Day 1 of Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 1 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Marin Thomas. A big thanks to Marin for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Marin and her book Twins Under The Christmas Tree (The Cash Brothers Series) coming out October 2013.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

When I read your question my first thought was… each year I get older, but my heroines and heroes stay around the same ages.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for me in penning romance novels today is writing characters and plots that keep up with society’s ever-changing standards, morals, values, vocabulary and technology. What’s especially challenging at times is writing young children or teenagers. My kids are now twenty-one and twenty-two years old. I have to draw on my own memories of raising them, but when it comes to little details like toys, clothing, even diapers I have to do research to find out what the latest trends are or I might slip up and use a word, a product from the 1980s or 1990s that’s no longer available. I’m constantly Googling things as I write. For example in my October book, Twins Under the Christmas Tree, Miguel and Javier have a Christmas wish list. I had to Google top ten Christmas toys of 2012 to see what kids were playing with these days. And I have to remind myself that today’s characters communicate with iPhones, email, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter and that many of them ask SIRI for help when they’re driving J.

Another challenge in writing romance today is keeping the stories relevant. They need to mirror the lives my readers are living. Today’s home and hearth books must reflect the challenges faced by couples today. My readers come from every sector of society and you can bet many of them have dealt with one or more of the following issues: blended families, multicultural relationships, gay or lesbian family members, single-parent homes with working mothers, raising kids with learning disabilities, raising troubled teens and confronting issues involving, drugs and sex, having to care for parents with Alzheimer’s, battling cancer, surviving natural disasters, the loss of a loved one in the military…I could go on forever.

I love writing home and hearth romances and I hope when my readers pick up one of my books that they’ll see that my hero and heroine struggle with many of the same issues they do. My heroes and heroines want the same things out of life that my readers do. And when my readers turn the final page in my book, I want my story to have restored their faith in the human spirit. It’s my fondest wish that all of my readers—no matter their background, educational level, upbringing, the car they drive, the house they live in, the clothes they wear—find their very own happy ever after!

Biography

Marin Thomas is a best-selling author for Harlequin American Romance. To date she has contracted 33 books, short stories and special projects for the line. Her current series is called The Cash Brothers, featuring six brothers all named after country western legends by their eccentric mother whose lifelong search left all her sons with different fathers.

She grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin and attended college at the University of Arizona where she played basketball for the Lady Wildcats and earned a B.A. in Radio-TV. Following graduation she married her college sweetheart in a five-minute ceremony at the historical Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over the years Marin, her husband and two children have lived in seven different states but have now come full circle and returned to Arizona where the rugged desert and breathtaking sunsets provide plenty of inspiration for her cowboy books.

For more information on Marin’s books visit: http://www.marinthomas.com/ or stop by her blog All MY Heroes Are Cowboys at http://marinthomasauthor.wordpress.com/ You can also find Marin at these places:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarinThomas
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marin-Thomas-Romance-Author/118915338136945?ref=ts

Twins Under The Christmas TreeCowboy Up, Daddy!

Conway Cash is finally ready to settle down, and he has the perfect woman in his sights. The only thing is, he’s dead set against being a father—and Isi Lopez has twin four-year-old boys. When he finds himself roped into babysitting for them, life starts getting complicated!

Kids or no, Conway soon discovers he and Isi make a great couple. And hanging around with her kids isn’t so bad—that is, until they beg him to be their new daddy. The pressure is piling up for this formerly footloose cowboy…but with some luck, and a whole lot of Christmas spirit, Conway just may find himself in the center of his own ready-made family!

Go on over and check out Marin.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s part of the tour:

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/romancing-september-author-marin-thomas-day-1/

How do you handle writer’s block?

It’s a mystery that doesn’t have a rhyme or reason. As a writer it’s devastating to say the least. The symptoms can vary from staring into space with fingers poised over keyboard, the sudden appetite for social media, and even in some instances headache with slight nausea (usually this is when deadlines loom over your head).

I remember in high school needing to write a paper on my favorite movie, Gone With The Wind. I thought great, I know this movie inside out. This will be a piece of cake. Of course I procratinated and wait until the last couple of days to do the work. I sat down with pen and paper, then it hit, writer’s block. What? I knew this movie, how could I not figure out what to write? This should be simple. But writer’s block has no mercy. I finally finished the paper at the last minute, but it wasn’t my best work. My teacher was disappointed because she knew how much I loved the movie.

It’s the same with authors. We know the story that needs to be written, but the words just won’t come. I had that problem last week. I’m working on “Victoria” and it’s a historical romance. I started this book last year and I knew exactly what I wanted it to be about.

Well, as writer’s block doesn’t pick and choose, it started off really well, but around 5000 words in, bam nothing. Then I picked it back up over the summer and got to almost 30,000 words and here it was. Like a monster in the closet, looming there, threatening my concentration. Amazing.

I’ve often talked about using outlines. I have one for this book. It was no help as the block was too thick. I listened to my writing music. I watched historical romances to help spur me on, but nothing helped. The headache loomed, the pressure between my eyes, it was terrible. I could see the story in my mind, but to put it in words, nothing.

I struggled, I dreamed about it, I worried. Well, after a lot of surfing social media, staring out the window at nothing, it finally hit me. I’d been working so hard to finish it before the end of August, that I’d blocked myself. Meaning I’d pressured my brain into overdrive. What with work, home, everything in life, I’d put too much pressure on the story.

I knew what I had to do. I had to step back, take a breath. That’s when I did what I said I’d not do. I put the manuscript to the side and worked on something else. Well, when I put it out of sight and mostly out of my brain, I was able to cleanse myself of the writer’s block. It worked. I was only away from it a couple of days when it all flooded in and took over.

WIth a sigh of relief I’m almost completely done with the first run. It’s funny, all of my books have meant something to me, but this one means something different. It’s like a renewal of spirit. I have a great feeling about this one. The planned release is September 15th. It should be available for preorder around the end of August or first of September. I’ll put out the specific date as soon as it’s available.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Too much emotion in your writing?

Can you put too much emotion in your writing? I’ve heard some writers say they thought that they’d showed too much emotion from their main characters. But in my opinion, the emotion is what draws readers in. Recently I sent out an excerpt from one of my works in process, “Faith Through the Tears”. Several people came in and said the emotional pull was what drew the in.

The excerpt was a very powerful part of the book where the main characters wife dies of cancer. It’s detailing the emotions that both were going through in her last hours together. It’s an emotional time, how on earth do you pull back on that?

I thought about several classic books and if the writer had pulled back on the emotions. It would have screwed up the whole story.

Take Gone With The Wind for instance. When she does the pivotal scene where she falls face down in the garden and eats raw vegetables, then stands up and makes that famous speech about “Never being hungry again.” The emotion is strong, but if Margaret Mitchell had pulled back and Scarlett had just stood there without putting her fist in the air and speaking in a strong tone it wouldn’t have had the same affect.

Emotion is an integral part of our writing and passion includes emotion. So keep the emotion in and make it strong. Go for it, cry a little, laugh a lot and never slack up on the emotion.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Back to School Book Sale

Good Friday morning. It’s another rainy, dreary morning here in Georgia. Makes me want to go back to bed with a good book and another cup of coffee or at least Earl Grey tea. But alas, work beckons me to the office. It’s Friday and payroll is due out for several clients so…

I’ve decided to do a Back to School book sale for the rest of August. It’s already up on Amazon and soon to be on allromanceebooks.com and Smashwords.com which will put it on Barnes & Nobles, Kobo, Apple and so on. Am I committing earnings suicide, well maybe, but it’s a hard month finance wide for lots of people. What with school supplies, school clothes, dorm supplies, and all the other school related purchases. So maybe this will help and give someone out there a chance to sit back and read a minute or two.

As for everything else going on, well let’s just say, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’m trying to finish up my newsletter for submission next week to my subscribers. It’s not too late to subscribe. All you need to do is message me here or through my email.

The other big story is the upcoming blog tour with my friend from across the pond, Rosie Amber. We’ve joined forces to do a blog tour from both sides of the Atlantic. It’s called Romancing September Across the World Blog Tour. We still have a couple of openings but they’re going fast. IF you write romance or put in romance elements in your writing join us for this exciting tour. We’ve already got some great response. Just send me a message and I’ll send you the info. Also put including link below.

Hope everyone has a good Friday. It’s almost the weekend!

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

Growing as a Writer…

As a writer you have to learn from your mistakes. I’ve changed my writing quite a bit since the first published book. I’ve started to slow down the process a little. Now I actually go back every so many pages and edit. Not every time, but some of the time.

I’ve learned to write from my heart and not to try to please everyone. It’s hard to please all the wants of your readers. Sometimes I add a couple of elements that readers request. I even made some changes to one of my older publications to please a couple of readers requests. They just wanted a little extra information on the characters out of curiosity.

It’s been a wild ride this writing gig. I’ve started several blogs and Twitter pages. So, I guess I’ve grown in social media. As I’ve said many times, I’ve never been a social media butterfly. My blog posts have evolved also. I’ve listened to readers and gained a lot of friends and followers through it.

I’ve realized that not everyone is going to like your writing and not everyone is going to like cowboys. Why I don’t know, but that’s ok.

Have you grown as a writer? Do you learn from your mistakes?

As always good writing and May God Bless You…

Ebook or Print Book?

This is such a hard decision. Do you put your ebook into a print book? I have several of mine in print, but some are not yet there. I started out with Create Space and they are really easy to work with. I signed a contract last month with Lightning Source to let them handle my print books. The reason I made a little leap, well a really big leap, was because Barnes & Noble said I needed a bigger print company to have my books in their brick and mortar stores. This is also the case with other stores.

Of course B & N has them in print on their online store, but not in their stores yet. The problem I’m now having is ISBN’s. I have so many on each book that I’ve had to create a spreadsheet to keep up with them. As per ISBN criteria you have to have a different number for each format of book.

Well, I have one for my print books, but for some reason, Lightning is having problems using them. Now I sit here and look out at the trees outside my office door and wonder, what now? If I have to purchase a new ISBN, which is what it looks like I’m going to have to do, well that’s quite a bit and not to mention the set up fee for each book on Lightning. Is the bigger market availability on Lightning’s distribution going to outweigh the extra cost?

I just don’t know, but it’s something for us as authors to think about. Sometimes we have to sit back and weigh one point against another and see which has the better result.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance and Roses

Have you ever noticed the old adage that to make a romantic gesture, you need to include roses? Well, roses are the flower of romance, but do you need them to have a romantic setting.

Take for instance, writing romance, how many times to you read and he gave her a dozen roses? Well, some, but not every time. I’ve noticed it’s more the look and the setting.

When I’m writing my books I try to make it the non traditional romance scene. Give it a little flare. My writing is not heated romance, but rather romance with a slightly elevated temperature. But you get the picture when I write a romance scene.

I love romance and in any form. Sometimes just a look is romantic. Like maybe when a man gives you that look that says, “Hey you look good, let’s hook up.” Sometimes that look can be a danger signal and other times it’s the romantic look of the man you’re with.

What about the surprise note or just kiss in a public place? Now there’s something to be said for a brush of the hand in a very public place or the “I love you” note in your book. That’s always an indication that your significant other has been paying attention.

Well, if you’re a romance writer, bring on a new flare of romance that will inspire others. Maybe you’ll be the cause of a new romance genre. Never know…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Cowboys Everywhere

Have you noticed all the romance novels that involve cowboys? As a writer of cowboy romance it’s very invigorating. I was scanning a couple of book sites yesterday and it was amazing how many were cowboy related. The covers were mostly graced with sexy cowboys sporting Stetsons and boots.

So, what’s up with all the cowboys. For so long every other book was graced with a vampire or other type of rogue character, but I’ve noticed more cowboys. Could it be that everyone is getting into the cowboy craze. Could country themes be making a comeback?

Well, as for me, that’s a good thing. If a book has a cowboy or horse on front, usually that’s the one I’ll pick up to read. So, go pick up a cowboy romance if you haven’t read one and come on over to our side 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Time to Write

As a writer you have to make time to write. If not, you’re not writing. I sometimes struggle with this as I’m a busy person. As I’ve said before I’m an Accountant, Mother, Wife, Children’s Minister, Blogger, and Writer. My philosophy is you only live once so live everyday like it’s your last.

Some days I get frustrated because the characters of my books are running around screaming in my head, but it’s alright. I know that they’ll find their voice. Do you have a hard time finding time around life to write? Do you struggle with your characters being louder than everything?

Oh, and I forgot to add that I now have a small publishing service called Horseshoe Publishing. Yep, I’m a glutton for punishment. Not to mention my assistant is leaving me in two weeks to finish up college at the University of Georgia. I’m so proud of her, but that’s for another post as I’m already tearing up just saying it out loud. She’s also my niece, so I’m a proud aunt.

Let’s just say time is on short supply and I need at least 36 hours in a day. Go over and support my writing and maybe I can eliminate one of the jobs. Just kidding, I love what I do. Well, you can still go over and support my writing if you want to. I’m not a pushy person as you well know from my blogs.

As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

“Victoria” Cover Reveal

I think this has been the hardest book cover for me. I’ve had in my mind what I wanted since I started to work on this book back last summer. But what’s funny about my mind is that it has a mind of it’s own. No really 🙂

I sat down with my cover designer and drew out what I had in mind. Well after several eyebrow arches and looks of “What?” later, she told me to hunt the pictures and we’d put it together.

As I searched the pictures I found two really cool antique looking photos and well, let’s just say that was it. My mind changed and the cover took on a whole new look. What’s even funnier is that the book that started out as a stand alone has turned into a several book saga. Well, I’ve always said the mind of a writer is crazy and takes many turns. Here’s that curvy road of my mind.

So without further talk, here’s the front cover for “Victoria” the first book in the “Women of Magnolia Hill Saga” :

Let me know what you think. I’m so excited about this one. It took on a life of it’s own and with my very talented cover designers extraordinary talents it’s done. Now I’ve got to get the book done. It’s over 20,000 words and hopefully will be 3 or 4 times longer when finished.

As always, Good Writing and May God Bless You…