Susan's doing the Book Is Out dance!

I've been making my ears bleed over a chapter in my work in progress. Then today, I finally figured out what the heck I was doing (or maybe I should say where I went wrong). Man, I love it when that happens--especially in a case like this one where I've just wasted 3 days thinking this is just wrong without knowing how to fix it. But that's part of my process: I struggle and struggle and struggle- then suddenly the dam breaks (I know, I'm a writer--I should have a better simile) and the words finally flow.

It's another reason that I love Book Release Day--the book that's hitting the shelf is done and I'm proud of the final result, instead of ripping my hair out trying to make it come together. (You thought I had short hair by choice?)

All of which is a long way of saying: IT'S HERE. Bending The Rules is officially in a grocery or bookstore near you. Wa-hoo! Much dancing and champagne swilling on my part. Okay, maybe I'm not really swilling champagne, but I'm definitely a movin' and a groovin'.

I'm off to hit the local bookstores today to do drive-by signings, so will be in and out sporadically--but I just wanted to toot my own horn a bit and tell you I hope you'll enjoy the final results of all my angst and worry. My mother says this is my best one yet. And you can trust her--she's not the least bit biased.

Really. Would I lie about a thing like that?

Those amazing back cover blurbs

I’ve been writing non-stop for the past few days, in that weird sort of manic phase I get into when the story takes on a life of its own and I can barely type fast enough to keep up with the dialogue and action and just plain stuff that’s going on. It’s like my muse goes on steroids and I merely hang on for the ride. I love it when this happens. There’s a sense of magic when a story begins to flow across the page and it’s happening so quickly and so unexpectedly that I find myself wondering, even as I write, where the words are coming from.

Of course, the downside to this is that what I’m writing and what I told my editor I was going to write are two totally different stories. The characters are the same, but they’re certainly not behaving the way I expected them to as they resolutely march in opposite directions from the detailed synopsis I faithfully sent my editor’s assistant. You see, he needs that synopsis months in advance so he can write the “back cover blurb,” that paragraph on the back of the book that tells you what the story is about so you’ll pick it up, get hooked, and buy the book. Only, in this case, what I sent a few months ago is absolutely nothing like what I’m writing, and once again the back cover blurb will have very little to do with the actual story that appears inside.

Personally, I absolutely hate it when I read a blurb, buy the book and then read the book and discover it’s not anything like what I expected. I hate it, even though I know exactly how it happens, and while I’m sympathetic to the author’s plight, I find myself saying, “Now why in the heck can’t they get the blurb to be about the story inside?” even though I know why they can’t! And this, of course, is a lead up to the back cover blurb on Wolf Tales VIII, which comes out next week. It says:

In the shadows they transform into beasts possessed of boundless sexual energy, with the strength and stamina to indulge every primal urge. Now, six new Chanku have appeared—bold, brash, and very much in need of their elders’ wisdom. It is decided to split the young pack: three will travel to Montana to learn from Anton Cheval, and three to Colorado to be mentored by Ulrich Mason and his mate, Millie...

Having weathered a series of vicious attacks, the Montana pack welcomes the distraction of breaking in the novices. But everything changes with the arrival of a mysterious stranger whose connection to Millie will bring the she-wolf, her partner, and their protégés—including Matt, the sensitive alpha Millie has brought to his sexual peak—to Montana. The time has come for Millie to confront her past, even as the young Chanku prepare for a future of power, pride, and pure pleasure...

It’s not horribly far off, but Millie never really confronts her past and the mysterious stranger has a connection to Ulrich, not Millie, so it reads ALL WRONG to me, even though this is the way the story was originally conceived, so it’s my fault, but it makes me crazy! (I know...I’m whining...) Makes no sense, but that’s the “reader me” complaining, even though the “writer me” is the one at fault. So why am I wasting valuable blog space writing about this? LOL...well, I guess so you’ll understand why it happens—why the paragraphs you see on the back of the book will often sound as if they’re written about a totally different story. That’s because they are—they’re written about a story that was conceived and carefully planned in advance, but which took on a life of its own and turned out totally different from the original idea.

I hope you’ll buy the book anyway, because I can promise you that the story that comes out when the muse takes over is far better than it would have been if I’d written it entirely on my own. Of course, that’s the joy of writing—those bursts of inspiration that take is places we never dreamed to go. Better than any drug—if only they came with back cover blurbs!

Whatcha readin'?

Do you ever get on a genre-within-the-genre reading streak? Recently, I reread Lord of Scoundrels for the umpteenth time and for a while thereafter it was all historicals, all the time. I blasted through several titles each of Sherry Thomas, Amanda Quick, Eloise James and Elizabeth Hoyt.

Then I took a shorter sprint through Urban Fantasy, with the first book in Kathryn Smith's The Nightmare Chronicles, Lori's most recent (to me--I'm always racing to catch up with my TBR pile) Servant book and the second to last in Rachel Caine's Weather Wardens series (see caveat above).

A few days after hosting Christie Ridgway, I finished her Dirty, Sexy Knitting and am now on a Contemporary streak. Dogs And Goddesses, The Paper Marriage and True Love and Other Disasters were my most recent reads. Soon I'll be off on another tangent.

How 'bout you all? What are you currently reading? What's in your To Be Read pile that you haven't yet gotten to? And do you ever go on an author specific or genre-within-the-genre reading bender like I've been known to do?

JAYNE BRINGS YOU THE NEW ARCANE SERIES VIDEO

I was late to the party but a while back I finally slouched into the modern era and began using videos to promote my individual Arcane titles. As we have discussed on more than one occasion, trying to explain the Arcane series to readers who are not familiar with my world is complicated.

The problem, of course, is that the Arcane Society novels cross back and forth between my Amanda Quick historicals and my Jayne Ann Krentz contemporaries. The series has even begun to spill over into my Jayne Castle futuristics. Hey, you try explaining three pen names and three fictional landscapes all tied into a single series! Like I said, it's complicated.

And just to make things even trickier, in January I will fire up the Dreamlight Trilogy within the Arcane series. It will feature a book set in each of my worlds -- past, present and future -- under each of my three names. Now we're talking a trilogy within a series. Eek!

So, I wanted a video that would give readers an overall look not just at a single title but at the whole Arcane series and provide them a glimpse of the upcoming trilogy. I knew this would not be an easy task. Book videos are only about a minute long, after all. That's not a lot of time.

I am absolutely thrilled with the trailer that Cissy Hartley (Writerspace webmaster) and Paula Graves (a great author of romantic-suspense who just happens to hold a day job as a graphic designer) created for me. It seemed like an impossible task but they pulled it off brilliantly!

Hope you enjoy it!

When in doubt, take a shower

Last time it was my turn to blog, I totally dropped the ball. It was the same weekend as my and Dianne's "Reader and Author Get Together," but I knew that well in advance. My plan had been to get a blog ready, then post it on my way out the door on Friday.
Yeah. You know what they say about well laid plans. :::Snort::::

The entire week (month?) leading up to the event was a comedy of chaos, so I totally forgot. Sorry! But I know you're a forgiving bunch, right? :-)

This week I figured I'd tell you about the event, and dazzle you with lots of photos to make up for my lapse last week, AND tell you how I managed to write through craziness.


First, here's a photo of Dianne and me on Friday night, looking a little dazed.




... and then on Saturday, the authors who attended, or at least as many as we could get grouped up at one time:




... and the Tails of Love authors... even though we kept missing two people in each shot.



Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Marcia James, Kate Angell, Donna MacMeans, Dianne Castell, Stella Cameron, Lori Foster, Patricia Sargeant.
Sarah McCarty and Ann Christopher are missing. (Ann was doing an airport run for an agent!)




Back row: Marcia James, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Patricia Sargeant, Kate Angell, Dianne Castell.

Front: Lori Foster, Donna MacMeans, Ann Christopher.
Sarah McCarty and Stella are missing. Popular authors are forever pulled away. LOL


The event was an enormous success with $6,616.00 made for the One-Way Farm for abused and abandoned children. Here's a pic of Dianne and me handing over a "blown-up" check to the director, Barb Condo. But I promise we gave her a real check too!




And we had a lot of great "physical" donations for the AAF - Animal Adoption Foundation - along with $225.00 in gift cards.



(Note the TAILS OF LOVE car magnet on the van between me and the director, Eric.)


We also had a ton of donations for the Troops (which Laurie Damron takes to mail out) and $506.00 in cash, checks and gift cards for shopping and shipping to the Troops.


And lastly, Allen (my hubby), Dianne, me, Linda Keller (bookseller), and Tammy from the Marriott already met to make arrangements for NEXT year's event!
Mark your calendars for June 4th - 6th 2010!!!



The photo is a little blurry, but it was taken by a harried waitress trying to get drinks out to everyone. :-)


Let me tell you, with over 300 people in attendance, Dianne and I had our work cut out for us. We have the most amazing volunteers in the entire world, but there's a lot that she and I have to remember.

And just as a kicker, I'm on deadline with a book! Let me tell you, there were many, many times when my brain shut down on the plot because it was so busy trying to finalize plans, remember arrangements, make notes of "to do" lists, and just in general stay sane.
So what kept me writing?

Showers!

Honest to goodness, whenever I'd get stuck, a shower would kick-start my brain. I'd be under that water, and entire streams of dialogue would come to me. New twists, resolutions to previous twists... it was amazing!

I still have around 80 pages to write, but I'm hopeful that things will keep moving along so I'm not late on this book. I detest the thought of being late. It keeps me awake at night!

So... two questions.

What do you do when you get stuck and can't think straight?

And if you were going to attend a gathering like mine and Dianne's, what authors would you REALLY want to see there?

I was THRILLED to have Stella around this year. Totally made it extra-special for me and gave me huge bragging rights. :-) And I know the Quills on a whole are mega-busy, so I won't list them as who I want there, but they all know I'd do flips for that. :-)
I'm on a mission to get Kresley Cole to attend, as I'm a giant fangirl for her books!

Hope you all enjoyed the photos!
Have a stellar week!

Lori

Susan has a brand new video!

Check it out! I'm getting excited for this one to hit the shelves. You'll have to ignore the blurb at the end that say's Available Now. Well, actually, it may be in some stores. Mostly, though, it will be in just nine days. Whoo-hoo!

Share My Bench

Happy Monday, my flowers:

Ten minutes. That's how long I've been looking at this screen and trying to decide what irresistible topic to discuss. I need something riveting for a Monday morning, something to bring smiles and surges of energy.

Why don't I want to write about wearing heels today, for the first time in months, and the bruises and blisters I've got on my feet to prove my stupidity? Or the plug-in pheromones I bought because they're supposed to stop cats from getting mad at each other (they aren't working)? Or going to a 95th Birthday lunch today for a friend of Jerry's parents, and how it made me feel to see how much smaller the crowd was than five years ago when we gathered for the same person's 90th?

Wow, I know why I don't want to write about any of these things. I bore me. And I work seven days a week so Monday is the same as Sunday or any other day, except that I do try to get to mass on Sundays--without messing up my work schedule. Monday? Big deal, and I feel the same way about Friday:)

Now I know exactly what I'm writing about and why. I'm looking for wisdom from you--I'm hoping you will have some little pearls about getting balance into a life, learning to prioritize and above all, finding the inner peace and sanity to be grateful for all one has.

Have you ever felt like a human doing rather than a human being? My hand is up and waving--in between words, of course.

The odd thing about all this introspection is that I know it's what makes me who I am (now there's a brilliant insight). It makes me a writer--good heavens. Introspection sits me on a bench, along a deserted road in the almost-dark to work out a plot. I take Millie to curl up on my lap and help me talk things through. She thinks shapeshifters at a Venetian masquerade in New Orleans is a very good idea. These moments are exciting and peaceful at the same time.

Over to you, Quillers. If you ever feel bored, boring, or out of smiles, what brings out your personal sunshine?

You have an open invitation to share my bench sometime...

Here’s to the Happy Place...

I was thinking about Opus today...you know, Berkeley Breathed’s cartoon character, the wonderful little penguin with the big nose who likes to go off to his “happy place” when life gets to be too much? Anyway, we’d had a long morning with a trip to town (over an hour’s drive down one mountain, over another and then across a smaller range) and then a bunch of things I had to deal with the minute I got back home—along with putting away all the groceries from the Costco trip—and the phone wouldn’t stop ringing and I kept thinking of some changes I wanted to make in the book I’m writing, and finally I just went outside and watered the flowers. Now, we have our entire yard on drip irrigation, so my watering the flowers isn’t going to make a lick of difference in how well they grow, but I needed to go to my happy place, and today, the back yard with butterflies and flowers and birds and the occasional deer wandering through fit the bill.

Yesterday my happy place was a book—Alyssa Day’s new release ATLANTIS UNLEASHED, which just made the New York Times extended list (YEA ALYSSA!!!) and that’s the same happy place I’ll be going to tonight when I pull out my new copy of Yasmine Galenorn’s DEMON MISTRESS (which made the NY Times top 15—do I hang out with good writers or what?) but it all got me to thinking about what we do, in this stressful world we live in, to cope. To have the energy and the drive to keep on keeping on no matter how tough it gets.

I realized it’s that happy place we all hope to find that helps us balance our lives. Whether it’s a good book or a sunny day and a few flowers to water, maybe a stolen half hour taking a walk, playing with our kids instead of doing something horribly practical or baking cookies when the diet says no—whatever we choose that lets us forget our cares and put our worries aside, if only for a few minutes, that allows us the chance to smile and relax and appreciate the good in our lives, that happy place is what keeps us sane.

So here’s to sanity and to allowing ourselves time to hide out in our very own happy place without guilt. Tell me, what’s your favorite escape, your happy place that takes you away from all the cares of the day? Books and gardening have always been mine, but I’d love to know about yours. In the meantime, I'll be reading!

Susan Welcomes back Guest Blogger Christie Ridgway

I'm a huge fan of Christie's books. So much so that when I saw her new book on the shelf at my local Fred Meyers the other night, I snatched it up, danced my way up to the cash register, then snickered all the way home with my prize. I would have rubbed my hands together in glee if I hadn't needed them on the wheel.

I walked into my house (still chortling) ripped open my bag...and saw that I'd bought Unravel Me--the second in her Malibu & Ewe trilogy. "Noooooo," I moaned, but unfortunately, yes, indeed, the whole time I was busy giving the two remaining copies a better placement on the shelves and carrying my treasure to the front of the store, I'd seen what I'd expected to see rather than what was right in front of my eyes. So it's back to the store for me--and my schedule prohibits that trip until Thursday.

So, yeah. I'm cranky. BUT! I am happy to tell those of you who don't have my unfortunate attention deficit that Gabe and Cassandra's story, Dirty, Sexy Knitting (love that title!) is finally here. So lets blow through the intros and just say....Welcome, welcome, Christie, and take it away!
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To Epilogue or Not to Epilogue?

Writers are told nearly as long a list of rules during their career as a teenager heading out on a first date. No one repeats these rules to stifle creativity, I think it’s just a normal part of the human condition to want to pass along tips/techniques/conventional wisdom in the hopes that someone’s writing process will go more smoothly or their book will be better.

Sometime during my writing life that encompasses over thirty romances for Silhouette, Harlequin, Avon, and Berkley Books, a person (or two) told me not to write epilogues. Though I have not always heeded that advice—and don’t make me go back to look how many times—I am increasingly wary of including them. I keep hearing that voice in my head telling me that if the story is over, it’s over, and no wedding scenes or bedroom scenes or birthing scenes should be necessary to cement the happy-ever-after. Not if I’ve done my job well, anyway.

So, I turned the third book of my Malibu & Ewe trilogy in without an epilogue. Didn’t even consider writing one at the time. Then the edited book came back to me and as I read through the last written page, I just knew. I knew I had to show the characters a number of years down the road because I wanted to see what happened to them. I didn’t do it for “the readers,” I did it for myself. (Here’s my advice to aspiring authors: Write the book you want to read.)

For those of you unfamiliar with my latest romances, they’re centered around a beachside knitting shop where “strangers become friends and friends become family over good yarn and better gossip.” In the series, three strangers and sort-of sisters come together and knit (hah!) a family. HOW TO KNIT A WILD BIKINI, UNRAVEL ME, and the latest, DIRTY SEXY KNITTING (out last week!), are sexy contemporaries that require no expertise with needles or yarn to enjoy.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself with these books, and as I came to the end of them, I couldn’t bear to walk away without telling myself a little about the future of Nikki and Jay, Juliet and Noah, Cassandra and Gabe. I’m so glad I did, because my email makes clear the epilogue struck a chord with readers as well.

What about you? Do you feel strongly for or against epilogues? Do you sometimes want to know just a little more about the characters’ future, even though the promise of happy-ever-after is right there on the page? Please share!

For more information about my books or to read excerpts, be sure to visit www.christieridgway.com.

JAYNE PONDERS THE DECLINE OF BLOGS. OR NOT

So I'm reading the Sunday papers (The New York Times, Sunday Styles section just to be clear about the source. Hey, I'm a former librarian, I always credit the source) and there's this piece titled "Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest" by Douglas Quenqua. The article points out that a lot of blogs have gone fallow, so to speak. They have either stalled out altogether or are only updated occasionally. Other blogs have moved to the social networking sites.

But here at RWQ we are going into our fourth year and we are still going strong. In fact, our traffic has actually grown over time, not declined. Clearly we are bucking the trend. According to the stats we pull around 1500 - 2000 pageviews per day. That translates into 10,000 to 16,000 hits. No, we're not one of those hot political blogs but we're hot, nonetheless.

The question that arises is, how the heck have we survived? I have some theories.

First, there are (thank goodness!) six of us here to carry the load. That means that we each blog only once every other week. None of us is under the extreme stress of trying to blog every day or even once a week. That, in turn, gives our visitors a wide variety of voices and topics. You never know what you're going to see when you tune into RWQ.

Second, RWQ is a book-and-author oriented blog. That means that we tend to attract visitors who are -duh! — interested in books and writing. Cool crowd. What's more, it is by definition a literate crowd that is intrigued by all things associated with books and writing. Once again, a very cool group of folks.

Third, RWQ has, from the very beginning, always been a friendly, civil, cheerful community of bloggers and visitors. Yes, we do a little whining from time to time but we always serve cheese with that whine.

Fourth: RWQ has survived. This is no small thing in the modern world where fads and trends tend to come and go at lightning speed. And we have survived because of you, our hardy band of regular visitors. You have made this blog a genuine online community and we thank you for that. Couldn't have done it without you.

Now, let's hear from you. Why do you come back to RWQ and what have you noticed about the rise and fall of other blogs? What's your take on the blog scene?

Sincerely,

Jayne

Wolf Tales VIII and a case of nerves...

Elizabeth’s on the road for a few days and unable to post, so I hope no one minds that I’m taking over her slot. I thought it might be a good chance to introduce my newest Wolf Tales, the fifteenth book in the series (counting anthologies) due to release at the end of the month. WOLF TALES VIII is actually two stories in one—it follows the six young Chanku introduced in SEXY BEAST VI: CHANKU HONOR. Three of them head to Montana where they will be mentored by Anton Cheval, while the other three go to Colorado to the High Mountain wolf sanctuary where Ulrich Mason and Millie West will introduce them to the ways of the pack. It sounds like a great plan, but things never seem to happen the way anyone expects.

In Montana, someone is spying on the pack, and when the trespasser is badly injured during capture, secrets are uncovered and loyalties tested—and the pack turns against über-alpha, Anton Cheval. In Colorado, two of the young Chanku are called out to assist Ulrich Mason on a search and rescue, while Millie remains at the sanctuary with Matt, a young man who is more beta than alpha. Since my books are most definitely erotic romance, this was the perfect opportunity to write my “older woman, younger man” story—and yes, I had a LOT of fun with it.

And while it’s the second story in the book, I want to share the scene where Matt arrives at Millie’s, thinking he’s been sent to protect her, and Millie is perfectly aware her mate has set them both up for a sexual liaison.
===

Millie sensed Matt at the front door within minutes after the sound of the helicopter faded over the mountains. She paused a moment, thought ruefully of strangling her mate, and then finally opened the door.

Matt stood there like a lost boy, all six foot three of him, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere else rather than her front porch. His brown hair was shaggy and hung in his eyes. His big hands sort of dangled at his sides, as if he didn’t quite know what to do with them. Millie knew he was at least twenty-five, but he could have passed easily for sixteen.

An absolutely breathtakingly beautiful sixteen.

He was young and gorgeous, and so obviously uncomfortable he broke her heart. “Hi, Matt. Come on in.” She held the door open. He stepped into her small cabin, his eyes still staring at his feet, at the floor, anywhere but at Millie.

“I guess Ulrich sort of forced you into the job as my bodyguard slash babysitter for the next couple days. I hope you don’t mind. Can I get you something to drink?”

He shook his head, glanced up at her, looked back at the floor. “I don’t mind. Really. Is there anything in particular you want me to do?” This time he raised his chin and glanced at her. Then he looked down again.

“I really want you to relax.” She laughed. “You’re making me nervous!”

“I’m sorry. It’s just...I just...” He shrugged and looked at her with a slight smile. “I’m not used to going anywhere without the others. I’ve always been kind of shy, and...”

“I know.” Millie grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the couch. She sat down beside him. He scooted away, far enough that their legs wouldn’t touch. “Me, too,” she said. “Ric is always with me and I feel sort of lost when he’s away.”

His chin snapped up. “You do? Really?”

She nodded. “I do. I’ve lived here my whole life, right on this mountain. I’ve hardly been anywhere and I haven’t met all that many people. I’ve only been to San Francisco once, when I went with Ric. That’s where you’re from, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. That’s where I lived my whole life. I’d never been in an airplane or even seen mountains like these until we came here last week.”

“Your life’s changed a lot in a very short time, hasn’t it? What did you do before you became Chanku?”

“Nothing, really.”

He stared back at the floor. She tried to see what he was thinking, but found only a dark swirl of misery without form or substance.

She touched his knee and he flinched. “Matt? What’s wrong? Do I make you nervous?”

He nodded. “Kind of.”

“Why? I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“I know,” he mumbled.

Millie had to strain to hear him. This was not going to be easy. The role of seductress wasn’t one she’d ever pictured herself playing. “I need to go check on the pens in the upper meadows. Would you mind going with me?”

He raised his head, obviously relieved to have something concrete to do. “Sure. Do you want to take the Jeep?”

“I’d rather shift and run. The wolves recognize me in that form, and I can get a better feel for their general health and well-being. Just stay close to me. They’re a little intimidated by a strange male.”

This time he actually laughed. “I doubt they’re afraid of me, Millie. I’m not very scary.”

“If you say so.” She stood up and slipped her sweatshirt over her head.

===
When I was writing this scene, I felt so badly for Matt and his case of nerves that I actually made myself nervous, but he and Millie eventually figure things out in a most satisfactory manner. Even so, I must be terribly empathetic because I can be absolutely fine and then get around someone else, and whatever their mood, I seem to catch it! (Which is why I love to be around happy people!) Does that ever happen to you?