Hang up the cape!

Hello Tuesday’s Scribe readers! PJ here, talking about some serious stuff today. Do any of you remember running around as a kid with a bath towel draped over your shoulders and tied around your neck, pretending to be a superhero in a cape? I would even straddle a broom and gallop all over the house and yard acting as if my trusty steed and I could save the world by my sheer desire to have such power. I became Wonder Woman and threw my “javelin” at make-believe bad guys and played Army and GI Joe with my brother and his friends because it seemed so cool to be part of some elite fighting squad that could take on any foe and always “win”.

When I became a teenager and gave up my magical thinking, I was forced to face the harsh realities of life. With my mother’s cancer and ultimately her death when I was sixteen, it became clear that any illusion I had of control or of being a savior of any kind was just that…an illusion. Yet I still clung to my “cape”—that dream of being someone special—someone others could depend on, look up to, and admire. Essentially, I kept trying to be what others needed or wanted me to be. I hoped that by taking control of all the little things in life, like schedules and micromanaging a family, that the big things—like life and death—would somehow bend to my will. Of course that didn’t happen. But instead of hanging up the cape and accepting my imperfection and my mortality, I worked more, tried harder, and sacrificed my own feelings for the benefit of everyone else’s. Over time, that cape became more and more attached to my identity and others expected the same level of perfection that I expected of myself.

As a mother, a wife, a healer, a teacher, and as an athlete, perfectionism was my creed. I was Superwoman! Of course I didn’t know it at the time, and I certainly didn’t consciously believe that I could or should strive for perfection, but my need for control in a life filled with chaos and fear, was as natural as breathing for me. By the time I reached my thirties, the cape had been pretty much tattooed into my skin. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t strive for excellence in all that we do. We are definitely happiest when we are feeling successful in our lives (whatever that means for you). What I am saying is that perfection is unattainable and that learning to accept and love ourselves for who we are is an essential ingredient in finding what we all crave far more than control—peace of mind.

So when you start to come down on yourself about not “measuring up” or feel as if you can’t get out of your own way to save your life because life is—let’s face it—kicking your ass, just remember, you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Learn whatever lessons you can learn in your current circumstance and do yourself a favor; hang up the cape. Maybe you ask for help, maybe you take a day off, maybe you even crawl under the covers and avoid dealing with an out of control inbox, a persnickety computer, and looming deadlines. Or maybe you do what every Superhero should do—take off the cape and let the world see how amazing and awesome you really are all by yourself.

Today’s Unlocked Secret: Be true to yourself, strive to be the best you can be, and know that you are amazing just the way you are.

Any Superheroes out there looking to shed their capes? Have you been trying to “do it all and feeling like you’re coming up short?”

Progress…not perfection

I hope you all had some much needed R&R this weekend. Needless to say, time flew and I barely saw the light of day beyond my computer. Fortunately, I’ve got some time off coming up to spend with my son who will be visiting next week from California. We’ll be attending the wedding of one of his cousins–who I can still remember being a bit of a terror. My sisters and I had a gaggle of boys all about the same age and trust me; they were all terrors in their own rite. What I’d like to know, is how did all our boys grow up so fast, and how have they survived to become adults? And not just adults, but men who have the courage to walk down an aisle ready to say “I do”. I guess it happened one step at a time…like everything else with forward momentum.

Phil, AJ, and Jay

The groom is on the left, his big brother is on the right, and my younger son is in the middle. California boy is missing from this shot, but I’ll have new pics with everyone looking clean shaven and dapper, I suspect.

Simpler days and wonderful memories aside, time waits for no man…or woman. In the mad rush toward my next book launch in…um…less than four weeks, I came to all of you in need of some help and advice last week. I’d like to thank you all for your enthusiastic responses! Your support and suggestions helped more than you know.

PJ Sharon here, and if you click on the link to my name, you’ll find a new website–sort of. Don’t go yet, though…let’s savor the big reveal for the end of this post, shall we? The new website is almost-but-not-quite-done. I’ll be working out a few kinks–like how to create a drop down menu so my books can be listed under one heading, how to find my HOME page in my menus since it isn’t there anywhere, and how to change the blogging link from my ABOUT page to my BLOG page. I’m still not sure I chose the theme I really want, and may make some changes there as well. I did choose the WordPress.com basic Responsive template so it would show up on all devices–a problem I was having with my other site that was “flash based” (who knew?)

In spite of entertaining his mom this weekend, my rocket scientist husband was kind enough to help me set up the web-hosting and get the site up and running. I used Go Daddy since that’s where I got my domain name. Hosting was reasonable at less than $40 a year. The site has some limitations–such as not being able to change the font without using Java Script, I believe…or it just might be me. There is a learning curve. Thankfully, I had step-by-step instructions from a YouTube video guru by the name of Tyler Moore. What a God-send! In a couple of hours, he talked me through designing and creating a decent website, including a new logo. I’ve still got some work to do, but it’s coming together and I am past the procrastination and freaking out stage–classic symptoms of fear of failure. It comes with the territory of being a perfectionist. As hard as I’ve worked to eradicate those tendencies, they still sneak up on me and tend to hold me back from achieving the next step toward meeting my goals.

The second issue I asked your help with in my last week’s post was coming up with a new tagline. I think I found one that works for me! Here’s what I came up with:

As for titles for Book Three in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy, I’m still pondering. With all of the wonderful suggestions I received last week, I’m narrowing it down to several possibilities and will get back to you once I’ve made a decision. For now at least, I feel like I’m moving in the right direction. The really good news is that I’m not the one walking down that aisle next week. I love weddings, but…talk about stress. Eeek! What big stuff do you have in the works?

I’d love for you to share your progress toward one of your big goals with us. How is it coming on those manuscripts? Anyone submitting? Have a book coming out? Building a website, FB page, Goodreads, Author Central pages? There never seems to be a shortage of things to do.

TODAY’S UNLOCKED SECRET: If we expect perfection, we’ll never finish. And like me with the website, you may never have the courage to start. As with the rest of life, if we take it one step forward at a time–eventually we’ll get to the prize.

Mother May I…

My mother, grandmother and my niece.

I originally posted this back in December of 2011. But I think it’s much more fitting now. Happy Mother’s Day, Ma!

My mother wants me to have a baby. Am I married? No. But that seems to be a minor detail at this point. I think she would be totally fine if I stole a baby from the hospital as long as she had something cute to spoil. We fight about this at least once a month.

“I want to have grandchildren. From you,” she says as she pokes me in the belly. ”When are you going to start thinking about it?”

“I don’t want children right now. I’m only twenty-six. I haven’t even been to Europe yet!”

“You’ve got it wrong. It’s only eighteen. It’s not only twenty-six. You’re getting old.”

Then my brother chimes in. “You know she’s never going to have a baby, mom. She’s too mean.”

Another one says, “I’ll give you lots of grandkids, ma. When do you want me to start?”

We all look at him in horror, knowing that he should not procreate anytime soon.

“But seriously, Jamie. What about that guy you were dating? He had a good job and you two would make such cute fat babies.”

“But, he was an arrogant jerk and he was weirdly close to his mother.”

She shrugs and says, “That’s small potatoes. We need to think of the big picture here.”

My mother is clearly insane.

She cusses like a truck driver, is thinner than me and always takes every opportunity to embarrass me by dancing in public but I love her. And one day I plan to capture of her crazy awesomeness in writing.

I like writing about mothers and will often model my fictional ones after real people in my life. (Thank goodness I don’t know too many normal people.) I feel like moms are some of the hardest characters to develop because just like in real life their personality shapes the way their children behave and the choices they make.

So here are a few of my favorite fictional mothers.

1. Claire Huxtable… She was a lawyer. She had five children, dealt with her wacky husband and kept that brownstone in Brooklyn spotless. She was like wonder woman or wonder mother.

2. Roseanne… Her house was a little more realistic. She was loud and brash and working class. But mostly importantly she was funny and I have to respect that.

3.  Joan Crawford… Okay, so she was a real person. But that movie Mommie Dearest made her seem other worldly and till this day I screech, “No wire hangers,” whenever I see one.

4. Amy Duncan… This dancing, singing, scene stealing Disney Channel mother cracks me up. She reminds me of my own mother. Amy never takes a backseat to her husband and I love that.

5. Colleen Donaghy (30 Rock) … She demanding, slightly evil, mean and I love her.

As for books I really like Posey’s mother, in Kristan Higgins Until There Was You. Who wouldn’t like a fluffy German mother who tried to fatten you up with comforting food. Sophie from Sophie’s Choice ( it was a book before it was a movie). Could you imagine making that choice?  And Cealie from The Color Purple. She put up with a lot of crap but still came out on top in the end.

Your turn! Like your mother? Hate her?  What’s she like? Got a favorite fictional mother? Tell us about her. Any and all comments are welcome.

 

The Greatest Love Story (And Why I Write Romance) by Katy Lee

Happy Easter! Katy Lee here, hoping you are all having a blessed Resurrection Sunday with your loved ones…and speaking of love, let me just say it is my favorite topic to talk about. So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that I write romance. I write it, I read it, and I love to hear about it. Hearing how a couple met always intrigues me. I love weddings and seeing two people make a lifetime vow of devotion to each other, and I love witnessing the victorious connection of an old married couple as they walk hand-in-hand. I say victorious because I’m not so naïve that I don’t know they fought battles to get to where they are. Battles that tried to tear them apart. Battles their love overcame.

Just imagining those conflicts is making my fingers itch to write about them now. To turn them into words on a page, characters that the world can see, and maybe even fall a little in love with as well.

Many people say romances have no value in the world of literature, but I say they’re wrong. I think seeing examples of what love looks like shows us how to demonstrate it. I think witnessing a person, real or not, offer a selfless act of kindness empowers us to do the same. I think watching two people overcome odds that should tear them apart inspires those facing their own battles to persevere. I think romances remind us that love exists and it starts with us.

Or does it?

1 John 4:19 says we love because God loved us first. He loved us before we were even created. He loves us regardless of anything we have done, and will still love us regardless of anything we do. His love is unconditional and was offered long before we knew how to love.

But like a good romance, there was a conflict. Our sinful natures kept us from being with Him. We couldn’t be together as He had wanted. But, also like the perfect hero, that didn’t stop Him, and He set out to fight the battle for our hearts, even if that meant His death.

In John 15:13, Jesus tells us that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. He told us what love looks like. And then he proceeded to do just that. He fought the battle for us and on the third day, He reigned victorious.

But unlike a novel, our story doesn’t end there. We get a happily-ever-after that will last for an eternity because of His victory. Jesus is truly the hero of my heart and my inspiration in writing the perfect romance.

The Unlocked Secret: I think we read, and in my case write, romances because we were created with a desire to be loved, and we want to see love demonstrated over and over again in all different ways. But Jesus said something else. He said to love one another as I have loved you. In a good romance, we see two people who don’t just receive love. They also learn to give it just as He says. So, I say, go ahead, read those romances, and be reminded of what love looks like. And then, go forth and express it to the loved ones, and not-so-loved ones, around you.

And remember who it all started with.

Happy Easter!

(This has been a re-post from last year, but it means just as much to me as it did then!)

Themes and Memes

Thea Devine today, watching as the snow stops, the sun comes out, and ready to jump-start some new ideas. I created this list for a workshop I gave at several Chapters (including CTRWA), and I’ve had a few new thoughts since I distributed the handouts.

Maybe you’re looking for a theme, an idea, a spine, some motivating mojo. Maybe you need a break from the WIP and want to write something just for the change (like, in my case, Not Sex). Maybe you want to play around with some bigger ideas and plot points. Maybe this list will help.

Family, faith, community: I think these themes the most important today
Anything goes vs old time values
Hedonism vs. religious stricture
Good vs evil
Something profound – like failure – shapes and changes a protagonist’s life
Loss of friends, community, job: after adversity, struggling to make a new life
Impact of separation, divorce, death
The love that could not be
Rebellion and where that leads the protagonist
Old boyfriend returns and upends everything
Consequences of sexual attack (Steubenville)
Repercussions of cavalier sex
Rags to riches: heroine spirals down and out and climbs back to a better life
An unseen lurking threat
Haunting — by ghosts real or imagined, conscience compels actions
Objects of desire: the key to a crisis in the present is in the mystery code located somewhere exotic that will save the country, the world, the planet (I love this theme)
The government is out to get us
The government is out to save us
Child in jeopardy
Impact of random violence (wrong place wrong time)
Controlled threat (stalker, serial killer)
Apocalyptic event changes life as we know it
Hero/ine against all powerful cabals that seek to dominate everything

And then …
Peripheral characters tell hitherto unknown story of a historical figure of real person –
The Other Boleyn Sister, the Tsarina’s Daughter, The Paris Wife
Ongoing characters reader falls in love with: Stephanie Plum, eg.
Exotic locations in exotic times: Wilbur Smith and Barbara Michaels, ca 1920’s Egypt; Daisy Dalrymple mysteries (1930s)
Wounded hero (like Jesse Stone) solves small town mysteries
Impact of major historical event (9/11, Columbine, Newtown)
Beloved fictional characters — like Mr & Mrs Darcy solving crimes; Jane Austen parsing out mysteries etc.
Boomer characters — the Covington novels
“clubs” — book, knitting, quilt. Jane Austen etc.
Historical mysteries — Alienist, Dante Club, Anatomy of Deception

Need some motive power? characters could be searching for family, a murderer, a lost sibling, assets, heirs, vengeance, treasure, lost love, an abandoned child, a new life, another chance.

Or they could be running from a murder charge, an ex-spouse, a stalker, toxic relationships, their childhoods, the past, responsibility, secrets (see below).

Or they could vanish. People leave for any number of reasons: they committed an opportunistic crime, were in an accident, were kidnapped, just took off, eloped, escaped an abusive situation, were running from the law, were seeking to start over, committed suicide

Maybe someone’s hiding something: someone’s secretly …

An alcoholic
An Exhibitionist
A pill addict/drug addict
A gambler
A shoplifter
An extortionist
An embezzler
Bulimic
Covets her sister’s husband
Endures physical or emotional abuse in a loveless marriage
Did bad things out of jealousy and never got caught
Got pregnant by seducing a man who resembled her husband who couldn’t have children and passed it off as his
Has an irresistible impulse to kill
Is really a bad girl when family and friends think is so good
Did something bad just to see if she could get away with it
Had a secret baby she gave away
Thought she was adopted; finds she was her mother’s natural illegitimate child

That’s it, guys. What do you think? Any ideas to add to the mix? I’d love to hear them.

Thea Devine is working on her next erotic contemporary romance — and pondering a handful of other ideas.

Regroup and Relax

I had a crummy week last week. Work stuff. Family stuff, combined with two deadlines and the start of a new diet had me wanting to bite somebody’s head off by Friday. But I knew I had to hold it together. Girls like me don’t do well in prison. But fear of prison aside, I held it together because I knew I was FINALLY be able to relax this weekend.

I grabbed my two besties, piled them into the Sugar Mobile and headed to Saratoga Springs, New York. Why Saratoga Springs you ask? Have I suddenly developed a love of horse races and gambling? No, but Saratoga is a cool place to go if you’re into that kind of stuff.  We went for the mineral baths. Back in the day when people preferred natural remedies over pill popping, they flocked to these brown water fizzy hot baths to cure everything from constipation to skin diseases. So I figured what better way to relax than to float in some brown mineral water.

Cool, right? The entrance to the baths and spas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the Roosevelt Bath and Spa which in all honesty is a little creepy when you pull up. It’s in the middle of a state park and the old brick buildings on the grounds resemble a deserted college campus. You can feel the history there and maybe a ghost or two if you believe in that stuff.

I think my friends and I were nervous walking through the door( it was kind of creepy), but when we got inside we were greeted warmly by the staff and  shown to the locker rooms where we promptly got naked and into the the comfiest white robes on the planet.

After the bath and massage. See how happy I am!

We were then shown to the relaxation room, which is filled lounge chairs and water features and soothing music and other naked people who were also waiting for their appointments.When we were called I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Even with all the modernization, the building still has that sanitarium feel, with the original tiles and tubs from the days of Roosevelt, but once you get past that, once you get past the the idea that you are about to spend the next half hour submerged in brown fizzy water you realize how cool the place is.

The bath itself is unusual. I should stress that while the water is brown it is not dirty. It comes in clear and once the air hits it, the minerals oxidize and turn the  water brown, but the water is clear. It’s not like any bath you would take at home. You float. The water kind of bubbles around you as the minerals soften your skin. The attendant told us that there was natural lithium in the water that elevates your mood. I was like ‘yeah right’ when I heard that but it was true. I did feel a little happier, a little more energized. And for the first time in a long time I thought about happy things. I didn’t think about work or (gasp) writing. For the first time in a long time I was totally disconnected from the world. No phone. No internet. No computer. Not even a clock to stress me out about time. I was forced to relax. We followed the baths with hour long massages,where the therapist told me I had tension in my jaw and tightness in my mid back. Who would’ve thunk it? She was amazing too.

Walkway to the hotel.

We stayed at the Gideon Putnam Hotel and resort which is on the same grounds as the spa.It’s a beautiful historic hotel with a very attentive, friendly staff. Normally we couldn’t afford such an extravagant weekend but we booked the Gideon’s Girls Escape package which made everything right in our price range. They have a bunch of packages, even a romance one if you want to take your honey and do some smooching. I normally don’t recommend places but I encourage you to head there if you ever get a chance. It’s an experience you won’t have any place else.

What about you guys? What other cool places should I head to?

Happy Pi Day!

Hi, peeps. Suze here, continuing last week’s discussion on letting your geek flag fly, and wishing you a very happy Pi day.

Pie? Did someone say pie? Sorry, this is not a bait and switch tactic. March 14, or 3-14, is a happy little holiday celebrating that mathematical wunderkind, Pi. Pi is defined as:

• A mathematical constant: a number approximately equal to 3.14159 that is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and is represented by the symbol π

Now don’t run away, screaming. I don’t find advanced math very interesting either, beyond (1) being able to balance the checkbook to see how much money I can spend on books; and (2) doubling cookie recipes.

But one thing I do find interesting is the notion of a constant. A thing whose value never changes. A thing you can always count on. Among my constants are my love for my family and friends and my love of the written and spoken word. Will those things change and grow over time? Sure. But the underlying value to me will always be there.

Pucker up, sweetie!

And now, because I feel bad about leading you on about the possibility of dessert, let’s chat over coffee and this virtual lemon meringue pie. What are your constants? What kind of pie do you like best?

All You Need to Know About Valentine’s Day — With a Giveaway!

Happy Valentine’s Day, my lovelies! I hope this day, no matter how you celebrate or who you celebrate with, is wonderful. Read through to the end, because there will be a special gift for one lucky commenter.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret (we just love those things around here!). Everything you need to know about Valentine’s Day — or love in general — can be learned from a box of Sweethearts (f/k/a Tiny Conversation Hearts). As far as candy goes, these are pretty bland, even a bit chalky. And they have a sad and conspicuous lack of chocolate.

But they come in pretty pastel colors, and each has a pithy little motto: Be Mine. Hot Stuff. True Love. Hug Me. Kiss Me. Even Boogie. Now that you mention it, I do feel like dancing.Thanks! The Necco candy people clearly understand romance and the art of keeping it simple. What more do we really need?

Leave me a comment about Valentine’s Day, love, conversation hearts, keeping it simple, the new Bridget Jones book coming out in the fall, Joe Manganiello, or anything else that strikes your fancy, and you’ll be entered in a random drawing for a fabulous prize package: a hardcover copy of Pride and Prejudice, a lovely Celtic Heart bookmark, a box of Sweethearts, and a dark chocolate raspberry Godiva chocolate bar. Contest ends at midnight Sunday, February 17th, and I’ll announce the winner next Thursday. Good luck, and Game On!

My Doxie, A Poem and Me

It’s snowing off and on as I write this, and I’m thinking of my two favorite other snow days when my husband didn’t have to go to work, and we had the days to ourselves. One of those days, while the snow piled high outside, inside, we listened to music and read and talked, warmed by the fire. The second time, we braved the elements to have lunch by firelight at a local rustic inn.

Those are romantic moments to me. I’ve often said we romance authors are all married to engineers even if they aren’t engineers. My husband is an educator, teacher of English and former high school administrator. But really, he’s an engineer. He’s linear, he’s a one-thing-at-a-time guy, he doesn’t sugar coat anything. He solves problems. Don’t all heroes?

Another favorite memory happened on a summer day when he wanted me to listen to an album of poetry — Billy Collins — so we drove to Litchfield listening to the CD, had lunch, and continued listening on the way home. After which I immediately wanted to start writing poetry because listening to Billy Collins just inspires you that way.
One of the poems, “The Revenant,” really resonated with me. It was from the viewpoint of a dog in the afterlife, finally confessing his true feelings about his long-time owners, words to the effect of — I never liked you. I hated the food you made me eat. I despised this. I never liked that.
You get the idea. A litany of dislikes and resentments. It made me look at my mini-doxie in a whole new light. Did she hate me? Despise the “naming of the parts” game I played with her? Hate all the silly nicknames I gave her? Did she resent my re-naming her “Munch”?

She was my mother-in-law’s dog, as I may have mentioned previously, a gift after the sudden death of mom’s then canine companion, Casey. The problem was, mom was ninety at the time, had macular degeneration, and was pretty unsteady on her legs.
So my Munchkin started out in pretty shaky circumstances: taken from her mother at 6 weeks, flown up to NY, put in the hands of strangers who then gave her to an elderly nearly blind lady who couldn’t properly care for her.

Something had to give; a year or so later, something did: mom fell, went to the hospital, and we took Midgie. At the time we had our beloved galumphing lab mix, Maggie who was about four times Midgie’s size. We honestly didn’t know what to expect. Mom always thought Midgie would be eaten alive by Maggie. But that didn’t happen.
They got along just fine. Midgie — or Munch — would chase Maggie around the kitchen-dining-living room and then hide under her legs so Maggie couldn’t find her. Or she’d climb up on the couch pillows dive bomb onto Maggie’s back. When they slept, Munch’s body language imitated Maggie’s. I really think Maggie taught Munch how to behave.

She was, as was Maggie, the Best Dog Ever. We were privileged to love her for ten years, and our beloved Maggie for twelve. We lost Maggie to cancer two years before Munch passed away a dozen days into 2011.
Munch’s was the hardest passing to bear, maybe because we’re that much older. And so, the first time in 45 years, we don’t have a dog in the house.
In truth, I’m a little scared. What will he think? What if he hates us? How will we know? And, after all, we still have memories and pictures – and a cat.
I really don’t want to wonder if Munch was happy — I think she was — I loved her to pieces, walked her, fed her, spoiled her rotten, made up songs about her, played with her — but a year after that lovely lunch in Litchfield, that Billy Collins poem continues to haunt me. I never liked you …
And still I wonder …
Did she hate me?

Do you have a pet? Would you? Wonder, I mean …]
How powerful words are.
How about you? Any pet stories to tell? Any poems that resonated on that level? Meantime, I’d seriously advise you to occasionally look deep into your pet’s eyes and try to divine what she or he is really thinking.

(You can read The Revenant on-line.)

Thea Devine’s books defined erotic historical romance. She’s the USAToday best-selling author of 25 historical and contemporary romances and a dozen novellas. She’s currently working on an erotic contemporary romance. She misses her Munchkin terribly.

Trust Your Story

Tuesday’s Scribe, PJ Sharon here. Have you ever been writing along, minding your plot and meeting your daily word count, only to have your character take you “off track”? Do you catch yourself swearing at your characters and asking them, “Where the *&%*@# are you taking me?” Well, let me tell you…I’ve learned to let them have their way—at least on the first draft. Let me explain why.

After several manuscripts and three or four published novels, I’m finally beginning to trust my internal process. It seems that my unconscious mind knows a lot more about my characters than my conscious mind does and if I let the story evolve organically—rather than trying to control every word that lands on the page—some miraculous things happen. Characters take me to the most interesting places, and if I go along for the ride, there is usually some grand reason they needed to go there. A piece of the puzzle is found, a character flaw is brought to light, or an opportunity for character growth presents itself.

When I wrote ON THIN ICE a few years ago, Penny’s story unfolded and jumped onto the page with such abandon, it seemed as if it was writing itself. I hadn’t planned on all the twists and turns that her story would take, but as it developed and each thread wove itself into her character arc, I had no choice but to follow and see how everything came together in the end. Amazingly, her journey turned out to be profoundly complex and beautiful. Of course, my problem was then trying to sell a story that had multiple subplots and more drama than a season of Dallas.

I had several published authors, a few agents, and even a couple of editors tell me the same thing…get rid of at least two—preferably three—of the subplots. I was told “One teenager could not possibly deal with all of these issues and one or two is enough for any one book if you want to explore them in depth.” So I tried to unravel my plot to remove some of the “unnecessary” subplots. The problem was that I couldn’t. I struggled for several months trying to make the story “marketable” by choosing one story line and then bleeding all over the page for 250 pages. I couldn’t make it work. Deconstructing the story seemed like an impossible task without it losing that special something that made it unique and authentic. Worse, was that it felt like I wasn’t being true to my character. Penny needed to go through all the trials and tribulations she endured in order to become the person she was at the end of the story. It was her journey—not mine—and I didn’t feel right about robbing her of any of the experiences that made her who she was.

Ultimately, I shelved the story and began writing Heaven Is For Heroes, which turned out to be a much more “marketable” story, but by that time, I had decided that the kind of stories I wanted to write were likely not going to fit into a specific mold and that I wasn’t willing to have a traditional publisher “brand” me (ouch!) and put me in a “box” (NO…Not the box!). Enter—Indie publishing.

One of the many things that drew me to Indie pubbing was the freedom to be true to the creative process and write what is in my heart. I’m convinced that there are readers for every well-written book—even if/especially if—it fits outside the box. Why should readers be fed only stories that publishers have deemed saleable? As it turns out, many Indie authors are finding great success because they are taking risks and writing something different. The upsurge in the “New Adult” market proves that readers of all ages want something new–stories that bridge the gap between YA and adult romance–stories about what happens when young adults are faced with real life issues that push them into adulthood.

Although I’ve learned to rein in my characters a bit before they take me too far off course or lead me into some corner I can’t get out of, I’ve also learned to trust my story to take me where my characters need to go to become who they are meant to be—even if it takes me places I never dreamt I’d go. I’ve gotten better at plotting and planning rather than flying by the seat of my pants, but the real joy in writing for me is when my characters take over and lead me on an adventure greater than my mind could have imagined.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart if you’ve already read the book. I greatly appreciate all honest reviews. If you haven’t yet left a review and would like to do so, you can click on the Amazon link below and write a brief line or two about what you liked/or didn’t like about the book. This helps other readers find books that might appeal to them and helps us authors reach new readers. 

So what did you think? Was it too much drama for one book, or did it somehow all work together to make a worthwhile and unique story?

If you haven’t read ON THIN ICE, you have one final opportunity to download it for FREE from Amazon this weekend. I won’t be renewing my KDP Select contract, so this is the last time it will be offered as a FREE download for the foreseeable future. It will be available Saturday through Monday, January 26-28^th in honor of National Skating month and the US Figure Skating Championships taking place this week.

Bookmark this page and stop back this weekend to download your FREE Kindle copy from Amazon

Although Penny’s dream of Olympic Gold is derailed by life’s cruel twists of fate, she learns what all fierce competitors learn…follow your heart, and never give up.