Locations. How do you decide?

One of my be issues when writing a book is location. Where does the story take place? Will it be a mythical place, a well known town, a town out of my head (That’s scary :)) or will it be a mega city? I try to incorporate Georgia in most of my work. I’m a Georgia girl so I’m proud of my state. My newest novel, The Winner is Love” is based in Atlanta, but the characters go to Colorado and discuss Beverly Hills and Montana.

How do you decide? Sometimes I just never name the town, but describe it in words, not names. Sometimes I even say for example the town is south of a big city. Some books I’ve read have designated towns that are well known. In reading their books I get to know the town and want to visit it. It’s funny how if a book or movie highlights a certain town how the visitors flock in to see where it was filmed or written about.

It is important to designate an area. Some may say why is that? Well you can’t write about heavy snow if the characters are based in the south. Also, beaches don’t exist in the middle of a landlocked state. If you want a snowy region, then stick with the plan. It makes it more realistic. I read a book once that I was so confused when I finished because the author had at the beginning mentioned the cold regional weather, then ended the book in a warm region. The characters stayed in the same town. Really!

So as you write you manuscript, think about the location. Make sure you stay true to the region in regards to weather, dialect and details. It can make all the difference in the way it works out.

As always good writing and May God Bless You!

By the way, if you haven’t looked at the calendar it’s Friday and the last day of November! Tomorrow we’re officially in the month of December and the holiday season. Yikes! Only 24 shopping days left. I’d better get busy shopping online.

Today’s the Day! It’s Published! Finally!

I know I haven’t made a post in a couple of days. I’ve had a personal issue that had my mind completely in a fog. I finally got with my editor yesterday and the edits are finished and the last word is done. My Christmas novel is finished and the publishing starts today. It should be on Amazon late this evening or in the morning. It will be available on Smashwords today. I’m excited.

When my editor finished the final reading she turned and look at me with a look of anger. I thought she didn’t like it. The look was actually disbelief. She said I did it again, I left her hanging, because this is part 1 of 2 parts. I held that part from her to get the look that she gave me.

So, I hope it’s well received by my readers. It was a labor of love. The story just hit me a couple of months ago and I put the other manuscripts I was working on to the side to finish it. Now on the “Rekindled Flames” the 2nd in the “Flames of Love” series. It’s the continuation of “Tender Flames”. It will be a New Year’s Love Story.

As always good writing and May God Bless and Keep you.

Books…Books…Where from here?

I’m in a whirling dervish and can’t seem to stop it. Well it started like this. I had 12 different manuscripts started. A little over ambitious I know, but sometimes an idea comes to me in the middle of the night and I just have to write it down. Well it goes down hill from there, but I usually have a couple of chapters written before I know it. Then another manuscript catches my brain and I go back to it.

I had an idea for a Christmas novel. It kept poking me in the brain begging for release. I had to let it out. What else could I do? Well I put the others aside and started that one. I promised the others I’d return real soon. Well, then I decided that the 2nd book in the “Flames of Love” series would be a New Year’s book also. Thank goodness that one was already in the works.

As I worked on “The Winner Is Love” which is the Christmas novel, it occurred to me that these characters could not just go away at Christmas. Yep, here we go again, there will be a part two. My brain has it in for me. It is determined to make me insane. I’ve got only a couple of modifications on this one and it will go out this week. Maybe I need one of those gadgets that you speak into and it types what you say. But the catch would be to talk to one computer and type on the other. Boy that would turn out terrible wouldn’t it. My brain can only really do one thing at a time. Never could chew gum and walk, sad but true.

As always, good writing, stay sane, and May God Bless you…

Christmas in the eyes of a child!

I did something yesterday I didn’t really want to do. I let my mom talk me into going to a couple of home improvement stores. At least half of Georgia was not at those stores. We were looking for a new Christmas tree for her.

As we walked through the Christmas decoration a small boy came running up to the counter and grabbed a stuffed Rudolph that was bigger than him. His eyes lit up with joy and he started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I couldn’t help but smile. Before that I wasn’t in the smiling mood.

The little boy had so much joy in his heart that Christmas was near, you couldn’t help but get the Christmas spirit. He went from one decoration to the other smiling and eyes twinkling. When he got to the section with items for Christmas villages I thought he would literally explode his smile got so large. There was Santa’s toy shop with dancing elves, a pond with moving ice skaters, a Church with ringing bells, a windmill with a spinning mill, and a carnival carousel turning with bright blinking lights.

It was something to watch. I remember when I was that way. It was a wonderful time. I have to admit I still have those feelings in my heart at Christmas time. My son is 13 and he still loves Christmas time. He has mentioned putting up the tree several times in the last two days. My husband is not a fan. If it was left up to him we would put the tree up two days before Christmas. Bah Humbug… That’s what I tell him.

So, get into the spirit of Christmas and think as a child with innocence and wonder. It will make your Christmas a lot more enjoyable.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you.

Just a Christmas reminder, my Christmas novel is coming out this week. Finally!!!

Thankful for reviews…

How can you be thankful for bad reviews? Well, when I get a bad review I notice an increase in sales. Odd, but true. I have realized that I have a bad review stalker. When I get a really good review on one of my books, they follow with a very mean and vindictive review. They always say the same thing, just change the words around. This time they added a paragraph telling how bad my grammar is and that a five year old could do better.

At first I was angry, then I realized that with all the good reviews on this one book, this one only showed a vindictive nature to this reviewer. They even gave me one star, why even give a star at all if it was that bad. If you’re going to review someone’s work, try to be a little less vindictive. It makes the review a lot more real. When you start slinging mud, it only makes the review worthy of nothing but mean spirited emotions.

Not sure why this one person keeps reading my books if they are so awful. If they even read my books. According to two of the reviews the comments totally don’t match the book or it’s content. Oh well, life goes on and we live another day to write for the people that truly enjoy our work and write nice reviews.

As Thanksgiving rolls around tomorrow, I’m thankful for those that take reviewing books seriously and know how to handle even the bad reviews. Thanks to my fan base that I thankfully am building, my books continue to sell at a slight upward trend. Not retire from day job pace, but a make the author happy pace.

As always good writing and May God bless.

Give Thanks Sale!

Go on Smashwords.com and purchase 3 of my books at 25% off each. This sale will be through November 24th.

It’s my way of saying Thanks to all of you! Inspire some romance in someone’s life with the gifting option through Smashwords. Maybe you need a little romance in your life right now.

Moonbeam & Roses

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code HB52D

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/180924

Ghost Lover

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code FP59Y

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/212795

A Love Never Lost

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code VH33A

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/240288

The birth of a novel.

Have you ever read a novel and wondered what the author was thinking about when they wrote the first word? Like what was Charlotte Bronte thinking when she started Jane Eyre or J.K. Rowling when she started Harry Potter? Did they know at the moment of the first word that it would be a success?

As I started my last novel I was thinking, will someone want to read this. Will it make the New Your Best Sellers list? I typed the first word and suddenly the words were flowing from my fingers. It was as though the story had to be written and I’d been chosen to write it. I knew what had to be said and what the characters had to go through to get to the words The End.

As the story evolved I became immersed in the lives of the characters. It was as though I was watching the story from a distance. I could see the house, the people, the horses, and feel the pain, love or just happiness. I even cried at one point which is so in character with myself.

To make the great novel what do you do? You put everything inside you on paper. You leave nothing unsaid and no feeling unfelt. I’m not saying my novel is the great novel by any stretch of the mind, but instead I’m saying it could be to me or maybe a fan of my writing. I can dream of the day it soars to life in someone else’s heart.

The one thing I hope to achieve from my writing, other than making a little extra money, I hope to take the reader to another world, another time and help them to experience love through my characters. My Christian series was created to help others cope with something in their life. My romance novels were created to inspire romance. Everyone needs it.

So as I close this post, I glance out my window and watch the sun shine on the golden leaves as they fall from the trees. My mind is working on the novel at my fingertips and I smile. Maybe one day after I’m gone, someone will read my books and say, “I wonder what she was thinking as she wrote these words.”

As always good writing and May God bless you.

How authors are portrayed.

Have you ever read a book and you had an idea in your head what the author would look like? Come on, you know you have. Well, since becoming a published author I’ve thought long and hard about the portrayal of authors. If you write a horror story does that make you ugly and mean? If you write a romance does that make you beautiful and romantic? No, the genre you write in doesn’t make you who you are.

I’ve talked to people that know me and they always say, “Yeah, I can see you writing romance novels.” Why do they say that? What makes me more of a romance novelist than someone else? In my opinion nothing. Who says I couldn’t write a gory horror story, well I personally couldn’t but just by looking at me you wouldn’t be able to tell that.

It’s profiling plain and simple. Just like with models, everyone thinks they all have eating disorders, but not all of them do. Some of them are naturally skinny, it’s just in their nature. One of my favorite authors of romance and I’m not mentioning any names, but she was totally different from what I portrayed her as. I could see the younger person and she turned out to be a retired grandmother. This in no way made me stop reading her work because I still love her writing. It actually spurred me on because I hope I can write as well as her when I get to be a grandmother. Wait, I am a grandmother, well a step grandmother.

Oh well, good writing and may God bless you!

“The Winner is Love” coming soon!

Well, the book may not be totally finished for publishing, but the front cover is completed. This is the first of the two holiday romances that I have coming out. I am so excited about this new Christmas romance. The editing and finalizing has been harrowing, but it’s almost ready to unwrap, pardon the pun.

This is a romance about an Accountant from Atlanta that wins the “Win A Weekend With A Star” contest. She did not enter it, her best friend entered her. The star happens to be the hottest star out at the moment and she is a little leary spending a weekend in the Colorado mountains with him. What happens when a blizzard hits the first night and the power goes out? No heat, no cell reception and no lights, how will they cope? Will it be a weekend to remember? Check it out to see how they cope and what comes later.

I will keep you guys updated on the release date. Hope you like the sneak peek at the new cover. I’m real excited about it.

As always good writing and May God bless you!

The Petals of a Rose.

Have you ever looked at a rose? I mean really looked at it. A rose has always been a symbol of romance. I was pondering why and here is my take on it.

A rose is beautiful in any color or type. The smell is usually sweet and enduring. The petals each hold onto the other as romance should hold you together. As each petal gets to the center it grows closer and tighter. Just as romance. The closer you get to your lover, the tighter you get, the closer in tune with each other you are.

As with a rose, sometimes the edges get frazzled as does any romance, but the other petals endure. The petals are soft and velvety just as true romance feels. You get all soft inside and your mind turns to velvet. Roses do have thorns that prick you, but romance can also have thorns. Just when you think you are past romance, it comes up and pricks you, making you stand up and take notice. We all need that prick from time to time. No matter how well your relationship is, that prick is needed to remind you of the days of velvet romance.

Just with reading or writing romance you get the warm, velvety feeling inside. It inspires you and makes you want to have that in your own life.

So go out and look at a rose differently. Why do you think the old saying goes “Stop and smell the roses”? It just makes you feel better. Put a little romance in your life every day, not just on special occasions.

As always good writing and romance. May God bless you!