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!
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.
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Tags: romance novel, Sale, Writing
Posted by Bethanne Strasser on Feb 28, 2010 in
Life Wow, why does this always get me? I really have to think about which one I’m supposed to be using.
What about you? Do you have a quirky word? What is it?
My curiosity is peeked…or is it peaked???
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.
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Tags: grammar, word usage, Writing
Posted by Silke on Sep 4, 2009 in
Life 
Yeah, right. I’m not talking about sugar in coffee.
I am talking about how many spaces should follow a period at the end of a sentence.
There appears to be this great big misconception that it’s two spaces after a period.
It used to be two spaces.
It changed.
If you refer to the newer style guides, they all unanimously state one space after a period.
The 2000 and 2008 editions of the GPO Style Manual are unequivocal:
“A single justified word space will be used between sentences. This applies to all types of composition.” (Paragraph 2.49)
In chapter 6 Punctuation section 3 Typographic and Aesthetic Considerations, the Chicago Manual of Style states:
6.11 Space between sentences In typeset matter, one space, not two (in other words, a regular word space), follows any mark of punctuation that ends a sentence, whether a period, a colon, a question mark, an exclamation point, or closing quotation marks.
So there you have it.
ONE space. Not two.
The reason there used to be two spaces was because typewriters used a monospace font, and people thought it was easier to read if there were two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence.
Today things are a little different. While we still submit in monospace fonts (Courier / Courier New), the poor, hardworking copy editors absolutely loathe the practice of two spaces. They have to take them all out again before sending the manuscript to press.
Now, even if you do a seek-and-destroy… err… find and replace, things get a bit messy. Not because the formatting is being messed up, but these poor people (and you, the author) tend to use track changes.
Turn on track changes.
Go into your manuscript and do a find and replace on all the double spaces.
Choose “Show Revisions in Balloons”.
Welcome to Hell.
Do your copyeditor a favor — use one space only.
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.
More Posts - Website
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Tags: Formatting, Style, Writing
Posted by Bethanne Strasser on Jun 10, 2009 in
Writing I love dialogue. Love, love, love.
If I go back to all my old favorites, Arsenic and Old Lace…Abbott and Costello, Breakfast at Tiffany’s…. Bringing up Baby. I could go on. The thing about those old movies is that they would have collapsed without good dialogue. The time when movies were based on really good writing.
We’ve got that today, don’t get me wrong, but more often I like to sit down with a book and enjoy the lost art of dialogue and conversation–a witty read that pulls me into the character’s lives.
How do I apply that to my own writing?
I see it in my head like an old-time movie. [okay, i'll admit, this movie line just cracks me up]
Bobe Hope on Zombies [sorry, the embeding html didn't work 
]
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.
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Tags: dialogue, Movie lines, Writing
Posted by admin on May 24, 2009 in
Writing Why is it that some manuscripts hop along at a fast pace, stopping to smell the daisies at times, and other manuscripts fall into the pond and sink to the bottom?
Is it a better understanding of the characters, the plot, all of the above? Could it be the voice and/or genre?
My current ms is a YA mystery. It’s my first YA, so it could go to reason that it would be difficult. But my heroine, a snarky teenager, is a breeze. Her words come almost effortlessly and her GMC is pretty easy. Her voice doesn’t seem far away from the snarky heroine I wrote in my last adult mystery, yet this one is practically writing itself. (Perhaps it has something to do with my own level of sarcasm and still present teenage angst. )
I also started writing (or tried to) my next project, which is an adult mystery. I’m purposely attempting for this heroine to not speak with snark, for the most part, and it’s definitely not writing itself. In fact, I’m currently working on my third opening. It’s not fun, cute or funny, like I hoped. Am I just not connecting with my heroine? Maybe I don’t fully understand her, or maybe she’s not fun to me.
So what about you? Do you have books that naturally flow (give or take amodicum of hair pulling)?
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Tags: GMC, heroine, Jennifer Bianco, pace, sarcasm, snark, Writing, YA
Posted by admin on May 17, 2009 in
Writing Learning the craft, I’ve spent so many hours focused on fine-tuning the areas I’m weak in, such as description and emotions. Hours upon hours I’d write then edit and go over every word, every minute detail. I’d layer in physical descriptions, the five senses, emotions, worrying over every choice.
My conversations with other writers were heavily about what I had difficulty with. It was after all mostly what I thought about. But isn’t that the way of life for some people? We concentrate on what needs improvement and take for granted the rest. I knew I was good at dialogue, so I didn’t need to think about it. Did I?
The ironic thing is I’m usually a pretty positive person. In my every day life, I refuse to focus on the negative. I believe what you put out into the universe in terms of actions and thoughts, comes back to you. And I certainly don’t need to bring any negativity upon myself. So then why am I this way with my writing? While trying to learn and improve, I forgot to be grateful. I forgot to smell those virtual roses. I forgot to remember the good…the great.
I write awesome dialogue. My voice is incredible. My characters have unique sounds/voices. And I have a talent for plotting that makes my pacing flow smoothly and my plots believable. These are not insignificant and surely shouldn’t be overlooked. It is these attributes that will help pull me out of a mental funk after a crushing critique or a rejection. I won’t forget to smell those roses now.
So tell me…
What are you good at?
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Tags: characters, description, dialogue, emotions, Jennifer Bianco, Pacing, plotting, roses, Writing
Posted by Debora on Apr 17, 2009 in
Writing 
Admission: I cannot write with a pen or a pencil.
Gasp.
I imagine plenty of people can curl up with a brand new note pad and the perfect pen and write for hours – I on the otherhand get finger cramps and brain farts within minutes.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I love the click of the keys beneath my fingers as they fly over the keyboard. I like seeing what I’ve written in clearly legible writing on the screen and most of all, I like being able to DELETE and edit!
Now, I get me. I get my inability to write more than a paragraph by chickenscatch on a piece of paper and yet that doesn’t stop me from trying. Every September I run to the office supply store and stock up on the supplies the kids need for school, and invariably come home with new pads and pens for myself. WHY?
I bring a pad and pen everyday to work with me. WHY?
I sometimes sit and stare at the blank page and try to write. I do make little notes and cryptic snippets of character traits and dialogue. But, more than a paragraph? Never.
Give me an electronic device and I’ll happily pound out thousands of words. I’ve been known to write paragraphs on my Palm E2 just using the onscreen keyboard with the stylus! But I can’t write with a pen?
Which got me thinking, how do you write? do the ideas flow through a pencil point or ink? Or is the tap of the keyboard that stirs up your imagination?
Debora writes romance - all types of romance! Her tastes vary from the paranormal to romantic comedy and everything in between. Believing variety is the spice of life, her website changes frequently to appease her creative spirit! She freely admits to being a caffeine and chocolate addict and loves to talk about romance writing with anyone who'll listen. Her latest release, A Knight in Her Arms, was released August 3rd. Visit her website for me details!
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Tags: Pen, Pencil or Keyboard, Writing
