Welcome to our blog! From sweet to erotic, historical to paranormal and everything in between...We're passionate about writing romance! Check the sidebar for our latest releases and for details on joining our critique group. Happy Writing!
Posted by Cyn on Oct 7, 2010 in
Life Lately, we Critters have needed a kick in the fannies to get writing, and we’ve been discussing different ways to motivate ourselves. Here’s one way, which occurs to me only because my three-year-old is being a pain in the…fanny.
He wanted me to go get him some crackers. Now, there’s no reason he can’t procure his own snack–the cupboard is at floor level and he can easily open it. He just didn’t feel like leaving the family room couch and going upstairs to the kitchen. (Neither did I, for that matter.) So I told him, “I bet you can’t get those crackers before I finished counting to ten”, and he was off.
Suddenly, it was a game and he was racing the clock. Of course, I stopped counting the minute he was out of earshot and picked up around six the as soon as I heard his feet pounding down the stairs.
Why can’t we use this same motivation to write? Something like, “I bet you can’t write ten lines in ten minutes.” Then, set the timer and start typing. No stopping to edit, or reread. Just–go! Maybe you can write more than ten lines. Or maybe, you’ll write less; then you’ve lost the time challenge, but you’re still some lines ahead of what you would have been if you’d never written at all.
So, what do you think? Ready? Steady? Go!
Cynthia Selwyn (aka C.D. Yates) is the trapped-at-home mom of three and wife of one. When she's not hanging around with her Critters, she's editing for one of several e-publishers, writing erotica for Breathless Press or trying to get her characters (and her four-year-old) to behave.
Website - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: challenge, timed, Writing
Posted by Silke on Oct 5, 2010 in
Life I haven't been sleeping much lately.
I get up early, and go to bed late. Very late. Very, very, late. (2am is normal, 3:30 happens, 4:30 is rarer, but it also happens.)
Personally? I want to know who decided the day only needs 24 hours. I'd like to meet that person and shove their head into… something. It won't be nice. I'm feeling very violent right now — probably because I'm tired.
I'm sitting here yawning, and I have a million things to do.
I work full time. 9-5 (sometimes later), like most of us.
Yes, I have Thursdays and the weekends off — but I am also sharing a horse, which likes to get out on those days. Rain or shine. It's a bit of a drive to get there, then you go get the horse from the field, groom, ride, groom again, chuck her back in the field, clean the tack — before you know it, 5-6 hours are gone.
I have a commission for some artwork at the moment. Chalk up another few hours to work on that. Judged a contest, another few hours done. A few hospital appointments where they make you wait for hours… a trip to London to find out the office you need is closed… you name it. It all eats into your day.
I can't sleep unless I write at least a little bit. The trouble is, I can't just write a "little" bit. It's an all or nothing deal with me.
I get up early — and write some, until I have to run to work. Naturally I want to spend some time with my other half, even if it's just watching some TV and talking about our day.
Fact is, I'm always busy. If I want to write, I have to stay up later and get up earlier. Which is exactly what I've done the past few months — and now I'm tired.
I bite people's heads off when I'm tired. I'm short tempered, blow up easily, and I get incredibly frustrated. With everything. And everyone.
Right now, a deadline is looming and I'm waiting for people. And I blow up when they don't hurry up. I don't mean to (well, I do, in a way), or rather I don't mean to be nasty, but I can't help it.
I think I need a holiday where I can just… sleep! (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)
I'm planning to have an early night. Like I plan to have an early night, every night. It just never happens.
I'm going to sit down next week some time and prioritize. How do you manage your time?
Or don't you? (Like me!)
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
Website - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: Resolutions, Writing
Posted by Silke on Sep 19, 2010 in
Music,
Writing 
If you get stuck, why not pull out some records you haven't listened to in a while? (The longer it's been, the better.)
I often draw inspiration from a song. In fact, my novella Howl was inspired by a song of the same title.
I heard it and — there it was. Right there. Technicolor, 3D, HD, Surround Sound Stereo.
It took a week to write. I was on fire and couldn't stop. Late nights, early mornings… the words just poured out of my fingers. Another week to submit – and be accepted.
Sometimes it just happens. 
All that from hearing a song.
There are some other songs that will always get my creative juices flowing. Always. Without fail. I can sit there, earphones on, eyes closed… and the images just flow. I build on them, and usually get a scene into my head. I don't always use it, but it's there, ready for the taking.
If you have songs like that, cherish them. Keep them handy for those dry spells.
I listen to a lot of instrumental stuff when I write. Anything. I don't listen to the words anyway when I write. It's just background noise. Instrumental, whether it's classical or modern, soft and mellow or screaming rock guitars, it doesn't matter. Whatever floats your boat.
The mood of the music is what gets me thinking, not the words. (Well, sometimes the words, too. But while I write, lyrics don't register.)
Many writers make soundtracks for their stories – but how many of you use songs to find the story in the first place?
For me, what I listen to while I write is only mood music, not a soundtrack as such. I don't "designate" songs to a story. I'm way too fickle, and if I like a particular song, it'll be on repeat for the next 79 hours or so. (Much to my SO's despair lol)
It gets me going. It changes my mood. Sure, when I write sad stuff, I don't have "Happy happy fun fun" songs playing, nor do I play things that make you want to jump off a bridge, when I write action scenes. I could switch it round… Now there's a thought… I wonder what would happen. 
Look around you, listen.
Listen to everything, not just songs. Listen to the sound of the wind in the trees, the pelting rain against the window, the rumble of thunder. The neighbors barking dog may annoy you — but the barking might jog your mind. Ask yourself "What if this dog drove my heroine crazy? What if it were the first thing she hears when she wakes up, and the last thing before she puts a pillow over her head at night to drown it out?"
See? There's a story there, and you didn't even have to look far.
There are many sounds you can use for inspiration, but you have to consciously seek them out — and use them.
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
Website - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: Inspiration, Writing
Posted by Bethanne Strasser on Sep 18, 2010 in
Writing Our newspaper featured an article this past weekend. Of course, it caught our eye–and our neighbor's eye–because it referred to the blind.
Woman Reads Playboy for Blind Radio Audience
Strange topic, I know. And I'm not advocating Playboy…
But I just have to comment on the way she uses description. It's very simple, concise. Not superfluous at all. She doesn't exaggerate the obvious. For example, "She is a 'Latina, brunette with dark chocolate brown eyes. She has long curly brown hair. She is in the first photo sitting in the ocean. Behind her shoulder, down past her arm, you can see her breast peeking out. … There are no tan lines at all. She is not wearing any nail polish or jewelry or bathing suit or anything." That almost sounds like a police write up. Maybe some young, immature thing might get a kick out of the word breast… but don't worry, he'll grow out of that…and she'll probably grow out of hers! LOL 
*cough* anyhoo. *whistle*
I think there's something to be said for keeping it simple. As a fiction reader, and particularly one who reads romance, sometimes the effort to describe something that is at its core pretty darn basic can get tedious.
Next time you're tempted to flower your manuscript with purple prose [passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. Purple prose is sensually evocative beyond the requirements of its context. It also refers to writing that employs certain rhetorical effects such as exaggerated sentiment or pathos in an attempt to manipulate a reader's response], remember the playboy reader, and how, even without innuendo, she could draw the attention of thousands of blind listeners with every broadcast.
Mother of FIVE smarty-pants and married to her Love for twelve years, Bethanne spends her time writing stories that always--without a doubt--end happy.
Website - Facebook - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: description, purple prose, Writing
Posted by Clarissa Yip on Aug 27, 2010 in
Bragging Rights,
Goals,
Life,
Writing
When I was a little girl, I used to bury my head in books all the time, from Babysitter's Club Series to R.L. Stine horrors, but my favorites were still romances. With an older sister, who read as fast as she could buy them, I was always hiding and waiting for her to come home with the big bag of books. Once she had her back turned, her books would miraculously disappear, but I learned to return them to her closet before she'd notice.
My mind would always run off and hide in these magical worlds–worlds of these amazing characters, relationships, whether family ties or emotional conflicts, I had a smile for each page I turned and would fall in love all over. Immersed in my own creative wonderland, my dreams blossomed. With each word I put on paper, I grew. With each vision I saw, I foresaw something bigger.
I'm not a writer born overnight. Writing since I was a child, I forged forward. The journey is open and fate is what you make of it.
Like anything in life, perseverance and determination fuels your goals in life. If you want something, go for it. Learn from it. Everything that happens only makes a person stronger.
As a writer, I've been through my ups and downs. My bazillion rejections and I'm still going. Results will reign in as long as you have faith.
My first release, Love by Auction, comes out Monday, August 30th, by Decadent Publishing. This is one of my many milestones and I'm very excited to share it with you.
That little girl with big dreams is still a part of me. This is only the beginning.
What are your dreams? Whether writing or life in general. Sometimes when you share, it's like making a wish.
Related Posts:
Tags: Book Release, Dreams, Inspiration, Writing
As some of our members roll up to the RWA National conference, I thought I'd put up a quick update.
Kismet's Revenge is now available in paperback from The Wild Rose Press
Silke has sold her novella "Howl" to Lyrical Press. You can follow her trials and tribulations as a non-US author on her blog – http://www.evilauthor.com
(Especially if you need to know about ITIN's!)
We would also like to congratulate our former member Vanessa, who has just informed us of her success! She sold "Blood Moon" to Decadent Publishing.
There have been several requests for partials and full manuscripts this month. Watch this space!
And while we are all roasting in the sun… I would like to wish our critters the best of luck with their pitches at RWA National! Have fun, you guys!
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
Website - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: ITIN, Lyrical Press, Non US Author, Romance, Sold, The Wild Rose Press, Writing
We are having quite the month on PC, so I thought I'll post an update on what's been happening.
Drumroll, please!
- Gina signed a three book deal with Avalon!
- Joyce sold her short story to Lyrical Press!
- Stephanie sold her story to Lyrical Press!
We've had other successes in May, as well, and I will dig them out and list them.
Also, we are sorry to lose Vanessa, Kit and Valerie. Good luck you guys, and don't be strangers!
— As it is summer, we are still closed for new members, but we have an open chat area for non members, if you want to drop us a note.
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
Website - More Posts
Related Posts:
Tags: romance novel, Sale, Writing
