I Can’t Believe I Am Doing It AGAIN

 

 

   November in the States is a time to bring out the woollies and anticipate the family holiday of Thanksgiving. For writers here and internationally it is thirty days of the biggest challenge of their lives. Whether it is a writer’s first stab at participation in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) or her dozenth, it is one intimidating mountain of words to climb.

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

It is also a challenge for we old battleaxes that know we can write a novel but wonder if the marathon achievement can be repeated.  The beginning of EVERY new novel brings these doubts, perhaps even more keenly felt by those who know through experience the seemingly insurmountable self reflection and work involved. Whether an author’s word count has been healthy or anemic for the other eleven months, NaNo lights a Bunsen burner under the metaphorical behind of those around the globe who are insane enough to ‘believe’.

Come on…

-Believe they can create something of potential worth from nothing.

-Believe that the edits of December WILL unearth the diamond in the rough

-Believe they can find enough minutes in the day to pen what is essentially over six type written pages a day of one spanking new story.

-Believe their family and friends will not commit them to an asylum OR disown them for the oft-misperceived ‘indulgence’ of isolating themselves from the world in this Leap Of Faith (what a great name for a novel. Oh—it IS one written during 2008 NaNo AS a leap of faith—by one Christine London ;)

-Believe that they will be made a stronger and better human being through the process whether or not it ever produces a saleable novel.

-Believe in their internal fortitude, the value and power of the written word

-Believe in the legacy potential of such a product –that will remain long after they are gone to be read by unknown eyes and felt in as- of-yet unborn hearts.

   If that isn’t a darn good reason to sit in front of a computer screen or pull out a composition book whilst in the dentist’s waiting room, I don’t know what is.

   Wish me luck…no.

   Believe.

 

An International Struggle For Love - Coming November 11th!

When We Were Amazing

Coming November 11th 2011



Twenty three year old Aussie wine heir Bryan Lassiter wanted nothing more than to be a self made man. When online love, California ranch owner Carrie Sorrell flies half way round the globe to visit him, she’d no idea his magnetism would erase both their fourteen year age difference and her common sense. As fate and a powerful family collide to tear them apart, will she have the strength to let him go or will it be the secret she’s so carefully protected that destroys? and online love to save it?



Fourteen f**king hours in the hell that was the interior of a jet plane. He tried to read, listen to music, watch a film. Nothing. He could see nothing but her lying in a hospital bed, tubes and technology running from her, surrounding her with their manufactured sterility. She needed to be touched. He needed to touch her. Make sure she was warm, well, alive.
A nagging weight lodged in the pit of his stomach. No food, no drink, just her. She was the cure.
He slid the sunshade up. The first rays of light sliced across the horizon as they chased the day at thirty six thousand feet. He could scarcely make out the scallop of cumulus below as they drifted by. The world went on, not caring a thing for the concerns of man. His world was suspended like an insect in amber. The rest of humanity could look in at him, but he was paralyzed to act, to move, to breathe.



When We Were Amazing Book Trailer


November 11th through MuseItUp Publishing

How about a Day in Apple Country?

Most people when you say 'apples' in reference to orchards and all the delicious products that come from this one a day keeps the doctor away fruit think Washington state. To be sure, the kings share of apples are grown within the borders of our neighbor's to the north, but you might be surprised what a amazing crop is produced right here in the Golden state of California.





Over the past dozen years my family and I have made the trek to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Placerville to the "Apple Hill" region to enjoy a good old fashioned weekend of farm hopping, apple pie, cider, crafts and pumpkins. This year we finally made the jump down south (I moved to L.A. seven years ago) to taste the experience at the older rendition in "OakGlen".



Two hours drive much more alluring then the eight it now takes to head north of Sacramento to Apple Hill, we also sampled a new campground.

The Oak Glen folks say they have been in the business of orcharding for over a century; that making them the grandfather of Apple Festivals. We were not disappointed.

Shops that look like stately homes,



narrow pathways leading to period vendor booths, animal pens, bake shops and appley crafts galore filled our need for this harvest tradition.







About a third the size of it's cousin to the North, the entire five mile loop can be visited comfortably within the confines of a lazy day. Placerville's Apple Hill requires at least two. Oak Glen has some things Placerville does not. Riley's Farm runs a marvelous docent program recreating not only the colonial period of American life, but Civil War times as well. Kids can learn about toys of the period,



daily life, eat in the publik house and talk to colonials dress in three sided hats and breeches.br/>


Originally constructed and homesteaded in the 1880s. The 55 acre portion of the farm currently open to the public is devoted to both agriculture and living history interpretation of the American Revolution, Civil War, Gold Rush Era, and the pioneering history of Old Oak Glen itself.





Nestled against the shoulders of the San Bernardino Mountains, the backdrop includes pines, green scrub hillsides and changing leaves. Not quite the lushness of a Northern California mountain high, Oak Glen is nonetheless a real country experience. Both North and South Apple Farming regions have been 'discovered' so best to go on a weekday to avoid overfull parking and queues. Breathe the pine, smell the cinnamon and the roses. Slow down and enjoy a world removed from the rush.

Meet Susan Roebuck

Please welcome author Sue Roebuck. We are having a bit of fun during this blog tour and asking some out-of-the-box questions. Sue took it all in stride and cobbled some really wonderful responses.

Let's do it!


You are putting together a dinner for the most seriously interesting and/or alluring celebrity on your internal "must meet someday' list. What are you serving? Why? And what question(s) will you ask during the course of the evening that you are simply dying to know more about?



I would invite the Dalai Lama because he’s an intelligent, enigmatic and fascinating individual who lives neither in the past, present nor future.

Before I get down to grilling him with my questions, I’ll have to feed him. He’s so adorable and I couldn’t let him go hungry, although I’m sure that’s a state he’s quite used to. Which is lucky because I’m the world’s worst cook.

I’ll have to remember to call him Your Holiness as I offer him some vegetable spring rolls which I’ll buy from the local Chinese takeaway. I’ll treat him to a homemade main-course though. How about, if it’s a cold day, a mound of vegetables stewed with noodles and tofu, and not forgetting the soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil? I wonder if I should add a drop or ten of sake?
Mississippi Mud Pie would come next made with fistfuls of pecans, a gallon of whipped cream and good glug of coconut milk. I think he’ll like it and, in any case, it’ll take the taste of the main-course away.

Over mint tea we’ll converse about what it’s like being a living god. And we’ll analyse his advice in his Path to Tranquility, and how easy it is to achieve:
When I see beings of wicked nature
overwhelmed by violent negative emotions and sufferings,
I shall hold such rare ones dear,
As if I have found a precious treasure

I’ll also ask him a few questions.

1. If you were invited by all world governments to be an adviser on fighting corruption. How would you go about it?

2. Your famous view: It is not necessary to be a religious believer. Be a warm-hearted person, well attuned to the innate spiritual nature of kindness and human affection holds true for everyone. However, in my opinion, it’s relevant to authors. Do you agree and what advice would you give to writers both published and unpublished?

3. Could you teach me how to meditate in such a way that will charge the energy around me?

There, that should keep us busy over our tea into the early hours and beyond.


Christine, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today.

A bit about Sue:

Sue Roebuck was born and educated in the UK but now lives in Portugal with her husband. She’s a teacher and her interest in dyslexia dates from way back. Nowadays she’s mostly involved with creating e-learning courses which, she says, is “teaching in your pajamas – as long as no cameras are present.”
Her novel, Perfect Score was published as an e-book by Awe-Struck publishing in September 2010 and reissued as a paperback in May 2011.
Sue’s determined that very soon writing will be her full-time occupation.

You can find her blog here: http://lauracea.blogspot.com

Perfect Score





"Perfect Score", set in mid West USA in the 1960s, is about family relationships, corruption, growing up, integrity, responsibility, and being a man of worth in a society of the worthless.
Alex Finch, who lives with a wealthy uncle, is a blend of musical genius and stubbornness, and firmly believes in his fantasy that his love for Sam Barrowdale is reciprocated. Sam has more direction in his little finger than Alex has in his whole body. He’s strong, yet of small stature and has developed a tough outer-coating after the knocks of a traumatic up-bringing which left him homeless. His one aim in life is to earn enough money to look after his disabled sister. He has no time for a spoiled, rich, guitar player. Sam also stutters and has what is probably a severe form of dyslexia.
When Sam unexpectedly disappears, Alex begins a somewhat bungling quest to find him, only to discover that Sam has a fearsome enemy: Alex's powerful and influential yet sociopathic uncle.
As Alex spirals downwards towards alcoholism, many questions need answering. Just why did Alex's evil uncle adopt him at age eleven yet deny him any affection? And what's the mystery behind Alex's father's death?


“Perfect Score” which is becoming an acclaimed novel can be found:

http://www.awe-struck.net/books/perfect_score.html

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Score-ebook/dp/B004XT6M9C
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Score-ebook/dp/B004XT6M9C

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/susan+roebuck/perfect+score/8608371/

The Changing Face of "Erotic" - How Hot Is Too Hot ?

When I sold my first novel in 2006, it was deemed erotic women's fiction. In spite of the standard heterosexual pairing and lack of toys, games or envelope pushing, it premiered on the top ten at the very respected and establish e-press where it was published.





A couple years later and a further three books published through the same press, my fifth submission was channeled to a sister imprint because it simply was not deemed 'hot' enough. Same heterosexual pairing, same language, pacing and voice.

Our reading culture is changing. Erotic boundaries are being pushed to a galaxy far, far away where few men (or women) have traveled before—until now. My third and present publisher still categorizes my stuff in their hot imprint, but even the reviewers are beginning to say 'wonderful writing, story and pace, but definitely not 'erotic'. My November release will be in the mainstream imprint.

What think you gentle readers? Are your tastes becoming jaded by vanilla erotic? Do you want it hotter and hotter? Are you craving stories of people and places, creatures and fantasy that would have been termed lude, or have the dreaded reference as 'pornographic' the romance genre so diligently fights? Is there any such thing as 'Too Hot'?

My novel, Leap Of Faith is an entertaining, international story that combines a romantic love triangle sorted out in the midst of great personal trial on the part of the heroine. She is coming to terms with a neurological challenge that is much maligned and misunderstood now and through the centuries. So strong are our cultural misconceptions she is willing to turn love away for fear of passing this challenge onto her children. "Real"? You bet.





Is there sex in the story? Yes. Is the bedroom door closed? Nope. Is sexual interaction a natural development in the lives of the characters? Yes. Monogamous, heterosexual, but what would have been burned in bonfires outside churches across the country not even half a century ago.



Yes...the times my friends, they are a'changin'.

Good or bad? Is it not through exposure, debate and education that we each are best equipped to make our own decisions as to what is right in our fiction as well as our reality? Where is the line drawn? In present day American romance fiction, we still disallow:

* Bestiality (By 'beast' is meant any non-intelligent, non-reasoning being)
* Pedophilia. None—Period.
* Necrophilia or anything close
* Bodily waste products
* Incest/Twincest
* Underage characters in sexual situations
* Serious injury, rape, or snuff portrayed in a positive light
* Hate literature and positive portrayal of negative stereotypes

"Thank God" I hear you thinking. Not so worldwide. In Europe the age of consent is sixteen. So a book that has as theme the very real and common situation of attraction and sexual contact between a student and her teacher would be rejected in the United States if that student were not eighteen or older. Some/many Europeans would call that puritanical hypocrisy. Students and teachers have paired for centuries. What college student has not heard of a professor dating a student? What if that adult professor or teacher's aid happens to be dating a soon-to-turn eighteen year old freshman and he is twenty five? Happens all the time. Great potential for angst and discussion. Not allowed in an American romance.

What about all the child abuse/pedophilia portrayed daily on television? Is it better to see fifty graphic murders on the tube every week and nearly as many dead bodies, chests cracked open on a cold autopsy table? (C.S.I. all three, House, Dexter, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law and Order Special Victims Unit etc...)





It's not just the States that loves violence.



But I digress. Does it bother you that mainstream romance (and other genres of fiction) contain sex? Too much? Too little? Do you have to read an inspirational to feel 'safe' from the onslaught of the erotic? Do you want to slice this very natural aspect of human nature from your reading and your reality?

If fictional art is to offer insights into human nature as illuminating as those the physical sciences disclose, can the real be served by looking the other way when sex becomes a 'real' part of the storyline?

Fiction: an implicit worldview that infiltrates every aspect of social life...including our sexual beings and nature.

I put it to you that the best stories, the ones that stick in our hearts and minds, are the ones that reflect life as it is, not as we wish it were— or weren't. The ones that bring us up close and personal are ones that ring true and shape our world. Sometimes the significance of a piece of work is not just in the work itself but in the memories each reader, and each writer, brings to it and takes away from it. The thought, the essence of growth possible whenever a reader suspends the 'real' for the fictional is boundless. And if this does not include our sexual beings, we are fooling ourselves. We are diminishing what it means to be human. We are impoverishing our existence.

How hot is too hot? One might just as well ask how violent is too violent or how funny is too funny? It is what it is. Is our ever changing subjective rating system able to keep up with a culture that changes at the speed of light?

Is the world passing you by as a relic or is it 'about time'?

Meet Ann Tracy Marr, Author of Paranormal Regencies- Alpha or Beta Heroes?

Ann Tracy Marr writes tales of the paranormal set in Regency Time. Let's see what she has on her mind today. ALpha males or Beta. Which draw you?

"Christine London and I are doing a blog tour. That means that this week she can be found at Skyla Dawn Cameron's blog and I am here. Read what I have to offer and then skip over to http://www.skyladawncameron.com/blog to visit Christine.

Like a good teacher, who never leaves the substitute hanging, Christine left me an assignment. She wants me to tell you what I knew as a teen that she did not. I could be glib and write about when I dreamt up the plot of the greatest novel ever written or how I discovered I was smarter than Shakespeare with a pen in my hand. I could take you on a tour of character building a la a girl who was not the most popular, the most pretty, or the most anything.

The topic that sticks in my mind is that of child abuse.

No, I am not claiming to be an abused child. My friend was. She would never admit it, but her father was a monster. Most people would say he was dynamic -- he might even have been the pattern to cut out a damn your eyes romantic hero. He had the qualities of the Alpha hero:

Arrogant: he was always right.
Successful: he was pretty near the top of his profession, with the money to prove it.
Powerful: he was God in his house and probably in his office.
Handsome: I suppose he was okay, though I wasn’t into fathers.

Nasty. Oh, he could be nasty. Slap his daughter in the mouth so she has to go to the emergency room nasty. Dig at his son’s self-worth because the son didn’t have his drive nasty. Grind his wife under his heel if she wasn’t perfectly coifed nasty.

It is his fault that I am suspicious of Alpha heroes. They sound so good on paper, but I have a niggling suspicion that deep down they act like my friend’s father and I am just not interested. I’d rather write a hero with human failings and with a bit of humor. Oh yes, especially if said hero can poke a bit of fun at himself. My first hero, Lord Brinston of Round Table Magician, oh-so-politely insulates himself from life. It takes Martha to drag him, kicking and screaming, into the light.

Adrian Hughes, who knows very well that he is more standup comedian than haughty aristocrat, becomes the hero of Thwarting Magic. Margaret, who is forced to marry Adrian’s friend, recognizes his sterling qualities and has the sense to keep Adrian available until she is available.

Then we come to Lord Shelton. He is so busy trying to act like the alpha hero that he doesn’t notice that it isn’t in his blood. Katherine makes him see that it is more fun to pet kittens than kick them. That is partly why I am partial to To His Mistress; I think I present the good and bad sides of the alpha hero in the book while keeping the story exciting. Awe-Struck Publishing must agree with me -- To His Mistress makes its debut in paperback October 25, 2011.

I will continue to write heroes who don’t quite make it to Alpha male. Beta is good enough for Sir Sloane Johnstone (Keeper of the Grail), who doesn’t shirk responsibility, even when responsibility gets buried under emergencies and problems. He could be Alpha if he tried, but Sarah Frampton likes him fine as he is.

Gentle reader, I hope you and Christine London don’t share my experience of the Alpha male, but don’t feel sorry for me. I happen to like Beta males. They are more interesting -- less predictable -- than Alphas."

~~~
Ann Tracy Marr writes award-winning paranormal Regency romances. To His Mistress, the third book in her Banshee Brigade series, debuts in paperback October 25. Keeper of the Grail is in the works. A computer consultant in the Midwest, Marr lives with her husband, two cats, and plots that bounce off the wall.




Visit her at www.anntracymarr.com
Buy her books at http://www.awe-struck.net/authors/ann_tracy_marr.html

Round Table Magician Ebook ISBN: 978-1-587496066
Thwarting Magic Ebook ISBN: 978-1-587496479
To His Mistress Ebook ISBN: 978-1-587497209
Keeper of the Grail Awaiting release

Travel: Misery or Majesty?

All glamour and beautiful sunsets? My travel blogs may at times give that impression, but as any seasoned traveler knows, there are plenty of hurdles to conquer to get to what most would term, the 'good stuff'.

Chambermaids walking in while you are still sleeping, brown liquid from the tap, the rumble of the subway a bit closer to your window than you'd like,



trains that promise a seat---on the floor with the luggage, pick pockets that are all too happy to lift the contents of your jeans and chat with you while doing it, internet connections that don't, over priced under portioned restaurant food, rock hard roll and sludge coffee 'breakfast',



bag allowance of a thimble of toiletries--one zip lock worth for five week trip, short tempered wait staff...

Shall I go on?

No.

This stuff can happen within a mile of your home OR you can read rules and regulations ahead of time for transportation to avoid most of it OR you can install your good humor and realize that it is the process of getting 'there' that is most likely to provide the best memories.

When the Italian train station changes your boarding track five minutes before departure,



when the air conditioner is no more than a weak whisper in the night, when your travel partner has lost his patience and wants to go home— the very stuff that exasperates can become the butt of the best humor. A snack bag of trail mix and a bottle of water attached to your bag, your ally, you CAN learn to see these inevitable hitches in travel as a sort of out of body experience—and chuckle.





After all, you are on HOLIDAY. Attention to clocks and schedules are things of the work-a-day world and even the most backward-seeming situation will be mitigated by a local employee rather than have you sleep at his work station.



So soldier on and imagine the great story you shall have to convey one cold November day over coffee in the employee lounge. Just do it! Get off the world wide web and into the 'world wide world'



Then it shall be their turn to envy you the gorgeous sunset photos and fabulous tales.

A Little Day to Day Romance - Author Jennifer Cloud

Hi Christine,
Thanks for having me on your blog. You had some great questions.


What is the greatest and/or most outrageous thing you have done for romantic love?


I don't know. I guess there isn't one over-the-top thing. I like a lot of small gestures. Most of my romantic ideas are dorky. I make heart shaped brownies, breakfast in bed, a little text in the middle of the day for no reason. I like the little surprises that make the day better and things that might bring a smile even if I'm not around the person at the time.


For other (plutonic or agape) love?


I once drove 2 hours to spend fifteen minutes with a friend who needed me. It was silly but this person needed me and so I went. Sometimes all a friend needs is to know you're there.




What about a little personal history?



I've been married for 17 years. We have 2 kids, 11 and 9. I'll tell you how we met. We worked for the same company. I refused to go out with him for almost a year. Nearly every day he would wait in his car for me to pull up so he could talk to me as we went into work. Every morning I would hear him walking in the parking lot wearing his cowboy boots. He would do his small talk thing and I would walk away. One day a different guy was bothering me so I walked up to a group of people and started talking in order to get rid of the guy. My future hubby was standing there and I agreed to go out with him. I didn't even think of it as a date, just two people hanging out. A year later we were married.


On a funny note, the day he met my mother, she threatened him with a knife. It isn't as cliche as a father cleaning his gun, but it was still cute. My mother was sitting on the front porch peeling peaches. He introduced himself. Every time she spoke to him or asked him a question, she pointed that knife at him. He thought it was funny. He's a good sport.


Thank you for having me today.

***********************

Your story about your future hubby running interference reminds me of a similar scene in Tuscan Sun when Diane Lane uses Raoul Bova to escape from three Italian men that are pursuing her through the streets of Rome. Very romantic!

Not enough of us do those little things day to day that say how much we care. I bet your hubby is touched beyond expression. You sound like a wonderful wife. Thanks so much for sharing today.


Bio
Jennifer Cloud was born in Asheville, North Carolina. There she met her husband who encouraged her to write after finding a partial manuscript. She now resides in Missouri with her husband and two daughters.

She is the author of many novels in both print and electronic versions. She's also had two dozen short stories published and many novellas.






Visit her at: http://www.jennifercloud.com/


Her blog at My Space:

http://www.myspace.com/cloudjennifer

and Tweet with her:

http://twitter.com/#!/jennifercloud

Check out Her Eyes by Regan Taylor and Jennifer Cloud


Would you attempt to cheat death to be with your true love? Frank White has to try.


Coming soon from Awe-Struck
http://www.awe-struck.net/index.html