Free Will Astrology & titles

April 29, 2008

Free Will Astrology for Aries for the week of May 1st:

Your power symbol for the week is an ant carrying a potato chip. It means you’ll possess so much strength that you’ll be able to hold aloft burdens that are much bigger than you. More than that, Aries. You’ll look graceful doing it. And here’s the kicker. That giant load you carry may ultimately provide nourishment not only for you but also for everyone back at the nest.

Now I want potato chips…and, for the record, no more burdens, please. Thank you to whoever fufills these requests.

Anyway, Larissa and I start writing Sydney book 4 (it’s Trance’s bok, tentitively titled, Taming The Fire) on May 1st. I think we’re both writing our 3rd single titles (her demons, my SEALs) as we write Trance, so it’ll be a bit crazy. But writing Syd stuff always brings out a lot of energy in our individual projects too, so I’m looking forward to it!

I’m almost done with revisions for Nick’s book. I think. Maybe. I have to let it sit for a while and work on Chris’s book some more along with Trance – give myself a bit of time away from it. And I got an idea for a new proposal as well, so it’s all kind of flying around inside my head.

I was on a search for a working title for the proposal (or one that could actually stick with a book through publication, but that’s really rare.) – Sometimes, a title comes to me and just works. Larissa tells me that I picked Riding The Storm (I can’t remember titling that for the life of me, but it does fit the book perfectly.)

But if nothing jumps out at me, the first place I turn to is iTunes, looking for a song title and / or some great lyrics that I can twist and turn around a bit. For instance, the title, Coming Undone came from the Beach Boy’s Surfer Girl – makes my heart come all undone…because Carly is a surfer girl.

Risking It All was originally, To The Limit (Eagles!) and Beyond His Control was Linger (I still LOVE that title – the song by the Cranberries totally fits the book for me.)

And if I strike out with songs, I’ll turn to poetry. I can waste a lot of time there (okay, waste is the wrong word) because I really love poetry – I haven’t written any in a long time, but when I go through some of Anne Sexton’s poems or Marge Piercy or HOWL, etc, it makes me want to write poetry again.

And I came across this poem from Linda Pastan (another favorite) – it seemed appropriate, so I figured I share:

What We Want by Linda Pastan

What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names–
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.

Steph T.

writing, writing and more writing…

March 9, 2008

So I’m writing and writing and writing on the NEVER ENDING book that is Nick’s (TOO HOT TO HOLD) and I’m writing and writing these subplot heroines who are sisters and I just keep saying to myself, I know there’s something you’re not telling me…

And so I wrote and wrote and suddenly one of the sisters must’ve been so tired of me asking that she was like, here’s our deal and I was like, finally. I mean, don’t get me wrong – their deal is good – worth waiting for. But maybe they could’ve saved me a little bit of angst.

Anyway, I thought about this because I got asked if I’d like to do a writing workshop class at a local arts center and got a mental picture of me sitting on a desk in my pajamas telling the class what I just told you all about those sisters and thinking, will that pass for curriculum?

Last week, Larissa mentioned how she hasn’t been doing any craft posts lately. I don’t know if I ever really did craft posts because I’m not really a craft kind of person. I’ve tried it – different methods, like the plotting boards – and plotting itself, and none of it ever seemed to work for me. Instead, I just use my own method (the write-out-of-order one) and I pray for the best. Eventually, the book gets in shape.

Are their easier ways? I’m sure, but my mind seems to go on strike when I try them.

Hi, I’m your teacher who doesn’t plot! Yes, that will go over well…

Anyway, today, more writing. Must get this book done. Will only stop to watch Rock Of Love, because, well, you know…who wouldn’t?!

FYI, Gus was 31.3 Lbs two weeks and three days ago. Today, he’s 47 lbs. at 4 and 1/2 months.

(this is from 2 weeks ago…I swear he grows overnight)

On a side note – I so didn’t need daylight savings time this week – I needed that damned hour…

Steph T.

Weimaraner Property Laws

February 25, 2008

Gus just wanted me to clear that up for everyone.

Book due soon. Why isn’t February longer?!? Why are Daisy’s lips on Rock of Love so big they seem to impair her ability to speak? Am I giving Daisy too much credit by implying that her lips are the problem with her speaking abilities?

Steph T.

blog switch!

February 13, 2008

First of all, Marge was robbed of Best in Show at Westminster. Yes, robbed. And what the hell that the announcer couldn’t pronounce weimaraner? I mean, if you’re announcing at a dog show, shouldn’t you like, practice pronouncing breed names? I know it’s really rare for a weim to win Best in Sport and everything, but still, she did – so since you only have seven breed names to get right for the finals, how hard could it be? :whatever:

Oh, and she shares some bloodlines with Gus! I told him last night – he remained unimpressed. Mainly because he was too busy fighting me for my spot on the couch. :LOL:

As a sidenote, is anyone else really sick of the LOL cats?

Okay, back to working on the proposal that’s due like, um, Friday. :shocked:

Oh, and for a chance to win a copy of Beyond His Control, my newest Blaze, come visit me over at Love Is An Exploding Cigar today (post should be up some time this morning!)…this is part of the Writeminded/Cigars blog switch we’re doing this week.

Steph T.

things I’ve recently discovered

January 23, 2008

1. The Petco near me smells like a petting zoo…and considering it’s not really a pet store (they have some birds and hamsters) the disgusting old petting zoo smell should not slap you in the face the second you open the door. And you know me and my sense of smell issues. Which brings me to…

2. The Bed Bath and Beyond near me REALLY should not have a giant, floor to ceiling display of SCENTED candles out. For me, that’s like assault with a deadly weapon, and I spent the entire shopping experience with my shirt collar pulled up over my nose mumbling about how the smell was killing me. I would’ve left except I really needed hangers and a waste paper basket. Really. And a baking pan. And spoons. It’s one of those stores that you don’t realize how many things you really need until you’re in it. Except, of course, for the scented candles.

3. I cannot find Gus’s current brand of dogfood anywhere. Except on Amazon, of course, where the shipping costs more than the food, so no, not going there. Must figure something out quickly. Like, before the dog actually arrives in my house.

Okay, on the writing front, I’m working on revisions for Too Hot To Hold, which is Nick’s book as well as working on a proposal for Hold On Tight, which is Chris’s book. Jake’s book has been revised and is waiting to see how the other books turn out in case I need to make some changes. As of now, it looks like these books will come out all in a row -right now it’s either Jan/Feb/March 2009 or Feb/March/April 2009, but I’ll let you know for sure as soon as I do.

Oh, and I’ve gotten my first, when are you going to write a real book, question! I truly feel like a real live romance author now. I also felt like strangling the person, but I was quite controlled, if I do say so myself.

And how sad is Heath Ledger’s death?! What a tragic loss all around.

Steph T.

what to do when SEALs invade

June 28, 2007

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Watching the The Ghost Hunters, scary doll in the attic, episode during a huge thunderstorm when Zoo is away on business is probably not the smartest idea I’ve ever had. And I certainly I didn’t expect Jake tonight, but here he is, on the couch next to me, the familiar sand scattered everywhere.

He’s still in full desert cammies, boots on the table, and he shrugs. “No one told you to watch that show.”

“Did you see the freaky doll? Tell me that wouldn’t freak you out.

He just stares at me, his eyes a smoky gray, the familiar green bandanna wrapped around his head. “The doll didn’t do anything.”

“I saw its eyes move.”

“Uh-huh.” He kicks off his boots and proceeds to make himself even more comfortable. “So, you spoke to my editor today.”

I frown at him. “She’s my editor, not yours.”

He snorts, like I’m the one who’s completely wrong. “What did she say about me?”

“She says you’re a pain in the ass.”

“She said I’m a man of honor.”

“If you listened to the whole conversation, why do I need to repeat it?”

“You’re not going to make me do anything stupid, are you?” Nick asks from the seat next to me, and again I jump.

“That depends on your definition of stupid,” I tell him as I try to calm myself down. Between the Ghost Hunters, the thunder and the reappearing out of nowhere SEALs, my threshold for surprises is very low right now.

“Told you she wouldn’t give you an answer,” Chris drawled. He’s sprawled out on the kitchen table, smoking his familiar cigarette, content with the knowledge that he’s got a few more months before I torture him.

“She’s already got a few scenes written for your book,” Jake informs him, and Chris’s different colored eyes fix on me like I’m his newest target. “You’re going to go through hell.”

“He can go before me,” Nick says, as though he’s being magnanimous.

Chris ignores him. “There’s some guy named Wyatt upstairs looking for you. He says he’s ready.”

“He’s going to have to wait. Or tell him he can go bother Larissa for now.”

“But who’s that?” Jake demands. I look up and see Hex standing quietly in the doorway, camera around his neck, whiskey-brown eyes quiet with patience.

“That’s who I’m working on right now.”

“In between watching scary doll stories?”

“That’s research.”

“I’ve got some ground rules,” Nick says, as though I’m paying him any attention. “First, I’m not falling love. At all. I’d be happy to sleep around though. For the cause.”

“The cause?”

“Yeah, your career. The good of the book. The cause.” He looks at Jake and shakes his head as if to say, she’s a little slow on the uptake, isn’t she?

“I’ll take that under advisement,” I say, wondering if their CO is in the immediate area and willing to take them all off my hands for a while.

“You’re screwed,” Jake tells him. “And I don’t just mean that literally.”

“I’m still not done with you, you know,” I inform him. He just shakes his head and sighs and mutters something about IEDs and me not knowing what I’m doing and good thing he’s here to advise me on the technical side of things.

I hand him the pile of manuscript papers. “Then you should get to work.”

“My editor and I need to have a talk,” he says.

“She’s really my editor,” Nick says.

“She likes me best,” Chris calls out.

I look over at Hex who shakes his head sympathetically and I secretly begin to wonder how he’d look in jungle greens.

Steph T.

For more on Jake, feel free to go here and read the archives.

:smoke:

real live characters

June 13, 2007

A lot of people have been asking me where my ideas for certain books come from. Some of these people are members of my family, some are friends, and some are readers. The first two groups seem to think I have some covert life wherein I go out and meet Navy SEALs and DEA members and get classified information.

I’m afraid I can’t comment on that. :smoke:

Or they say things like, you must have a great imagination.

Well, yeah. I definitely do , always have. But really, there’s no one easy answer to that question. So the short answer is, I have no clue.

The long answer? Everywhere. A book’s storyline, for me at least, doesn’t spring from one particular thing. It’s usually a million different things I’ve seen or heard or dreamed about that all come together at the same time and whack my brain until I go, huh, this might work out to be something. Like, for Risking It All, I knew I wanted to keep with the surfer theme, and I’d already decided, while writing Coming Undone, that Cash would be the next hero. But Cash was conceived a month or so before that, while I was watching the movie, Walk The Line, and thought, Cash would be a good name for a hero.

It happens with every book that way, in a similarly, scattered manner. Which is what makes it fun, like putting puzzle pieces together.

But what I can tell you is that every story for me starts with the character. I can’t create a story and find a character to fit, I need to know the character and then they kind of clue me in on their deal and that’s where their story comes from. If they’re not real to me, then they’re not real on the page, then they’re not going to seem real to anyone else. Which is why I get annoyed at books that have great stories but so-so characters.

There are two schools of thought about authors who think their characters tell them their own stories. Meg Cabot does not really appreciate this sentiment:

The truth is, authors, characters cannot act and think independently of you because they are FIGMENTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION. When your character says or does something, it is because YOU MADE THEM DO IT. Your characters DO NOT ACTUALLY EXIST except on paper and in your head.

On the other hand, Linda Howard says:

This is going to sound totally schizoid, but I don’t create these stories so much as I stumble across a story and then tell them the way the characters tell me. I don’t have that much control over it. I just tell the story that is fascinating me at the time.

In another AAR interview, she talks about channeling her characters, which I also kind of think that I do, so I totally get what she’s talking about…so obviously, I’m one of those, my characters are real to me, types.

So I’m not saying that I go shopping for my characters or sit at the dinner table with Zoo and say, do you know what Jake did todayâ€¦

Okay, well, I might say that, but trust me, I know he’s not re-

Okay, bad example.

But seriously, for me, I just know that there are things certain characters will and won’t do. I will find myself saying to Larissa or to one of my editors, but Remy/Ender/Justin/Nick wouldn’t do that. And somehow, they wouldn’t. Maybe Creed or Cash or Carly would do that (oh, seems I like C names, huh?) but that’s why I’m a character-driven writer. They lead, I follow.

So, where did the idea for this story or that story come about?

My new answer: Jake made me do it. And he seems pretty happy with that answer.

Not that I talk to him about it or anything.

Much.

Steph T.

Jake’s Book

October 5, 2006

I’d mentioned here at WriteMinded a week or so ago that I’d started writing Jake’s book. It wasn’t the first time I’d done so and normally, for what I call the brother trilogy, I would try and start with the other brothers, convincing myself that Jake would be better off having his book written last.

Jake, being Jake, insisted on being first. And I finally listened to him and yes, Jake and his SEAL brothers sold in a three book deal, to Bantam Dell.

I should have something better prepared, but really, all I’ve done for the past week is sit staring into space, sometimes crying. Good crying, of course, but it’s been a really, really emotional sale for me. These characters have been with me a long time and they’re finally going to get their stories. And I’m thrilled and grateful.

Jake, I’m sure, will have more to say on the subject at some point soon.:smoke:

Steph T.

Today

September 20, 2006

Jake and I are over at WriteMinded.

:smoke:

Steph T.

blog party

May 17, 2006

Jake’s running amok over at Sasha’s blog party! Come on over and say hi – she’s got some great authors there all week and plenty of chances to win all kinds of stuff!

**edited to add that Jake & Co. are also taking over WriteMinded today.:cry:

Steph T.