January has been a great month for me. Touched by Darkness, the first book in my Sentinel series, came out, and had a decent showing on Barnes & Noble and Bookscan. Since I had changed publishers and gone from SF romance to “urban fantasy” paranormal romance, it’s been three years since I had a book out, so seeing TBD on the shelves has been great. Then on Monday, I *finished* the second book in the series, Touched by Fire, AKA “the book from hell”, and got it out the door (one whole day ahead of the deadline!). Woohoo!!! Cyber wine and chocolate to everyone! I honestly wondered if the darned thing would ever get done. Some books are like that (see my whiney post earlier this month). But it’s done, and life is good.

It did get me to wondering though, about the power of forcing ourselves to reach further than we think we possibly can, and about “firsts”. This took me back, way, way back . . . to the 1950’s, which unfortunately, I can vaguely remember. The year was 1954, and the man was Roger Bannister, who was determined to prove “them” wrong. Them, or they, were the medical experts who claimed that no one could run a mile in under four minutes—that the heart and lungs simply couldn’t withstand the strain. Everyone went along with that conventional wisdom and didn’t even try. Until Roger came along, and said, “Poppycock!” (he was British). And by golly, in May 1954, he ran a mile in under four minutes. Not only did his heart and lungs remain intact, but as soon as people knew it could be done, then hundreds of other people began doing it, too. Imagine that!

Maybe our dreams aren’t that grand, and maybe some of them are small enough to simply be considered goals, but I believe we’re all capable of greatness. (Music swelling here, the song ‘The Impossible Dream’ from Man of La Mancha—another trip way, way back.) When I started writing futuristic romances in the early 1990’s, I was told by authors, agents, and publishers, “Don’t write that—it will never sell.” That was the same thing being said about paranormal romances of any kind. And many of the first attempts didn’t fare too well. But we persisted (some authors out of sheer vision and genius, me out of my usual stubbornness). And just look at us now! Look at how the romance genre has exploded and grown, and at the amazing, innovative, creative and different types of stories it now encompasses. “You’ve come a long way, baby!” (yes, back in time again).

So today I want to salute those authors who’ve boldly gone where James T. Kirk has never gone before and who were/are pioneers in the romance field. I want to mention two of the “firsts” in books for me—books that changed my world and sent me in search of more. The first was “Many Mansions”, by Gina Cerminara, the story of Edgar Cayce, which I discovered in the library when I was eleven. It sent me a mystical journey that continues to this day. The second was “The Flame and the Flower”, Kathleen Woodiwiss’s ground-breaking historical romance that set readers on fire for more. Readers and writers haven’t looked back since.

So, what are some of the first books that inspired you, fired you up, and opened a whole new world for you?

Happy Wednesday!

Catherine

I recently went to an antiques show. I love antiques, "junque" and old stuff in general. (That includes old people).

I went from booth to booth. At this particular show, my primary temptations were a great big metal bread box — but I wasn’t ready to spring $200 for it. Then I found some stacks of wedding photographs from the late 1800s/early 1900s. I love looking at old photographs. Old wedding photos in particular. You can read so much in the faces of the newlyweds. "What have I done?"  "This bozo gave my father five cows in trade for me, and I’m really ticked off." And then there are those couples you can tell are madly in love.  Despite the carefully posed pictures, their eyes, and their smiles reveal everything.

But the items that really get my pulse moving are the books. Old books. County histories. Cookbooks. There must be others who share my addiction, because one of the top search phrases that brings web surfers to my blog is "old books". I blog about buying books. Old books, new books. Whatever! I love them. I have them in my kitchen, on my bedside table, by the tub, in my closet(s) and on shelves. They make me happy. They keep me warm.

I’ve always preferred books to movies because you can customize them. If Tom Cruise doesn’t tickle my fancy, then I can put Viggo Mortenson in the lead role. It’s my decision. I’m the director. Books provide rich details you’d never get on the screen. They provide dimension in so many ways. Books teach empathy. They teach me that even if I don’t agree with someone else’s point of view, that I can still understand.

I have books everywhere. My husband, who does not share my addiction, does not understand. It’s like that movie GREMLINS. Even if the Evil Book Stealers came and hauled all my books away, they’d certainly miss one under the bed, or under a box in the closet. Soon they’d multiply. Soon, we’d be up to our ears in more books.

It’s an addiction. I suspect many of you suffer (suffer? <Insane Laughter>) the same addiction. Tell me about it!

I’m in Phoenix to shoot a book trailer for my next release, NEW MOON, and I can’t get to my passwords from my travel computer. So Annette Blair was kind enough to post this for me.

The whole book trailer experience has been wild. Often when I get the cover of my book, the people look nothing like my hero and heroine. But for the book trailer, Circle of Seven sent me websites of various actors and let me pick the ones I wanted. I selected a husband and wife team, Jimmy and Kalin, and they’re perfect for my characters. My hero is Logan Marshall, one of my guys from the Marshall werewolf clan. And my heroine is Rinna, a woman from an alternate universe. I introduced readers to her in SHADOW OF THE MOON, when she helped the Marshall werewolves and their lifemates defeat a mind vampire from another universe. Now she and Logan have their own story.

Rinna’s hiding out from a powerful man who wants to enslave her mind and body. She meets Logan when he steps into a trap for shapeshifters–a trap that’s meant for her. Logan’s astonished to meet a female shapeshifter, since the only ones he knows are the men from his family.

We shot about sixteen scenes from the book, not in order. And I don’t know how many of them will end up in the finished product. Book trailers have a couple of versions. One will be 30 seconds. That will go to sites around the web and be shown in bookstores. The longer version will be on my site.

It was a fantastic experience watching the scenes in my book come alive with actors who looked so much like my hero and heroine. Of course we couldn’t use all the locations from the book, since they include a cave and an underground river. So those will be done with "green screen" techniques, where the background is added later. Another scene I’m waiting to see is where my heroine uses psychic energy to blow up a convenience store.

There were other restrictions, as well. We couldn’t use a ton of actors, so most of the scenes are between the hero and heroine. But we did use a few other people who volunteered–or were roped into helping out.

The director is also going to use morphing techniques. Because my h/h are both werewolves, he’ll be turning the actors into wolves. Or rather, turning the wolves into people. This should be interesting, since, of course, when you change from wolf to man or woman, you’re naked. We had a closed set for that part of the shoot, so I didn’t get to see how they did it. Naturally, the actors weren’t entirely naked. And the camera angles are designed to hide any of the sensitive bits.

Now I’m waiting for the editing to be done and anxious to see how it all comes out.

Rebecca York

Recently, our local television station, Channel 6 here in New England, contacted me about a “Preparing for Valentine’s Day Special” they’re doing as part of a pre-news evening broadcast.  They wanted to interview a romance writer on camera.  They said, “We want examples of romantic sayings people can use when sending greeting cards to their lovers. Something a bit more creative and sincere than your typical “I love you.””  The good news is they also said, “Bring your books so we can get them on camera.”  Yay.

We shot my part in the segment yesterday, and it was fun.  I figured I’d bring my list of romantic sayings I’d written and Julie would choose a few and read them.  But, yikes.  She made me choose and read.  The only thing that helped me through was the chuckling cameraman.  Either I tickled his funny bone, or I was completely pathetic. 

I tried to personalize the sayings, apply them to a relationship and say things that pertained to what a lover might cherish or appreciate.  In other words, I found that I needed to show a lover’s actions to elicit emotion.  Sound familiar?

I want to thank the members of Rhode Island Romance Writers for their suggestions.  Here are a few I chose, some from a man, from a woman, for the menopause set, for young marrieds, or young lovers. 

—————————————–

You’ve stood beside me at all the best moments in my life.  Be there for the rest.

—————————————-
Even though our life together sometimes reads like “A Series of Unfortunate Events,”
I’d rather bail out the basement with you than sail into the sunset with anybody else.

—————————————
You’re the sweetest voice in my head.  The others just annoy me.

—————————————-
Sometimes you make me crazy.  I need a little crazy in my life.

—————————————
I wake up thinking about you, and I fall asleep thinking about you.  That’s good, right?

—————————————
I love the way you amuse me, even when you’re annoying the heck out of me.

—————————————
You gotta love a woman who generates her own heat.  I do.

—————————————
Grow old along with me . . . even though the best is probably behind us.

—————————————
Let’s grow senile together.

————————————–
You’re still my best friend.

————————————–
Come to bed, honey.  My feet are cold.

     I love genre fiction.  Like most folks, I read Shakespeare and Eliot and Chaucer and Milton, enjoyed some of it, hated much of it.  Milton and I don’t get along and haven’t spoken in years.  But all the while, I was reading Agatha Christie mysteries, Robert Heinlein science fiction, Regency and historical romances, and fantasy novels.  I loved them all, and sometimes thought about the themes, characters and important plot points long after I closed the book.  They made me think. Good fiction should resonate with readers as more than just a good story, and genre fiction is no exception.

     So, scholars may sniff—this time of year they probably have a head cold like the rest of us—but I believe that though genre fiction is to some extent a mirror, reflecting what people are talking about and thinking about, it’s more than that.  I think it’s also an open-ended dialogue between writers and readers about life.  The changes in genre fiction over the years are in part just a response to changes in the social climate—the presence of more sex in romance novels today is an example of that—but I believe that readers shape genre fiction in other ways than as a general mass of social change.  Writers don’t write in a vacuum.  I read message boards and think about what readers are talking about, and inevitably it influences my writing.  I send my stories out, then listen to the feedback and that again influences me.

     Does anyone wish writers would listen MORE to what readers want, or do you think there is a good balance right now?  Do you think books lag behind the market, or do you think they influence the market?

Happy Wednesday everybody!

I used to love Wednesdays because it meant I didn’t have long to wait for the weekend. Now, Wednesdays usually have me spinning because by that time of the week, I’m finally starting to get back into the routine of the work week, but what’s the point? It’s almost over.

Le Sigh.

But that’s not what I wanted to post about. I wanted to post about the Grande Dame of romance, Nora Roberts, for a moment. Starting Jan. 29, Lifetime Movie Channel will be premiering the first of four movies made from her books. They’ll be shown pretty much one right after the other (day after day), and surprisingly, the movies are based on her newer titles, not her long ago back list. I believe (she’s so prolific I could definitely be wrong here) that Angels Fall is her most recent book, and yet it the kick-off movie for this Nora-thon. (You can see the line up and great photos taken on set of her movies here.)

So why am I writing about Nora? Well, she’s a fellow Berkley author, and yeah, she’s a master at the publishing game, but I’m writing about her because I’m wondering how effective the "based on the novel by __________" really is to those who watch movies. Danielle Steele has had countless movies made of her books. As has Stephen King, John Grisham, and countless others. I love to see a "based on the novel by ________" when I watch a movie because if I like it, I have a new author to buy. I like it, too, because if it’s based on a book I’ve already read (i.e. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Eragon) I get to see how closely the movie-makers came to matching the descriptions I pictured in my mind.

But what if the movie sucks? DOes that taint an author’s name? Do movie-watchers even care who wrote it? If a watcher sees "Based on a book by _________" in the movie credits and hates the movie, she’s likely to never buy a book from that author, right? So, that being said, the potential to LOSE readers comes with having your story translated into another artform. Not that it’s hurt Danielle Steele, Stephen King, or John Grisham one bit.

So I’m curious. If a movie is being released that was originally a book YOU’VE ALREADY READ, do you look forward to seeing the movie or not?
If you watch a movie that’s originally been in book form and you hate it, does it turn you off that author? If you love it, would you go shopping for their other books?

JUst curious

Heather

Photo A - Ugly Betty (the character)

A few years back, I was introduced to a guy (we’ll call him Joe Guy) when I wasn’t looking my best - bad hair, loose jeans, oversized sweatshirt, no makeup. Joe Guy and I had a conversation and I remember he was polite but a little cool and never really looked into my face as we talked.

A few months later, we were in the same room again. This time, I was in a very nice dress, stockings, heels, makeup, having a great hair day with my contact lenses in. Joe Guy was there. I remembered him. After all, he was introduced to me, and we’d had a conversation. But Joe Guy acted as though he was meeting me for the first time. "Nice to meet you…" He didn’t have a clue that I was the same girl he’d already met. This time, he was charming, effusive, looked into my face. Why? Because I had on contacts and heels? I had a good hair day? This wasn’t about sex because Joe Guy had a girlfriend. This was about something else…

I never told Joe Guy that he’d met me before. Obviously, in his private Idaho, frump girl wasn’t worth remembering. So I went along. I smiled and nodded, but I was totally digusted. If you don’t understand why I was disgusted, then Ugly Betty is not the TV show for you. But consider this…

Photo B - Actress America Ferrera (who plays Ugly Betty)

The difference between Photo A (Ugly Betty the character) and Photo B (the glamorous actress who plays her) is a fairly typical list of magazine makeover tips: hair done, brows tweezed, braces off, contacts in, updated wardrobe, artfully applied makeup.

Hey, I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to look good. It’s great to look good, feel good, dress up, stay in shape. But…wouldn’t it be nice if the GLARING media spotlight of makeover madness was occasionally shined on things like lousy personalities, empty heads, selfish hearts, malicious souls?

Really, when you think about it, Betty’s an easy case. Afterall, hundreds of hours of therapy and thousands of anti-depressant pills still can’t fix a superficial beauty with an ugly interior life. Seems to me, tweezing eyebrows is a whole lot simpler.

When America Ferrera accepted her Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes this past week, she said that young girls come up to her on a daily basis and thank her for playing the character Ugly Betty. In a world where girls are made to feel they are not valued if they don’t look like Paris Hilton, Ugly Betty makes them feel loveable and worthy. It makes them feel as though they have something to offer. Indeed they do.

Like Betty, most girls all over the world are not supermodel thin. They don’t have perfect teeth and skin, or expensive wardrobes. They wrestle with do-the-best-you-can hair. They simply don’t have the bank accounts to make all the imperfections go away (and let’s face it, a good deal of "beauty" is bought. If you have five hours a day to devote to toning, whitening, straightening, shopping, and moisturizing, who wouldn’t look good?).

But Betty has something more…a brain, a heart, a soul full of empathy and understanding–what the world sorely needs. Judging from the global success of this wonderful show, it seems to me the world agrees - and that’s a step in a great direction, a step that warms my heart. Congrats on your Golden Globes Ugly Betty, you deserve them!

Luv, Cleo Coyle, author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

#1 On What Grounds, #2 Through the Grinder, #3 Latte Trouble, #4 Murder Most Frothy, and coming in July 2007 #5 Decaffeinated Corpse…

This is either a discussion on bad boy heroes or a gratituous attempt on my part to put up an almost shirtless picture of Sawyer. Hmmm…I’ll leave it to you to decide. So, Sawyer or Jack?

My daughter and sometimes writing partner Michelle says she dislikes winter, the cold, bleak, and, in our area, often rainy days.  (Due to my wanderings, she was born in very rainy Scotland–not sure if that contributes to her feelings or not!) 

Right now I’m feeling for all the people suffering through ice storms (we do get those, too, sometimes, in the Midsouth area) and glad we only have rain. 

I like rainy days, actually, esp if I can curl up with a hot cup of tea, a good book, my cat nearby, and stay inside.  Or if I’m writing a good book <G> and I can still stay inside. . . which is my segue to slip back to my wip, due in ten days, yikes!

What’s your favorite–or least favorite– kind of weather?

…where do you get your story ideas? 

That question always makes me smile because I get my ideas from so many things/places.  

Sometimes I’m lucky and a story idea will come to me out of the blue…and other times an idea comes from something as simple as a painting, as is the case for my novel A DANGEROUS GAME.  I fell in love with a gorgeous painting called The Music Room.  Envision an elegant Regency drawing room, candelabras, a violin and glossy black piano.  I instantly envisioned a young woman and a young man who are the bastard offspring of English Lords, and who gain power and fame through their music…only to risk everything for the chance to ruin the families who had abandoned them.

A trip to Scotland and a tour of an abbey and many castles served as inspiration behind my Scottish medieval time-travel BORDER LORD.   

The idea for my Regency time-travel/ghost story NOW & FOREVER came about after I saw a black and white photograph of a haunted English manor house in a research book.   

I love the movie Baby Boom (city girl meets country boy), which I used as the premise for TRAIL BOSS, my contemporary romance set in Wyoming. 

So be it a painting, a movie, a photograph or a place I’ve visited…I find story ideas from just about any/everything. 

What about you?