The Art of Acknowledgement

by Joanne Rock

I was reading something in the Guardian online yesterday and got tugged into reading an article called- excuse the somberness- regrets of the dying. Now, that’s not normally something that would get a double click from my mouse, but there was a sweet picture of a wrinkled hand holding a strong, youthful one and the emotional author in me was hooked. I had to take a peek to make sure I wasn’t going to have any regrets on my way out. You can guess most of them—I shouldn’t have worked so much, I should have followed my dreams—but one that really caught my attention was a wish to have kept in touch with old friends.

Writers are fortunate to have a secret, powerful weapon that helps them do just that. Not many other professions encourage “acknowledgements” each time you finish a piece of work, but upon completing a novel for publication, writers are asked to recognize the people who have helped them on their journey. Every time I’ve penned a dedication, I’ve thought about how lucky I am to be able to publicly reflect like this.

From The Wedding Audition by Catherine Mann & Joanne Rock

It’s a huge treat for me, for one thing. It nudges me to be introspective for a few hours and really think about who has helped me to come up with an idea or who inspired me to write. I’ve acknowledged high school English teachers, bloggers, other writers, family members and yes… old friends. I’ve penned dedications to women who cheered me on personally and professionally, girlfriends who cheered me up when life got too difficult, and mentors who showed me how to do things better, faster or more efficiently. People who’ve made an important impact on my life and my happiness.

I also like to think this tradition is a treat for the people who are recognized. Actually, I can attest that is an honor because I’ve been named in friends’ books as a helper in the story process and it always makes me walk a little taller. Plus, it touches my heart to be valued that way, and to have a friend use that limited space to give a shout out to me. When my first book came out and I mentioned my English teachers in the dedication, I had fun sending them a copy of my debut along with a letter telling them how much they inspired me. I hoped that my enthusiasm would help make up for the fact that some kids occasionally yawn in their classes (who could yawn during a lesson on the Romantic Poets??) and it was just plain fun.

Win my June release!

Knowing how cool it’s been to send out acknowledgements into the world, I guess I wanted to share the idea with anyone who hasn’t written a book and had the thrill of penning a dedication. You can still write a letter to tell someone who inspired you that you still remember their awesome contribution to your life. That their words meant a lot to you or helped you grow, change, see the world a little differently.  Your old friends, mentors, teachers or family members will be touched to be recognized, and the joy you spread will sure make you smile too.

***Who came to mind right away when I mentioned someone who has inspired you? Share with me this week in the comments and I'll send one random commenter a copy of my June Harlequin Desire release, Rancher in Her Bed. 

The Power of Play

by Joanne Rock

I came across some interesting research notes this past summer. 

Now, don’t yawn yet.  I know the word “research” comes packed with stuffy connotations.  But the reading I’ve been doing lately has affected my thoughts in so many ways and on so many different levels that I can’t help but share.

Quick background – I participated in a study group at the university where I used to teach. We read a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. It’s pop science in the Gladwell tradition—lots of vignettes and examples that make the science fast paced and reader-friendly. I thought it would be helpful to read the book for two reasons, to learn how to better motivate students and to learn how to better motivate myself.    

But I got a whole lot more than that.

Sure, the stuff on autonomous motivation was helpful. And I liked the idea of getting away from the rewards/punishments idea (extrinsic motivation) since it doesn’t always work for me.  But then I found a section on creativity, turning our work into play whenever possible, and finding ways to stay engaged with our work. Does that sound fun to you? Sure did to me. I’d like to make my job feel more like play. 

Citing noted psychology professor Mihayl Csikszentmihalyi, “once we realize that the boundaries

between work and play are artificial, we can take matters in hand and begin the difficult task of making life more livable.”  For inspiration on how to play, the same source (I won’t spell his name twice!) suggests we look at the children around us, who are engaged with the “work” of childhood, exploring their environment and learning boundaries through play. At some point, we forget how to do this effectively. We shut down some of that natural curiosity in an effort to earn grades, earn adult approval, and become socialized.  But we lose something in the process, something we all need to recover.

I’m still figuring out how to best incorporate more play into my work and leisure life. I think the answers are as unique as we all are.  Still, maybe we could learn from each other today. I think the easier task is to identify more ways to play.  What activities do you miss that you used to really enjoy as a kid?  Maybe the lesson there is—don’t wait for your kids to ask you to color or play on the swing. You can still pursue those activities now, or pursue them in a way that appeals to you as you’ve aged. For instance, bungee jumping might be your new swing. Watercolor lessons might be your new brand of coloring. A few revamped strategies might bring you a new level of fulfillment and engagement, a new energy that will spill over into the rest of your life. 

Because once we can identify more ways to play in our leisure time, I think it will follow that we’ll start to see ways to play at work. After all, more play in general will make us more creative, so the answers are there and just waiting to be discovered by our new and improved thinking skills. Can you make your work more social by starting an online group interested in the same facets of the job as you? Can you subscribe to a publication in a career that complements yours to see what kinds of researching they’re doing in a related field? Can you make a movie about your work? Mentor someone? Find a mentor? Take a professional detour? The goals don’t have to immediate. You just have to mine your field for the things that inspired you to go in that direction in the first place. 

Just think how much fun you could be having….

***Back to leisure time… if you had a free afternoon and weren’t allowed to catch up on laundry or work, in fact you had a mandate that you had to play, what would you do?  Do you already have a dedicated play activity that keeps you energized?  Share with me today and I’ll send a random poster a copy of my holiday Desire story from last Christmas-- His Pregnant Secretary. 

Getting Those Juices Flowing...

No, not those juices! Geesh, where's your mind at?

I'm talking about those creative juices. You know, the inspiration, the ideas, the stuff needed to breathe life into stories.

Writing is a pretty solitary job. I mean, think about it—we sit in front of a computer all day, putting those snippets of scenes that flash through our minds onto our version of paper. We'll stare off into space, watching our own imaginary world unfold—while anyone who sees us doing that is thinking we're probably having some kind of break from reality. And okay, maybe we are. Not necessarily a bad thing, right?

We create characters, real live people (to us and—if done right—to the readers) with their own hopes and dreams and fears and interactions.

But when it comes to interacting in real life? Hmm…maybe not so much. When your job involves living in a make-believe world, shut away from the real one while you create your own, you don't always have time to "hang out". Then throw in the fact that quite a few writers also happen to be introverts and…well, you get the picture.

Creative juices are flowing in Nashville!

That's why writers love hanging around other writers. Have you ever been to a conference or booksigning, near the beginning during set-up? It's a huge hug-fest, with lots of smiles and laughter and talking. That's because writers get writers. It's normal to stare off into space (sometimes in the middle of a conversation). It's normal to talk about a character and her problems and issues and goals as if she was a real live person (because, you know, she is). Other writers get that, in a way nobody else can.

And that's why writers' retreats are the next best thing to falling into a vat of chocolate. You can sit down, discuss ideas, talk about those real characters. Plan and vent and rant and bounce ideas off each other. Get a group of writers together and that plot bump you've been struggling with suddenly disappears. Get a group of writers together and the inspiration and motivation takes off like that proverbial runaway train.

I just got back from a writers' retreat—this one in Nashville, with four fantastic ladies who kick some serious butt when it comes to inspiration and motivation. We're all at different stages in our careers but that doesn't matter—because we're writers.

Enjoying some downtime in Nashville--all in the name of research, of course!

And no, it wasn't all business. I mean, we were in Nashville—of course we're going to go out and play. And we did—from eating popcorn and watching Beauty and the Beast in our pj's, to hitting Opry Mills Mall and eating German food, to seeing the Grand Ole Opry and hitting up a honky tonk or three on lower Broadway (alcohol may or may not have been involved). It was a week of bonding, of writing, of bouncing around ideas and creating grand business plans. Of motivation. Of accountability.

Of friendship.

That's the other great thing about writers. Because of our jobs, we don't get a chance to see each other in person very often. But the distance—in both physical location and in time apart—doesn't matter. Months can go by until we see each other again and it doesn't matter. We'll hug and scream and laugh and carry on as if only a day has gone by. Then we'll get right down to business and talk about our characters and problems and inspire one another. Motivate one another.

Kicking it up at the Nashville Palace.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

But for now, I need to get back to my characters and their world. I have a schedule to keep to, and four wonderful ladies who will be kicking my butt if I don't stick to it!

***************

Lisa B. Kamps is currently juggling three series about real characters with real lives and real problems living in her head: The Baltimore Banners, The York Bombers, and Firehouse Fourteen. Her latest title, Second Alarm, is scheduled for release July 26 and can be ordered by clicking here.

To learn more about Lisa, please visit her website or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Turning the Page

by Joanne Rock

My September release!

I started a new book this week and it’s one of the most creatively exciting times for a writer.  It’s always, always something to be jazzed about, and even fifteen years after my first sale, I do not take it for granted that I’m fortunate to write books that already have a home on a publisher’s list, books that readers will be looking for.

There was a time, of course, when that was not the case. And while writing a new book as a pre-published author is exciting, it’s also nerve-wracking wondering “will this be The One? My first sale book?” I can remember so well how much I angsted over each new story set-up, hoping this time I would iron out the problems with the previous story and write a great “can’t put it down” story.

It’s so much harder than it looks. Or at least, I underestimated how difficult it would be when I sat down to write the first story. Good authors make a story unfold so seamlessly. It sounds like they lived the story themselves, gaining access to interesting characters’ minds to retell the tale of how they fell in love against all odds. There is a smooth pace, engaging dialogue and tense moments where you wonder if all is lost. But then, through personal growth and sacrifice, there is a moment of hope. Love triumphs. Often, there are tears and smiles all around.

Today's giveaway

But it’s not easy! And it truly never *becomes* easy. Even after writing seventy-plus romances for Harlequin and a handful for Tule and some Young Adult books, I am positive that writing a book will never happen as fluidly as I once naively imagined it might. Sometimes, a story happens with a bit less gnashing of teeth, but there are always days where I feel like I’ve gone astray with the storytelling and I’ll need to go back and rewrite.

So it’s almost a surprise that—even knowing how many obstacles lie ahead for both myself and my characters—I still get so excited and fluttery-nervous over typing the simple words “Chapter One” at the top of a new page. There is still magic in the process. Still an incredible alchemy that a small idea can snowball into a story that turns complex, difficult, and ultimately satisfying.

I know the process will be hard. But I’m confident at the end, there will be tears and smiles all around.

**

Celebrate my 71st release from Harlequin with me! Pick up Whispers Under a Southern Sky, plus win today's giveaway of Seducing the Matchmaker, a 3-in1 with stories from me, Meg Maguire and Lori Borrill, plus some cute notepads to help you get organized. To enter, just post a note below and let me know what you're reading this month. I just finished A Place We Knew Well by Susan McCarthy and now I'm hoping the postman brings Jill Shalvis' The Trouble With Mistletoe so I can dig into her latest!

The Zone Authors Crave....

As I begin to compose this post, I realized -- and really for the first time since I started posting here -- that my scheduled day IS the beginning day of all four seasons. I never noticed that before! Uh-DUH!!  Worse, I just checked my last post and it was on the Spring Equinox - in MARCH! 

So -- apologies for once again falling off the face of the earth! Since March, I've written another book -- my next Harlequin Historical - Scotland, Highlanders, brave and brawny men and the women who bring them to their knees! All good!  Since March, I suffered the first and second-worst asthma attack of my life -- spring allergies killed me. And since March, I spent 17 days in. . . this place. . . 

Standing Stones at Drombeg

Cliffs of Moher

Poulnabrone Passage tomb

Waterford Castle

Kilmalkedar Church

View from Slea Head

 I spent 17 wonderful days in Ireland -- mostly to see places I need to use in an upcoming book, but also to see Ireland. I spent the first 5 days on my own - driving my little Irish car on LITTLE Irish roads, visiting standing stones, burial cairns and any megalithic site I could find in the north-west coast. Poulnabroune, Knocknarea, Carrowmore and more -- all magical! 

Then I joined up with writer friends to see the south-eastern and central areas - and then we headed for a writers' week on the Dingle peninsula. It was simply incredible - the views were unmatched and I watched some of the most beautiful sunsets ever. We visited neolithic and medieval sites and ruins AND, in a serendipitous twist, spent several hours interviewing the leading archeologist of the area! My thanks to Eileen Dreyer, author and tourguide extraordinaire!, for arranging the "50 Shades of Green" trip....it was everything I could have wanted on my first trip to Ireland. 

But the zone authors crave is not really visiting the location of the next book - though that IS wonderful. It is finding that place in our creative brain where and when the story magic happens. It's the place where the voices stop screaming and begin to tell the story and reveal their secrets. It's the place, for me, where the book writes itself. 

And whether brought on by the magical trip to Ireland and/or the deadline pressure, I came back from my trip and wrote half the book in 2 weeks! The characters spoke to me. The scenes unfolded before my eyes. And best, I reached a place in the story when I had to stuff tissues in the neckline of my pjs because I was crying so much while writing the scenes! I love that place! Writing friends have asked me to take a selfie of it, but that won't happen...! LOL! 

So, my question to you as Summer 2015 begins is - do you have a 'zone'? It could be while doing something you enjoy - reading, a craft, your work? It could be a place you go to 'zone-out' - the beach, the mountains, vacation. It could be any place or space when you lose yourself and just live in that zone.  Post a comment and tell me about it and I'll pick a couple of people who will receive a book and a souvenir from Ireland....! 

 Terri is home now and writing her next book - Blazing Earth - the third in her Stone Circle series for NAL. BTW - the 4th and final book will end at Drombeg Stone Circle in a cataclysmic battle between good and evil for the future of humanity! Visit her website or her FB page or profile for lots more info! 

Happy Summer Solstice to you all! 

Celebrating old friends : : Anne McAllister

When I was four I met a girl who lived in the next street.  I could see her house from my bedroom window because there was plenty of empty space between her house and mine.  We became friends and used to run across the lots to play together regularly.  We walked to grade school together, rode bikes to school when we got to junior high, and rode the bus together when we reached high school.

She wasn't my only friend, but she was a good friend.  And then she moved away.

At the end of our freshman year, she and her family moved to Washington state.  We wrote letters sporadically.  We kept in touch when we got out of high school.  We sent Christmas cards.

I saw her once the year after I got married. I saw her again in 2009 when we went to Washington ourselves to meet our sixth grandson.

And last year when we planned to meet after she had a meeting in Chicago, the weather exploded in our faces.  Howling winds, piles of snow.  Piles of snow?  In early December? Ye gods.  Well, yes, that was last winter.

But we are nothing if not determined.  So this year, she tried again. The weather cooperated.  And on Friday evening she turned up on my doorstep!

What a treat.  We spent a lot of time catching up, reminiscing, recalling bits and pieces of our childhood that one -- or the other -- of us hadn't thought of in years. She reminded me of how we used to walk in the puddles in the alleys during rainstorms.  I had forgotten about alleys all together.

We tried to piece together our shared past and put it into the context of what our families were doing at the time, of what our parents were thinking.  Always a challenge, trying to discover what your parents were thinking!

One thing I hadn't forgotten was how creative she was.  What I didn't remember -- and still don't -- is if it had anything to do with fabric.  But it certainly does now!

Her name is Melody Crust and she is a nationally celebrated fabric artist.  She designs, she quilts, she gilds, she embellishes.  As she says, she "loves all things shiny."  And she translates that love into spectacular works of art.

She also teaches other people how to do it.  She has written books about it, has a slew of Power Point presentations she has created to help others understand how to begin to do things that boggle my mind.  She's an inspiration not only to them, but also to me.

Several years ago, I wrote a book called Antonides Forbidden Wife.  Ally, the heroine, was a fabric artist.  She owed a lot of her career to Melody.  I have another heroine waiting in the wings who also works with fabric and with wool.  She began as a  weaver, but she's become a storyteller with her art. She will undoubtedly owe a lot to Melody, too.

People often ask, "Where do you get your ideas?"

Sometimes when you're four years old, they're right outside your window.  You just have to hang onto them until the time is right.



images from www.melodycrust.com, copyright: Melody Crust, used with permission.

Celebrating Creativity

As an author, creativity is very important. I don't understand it well, but without it there would be no art or music or stories. . . or computer programs. Though technology sometimes mystifies and confuses me, I understand that it is simply hands-on creativity. When some new piece of technology hits the market (like this week's new version of the iPhone or the new Gears of War game), I shake my head at the ability of some people to make their dreams into a portable, usable format and share it with the world in general. And, as an author, I guess I do that, too!

Very few people in the world personify creativity as much as Steve Jobs did -- his creations changed the world in which we live and in which our children and grandchildren will live.

So, the announcement that Steve Jobs died hit me more than I thought it would.

It's not as though I knew the man personally or even followed him closely, so this gut reaction surprised me. I've been watching all the news bits about him, about his history, about the technology he's created or shepherded into existence and about how his many innovations came about. I find it interesting to see how much creativity is celebrated and honored by him and his life.

I want to share a couple of quotes of his -- this one about how Apple merged creativity with technology --

"Picasso had a saying. He said 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas. ... I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world."

And this one -- about loving what you do--

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

Both of those are inspirational to a writer like me -- reminders that unless we follow those voices in our heads and move in the direction our hearts send us, we will never be all that we can be. I don't consider Steve Jobs a saint, but I do think he's changed the world for the better and that's something I'd like to be able to say about my own life, too.

So, in honor of the man, I'm going off to let my creativity flow and to let those voices in my head and the dream in my heart show me the way.....I'm going to spend the day writing.

Do you consider yourself creative? What is your special creative power? Do you create words, pictures, ideas, people, gadgets, calm or what? Post a note and I'll pick a commentor to win a $15 iTunes gift card (I mean, really, what else could I do?!)....



Terri is busy working on her next Harlequin Historical - a new Highlander series! - coming in 2012. Her recent release, MISTRESS OF THE STORM from Kensington Brava, is available in print and digital formats and her short story KIDNAPPING THE LAIRD is available in digital formats! Visit her website for more info about her and her books.

Are you a Writer, a Reader, or Both?

I've been doing a whole lot of reading lately and it has been heaps of fun. I've revisited authors I've always loved and tried a few that I've never read before.

I know there are authors who prefer not to read while they're working on their own manuscripts, in case they inadvertently filter what they're reading into their work. I imagine this can be a real concern when you're reading in the same line that you write for. Me, I tend to read a lot of romantic suspense (in fact, my TBR pile is growing in anticipation of a gorgeous holiday break away camping in January) so I don't worry over much since that's not a romance sub-genre I write, and when I do read books in my own niche I tend not to be writing (which is the case right now as I'm between books.)

In many ways, it also comes down to voice. After all, they do say there are only a set number of plots out there in the world and it really breaks down to how you say what you say in your story. I've often wondered what would happen if, say, four well-known authors, e.g. Debbie Macomber, Suzanne Brockmann, Mary Balogh and J.R. Ward, were given the same basic story premise and let lose to tell their own story. Just think of the diversity! And all with the same basic characters, plot and outline.

Anyway, I digress. For myself I find if I'm not reading books I enjoy, i.e. read for pleasure and not for market research, then my own creativity tends to wane. Since writing is a solitary game most of the time, reading other stimulating works is almost like networking in a way. It feeds my need for entertainment and satisfaction and thereby gives me the mental stimulation and pleasure to approach my work effectively.

So, when it comes to the question of are you a writer, a reader or both, I fall very definitely and very happily in the 'both' camp. In fact I've been known to get a little (or a lot) cranky when I'm either not reading a good book or writing one! Which are you; reader, writer or both?

Look out for Yvonne Lindsay's February release TYCOON'S VALENTINE VENDETTA with Silhouette Desire, February 2008!

And visit Yvonne at her website or via the exciting Diamonds Down Under website and blog! Exciting Diamonds Down Under competition details will be announced soon!