Kathleen O'Brien: The Road Not Taken

Everyone always asks where I get my ideas, and often I don’t have an answer.  I’ve written about 45 books, and I long ago ran out of material even remotely autobiographical. :)  Now it’s up to the muse, the newspaper, the desperate searchings of my brain…

But the release of my Tule Publishing novella, HIS DEFIANT PRINCESS (watch for it next Thursday!) is the exception.  In this story, a nineteen-year-old American student takes a summer vacation in Cornetta, a beautiful little principality in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. On the ferry, she meets a cute boy, and they spend three magical months together roaming the wild fringes of the island.  Nine years later, when she returns to Cornetta, she discovers her summer lover was really the second son of the royal family, a rascal known as the rogue prince.

This marvelous fairy tale never happened to me, of course.  That’s the point.  There was one summer in particular that it didn’t happen—and that’s what gave me the idea.

I was maybe eighteen or so. I had, or believed I had, a broken heart.

(To be honest, getting our hearts broken was a routine summer game for my friends and me back then, but this year must have been a doozie.)

To help me recover, my mother decided to send my sister and me to Jamaica for a few days.  If you’re a historical romance reader, you probably recognize this as a scaled-down version of the “Grand Tour.”  Surely a change of scenery would put things into perspective.  A new adventure, a glimpse of all the wonders and fun that did not require my current Mr. Wrong…surely that would fix me up.

So off we headed.  My sister is two years older, and back then she was at least twenty years more daring.  First thing, we went to a rental car place to choose our wheels.  At the counter, doing the same, were two incredibly good-looking American boys. 

When they started chatting us up, my sister was definitely receptive.  We talked a while, and then the guys suggested maybe we’d like to share a car and do some sightseeing together. 

My sister looked at me, asking the question silently, in that way brave older sisters can do.  And I said nononono, please don’t say yes, in that way fearful younger sisters can do.

She was good-natured about it, but I could tell she was disappointed. Waving goodbye, we went off to our separate adventures.  My sister and I swam, toured a witch house, read books on the beach, ate good food and played gin rummy in a luxurious hotel room.  Then we flew home, and I found a new boyfriend.

But you know what?  I never quite forgot about the chance I was too nervous to take.  I still remember the cute brown eyes, sweet smile, and tumbling curls of one of those young men…and I sometimes wonder “what if?”

And so…THE DEFIANT PRINCESS.  Because hey.  Isn’t answering the eternal “what if” question exactly what novels are supposed to do?

How about you?  Have you ever passed up a chance to do something daring…and then always wondered what you might have missed?

Susan Stephens: Some Really Great News!

It’s so good to be back chatting with you—and with some really great news!

For those of you who will be attending RWA conference in New York this July, I am so thrilled and honoured to tell you that I have been invited to introduce my dear friend and fellow author, the fabulous Ms M... Carole Mortimer, when Carole receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers Of America. This is also the year Carole celebrates the publication of her 200^th book. Yes. 200. Incredible, isn’t it? And with 90 million sales at the last count, it is impossible to calculate the number of people to whom Carole has given reading pleasure. What an inspirational career, and I can tell you from personal experience, what a wonderful woman.

* For those of you who won’t be attending the conference—don’t worry! It’s going to be ‘live streamed’ so you don’t have to miss a thing. And I will give you a personal update in August to fill you in on all the exciting things that happened ‘back stage’. J

And now my news...

With the first 2 books in my Hot Brazilian Nights series releases in March and April 2015, I am eagerly anticipating the next two releases in this series in November and December 2015.

November, The Brazilian’s 9-Month Notice.

December: Back in The Brazilian’s Bed.

It might seem a long wait until November, but there will be more Susan Stephens stories in my Cosmic Hot Shorts series.  The first three are available now:

1.      Christmas Nights At The Ladies Club

2.      Valentine’s Night At The Ladies Club.

And have you read the latest?

3.      Hot Spring Nights At The Ladies Club.

Look out for the next one... up for pre-order today!

4.      The Bride Wore Red At The Ladies Club

(Release date July 17^th 2015)

I think you’ll agree that the covers for this series of short stories are just phenomenal...

And that’s it from me until next month...

Wishing you all good health and happiness with the best of friends and the warmth of family around you. And, of course—non-stop reading pleasure!

With my warmest good wishes to you,

Susan xx 

Revisions - Re-envisioning your story

As you've probably guessed, I received some revisions today. I don't complain about them. For one thing, I spent so many years wishing an editor would give me the time of day, I know that it's actually a privilege to receive feedback. I also know my editor is as invested as I am in making my stories as good as they can be so she's not saying what she says to torture me or anything. It's vegetables and cardio, for my own good.

But revisions are a challenge. In this particular WIP, the heroine has just had a baby so I feel like I need to make at least a month go by before the hot and heavy stuff starts between her and the hero. I thought I'd keep them in London and send them to Italy once she's pretty much been cleared to 'resume relations.'

My editor has asked if I can get them to Italy sooner. No, I whimpered mentally. Not because I think it's a bad idea, but because writing is a process of making decisions and if you don't decide and commit, you have a wishy-washy story that wanders around all over the place. So you make a decision and you hold it in your heart and then... revisions.

What if they do go to Italy? In the original draft, I had them going directly to the ancestral estate, but should I move that month they spent in London to his townhouse in Naples? Suddenly a whole new set of decisions has to be made and the story that I had in my head has to be, well, re-envisioned.

Now, on the personal side, my husband is renovating our en suite. We--I'm using the royal we because he's doing all the work--have taken out a shower and are putting in a tub and shower, moving a  wall to do it.  When I told him about these revisions, he said, "You don't have to tell me about the challenges of revision." No sympathy there, apparently. Not that I'm complaining.

Side note: while I was writing this post, he called me in to look at said wall that is being removed and we realized we both had completely different visions of how the other side of that wall would turn out. It backs onto our closet and he thought shelves while I said I thought it would be completely open. We both stood there staring at the same bare studs, trying to see what the other was proposing.

And then he said he'd have to move some studs and put in another one over here... It's all about studs in our house at the moment, as he holds a hammer and wears worn out jeans. But I digress...

The point is, revisions are part of just about any process, I suppose. There is no way that every word that goes onto the page is gold. Goodness knows, there are published stories I want to go back into and tweak. Even as I write this short post, I'm backspacing and changing my mind and clarifying my thoughts.

Most importantly, if you're not willing to look at things from other angles, then go in and do the work to improve, you're going to have to keep climbing into that grotty old shower. No one wants that.

So I'm going to quit using the writing of this post to avoid the hard work of making new decisions. Time to get on with my revisions. Are you re-envisioning anything in your personal story?

The why of a Happily Ever After by Michelle Styles

At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of speaking to a local reading group. Before I started, I knew the group would be difficult. They tended to read *worthy* books and I write historical romance. However the group meets in my local gastropub and I happen to like the owner. So they put aside JG Ballard’s Empire of the Sun and read my Hattie Wilkinson Meets Her Match.

And the dozen or so ladies came prepared to discuss and dissect my novel.

By far the biggest complaint was that there was a happy ending and things were neatly tied up. Real life isn’t like that quipped the former English teacher who preferred her endings open. She wanted to guess.

 I pointed out that closed endings with a satisfactory outcome were preferred by the vast majority of people. And when I read a book, I want closure of the main driving force behind the story or else the story isn’t really done. If you read a murder mystery and the killer was never revealed, you would feel cheated. 

In a romance, the spine of the story is the growth of the relationship of the central couple. And that relationship needs to reach a satisfactory conclusion. For the vast majority of readers, they prefer an upbeat ending to one which is shrouded in gloom, doom and despair. So Happily Ever After where the reader can feel that the couple’s love and relationship will survive is a necessity. It was the growth of this relationship which was driving the plot after all. 

One book which had a profound impact on me was The Gifts from Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In it, she describes romantic love as  a fragile but perfect shell where the two halves form an identical whole. It doesn’t last long and eventually gives way to the much less pretty but infinitely more practical nautilus shell, a shell which often has bits added but can withstand rigours everything the sea wants to throw at it.

For me, the romance genre concentrates on the perfect but fragile shell but as a reader and an author, I want to know the couple can survive to the nautilus stage. That the shell which holds their love is hard and withstand the hardest storms. And for me, if the couple’s relationship is at the centre of the book and is the glue holding  the whole thing together, I want a satisfactory ending for the relationship. In other types of stories where the relationship is not the main glue, a satisfactory ending can be achieved, even if the relationship doesn’t turn out how I would like.

After I explained this, the meeting went far better. However, I doubt I converted that particular woman to the infinite joy and pleasure that is the romance genre. It is her loss and a cross she will have to bear. Personally if I am reading a romance, I want that Happily Ever After feeling when I reach the end of the book.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historic romance. Her next book will be SUMMER OF THE VIKING. You can read more  about Michelle and her booksl on her recently re-done website www.michellestyles.co.uk

Christina Hollis—Royal Baby Fever!

False alarm—this is Prince George
Pic by Christopher Neve/Jaqen via Wikimedia

As I write this, devoted royalists are getting ready to welcome the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's second child—a little brother or sister for Prince George. Nobody except the Royal Household knows the due date, but it's expected to be in the second half of this month. Babies don't take much notice of predictions, anyway. 

There are already two important dates in the Royal Family's diary for April. It's Queen Elizabeth's real birthday on April 21st, as opposed to her Official birthday. That's held on a Saturday in June. This is England, after all—there's a better chance of good weather for the Sovereign's birthday parade if it's held in what we call "summer".

William and Kate's fourth wedding anniversary falls on the 29th April. Like the rest of us, they'll be wondering where the time went. If they've got any sense, they'll have a quiet celebration alone together, before the new baby arrives. Royal parents may be able to avoid some of the walls we poor commoners run up against such as sleepless nights, but as Prince William said; "The first baby is a life changer. The second baby is a game changer."

At least this royal addition won't be pushed straight onto the throne of England, unlike King Henry VI. Son of the "Once more unto the breach..." warrior made famous by Shakespeare, Prince Hal II lost his father when he was only nine months old and too small to be left alone with a cat, much less a kingdom. Henry VI's life, along with his kingdom, was run first by regents—and then later by his wife (according to staunch supporters of the House of York).

James Francis Edward Stuart, also known as "The Old Pretender" or "The King Over The Water" was another royal baby famous for all the wrong reasons. His mother, Mary of Modena, must have had a very traumatic labour. Depending on who you believe, her child was either a) stillborn and replaced with a healthy baby boy smuggled into the lying-in room inside a warming-pan, or b) produced under the full glare of publicity, to the cheers and leers of seventy eye witnesses. Whatever his beginnings, the child ended up disappointed. He was son of King James II of England and Ireland (King James VII of Scotland), who was later deposed. 

Find out more at http://bit.ly/1GQPIIq

Whether the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's child is a boy or a girl, while they'll have all the disadvantages of growing up in the media spotlight, they'll also have many enormous advantages. The most useful (apart from the obvious) is a father who grew up in the same public goldfish bowl, and knows all the pitfalls. The Royal Family also has a huge, international army of enthusiastic fans. I used to work with a woman who not only sent hand-knitted baby clothes to Buckingham Palace for every new arrival, she baked and posted celebration cakes to them, too!

I'm guessing Baby Cambridge will be a girl, especially as there's a rumour the duchess has been spotted carrying a tin of pink paint. For all we know, she's renovating the royal chicken coop, but it's harmless fun. 

If the gloss-watchers are right, I like the sound of "Sophie Victoria Elizabeth". How about a game of guess the Royal Baby's name? For the chance to win a copy of my latest contemporary romance, Her Royal Risk, leave your suggestion as a comment below. During the weekend of 18th-19th April I'll pick one name at random—that way it can't be influenced by William and Catherine's eventual decision!

There are no babies in my April release for The Wild Rose Press, Her Royal Risk, but there is plenty of sexual chemistry, conflict, and one of those electrifying moments when somebody bursts into church and shouts "Stop!" 

You can find out more here, and keep in touch with all my works in progress by visiting my author page on Facebook and clicking "like", or following me on Twitter.

Countdown!

In two weeks and one day (not that I'm counting—who am I kidding, I'm counting) Carry Her Heart will hit the shelves...and Kindles...and your MP3 player!

This is my second not quite traditional romance.  Just One Thing was the first.  When describing it I said, "It's women's fiction with romance."  But in the nine months since its release, I've been thinking about that definition and decided that a woman's journey that includes romance is closer.  When Just One Thing came out, more than one person said, write more like that.  I hope Carry Her Heart is what they wanted.

It's the story of Piper George.  She got pregnant in her teens and gave the baby up for adoption...then built a life around that child she only held for an hour.  She lives a quiet, but meaningful life. When a new neighbor moves in, things change...maybe for the better.
As always, I slipped a few Easter Eggs in for friends and regular readers.

Yes, she wears holey jeans, hates shopping for new ones (hates shopping for almost anything) and...  Well, there are a few more foibles that Piper and I share. LOL

I hope you'll watch for Carry Her Heart and take a journey with Piper!

Holly

PS. Piper's notebook is an ongoing theme in the story, so to celebrate, I'm giving away a journal at the end of the month!  This is my year of the reader, so I'm giving away something each month to readers.  If you get my newsletter, you're already entered.  If not, you can sign up for it here: newsletter.

Book Overload - Kate Walker

One of the greatest delights  for a writer is the arrival of the publication dare of a brand new book. 

 Like Anne McAllister (waving hello to Anne and wishing her a happy anniversary) I may be celebrating 30 years of publication – and the friends I’ve met along the way. (If you missed that post it was last month’s blog!) but even after 30 years and  63 titles, it’s still exciting to see the newest title.

  The design of the cover, the images of the hero and heroine are so important. Sometimes they’re a disappointment. Sometimes (OK – occasionally ) the design team have got the characters just rights. But it’s always intriguing to see  what the book actually looks like.

And to hold it in your hand. To know it’s a real book – those words on a page on a computer screen or in a manuscript just don’t look the same as when they’re printed and bound into a proper book. Sometimes I’ve looked at a newly-published book  and not really recognised the words! I almost wonder who’s written them! Specially if it’s a book that I wrote some years ago, like the ones that get reprinted in the Mils & Boon 3 in 1 By Request collections.  That’s happened recently with two books – Kept for Her Baby and The Konstantos Marriage Demand which were both published in 2009, and have just been reprinted  in this format this year.  That’s like getting  new books all over again.

The only problem with the arrival of these books  is that boxes of books are heavy. So I have to feel sorry for the postman as he trudges up the path with yet another box of books. I’m thrilled to see them – he’s thrilled to get rid of them!

This last month has been even worse (if you’re the postie) or even better (for me) with even more book box deliveries  that are not just the copies of my novels.    I’ve just reworked and revised the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance- with a brand new cover and a slightly lower price. The ebook came out on Kindle last year (with special thanks to Lee who helped me organise that), and this time I decided I should publish a new paperback edition for all those people who asked for a print copy so that they could highlight parts of it,  make notes on the pages, and flick through easily to find them. I completely understand that – books I’m studying have to actual pages for me to underline, highlight, scribble in the margins. So there’s a new edition of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance  – and  a box of that new edition arriving at the house  to burden down the postman yet again!

Finally, as some of you know, my DH is a writer too, and this month, by a lovely coincidence two of our books shared the same publication date.  There was my   Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal and his brand new book Uncle Albert – a collection of humorous short stories with ‘a Yorkshire voice’ (DH was born and grew up in  Leeds West Yorkshire)   Hello again, Mr Postman!

I think that the rush of new titles, new books has eased now. I’m sure the postman hopes so!  I don’t have the heart to tell him that the next thing that happens is that sets of foreign editions will start to arrive.    But at least he’ll have a chance to have a rest before that happens!

Meanwhile, I’ve been busy with the revisions for the latest novel,  which is planned for publication in December – just in time for those boxes of books to arrive along with all the Christmas parcels! Oh dear, perhaps I’d better warn the postman now!

  My latest title with Harlequin Presents  - Olivero's Outrageous Proposal is out now in the April releases.

The new paperback edition of the 12 Point Guide is   published this month too and should be around on
Amazon, Barnes and Noble  etc. Or you can order from the Book Depository where it's  at a discounted price with free delivery.    The Kindle edition is also available.

You can keep up with all my news over on my blog   or visit my web site   and my Facebook page

How Does A Hero Think? Answer: Not Like A Romance Writer

As a female author, writing for a predominantly female audience—it’s my job to make the reader fall in love with my hero. That takes thinking like a man, not like a woman. When I’m in a male POV, my sentences are shorter, crisper, cleaner. My heroes tend not to give long monologues about emotions or baggage. They are pretty easy-going and quick to think. Their reactions are fairly simple. Looking a naked heroine is better than one who has on frilly layers. Men are visual while women romanticize. 

My heroines are far different in comparison. Deep thinkers, emotionally invested in other women, they’re helpmates and nurturers. They want to please everyone. They’re insecure (but won’t show it) and want to be taken care of.

Here’s a classic scenario that displays the differences between how a man behaves versus a woman.

Betty wants Jane to go to coffee with her and Sally, only Jane doesn’t like Sally so Jane has to come up with a reason why she has to decline. After explaining that she has to defrost her freezer, make cookies for next month’s school carnival, do the laundry and get her husband's suit from the dry cleaner—she’s unable to meet for coffee.

Same set up with a man. Bud wants Tom to go to coffee with him and Jim, only Tom thinks Jim is a jerk, so Tom says, “Can’t make it.” 

The difference is, women explain everything when a simple one word reply would suffice. A man knows he won’t lose a friendship over a basic decline. A woman will fret over it long after she’s given a lengthy explanation.

Ever go to a clothing store and listen to the women? The word “cute” flows freely. A woman is in search a dress so she tries on selections at Store A. She likes a floral dress, but Store B might have something better. After exhausting her search on Store Z, she goes back to Store A and buys the first dress. A man in search of a dress shirt, goes to Store A. He likes the fit of the shirt so he buys it in five different colors.

I give these examples, not to diss my gender! But because I’m predisposed to thinking like and behaving like these women. And yet, I must create a story with a powerful male figure who thinks the opposite of me.

In a romance novel, a female author has to be able to switch gears and write a male point of view in a very basic and straight-forward manner. Women want to fall in love with a hero who takes action, uses few words, can protect her, and make love to her until her toes curl.

Of course there are no hard-set rules. I give my heroes some female qualities and my heroines some male qualities. I like when a hero can reveal a soft heart and a heroine is capable of defending herself. There are complexities to a hero, he may be rough around the edges, have a past that haunts him, and when I express this in his voice, I use shorter sentences and less time analyzing why he is, who he is.

Just like a man—they are who they are, and they like keeping women wondering: What is he thinking?

Visit my Facebook Page and chat about whatever's on your mind!

Anniversaries!

What happens when you have your head down doing revisions is that Very Important Events tend to pass you by.

Back in February we celebrated my husband's birthday (and I didn't miss that!) because it's on a particular day and it was also my father's birthday for 81 years.  So it's a day I'm accustomed to celebrating.

But back in February, too, I just realized today -- two months after the fact -- was another anniversary of an event that basically changed my life.  In February 1985 my second book, Starstruck, was published!

Second book?

Well, yes, but the first one out of the gate. The first book, Dare to Trust, came along two months later. It was followed by the fourth book, Quicksilver Season, two months after that. And the third, To Tame a Wolf, and fifth, A Chance of Rainbows, came out in December the same year.

Thirty years ago!

How could I have forgotten?  Beats me.  It doesn't seem nearly that long -- and yet so much has happened since.

I've met terrific readers in person and via email from many parts of the world. I've made some wonderful author friends (Kate Walker, Anne Gracie, Maddy Hunter, Sophie Weston/Jenny Haddon, the late great Rose Marie Ferris, Michelle Reid, Linda Benjamin/Jessica Douglass, Peggy Nicholson, Antoinette Stockenberg and Pamela Bauer among others).  I've had the privilege of working with many terrific editors who have all done their best to make my books the best they can be.  In the publishing industry I've met artists, and art directors, marketing people, copy editors, models and photographers  -- all of whom have shared their expertise.

Beyond that, I discovered that writing books gave me the chance to learn about so many places and people, so many occupations and ways of life. Without writing, I daresay I would never have gone to bull-riding school!  I would never have learned how to build an 11-ton sandcastle or tend bar or be a veterinary technician or an architect.

If I'd gone to Australia and New Zealand, I still wouldn't have had the joy of a week at Robyn Donald's house with the creek running through it or have glimpsed the Blue Mountains through the fog with Anne Gracie, Barbara Hannay and Marion Lennox, swapping stories along the way.  I wouldn't have traveled along the Cote d'Azur with Jenny Haddon doing research, or trekked all over Europe (kids in tow) to write a book that mirrored our journey -- which we were on so I could write the book.

If life imitates art, art also imitates life.

Just this past week, I lifted my head from doing taxes (why have I never had a tax accountant hero or heroine, I wonder. Maybe art -- mine, at least -- can only be pushed so far!) and looked around for new ideas amid the old.  I dug through old magazines and prowled through new sites on the internet. I read articles and took long walks -- and rediscovered the joy of starting afresh.

It doesn't feel as if thirty years have gone by.  There are these new people on the horizon (new fictitious people as well real ones) I want to get to know.  There are new friendships and old that will intertwine and grow.

In the meantime, while I write, I will count my blessings -- and the joys and friends I've gained through writing books. Thank you for being among them!  You have made my life so much richer and more varied than I could ever have imagined!

Watch for Anne McAllister's next book, The Return of Antonides, in October.  No cover yet -- but she has sent in the art info and is crossing her fingers.

In the meantime, if you Last Year's Bride, as an ebook, or in the trade paperback duo Love Me, Always with Sara Mayberry's wonderful Make-Believe Wedding.

Keep your eyes open this fall, too, for the story of Cole's brother, Clint, who has come back to Montana -- and the life he thought he'd left for good.

Paradise calling

 I’m sharing the cover for my June release from Harlequin Romance, From Paradise to…Pregnant!

 I just love this North American cover, thank you, Harlequin art department. It depicts an important scene in the book, and the hero and heroine are very like how I imagined them to be.

 I also love the emotion visible between Zoe and Mitch. “They’re really into each other,” my daughter said when she first saw it. Of course they are—there’s a pregnancy involved here!

The first part of the story is set in the beautiful tropical island of Bali in Indonesia. Bali is a very popular destination for visitors from around the world and is a particular favorite with Australians.

 I spent a week in the gorgeous resort area of Seminyak last year with my husband as we celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

In fact I wrote the final words of From Paradise to…Pregnant! while lying around next to the lovely lap pool in our private villa. (Yes, I know I was meant to be on vacation, but writers never really stop!) There’s nothing quite like researching a location—especially when it’s somewhere as fabulous as Bali!

This book is a reunion, friends-to-lovers story and I loved writing it.

Here’s the blurb:

One night with consequences… 

A week in Bali was accountant Zoe Summers's dream vacation. But when the tropical island paradise is hit by an earthquake, she's trapped—alongside Mitch Bailey, sports star and blast from her past! High on the thrill of survival, they seek comfort in each other's arms… 

It was only supposed to be one night, but Zoe soon discovers an unexpected souvenir—she's pregnant! Now Zoe and Mitch will have to ask themselves…can one night lead to parenthood and a lifetime of love?

From Paradise to…Pregnant! is a June 2015 release from Harlequin Romance and is available for pre-order now.

Kandy Shepherd is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

 www.kandyshepherd.com

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