Writer's Workplace: Christy Barritt

Today the PinkHeart Society has a sneak peek into where Love Inspired Suspense Author Christy Barritt creates her novels

Greetings!

I’m Christy Barritt, and I currently have three Love Inspired Suspense novels released, and four more contracted.

I’d love to give you a “tour” of my writing space. I wanted to straighten up some since I had company coming, but I didn’t have a chance. Instead, you’ll see my place as it really is!

Last year my husband and I went through a major renovation project (that had me pulling my hair out—that’s another post for a different blog, though!). In the process, we added a room and rearranged everything else. So, now I have a nice little office nestled in the corner of the house, a space that used to be our dining room.

My office mate is my beta fish Sushi. He’s quiet company, so I kind of like him.

Above my desk I have two awards that I’ve won for my published work. I like to keep them where I can see them, not to boost my ego, but to remind myself when I get caught in a slump while writing a book—a slump where I’m convinced I’ve got no talent, usually—that I can do it.

A bulletin board on the side of my desk contains pictures of my kids, my goals for 2012 (I love setting goals!), some deadlines, a list of projects, and handmade art by my five-year-old.

On top of the cabinet behind my desk is a glass head I picked up at a flea market in college. That noggin has gone everywhere with me and been used in more practical jokes than I can count. Today, an FBI hat sits atop it. I got that hat when I went through the FBI’s Citizen Academy. I’m not much of a baseball cap girl, but I love seeing it displayed in my office!

Oh, and I also have a “Caution: Crime Scene” rug I keep under my desk. My friend gave me the rug, and it’s fun to look at—especially as I’m diving into writing a suspense novel.

Despite my lovely workstation, I can only work here about 50 percent of the time. Why? You ask. Simple. I have a 22 month old and a kindergartener who, even when their dad is watching them, manage to find me in my office. If I lock the doors, they bang on them. My little guy presses his teary-eyed faced against the glass of the French doors as he looks at me. My dogs get anxious and start trying to scratch their way through the wood. Yeah, really. Talk about not being able to concentrate.

Really—I promise—I spend time with my family. It’s not like I keep myself locked up in my office all the time. But my family just likes being together. Despite that, there does come a time when I *must* work, like it or not.

This means, I escape to my minivan. Yep, really. Sometimes my minivan is parked in the driveway. My neighbors probably think I’m crazy, but really it’s a great place to work. On nice days, I put down the windows and let the breeze waft through. It’s quiet, it’s got a view, and I’ve got a drink holder for my Coca-cola.

I don’t only work in my minivan when I need to escape from my crazy family. I pretty much keep my netbook with me at all times. This works out great when I’m inbetween places. So, if I have to swing by my son’s school to pick him up but have 30 extra minutes, I know exactly how I can spend that time (hint: it’s not going to Starbucks!). It’s amazing what can get done in that half an hour! I find I actually meet a lot of my word count by using moments like those.

My husband likes to make fun of me, saying that we spent @#%! of dollars on this renovation and I go to the van to work? My theory is—whatever works! That’s what I’ll do to get the job done.

So that’s me. The world is my office.

You can find out more about me by visiting my website at: www.christybarritt.com.

Oh, and I can I mention this also? My newest release from Love Inspired Suspense just came out this month, and its title is Race Against Time. If anyone has a chance, I’d love for you to check it out!

On Write Support: Monthly Checkup with Donna Alward

This month I told PHS editor Jenna Bayley-Burke that the title of my checkup post was going to be Good News, Bad News, spin in a circle and collapse in a heap.

There are some months that just kick the crap out of a writer. A perfect storm of things that occur and that by the end of it your head is spinning and you're still not quite sure where you are. And by the way, it doesn't have to be negative things, either. Having good things happen can still take a lot of energy - physical, mental, and emotional. So welcome to my roller coaster, otherwise known as the month of April...

Let's start with good news on the work front because there's lots of it.  HOW A COWBOY STOLE HER HEART got another contest nom in the form of the National Reader's Choice Awards - that makes it a lovely round hat trick of three nominations this year and that is amazing and a bit overwhelming to be honest. Sometimes when you write a book it is particularly meaningful and you HOPE that readers see that too. To actually have it happen - that's pretty special. I also wrote this book after coming off a bunch of rejections, at a time when I was really struggling. I think those times happen when a writer is growing, and I definitely had some growing pains. If this is what came out the other side, they were worth it.

I also proposed a new story to my editor and got the thumbs up, so I'm starting a new story set again in Cadence Creek (the setting of my duet releasing May and June!).  I'm really excited about it.

My buddy Fiona Harper let me know she's going to RWA Nationals, so I have a roommate and I'm so thrilled that I'm going to see her again!

Those are all good things, but being excited can be draining. A good draining, but draining just the same. Now add in the bad news, which isn't exactly BAD, just...well, the nitty gritty of life as a writer.

The truth is that while I'm excited about the RITA nomination, I haven't actually had time to think much about it. I took a few months between deadlines especially to work on a new project. I only had (have) a finite amount of time to work on it. Why? Well, I have three more deadlines coming up, and I do want to have it spit-shined and ready to go by conference. It is easily the hardest thing I've ever written; it's challenged me no end, I've had several crises of confidence about it and I'm actually very, very proud to have written THE END of it - at least now I have a complete manuscript to mold and shape. Instead of resting on my laurels, I spent most of April working very, very hard, promising myself I'd think of the other fun stuff later.

I also did edits on my August Samhain release, IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

And I have spent far too much time in my desk chair and despite 2 daily walks and regular workouts, my back is rebelling.

So the spinning in a circle? Well, I don't live in a bubble. The last few days of March included a 3 day intensive musical weekend for my youngest. Right after Easter, badminton season started up for the eldest, and the whole of that season is pretty much packed into 2 weeks - we had Zones, Counties, Regionals, Zone Finals, and Provincials. The good news is that my eldest and her doubles partner came in first in every tournament except provincials, in which they came second. It was a great year for her!

There was choir rehearsal, after school clubs, furniture pickups, orthodontist appointments, meeting with the accountant, hot lunch, music festival, HOUSEWORK (can't forget that)...all in around my "OMG I need to write 40,000 words this month". And honestly - by the time I hit last weekend I'd reached the "collapse in a heap with a bottle of wine and bar of chocolate the size of the Hindenberg" stage.

If I told all this to my imaginary "doctor" of this column, I'm pretty sure the advice would be "Hey Lady, slow down!"

The truth is, sometimes you can't really slow down, you just have to go through it a step at a time, knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. Get enough sleep (I'm trying). Eat well. (Check) Get regular exercise. (Check) And in the end, plan a reward. I've done that, and I'll be telling you about it next month (since it's happening in May).

And now here's the part where I let you know what I've got coming up: you can check out my new releases this month. First of all my short story, SECOND-CHANCE MOTHER in the digital anthology THE GREATEST GIFT: A Harlequin Mother's Day Collection. Meet Ben and Cami. Ben's head of the local RCMP detachment in Cadence Creek and Cami is a lawyer who does a lot of work helping troubled kids. Imagine her surprise when she finds out Ben is a dad...

Then enjoy more Cadence Creek in THE LAST REAL COWBOY, the first book in my Cadence Creek Cowboys duet. Sam Diamond is trouble. And social worker Angela Beck is just the woman to keep him on the straight and narrow.

See you next month - when I hope to be a little more zen.

The Secrets to Being Fit and Fab: Learn to Identify Your Emotional Eating Pattern

This month PHS editor Michelle Styles starts to examine emotional eating



It would be great if we just ate to refuel, when we were physically hungry, but human beings eat for all sorts of reasons -- to celebrate, to grieve, because of nerves, anger, of because you want to please someone else.

Emotional eating is what does for most diet regimes. And because food is so intricately twined in our culture and psyche, the vast majority of people emotionally eat, many emotionally over eat. Diets and healthy eating regimes fail mainly because people do not take the time and trouble to understand about emotional eating and develop other ways to self-care and proactively deal with stressful situations. In the short term, diets work because you can force yourself to eat following certain rules for a period of time, but eventually if you have not dealt with your body’s desire to eat for emotional reasons, you will find the diet impossible and will begin a downward spiral.

Emotional eating is NOT down to a lack of will power or some imagined failing on your part. It is your body’s natural way of dealing with a stressful situation. Your digestion acts as a second brain and it responds to certain situations by demanding more serotonin or ways to soothe it.  For the digestion, it is not flight or flight but flight, fight or feast. Your digestion easily overpowers your brain as it does provide the vital nutrients that are key for a body’s survival. Will power comes from your brain.

Emotional eating has its roots deep in your childhood when you were powerless and couldn’t fight. You were dependant on others to solve problems and food soothed. Food for me was also a fun way to rebel. As a toddler, it was great fun (and relatively risk free) to sneak cookie dough, particularly as I prided myself on being a good girl.

When you emotionally eat, you are not solving the problem which caused the need. Eating only solves a problem when your body needs physical refuelling. There are other more productive ways to soothe your nerves, and indulge in self-care. However, once your digestion decides it is a feast situation, you will have that craving until you eat what it thinks it requires. You might deal with the emotion (to a certain extent) but then you often feel worse as the guilt sets in. Your persistently critical self has a field day when you eat, particularly when you eat to shut it up.

Emotional eating is characterised by a sudden specific urge to eat something. Snacking on something healthy won’t do. You want that piece of chocolate cake. You also eat it far faster than normal. You barely stop to chew or finish the mouthful. When emotionally eating, you stuff it down.  The result of eating fast is that you consume more than your body needs and often set yourself up for a blood sugar dip later. When your blood sugar goes wild, you are more likely to fall victim to further cravings.

In order to begin to combat emotional eating, the first step is to begin to recognise the situations where you eat for emotional reasons, rather than physical hunger. Rather than beating yourself up for eating unhealthily, see it as an opportunity to learn. You want to learn about the triggers for your eating and ultimately learn to create a gap and start to talk back to your persistently critical self. Every time you eat something that is unplanned, or you overeat, take the time to write down what your emotions were before you had the urge to eat and what the general situation was. Sometimes, your body will be anticipating the emotion before it happens. So you want to learn as much as possible and look for patterns, rather than assuming that you are eating because you are bored etc.A

It is a four stage process same as any other habit which you wish to change (identify triggers, find appropriate rewards, develop plans and implement them). Because the habit became ingrained in your psyche when you were less than five, it will take a long time and a lot of persistence to change. Always remember Baby steps and when babies are learning to walk, we don’t get mad at them for falling down.

Next month I will examine some of the ways you can start to create the gap between having the emotion and putting the food in your mouth.



Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical. She recently lost 66 lbs and now wears a US size 4.  She has successfully maintained this size since October 2011.  Her next book His Unsuitable Viscountess will be published in August 2012. You can read more about Michelle’s books on her website www.michellestyles.co.uk

Call Story: Andrea Laurence

Andrea Laurence, Harlequin Desire's latest debut author shares the story of her call and gives details about her special giveaway.

Thank you to the ladies of PHS for inviting me here today to share my call story. I always love to read a good call story. How often do you get to hear about the moment someone has their dream fulfilled? It's not quite as dramatic as winning a reality show, but hopefully, a writer's career will last a bit longer than the fifteen minutes of fame you get on television. I had waited over eight long years to hear the words "We want to buy your book." I'd spent countless hours imagining what it would be like. Would I be at work, where I'd have to hold in the excitement and carry on with my day? Would I be at home? Out shopping? There were so many different scenarios, but I knew how I would react. Who I'd call. I had a list of questions for the editor and bottle of standby champagne ready and waiting. When the call came, I would be ready.

And yet, in my wildest imaginings, it never went down anything like last May 31st.

I'd been working closely with Shana Smith at Harlequin Desire for over a year. I'd gotten good feedback. Things were going well despite the first book not working out and having to start over with a new idea. But I was so close. Agonizingly close. But I wouldn't let myself believe it until I heard the words. I dream big, but I'm not one to get my hopes up and be disappointed. I'd been close before and ended up under the blankets with Ben and Jerry to console me. Despite being cautious, I was doing everything in my power to seal the deal. I wrote a new book from scratch in 3 weeks. I revised it in a week. I wanted to do everything I could to sell before conference. I NEEDED that pink sale ribbon in New York. I just did. I didn't want to wait another year for it.

After I finished revisions, I mailed the book, nauseated., as always. Maybe I hadn't spent enough time on it. What if I'd worked too fast and blew it? Either way it was too late. I started work on another book and worried about my upcoming vacation. My niece was graduating from high school and my brother-in-law was retiring from the Navy after 25 years. We were flying to Baltimore for a few days with my in-laws. I figured it would be a while before I heard back since Shana had to read it (and like it), the senior editor had to read it (and like it) and whatever magical editorial mojo had to happen. Summer was coming, which means vacations and holidays off for the staff. No big deal. I tried to forget it was even out there and headed to the airport with my family.

I was none too pleased to find out that our flight was 4 hours delayed when we reached the gate. We'd arrived early, so I was due for at least 5 hours in the airport with my honey and his parents. While gearing up for my 25th game of spider solitaire on my iPhone, a NYC number popped up on my screen. I figured it was a telemarketer. I'd gotten a lot of those calls lately. But what else did I have to do? So I answered. Not once did it register what was going on until I heard the woman introduce herself as Shana Smith. Not really even then. I figured she was calling about her guest blog or something. It could possibly be that.

Then she said she had great news and wanted to buy my book. This was the point in time where the universe slowed to a crawl. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say or do. I was dumbstruck. I couldn't yell or cry. Not only was it not cool, I was in an airport terminal and didn't want security called on me. I think my first words were "Oh my god, I'm in the airport." That was followed by a lot of 'wow' and 'that's great' while she talked about contracts and revisions. I think she knew not to say too much given I was reduced to muttering those two phrases over and over. As much as I thought I could handle this moment with class and style, I failed. I wrote things down on the back of my boarding pass so I wouldn't forget. I tried to think of intelligent questions and just rambled on. I was a spacey mess. Looking back on that moment now, its just sort of a weird blur. But the message came across loud and clear - my first book was tentatively scheduled for spring 2012!

After about 10 minutes of talking to my editor (Yay, I have an editor!) I hung up and turned to my honey. He smiled and hugged me, having heard my stupid rambling and knew what had happened. I sat back in my chair for a good 15 minutes. I knew I needed to tell people but I wasn't ready yet. I needed to come to terms. It just didn't seem real. What was I going to say to people when I called? I practiced telling my in-laws, then I was finally ready to get on the phone. I called my Mom and cried. Then I called each of my fellow Playfriends and squeed. I ended up sitting on the floor in the airport near an outlet so I could charge my phone while continuing to call everyone who had supported me and kept me writing when I wanted to stop. They deserved to hear right away. Then I texted a slew of people. Posted it on Twitter and Facebook, and went back to waiting for my flight.

Of course, my call story had to be weird! It all went down in an airport. I couldn't leave, couldn't fully celebrate. The bottle of champagne was in my fridge at home. The bar in the airport was closed. When we got to Baltimore (we got into our hotel at 2AM after me getting pulled over for speeding… what a day!) I had to hold it all in because it was other people's time to celebrate, not mine. Thank goodness for my iPhone. It kept me connected with my people and all the cyber celebrating. Finally, I got home, celebrated, got my revisions, had a heart attack, recovered, and revised the book that is on shelves right now.

Life is a wild ride sometimes. Who would've thought this time last year that I would be celebrating my book release, wrapping up a blog tour, doing book signings and other reader events? Crazy! Have you ever had one of those years where your life completely changed in those 12 months? Share your story. This blog is the last stop on my blog tour and your final chance to comment and win a pink sea glass locket I'm giving away Friday.

Thanks for having me,

Andrea

WHAT LIES BENEATH, April 2012

She’s Awake. So Why Can’t She Remember?

They say she’s Cynthia Dempsey, fiancée of media mogul Will Taylor. But try as she might, she can’t recall their high-society life or the man sitting by her hospital bed. Though her body certainly remembers him. Even as she senses the distance between them, the electricity when they touch is undeniable.

Will can hardly believe Cynthia’s transformation. Gone is the ice queen who betrayed him, and in her place is a woman who seems genuine and warm. But can he risk his heart again, not knowing what might happen when her memory returns?

Amazon/Kindle, Barnes & Noble/Nook, Books A Million

Blog Tour & Contest! Don't forget my blog tour contest! Receive an entry for commenting (one per blog) and a second for signing up for my newsletter (http://eepurl.com/e3O5k). The winner will receive a pink sea-glass heart locket pendant and a personalized autographed copy of What Lies Beneath. Small Print: The winner will be chosen at random after the conclusion of the blog tour – Friday, April 27^th and announced on the Writing Playground blog (http://www.writingplayground.blogspot.com/). The winner will have 7 days to contact the author at author@andrealaurence.com with her mailing information or the prize will be forfeited and re-awarded

A Writer's World - Cooking Up a Romance

The raw product

 Hi everyone, and welcome to my writer's world. Yes, I can see you're wondering what some ripe plums have to do with writing. Well, let me tell you that home-made plum jam is one of the major treats I know, so having a fresh supply at hand is a luxury that comes close to being a necessity.

Also, I thought you might like to know I do occasionally do things other than write or think about writing. Yes, really. Thirdly, because even though I wasn't meant to be thinking about writing, as I cooked I started to realise the similarities between jam-making and writing a good romance.

I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads now, wondering if Annie has finally lost it, but bear with me. Just think about the process. First I took ripe plums, with that lovely tree-fresh fog still on them, some lemons and some sugar and set them on my bench top. It's a bit like starting a romance - working out that you have what you need - a lovely fresh hero and heroine and the other necessary ingredients - attraction, setting and the biggie - conflict! There's no point starting the book unless you know you've got the right things to add to the mix.

Next came the preparation. Cutting the fruit and excising the stones. This took a while and, like so many other repetitive tasks, was a great time for letting the mind wander (which is when I started thinking about this blog). It's like the process we go through in the early stages of planning and writing a story - we dream a little about the characters, imagine various possible approaches and how they might work, then cut out the bits we don't need and retain what's going to work for our story. For me, having those characters right, or as right as they can be at the beginning of the book, is important, even if I keep learning more about them as I go on.

Adding Heat

Having mixed the ingredients together we've then got the fun bit. Applying heat! The lovely Miranda Lee has spoken about writing a romance as being like putting your heroine and hero in a crucible they can't escape and applying heat. I love to do that with my stories - make sure my pair just can't escape each other no matter how much they want to, and then watch them react under pressure. Hey, I'm not mean, I'm just a cook! Honestly!

It's during that heating process that the magic happens. The ingredients come together and turn into something that's different and more than the separate ingredients. They gel (literally, that's what the lemon juice is for in my jam) into a single substance. It takes a while and a good bit of testing to be sure. I have to keep coming back to the pot every so often to see what's happening and how well it's coming together. It's a bit like the final stages of story writing, when I have to reread and polish to make sure I've got a coherent story. And then of course are the revisions - maybe adding a little more juice if the jam's not setting as it should.

Finished and waiting to enjoy

Then comes the lovely moment when the jam is ready and poured into the waiting jars to set. Instead of being jars of cut plums, lemons and sugar, they are filled with (hopefully) delicious plum jam - a completely different substance, the result of planning, work, checking and adjusting and of course, patience. It's something to store away and bring out when you're in the mood for that particular flavour, just like taking a particular story off your book shelf and savouring it. I love that moment!

How about you? Do you see yourself as creative? Do you write or cook or do some other creative ventures? Do you have stories to share about the most successful thing you created or maybe about the big surprise flop? I'll send a copy of UNDONE BY HIS TOUCH to one person, drawn at random, from those who comment. Drop by the blog again tomorrow and I'll post the winner's name in the comments section.

 Annie is thrilled to have UNDONE BY HIS TOUCH  out now in the UK. It's a May release in New Zealand and Australia and a June release in North America. This is Annie's first Beauty and the Beast style hero and features a severely scarred but oh-so-sexy hero and a feisty heroine who's more than his match. You can read an excerpt on Annie's website: http://www.annie-west.com or go to your favourite online bookstore to grab a copy. Annie is also celebrating the recent news that her story PROTECTED BY THE PRINCE (published in the UK and Aus/NZ as PASSION, PURITY AND THE PRINCE) has just won a 2012 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award. Yippee!

Male on Monday: Keanu Reeves

PHS editor Michelle Styles revisits  an old inspiration of hers -- Keanu Reeves

Sometimes an old film will bring back memories and revive  ideas for heroes. Last week, I happened to rewatch Something's Gotta Give (2003) which had Keanu Reeves in it and remembered that he is actually very watchable. There is something about the way he looks.
I loved him in Point Break (1991) and The Lake House (2006) but then he fell off my radar. He has starred in a wide of ecletic films in the Matrix trilogy.  Several  films including a Samurai epic 47 Ronin (releasing November 2012) and Generation UM... are in post production. He is also filming The Men of Tai Chai. So perhaps he will not be off the radar for as long.
After a chaotic childhood including being expelled from high school, Reeves has had a turbulent private life.  He grew up as a Canadian and once wanted to play ice hockey for a living but had a career ending injury put paid to that and he concentrated on acting. Through his father, he has American citizenship and his mother is English. His education was apparently hampered because of dyslexia as well as changing schools often as his mother had a complicated private life.  In 1999 Reeves had a stillborn daughter.The mother of his child was later killed in a tragic carcrash in 2001. He has never married.
He was accused and sued by a member of the papparazzi in 2008, but acquitted in 2009 after only an hour of deliberations.
One can only hope his personal life has settled and that he manages to keep it private. In the meantime, it was great to rediscover  the inspiration behind one of my early heros.
He is just one of those people that you see and think -- ah yes, good hero material, particularly a hero in need of an understanding heroine who can redeem him. And how could I have forgotten about him?

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty, and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical. Her next book will be His Unsuitable Viscountess (August 2012 in the UK and the US)v YOu can read more about Michelle's books on www.michellestyles.co.uk