Inspirational Women

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Any writer hears that question quite often. I usually quip, "At the Idea Shop on the corner of Third and Main." But, seriously, they come from everywhere. I'll tell you where I got my idea for the novel being released in just a few days -- June 1, 2013, to be exact.

I was watching a PBS TV program about the sinking of the Titanic. Out of the blue, the narrator mentioned a survivor who had lived briefly in Guthrie, Indian Territory where she had gone to seek a divorce from her husband. Huh? So, I went online and searched her name. Sure enough, this lady had traveled to Guthrie, which it turned out, was the divorce capital of the whole country in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In other parts of the country if you wanted a divorce, you had to prove that your better half was crazy or was trying to kill you. However, in Guthrie you could claim abandonment or several other reasons and get a divorce. Your spouse didn't even have to show up in court with you. There were a few stipulations, including that those seeking a divorce had to live in Guthrie for three months before the court would hear their case.

The writer in me kicked in and I thought of not one, but four different books all centered on women who came to Indian Territory seeking their freedom from a bad union. I hadn't been excited about writing another historical romance in years, but now I was bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. I enjoyed researching Guthrie, the Land Runs, and the court system in Indian Territory. I had been to Guthrie many times because it is one of my favorite places in Oklahoma. The center of town still looks like it did in 1880, except for the cars, of course. The buildings are still there. The history oozes from every sidewalk, every pillar, every post. That's why I was amazed that I  had never heard anything about it being a destination for women (and men) who were desperate to end their marriages.

If I hadn't been watching that PBS show about the Titanic, I would never have stumbled upon these fascinating stories that happened in Guthrie (and my imagination). The first book -- see how I said "first" because I'm a positive person! -- is TO SEDUCE AND DEFEND. It centers on a woman who comes to Guthrie to claim land her deceased husband purchased. However, she finds instead that she has stepped into a web of lies and deceit that lay to waste everything she believed about her husband, her marriage, and her own heart.

I'm proud of it and so glad to shine a light on a part of Guthrie's colorful history that most people haven't yet discovered.

My Favorite Two Words

Another One Bites the Dust

My two favorite words as an author are "The End." Aaaah. Almost as good as sex. Definitely better than wine or any other alcoholic beverage. I have written those lovely two words recently as I finished my new novel. It is scheduled to be released in June through Amazon.

I am already plotting my next novel, so that proves there is no rest for the weary. But that is the bane of any writer. The plots swim in your head. Some turn out great and some never quite pan out. They seemed good, but once you wrestle them into submission, you realize they simply aren't substantial enough to keep. The one I am plotting now is a keeper. I have the title, the main characters, and most of the outline done.

I like to plot and outline before I tackle the actual writing of a novel. Some writers prefer to wing it. I've tried that, but it seemed to waste a lot of time. I would write myself into a corner and have to stop all forward motion and figure out a way to get out of it or even scrap a chapter or two and take the novel in a different direction. I'd rather solve all those problems in an outline instead of as I'm trying to actually write the story and flesh out the characters. Even with a great outline, I can run into bits of trouble and sometimes I have to stop my progress to do some research.

To each his own, I say. If you want to plot as you go and wonder, What happens next? then more power to you. As for me, I like control when I write. I need to know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. I have enough surprises, what with characters popping off and saying things I didn't plan on or even evolving into people I didn't envision. That's the joy of writing -- when the story and the characters become strong enough to take over and you hold on the ride of your life.

In the Weeds

I Am In Writing Hell

I am deep into a book and writing day and night to finish it by the contracted delivery date at the end of April. This month! It would not be as difficult if I didn't have another fulltime job and a parttime job in addition to writing a novel. Yes, I'm a tad bit stressed out.

Carrie Fisher once said, "I don't enjoy writing. I enjoy having written something." Ahh, that spoke to me. Writing is not all that fun. Sometimes it is exciting and heady, but most of the time it is grueling and you keep thinking all the while that what you're writing is crap. I have often thought that a scene sucked big time, only to read it the next day and find that it had gotten better with age.

The mere fact that I am writing this blog post when I am in the weeds, so to speak, with the current novel project proves how demented I am. It's like the murderer returning to the scene of the crime or someone bleeding jumping into shark-filled waters. Demented.
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My agent writes to me and asks, "How is the novel coming?"

I write back, "Oh, fine."

I'm so glad we are e-mailing and not video conferencing. She can't see me bang my head against the computer keyboard and cry for my mother. Seeing such a display would not win her confidence.

I have been here before. Every book has sent me to this level in Hell where writers toil and deadlines loom. It's a place where we all think we're going to write the Great American Novel and end up hoping to be able to type THE END before our creativity dries up and we end up husks of human beings.

But I'm fine! And the book is fine! Really!

With Age Comes Interests

Making History

I never liked studying history when I was in school. Ironically (or fatefully?), the college scholarship I was awarded required that I take one history class every semester and pass it or I would lose the money (and my college tuition). Like a good soldier, I chose a history course every semester, and grumbled about it. Sometimes I passed it by the skin of my teeth because I really didn't like reading the books, writing the essays, and memorizing those dates. The only portion of history I actually found interesting was the Civil War and that was only because I loved "Gone with the Wind."

As the years passed and I became a novelist, I wrote contemporary stories until the fateful day when I read a LaVyrle Spencer novel and was entranced. It was an historical. After reading several more Spencer books and getting encouragement from my agent, I embarked on researching and writing my first historical romance.

Folks, I was hooked!

To this day, I love writing historical romances and -- gulp! -- I love researching them! I have not only become engrossed in history, I have stumbled onto undiscovered countries in myself. I discovered that I knew a lot about farming, ranching, and cowboys, but where did I get this information that came pouring out of me? I'm a city kid!

Finally, I realized that those many, many hours of sitting before a TV watching westerns with my family had served me well. Listening to my mother and father recall their childhood on Missouri cotton farms had seeped into me, too.

I now believe that, for most of us, we must begin making history before we can actually appreciate it. Once I was in my 30s, the past was no longer boring because I actually had one! When I hit my 40s, I started wondering about my ancestors and began researching to fill in my family tree.

Now I have to make myself STOP researching and START writing a novel. The one I'm writing now is set in Guthrie, Indian Territory after the Land Run and it's all I can do to resist the urge to read more and more about that time, those brave people, and that fascinating town!

I'm glad history finally beat me into submission. I am now a devoted student of it and I'm happy to pass on what I learn in my novels.

Hello, Stranger!

How Soon We Forget . . .

I have occasionally began reading a book, get about halfway through it, and then realize I have read it before. I usually go right ahead and finish it. If it took me that long to remember I'd read it, I certainly had forgotten much of the plot!

This week I began listening to one of my previously published historical romances, offered on Amazon's Audible, Inc. Not only could I not recall much about the plot, I found myself wondering about the characters' backgrounds. Why was the heroine frightened to be alone on her ranch? What happened between her and her brother-in-law? Why was the hero so deadset against living on a farm or ranch?

People. I wrote this book! Talk about weird. To listen appreciatively to a novel that I wrote and not recalling very much of it is utterly strange. I discussed this over dinner the other night with a friend and she said, "So why is the brother-in-law so mean and did the heroine really have something to do with killing her husband?"

I shrugged. "I can't imagine that the heroine would kill anyone and I don't know what's going on with the brother-in-law, but he makes my skin crawl."

My friend looked blankly at me across the table. "But you wrote the book."

I laughed, getting her drift. "I know!"

Last night I listened to a love scene -- a tender, character-driven scene -- that ended with not only a moment of bliss but also a moment of revelation for both the hero and heroine. I was amazed when I wiped tears from my eyes.

I know that not all of my audio novels will sound as good to me. This particular title happens to have been one of my favorites -- I had at least recalled that about it! But the experience has bolstered my courage to continue weaving stories, taking chances, listening to critiques, reading reviews, reaching out to readers, and appreciating the fact that I can spin a pretty tale now and again.

Sometimes we writers need that kind of inspiration.

Beautiful People

The Eye of the Beholder

I recently received a comment from a reader who scolded me for always writing about beautiful heroines and handsome heroes. She said she couldn't relate to them because they were so gorgeous. She wished I would write about real, plain old people. I responded that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since I get into my characters' viewpoints, I see what they see, and they happen to like what they see in the hero or heroine.

But it goes beyond that. I have studied human to human attraction and responses. People are predictable when it comes to the signals and reactions we have to each other when we are attracted or sexually stimulated. Men are more visually stimulated than women and are also more acutely aware of aromas. Women are also visually stimulated, but not as much as men. They listen more than men and respond more to what they hear and sense.

While some romance writers have gone against the grain and written books with central characters who have scars, eye patches, missing limbs, are in wheelchairs, etc. and those books are certainly interesting and worthy of publication, the fact remains that the majority of romance readers prefer to read about attractive people. More importantly, they want the main characters to be good, decent people.

I used to tell my writing students that most women really don't want to read about a hero who is balding, a bit over-weight, and burps in public because they are married to that guy. And while they might identify with an over-weight, middle-aged heroine, they don't particularly want to read about those women all the time. Romances must have an element of fantasy or they just don't live up to the genre.

Instead of creating physically flawed people I like to create emotionally flawed people. They are far more interesting and almost everyone can relate to them. No matter how they look.

Just remember that beauty is subjective. The man you think is gorgeous could turn off your best friend and your mother might think he is as homely as homemade soap. But if I'm writing in your point of view, he is going to be a hunka-hunka-burnin-love.

Character Development

What's in a name?

For me, everything. I spend hours finding just the right names for the characters in my novels. Until I find the perfect names, I can't even begin to outline the book. Same thing when it comes to a book title. I must have a title before I can begin writing the book! Crazy,  huh?

Oh, I have tried to push on without the names hammered down, but I don't get anywhere. I have even named a  hero, written two chapters, decided the name wasn't right, stopped in my tracks to rename the hero, and then I had to write the two chapters over again because the hero changed completely in my mind when he had a new name.

Names conjure up certain images in my imagination. It doesn't matter to me if my friends don't like the names. I have had my best writer friend say, "I hate that name. You must change the heroine's name. It's awful." But I shrugged and stuck to my guns. She had been christened and I was well pleased with her, name and all.

After I have the names, then I create a character profile for each one. Not just a physical description, but what makes the character tick. What is he/she frightened of? Where is the person most vulnerable? What happened in the past to shape this person? When this character looks in the mirror, what does he/she see?  I might write a whole page on the main characters and half a page on the supporting characters. I add to the profiles as I write the book. That helps me to not forget story threads and character details.

If an editor asked me to change a name, she or he would have to possess an airtight reason for it, and chances are, the editor would lose the battle. Years later, when I hear one of my hero's names or my heroine's names, I can immediately see them in my mind's eye and I can hear them in my writer's ear.

I have caved in and changed a book's title at the request of an editor/publisher. And I rue each title that was changed. A couple of them are my least favorite and, frankly, are senseless. They could be slapped on practically any romance book.

I am genuinely fond of the hero and heroine in each of my novels and even a few of the secondary characters. They are my creations, names and all.

It is the season of giving. Give yourself more time this month to daydream and to write -- and to think of some lovely names!