A Hundred Kisses - Releases May 17th!

I am excited to announce that my book, A Hundred Kisses, is set to release on MAY 17th! Pre-orders of the e-book and print book are available now on both The Wild Rose Press and on Amazon.

A Hundred Kisses is a historical Scottish romance, with a hint of magic.

1296

Two wedding nights. Two dead husbands. 

Deirdre MacCoinneach wishes to understand her unusual ability to sense others’ lifeblood energies…and vows to discover if her gift killed the men she married. Her father’s search for a new and unsuspecting suitor for Deirdre becomes complicated when rumors of witchcraft abound.

Under the façade of a trader, Alasdair Montgomerie travels to Uist with pivotal information for a Claimant seeking the Scottish throne. A ruthless baron hunts him and a dark past haunts him, leaving little room for alliances with a Highland laird or his tempting daughter.

Awestruck when she realizes that her unlikely travel companion is the man from her visions, a man whose thickly veiled emotions are buried beneath his burning lifeblood, Deirdre wonders if he, too, will die in her bed if she follows her father’s orders. Amidst magic, superstition, and ghosts of the past, Alasdair and Deirdre find themselves falling together in a web of secrets and the curse of a hundred kisses…

 In the meantime, how about an excerpt?

Happy reading!

She sensed no colors in the murky, lifeless water, and it was freeing. All breath escaped her. Muted visions passed before her eyes—her mother, her father, Gordon, and Cortland. Just a moment longer, she thought…

Suddenly, a burst of warm light invaded her thoughts as air filled her lungs. Red-hot hands burned her shoulders and ripped her from her icy grave. She breathed life into her body. She coughed, gagging on the change.

Muffled words yelled at her.

Oh, God, so hot. His fingers were like hot pokers. Her head pounded as she slowly returned to the present. Heat radiated from her rescuer. Somebody had pulled her from the water.

“Wh—?”

“Hush, lass. You nearly drowned.”

His voice was as soothing as a warm cup of goat’s milk on a winter’s day. A red-hot glow emanated from his body. Never before had she felt such a strong lifeblood, and it nearly burned her. She struggled in his arms to get free. She blinked, only seeing a blurry form before her. “Release me!”

She splashed and wriggled, and he did as told. She clambered to the shoreline. Numb and shaken, she began to dress. It wasn’t easy as she fumbled with slick fingers to put dry clothes over wet skin. She instantly regretted her naked swim. She pulled on her long-sleeved white chemise first.

She faced the forest, away from her rescuer. He quietly splashed to shore. His lifeblood burned into her back. He wasn’t far behind, but he stopped. She refused to look at him until she was fully clothed, not out of embarrassment of her nudity, but for what had just happened. He released a groan and mumbled under his breath about wet boots. His voice was not one of her father’s soldiers.

When she put the last garment on, her brown wool work kirtle, she squeezed out her sopping hair and swept her hands through the knotty mess. She fastened her belt and tied the lacings up the front of the kirtle. Blood returned to her fingertips, and she regained her composure. Belated awareness struck her, and she leaned down and searched through her bag for her dagger. She spun around.

She gasped as she saw the man sitting on the stone-covered shoreline, his wet boots off. Confusion and the hint of a scowl filled his strong-featured face. She staggered back, caught her heel on a stone, and fell, dropping the dagger. Dirt and pebbles stuck to her wet hands and feet, and she instinctively scrambled away from him.

His glower, iridescent dark blue eyes, and disheveled black hair were not unfamiliar. Staring at her was the man she had seen in her dream—it was the man from the wood.

:) - J

Available from thewildrosepress.com on May 17th!

If it’s Precious, Let it Go…

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”   - William Faulkner

The writing process is loaded with steps (forward and back), potholes, meandering trails, mountains, and valleys, so much so that your fingers, brain, and heart may need a few bandages sometimes. They don’t say it’s a blood, sweat, and tears career for nothing! There are epiphany moments, fueled by espresso-laced energy that keep you up half the night or rising before the roosters crow, to get that scene finished (as you think to yourself: “This is awesome!”). And then there are moments like when you get feedback on the first draft of your manuscript from your beloved beta readers, and your heart cringes with their review (and you think to yourself: “This is not so awesome” or worse, “I stink”). But remember that even gold starts out raw and elemental, and is worked and molded into a shiny ring.

Editing is just that – taking the gold, and working it into it a piece of art.

So what’s all this about killing darlings? Faulkner (or the numerous other authors credited with that quotation) put it well. You will need to kill off your beloved narratives or sentences, characters, scenes, plot points, and entire chapters…for the good of the manuscript. It happens to us all. Those golden nuggets written in feverish excitement that had you smiling (or chuckling) to yourself like Gollum from Lord of The Rings, “Oh, my Precious!” ...yup, those parts. Slice and dice, baby. Toss them into the fiery pits of Mt. Doom! Heck, you may even look like Gollum after the nights you’ve put into writing!

And the hard reality is that not everyone will think your darlings are so precious, though.

Killing your darlings can be like pulling a bandage off or as deep as stitching up a wound. With time, it will heal. Yet that doesn’t make the removal and stitching any easier. And in time, sometimes you forget all about the injury or what could have been. It becomes a distant memory or a bumpy scar that your hand glances over from time to time.  

So how do we kill our darlings? Judiciously. With sweet abandon. With hesitation. With strategic attacks.

Your red-penned manuscript sits before you on the desk (or the MS Word doc with the glaring colored marks of track changes hums on your computer screen). The edits, comments, and scratch marks stare at you with menacing eyes. Now what? Well, first, you read them. Then, if you’re like me, you mourn, cry, shout, even argue with your reviewer a little. This is usually followed by a sulking period of time, where self-doubts creep in. The comments may need to sit there and marinate for a few days or weeks. If you have other projects you’re working on, you may procrastinate and focus your efforts on those (hey, that’s good! Keep writing something!). But eventually those edits and comments need to be addressed. A version two, a glossier gold ring, awaits after all! The worst thing you can do is ignore it all and give up. Critiques and editing make for a better writer.

Once the sulking and defending are over, it is time to roll up your sleeves and dig in. Usually during the mourning period, I spend my time carefully reading the reviewer’s comments. Always remember, the final decision is yours as writer. You may not agree with your reviewer’s comments. Often, I agree with 75-90% of what my beta readers have said. Some of those thoughts may have already held a residence in my mind before I handed off that coveted first draft. So, I let the cutting begin.

I save those dissected wedges of lines, scenes, plot points, or character flaws in a file. To perhaps be used later. Honestly, those cut sections are usually never resuscitated. They stay forever filed away into a folder of the past. Some of these sections, at the time when they were written, may have indeed been one of my darlings. A scene, thought, or plot point I’d thought was amazingly genius! But with more time, ah, perhaps not so genius…recently, I spent a lot of time for a recent work in progress researching a military base and how to break into one. Yup. That scene got tossed into the burning depths of Mordor. In fact, I gouged out my entire last few chapters and rewrote them to clean up the story. Sure, I have those scenes tucked away in a word document. Just in case.

So how do you know what to cut? That’s up to you. In my previous post (Setting Goals for Your Characters), I discuss the points of GMC – goals, motivation, and conflict. All scenes must a). move the story forward in some way (a goal, motivation, or a conflict) or b). enhance character development. Does the scene (or plot point/chapter/whatever) that needs to be addressed make the cut? Or should it be revised or tweaked? Perhaps told from another character’s POV? Maybe parts of the scene can still be used, but moved elsewhere? Be strategic in your slicing. Look at it all carefully. Does it move the story forward? Is it truly needed? I am notorious for writing whiny, aimless female protagonists in my first drafts – they’ve needed major makeovers to become the strong heroines they’ve evolved into.

So, grab that red pen or keyboard, a side of dark-roasted java or a glass of aged Cabernet, and take a deep breath and dive in, knowing that some darlings need to be tossed into the fire to make room for a literary work that will shine like a golden ring that will lure all its readers in with its beauty.

Mt. Doom doesn't look too scary now, does it? (Mt. Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, inspiration for the LOTR's movie adaptation of Mt. Doom)

Finding Magic and Myths in Scotland

Thistles and heather. Kilts. Castles. Ruins. Craggy mountains. Rain. Lots of rain. Sheep.

Magic. Mystery.

My trip to Scotland fulfilled a bucket list goal and it also fed my imagination for writing about this windswept, mystical place. It was a memorable trip indeed!

When I finally made a trip to Scotland in 2008 after reading books set there (Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, or Judy Garwood’s books, anyone?), I was not disappointed. Those books were just teasers. I was going to see the real thing. They don’t call me a Daydream Believer for nothing (although I was not a homecoming queen, but the Monkees got it pretty close). Kilted Highland lairds (and Jamie Frasier), castles, mountains, and enchanting romances…ah, yeah, I was hooked. And as luck would have it, I even married a man with Scottish ancestry, who – drum roll, please – wore a kilt for our wedding (round out with a bagpiper for entertainment). So, for our anniversary a few years later, it only seemed logical to set off on a fairy tale trip. My husband had studied in Scotland for a semester in college, so he brought a wealth of insider knowledge.

Oh, but did I mention that it rains in Scotland? A lot. Even though September is supposed to be a drier month, many of our supposedly breathtaking sights were shrouded in a gray cloud of heavy precipitation. Aside from our mishaps (which I'll elaborate upon in a moment), Scotland fulfilled my preconceived notions, with my own Scottish knight by my side to escort me through the perils of winding highland roads, haunting castle ruins, and dark alleyways to questionable hostels.

Lone sheep wandered down the middle of a meandering country road. Windswept moors, heather fields, and green rolling hills flanked our drives. Wild rocky trails and impressive mountains greeted us on our hikes. Blue lochs were aplenty (yes, Loch Ness is a deep beautiful loch and no, we didn’t see Nessie – but we did see the ghostly remains of Urquhart castle) on our two-week trip in this geological gem of a country. I think I gasped on the tarmac when I emerged from the plane in Glasgow.

My husband and I packed our itinerary because when we go tramping, we set the bar high and want to soak it all in! What can a couple do in less than two weeks? Well…

• Visit a dozen castles and palaces (Threave castle required a rowboat ride across an overflowed River Dee)

• Kayak on the astutely named Loch Awe to the ruins of Kilchurn Castle

• Hike through Highlands and mountains

• Watch a Highland game

• Partake in culinary delights such as haggis and fish and chips

• Carry on conversations with locals (about the upcoming American presidential election)

• Drive over sketchy bridges to reach Rua Reidh, a lighthouse hostel on the North Minch of Wester Ross (no, not the Westeros of Game of Thrones fame, but I can see the striking similarities)

• Expand our navigation skills on double-roundabouts (like a figure 8), one lane roads, and left-side driving

• Meander through abbey and church ruins

• Take a moment of reflection at the remains of Culloden battlefield

• Stay at the haunted (yes, there's a ghost) 14th century Borthwick Castle

Certainly there were lows (err, mishaps?)…blowing out a car tire on a rock, getting a manual car instead of an automatic, while driving on the opposite side of the road (it is the UK, after all) – oops!, castles closing before we got there, getting lost on city roads, plodding trough the deluging rain to find a hostel down a dark alley, and hiking a washed out trail through Glencoe, while hundreds of midges made a home in my hair…okay, those are a lot of mishaps for one vacation. Nonetheless, I left Scotland feeling rejuvenated and inspired and ready to take on the next big novel!

The setting in A Hundred Kisses (release date is this spring, stay tuned!) takes my hero and heroine on a journey across Skye (another soaker of a day on our trip – those majestic Cuillin, yeah, they were hidden by rain – thank goodness for internet research). But their journey begins at a signature castle, Eilean Donan, and remarkably, sunshine visited us that day. This castle is as resplendent and utterly romantic as all the pictures portray. We even managed a solo visit right before a tour bus arrived. We didn’t get out to the big islands to see standing stones, so as luck would have it, there’s a bit of that in my novel, too. I did say I have a good imagination (and love research), right? Our visit to Dryburgh Abbey inspired one of my “practice novels” (the manuscript currently sits on my desk for revision, awaiting resurrection as I contemplate throwing a ghost into that story). And magic? What thirteenth-century Scottish romance would be complete without that magical element entrenched in those standing stones and a culture rooted in superstitions (remember Nessie)?

So, how did we do on our Scotland adventure? Thistles and heather – check! Kilts, castles, ruins, craggy mountains, lots of rain, sheep – check!

Magic and mystery?

Checkmate.

Slioch (a view from a hike up Ben Eighe), a thistle, Eilean Donan Castle, and Glencoe.

Setting goals for yourself and your characters!

Goals. Resolutions. Projects. Aspirations.

Sometimes those words excite us. Sometimes they bewilder us. Sometimes they terrify us.

Relax…I’m not going to ask you to set another New Year’s Resolution. We’ve all learned about goal setting at some point in our life, either professionally or personally. Recently, a chat topic on The Wild Rose Press chat forum got me thinking about my yearly writing goals and also about my characters.

First off – writer goals. Well, we all have hopes for 2017. Perhaps it’s to finish that first manuscript, or to get our book out there into an agent or publisher’s hands. Or maybe we’re working on book promotion. Or to write two more books for an eager editor. Goals require carving out time for what’s important to us. Many of us follow the “SMART” principal: making our goals specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. We want to be able to reach these goals, so sticking to the SMART rule of thumb is key to keeping ourselves motivated, accountable, and fulfilled. I know my goal list is lofty for 2017, so I sat down and looked at it to realistically contemplate what would be achievable this year. What are your goals? I suggest taking a few minutes to write them down by following the rule of “SMART”, and post them somewhere, checking in daily.

Now on to my second part of goal-making…our characters! One of my favorite  topics is goal, motivation, and conflict…the magical “GMC” that is the backbone to all fiction works. I’ve read many books on writing over the years (and I just got two more) and I will say Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation & Conflict has seen the most wear and tear, earmarks, and re-reads. Just like I can recite the lines of The Princess Bride back to anyone, I can reiterate what Ms. Dixon lays out in this book on the building blocks of fiction.

Here’s a simple overview of these three essential elements…

Every character (who) has a what (goal), a why (motivation), and why not (conflicts).

So for each character, big or small, in your story, you can write this expressive phrase:

            A character has a [goal] because they want [motivation] but this happens [conflict].

And never fear dear analytical chart makers! Oh yes, there is a chart method to create your internal and external GMCs for your characters. In her book, Dixon outlines several examples, using movies (as many of us can relate to movies, because just like books, movie characters have GMC!), such as The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca and even Star Wars.

So let’s go through another example from my favorite, The Princess Bride (using the William Goldman’s movie as the example)…

            As you wish…

A goal is urgent, and results in consequences if the character fails. A character has external and internal goals. Not all goals are achieved, and some may change.

Buttercup’s external goal is to be with Westley, her true love.

Motivation drives your characters and should be strong, focused, and guides all of your character’s actions and choices. Internal motivation creates emotion within the character. Characters can have varied internal motivations….guilt, family, redemption, protecting another, etc.

Why does Buttercup want to be with Westley? Well, because she loves Westley.

Why can’t she be with Westley?

Because she thinks he’s dead.  And several more reasons: Prince Humperdinck is forcing her to marry him. She is kidnapped. The Fire Swamp. Westley is captured and she barters for his life.

Therein lay our conflicts. And there are quite a few conflicts in The Princess Bride. Conflict is an obstacle standing in the way of the goal, but must be faced by the character. Conflicts test our character and strengthen our stories. Nobody wants to read an easy fix. We want to see the characters struggle and overcome! And as you can see, there are many conflicts in this story. Internal conflict is emotional conflict. Furthermore, Buttercup may outwardly appear a docile, simple farm girl. But she’s got gumption. She is stubborn and is not a passive bystander. She needs to make choices, which are ultimately driven by her motivation and goal.

Dig a little deeper and we can see her internal GMC.

What does Buttercup want? True love of course.

Why? Well, that’s a bit trickier. Don’t we all? Buttercup lives a simple life on her farm and rides her horse throughout the countryside. I would gamble that she wants to live the life of true love: on her farm, with her horse, and with her dear Westley. Happy ever after and all that jazz.

Why can’t she have this dream? Well, we already know that Humperdinck wants her as his wife (for his own political ploys) and that she thinks Westley is dead. But then she learns Westley is alive. Enter more conflict and see her motivation drive her. Also note that internal motivation can change or stay the same. Certainly, she wanted her happy ending with Westley but the prince threatens to kill him so she agrees to marry the prince so that Westley may live. She wavers between choosing life and choosing death. Conflict abounds.

So let’s break down her GMC chart according Dixon’s methods:

Buttercup (beautiful farm girl)

Okay, so working that GMC chart was a bit harder than I expected and there is some overlapping areas in her GMC, but you see where I am going here. Some character GMCs are more straightforward and easier to analyze. Take Inigo Montoya – that man’s motivation never wavers. He wants revenge for his father’s death and his goal is to kill the Count. His conflicts include having to kidnap Buttercup for some money, helping Westley save Buttercup, and of course getting to the Count to fulfill his goal.

I am sticking with my Buttercup example, because, well, death cannot stop true love…all it can do is delay it for a little while. And I am a true romantic at heart.

So on that note, get out there and create your goals as a writer. And don’t forget about your characters! Heck, I am sure you could even make a GMC for yourself as a writer…hmm, a daydreaming mom wants to publish her work (novels, short stories, children’s books, and magazine articles) because she has loved writing since she was a girl and wants to be successful, but life throws her some curveballs (busy children and schedules, agent rejection, illnesses, the need for sleep…). Will she achieve her goal? Stay tuned.

Breaking into the Business: Patience, Perseverance, and Putting in the Time

Have you ever sat at the pool or beach and watched children play? The adventurers jump right in and splash around. The builders play in the sand, meticulously constructing a castle. It gets demolished by a wave, but they start again. The cautious ones dip a toe in first and gradually work up to their waist. And the observers may never enter the water out of fear or the preference to sit back and soak in the rays.

Breaking into the business of publishing your written work can be the same way. We’re all unique as evidenced in our stories, methodologies, and approach to publishing. Are we bold explorers? Detailed engineers? Tentative investigators? Or do we sit back and wait?

We acquire many traits as we journey on the road to becoming a published author… thicker skin, the knack to function on minimal sleep when needed (parenting can do that, too!), coffee/tea/chocolate addictions, Facebook and internet procrastinating, the ability to write a scene in your mind while driving and carrying on a conversation with your child…the list goes on.

We also acquire the ability to swim and not sink.

This leads me to three essential skills every author should master: Patience, Perseverance, and Putting in the Time.

Patience

You will not publish overnight. You are not born a master. It takes time to become good at writing, like any other skill. Michael Phelps was not born with a gold medal in his hand. He worked at it. Never stop learning.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway

It will take time. Yes, there are some quick success stories out there, but most authors have put a lot of time into their writing before it pays off.  I have logged almost two decades of time. Certainly not everyone’s road to publishing will take this long. Also, patience doesn’t end with the first “yes, we want to publish your book!” Patience in the process is a must. It takes a while. Be patient with yourself and the publishing world. It will happen if you keep at it!

Perseverance

The greatest have failed over and over again. Rejection is an essential part of the journey. It means you’re putting your neck out there. It means you get positive and negative critiques on your writing. It means you’re honing your skills. Stephen King used to hang his rejections on a nail on the wall as a reminder. What if J.K.Rowling had given up after the first or tenth rejection or because life’s hardships and unpredictability got to be too much? There would be no Harry Potter.

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

– J.K. Rowling

I wrote three full-length novels before my fourth one made it past the ax. Four was my lucky number.  What made that one different? I took the advice I learned from my rejections and critiques from the former three and applied it to the newest book. I crept out of my comfort zone and tried something different. I didn’t let doubts curtail my hopes.  

All the bestsellers have their rejection stories: Dr. Seuss, Agatha Christie, Margaret Mitchell, C.S. Lewis, to name just a few. So many. Imagine if they had given up?

Negative critiques from my beta readers on my first draft of my novels didn’t discourage me (certainly I may wallow a little in my coffee and eat a few too many donuts). One time a contest judge asked if English was my second language. Yup, true story. Ultimately it’s up to you as writer to take it all in, file it appropriately, and use it to improve your writing. Open minds are a prerequisite for this job.

“I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.”
—Roald Dahl

Don’t stop. Turn it to good. How can you apply what you’ve learned with that rejection, negative review, or setback?

Putting in the Time

Writing is not just writing and creating. I spend many hours researching, learning the craft, editing, networking, and studying my field (agents, publishers, trends, etc.). Soon, promoting will be added to that long list of tasks. When we begin the journey, we are eager to just write – to get it all down! But then come the edits, writer’s blocks, more research, more reading. So when you’ve gotten over the honeymoon period of writing, what’s next? Gather all the writing how-to resources you can (books, websites, conferences, mentors, writing groups, associations). Read up on submission. Study your market and agents/publishers. Read your genre. Make your submissions shine. Revise again and again. Nobody submits a first draft. 

“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”
—Larry L. King

Distractions abound. Howling cats, dirty dishes piled in the sink, demanding children, the limitlessness of the internet, finally cleaning out that junk drawer…oh wait, you want dinner, kids? Life obligations. We all have them. Distractions can be the biggest killer of our momentum. Keep at it. Carve out the time. Write in the nooks and crannies. Set aside a quiet space and time to write. Create while driving, in the shower, or on a nature walk. Had a great dream? Write it down. Carry an old-fashioned notebook around. Or type it on your phone. Email yourself.

"I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.”
—Ray Bradbury

Write what you know and love. It’s really a simple strategy. Write your dreams. It’s as simple as that. Draw from your own life or experience, or create a new world. I love Scotland and happy endings, so my first books were medieval romances. I have a son with autism who loves volcanoes, so my next book has both in it. I love to travel and enjoy the outdoors, so I’ve been writing magazine articles about some of those adventures. My aunt told me an interesting story that I turned into a short story (and it may become a novella).

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”
—Virginia Woolf

Always have something in the queue. Diversify your approaches. In a slump with your novel? Search out some magazines. Write a short story. Enter contests. Join writers groups. Having cheerleaders (who will give you brutal honest feedback – no sugarcoating allowed!) by your side is a must.

You’ve got this!

You may be wondering – do I self-publish? Seek out an agent? Big press versus small press? It all depends on you, your story/genre, and your preference on how much guidance or independence you want. I didn’t want to self-publish. Okay, so I am stubborn! I tried agents for years. Years. Four books. Probably over a hundred rejections between them all (however, with each book, I got more requests to read partials or full manuscripts from agents or publishers – evidence that I was growing as a writer). I tried a few big house publishers. Ultimately, I decided to try a small press. I queried two of them. One loved it. That was my golden ticket. I have been extremely happy in the publication process with the small press. I’m still only 6 months into the process, but I highly recommend a small press that is driven to support its authors. Remember, what worked for me may not work for you.

It doesn’t matter how you approach the ocean...the world of publication. Do a belly flop. Step slowly, one toe at a time. Tread water for a little while. You know your heart and your writing. Set goals. Be patient. Persevere. Put in the time and eventually you will be swimming like an Olympian.  

“Long patience and application saturated with your heart’s blood—you will either write or you will not—and the only way to find out whether you will or not is to try.”
—Jim Tully

See you in the New Year! Keep on keeping on.

One of my favorite beaches - Abel Tasman, New Zealand.