Unsticking

Happy New Year! The ends of my hair are currently singed as I burn through my WIP. I'm in that great almost-done phase where you can hardly do anything but sit and write. Like reading a good book that I simply can't put down. Except of course the writing takes much, much, much longer than the reading. If only it were the reverse.

My biggest challenge with this book is writing a truly Alpha Alpha male. I mean, he's entitled, he's arrogant, he likes violence, and he treats the heroine like a sex object for the first half of the book. I love him! But, sometimes it's hard to write him. I've been stuck the past few days on a pivotal scene. He exposes his vulnerable side to the heroine and then in the next scene he's all nice and...bor-ring. And I really need that first scene. So, I thought, "What does a guy do when he says or does something humiliating?" Pretend it never happened and act like a total jerk to the person who might've witnessed said humiliation. Voila, unstuck.

Been stuck lately? What'd you do about it?

Update: Last time I blogged (uh, way too long ago), I'd just found my long-lost Danish cousins. I'm now in frequent contact and even talked to Paprika on the phone last week. Despite the lost years and never meeting, the connection between us is so strong. I can't wait to meet them in person and hug them tight!

That Crazy Internet

Howdy Mavenland! I had to share something I learned this evening from my brother...he found our cousins. Were they lost? Not really, just lost to us. Long story short: Our father had one sister and she moved to Denmark in 1951. I only met her once in the early 80s. We lost touch with her (and consequently our cousins) after our grandmother died in 1987 (my father died the previous year). I'd always wondered what was going on with them, but it never, ever occurred to me to Google them.

And how stupid was that.

See, my aunt was an actress, and a rather famous one in Denmark. She has a page in Danish Wikipedia! And my eldest cousin, Kim Sagild, was in a successful latin/jazz/funk band (Buki-Yamaz - they have a myspace page with super groovy music!) and went on to do something in music (he came to visit once also - I remember him as being so, so, so cool - I think I was maybe 9?). My other two cousins, Paprika (if you go to her page here at Internet Movie Database, click on the first trailer for The Substitute and watch what happens to her at the end!) and Nikolaj Steen were also artists, but I'd no idea Paprika won the equivalent of the Danish Oscar - for both best actress and supporting actress...in the same year! Wild.

My brother gets credit for finding them and is trying to make contact. I hope he's successful and that we'll be able to swap photos and stories. I'm certain we have much to share about our families and I'm really excited about the possibilities.

Ah, Internet, sometimes your powers are far more good than evil.

So what's the Internet done for you lately?

We're Still Here!

Hey Mave Faves! We're still here, we're all just swamped. Busy writing fabulous stories for you! (I'm working on book two of my Wicked trilogy - Their Wicked Bargain - it's so fun!) We'll post when the mood strikes, or if anyone has questions, we'll answer those too.

I'm so thrilled to share that our dear friend Courtney Milan just announced her first sale - a two-book deal to HQN. Feel free to squee congrats here or over on her blog (see link). We're so excited for her!

San Francisco Photo Album

Hello Mave Faves! I had a great time in San Francisco! No, I didn't win the Golden Heart, but honestly I was just thrilled to be a finalist. It was so great meeting all of the other Pixie Chicks (that's what we 2008 Golden Heart finalists call ourselves). We even had t-shirts!

It was especially wonderful to see so many great friends: Julianne, Santa, Manda, Elodie, Tessa, Amy, Sara, Courtney, and so many more! I also loved meeting for the first time Leigh, Louisa, Anna, Elisabeth, Angie, and all the Pixie Chicks! I have to give a special shout out to my roommate, Pamela Fryer, who won the Golden Heart for Best Series Contemporary Action Adventure! Yay Pam! (Here are pics of me with J Perry Stone, Courtney Milan, Anna Campbell, and Pam Fryer.)

 

And here's a pic of some of the FanLit alums from two years ago:

And last but not least, here are the Mavens! Unfortunately Carrie couldn't be with us and I've no idea how to crop her in.

 

It was an exhausting four days, but I learned a lot and networked my little tush off. (Actually, it's still there. Pesky thing.)

Be sure to stop in tomorrow when Angie Fox is our guest Maven. You want to find out your Biker Witch name, don't you? Post a comment and you could win a signed copy of Angie's brand new debut, The Accidental Demon Slayer. I'm reading it now and it's hi-larious.

How was your conference? If you weren't there, how productive were you without us to bother you?

A Conferencing We Will Go!

I apologize for the brevity of this post, but I still have eleventy billion things on my to-do list before I leave for San Francisco bright and early this morning (as you read this, it's "this morning").

I am thrilled that one of our very own Mave Faves, Angie Fox, will be guest blogging next week to celebrate the release of her debut novel, The Accidental Demon Slayer, which went on sale yesterday. If you haven't yet purchased your copy, run to the bookstore! I plan on picking mine up tonight at the Literacy Signing and getting it autographed to ME! Congratulations Angie!!!

And that, I'm afraid, is the end of my post today. Next week I will post a newsy summary of all the fabulousness that was the 2008 RWA Conference. I am so excited to see old (and new) friends and partake in the roller coaster ride of being a Golden Heart finalist. I am especially looking forward to the champagne reception Friday afternoon for GH finalists and RITA nominees (and their editors!). I promise I'll take pictures!

Ciao, Mave Faves!

The Only Thing that Matters at Conference

And no, I'm not talking about Spanx (which is still really, really important). Anyone else shocked the RWA conference is next week? I can't very well say this crept up on me, but wow, did time fly. I'm feeling slightly more prepared than last year, but that's probably only because I don't have to ready the one thing that gave me fits last year: pitching. Not that I'm not, er, ready with a two-line spiel about Glorious, my GH-finalist manuscript. From what I'm told, the GH-finalist ribbon on my nametag will practically ensure that anyone and everyone will ask what my book is about. So, I'd better be ready! Especially if one of those somebodies is an editor with Glorious on their desk!

As for the rest:

Outfits? Check
Preprinted handouts for workshops I plan to attend? Check
Highlighted schedule? Check
Business cards? Check
Cool new name tag holder with various pins? Check
Extra space for copious books? Check
Insane amounts of excitement about hooking up with all my writing pals? Double check!

Neuroses? In spades, baby because this list nowhere near covers everything I need to remember - both what I'm bringing to San Francisco and what I need to organize for the Burkettes at home. See, I need to be extra organized because Mr. Burke is joining me in San Francisco for the Golden Heart/RITA ceremony Saturday night. He flies in Saturday afternoon and then we're heading home Sunday.

Doubtless you've read a gazillion blogs over the past couple of weeks about conference: what to wear, what not to wear, how to pitch, how to network, best uses of your time, blah, blah. The only bits of advice I offer is to try to get enough sleep and have a great time. (Yes, I realize the first might preclude the other, especially if you're a night owl and can't say no to an invitation to hang out with agents, editors, RITA-winning authors, that cool writer you met at lunch who loved The Dark Knight as much as you did, ahem.) We've talked before about how great local chapters are for the writing comaraderie. Well the RWA National Conference (I guess it's really international as I know plenty of folks from Britain, Canada, and Australia are joining us) is a fantastic way to OD on that kinship and love of all things writerly. So, go forth and have fun. I hope to have some with you!

Any advice about conference? What's your favorite part? Anything in particular you're looking forward to this year?

World Building II: Research

Since I just shipped out Her Wicked Ways to my agent I am now focusing on my new ms, Their Wicked Bargain. (Check out the new teaser blurb on my website!) But, wow, it's been awhile since I started a new book! I, er, forgot how hard that can be. I actually started the book a couple of times recently, but neither effort was "right." I'm armed with GMCs, inciting incidents, turning points, and black moments. I even know (I think) how the HEA will work out. Why then, have I spent a week working on the first scene and I'm still not done?

Research, MaveFaves.

One of the reasons I write (and read) historicals is the research aspect. Last week I talked about world-building and that's the other reason. And, unfortunately, you can't have the latter without the former. The more you know about the period in which you're writing, the better the world you build. For example, the heroine lives with her cousin and his wife. Her cousin is fifteen years older than her and well established in a career. Now, what kind of career would a guy living outside the second-largest city in Wales have? Turns out he's an agent for a copper smelting factory. So far anyway. There's still some research outstanding. I've read about how smelting works and how dirty and awful most factory conditions were during this period. Will I use this information in the book? Not most of it. But, just knowing it will make the heroine's cousin more real. And the more real the characters, the more real the world.

Sometimes I get caught up in what some people might call ridiculous details (okay, that's what I call them) - how far places are apart, actual names of towns and landmarks in the area, what day it is, you get the picture. But to me these things are important and I'm beginning to see how they impact the world I'm building.

How do you feel about research? Best part? Rather stick a machete in your eye? Ever written around having to do research or chosen a path that wouldn't require you to fact-check? True confession time: do you have Wikipedia bookmarked?

Be sure to stop by every day next week when we'll be celebrating our first anniversary! Join us for a week-long Q&A with our favorite authors. And, of course, fabulous prizes!

World Building

When I think of world building I usually think of fantasy or paranormal books. Harry Potter. The Golden Compass (which Mr. Burke is currently reading). Etcetera. Only recently did I start thinking world building in terms of the genre in which I write: historical romance. I began to see it in my own work when I didn’t want to leave my characters and their “space,” meaning the little world I created just for them. And, of course, that world is the only place they exist.

As I start my next book, I'm very mindful of world building. The story takes place entirely on the Gower Peninsula of Wales (where the city of Swansea is located), and in 1817 this is a very rural area. Populated with people who speak English in addition to their own language. (Since I don't speak Welsh, that will be tricky on its own - not that I plan to have long passages in Welsh!). I'm very excited to establish a place and set of characters that are unique and that will draw my reader into a world they won't want to leave.

In thinking about creating a world that is inviting, exciting, and satisfying I come up with the following components:

Place 
This might seem like the "duh" part in that isn't a world a place? Well, yes, but it's so much more. Place is the geographic location, the settings (you might also think of settings as a separate component that might encompass smell, taste, sound), the overall feel of the surroundings.

Time
To me, this is more than just historical, contemporary, or futuristic. It's a time of life as well as a time of setting. The story you tell is affectd by your characters' time, if that makes sense.

Characters
This is huge. A world is only as interesting as the people who inhabit it. This includes the nameless redshirt as well as the hero or heroine. One might argue that characters can even be part of the setting. To me, it's all part of building a believable and entertaining world. A world where the reader wants to spend their free time.

I'm sure there are tons more (do share!), but these are just the things that come to mind as I write this post. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


Your turn: What kinds of things do you think of in terms of building your world? Do you consciously think of this, or just  write your story and characters and believe the "world" will come out?

And a Big Thank You
I'm mailing Her Wicked Ways off to my agent this week. I want to thank all of the people who read either parts or the entire book and provided such valuable feedback. I could not have crafted this without your help and support. So thank you, thank you to Angie, Lenora, Tessa, Courtney, Barbara, and especially Janice who really put the screws to me (in the best possible way). And I would be completely lost without my plotting partners/CPs, Mavens Erica and Lacey who constantly challenge and inspire me to write smarter and better. I'm so fortunate to have met such generous and gifted writers and friends. Thank you!

Shameless Self-Promotion

Today I'm indulging in shameless self-promotion. A few weeks ago I was interviewed by our local newspaper. They received a press release regarding my Golden Heart final from RWA who graciously sends them to three media outlets (designated by me). I had no idea if the press releases would bear fruit and was thrilled to get a call from Kristen Forbes who wanted to interview me for the article.

I'd never done an interview before! But I'm a talker (no, really?), so it was pretty easy (okay, except when I spotted a couple of teachers from my daughter's school at a nearby table and had a moment's panic for some inexplicable reason). The only problem was not asking her a bunch of questions in return (which I ended up doing anyway - she was incredibly nice and fun to talk to). I'm just amazed at how much information she packed into the article. And I'd even forgotten a few things I'd said. She took awesome notes.

Ever done an interview? Been on the news? What about from the other side - ever interviewed anyone? What's the one thing you'd like to share about yourself - dish it here!

Oh, and here's the article of course!

Authenticity in Action

Ever forget to practice what you preach? Raises hand. I swear it was an accident. Recently a lovely writer friend of mine graciously read Her Wicked Ways. She had great things to say (yay!) about the last two-thirds. What about the first third? She found the pacing off. Too much introspection and non-relevant action. Oh no, but I try to balance action/introspection/dialogue! Remember AID? Uh, yeah, I guess I forgot. Or wasn't paying attention, more likely.

Regarding the introspection, I think I was in a rut of inner dialogue to replace action. In a character's POV scene, it's cool to ground their external dialogue with inner dialogue. Fun technique, but easy to overdo. Same with tagging external dialogue with action. We all know the pitfalls of arching brows, shrugging shoulders, and flexing fingers.

But I had plenty of non-arching/shrugging/flexing action! Except the action still wasn't tied to the goals of the scene. Whaaaa, you say? I'll give an example. I had a scene in which the hero and his mentor/best friend type discussed his romantic progress with the heroine using the miserable summer and the failing crops as the backdrop. The cold weather and disastrous planting play hugely into the hero's GMC. So, here they are checking out the fledgling plants that are woefully behind schedule and musing about the potential for a freeze that night. Out comes the heroine and conversation turns to her and blah, blah, wake up!

After my friend gave me her comments, I reread the first several chapters and immediately saw her point. When I got to this point in the story, I sat back for a moment and pondered how best to make the action in this scene more relevant. I mean, standing around talking about the weather is nowhere near as exciting as doing something about the weather. So if a freeze could be imminent, why not dump snow on them? Now. As in, we need to get these plants covered before the snow accumulates and kills the tiny sprouts! (Yes, Maven Carrie's technique of "how can I ruin my characters today" mentality was incredibly helpful and I want to give credit where it's due.) Now my scene had real action that mattered to the story. And the conversation that was there still happens, but it's more authentic. Yes, that's it, authentic.

So thank you dear friend/CP (you know who you are) for reminding me that action should be authentic for the scene and contribute conflict as well as interest. And thank you Maven Carrie for helping me torture my characters.

What do you do if a scene just doesn't have "it?" Do your scenes have authentic action that moves the story forward, that contributes to the purpose of the scene? How do you keep track of all the myriad things we aim to achieve in our writing?

Congrats to our friends over at Riding With the Top Down on your second anniversary! Speaking of anniversaries, the Mavens have been blogging for a year this week. Crazy, huh? Stay tuned for exciting anniversary happenings...

What I'm Going to Do On My Summer Vacation...

So it's the last week of school here and I am sooooo ready for summer. Of course it's 50 degrees here in Oregon, so summer seems like an absolute pipe dream. I'm ready for summer because it should be warm (note, I like it warm, not hot), because I don't have to rouse my tired daughter for school, because I don't have to worry about doing homework or getting lunch made, because I can write more.

Are you laughing? I hear you laughing. Yes, I hope to get more writing done. I'd actually like to write the first draft of Their Wicked Bargain between now and September (maybe that's the pipe dream). Not sure I can make it, but I'm going to try. And I'm going to try an early morning/late night schedule. We'll see if it pans out and I promise to check in with you. If I don't, ask, okay?

In the meantime, we're headed to the beach for a long weekend on Friday with some friends. Can't wait. And I'm leaving my laptop at home. I could take it because the campground* has wi-fi, but it's sketchy at best. I took my laptop when we stayed there during Spring Break in March because we left the day I got the call that I'd finaled in the Golden Heart, and I could not be away from the computer. Pathetic, I know. But, I ended up frustrated because the connection was more dead than alive. Thank goodness for McDonald's and their free wi-fi.

We're starting our summer break with this camping trip and finishing it over Labor Day with another camping trip to central Washington (annual pilgrimage to the Gorge Amphitheatre to see the Dave Matthews Band).

What are you planning for this summer? Both vacations and other goals - anyone else hoping to write a book?

*Lest you worry about us camping in 50 degree weather, it's worth nothing that this is "camping." While we could tent, we rented cabins complete with beds (they supply the mattress pads, we supply the sleeping bags), microwaves, mini-fridges, TVs (with cable, of course), porch swing, fire pit, barbecue, and HEATER. Oh, and there's an indoor pool.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Writer's Life for Me!

First, let me award B.E. Sanderson a signed copy of Stephanie Rowe's Sex and the Immortal Bad Boy for her hilarious title offering last week. Though I won’t be using Give a Lord a Bone as an official title, picture it as the subtitle. I did come up with a tentative title: Their Wicked Bargain. I also came up with a title for book three that I absolutely adore: His Wicked Heart. So, yay on both counts! Do let me know what you think.

I’ve been suffering from writer’s life this week. What is that? Please contribute to the following:

Angst

1. Have I edited my WIP enough?
2. Will my CPs love my WIP as much as me?
3. Is the hero’s arc strong enough?
4. Why won’t everyone leave me alone so I can write?!
5. Your angst here

Excitement

1. One of my CPs cried reading the end of Her Wicked Ways!
2. I can’t wait to start my next book in earnest!
3. Can’t wait for my agent to read HWW!
4. RWA is going to rock!
5. Your excitement here

Fear

1. What if I can’t write another book as quickly and efficiently as HWW?
2. What if no one ever buys my books?
3. What if I get a ginormous zit right before the GH ceremony (legitimate fear, people)?
4. How will I afford gas? (I assume this is everyone’s fear, but perhaps not.)
5. Your fear here

One thing I really love about the writing community is everyone’s willingness to share their angst, excitement, and fear. They’re the things that unite us as writers and as human beings. So, come on and let’s angst together.

Wanted: Book Title

I’ve mentioned a few times over the last several weeks that my next book is in need of a title. I’ve currently dubbed it The Tale of Gideon. I clearly need help. Let me tell you about the book and then you can post your suggestions (please, please have suggestions!) in the comments. The person who submits my favorite title (not necessarily the one I’ll pick, mind you) will receive the fabulous Sex and the Immortal Bad Boy, signed by my pal Stephanie Rowe.

Here’s the most current draft of the story blurb:

Cate Bowen would rather dirty her hands, literally, than consider marriage or any other feminine trade. Defining herself as an archaeological scholar is more than her life’s dream, it’s her absolute purpose. When Lord Gideon Bradshaw controls the means with which she can achieve what she desires, she’s forced to accept him as her partner. He doesn’t know the first thing about science or following the rules, and his arrogance may prove to be her downfall, both professionally and personally.

Lord Gideon Bradshaw ought to be the most envied man in England. With wealth, social standing, and a reputation any buck would kill for, why is his life an empty pit? A rundown Welsh estate and an independent termagant who would rather dig for lost treasure than shop on Bond Street shouldn’t entice him. But the temptation of something—and someone—to call his own is more than he can resist.

I’m still working on it, but hopefully this gives you the flavor of the book. This is book two (the Spare) in a trilogy about three siblings raised with silver spoons in their mouths who court scandal. In the first book, Her Wicked Ways, the youngest sibling (the Deb), Lady Miranda, flaunted Society’s dictates and found herself exiled to the country where she became entangled with a highwayman and an impoverished altruist. Book three is about the eldest sibling (the Heir), the Earl of Morley whose icy façade masks a violent interior that threatens to ruin their family forever. Fun stuff, right?

The Tale of Gideon is essentially Moonlighting meets Secrets of the Dead (yeah, that’s my high concept, so hands off! *g). If you aren’t familiar with Moonlighting, you should maybe not be reading this blog (kidding). In all seriousness, it’s one of the great romantic comedies (TV show) of all time. Now lest you think TTOG is a comedy, look at part two: Secrets of the Dead, a great documentary program on PBS about, well, the dead. Okay, this is what their website says:

Part detective story, part true-life drama, SECRETS OF THE DEAD unearths evidence from around the world, challenging prevailing ideas and throwing fresh light on unexplained events. Using the most up-to-date science in the laboratory and in the field, scientists and researchers examine the missing pieces of each puzzle, completing the picture of what had been merely an assemblage of suppositions.

Keep in mind that in TTOG, “up-to-date” is 1817!

Your turn! Hit me with some great titles!

From Point A to Point B

I received what I think is an awesome comment from a CP yesterday. She said there was no sagging middle in Her Wicked Ways. And she said it in reference to the character arc I'm building for the heroine. This made me all warm and fuzzy inside. It also made me aware that I'd never stumbled through sagging middle "problems" when drafting HWW. I had a lot of these problems writing Glorious and I wonder why I had them with one book and not the other.

Any MaveFaves want to shout out the probable (I think) answer? Storyboarding! Once again, storyboarding has helped me in ways I didn't imagine. It's not so much that it prevented a sagging middle, it's that it helped me build a character arc. Now, I didn't get it perfect on the first draft. I'm revising/polishing right now and plan to go through chapter by chapter and make sure I'm nailing both the h/h arcs. But having turning points for the characters and the various storylines is a huge help in establishing - and sticking to - that arc.

We all know middles are the meat of the story. And I think arcs are maybe the meat of our characters. Showing their growth through action, introspection, and dialogue (yep, there's AID again) is what gets us from Point A to Point B or from "Once upon a time" to "The End." At least, it seemed to work for Her Wicked Ways. Ask me again after I draft The Tale of Gideon (yikes, that really needs a better working title).

What do you do to create and build on your character arcs? How do you keep them '"true" throughout the book? What's your secret to sagging middles (if you have one)?

Tag, I'm It!

I tagged myself over at Diana Peterfreund's blog. Here's the deal:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Open to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five no people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you've posted your three sentences.

The nearest book is actually Diana's Secret Society Girl, which I've been meaning to pick up for ages. Picked it up at Target Sunday, started reading it today, irritated I have to write this instead of read it! Back to the task at hand...

In the interest of sharing (see Maven Carrie's post yesterday) - and because I haven't gotten to page 123 of SSG yet - I'm going to page 123 of Glorious:

She would make it up to Wroxton by being the best wife in all of England. Scotland too. And she would ensure Ivy had her Perfect Gentleman, whatever the cost.

Okay, that was fun. Here's Her Wicked Ways:

He glanced down at his clothes. The highwayman couldn’t compromise her. Montgomery Foxcroft had to do it.

Your turn! Share your stuff, whatever you're reading, something you want to read, whatever - it's up to you!

Come to the Dark Side...It's Fun!

I've crossed over to the dark side. Yesterday we bought a mini-van. I swore I'd never live in Suburban Hell (sure do!) or own a mini-van (double check!) What has become of me? I'm a blah-blah-blah old soccer mom (tripe check, my first grade daughter plays soccer and what's more...my husband is the coach) who just happens to write historical romantic fiction (okay, that last part is pretty cool). So now that I have a mini-van, have I irrevocably thrown myself into the abyss?

You be the judge. Here are some other things I've done recently that somehow defy logic (at least the logic I thought would pertain to my life at this point):

-Clean and organize more than is "normal." (Note: this does not mean I live in House Beautiful, it simply means I live in House Unchaotic, which is a feat in itself.)
-Slavishly watch American Idol and even vote for a favorite contestant (hold on a sec while I dial).
-Regularly post on a chat board regarding said American Idol contestant as well as my other two favorite reality shows: The Amazing Race and Survivor.
-Wear more eye makeup than I've done since college.
-Wear burgundy-black polish on my toenails (and they look awesome!).
-Choose to do almost anything other than write (includes all writing-related tasks) without regret.

I have a good excuse (I hope). I took April pretty much off from writing while Her Wicked Ways percolated. I did work on plot points for my next book, The Tale of Gideon (that's the working title, but I need to find a better one so I can put a blurb on my website - perhaps I'll have a contest soon...) and started revising HWW maybe ten days ago. But revising isn't the same as powering through a first draft. During January and February, I had this driving need to sit and write as much as possible to get to The End (much like reading a really good book), even when I was stuck for a day or two. Every waking moment could have been (and probably was) filled with thinking about the story. Now that I'm not consumed with writing a story, my brain has more time to accept the temptations of the dark side.

You probably think I'm silly. It's not as if I'm out getting a tattoo or piercing my navel (for the record, I have a tiny tattoo on my ankle - my daughter calls it a "stamp" - and the thought of piercing anything other than my ears makes me squinchy). I'm just not consumed with writing (hmmm, and maybe I feel guilty about that?) A lot of us post about procrastinatory activities and how they're bad, but I'm allowing myself to slack off and embrace this period of unproductivity. I'm more than allowing it, I'm enjoying it.

How do you embrace the dark side? What do you do in your Between Books Phase? Do you allow yourself to be a slacker, if only for a day? And, tell us, what do you do when you joyfully slack?

Not a Hero

Ever read a book or watch a movie with a "not-hero?" Can't say secondary character in this case, because the person is bigger than that, but isn't the hero, if that makes sense)? I'm going to assume your answer is yes. Last night I watched a snippet of what is truly one of my favorite movies of all time: Tombstone. That's the OK Corral retelling from 1993 (God, is it really that old? Yikes) starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. A Kevin Costner-led Wyatt Earp came out around the same time and got more press, but it sucked in comparison. If you've never seen Tombstone, run, don't walk, to a movie store and rent it. I'll wait. You do not have to like Westerns to love this movie. It's not a romance per se (actually, imdb lists it as a western, action, romance, drama), but rrrraowr does it have hot heroes. And the hottest one of all has tuberculosis and looks like he's about to keel over throughout the entire movie.

How is that, you ask? It's one part script and five parts Val Kilmer's brilliant (and criminally underrated) performance as Doc Holliday. Who doesn't love a guy who taunts the baddie with lines as insipid as, "I'm your huckleberry." He even gets in a verbal pissing match in Latin with the villain, Johnny Ringo. Hawt! And when Johnny wants to gunfight, Doc fingers his pistol (yeah, I'm aware that sounds vaguely dirty, Maven Lacey) and drawls, "Say when." When the other baddies drag Johnny off, Doc goes back to the barber as if the entire episode were as mundane as well, getting a shave. Super hawt!

The only drawback is that Doc doesn't get his own book/movie, which is a travesty. I hate when that happens. Glorious features a secondary character (the heroine's sister) who gets enough attention by readers to warrant her own book. But I haven't written her book and don't have immediate plans to do so. Should Glorious be published, I'm really not sure Ivy will get her own book, but I'll have to think about that. I don't want readers feeling the same way about her that I feel about Doc.

So anyone else lurve Tombstone with the fire of a thousand suns like me (makes me want to write a Western romance, I swear)? How about not-heroes you love and maybe even wrote fan fiction for (hmmm, now that's an idea)? Anyone run out and buy our pal Elizabeth Hoyt's new historical today? I was nowhere near a bookstore, but I've a Borders gift card burning a hole in my pocket...

Where’s the Love?

A week ago Friday (that’d be April 11 for anyone who might be calendar-challenged, *cough* Maven Erica *cough*), Mr. Burke and I drove to Seattle (we live in the Portland-area) to see His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama at Seeds of Compassion. We bought tickets to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds in an acoustic concert and were excited the event included a “dialogue” between His Holiness and Dave (and moderated by a local newsperson, Margaret Larson). They spoke about using the media to promote compassion. My favorite part is when they talked about the power of women in leadership. Think about your mom and how important she is in your family unit, how her power feeds into the power of everyone in that unit. They talked about how the world is truly ripe for women leaders. How woman are innately more compassionate than men. Interesting stuff (and no, this was not a veiled endorsement for Hillary – I’m fairly certain Dave’s an Obama guy and I don’t know about His Holiness).

His Holiness also spoke about having compassion for our enemies and that this is what could bring us together in a global sense. This got me thinking about villains. I think most people agree that writing a villain is challenging and can often be as time consuming as writing a protagonist even though they may have less screen time. Really good villains have some sort of identifiable trait – identifiable to the reader and to the protag. Really? Do protags consciously identify with their nemeses? I’m not sure they have to, but a protag who finds compassion for their enemy? Wow, the possibilities there! Got me thinking about projects I’m working on. By showing our villains a little love we might just shine a light into the dark husk that was once their heart - and just might be again. Ah, the layers we can pull from the things we experience and learn in our daily lives. Thank you, Dalai Lama.

What’s your stance on villains? Misunderstood? All of them should suffer? Been to a neat event lately? Show us the love!

Darcy's "Library"

Awwww, do the Humpty Hump, do the Humpty Hump. Do me, baby! Hey, it's Hump Day! And we're strolling down memory lane, so why not reach back into the vault for a soundtrack while we're at it? I was in college when that song came out. Back when I still watched music videos. And wrote drivel...

I actually started out writing “news” reports to deliver to my great-uncle (fantastic audience, my Uncle Alec) when I was about 8 or 9 I’d guess. Silly drivel about the weather or maybe the plants in their (Uncle Alec was my grandma’s brother and he lived with my grandparents) awesome garden.

In high school I wrote maybe half of a godawful book about a heroine named Capricia (I literally just tried to type Crapicia, which says it all right there) who falls for the much-older hero. After she surrenders her virginity, nothing changes (yeah, this was before I knew squat about social mores during whatever historical period this was) and she leaves England, taking the bloodstained sheet with her. And then mails it back to him later which then gets him in trouble. Now: cringeworthy. Then: bitchen storytelling!

After that or maybe simultaenously, I tried to adapt one of my favorite romance novels, Seaflame by Valerie Vayle, into a movie. It has pirates! Political intrigue! The Sun King! I still think it could be great.

Next, I started an epic set during the American Revolutionary War with two heroes and two heroines. Actually, there might have been three of each. But maybe I planned a trilogy. Whatever I’d drafted is lost. What I do have is a list of characters and a very intricate timeline for about three generations of people.

The last project(s) I started before getting “serious” about writing (er, finishing) a romance novel in 2005 was a trilogy of books with the titles: Dawn, Twilight, and Midnight. The books are so named because each one starts in the applicable time. For example, Dawn starts with a duel at, you guessed it, dawn, and features a female spy who loses her memory (think The Long Kiss Goodnight) when she’s shot in the middle of said duel by the hero (he’s dueling with someone other than her). Twilight features his good friend, a total manslut, and Midnight is about their other friend who must gamble in order to keep his family’s finances afloat and maintain the image that they are wealthy nobility, when in fact they are near ruin. You see the theme? The fighter (duelist), the lover, and the gambler. I still plan to write the trilogy, but didn’t want them to be my “first” books. Instead, I wrote…

1) Notorious, which was originally called The White Widow. I conceptualized it as a woman who may or may not have killed her husband and wore nothing but white as a widow. This was before I realized that white was an acceptable color for mourning. Damn historical accuracy. It was while writing this book that I joined the Aspiring Romance Writers loop and met Mavens Lacey (we also knew each other a bit from the Avon chat board), Erica, and Jackie. I began to CP with Lacey almost immediately and soon realized Notorious was in dire need of conflict. So I came up with this (not) great subplot of the heroine wanting to help abused servants because her deceased husband had abused his servants. Man, that went nowhere. So then the heroine decided to go to London to look for information about her deceased reprobate father who mentored the hero (in reprobation – is that a word?). I conceived the hero and heroine of this book while watching Nip/Tuck and drooling over Dr. Christian Troy, a gorgeous manslut (hmmm, do I like mansluts?). I tried to come up with the perfect foil for him…and came up with Bree Van de Kamp from Desperate Housewives. Voila, Notorious was born. And 21 months later died a slow, but necessary death and now lives with the dust bunnies (the abandoned novel equivalent of sleeping with the fishes).

2) Glorious was supposed to be book 2 of the Black Bandit trilogy (Notorious, Glorious, and Dangerous). A bandit was going to arc over three books and his identity would be revealed in Dangerous. After I scrapped Notorious, I scrapped the arcing idea and just wrote Glorious without the bandit scenario (which I saved for Her Wicked Ways, see below). Glorious is about a subvillain (I just made up this term to describe a somewhat villainous character who is not the “actual” villain) of Notorious who redeemed himself at the end of the story by blocking a bullet meant for the heroine. He learns a terrible secret while he's lying there bleeding, and embraces the obliterating effects of laudanum while recovering from his wound. The latter bit is still present and Glorious (unlike Notorious) has been well-received in contests and is a Golden Heart finalist. It also landed me my agent.

3) Her Wicked Ways is the book about the bandit! And was supposed to be about the Glorious hero’s sister. I unlinked the books because I couldn’t make the timeline work for both (stuff that happens in Glorious to the hero’s sister just didn’t jive with what I needed to happen in Her Wicked Ways). The heroine is a delightfully arrogant Society chit who’s been banished to a backwater village after getting caught in a near-compromising position. She’s packed off to rural Wiltshire where she’s made to work at an orphanage owned by the hero. But can sedate country life inhabited by a too-tempting highwayman and a surprisingly sexy bumpkin cure her of her wicked ways?

4) The Tale of Gideon is not the title of the book I just started, but it’s all I have for now. Gideon is the brother of the heroine of Her Wicked Ways and he’s about as pompous as she is. Out to prove he’s as good as his brother the heir, and find his own niche in the world, he wins a broken-down manor in a card game. Excited by the prospects of a place he can call his own, he is further intrigued by the beautiful young woman who wants the manor for its hidden archaeological treasures. The battle for the right to the spectacular find becomes a battle for dominance between two strong-minded people who won't surrender their principles...even for love.

5) Fight Club: The Romance is, again, not the title of the book I’ve plotted and will write after The Tale of Gideon. But yes, it is Regency Fight Club. The hero is Her Wicked Ways’ heroine’s eldest brother, a man whose superiority and sense of entitlement mask something passionate and perhaps violent far beneath his gilded, frosty exterior. When he finds himself attracted to the most unsuitable female imaginable and worse, when she becomes his great-aunt’s companion, he must find a way to cope. Beating his friends into pulpy oblivion seems as good a solution as any…until the reputation of his entire family—the one thing he’s required to uphold—is threatened. Will he embrace his true nature and the love that will save him or conform to the ideal for which he’s been molded?

Have I intrigued you with any of this? Are you dying to know what happened to Capricia and her bloodied sheet? (Me too, actually.)

How Dark is Too Dark?

First, let me take a moment for the Romance Vagabonds Blogging Excellence Award! Here’s where I admit a terrible truth. I’m an awful blog visitor. I lurk. My name is Darcy Burke and I’m a lurker. Wow, that feels better! Know that I read far, far more than I ever comment (though I wish I had more time to read—there are so many awesome places to visit out there!). I really wanted to select the other four Mavens because they post some great stuff on their individual blogs. Their links are over there on the right, so stop by some time! Here are a couple places I like to visit:

Word Wenches
Romance Roundtable

And now for the regular Wednesday program...I love me a tortured hero. And from what I read around the blogosphere (see, I do read!), it seems like lots of romance readers and writers love a tortured hero. What about tortured heroines? I love them too, actually. There’s something wonderful about enjoying another person’s angst without having to live it yourself, especially if you’re emotionally invested in them (see my last week’s post on people inhabiting books).

My Golden Heart finalist manuscript, Glorious, features a pretty dark hero. And it’s not that he’s been dark his whole life, he chooses a dark path during a period of deep despair. And the heroine isn’t dark—she’s a nurturer, a people-pleaser—but she makes some pretty dark choices. Choices that almost ruin those she loves the most. Yet, I still believe they are both empathizable characters people worth rooting for.

In the manuscript I just finished, Her Wicked Ways, the hero is a really good guy doing kind of bad things for a very noble cause. For some reason, I shied away from pushing him too close to the edge of darkness and when I revise in a few weeks, I’m going to revisit that because, darn it, I like dark. (Note: “kind of bad things.” Must. Be. Baaaaad things.)

I’ve had ideas for lots of characters or character traits that may be too dark, but I hope if done right, they’ll work. What about an opium-eater who has no shame about it? A man who carries on an affair with his mentor’s wife? (Keep in mind these are historicals.) A female assassin who kills the hero’s beloved father, not knowing he’s the hero’s father? Any of those put you off?

What is it about darkness that is so provocative? I think it’s the ability to be part of a situation in which we could never imagine ourselves. Characters People who have become our friends or confidantes doing things we can only dream about. Think of the worst thing you’ve imagined doing. Like humiliating that obnoxious mean girl in high school. No, worse. Slashing your cheating boyfriend’s tires. No, worse. Shanking your boss. Worse? I dunno, you tell me (or better yet, maybe keep it to yourself). Now, think of a story that includes that fantasy (oh yeah, it’s a fantasy - at least I hope it is) perpetrated by your new best friends. Almost like being there yourself, isn’t it?

To me, acceptability of darkness is all about motivation. If you can motivate a person’s bad decisions, bad attitude, just overall baaaaadness, I’ll buy it. I’ll probably even lurve it with the fire of a thousand suns.

So how dark is too dark? Any books that have done dark to perfection? How about what crosses the line? Take us to your dark side, Mave Faves!