It's Q&A day!

Today's the day that Madelynne Ellis and I are doing a Q&A on Romance Divas, about writing erotic romance, I think... It should be huge fun, so click the links and visit the Romance Diva's Message Board to take part. You'll need to register, but it only takes a mo, and once you've signed up, I'm sure you'll become a regular visitor because this is such a wonderful, friendly and supportive place for romance authors. Madelynne will be imparting much wisdom on the topic of erotic writing in her answers, and I will be supplying the comic relief, probably, in that - as anyone who visits here regularly will know - I basically don't have a freaking clue about how I do what I do, and I just blunder through every writing day in a state of blind hope and raw panic!

I also think that Mr Blue [see sidebar] will be after me today with his Uzi or whatever it is, as I suspect that today will be a day when I fail miserably at Sweat70. Himself is back from his jaunt to the Lowlands and the WW2 and Napoleonic battlefields, and naturally I want to spend time just hanging out with him and getting all the buzz on his trip. Plus, we need to hit the supermarket to stock up again and do mucho domestic sorting out and tidying. My plans to make the place shipshape and Bristol fashion for his return did not materialise, and the poor lad has come back to a residence that's cross between a giant dumpster and a sty for one big, fat and particularly slovenly she-pig!

I don't forsee Gothic Heat advancing a single syllable [sp] today... sigh...

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Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

struggling... and sleepy

Sometimes I wish I was a cat, like Kuffer, and I didn't always have a weight of 'stuff to do' bearing down on me all the time... How wonderful it must be to only ever have your next Whiskas Ever So Fishy pouch on your mind, if that.

I feel as if I'm struggling today. Not with my Sweat70... I've done 1.3K towards that, in the form of a K of Gothic Heat, and a mini outline for the final stages of it. No, it's just everything, really. I've got a set of proofs to check, quite a big one, plus some web work coming in and a Q&A to do tomorrow at Romance Divas. Goodness knows what sort of showing I'll put up there. I really am the last person to be telling romance writers how to do stuff. Mainly because 99% of the time, I haven't the faintest idea what I'm doing myself...

A case in point. A couple of the other Sweat70 combatants have been posting about 'pacing' in the last couple of days... and I've realised that apart from idea finding and plotting, pacing a novel or story is the thing I'm most crap at! Gothic Heat is a pacing nightmare... crawls like a slug on valium for around 50K... and now, I've only got 25K left, and I've about a dozen major plot events/scenes to squidge into that measly 25 thousand! Bloody hell, talk about unbalanced! I've a feeling this sukka is going to run over budget if I'm to get everything in, which will mean a humongous and complicated edit to get the monstrosity down to a manageable size... sigh...

--
Telly: Fred Dibnah
Choc/Yummy: choc biccie
Mood: weighed down
Writing: 1.3K Gothic Heat bits
Reading: Dark Lover/JR Ward
RSI/FMS: sore and tired


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

This starts today... so get stuck in!

Not going to Nationals? Don't worry...Romance Divas is doing the next best thing!

Romance Divas announces the first annual "Not Going to Nationals Cyber Conference" from July 11-15, righton the forum. Best of all, it's FREE!

Just register for Romance Divas--membership is free, you just need to sign up! www.romancedivas.com if you have trouble with registration email night.diva.maria (at) gmail (dot) com

There will be workshops, Q&As, and giveaways each day. All you have to do is participate!!!!

Schedule:

July 11:
Workshop: Character Development with Sophia Shaw NEW WORKSHOP!
Q&A: TBA (either with an agent from the Larsen-Pomada Agency or a panel on multi-cultural romance) NEW DATE!

July 12:
Workshop: Book Signing 101: Tips to Help Make your Signing a Success by Jackie Kessler
Q&A: Legal Issues for Writers by Amanda Brice

July 13:
Workshop: What to Expect After You Sign the Contract by Marley Gibson
Q&A: Erotic romance with Portia da Costa and Madelynne Ellis NEW DATE!

July 14:
Workshop: Writing Novellas and Short Stories by Sasha White
Q&A: How To Write Both YA and Adult Romance by Berta Platas

July 15:
Workshop: Trim That Fatty Writing! by Rhonda Stapleton
Q&A: TBA (either with an agent from the Larsen-Pomada Agency or a panel on multi-cultural romance)

Plus, Deirdre Savoy will also be doing a workshops for us (topic and date TBA)! So there will be two days with not one, but TWO fabulous workshops, plus a Q&A!!!!!

We also have loads of great giveaways, including books, critiques, coaching, and more!

Oh dear...

Am feeling uneasy and out of sorts this morning... hope that doesn't mean I have contracted the above described sweat related condition!


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Being realistic...

I've done pretty good these last couple of days, the first two of Sweat70... I've felt motivated and I've achieved good wordcounts. But I'd be a stupid and delusional fool if I blithely claimed it could always be like this! I'm doing good because it's a novelty... and when that novelty wears off, that's when the test comes. If I can continue to keep up the pace... Obviously, it won't be the same pace, because other stuff comes along that must be done... and often not frivolity, and time wasting either. Stuff like commitments I've made in terms of interviews and stuff, and of course my web design work.

So, I won't always be batting along at my current searing pace... but I'm gonna push myself to keep up to my minimum pace, at least, choose whatever other stuff comes my way!

Lets face it, it's no biggie... not really... I have to write this book anyway...

And in terms of where I'm at in Gothic Heat? Currently trying to choreograph a four way argument/slanging match! Which is tough for me, as I'm usually claustrophobia-writer, intensely focused on either my hero/heroine couple, or the internal ruminations of just my main character... Managing four story people who are all shouting at each other at once is quite a reach for me!


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Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Sweat70

Well, I know it's early days, but Sweat7o seems to be working for me so far! I don't know whether it's the thought of scores of other 'sweaters' [as opposed to woolly jumpers] pounding away at their keyboads as part of a giant team, or the idea of being shown up as a fraud if I don't keep up the pace... but something has put the pep and focus back into my writing these last couple of days. I'm still writing sh*t of course, but the difference is, I feel better about it! :)

I'll keep this brief, as, filled with enthusiasm, I might just go back to Sedgewick and write a bit more of my opus... There's a pow-wow in the tower room now, as Isidora has done something very naughty!

Photo by Penny Roots

--
Telly: World at War
Choc/Yummy: Lindt Hazelnut
Mood: good
Writing: 1029 words Gothic Heat
Reading: ComputerActive
RSI/FMS: bit sore, not too bad


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Seventy Days of Sweat

I've rather rashly decided to sign up for something called Seventy Days of Sweat!

This is a brilliant initiative by Alison Kent that's designed as a friendly, mutually supportive kick in the butt to get a group of writers actually writing! I think it's mainly for authors who need/want to complete an entire novel in 70 days, culminating in mid Sept, but I think it will work just as well as an incentive for me, who needs to complete 32K of Gothic Heat before a nominal date of 31st August, and edit the book by 1st October. I would *have* to do this anyway, so it's no extra pressure to make it part of this fun, group project. Not to mention there are prizes...

My own goal only requires a target of around 600 words per day, but some people have set themselves far more gruelling tasks. One author has to complete three whole books in the time allotted! Now that is going some... I would say it's impossible, but then, most writers have more grit and determination than I have!!!

So, the challenge starts today, but I think latecomers are still very welcome, so if you're an author and you really want to crack on with a WIP, why not sign up?

Seventy Days of Sweat


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Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Road Trip

Over at Romance by the Blog today, Bella Michelle's topic is hot, romantic fantasy holidays... where would you go, who would you travel with, and in what car?

Me, well, I think it would be a road trip across France and Italy, taking in Paris, Monaco, Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. My companion, naturally, would be the Divine Vincenzo, and our car would be a 1962 Ford 250GTO, in cherry red. [They only cost $10 million!] See how happy he looks behind the wheel!


Real life? Well, I think a day trip to Scarborough, in a VW Passat with himself, would be nice!

So, where would your total fantasy hot romantic trip be to? And with whom, in what? Answers here... or at Romance by the Blog... or both, if you feel so inclined? :)

--
Telly: Shipwreck Detectives
Choc/Yummy: Lindt Hazelnut
Mood: goodish
Writing: slight tweak Gothic Heat
Reading: Radio Times
RSI/FMS: very, very achy and sore everywhere at the moment


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Magic and Desire

Super busy today, but just swinging by to say that I just heard that Ill Met By Moonlight is going to be in the Black Lace 'Magic & Desire' paranormal erotica novella collection. No release date yet, but I'd guess it'll be some time in mid 2008.

Here's an unedited excerpt

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Telly: UK History
Choc/Yummy: Green & Blacks Espresso
Mood: under stress
Writing: proofing Object of Desire
Reading: nowt
RSI/FMS: bit sore


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

One of my favourite films...

Himself is away at the moment, tramping around the Market Garden battleground sites of the Low Countries... and I'm left on my own, minding the cats and missing him. However, last night, one of my all time favourite films was on the telly, and I have to say, it cheered me up mightily!

I love THE 'BURBS!!! I've seen this film umpteen times, but it still makes me smile, giggle, and laugh out loud in places. I love Tom Hanks in anything, and I think this is one of his best comedy roles, although he is ably supported by a bunch of other talented actors. I love the combo of fun dialogue and out and out slapstick in this movie, and even the music is brilliantly appropriate and witty. There are dozens of standout moments, but for me, the scene that always makes me laugh out loud for some reason is the one where poor old Ray/Tom has to eat a sardine off a pretzel, whilst visiting with his creepy neighbours, the Klopeks.



I really don't know why this is so amusing to me, but every time I see it I howl with laughter, and last night was no exception. The cats thought I was bonkers, chuckling and chortling away at this scene, but they are being indulgent with me, because I think they know I'm missing the company of their 'dad'...

In other news, I'm still slugging away at Gothic Heat. Today has been pretty standard with it. One minute, I'm quite contented, enjoying what I've written, and gaining satisfaction from tweaks and improvements... the next, I'm in a tearful panic of horror with it, and wishing, wishing, wishing I'd never agreed to write it and that I was free to work on something else, less hideously disorganised, flung together and inconsistent. At the moment, I'm somewhere in the middle of those two states... sort of enjoying a new scene I'm inserting, which reintroduces Michiko, the Japanese white sorceress from Gothic Blue. This is fine, because I like her, but against my wishes, she's suddenly acquired a new Japanese boyfriend called Hiro... completely out of the blue, and yet another character in what could turn out to be a cast of bloody thousands!

--
Telly: UK History
Choc/Yummy: Turkish Delight
Mood: up and down
Writing: Gothic Heat
Reading: nothing much today
RSI/FMS: generally achy, bad pains in hips


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

Hey, look at this!!!!

Isn't this great? I've been given an award by Val, on behalf of Vincent's Vixens for my fiction inspired by the Divine Vincenzo! Isn't this a lovely thing of her to do? I'm thrilled and touched by this... If I'm managing to convey something of the man himself through my fiction for these discerning ladies, I must be doing something right, mustn't I? :)

Hopefully, I'll be more or less back to what resembles normal for me today - after my marathon stay-up and my chatting exploits in the middle of the night... It was fun, but it was bloody hard going staying awake that long, and yesterday, I felt like half doped hell all day. Needless to say, not a word on Gothic Heat got done, and I endured a lot of angst, thinking it was shit and a pointless exercise - probably because I was so tired - but by the end of the day, I'd come back around to it. I also even managed to do a tiny bit of web design work that I have outstanding, so despite my sleep deprived state, yesterday wasn't an entirely lost day...

So, I must get back into gear today... Himself is away for ten days, visiting the WW2 battlefields of Holland and Belgium, and I wanted to spend this time alone, really cracking on with work. Two days of the ten have already elapsed, and I've not achieved much, so I have to kick it up a notch today... or else!

Before I leave, may I ask a question? Authors... what do you think of online chats? Do you enjoy them and find them valuable? Readers... do you enjoy real time chatting with authors? A chance to ask them questions about their books?

--
Telly: not yet
Choc/Yummy: not yet
Mood: sort of determined
Writing: thinking about Gothic Heat
Reading: not yet
RSI/FMS: everything knacked by sleep deprivation


Don't forget Portia's Promos - new stuff being added all the time!

This is what....

Staying up for over twenty four hours and attending two web chats in the middle of the freaking night does to you!!!

ps. decided to reduce the size of this image in order to stop frightening visitors as much!