a wasted emotion.”

It wasn’t the cost of Christmas cards and postage that stopped me. It wasn’t even the time I never have. It was the handwriting.

Mine is so terrible that doctors line up and stare in awe.

Before I quit, I considered and rejected performing the year-end summary of ordinary events, printed out and stuffed into the signed card. (I write for a living, not for kicks and giggles.) I tried the pre-printed cards—name, return addy, brief sentiment, etc. The result was boring going on cold. Okay for acquaintances, but not for close friends and family. Each of them demanded a special, personal, handwritten note on the card.

Bring on the slack-jawed doctors.

When I looked at the “personal” result I’d labored over, even I had a tough time reading it. So I stopped.

And guilt niggled.

In a classic DUH moment, it occurred to me that technology has replaced handwriting. *booty-shaking victory dance*

I’ve been working on a computer since the first word processor was available (IBM Displaywriter, now found only in museums). Before that I typed everything on an IBM Selectric (see Smithsonian for illustration). Before that it was an Underwood portable (see Neolithic Age for information).

So last week I attacked the Christmas card problem by typing a note. It went via snail-mail to the faithful friends and family who were still writing Christmas letters to me after all those unrequited years. In the note was my e-mail addy.

Problem solved. New and richer correspondences have begun via e-mail.

How many of you have abandoned snail-mail for e-mail, handwriting for technology? When did you make the change? And for the under-30s out there, do they still teach cursive writing in school?

PS: Suzanne, don’t bother to answer. I’ll just twit you about your perfect “nun’s” handwriting!

Stella reports: It was a dark and stormy morning and all through the Library not a creature was stirring . . . Who stirs when Jayne speaks?

This morning I dragged myself to Redmond Regional Library, something I wouldn’t even have considered after only three hours of sleep unless Jayne Ann Krentz had threatened to cut off my lattes if I didn't.

On the way there, downed power lines decorated the highways, bridges were closed, traffic lights–all lights–were out, rain slashed, wind howled and it was dark indeed.

I’ll be honest here, the library wasn’t all that quiet when I got there, grumped over to get some tea (kindly supplied by Seattle RWA), and huddled in a seat. But, boy did it get silent when Jayne started telling it like it is. She’s good at that. Straight from the shoulder. No punches pulled.

Jayne gave a speech, primarily on popular fiction, and took questions. I've picked out a couple of the really sprightly discussions.

Q: Why doesn't popular fiction get respect?

Jayne:
For 150 years critics have been trying to kill off genre fiction--particularly romance. A possible reason is that these are stories written mostly by women, mostly for women.
Literary fiction had its beginnings in the 20th century and was heavily influenced by existential philosophy, Freudian psychology and Marxist social thinking. These forces are waning but still strong today.
Pop fiction has roots that go much further back to old heroic traditions of storytelling. Here honor matters, and courage, a belief in love, and determination. These qualities are the bedrock of our civilization and we go to such stories to reaffirm our beliefs.
Literary fiction doesn't have to resolve problems.
In popular fiction we expect issues to be resolved using core values.

Whew, enough of the fancy stuff. I also enjoyed hearing a question dear to the hearts of most writers struggling to be published.

Q: We hear about the huge slush piles in editorial offices. How can we try to get a manuscript out of those piles and read?

Jayne:
Executive editors, senior editors, editors and other really important people are so busy keeping up that they don't have a lot of time to spend on unsolicited material. In publishing, everyone serves an appreticeship and works to get noticed. For assistant editors and editorial assistants the slush pile has potential. They dive in and rummage around hoping to discover a golden submission with career building potential for them.
Find out the names of these people and submit to them. A call to the house, just to check on a title and the correct spelling of a name never hurts.

Listening to Jayne and watching an enthusiastic audience was worth the terrible inconveniences I suffered, including having to eat a cheese and spinach quiche in a warm little cafe afterward.

REDMOND REGIONAL LIBRARY

Librarians: Dan Shaffer, (Stella and Jayne,) Kim Pollow, Michele Drovdahl, Deborah Schneider, Andy McClung

Were you a "library kid?" Are you a "library grown-up?" What is your fondest "library" memory?

Jayne Gets a Free Lunch from Christina Dodd

0060561173
Originally uploaded by amandaquick01.

Okay, so Christina Dodd came through town today at the start of her tour and invited me to lunch and a bit of shopping. Never one to turn down either, I seized the opportunity. Mind you, I had an ulterior motive. In my role as a reporter who frequently does author interviews here at the blog, I felt it was my duty as a journalist to ask Christina a few probing, insightful questions about her wonderful new paperback release, THE BAREFOOT PRINCESS. Following is an actual, factual transcript of our conversation. (By the way, I had the crab cakes. Christina had a lovely chicken salad).

Jayne: So, how did you do the research for THE BAREFOOT PRINCESS? I mean, that whole plot thing you have going on with the heroine kidnapping the hero (who just happens to be a sexy marquess) and chaining him up with manacles in her basement must have taken some serious study. Where do you learn about stuff like that?

Christina (elegantly nibbling a lettuce leaf): Practice, practice, practice.

Jayne (around a mouthful of crabcake): So what kind of manacles work best?

Christina (daintily forking up a small bit of chicken): Rusty manacles are good. They add a dramatic touch.

Jayne (munching more crabcake): What does a well bred young woman like your heroine do with a marquess chained in her cellar?

Christina (sipping elegantly on her iced tea): Anything she wants.

There you have it folks, straight from your humble correspondent's very own pen. By the way, if you want more info on what to do after you've got a handsome marquess chained in your cellar, grab a copy of THE BAREFOOT PRINCESS asap!

Suzanne hums: "The Music of the Night."

Music speaks to me. It always has. One of my earliest memories is of playing on the swing set in the back yard of my childhood home and singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

When I was seven I begged for piano lessons. At sixteen, I wanted to be a singer and studied voice. At twenty-one (realizing I wasn’t headed for stardom on the Broadway stage, after all), music lessons were nudged aside and I had to earn my living as a high school English teacher. At twenty-six, I started writing fiction, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I love many types of music from classical to Celtic, from opera to Rock. Music affects and reflects my mood. I choose different music for each book. Not to listen to as I write, but to listen to before I write. Music takes me where I need to go emotionally as I sit down at my computer each day. It gets me "in the mood" and serves as a kind of emotional shortcut.

When I finished writing SWEETHEART, INDIANA, I decided to share the music I’d been inspired by in an author’s note at the back of the book. It was fun for me and for the readers.

So I thought you might be interested in knowing some of the music I’m listening to for the book I’m writing now:

"Sometimes I Dream" (Mario Frangoulis)
"Who Wants To Live Forever" (Sarah Brightman)
"Wicked Games" (Chris Issak)
Puccini’s "Nessun Dorma," from "Turandot"
"Pretty Vegas" (INXS)
The score to "The Phantom of the Opera"

Pretty eclectic mix, huh?

I swear there’s no sexier song on the planet than "Wicked Games," so that’s the CD I listen to before I write a love scene. If it’s a highly dramatic or melodramatic scene I might choose the operatic "Nessun Dorma" or the opening chords of "The Phantom of the Opera," or something from Sarah Brightman, especially if she’s going to hit one of her high C’s and give me goose bumps. The book is set in Las Vegas, which explains the new INXS song.

The problem I find most frustrating is not being able to find the right music for a book. That leaves me floundering; at sixes and sevens. I really need the emotional connection music gives me.

In the interest of science, I asked the other Quills what part, if any, music plays in their creative process. (I also asked them about the alleged connection between musical ability and mathematical ability.) Here are their responses:

STELLA: "Music is essential to me. It’s part of my writing ritual. I have a set of Bose headphones. (Suzanne: "I’m pea green with envy!") I wear them all the time while I’m writing. My mood is tied to the music, so I choose the music to match my mood. At the moment I’m listening almost exclusively to Madeleine Peyroux, a fabulous blues singer. Although I admit a ditty called ‘Hang on Little Tomato,’ by Pink Martini is also a current favorite."

When asked about the music-math connection, Stella said she comes by her love of music naturally (her grandmother was an opera singer), but she still had to work hard at math.

JAYNE: "I’ve never been musically inclined. And don’t even start on the
math thing. I’ve heard the two are related, and I think I see a pattern here."

Jayne also volunteered that she’d heard kids should take piano lessons if they want to be good at math. (Suzanne: "Ah-ha! Maybe this explains the A+ I got in college algebra after ten years of piano lessons.")

ELIZABETH: "I always write to music. In my case alternative popular (according to my kids). Nearly always vocals, which I choose for their parallels to the story and/or characters. I used to make one tape for each book. Now I have an iPod and iTunes on my computer, plus nifty speakers."

EL also added: "Math? I quit when I hit the second level of calculus, which I’m not sure I spelled correctly!" (Suzanne: "She did! And Elizabeth also "wins" the math prize among the Quills.")

So, the questions of the day are: Does music affect your mood? What music is currently your favorite? Do you believe there’s anything to the whole music-math theory?

Happy Humming,
Suzanne