A Novel in 3 months – week 2 – plot

Last movie watched: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
What’s playing on the iPod right now: Belly of the Steel Beast by John Williams (from the Indiana Jones soundtrack)

I hope everyone has been thinking hard about their characters and jotting down notes!  This week we turn our hand to plot.

What is plot?  And how does it differ from story? About.com describes it as this: “Plot concerns the organization of the main events of a work of fiction. Plot differs from story in that plot is concerned with how events are related, how they are structured, and how they enact change in the major characters. Most plots will trace some process of change in which characters are caught up in a conflict that is eventually resolved. Plots may be fully integrated or “tightly knit,” or episodic in nature.  e.g. In a movie such as Pulp Fiction, the plot and the story are two very different things.”

For me, sometimes a new story forms from just one major plot point.  Sometimes it stems from my characters and sometimes my characters form around where the plot heads.  It’s important to now that you may approach every story from a different angle, starting first with characters, sometimes with the first meeting, sometimes the theme or sometimes plot.  My second book, Boardrooms & A Billionaire Heir started with plot.  My first and third books, with characters.  My fourth (The Billionaire Baby Bombshell, out in June) is a combination of both.

Some people are not plotters – they’re write-by-the-seat-of-their-pansters.  Or they’re organic writers, those who do a bit of plotting, a bit of pantsing.  And then there’s sceners, those who write out a whole bunch of scenes then string them together to make a story.  The best way to work out your own process is to go right ahead and try them all out.  You’ll soon realize which way works best for you.  Me, I’m a bit organic, a bit of a scener.  So for this exercise, I’m going to give you a few plotting methods I’ve used that have helped me enormously.

Plotting # 1 – the W method

Just imagine a great big letter W on your page… actually, don’t imagine it – write it.  Then at the top starting point of the W, write ‘trouble starts’.  Coming down to the bottom of the page, at that point write, ‘change of plan’.  Now, coming up into the second high point, write ‘point of no return’.  Coming down again to the second low point, write ‘major setback’.  Then, on the last upward point, write ‘climax, HEA’.  So, for the explanations:

• Trouble Starts – this is the introduction of characters, conflict and tension.
• Change of Plan – The characters’ comfort zones are breached; they reassess their feelings/ life/attitudes.
• Point of No Return – No turning back now, they are both involved in the situation and with each other.
• Major Setback (the Black Moment) – Will they both end up together?  Will they overcome the hurdles?  Discover the truth?  Solve the mystery?
• Climax & HEA – The hero and heroine pledge their love for each other, the killer is caught in time, the baby is saved from the burning building.  All reader worries are set aside in a final, satisfying scene.

Now, notice the angle of the strokes on the W.  Slowly going downhill.  Slowly going uphill.  That’s the build up of your story, where you add little bits, piece by piece to achieve the high or low point.  And as soon as you hit that, you about-face and head off in the opposite direction.

Plotting #2 – The Jenny Crusie Method

When Jenny Crusie was out here for our conference a few years back, she outlined  her 7-point method of writing a story.  Here’s what I could decipher from my notes (and yes, I realize there’s eight there!):

1. trouble starts
2. character plans to solve trouble
3. trouble gets worse (tension goes up)
4. character regroups
5. point of no return (tension goes up)
6. pushed to the brink (tension goes up)
7. boiling point/black moment
8. Happy ever after

Plotting #3 – The Hero’s Journey

This is my favorite plotting device!  This is a mythical structure of story writing based on the popular techniques of screen writer Christopher Vogler, which in turn is based on Joseph Campbell’s A Hero With A Thousand Faces.   Analyze your favorite movie and you can see the stages of this plotting method quite clearly.  You can find an excellent summary here, but here’s a brief overview with my explanations, plus examples from National Treasure (warning: spoilers abound!):

• Ordinary World - most stories involve our characters being thrust from their ordinary world into a new, alien one. To highlight that, you must show them in their ordinary world.  e.g. in National Treasure, we see Ben Gates, treasure hunter, in pursuit of his dream of finding the mythical Templar treasure.
• Call To Adventure -  your character is presented by a challenge, a problem or adventure to undertake.  Once presented with this they cannot go back to their Ordinary World.  It can also be the “call to love” or “call to relationship stage” Example: after realizing the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence, Ben’s partner Ian Howe says they have to steal it.
• Refusal of the Call -a character may not want to take that challenge, to step out of their comfort zone.  The heroine may refuse the hero’s marriage of convenience proposal.  The hero may not want to take on that high-profile murder case. Example: when Ben Gates refuses to steal the Declaration, thereby prompting Ian’s response:  “from now on, all you’re going to be is a hindrance,”  Ian and Ben, once colleagues, are now enemies.  Ben then goes to the FBI, the CIA, the DHS to tell them what Ian is planning,  but is laughed at.
• The Mentor – a wise person appears to help your hero mentally prepare for the journey.  Obi-Wan Kenobi is a prime example.  Others can include colleagues, family, the best friend.  The ‘mentor’ may also be a form of inner talk, with the character convincing themselves to take the next step. Example: while Riley Poole is more an ally then a mentor, his aim to convince Ben it’s impossible to steal the Declaration only shows Ben it is possible.
• Crossing the Threshold – the hero commits to the journey, taking that step into the unknown.  Example: Ben Gates finally makes the decision to steal the Declaration to protect it.
• Tests, Allies, Enemies – this is a test of our character’s faith, belief system, physical or mental strength.  Through these challenges,  we see how our character acts and reacts and we become more emotionally involved in the journey. Example: Ben encounters Abigail Chase, FBI agent Sadusky, his father Thomas Gates who, despite outwardly wanting to stop Ben, eventually become his allies.  How Ben also handles Ian and the bad guy’s threats is an indication of his character.
• Approaching the Innermost Cave - your hero has his destination in sight, finally.  They may pause or rethink, which ups the tension.  In a romance, this is where I’d put my ‘prior to first love scene’ doubts.
• Crossing the second threshold to the cave - the character is in it, boots and all, overcoming their reluctance.  This could mean another love scene.  Example: In the scene where Ben Gates and Abigail are buying new clothes, we see Abigail’s attraction to Ben and her fascination with the treasure overcome all her doubts.  And she gets to this point by seeing Ben under pressure, and watching him making choices based not on greed or glory, but from his love and respect of history, something she shares.
• Supreme Ordeal – our hero hits rock bottom.  Also called “the Black moment” it seems all is lost, that the death of their goal, quest or ideal is imminent.  But they get through it by strength and cunning.  National Treasure is littered with mini-black moments, from Ben’s capture by the FBI, to Ian finally seizing the Declaration, to Ian kidnapping Ben’s father and finally making their way to Trinity Church, to where the Templar treasure may (or may not) be.
• Seizing the Reward – Having survived the Supreme Ordeal, the hero takes possession of the treasure they’ve been seeking, their Reward.  This can be something physical (treasure, a new planet) or intangible (knowledge and experience that leads to greater understanding, a reconciliation with hostile forces).  In a romance, this could also mean the heroine throwing caution to the winds and reveling in lovemaking.
• Pursuit on the Way Back – I like to think of this as the ‘oh, crap’ moment where the character wants to return to their Ordinary World.  But of course, they cannot, as things have irrevocably changed forever and they have to deal with the consequences of confronting the dark forces.  If they haven’t reconciled with a parent, the gods or an enemy, they may come after after him.  Quite often, this can be the hero and heroine doing what it takes to make the other one happy.
• Death and Resurrection - This is often a second life and death situation, almost a replay of the death and rebirth of the Supreme Ordeal.  It’s a kind of final exam for the hero, who must be tested once more to see if he has learned the lessons of the Supreme Ordeal.  At this point, the hero might say the big “I love you” and be prepared for rejection or non-reciprocation of the feelings.  Whatever the task, he is transformed by these moments of death and rebirth, reborn as a new being with new insights.  Example: when Ben, Riley, Abigail and Thomas are stuck underground, no way of escape and are confronted by what seems is an empty room where the treasure used to be.  Ben slowly realizes that his whole life has been spent chasing a non-existent treasure.  The resurrection is, of course, a couple of simple clues that prove that the treasure really does exist.
• Return with the Elixir – The hero returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless unless they brings back some Elixir, or lesson from the Special World.  In National Treasure it literally is the treasure, but in other stories it could be a healing potion, love, freedom or even just knowledge, wisdom or experience.  In a romance, the heroine’s Elixir is the hero and his love.

Important things to remember about the Hero’s Journey:

• it’s a framework that should be fleshed out with the details and surprises of the individual story.
• The structure should not call attention to itself, nor should it be followed too precisely.
• The order of the stages are only one of many possible variations.
• You don’t have to give equal page space to each stage.  You may find your “refusal of the call” runs just a couple of paragraphs and “Approach to the innermost cave” is a chapter.  That’s up to you.
• the stages can be deleted, added to and drastically shuffled without losing any of their power.
• The values of the Journey are what’s important.

So, you can chose your method here to give you some solid idea of where your story is going.  I normally use The Hero’s Journey, but only as a comparison after I’ve fleshed out the basic idea of my story, to ensure I’ve hit the important points.  And my basic story is around 5 pages of synopsis, starting with the who/what/why/where/when for both the hero and heroine, then just a cause and effect: ‘this happens, then this happens, which causes the character to do this.’  I then go back in and follow the romance thread, ensuring I foreshadow the attraction, the conflict and the growth of the romantic relationship.  Third pass and I check to make sure any gaping holes have been addressed e.g. if the heroine is estranged from her parents, do I need to mention their return.  Fourth pass and I ensure all the emotional questions have been resolved, things like the hero coming to terms with his brother’s death, bitter first divorce or an emotional scar that had first impacted on him at the beginning of the story.

Whew!  That’s it for now.  Later in the week, I’ll talk about how I actually write down the basic plot.

A Novel in 3 months – week 1 (preparation and more on GMC)

It occurred to me that while you’re all busily writing and wondering whether your characters’ GMC is strong enough (yes, I’m talking to you!) I should provide a few examples from movies that I love.  Interestingly (as you’ll see), none of these are actual romances   That doesn’t matter – GMC is GMC, not matter what kind of story you’re writing!  So here I’ve blatantly lifted from my own GMC workshop notes from a few years back.

Goal – (also known as desire or want)

• Characters should want what they don’t yet have.  Those who simply want more of what they already have do not make for strong characters.   Characters can outwardly show that they’re just wanting more of what they have – money, power, property, but if the reader knows it’s not all, she will keep reading.  There’s a multitude of ways you can indicate to the reader that they are more than just a playboy, a billionaire with money to burn, an unfeeling perfectionist cop, a best friend joker with loads of girlfriends.
• Characters who want something and are denied it will take action.
• Action creates plot, which is imperative for a novel.
• Goals should be important enough for the characters to act against their best interests and out of their comfort zone.  The consequences of not achieving the goal will be unpleasant (unpleasant can mean embarrassing, fatal, heartbreaking, financial ruin).  Falling in love can also be unpleasant if the character wants to avoid falling in love.
• Goals are not always achieved.  If your character wants something badly enough e.g. a certain man, she may not get what she wants, rather get what she deserves, e.g. another man and her real true love.

Example from Ice Age:
Manny (the mammoth) wants to be left alone.  Diego (the sabretooth tiger) wants the baby for his pack leader.

Example from National Treasure:
Ben Gates wants the Templar treasure.

Example from Cars:
Lightning McQueen wants to get out of Radiator Springs

Motivation (aka drive or back story)

• Is the most important of the three.  Anything is possible for a character as long as you explain why.  If you fail to give the reader enough motivation, you will lose credibility and your readership.
• It means knowing your characters inside out.  Their actions should be in character, justifiable and their reasons clear to the reader.  This will let them (and you!) maintain integrity.  E.g. if hero comes from a violent background, he may avoid picking fights.
• helps the reader empathise with your characters.
• When a character wants something badly enough, the reader will want it too.
• Emotion = Motivation (i.e. what the character feels makes them move to do something or act on something).  E.g. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – we see Charlie’s poor home life and how much this seemingly little thing would mean to him.  Put that up against the rest of the kids like Veruca Salt, who just wants more of what she has.
• The higher the stakes, the greater the emotional impact.  Doesn’t have to be life or death, but can feel like that to the character.
• Motivation is individual – what motivates one, may not another.  Psychology tells us if a child suffers trauma after the age of five, then they are more than likely be able to overcome the trauma to lead a relatively normal life.  If they suffer before five, then they probably will not.  For example, JD Robb’s Eve Dallas.
• Think about the prime motivating force in your character’s life – what motivates them to do something?  For personal gain – why?  For family – why?
• Weave in motivation with back story so the reader can put it together as it appears in importance in the story.
• Motivation is many-stranded.  Sometimes the character has no idea why, but the reader may know more.

Example from Ice Age:
Manny wants to be left alone because he already lost his mate and child and doesn’t want to go through that pain again.  Diego wants the baby for his pack leader because he needs to be part of the herd, to belong.

Example from National Treasure:
Ben Gates wants the Templar treasure because he needs to vindicate his family name.

Example from Cars:
Lightning McQueen wants to get out of Radiator Springs because he needs to win the Piston Cup, an accolade he’s been working all his life towards

CONFLICT  (aka trouble, tension, roadblock)

• Drives the plot and motivates the characters.
• Provides pace to the story.
• Must be relevant to the plot.
• Must be believable and strong enough to sustain the story for the length of the novel.
• Must be a driving force and unavoidable.
• It is the struggle against someone or something in which the outcome is in doubt.
• It is bad things happening to good people, and bad things happening to bad people.
• Box your characters in.  If they walk away from the conflict then tie them to it.  e.g. marriage of convenience

External conflict is someone doing something to your characters .e.g. someone actively taking away your possessions.  Can be a person, an intolerable situation or an act of God.

Internal conflict is intangible e.g. it is worrying about someone taking away your posessions; Is the inner struggle within the characters; Is fighting attraction, which in turn raises the emotions.  Change stirs emotion, which stirs internal conflict.

Sources of conflict can also stem from archetypical plots:

• The homemaker and the traveller
• Mentor and protégé
• Bad boy and good girl, or bad girl/good boy
• Boss and assistant
• Cowboy and lady
• Cop and lady, or cop and gentleman
• good v’s evil
• Reunion/lovers reunited
• Secret baby
• Cinderella/Pygmalion
• Beauty and the beast (and vice versa)
• Marriage of convenience, mail order bride, citizenship required
• Disguise (pretending to be something they are not)

Example from Ice Age:
Manny’s external goal is: retain the status quo/be alone
Why?    Because he lost his mate and child to hunters and doesn’t want to experience that pain/loss again
Manny’s internal goal is: family and love
Does he know this? No.  His external goal is in direct opposition to his internal goal.

Diego’s external goal is: Get the baby
Why? So he can please his pack leader / in his nature
Diego’s internal goal is: acceptance and friendship (shown to full impact when Manny puts his life on the line to rescue him from the lava. When Diego, clearly shocked, asks:  “Why would you do that?”  Manny says, “Because that’s what herds do. They look out for each other.”)
Does he know this? No.  His external goal is in direct opposition to his internal goal.

Example from Cars:
Lightning McQueen’s external goal is: to get out of Radiator Springs
Why? So he can win the Piston Cup, an accolade he’s been working all his life towards
Lightning McQueen’s internal goal is: friendship and acceptance (we get a glimpse of this when his agent wants to send tickets to his friends for the race and Lightning can’t think of anyone).
Does he know this? No.  His external goal is in direct opposition to his internal goal.

"I'm not going without the Declaration!"

Example from National Treasure:
Ben Gates’ external goal is: to find the Templar Treasure
Why? because he needs to vindicate his family name.
Ben Gates’ internal goal is: respect (we get a glimpse of this – via great use of dialogue – in the opening scene when colleague-turned-baddy Ian Howe says to Ben: “I understand your bitterness, I really do. You’ve spent your entire life searching for this treasure only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family with mockery and contempt.”).
Does he know this? I suspect Ben does on a certain level, but it’s expressed more as family honor/vindication.  However, if we take another of Ben’s goals – stop the Declaration of Independence from falling into the wrong hands – we have now one of his external goals (steal the Declaration) in direct opposition to his internal goal (honor/respect).

So, now a few dot points in summary:

• Force the character to face his darkest flaw.
• Emotion vs. Logic = Conflict (e.g. your character feels lust (emotion), but labels it as revenge (Logic).  This rationalises his motivation and actions).
• As the plot thickens and the main characters struggle, the reader’s involvement in the story also intensifies (throw roadblocks in front of the character).

Happy writing!

A Novel in 3 months – week 1 (preparation)

Last Movie Watched: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Latest Song on the iPod: Beyond The Sea by Robbie Williams

So starts my series of weekly posts on writing a novel in three months.  These are a comprehensive approach to the way I write a book but there’s one caveat – it’s my way which means it may or may not work for you.  It’s by no means the only way of writing, nor is it the best/comfortable/logical for everyone.  But with every book I write, I come to better understand my process, the how I write, which in turn, curbs my annoying habit of procrastinating when a deadline looms.

I’m a plotter by necessity: my editor needs to know what my story’s about before a contract is offered.   This doesn’t mean the story cannot veer from its original synopsis – generally, if I make it work, everyone’s happy.  And for me, having a synopsis/story outline is like driving with a map.  Without one, I may get to where I’m going but there’s going to be a hell of a lot of detours, time wasted on wrong turns and the inevitable doubling back.  Takes me twice as long so you can see, I’d rather not waste all that writing time!

So let’s begin, shall we?

Preparation

I’m going to assume you have your writing space and time carved out, ready to write.  So the first thing that comes to mind for me are my main characters, specifically, the hero and heroine.  Their names may (and often do!) change, but generally, their occupations, goal/s, motivation and conflict don’t.  So, in around 1-2 pages, I fill in the following:

BOOK TITLE: Don’t stress about this – I normally just call it after the character’s names to start.

HOOK/S: (e.g. boss/secretary romance, marriage of convenience, secret baby, lovers reunited etc).  For single title writers, this can be your ‘high concept’ line – e.g. male Beauty and female Beast in Regency England.  Crime-solving Ghost Whisperer set in New York.   Ex-CIA female assassin must save the world from a vampire President.

SETTING: where the story takes place

TIMEFRAME: over what months/years the actual book takes place

BRIEF BACK COVER BLURB DESCRIPTION: think two paragraphs of short, sharp grab – if you get stuck, head off to the local bookstore or go online to read up on some already-published blurbs.

HERO NAME: age, height, hair/eye color, physical description, family affiliations, career, basic character traits

HERO’S GMC: goal (what they want most in life), motivation (why they want it) conflict (who/what is standing in their way).

Let’s talk about this for a bit.  A goal is a want or  a desire and can be either internal or external… preferably both.  External is generally something tangible (money, house, new job, family or person); internal is something inside the character they may not even know they’re striving for (true love, belonging, acceptance).  A while back I did a workshop on GMC (I’ll post  notes on my website shortly!) and made a comprehensive list of wants.  They go something like this:

• Freedom
• Adventure
• Unconditional Love
• Honour
• Acceptance
• Money/wealth
• Family
• Status quo
• Status
• Respect
• Revenge
• Justice
• Power
• Security/home
• Knowledge

Motivation – is all about why they do what they do.  I keep a quote above my computer: “the key to strong motivation lies in the character’s past”.  Characters can and do make choices that readers wouldn’t make themselves, and the key to keeping that reader  vested in your story, you must lay down enough groundwork (i.e. backstory), for them to understand and empathize with those decisions.

Conflict – This isn’t about fighting, arguments or bickering between your characters, but rather obstacles or roadblocks in your character’s way. It can be a difference of beliefs (he’s a vampire, she’s doesn’t believe the undead should have rights), loyalties (she wants revenge for her father’s death, he killed her father), lifestyle choices (she wants kids, he doesn’t) or even differing goals (she wants to find the Atlantis treasure to pay off her dead husband’s debts, he wants to share history with the world).

HERO’S CORE BELIEF:  This is extremely important, especially when you come to write your black moment/redemption scene.  A ‘core belief” is a statement or motto your character lives by which they believe to be true.  for e.g. “Love means losing control”,   “happiness cannot be bought” or “all non-humans are an abomination and must be eliminated”.  It doesn’t mean it is true, only that they believe it to be so.  And this comes about through good and bad events in their lives which then shapes their choices (both subconscious and conscious) , influences their career, love interest/s and the way they interact with friends, family and colleagues.  We see this happen in real life through children who’ve been abandoned, abused, gone through trauma… and even ones who’ve had a comparatively uneventful childhood.  And so it should be for your characters.  For example, Cal Prescott’s core belief in The Magnate’s Baby Promise was “walking away is not an option”, a deeply ingrained belief that he has to address by the end of the book.

HEROINE NAME: same as per above.

HEROINE’S CORE BELIEF: same as per above.

I also like to use visuals on my WIP board – the h/h’s homes, anything important to the story, and of course, actual photos of what they look like.  Currently, I have a picture of Zac’s yummy Gold Coast apartment, a pair of to-die-for high heel sandals that he buys my heroine, Emily, and what I envision they look like – Eddie Cahill (left, as Zac) and a cute blonde model (Emily) I found in the Ezibuy catalogue

So that’s your task for this week.  Your characters.  I’d love to have some of you post your summaries.  If you have any questions or get stuck, feel free to yell and I’ll do my best to answer!

What do you want to achieve in 2010?

Last Movie Watched: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Latest Song on The Ipod: Desensitized by Invertigo

Every month when my writing group meet, we’ve gotten into the habit of setting writing goals.  We check what’s been done that current month,  then set our goals for the next one.  We may not achieve all we’ve set out to do but it does ensure we get at least something done.  And every December we devote some time to goal setting for the following year.

I never used to set goals.  “I can’t tie myself down to a list,” was one excuse.  “I can’t be bothered,” or “I’ll never meet them anyway,” were two more.  But if you want to achieve something – writing a book, plotting a series, saving up for that holiday – then you need to have a plan.

So, how to set your goals.  By following the SMART rule:

Specific:  “I will complete my next historical manuscript by October.”
Measurable:  “I will write x amount of words a week.”
Attainable:  “I will get published this year” is NOT in your hands, so committing to this is a fast track to failure.  Instead, focus on what you can control – your word count, where and when  you submit your book, spending x hours on your writing.
Realistic:  saying “I’ll write a chapter a day, every day” may seem like a noble goal, but if you have kids, a partner, sick relatives, a full-time job, etc, you may be overstretching.  I write during school hours and after the gym, so realistically, my writing time is from 10.30-2.30pm, Monday to Friday.    I have done midnight stretches when I’m on an editing deadline but I really hate doing that so I’m aiming to plan a bit better this year. I also like to use a weekly page goal, so I don’t beat myself up if life intervenes and stops me from writing every day.
Timely: give yourself a time frame or limit to aim for – by next week, next month, before conference.

So, for example, “I will write a chapter a week, and complete the first draft of my 50k manuscript by June. “

While I make my goals for primarily writing-related things, you can apply it to almost anything – “I will exercise at least 3 times a week and cut down to one cup of coffee a day.”  “I will tackle one drawer a day and have my wardrobe spring cleaned by the end of the month.”

Another important aspect of goal setting is to WRITE IT DOWN  – on a list above the computer, in a diary, Outlook, wall calendar.  Or, if you’re like me, all of them   If I can’t see it, I forget about it.  You can also enlist your partner/parent/writing group to keep you on track.  But ensure you pose limits on their well-meaning, “have you written/gone to the gym/drunk your coffee today?”  Because there’s nothing worse than someone who nags you about stuff you know you should be doing

So, my goals.  Since reading Vicki Hinze’s most excellent To-Do List (reprinted here in Melinda Goodwin’s article) I have a few to focus on each year.   They are:

Writing/Sales

• I’ll complete two books by the end of school term 3 (October)
• I’ll finish a new proposal and begin querying agents by June

Promotion

• I will post to my blog at least every two weeks
• I will design and develop two new promotional products for RWA’s conference (August)

Business

• I’ll attend RWA’s national conference in August
• I’ll enrol in Theresa Meyer’s “Developing your Author Brand” on-line workshop (Feb)
• I’ll visit Harlequin’s Sydney office (Jan) and become more familiar with their roles and responsibilities

Craft Education (developing/strengthening skills)

• I will seek out online courses and/or workshops to develop my world-building skills
• I’ll begin a series of weekly blog posts on writing a book in three months (also listed under Outreach)

Reading

• I’ll read at least two new-to-me authors

Outreach (helping others)

• I will judge for at least one RWAust contest
• I will read for RWAmerica’s RITA contest
• I’ll begin a series of weekly blog posts on writing a book in three months

Whew!  So there you have it.  My goals for this year.  Feel free to use my headings to set your own goals, and even make a mission statement about what you want to achieve this year.  I’d love to hear yours!

hoo-ha in Presents Land

Last movie watched: Little Miss Sunshine
Playing right now on the iPod: Boys of Summer by Don Henley

Okay, so I should be doing line edits for my latest book,  but I simply couldn’t not read all about the storm brewing over on IHeartPresents.  Running a writing contest is not easy (done that), nor is judging or entering (yeah, done that a bajillion times too).  But when the winners to their “Harlequin Presents Writing Competition 2009” were announced, what started out as a ‘yay, congratulations!’ thread quickly denigrated into insults, snarkism, sour grapes and/or just down-right nasty name calling.

Now, the rules did state that published authors could enter (including Harlequin authors) as long as they weren’t currently under contract, which has been a big bone of contention with many commenters.  Now, when you talk about ‘being under contract’, it means that you have yet to fulfill your current obligations within a contract.  For e.g. mine read that I need to deliver a proposal, then a full manuscript by a due date.  Once done, I have x amount of days to deliver any revisions and/or line edits.  I will  get paid within this time frame.  So, I have fulfilled my contract when I’ve finished my final edits and my editor has received it in his inbox AND I’ve been paid for my hard work.   End of contract.

I find it disheartening that many commenters chose to attack the published winners, even going so far as to say that because they weren’t sufficiently excited enough, they didn’t deserve to win.  I’m sorry but excitement is personal – and this comes from having a very English stiff-upper lip father who’s idea of enthusiasm is saying, ‘yes, that’s pretty good’.  (I swear, he’d still say that if I discovered world peace tomorrow!)

I’ve been through the massive treadmill of contests.  I’ve been a judge, and entrant, a contest manager.  I’ve made contest policy, critique sheets and had the most horrific of feedback imaginable.  Setbacks make us stronger.  One of my favorite quotes?   The difference between a published author and an unpublished one is that the unpublished one gave up.

Be nice to yourselves these holidays and remember, we are romance writers.  Spread the love!

National Treasure, how I love thee…

Playing on the iPod right now: Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

National Treasure (starring the fabulous Nicholas Cage) is one of my favorite action/adventure/romance movies ever. It and #2 are all I’ve been watching these last few weeks (when my 9yo loves a movie, he looooooves it.  All I can say is thank God for DVDs).

What’s there NOT to love? A treasure map, conspiracy theories, gripping action, bad guys, cute good guys, family conflict and romance.  It’s great clean fun, no swearing (I counted one ‘bloody’ in the first movie) so it’s a great way to involve my son in all that fab American history, which I adore.  He’s been googling “Declaration of Independence”, “US Presidents” and “American Constitution”, much to my delight.  He even pop quizzes me – “Mummy, who was the first person to suggest daylight saving?” (answer – Benjamin Franklin).  And yes, I also admit to a bit of a girly crush on geeky Riley Poole (aka Justin Bartha).  He has the best lines!

I’m doubly thrilled to see that they’re making National Treasure 3 in 2011.  I can’t wait!

Time’s a wastin’ (but I’m getting an education!)

Just spent the last 5 days reading various blogs and websites that are covering the Harlequin Horizons furor.  Okay, I’m not going to get into my personal opinion of this, but if you feel the desire to spend a few hundred hours on the internet  to further your knowledge of publishing, vanity presses, self-publishing and human nature when confronted by personal and professional insults (e.g. the “car crash but can’t look away!” stoush involving Ms Nora Roberts) then here’s a few sites covering it:

• Smart Bitches Trashy Novels (be prepared – there’s over 700 comments here but well worth the read!)
• Dear Author (which includes the response from Harlequin rep, Malle Vallik)
• Jackie Kessler (succinct summary of the whole thing)
• Pub Rants (agent’s take on it)
• Chip MacGregor
• and my personal favorite that made me scream with laughter, Small Beer Press.

You can also read the statements by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and Novels Inc.

And now, enough rubber necking.  Back to my edits.

Sojourn to Surfers

the pristine Broadbeach sand

For many of you Aussie natives, Queensland’s Gold Coast is a popular summer holiday destination.  As a kid, I remember taking the 1 hour flight nearly every year – we even celebrated Christmas there once, at the wonderfully retro Pink Poodle motel

With Seaworld and Movieworld, pristine beaches and glorious summer weather in mid-October, it truly is the perfect budget getaway.  So off me and my boy went, spending 6 days at Broadbeach, just south of Surfers Paradise.  We shopped at Pacific Fair, we built sandcastles (well, I built a sand-mermaid that garnered attention and photos from visiting Japanese tourists!) and of course, we frequented the theme parks.  Mister 9yo won a massive plush Nemo in the first five minutes at Dreamworld, we flew in a helicopter at Seaworld and we mucked about on the rides and water attractions at Movieworld.

the residents at Seaworld

We also got a tour of the Broadbeach police station because, well, we’d never been in one before.  Constable Nick was lovely, showing us the office, the place where they hold the bad guys and out the back where they have the paddy wagons and the cool beach buggy patrol car thingys (which you need a special licence for, apparently).  Here’s some happy snaps for you all to enjoy.

I also did some heavy thinking about my next book, which will be – yes! – Zac’s story.  I alluded to this runaway black sheep of the powerful Prescott family in The Magnate’s Baby Promise and after some very pleasant research of the Gold Coast and Currumbin, I’m excited to be getting his story out of my head and down on paper.  It will be an office/secret mistress romance, with lots of juicy conflict and emotional baggage for him and Emily   Cal and Ava will make an appearance too, and finally get their gorgeous wedding in Jindalee.

Finished my 4th book!

Many a time when I’m writing a book I feel a bit like this cartoon, so out of necessity I’ve planned every book since the first one.  I have whiteboards, pin boards, Blu-tak for those snippets I managed to jot down, Document Map, art boards.   And after you pass that “this sucks!  I HATE IT!” moment and finally finish the thing, it’s a wonderful feeling, attaching that email to my editor then sending it off into cyberspace

This one is part of the Outback Billionaires and Babies miniseries.  Two of my fellow Down Under Desirabelles, Maxine Sullivan and Robyn Grady are paving the way in April and May, and mine will be out in June.  I called it “Baby Bombshell” and my Senior Editor seemed to like it, so fingers crossed it appears somewhere in the title.   I’m also hoping there’s gorgeous Ayers Rock as part of the cover because there’s a very significant lovescene in the book where my hero literally sweeps my heroine off her feet (and onto the table… you get the picture )

Vanilla Fountain bath bomb

I do celebrate finishing-the-damn-book and today, the first day of school holidays, I went to our local shopping center and went a bit wild (shhh, don’t tell Visa – I already owe more than what I have in my savings!)  At the very-aptly-named Lush, my absolute favorite store in Australia, I bought Vanilla Fountain bath bomb, Blue Skies bath frothy, Vanilla Dee-Lite body lotion and a yummy shower fizzy called Up the Wooden Hill.

Then I went into City Chic and bought a snazzy glitzy top (no, that’s not me there… but she is gorgeous!), plus a hoodie (love hoodies!) for the warmer weather coming up.  Normally I buy a bag but have been bag-satiated for the last few months on account of my birthday handbag.

So I was thinking as I cursed, wrote, smiled, wrote, cried, wrote then cursed some more, that even though I hate pressure, pressure is what gets me writing every time.   I write during school hours – 9.30am until 2.30pm, five days a week.  I don’t write on weekends and I can’t write during school holidays.  But I had a good six months to write this book, but events conspired to steal my time.  Like being quarantined from school for swine flu (no we didn’t have it, but my folks came back from Canada, so…)   Then we both got the flu for real.  Another two weeks.  Then my boy got chicken pox – another two weeks.  Then he had a spate of colds and muscle injuries (the latter of which I suspect were more of a con to get out of school than anything major).  So those six months dwindled down to something considerably shorter.   Which includes the time I spent “piss-balling about” (my dad’s phrase which I believe has ancient English origins ).  But it was also a productive piss-ball, because I made it into Stella Cameron’s Scarlett Boa contest with an erotic paranormal I’ve been tinkering with oh, this past year or so.  Mucho Snoopy dancing here!  You can read my entry  here and vote for it here.

Okay, so after all that drama and stuff, I had an interesting revelation.  Maybe I can write one book every school term – four a year?

Or am I now jinxing myself by saying it out loud?  Other authors do it… but then they don’t have a boy who’s an extremely convincing actor.

covers!

Sticking my head up from writing (1st October deadline and 100 pages to go!) to share some pretty new international covers.  They are (left) Forgotten Marriage in Czechoslovakian – where I am officially known as Paula Roeova   Middle is Boardrooms & A Billionaire Heir for Germany and right is for Greece. Pretty cool, huh?