A few months ago, my husband and I were browsing through a bookstore and he found a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.  Despite his poor track record for finishing books (he averages maybe one per year) he bought it.  He read the first two chapters, then put the book down and forgot all about it.  Being the thrifty person that I am, I couldn’t stand for the book to go unread after having plunked down $7.99 for it.  So, despite the fact that I’d read it back in high school and not thought much of it, I picked it up.  And, from the first line, I was hooked.  What an amazing voice.  How had I missed this back in high school? (more…)

My beta reader, Margie, has been encouraging me to add more humor to my writing. You’re funny, she insisted. Just try.

Just try? How does one “try” to be funny? If it doesn’t come out naturally, it seemed to me that it shouldn’t come out at all. But she’s a smart woman, so I decided to give it a shot. I borrowed “The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You’re Not” by John Vorhaus, and set about learning how to be more like Jennie Cruisie. (more…)

I was thinking about the success of the romance genre the other day. Bear with me for a moment. My thoughts tend to circle lately.

I have two “apprentices” right now. One of them is starting to query and submit and one of them is working on completing her first full-length manuscript. I volunteered to work with these aspiring authors because I had a mentor who coached me for nearly two years as I struggled through my first book. (more…)

It’s the Friday Free-For-All, y’all!  Our open forum for discussion of all things writing and romance.  Any questions you have, just throw them into the mix and brace yourself for the onslaught of helpful Rubies. (more…)

I once left a book I was reading in the refrigerator. Really. Not kidding. The grapefruit juice was in the back of the fridge and I needed both hands to get to it. I swear I only meant to put the book down for a second. My mind was on the story, not the juice. I got my drink, put the carton back in the fridge, went back to my reading chair . . . and the book wasn’t there!

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And I don’t mean of the alcoholic variety.  Although rum punch wouldn’t be such a bad thing when we are facing revision. Instead I am talking about adding spice, pizzazz, a certain something that makes the reader say, “Now that was good!” (more…)

We all know that a noun is the subject of a sentence and used to name a person, place or thing. And, in any line, the noun holds the main meaning. But nouns also have another function. They make the picture a writer desires to covey vivid.  Let’s look at a few examples where I’ve changed up the nouns. (more…)

While exchanging e-mails with a friend in New York whom I’ve never actually met (That’s weird, right?  I have more friends now than I’ve ever had in my entire life, and most I’ve never met), I wrote something quite profound.  I love it when that happens.  I hate it when that happens.  I like to save the profound stuff for my manuscripts.  I’d been grappling with a blog topic.  I feel like I’m always grappling with a blog topic.  My own personal blog has been neglected like my housework and houseplants.  And my husband, or so he tells me.

I was writing my NY friend about my Golden Heart manuscript—my self-absorbed, self-indulgent subject of choice.  Pleasant Lake P.D. was only the second manuscript I ever wrote (My first was a futuristic, intergalactic mail-order-bride story.  We all have one.  Don’t pretend like you don’t.).  I wrote Pleasant Lake before I joined the RWA or my local chapter of the RWA.  I spilled words on the page with no thought to grammar, punctuation, or writing rules (Rules and my disdain for them is a subject for another blog).  The equivalent of throwing handfuls of paint at a blank canvas and calling it art.  Works for me. 

What did I say to my pal that was so profound?  I told her the manuscript was a way to exercise my creative muscle and exorcise my personal demons.  Clever.  Who knew? 

At the time I wrote Pleasant Lake, I hadn’t really entertained the thought of publication or the possibility someone might ever read my incoherent ramblings that read more like a manifesto for my psychiatrist to analyze and determine the likelihood that I might harm myself or others.  I certainly wouldn’t want strangers to read about my bumbling heroine or her trail of catastrophic relationships. The truth is, I don’t want people I do know to read about my hapless heroine and her phobias, foibles, and trail of failures.  What if they thought she was based on me?  Why do contest judges call me crass, flippant, and snarky?  It’s not me.  It’s my heroine.  I swear. 

The point is (I know.  Get to the point already.), it was a no holds barred, in your face, over-the-top, expression of my creativity.  If I thought it, I wrote it.    Will she fly in the published world, or will she be edited to shreds, my neurosis, snark, and F-bombs sent to the recycle bin?  Can I recreate the magic in another book now that I know the writing rules?  Or will my inner editor tell me “You can’t do that.”

How do you flex your creative muscle?  Keep a journal?  Collage?  Dissect the work of your favorite author?  Take workshops?  Read How To books?  Interview your characters until you know them better than you know your own children?  Sit at the airport and guess where passengers are going and why?

Welcome to the Ruby Slippered Sisters Free-for-All Friday!

I thought for this Friday we could discuss what makes good dialogue and have an open forum for questions and suggestions on dialogue problems. I love crisp, snappy dialogue that keeps the reader on the edge of her seat. Great comebacks are the best. Observations dripping with sarcasm are just fun. One of my personal favorites when it comes to sexy dialogue is Julia Quinn. She can curl my toes with one line and have me laughing out loud with the next. And can we ever forget the line from Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series where Joe Morelli says, “Nice dress. Take it off.”

Sigh…

And in case you’re wondering, I love examples. I learn by example, which explains my love of them. So feel free to give examples from your own work that you are particularly proud of or examples from your favorite authors, giving proper kudos to him or her naturally.

A major perk of teaching third grade is story time.  The kids stake out their spots on the carpet and get comfy.  I perch on my stool, turn to page one, and begin reading.  Before long, the story works its magic on all of us. (more…)