Getting to the Heart of Romance

As most of you know, I write romance. I also blog about romance and the need for more of it in our lives. As I’ve said many times, romance helps in so many ways.If you’re married, you need sprinkles of romance in every aspect of that marriage. If you’re in a relationship and it’s leaning toward love, well you need romance. It just helps out with even the most tense moment.

I’ve read hundreds, dare I say thousands of romance novels. Sometimes I have to laugh at the lengths a writer will go to when trying to tickle a readers ears. I know all about those lengths. I do it everyday in my writing. Are we giving people false hope? I don’t think so, but I recently read an article on just that. The writer talked about teen girls today expecting to find that one man that will give them the romance and life they’ve read about in novels. She talked about having a trend of romance novels that actually talked of real life interactions.

This made me think about my writing. Could a romance novel written from real life interactions make difference? Would the couple waking up with morning breath, totally avoiding one another until they’ve freshened said breath make a difference? What about those unglamorous moments when you have no make up on and your hair is scraggly? Do you write about that? Will it sell or will people laugh you right out of business?

If you take a long look at your own life, how many times have you had a muscled man rescue you and sweep you away to a beautiful location to propose and give you a huge diamond ring, then kiss you into oblivion? Really, how many times? What about a virile cowboy sweeping you off your feet and taking you away into the sunset on his horse? I know, I’m being a little far fetched, but let’s get to the heart of real romance.

In real life it’s the simple things. Maybe it’s a flower picked from the yard, a card to say I’m sorry, maybe it’s just a loaded dishwasher after a long day of work, but let’s get real about romance. For me it’s that look across the dinner table or simply a quick kiss as he passes me in the kitchen as I fix dinner. But in order to sell books, sometimes we have to go beyond the simple and blow the romance up to a higher level. But that’s what sells books, so we’ll continue to do it.

I can say that I haven’t heard of anyone being swept off their feet by a sexy vampire or shifter. But it makes for fascinating reading.

As always good writing, and May God Bless You…

Friday morning writing

Good Friday morning everyone! Yes, it’s finally Friday. As I sit here sipping my coffee I think about the work at hand. I have a couple of books in the works, but which one do I work on for the next hour before I get ready to go out to the office? 

Some days I can’t decide which book to work on. When you have several going and they all call out for attention, what do you do? This morning is one of those times. I’m almost completely done with one, but I just started another one that’s crying out too. Of course I have the outline ready for two more that have been running around in my head. I even dreamed of one of them last night.

Two of these books are 2nd books in various series and I really need to get them out soon. 

How do you figure out which one to work on when all of them are crying out for attention? 

I hope everyone has a great Friday. Now on to the manuscripts…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

How hooked are you?

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Good morning! I do hope all of you are safe and well after those nasty storms that came through the southern US. As for me, did you notice no post from me yesterday. Well, I had no power for most of the day. If you know me well, or even if you just know me from social media interaction, then you know I try to post most days. 

While my power was off and I was unconnected to all of my electrical devices, I had lots of time to think. Think? Wow that’s a large word when you think about it. How often do we just sit and think? No really, how often? Yes we use our brains, but most of the time it’s connected to some sort of electrical device, especially internet driven devices. Whether it’s your computer, smart phone, or whatever it is that you use to do everything, you’re probably hooked. 

I sat here thinking about how much power means to us today. It’s like life shuts down when the power does. But if you think about it, we’re so hooked on the gadgets that make life easier that we can’t function when it goes south. I sat down on my couch and tried to figure out what I would do until the power came back on. The sad thing was, I had payroll for a client to complete, but my computer addicted brain had a hard time dealing with the process of manually completing the task. That’s when I sat down and took a hard look at me life. When it’s quiet and nothing is happening you can do that without interruption. 

I realized that I’m addicted to power. Whatever happened to actually doing something for ourselves without relying on a gadget to do it for us. I stood up and walked to my office with determination. Of course I had to drag my teenage son with me so he could hold the flashlight. I pulled out the employee paperwork on each employee, I dusted off the payroll tax sheets and I grabbed some checks and a pen. Oh yeah, and the solar powered calculator. I sat down with a old oil lamp and proceeded to figure payroll the old way. My son sat watching and shaking his head. He kept saying, ‘Can’t you wait until the power comes back on?’ I just kept going and soon I had a completed payroll ready for delivery.

The hard part was the social media disconnect. I sat for a moment wondering if I made any sales during the night, wondering how all my social media friends had faired the night of storms and wanting desperately to check my Twitter feed. Sad, but true. I realized again I’m addicted to everything power connected. 

Unfortunately, most of my work is connected to power. My clients files are loaded on my laptop, which has a battery of course, but my accounting program drains that battery really quickly. I did a couple of things that didn’t require my laptop, but I was limited. I did work on some of my manuscript outlines. I still do those old school long hand. It’s just the way I am. I tried putting those on the computer, but it’s easier to have them beside me as I write, not in a file that I have to pull up.

So, my question is this, How hooked are you on electricity or even the internet and social media? If you were without power for a week, would you pull your hair out or make the best of it? 

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

 

Here comes Spring in the South…

Well, when Spring comes to the southern US, guess what? Yep, so do those nasty storms and tornado threats. I love this time of year for the temperatures and flowers, but not the storms. Now we’re looking at tornado watches and warnings for the evening and overnight. Our friends to the west of us went through a horrible storm system yesterday and it’s headed toward Georgia.

So, as I have to get to the office before the storms for the afternoon roll in, this will be a short post. I do hope everyone stays safe and keep an eye to the skies. Make sure you have your weather emergency plan in place and that your family, especially your kids know where the safe room is. It’s very important to have a plan and practice it. 

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

May God be with those from the devastating storms overnight…

Interview with F. J. Thomas, Author

Good Saturday morning. This morning I have a guest author interview. I met F. J. Thomas several months ago through social media. She’s a southern girl like me and also has a tremendous love for horses as I do. I know you’ll enjoy getting to know her a little better. So here goes:
 
 
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1: Give us a bio on you, tell us what makes you, you…
 
I work full time in the healthcare industry and live on with my husband on my horse farm in East Tennessee. When I’m not working to pay the feed bill or writing, I’m judging horse shows, giving riding lessons, or competing in anything from barrel racing and cattle sorting to hunter and halter. Horses have always been a huge part of my life and honestly I think that’s a big factor in what makes me who I am. They have taught me to never quit.
2: When did you start writing and why?
I started out writing poetry for a competition in high school and actually placed well in a State Competition. It just kind of blossomed from there. In my late twenties I started writing horse articles and started a couple of books. With age comes discipline and it took me ten years to actually finish a book!
3: Tell us about “Lost Betrayal”. What inspired it?
In a nutshell, Lost Betrayal is about a gal who loses her horse in a tornado and the journey that brings them back together. It’s a big story that has drama, suspense, and romance. The inspiration for Lost Betrayal came from watching severe flooding during Hurricane Floyd on the North Carolina coast several years back. I became indirectly involved in some rescue efforts and that’s when I learned that large animals are the last to be rescued in a disaster and they receive the least publicity about their needs. It’s not uncommon for animals to be missing weeks or months on end and that gave me the idea for the story. I’m hoping that Lost Betrayal becomes a vehicle of awareness to the plight of large animal rescue efforts.
4: Who is your favorite character and why?
That’s a hard one! The heroine, Sage is a strong character that never gives up no matter how bad it hurts. That’s admirable in itself. What’s not to love about Garrett who is not only a real cowboy but has the heart of a gentleman and is good looking to boot? There’s a lot of interesting characters in this book that are partly based on real life so it’s hard to pick just one!
5: Have you got another book in the works? If so tell us a little about it.
I always have several projects in the works, mainly because my mind is always working over time! I just started a new novella, Lost Doesn’t Exist, that’s about a writer that’s lost all hope. I’m hoping to have it finished in a couple of months. I’ve also started another western romance with a paranormal element that the basis for the story actually comes from the New Testement. It’s turning into quite the book!  
6: Where’s your favorite place to write?
In my sunroom on the back of my house. It’s a magical place to write because it’s just a few feet from my back pasture and also over looking our woods so I get to hear and watch the horses and all the critters while I write. It’s a dream come true!
7: Some authors have music playlists, do you and if so, what are some of the songs?
I love all kinds of music from country and bluegrass to hip hop and classical. But when it comes to writing I love to listen to songs that break my heart or speak on a much deeper level because I think it brings out deeper feelings for my writing. I love listening to the Steel Drivers for that reason. Their music speaks to me on a totally different level and I just love it!
 
 
 
Then here’s the link to my author blog – 
 
 
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Talking In The Barn

Talking to authors, artists, competitors.
  
Preview by Yahoo
 
 
 
My horse blog – 
 
 
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MUSINGS FROM THE LEADROPE

Daily life on Fairweather Farm as we try to work full time, work part time in the horse industry and get a little writing in!
  
Preview by Yahoo
 
 
 
Frances J. Filson-Thomas
Published Author, Horse Show Judge, Riding Instructor
Fairweather Farm – Sweetwater, TN 
www.fairweatherfarmtn.com
http://fjthomasblog.wordpress.com/
http://qheventer.wordpress.com
 
Go by and check out her book. I know you’ll love it.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Let’s do a throwback Thursday…

Today I’m getting ready to celebrate the two year mark of publishing my first novel, “Ghost Lover”. That one book challenged me in so many ways. I wrote this book several months before I published it in May 2012, but I struggled with putting it out to the public. My editor and cover designer, Kaleigh, found the manuscript and loved it. She went about working on a cover and getting the information to publish this book on Amazon. I was thrilled, scared, excited, nervous and the list goes on regarding how I felt about putting my work out to the public. 

Then one day there it was. It was on Amazon and I was a published author. But a funny thing happened. Readers fell in love with Jess and Jared’s love story. This book was a game changer for me. It catapulted me into a writing frenzy. This book still sells today and I’ve had several calls and emails about this book. 

But I do have some surprises coming in the near future concerning some of my first published books. As any writer will tell you, as you write every book you learn many things. You learn different techniques in writing and ways to make characters more vibrant. I’m working on some revisions to some of my first books. I might even do a couple of cover changes. So, as the weeks go on I’ll be announcing some new releases and old made new releases.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…Image

Starting with a good foundation

Writing a book is not as easy as it looks. There are so many steps to making a readable novel. Of course you can just write a story and publish it without following the needed steps, but I don’t recommend it. Make sure what you put out to the public is the best it can be. As I stated in my post about polishing it up, take the steps to make it the best it can be.

This starts with a good foundation. You don’t want to build your house on shifting sands, so why build your story on a whim. Writers are full of stories, it’s the way we’re made. A story line comes to us and we immediately start writing, but in many cases we need to sit down and make sure that the story line is strong enough to hold up a novel to the end. If you can’t make the story line hold up the whole book then you might want to rethink the process.

Sit down with the story idea. Think it out. See where the story goes in your mind. Most of the stories that come into my head actually keep poking at me until I do this. You all know how I am about outlines and yes, I know some of you are groaning, but they help keep the story in line or somewhat in line. 

Also, you need to make sure that the story idea will keep a reader involved and interested throughout the middle part and the ending. If the story does not have enough backbone to hold out to the end, you might want to rethink it. Sometimes when you sit down and really give it some thought you can make it work. A writer has a way of making the story come alive and evolve. That’s what your story line idea has to do, evolve. 

Using an outline can help build the foundation of the story. You can sway some from the outline, but make sure that the story stays consistent so that it follows neatly behind the leader. Don’t forget the reason for the story, the backbone of the story. That’s what builds the foundation on a sturdy foundation, not a sinking sand foundation. Make your book the best it can be, so start off right. Do your homework. Writing a book takes work, so give it your all.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Finishing Touches…

When you start a new manuscript it’s all about get the story down. But when you finish it’s all about getting it ready for your readers. Some writers have said they write like a mad person for the first draft and then polish it to a shine afterwards. Others say they like to take their time while writing so that the polishing is to a minimum. For me I fall somewhere in between. I do some corrections as I go during the first draft, but I’m trying to wean myself from doing that. It really hurts the writing process.

When you type The End it’s nowhere near the end. This is when the work begins. The task ahead is sometimes daunting and hard for the author. There’s so much to do in the final stages. Most of it is painful for a writer. The reason being, while writing the first draft you’re doing what you’re made to do, but in the final stages you’re not writing, you’re correcting and deleting. It hurt’s and takes time.

What happens if you put out the first draft without polishing it up? Well, let’s just say, don’t go out and buy anything on credit in hopes to pay it off with a disaster. What’s funny is even the biggest authors say that their finished product still has flaws. Sometimes it’s hard to get it all out of there, especially if it’s a really long manuscript.

So here are some of the steps that I go through to polish up my manuscripts:

1: As soon as a manuscript is finished I take a breather. I step back for at least a couple of hours, if not a couple of days. It helps to get you into the right state of mind to do the deed at hand.

2: Then I hit spellcheck. This helps to eliminate the common spelling and grammar issues, but please don’t leave it just to spellcheck. 

3: Make sure that you read the manuscript all the way through. You’d be amazed what spellcheck misses as far as grammar. I recently found some of the craziest errors in my work. When you’re in a writing frenzy sometimes what’s in your head doesn’t come out of your fingers exactly the same.

4: It might help to read it out loud. Sometimes certain parts need to read out loud to make sense. I’ve made more changes after readind out loud.

5: Make sure you read it from a readers point of view, not your own. Make sure the plot has a pivotal point and that your characters draw interest, not flies…

Of course I only listed 5 items to start with, you need to take your manuscript apart. Make it the best possible writing you can. This is what sells more books. If you make stupid errors and don’t correct them, readers will grow weary and ignore your work.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Easter Celebration Book Sale!

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Good Morning Everyone! Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter early… As you can see from the picture above, I’m having a Easter Sale of all my books on Amazon. Even the 3 book and 2 book sets are only $1 each. Of course I have to correct my Amazon pages because it only shows $1.99. I think I was half asleep when I changed the settings.

I hope everyone has a restful, fun, exciting Easter weekend. Remember to celebrate the Ressurection on Sunday and spend some time with your family. Hopefully all the kiddies will have sunny weather for the many Easter egg hunts this weekend. 

As always, Good Writing and May God Bless You…