Love is in the air - Blog Hop

 

 

It's almost Valentine's Day.  And while I can't say I'm a fan of the commercial version of the holiday, I do love the idea of spending time letting those we care most about know how we feel.

 

If you'd asked me when I first started my writing career if I wrote romance, I would have laughed and said "ah, no." It's not that I don't like the genre. But it's one of my dirty little secrets. You know those books you read when you're away at the beach, or when you just need to escape to a perfect world. I would have told you that I wrote fantasy.

 

As you can probably tell from the blog's tag line ("Stories about characters that live . . .and love."), I've had to readjust my thinking. I kept noticing that romance always crept into my stories. In those early ones, romance wasn't a main plot line, but a subplot.

 

Now I have three fantasy/romance short stories published in collections or an anthology and one fantasy/romance novella in print, and my current work in progress is an erotic romance. So, I write romance stories or ones with strong romantic elements most of the time. And for the Love Is In The Air Giveaway Hop, I'm giving away e-book versions of two of them: Shots At Redemption and Apollo Rising.

 

To enter the contest, please comment below. The contest will stay open until midnight EST on February 14 (of course), and the winner announced on this blog on February 16.

 

Shots At Redemption Blurb:

 

Even mythical beings need a chance to correct their mistakes and reclaim lost loves.\

We all make mistakes. In this collection, a witch, a goddess, and a dragon take their shots at redemption in the hope of reclaiming lost love.

In "Best Dressed and Obsessed", Janelle, a graduate-level witch, chooses a magic dress to enthrall her professor. Sadly, the dress is cursed. At her graduation ball, will she kiss the man she loves? Or kill him?

Eons ago, Zeus decreed that Odysseus leave Kalypso. In "Kalypso's Song", Odysseus is reborn as a scholar. Can Kalypso convince him to reclaim the love they were denied?

The sea dragon Ryu spares a ship crossing her domain when a human child aboard reminds her of her own lost children. Ryu finds an unlikely surrogate family in "A Sea Serpent's Tale". When her new family is attacked by another dragon, can Ryu save them?

Shots at Redemption. We want them. We need them. But, do we get them?

 

 

Apollo Rising Blurb:

 

Shot by Cupid's golden arrow, Apollo has only truly loved Daphne. He visits her each eclipse, and longs for reunion. He seeks the Fate's advice and learns he may finally restore Daphne to her true water nymph form by enlisting other gods' assistance.

 

If  Apollo fails Daphne will be lost to him forever. To regain Daphne's soul, Apollo must deal with the devil, King of the Underworld. Love-torn and treacherous, Hades would slay the pantheon to remain with his wife for the full year. Apollo's quest might just give Hades the leverage he needs to do so.

 

Will Pheobus Apollo surrender the sun to reclaim love? Can he break Daphne's curse or will his attempt destroy her forever? Will she still love him after millennia as a soulless tree? Will the end of the quest see Apollo rising, or in sunset?
 

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Don't forget to check out the other great blogs in the hop for more chances to win. 

Love is in the Air Blog Hop 2013

1.	Under the Covers (Host)	39.	LITERAL ADDICTION (US & Int)	77.	Dark Divas Reviews (INT)
2.	The Jeep Diva	40.	Dani Harper, PNR author, (INTL)	78.	Another Look Book Reviews (INT)
3.	Kindles and Wine	41.	Nite Lite Book Reviews (INT)	79.	Paperbook Queen (INT)
4.	Amber Lin	42.	Book Lovin' Mamas	80.	The Book Tart
5.	Addicted2Heroines	43.	I Smell Sheep (US)	81.	Delighted Reader (US)
6.	Miss Vain's Paranormal Fantasy (INT)	44.	Scarlett Sanderson (INT)	82.	Kristine Cayne
7.	Queen of All She Reads (Int)	45.	Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy	83.	Dana Delamar - Romantic Suspense (INT)
8.	Queen of the Night Reviews (Int)	46.	Rhian Cahill (INT)	84.	Ju Dimello (INT)
9.	Lea Barrymire (INT)	47.	Tabby @Insightful Minds (INT)	85.	Helena Harker
10.	Book Monster Reviews	48.	LaVerne Clark - Novel Natterings (INT)	86.	Evelyn Jules
11.	Cocktails and Books (int)	49.	Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews {INT}	87.	Maggie Wells
12.	Reading Romances (INT)	50.	Riverina Romantics (INT)	88.	Donna Cummings (INT)
13.	Dakota Trace	51.	Book Savvy Babe (INT)	89.	HEA Romances With A Little Kick
14.	Isabelle Drake	52.	Cari Quinn (US & INT)	90.	Ana♥ @ Beach Bum Reads
15.	Nicole Morgan	53.	Patricia Leever	91.	Amanda P @ Paranormal Romance
16.	Diane Thorne - Erotic Romance Author	54.	Wendi Zwaduk	92.	Amanda and Dawn @ Lets Get Romantical(DOM)
17.	Cabal of Hotness (INT)	55.	Megan Slayer	93.	3 Partners in Shopping USA
18.	lisa beth darling	56.	Talk Supe	94.	Deal Sharing Aunt USA
19.	Ren's Little Corner (INT)	57.	Lee Brazil	95.	Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews
20.	DMG-Spike (INT)	58.	June Kramin	96.	Bonnie Bliss
21.	The Secret Sanctuary of Books (INT)	59.	Romance Book Club	97.	Michelle Clay
22.	Dianne Hartsock (INT)	60.	Close Encounters with the Night Kind	98.	Natalie-Nicole Bates (INT)
23.	Happily Ever After - Reads (INT)	61.	Taboo Reviews by Lolita	99.	Author Julieanne Reeves
24.	Books of Love (US Only)	62.	Kerry~I am a book addict...and proud of it (INT)	100.	Christine@ RCJR eZine Blog
25.	Holley Trent (INT)	63.	Desiree Holt	101.	Ann Cory (US/CAN)
26.	Kallypso Masters	64.	Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog	102.	Nancy DiMauro
27.	DC Juris	65.	Romancing the Dark Side (INT)	103.	Eleni Konstantine
28.	Billi Jean	66.	Nya Rayne	104.	Nicky Penttila
29.	Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews	67.	http://spicyromanceconnection.blogspot.com/	105.	The Book Referees
30.	Bianca Sommerland	68.	CS Maxwell ~ Where's My Muse (US)	106.	Blakely Chorpenning
31.	Kindred Dreamheart (INT)	69.	Darkest Addictions (Int.)	107.	Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews
32.	Paige Tyler	70.	Simply Ali	108.	Susan D. Taylor
33.	Hot Listens (INT)	71.	Goldilox and the Three Weres (INT)	109.	Rhonda Laurel
34.	Serenity Woods (INT)	72.	Sara Daniel	110.	Lily Harlem
35.	Maxine Mansfield	73.	AJ's Reading Nook (INT)	111.	Hannah Fielding Romance Novelist (INT)
36.	Rhys Astason (INT)	74.	Blackraven's Erotic Cafe (INT)	112.	Aubrey Watt (INT)
37.	Natasha Blackthorne ~ Erotic Romance (INT)	75.	Blackraven's Reviews (INT)	113.	Normandie Alleman (US & INT)
38.	Day Dreaming Book Reviews	76.	The Readers Roundtable (INT)	114.	Book Sniffers Anonymous (INT)

Kill Your Darlings

I have a long post at Fictorians today about what to do with your novel in the aftermath of NaNoWriMo so I'm going to try to keep this post short. Yea, I know. My chances aren't high. Still, I'm going to make the attempt.

There's something I said at Fictorians that I wanted to spend a bit more time with here. For the full story, check out the Fictorians post here. The short version is I've seen stories where the writer's unwillingness to trim out the fat i.e. his "darlings" (those bits that while the writer loves them don't advance plot or character) have poisoned the entire story and made it unpalatable. I've seen this tendency to keep "darlings" in stories I've rejected at Flash Fiction Online as well.

Stephen King coined the phrase "kill your darlings" in On Writing. For this we all owe him a debt. But, killing our darlings isn't easy. The first step in the process is identifying a "darling."

So, how do you know when something is a "darling" to be killed rather than a bit that needs reworking?

For me, there are three ways I know a section, or an entire story, is a "darling."

1. The section doesn't advance plot or character, or is misplaced.

These are the "darlings" you hope to discovery on your first editing pass. Sometimes they are hard to pick out though.  You may have a scene characters walking around a bazaar to set the place. If that's all the characters are doing though, the scene may really be a darling. The scene could be saved by showing character - what the point of view character notices - or somehow advances the plot by giving the reader a hint he might not realize at the time. I find my "darlings" tend to be more like "in jokes", funny to those who know, but incomprehensible to the rest of your readers.

In the play I mentioned in my Fictorian's post, I remember a "darling" where the main character's (a writer) characters were trying to figure out what an item was. The payoff for the scene was a bad pun. From a technical stand point, the scene is a good example of how point of view affects a story. From a storytelling point, the scene was a disaster as the joke didn't advance the arc in the play. It needed to be deleted even though more than 20 years later, I can still remember it.

Clever turns of phrases also fall into this slot. The image might be vivid, but if it's in the wrong spot, it's a "darling" that needs to be killed. As an example the phrase "threw it away from her like last week's rotten fish" is evocative but it doesn't belong in a love scene where the main character rips off her boyfriend's shirt and hurls it across the room.


2.  The section doesn't fit into any plot box.

I've written about the Hollywood formula, but in essence, the "formula" states that to bring the viewer a satisfying story, that story must hit certain "beats" and turning points. Some of these points are the "bad guys close in" and "all is lost" moments. If I can't name the beat the scene is serving, it is probably a "darling."


3. My readers' feedback is "hu?" or many people note a problem with the section.

Beta readers are invaluable. Sometimes the best feedback a reader can give you is "hu?" A "hu" means either your writing wasn't clear or the reader doesn't understand why the scene is in the story. The second is a "darling" that must be killed.

If a number of your readers are calling your attention to a particular section, you have a problem there. While the reader might not be able to articulate the problem, those sections need to be scrutinize. If the problem is that the section is a "darling" you may need to kill it. 

I had several of these "darlings" in Kalypso's Song, published in Shots at Remdemption. This story started as an experiment. I wanted to see if I could keep the feel of a Homerian story in a contemporary romance. I read about thirty different translations of the Odyssey, many of which were in the public domain to get the feel of the style. Yet, as I got feedback, the sections where I most closely imitated the Homerian-era voice were the ones were I received complains of being too "purple." Despite the fact that those bits were the ones I was the most proud of, I cut them because the were hurting my story.

"Killing your darlings" isn't easy. But it's necessary. I hope my guidelines for ferreting out "darlings" help make your writing strong.

Winner - Howlween Blog Hop

Hey folks.

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner. Hurricane Sandy made the beginning of the week interesting and World Fantasy consumed the rest of it.

So after a much belated drum roll... the winner is:

Misha!

Congratulations on winning Apollo Rising and Shots At Redemption, Misha. I'll be sending you an e-mail to find out which format you want them sent in.

Howlween Blog Hop!

I can't believe Halloween is here. It seems like New Year's Day was just last week. I have to say that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Both kids and adults feel free to let their hair down and party. It's the one time of year most adults will put on costumes and escape into the personality of someone or something else.

Halloween doesn't have the duty or mania of the other holidays either. The roots of the holiday go way back as  a celebration of the growing season and the barrier between the living and those who have gone on before. Today most of the religious or spiritual meaning has gone out of the holiday, but the sense of community and celebration goes on. Adults spend month planning Halloween parties and kids spend just as long wondering what the perfect costume will be. And then there's the candy, and the candy corn. Yum.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by the Howloween Blog Hop. Now for the part you're interest in:

CONTEST:

I'm giving away a copy of Apollo's Rising and Shots at Redemption, a set of Greek myth retellings.

In Apollo Rising: To restore Daphne to her nymph form, Apollo must bargain with treacherous Hades, but Death may demand too high a price.

Blurb:

Shot by a golden arrow, Apollo has only truly loved Daphne. He visits her each eclipse, and longs for reunion. He seeks the Fates’s advice and learns he may finally restore Daphne to her form by enlisting other gods’ assistance.

If Apollo fails Daphne will be lost to him forever. To regain Daphne’s soul, Apollo must deal with the devil, King of the Underworld. Love-torn and treacherous, Hades would slay the pantheon to remain with his wife for the full year. Apollo’s quest might just give Hades the leverage he needs to do so.

Will Pheobus Apollo surrender the sun to try to reclaim love? Can he break Daphne’s curse or will his attempts destroy her forever? Will she still love him after millennia as a soulless tree? With the end of the quest see Apollo rising, or in sunset?

Shots at Redemption is a collection of three short stories in which mythical beings seek their second changes at love.

Blurb:

We all make mistakes. In this collection, a witch, a goddess, and a dragon take their shots at redemption in the hope of reclaiming lost love.

In "Best Dressed and Obsessed, Janelle, a graduate-level witch, chooses a magic dress to enthrall her professor. Sadly, the dress is cursed. At her graduation ball, will she kiss the man she loves? Or kill him?

Eons ago, Zeus decreed that Odysseus leave Kalypso. In "Kalypso's Song", Odysseus is reborn as a scholar. Can Kalypso convince him to reclaim the love they were denied?

The sea dragon Ryu spares a ship crossing her domain when a human child aboard reminds her of her own lost children. Ryu finds an unlikely surrogate family in "A Sea Serpent's Tale". When her new family is attacked by another dragon, can Ryu save them?

Shots at Redemption. We want them. We need them. But, do we get them?

All you have to do for a chance to win is the normal things:

Comment on this post about your favorite Halloween traditions, and follow this blog or follow me on twitter.

Keep hopping and have a wonderful Howloween - http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/ 

Musa Blog Hop Winner!

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the Musa Anniversary Blog Hop for this site is:

Julianne Keller.

Thank you all for participating. Julianne - I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly to find out which format you want the books in.

For all of you who didn't win, Apollo Rising will be a free e-book on Amazon on October 11 and 12.

Musa Anniversary Blog Hop

Well, light the candles, Musa Publishing, my publisher, is one year old, and what a year it's been. And the best part? YOU get the presents!

CONTESTS:

We're so excited about what we've accomplished over the last year, we're giving away a new Kindle Fire so  you can read all the excellent books (over 300) we've published since opening our doors, two great swag bags, AND each of the nearly 80 sites has its own contest. Check out the Musa Blog for pictures of the swag bags. Sorry, but winning the Bags and Kindle are limited to US and Canadian mailing addresses only. 

One of the things I love about Musa is it gives me a chance to share what I love (telling stories) with you. So, to help celebrate both Musa's anniversary and my four books from Musa, I'm giving away a copy of Apollo's Rising and Shots at Redemption, a set of Greek myth retellings.

In Apollo Rising: To restore Daphne to her nymph form, Apollo must bargain with treacherous Hades, but Death may demand too high a price.

Blurb:

Shot by a golden arrow, Apollo has only truly loved Daphne. He visits her each eclipse, and longs for reunion. He seeks the Fates’s advice and learns he may finally restore Daphne to her form by enlisting other gods’ assistance. 

If Apollo fails Daphne will be lost to him forever. To regain Daphne’s soul, Apollo must deal with the devil, King of the Underworld.  Love-torn and treacherous, Hades would slay the pantheon to remain with his wife for the full year. Apollo’s quest might just give Hades the leverage he needs to do so.

Will Pheobus Apollo surrender the sun to try to reclaim love? Can he break Daphne’s curse or will his attempts destroy her forever? Will she still love him after millennia as a soulless tree? With the end of the quest see Apollo rising, or in sunset?

Shots at Redemption is a collection of three short stories in which mythical beings seek their second changes at love.

Blurb:

We all make mistakes. In this collection, a witch, a goddess, and a dragon take their shots at redemption in the hope of reclaiming lost love.

In "Best Dressed and Obsessed, Janelle, a graduate-level witch, chooses a magic dress to enthrall her professor. Sadly, the dress is cursed.  At her graduation ball, will she kiss the man she loves? Or kill him?

Eons ago, Zeus decreed that Odysseus leave Kalypso. In "Kalypso's Song", Odysseus is reborn as a scholar. Can Kalypso convince him to reclaim the love they were denied?

The sea dragon Ryu spares a ship crossing her domain when a human child aboard reminds her of her own lost children. Ryu finds an unlikely surrogate family in "A Sea Serpent's Tale". When her new family is attacked by another dragon, can Ryu save them?

Shots at Redemption. We want them. We need them. But, do we get them?

All you have to do is the normal things:

Follow me here,  like me on FB, and comment about your favorite Greek myth on this post.
Remember every blog in the hop you comment on will get you another chance to win the Kindle (US and Canada only).

Rules to hop:

(1) HAVE FUN!!!

(2) INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!

(3) THIS TOUR STARTS: October 1, at Midnight (pst)
THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 7, at Midnight (pst)
Winners will be drawn and posted October 9th! ***

Come Join the Party on October 7th at The Romance Review Forum to enter to win more prizes. http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/

 

(4) PARTICIPATION AT ALL BLOGS IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. REMEMBER, THE MORE BLOGS YOU HOP and COMMENT ON, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES. EVERY AUTHOR & BOOK PAGE IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW THEM SOME LOVE!

(5) Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire is for Us and Canada mailing addresses only. International winners will receive a $50.00 Musa Gift Card. Winner will be announce on October 7th 2012 at 11 est at The Romance Review Forum.

(6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN? ***Authors & Book Pages have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this blog hop tour is subject to these rules***

 

And if you get a chance, please check out my other books from Musa:

To keep hopping, check out the rest of the group.

IF YOU GET LOST ON THE HOP RETURN HERE TO FIND YOUR WAY AGAIN.

This is a Blog Hop!

---

1. Musa Publishing 5	2. A Few Thoughts w/ Kimberly Nee 2	3. Long Intervals of Horrible Sanity w/ George Wilhite 1
4. Holley Trent 2	5. Grace Wen: Thats All She Wrote 1	6. YA Author-in-Training Anne Marie 1
7. Finally Ever After 2	8. Dominique eastwick 1	9. Discovering Nya Rayne 1
10. Erato GLBT 2	11. Liz DeJesus Blog 2	12. Pembroke Sinclair 2
13. On The Frizz w/ Andy Dunn 2	14. Sharon Ledwith: I came. I saw. I wrote. 2	15. The Wiccan Haus 1
16. Romance Author Vanessa North 2	17. Mindy Hardwick, Author Blog 1	18. Confessions of a Writer Wendy Soliman 1
19. Karen Kennedy Samoranos--Author 2	20. Musa Anniversary Blog Hop w/ Nancy DiMauro 1	21. Helen Hardt 1
22. Margaret Leshs Blog of Randomness 3	23. Viki Lyn 1	24. Sara Daniel Romance Author 1
25. Musa Anniversary Party w/ Ann Montclair Win $20 GC 2	26. Penumbra Emag 1	27. Liz Botts 2
28. Sloane Taylor 2	29. Paul Stansfield 1	30. Author Libby Mercer 1
31. Kaitlin Bevis 2	32. Patricia Yager Delagrange, Womens Fiction Author 1	33. June Kramin 1
34. Working on it w/ Vonnie Hughes 2	35. Amaleen Ison 1	36. Sharon Maria Bidwell 1
37. Jennifer Stevenson 2	38. Lisa Greer--Gothic Romance 1	39. Plotting Princesses w/Liese Sherwood-Fabre 1
40. Elenis Taveran 1	41. Susan Rae--Returning to the Scene of the Crime 1	42. The Magical Worlds of Peter Lukes 1
43. Jamie K. Schmidt 1	44. cordelia dinsmore - writer 1	45. Talking About Grandpa (Homer Eon Flint) 1
46. Sepia Stories w/ Laini Giles 1	47. Urania 1	48. Beth Bowland middle-grade fiction 1
49. Martin Bodenham - Thriller Writer 1	50. Leigh Daley Writes 1	51. Arley Cole 1
52. Calliope Romance 1	53. Annie Anthony, Author 1	54. Jess Haines 1
55. Regency Matters w/ Lynda Dunwell 1	56. Telling Tales by Elizabeth Ashtree 1	57. Cheryls Place 1
58. Ann Gimpels Blogspot 1	59. Frostanity w/ Anna Frost 1	60. Linda Benson 2
61. RS Ramdial 1	62. Bayou Tales w/ Rita Monette 1	63. Cynsights - Author Cynthia Vespia Official Site 1
64. Behind THE DELPHI BLOODLINE: My ESP Workshop 1	65. Stars Dive into Sunlight (Laura Hardgrave) 1	66. Aurora Regency 1
67. Euterpes Blog 1	68. Writing Paranormal w/ Clarissa Johal 1	69. Happy Anniversary, Musa! 1
70. Musa Publishing Anniversary at Devin Hodgins 1	71. Kevin Craig - Writer, Poet, Playwright 1	72. A Deal to Die For w/ J. F. Posthumus 1
73. Musa Anniversary Blog Hop w/ Nancy DiMauro 1	74. Wormholes and other fantastical places w/ Jane Dougherty 1	75. Pascales Great Joys 1
76. Stephanie Campbell Releases 1	77. Behind the Wheel w/Nate Peligeiro 1	78. Lydia Sharp, author
79. So Many Books! by SoManyJoys

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