Writer's Workspace: Tracy Wolff plus giveaway

Today PHS visits with Tracy Wolff and finds where she creates her books. Leave a comment at the end to be put in the giveaway

I have friends who have to listen to music when they write, friends who have a little writing ritual that they do before they start, other friends who can’t have any distractions around them when they write or who have to be in the same spot every time they write.

I am not one of those writers.  I have no particular ritual, no particular spot, and when the writing is going well, I can write through a nuclear blast (or three very rambunctious boys and their assorted friends).  But I do get bored easily, so the one thing I do like to shake up is my workplace—around the house and outside of it.

Mornings usually find me sitting cross-legged on the game room floor, trying to get 2500 words in before I have to wake the boys up for school.  After I drop them off (at different schools) I decide where I want to write.  Depending on my mood, I head to Barnes and Noble, Panera’s, Starbuck’s, or another local coffee house.  Or I head to my friend Sherry Thomas’s house, where we write in between gossip sessions (LOL).  Or I go the gym, do my workout and then write in their coffeeshop.  Or, if it isn’t 1000 degrees out (I live in Texas), I head to the local park and take up residence at one of the picnic benches.   I do this because I find if I go home, I end up finding something else to do—reading, talking on the phone, cleaning the house, sleeping. 

After I get the boys from school, help them with homework and get dinner started, I usually spend an hour stretched out in the living room, either writing or doing the non-writing parts of a writer’s life (answering email, publicity stuff, etc.)  Then I quit until after bedtime, which is when I usually end up kneeling next to my bed and trying to squeeze between 1000 and 2000 words out before I go to bed.  More often than not, I actually fall asleep—face in computer—and wake up fifteen minutes later with a long line of one letter spreading through my manuscript …  On the two nights a week when I teach my college classes, I have been known to try to squeeze those words in while my students are on break or taking a test. 

So  I guess the only thing consistent about my work space is its inconsistency, though my schedule is pretty much set in stone—thanks to my other commitments.  How about you?  Do you have a room you like to work in at home or do you do work wherever the mood strikes you?  Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of the first two books in my Atlanta trilogy: From the Beginning and Healing Dr. Alexander.

Back Cover Blurb for Healing Dr. Alexander:

This was not his professional plan. Dr. Jack Alexander—dedicated surgeon and humanitarian—never expected an accident would end his time in the O.R. Nor did he expect to have to abandon his aid work. Now, back in Atlanta, he's faced with rebuilding his career…his life. And his hope for the future comes from the least likely source—the little family next door.

From the first moment he spots Sophie Connors having a water fight with her young sons, Jack is captivated. She defies all of his assumptions about family and relationships. Too bad she resists committing. Somehow he has to change her mind. Because together they may find that life doesn't always turn out the way you planned…sometimes, it turns out even better.

To learn more about Tracy Wolff visit her website www.tracywolff.com

A Date With Kate - Happy Birthday!

Today,  Kate Walker is  thinking about birthdays -  her own  - and those of her characters

May is an important month for birthdays for me. Yesterday was the birthday of a special friend and great romance writer, Michelle Reid, coming up in two weeks is the birthday of my lovely eldest sister – Oh, and Monday is my own birthday.  I’ll be . . .No, I’m not admitting that!

So it’s not surprising that birthdays are much on my mind at the moment. Not just in choosing and buying of presents, then posting them off – my sister lives in Tasmania so I had to get that organised weeks ago – but also how to celebrate them, what  a birthday day means – and what will make it most enjoyable.   These things are different to everyone and, as I’ve often said before, it’s thinking of the individual, and giving them what makes things  just right for them, is where love – and the elements of real romance come in.    Everyone  knows that I love to read, so at this time of year I often get parcels of books – but I always say too that I’d love a voucher  for a couple of extra hours, for the time to sit down and read those books. But sadly no one has found a place where those can be bought!

But as a writer, I’m always thinking about birthdays too.  My characters’  birthdays, the special days of my hero and heroine – and how they feel about them.  Everyone has a birthday, not everyone feels the same about them, and it’s in those deeper feelings that we can get to know our characters better and find out what makes them tick.

Way back in  time, when I was  first  published, I used to use  different techniques for getting to know my hero and heroine. One of these was a series of astrology books – Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs/Love Signs/Relationship Signs . These would tell me how a particular birthdate/star sign created a particular  type of person   and the characteristics they shared. I didn’t have to actually believe in them (though Michelle Reid and I are  eerily  similar, having been born just days apart!)  but they did give me lots of ideas for the interests or attitudes my heroine might have, the way my hero might feel about family, or work . . .

I don’t use those books now, but thinking about a birthday still helps me dig deeper into a character and find out more about them. Were they born in the winter or summer months?   So what sort of weather/lifestyle/surroundings would they have started to be aware of once they were old enough to notice what was going on around them?   Did their parents celebrate their birthdays or  ignore them?  Was their birthday something that had caused trouble in the past – or  was it a moment of pure joy to everyone? I had one hero (in The Italian’s Forced Bride) who had been abandoned on the steps of a church as a baby. He didn’t actually know his own birthdate  and  although that was never actually mentioned in the story, it  was a huge part of who he was and how he felt about himself and about life.

Other things about birthdays hat can create  depths for your characters – what place in their family were they born in? Is your heroine, like my sister,  the oldest of  five girls? Or your hero the ‘difficult’  middle child of the family?   The study of a person’s place in the family can be fascinating and have a lot of influence e on their behaviour and attitudes  once they are grown up and mature.

And if your  character is having a birthday how would they celebrate – or not? Would they like a huge exciting party? Or prefer just to stay at home and read? Would they like everyone to know? Or  not mention it to anyone and keep quiet about their special day?  What sort of gifts would make a birthday special – either to give or to receive? I   know that in the  world of the  Modern Romance/Presents novels, the ‘default’ gift is usually jewellery – and the brightest, most sparkling, most   glamorous earrings or necklaces possible.   But if we, as writers, are not careful, those gifts tend to fall into the cliché line of thinking and the hero who just doles out gems, however  expensive and beautifully designed, can look like someone who isn’t trying too hard – or is falling back on the ‘every woman loves jewellery’  cop-out.  Or perhaps that’s what you want to show him as being like?

What would your heroine really love most in all the world for her birthday? And how, without actually writing a list  or telling her hero face to face just what it is she dreams of, can she communicate that to him  - and how far will he have to go, how much work will he have to do to find it for her? That’s the way that love can be shown. And what does your heroine buy – or make – or create – for the man who has everything?  In a true romance, as I say, it’s considering the individual, thinking about what they want, and trying to find that that shows  real depth of feeling.

So I’d love to know what you think. If you’re a writer, what would your current heroine buy for the hero in her life – or vice versa? Or if you’re  a reader, then what would be the perfect present for your next special day? Money is no object – but  it has to be personal and special to you. And because I want to share in the celebrations of this birthday month -  I have a copy of my most recent book The Devil and Miss Jones to give away to one person who comments  - and Charlie the Maine Coon (who was actually a Christmas present not a birthday gift – but the principle applies) will pick a winner.

And if anyone can find one of those vouchers for extra reading time then I’ll be really grateful!

Kate’s latest novel The Devil and Miss Jones was out in Mills & Boon Modern Romance in March  and is still available in Harlequin Presents Extra this week. You can find out all her latest news on her Web site or her blog.

And the winner is  . . .
Well, there are three - because Charlie was greedy and because I wanted to share my birthday with my fellow birthday Taureans - so 
Louise
arethazhen
and Misty K
please email me  kate AT kate-walker.com  with your postal addresses and I'll get the prize book in the mail to you

Setting the Scene with Love Inspied Historical Author Allie Plieter

Allie Plieter sets the scene for her latest Love Inspired Historical  Homefront Hero.

Charleston is a beautiful city.  It’s warm there in the winter, so there’s that.  It’s serious about food, which is a big plus.  It’s by the water, which makes for pretty days. 

My favorite feature of Charleston, however, is a brown-eyed college girl who happens to be my daughter.

I have set books in specific locations after doing hours of research.  Then there are books where I start with the location and find the story once I get there.  I started with Charleston for the very “academic” reason that I wanted multiple reasons to visit my daughter.

I knew I wanted to do a pair of books--one set in WWI and the other in WWII, and I knew Charleston.  Good, but still no story.  I was intrigued by the focus of the homefront rather than the battle, but that’s still not enough.  The story came together while wandering through a South Carolina military museum, when I saw the helmet of a decorated war hero from Charleston.  He had an inspiring story of bravery.  Ah, now we’ve got something:  We know war hero, Charleston, and homefront.  Every good romance needs a great heroine, and our war-hardened hero needs a soft-hearted heroine to being out the best in him.  Hmmm...

Enter a second military museum--back home in Illinois, where I uncover a hand-knit sweater made for soldiers in WWII.  Knitting as a war effort?  Now I’m intrigued.  A little digging, and I discover the WWI “Knit Your Bit” socks for soldiers campaign.  An avid knitter myself, I can feel the story brewing (or is that knitting?).  Back to South Carolina I go, to see what trouble I can get a arrogant Army Captain and a kind-hearted knitting nurse into.  Charleston is Navy, however, and I quickly realize I need Army if I’m going to utilize the crisis of the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic.  So, I need to do what every good author ought to do--ditch my personal preferences for the sake of the story.  I move our tale to Columbia, SC and Camp Jackson (or, as it’s now known, Jackson Army Base).  My sacrifice is rewarded when further research turns up the fact that the campus of the University of South Carolina at Columbia was locked down in quarantine during that epidemic.  Now there’s a crisis you can hang a romance on!  Now, instead of “pretty,” I’ve got “pretty powerful.” 

And my daughter is still only two hours away so I can meet her for dinner.

An avid knitter, coffee junkie, and devoted chocoholic, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction.  The enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, Allie spends her days writing books, buying yarn, and finding new ways to avoid housework.  Allie hails from Connecticut, moved to the midwest to attend Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois.  The “dare from a friend” to begin writing has produced two parenting books, fourteen novels, and various national speaking engagements on faith, women’s issues, and writing.  Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com or her knitting blog at www.DestiKNITions.blogspot.com

Writer's Wednesday: The Writing Process plus giveaway

Harlequin Romance Author Michelle Douglas  explains how her fast draft process works and has a giveaway

There are a multitude of quotes out there about the writing process:

“Writing is easy, you just open a vein and bleed onto the page.” (Red Smith)

“The best writing is rewriting.” (E. B. White)

“The art of writing is applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” (Mary Heaton Vorse)

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” (Jack London)

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” (Saul Bellow).

This list could go on and on. I suspect, however, that there are as many ways of getting a story down onto the page as there are writers. After all, writing processes are not one-size fits all.

I have a picture in my mind—a vivid and rapturous picture—of my ideal writing day.

7am—woken with a cup of tea by best husband in the world

8am—at writing desk and write (longhand) till 11am

1pm—type and edit morning’s work till done

4pm—go for a gorgeous afternoon walk

Cue beatific smile and many happy sighs.

Now cue reality because my real writing day is nothing like that. And it’s not because I get interrupted by phone calls or by friends dropping in or by the lure and guilt of housework or the greater lure and pleasure of coffee with the girls. The reality is so very different for one major reason—when I use the above process I don’t produce my best writing. End of story.

You have no idea how I wish that wasn’t the case, and how I’ve tried to force the above process to work for me. Alas my muse cannot be bribed or bullied into submission on this particular subject. Rather than fight it, I’ve had to learn to accept it.

So…this is the reality of my writing process…

* Dream for a week (or two if I have the time) about the story I’ve told my editor I’m going to write, playing with various scenarios and possible scene and plot elements. Perhaps create a playlist or dabble with a collage.

* Take 10 index cards and loosely plot out my book into 10 chapters (NB: my books are rarely 10 chapters…and I may not fill out all the cards all at once. But I must have at least the first 5 cards plotted out before the next step. Nothing is set in stone, things can change, but I need a direction to get me started).

* Launch into Fast Draft. For more information about Fast Draft check out Candace Havens website. I’ve adjusted her method to suit me. Basically I write 5000 words a day for two consecutive weeks—5 days x 5000 words/day, the weekend to plot the second half of the book or make adjustments to the existing plot, and then another 5 days x 5000 words/day. This produces a rough first draft of 50,000 words. I do carpal tunnel exercises religiously and I try to fit in a daily walk.

* Spend the next 4 to 8 weeks typing the manuscript up, editing and polishing.

Why does this Fast Draft hell work for me when my gorgeous, dreamy writing day doesn’t? There are a couple of reasons.

First, I’ve discovered that there’s nowhere to hide from glaring plot problems when I’m writing at this speed. They jump out and slap me over the head. Rather than try to make lovingly-thought-out scenes fit, as I would if writing slower, I discard them. FD makes me ruthless (in the best possible way J).

Secondly, FD is hard. It is physically and emotionally demanding. Writing a book is hard too, or at least I’m beginning to suspect it should be. My dreamy writing day does it’s best to take the pain out of writing (therefore leaching said writing of it’s intensity and passion). When writing, writers (or at least this little fat duck) are angst-filled and full of doubt and uncertainty. They are also, at times, filled with love for their story and joy and passion. Cram all of that angst and passion into two physically and emotionally demanding weeks of writing and, believe me, it will translate onto the page.

Thirdly, there’s a kind of momentum that builds from writing this quickly. You live, breathe, dream your book. Yes, some days are HARD (Day 2, for some reason, is always a loathsome beast to me). But when you do soar (oh, how I love Day 7!) you soar high and hard and far.

I don’t know if this will be my forever process. And like I said earlier, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all beast. But I can honestly say that shaking up my writing process has helped me to produce better, more intense and more emotional books.

Is there something you do the “hard” way because that’s the way you get the best results—be it gardening, exercise or reading a map? Do tell, as one lucky commenter will go into a draw to win a signed copy of my May release The Man Who Saw Her Beauty.

To learn more about Michelle Douglas and sample her writing visit her website: http://www.michelle-douglas.com/  The Man Who Saw Her Beauty is out in the US now, Australia and NZ in June and the UK in July.

Kate's Kitchen: Brownies

I happened to mention on Facebook last month that I was making brownies… and the comments of ‘mmm’ made me think that this ought to be this month’s recipe! I know that traditional brownies contain nuts, but my eldest is a bit fussy so we use chocolate chips instead.

Ingredients:

• 175g butter 
• 350g caster sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 125g plain flour 
• 1 level tsp baking powder 
• 50g cocoa 
• 100g chocolate chips 

Method: 
Grease and line a 25cm square (2.5cm deep) tin.

Heat oven to 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F, gas mark 4.

Melt the butter, then stir in the sugar and vanilla.

Add the eggs and stir well.

Sift the flour into the bowl; add the baking powder and cocoa, then mix well.

Add the chocolate chips and stir well.

Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth it over and bake for about 40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack, then cut into squares.

 In Australia, you can get The Ex Who Hired Her and Dr Cinderella’s Midnight Fling in shops. Both books are also available on the eHarlequin website in the US and the Mills & Boon website in the UK. You can find out more about these books, and Kate, on her website (http://www.katehardy.com/) and her blog (http://katehardy.blogspot.com/) 

Male on Monday: Searching for a Hero

Searching for a Hero

So, I haven't managed to log in to Pinterest.  To be honest I'm a bit scared I'll get lost in there for the rest of eternity.  I've downloaded the MoodBoard Lite app but haven't opened it yet.  I can barely load a picture on to Twitter.  I have to follow the instructions and it doesn' t always work.

But, what I can do, quite spectacularly, is spend hours trawling the internet for the next inspiration for a hero.

Then I print them out and spend the whole time I'm writing my story staring at them.  Purely for research purposes - obviously.

And I thought I'd introduce you to a few.

Meet Lincoln Adams.

Now some of you may think this is Patrick Dempsey.  But actually this is my Lincoln Adams, hero of my latest title West Wing to Maternity Wing.  Neonatologist extrordinaire, currently looking after the US President's premature baby daughter.

And a gorgeous specimen he is too.

I'd also like you to meet, John Carter.  And yes, I do know there was another well known dr called John Carter.  But this is mine.

In some secret circles he's known as Bradley Cooper.  But my John is an orthopaedic surgeon who has just had the world swept from beneath his feet when he's found out his stored embryo has been implanted into a stranger by mistake.  A Bond Between Strangers comes out in September.

Number three is Brad Donovan, an Australian working in Glasgow Scotland for my Christmas story Her Christmas Eve Diamond.

It's the absolute gorgeous late, great Andy Whitfield.  A family man at heart, with great strength and determination, just like the Spartacus character he played.  He was the best inspiration for Brad Donovan, the man whose daughter has been snatched out of his life and has spent the last two years searching for her.
My fourth specimen is Gabriel Russo.  Here he is..now, brace yourselves ladies

my Gabriel Russo could be an alias for David Gandy.  Strangely enough my Gabriel gets pictured on a yacht in a pair of white trunks.  Where could the inspiration for that have come from?  This is the cruise ship story I'm currently working on.

And what about the future?

It's got to be Sawyer from Lost.  Why haven't I used him yet??  Right now, I'm calling him Dr Infectious Disease, but I'll think of something better by the time I use him.  Honestly, I will.

So, do any of my heroes appeal?  Or do you have a preference of your own?

WEST WING TO MATERNITY WING  May 2012  Famous neonatologist Lincoln Adams is looking after the US President’s newborn daughter when nurse Amy Carson arrives at the hospital, posing as his very pregnant wife!  Amy’s had first-hand experience of Linc’s skilful hands, and he’s the only person she trusts to look after her precious cargo.  But trusting him with her fragile heart is another matter…..