Lucienne Diver Discusses the Economics of Word Count
Lucienne Diver is guest blogging at Magical Words today about the "Economics of Word Count." Here's an excerpt:
"Simple economics: it costs more to print big, thick books than it does for thinner volumes. Shocker, right? This means more economic outlay for the publisher without a guarantee of returns on their investment. (And yes, I’m primarily talking about print publishing here, because while the audience for e-books is growing, their sales still only account for between 2% and 4% of the market and don’t yet pay a living wage.)"
Deidre Knight is blogging about her latest release, BUTTERFLY TATTOO, on Leah Braemel's blog today! She's talking about her dream movie cast for the book, taking surfing lessons as part of her research, and much more. As an added bonus, Leah's giving away both a digital and print copy of the book. Click here for the blog.
KUSI San Diego Spotlights Culinary Romances by Louisa Edwards + Take Home Tuesday
UPDATE: The winner of CAN'T STAND THE HEAT is Linda Henderson! Congrats! Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Antoinette Kuritz, known as the "book lady" on KUSI San Diego, routinely showcases her fave books on the news broadcast's "Nightstand Reads" segment. Recently, Antoinette spotlighted CAN'T STAND THE HEAT (September 2009) and ON THE STEAMY SIDE (March 2010) by Louisa Edwards, two delightful foodie romances. Check out the video below! Louisa's books are shown at the 2:20 mark.
TAKE HOME TUESDAY -
Leave your name in the comment section to win CAN'T STAND THE HEAT by Louisa Edwards. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
The 411: For sharp-tongued food critic Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. But she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: she has no idea how to cook.
Adam’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching her what it means to cook with passion…and doing more with his hands than simply preparing sumptuous food.
Knight Agency clients garnered a hefty twelve nominations for the 2009 Paranormal Excellence Awards for Romantic Literature (PEARL). Congrats to all of the authors who were recognized for their amazing titles!
Futuristic Romance -
HEART CHANGE by Robin D. Owens
BLAZE OF MEMORY by Nalini Singh
Magical/Fantasy Romance -
ANGELS' BLOOD by Nalini Singh
POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT by Shayla Black
BURNING ALIVE by Shannon K. Butcher
Shapeshifters -
BRANDED BY FIRE by Nalini Singh
Time Travel -
WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO? by Laurie Brown
Anthology -
STRANGE BREW editied by Knight Agency client P.N. Elrod with stories by TKA authors Rachel Caine and Faith Hunter, along with Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and Karen Chance, Caitlin Kitteredge and Jenna Maclaine
MUST LOVE HELLHOUNDS by Knight Agency client Nalini Singh, along with Ilona Andrews, Charlaine Harris and Meljean Brook
UPDATE: The winner of PINK SLIP PARTY is David! Congrats! Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Leave your name in the comment section to win PINK SLIP PARTY by Cara Lockwood. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
The 411: Jane McGregor has just been laid off from her job designing pink slips for an office supply company. The irony is not lost on her. She's a twenty-eight-year-old art major whose last major career accomplishment was being propositioned by the company vice president. Desperate to maintain her freedom from her oddball parents, tyrannical older brother, and slacker ex-boyfriend, Jane starts sending out resumes. So what if some of them aren't exactly, well, true.
When Jane's dad, a staunchly conservative believer in the corporate dream, loses his job, and her mom goes to work for a trendy dot com, Jane discovers that the family she's taken for granted is unraveling. After a fellow lay-off victim hatches a plot to seek revenge on the office supply company, Jane must choose between living in the past and seeking out a new future. To her surprise, that future might involve a most unlikely partner in crime — handsome, funny Kyle Burton — and maybe, just maybe, a new job, too.
I was the middle school girl who used to blush in sex ed class when the teacher said “penis.”
No joke. I thought I was going to flunk that class, although I’m not sure it’s even possible to do that. If you had told me in sixth grade that, not only would I be typing the word “penis” on my keyboard quite frequently, but I’d actually be using several more adventurous ways of describing this portion of the male anatomy in published books, I would’ve denied it with every mortified breath in my body.
But here I am today, writing super fun, hot sex for Blaze, paranormal nookie in urban fantasies, and warm-hearted love scenes for Special Edition.
So if I can do it, anyone can. But what are some ways to dive into a love scene and not just “get through it”? How can these scenes be some of the best-flowing and most rewarding writing you’ll ever do?
Here are just a few little tips to consider:
Making It Memorable
When you talk to your friends about sex, it’s likely that the best stories have to do with the times you had unexpected experiences…like when a crazy boyfriend took you to an old house in New Orleans, made it up to be a bordello with a choice of erotically themed rooms, and rocked your world in every one of them. (Yes, that was kind of in one of my Blazes. And I wish.)
Even if you’re not writing erotic romance, think of your wildest fantasies and just put them to paper. Don’t be afraid to push that envelope. As the wonderful Brenda Chin, the senior editor of Blaze, would tell you, it’s easier for an editor to tame what you’ve already written than to push you forward. If you’re going for sexy, be a wild woman. Go for it, even if you decide to erase what you’ve just written. (You probably won’t.) If you’re writing a less sexually intense book, you can tone down the graphic words and situations and still make it memorable (like when a boyfriend took you to an old house in New Orleans and romanced you there, bringing you into an old-fashioned room and seducing you by pouring water from a porcelain pitcher and giving you a slow basin bath and… You get it. ).
But, as we know, it’s not just the situation that makes for a truly affecting love scene, and that brings us to…
Transformation
This second point is pretty obvious, but I look at love scenes as a most intense opportunity to develop the characters. A love scene is never a throwaway scene—it’s never just about how body parts are reacting from point A to point B. It’s about what’s going on inside the characters, too.
The characters’ interaction is transformative—and if it’s not, that’s something to explore, as well. Why wasn’t the hero or heroine touched by the experience? And if they were emotionally overwhelmed (and, let’s face it, that’s usually the case), this is a springboard for more character development. Does it make your characters more vulnerable in some way? Does it make them stronger? How can what just happened between them affect the push/pull of their developing relationship?
The List
On the practical side, I keep a list of words for my love scenes. Provocative, vivid words that not only inspire action, but provide sensuous images. Synonyms like “brush,” “skim,” “trace,” “coax,” for when I want to describe a hero caressing the heroine’s…face. Words for everything from foreplay to entry (“churn,” “ram,” “thrust”—and I do believe that’s enough to give you an idea of what I’m talking about).
I can’t tell you how many times one of these words has propelled a scene. We can get stuck on technical stuff like word choice, and this way, I just look at my list and off I go. If you’re an organized personality like I am, you might want to write down every “love scene” word that comes to mind right now. Then you can even put them into groups (like foreplay and entry, etc.). Keep it at your side during the next love scene and see if this gives things any extra oomph.
Speaking of Imagery…
This point goes along with the characterization and imagery I already mentioned. Something that gives a love scene another dimension is when I use a character’s point of view and inner growth to create an imagery arc. What sort of symbolism can you use during the scene that explodes at the end into a climactic moment that will work for the reader, too? If you’ve got a heroine who is scared to death that her world is going to break apart, can you use mirror imagery during the foreplay and build up, then use some kind of crashing glass to describe her release? Symbolism can add an extra layer to the scene and make it a more emotional experience.
Amaretto Over Ice and Wild Orchid
If you’re just not feeling a love scene—or you need an extra push to get started—you might consider outside help. Back when I was writing my first Blaze, I was ready to go, but I kept thinking about what my friends and family would say when they saw other descriptions for the word “penis” in a book with my name on it. (If this were a Blaze or one of my urban fantasies, I’d write the word. ) So I consulted the experts--my favorite sex movie ever, Wild Orchid, and a splash of amaretto over ice in a fancy glass.
Now, I’m not telling anyone to booze it up. I was using the prop of amaretto over ice in a crystal glass because it makes me think I can be sophisticated and wanton at the same time. (Okay, it made me a bit giddy, too.) And Wild Orchid? It is so wicked and corny. They are a perfect Blaze combination for me. You no doubt have other triggers, and I’d suggest trying those and then going to the keyboard to see what you get.
I hope these sparked something, either for your love scenes or a very special Valentine’s Day in real life. (If there are any guys reading this, try Wild Orchid, amaretto, and add chocolate. Guaranteed winner.)
Have fun with both!
Chris writes urban fantasy as Chris Marie Green and romance as Crystal Green. BREAK OF DAWN, Book Three in her Vampire Babylon series, has just been reissued in mass market format and book six, DEEP IN THE WOODS, is hitting shelves March 2. To learn more, you can go a number of places—www.crystal-green.com, www.vampirebabylon.com, Chris’s blog (http://crystal-green.blogspot.com/) , Facebook (at http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marie-Green/1051327765 ) or Twitter (at http://twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen).
**An abridged version of Chris's article, "Loving a Love Scene," was released in our company newsletter earlier this month. This is the first release of the full-length version.**
UPDATE: The winner of MAKE ME OVER by Leslie Kelly, plus two suprise Harlequin titles, is Sunnymay. Congrats! Please email you physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Most people who know me are aware I am a big Broadway musical fan. Ever since I was a kid, I have chosen to listen to show tunes over just about any other kind of music, and I’ve seen dozens of lives shows. So when The Knight Agency asked me to be a guest during their Lovers Rock week, my mind immediately went to musicals.
Christine and the Phantom? Nah…overdone. The Baker and his wife from Into The Woods? Tempting…but then again, she cheats, and then she dies. Sigh. Camelot? Uh…there’s that cheating thing again. Newer stuff—my new fave show Next To Normal? Talk about dysfunctional! Rent, Spring Awakenings, Boy From Oz…yikes, not many happily-ever-afters there!
So, back to the classics. One couple immediately came to mind as my favorite—and it’s one some people don’t even think of as a romantic couple at all. I’m talking about Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady. (Also, of course, from the book PYGMALION…but the book doesn’t end the same way as the musical and I like the musical better!) I should have thought of this one immediately, since I actually wrote an entire book (MAKE ME OVER) as an homage to it!
To quickly sum up the story for those who don’t know, a snooty linguistics professor accepts a bet from a friend that he can take a cockney girl from the streets and turn her into a lady who could even fool royalty. He succeeds…and falls in love with his own creation. Audrey Hepburn played Eliza in the movie, Julie Andrews played her on Broadway. Rex Harrison starred in both versions. Not necessarily a “classical” romantic hero, Harrison nonetheless takes this arrogant, impatient, stuffy man and lets us see his icy heart thawing as Eliza gets under his skin. (Oh, quick side note, Harrison also starred in one of favorite old movies ever—The Ghost & Mrs. Muir—in which he was a gorgeous, ghostly ship’s captain and the happily-ever-after didn’t come until after she died!)
Back to My Fair Lady. There’s no blatant romance, not one kiss, not one embrace. No “I love you’s” are exchanged. Eliza and the Professor are antagonists through much of the story. Yet even as Eliza is drastically transformed from street-girl to lady, you see Higgins begin to realize how empty and lonely his own life has been. Until by the end, when she is ready to marry someone else, he acknowledges to himself just how much she has come to mean to him. He puts it best in one of my favorite songs:
I've grown accustomed to her face. She almost makes the day begin. I've grown accustomed to the tune that She whistles night and noon. Her smiles, her frowns, Her ups, her downs Are second nature to me now; Like breathing out and breathing in. I was serenely independent and content before we met; Surely I could always be that way again- And yet I've grown accustomed to her look; Accustomed to her voice; Accustomed to her face.
It’s not a passionate declaration to her, just a self-admission that he cares about this girl when he had never really cared about anyone. Simple and sweet and lovely.
When she returns to him, choosing an uncertain future with him over marriage to a handsome, charming young suitor, he doesn’t leap up and take her into his arms, their relationship is too tenuous. He instead leans back and puts his hat over his eyes, wondering aloud where he left his slippers. The viewer doesn’t see the happily ever after, it’s left to you to fill in the blanks of the story. In my mind, Eliza and Henry marry and have a wonderful life together.
I guess that’s why I write romance novels. I choose to see the happily-ever-after.
How about you?
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Leave a comment to win a signed copy of MAKE ME OVER by Leslie Kelly. As a bonus, The Knight Agency will throw in two suprise titles published by Harlequin! So that's three books total! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
A rock-star worthy sized crowd came out to chat with Lucienne Diver and Nephele Tempest last night. The agents answered lots of question about querying, conferences, and the like. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there were more questions than time allowed. It certainly made us feel pretty popular, but we definitely would like to make it up to those who were missed. Lucienne has generously agreed to answer any remaining questions today on her blog.
But first, check out our chat transcript to make sure you question hasn't already been answered. Hope to see you at the next chat! Remember, you can sign up for our newsletter to get information on upcoming events! Click here to subscribe.
UPDATE: The winner of IMPROPER RELATIONS by Janet Mullany is Margay. Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
When I was asked to blog about a pair of lovers for the Knight Agency’s Valentine’s Day celebration, I knew immediately who I’d write about—Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, the famous couple from Dorothy Sayers’ novels, which I’ve loved and admired for years.
First a word about Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957). She was one of the first women awarded a degree from Oxford, where she attended the prestigious Somerville College and graduated with a first class honors degree in modern languages. Like her friend C.S. Lewis she was a noted Christian scholar and wrote translations, short stories, reviews, poetry collections and translations, but she’s best known as one of the most brilliant detective writers of the twentieth century.
Her first novel, WHOSE BODY (1923) introduced Lord Peter Wimsey, an aristocratic dabbler in detection work, overbred, full of nervous intelligence, and shell-shocked from World War I. Harriet Vane enters the picture in STRONG POISON (1930), the fifth of Sayers’ novels; she’s a modern woman, an intellectual, who lives in sin with her lover, and has been accused of his murder. Peter solves the mystery, clears her name, and proposes marriage, having fallen in love with her.
She accepts, right?
No. Being dependent on a man, particularly an aristocratic and overbearing one, is against everything she believes in. Harriet refuses, but offers to become Peter’s mistress, thus insulting his name and honor and all he stands for. And so the relationship continues uneasily as would-be lovers but as successful detectives, for a couple more books.
Then we come to GAUDY NIGHT (1935), a novel set in Oxford, where Harriet is invited back to her alma mater for a college reunion to find out who’s behind an unpleasant attack of poison pen letters. This is possibly Sayers’ most brilliant book, and also the one maybe closest to her heart, set in her beloved Oxford, and debating the question of women’s roles in society, particularly that of unmarried women in academia. As one of the female college scouts (servants) says, But some of these clever ladies are a bit queer, don’t you think, madam? Funny, I mean. No heart in them.
Now Sayers had a bit of a problem with Peter. She’d originally invented him as a society man whose silliness masked a formidable intelligence and capacity for problem-solving. And he had a weak chin. He was in fact, pretty much asexual in the early books. Certainly by the time Harriet arrived, he was changing, and by GAUDY NIGHT he has become downright hot, if not hawt. And the level of sexual tension between him and Harriet is downright astonishing, even with all clothes on and formal address—Lord Peter and Miss Vane.
Here’s one of the most extraordinary and beautiful scenes I’ve ever read, when Harriet finally admits to herself that she’s in love with Peter (he’s been proposing marriage to her every month for some time, and she’s turned him down every time). She’s sitting on a riverbank, watching him read:
… she studied his half-averted face. Considered generally, as a façade, it was by this time tolerably familiar to her, but now she saw details, magnified as it were by some glass in her own mind. The flat setting and fine scroll-work of the ear, and the height of the skull above it. The glitter of close-cropped hair where the neck-muscles lifted to meet the head. A minute sickle-shaped scar on the left temple. The faint laughter-lines at the corner of the eye and the droop of the lid at its outer end. The gleam of gold down on the cheekbone. The wide spring of the nostril. An almost imperceptible beading of sweat on the upper lip and a tiny muscle that twitched the sensitive corner of the mouth. The slight sun-reddening of the fair skin and its sudden whiteness below the base of the throat. The little hollow above the points of the collarbone.
He looked up; and she was instantly scarlet, as though she had been dipped in boiling water. Through the confusion of her darkened eyes and drumming ears some enormous bulk seemed to stoop over her. Then the mist cleared. His eyes were riveted upon the manuscript again, but he breathed as though he had been running.
So, thought Harriet, it has happened. But it happened long ago. The only new thing that has happened is that now I have got to admit it to myself. I have known it for some time. But does he know it? He has very little excuse, after this, for not knowing it. Apparently he refuses to see it, and that may be new. If so, it ought to be easier to do what I meant to do.
She stared out resolutely across the dimpling water. But she was conscious of his every movement, of every page he turned, of every breath he drew. She seemed to be separately conscious of every bone in his body. At length he spoke, and she wondered how she could ever have taken another man's voice for his.
Isn’t that gorgeous? And when Peter does propose to her, it’s done in a way that brings together all the threads of the book, the debate on women’s status, the issue of equality between Harriet and Peter, and as a tribute to Oxford itself. Using the Latin of the ceremony that bestows a degree at Oxford, Peter asks:
Placetne, magistra? Do you agree, mistress?
Placet. I agree.
Without fail, that sends shivers down my spine every time I read it, which is what a good love scene should do. What do you think? Have you read GAUDY NIGHT and what’s your favorite scene?
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Janet Mullany’s next book, coming out this month, is IMPROPER RELATIONS, a Regency chicklit about annoying relatives and finding love where you least expect it. Leave a comment in the blog, and enter to win a signed copy of this book. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
Tonight, TKA Agents Lucienne Diver and Nephele Tempest are answering publishing questions in our chat room.* If you'd like to get any guidance about how to query, what editors are looking for right now, the ins and outs of digital rights, how to approach agents at conferences, and much, much more -- this is the event for YOU! Plus we are giving away a variety of fabulous romance books from our clients to get you in the Valentine's Day mood!
Hope to see you there!
WHAT: Chat with Lucienne Diver and Nephele Tempest WHEN: Thursday, February 11th @ 9pm ET WHERE: TKA's Chat Room: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=115545 HOW TO CHAT: (1) Enter a username and password (any combination) (2) Click Login* *Your computer must be Java-enabled to chat.
*Please note, this is not a pitch session. It's an informal, relaxed chat where we hope you will be able to learn more about the state of the current publishing industry and have a little fun hobnobbing with our agents and your fellow writers and friends in the process. If you have any questions about the chat, please email info(AT)knightagency.net
LOVERS ROCK WEEK (Day 3): Hosted by Chris Marie Green
UPDATE: The winner of THE PATH OF RAZORS by Chris Marie Green is Mariska. Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
How many of you out there wanted to be Princess Leia?
Was it because of her butt-kickin’ attitude? Because she got to swashbuckle-swing across a Death Star chasm with Luke Skywalker? Or perhaps you spent hours in front of the mirror trying to get your hair in those buns?
Nah. It was totally because she ended up with Han Solo, wasn’t it?
And that’s why I’m dedicating this Valentine’s Blog to a couple whom I consider to be one of the most romantic in existence—Han Solo and the Princess.
They had a rough start. She yelled at him a lot. She called his co-pilot a walking carpet. She even insulted Han’s spaceship (and you just don’t do that to a man). She blew a hole in the Death Star cellblock corridor just inches away from his goodies and told him to hop into the garbage chute.
And he damn if he didn’t like every minute of it.
Yeah, she shared a gross little kiss with Luke before she knew he was her brother. (Thank you, Star Wars, for warping my childhood with this and Luke’s sliced-off, castrated hand. But that would be a different blog entry.) Heck, I even started off adoring Luke Skywalker, too, with his non-threatening surfer dude amble and golly-willickers outlook, before The Empire Strikes Back came out and something went “twing” in my body. We all go from boys to more dangerous men at some point in our lives, and although I suspect Leia never did hold any lust for the Skywalker, she’s no different.
Like us, she couldn’t say no to the sparks—the scoundrel grin and low-riding holster.
I guess I love Han and Leia because, when she dished it out to him, it was because she didn’t know how the heck to deal with her feelings. When he gave it right back, it was because he wanted to get her to admit to her emotions. It was a game to him at first, and he didn’t even know what to do when he was confronted with how he felt about her. When she blurted out her love to him while he sank into the carbonite pit in Cloud City, all he could do was be a smart ass. (Oh, those immortal words of affection: “I love you.” “I know.”)
But no matter how many barbs were traded, you always knew that they had unflinching respect for each other, and that only grew scene by scene. Why else would Leia have been so disappointed in Han when he left the rebel base to take his bounty money to Jabba the Hutt just before the big Death Star attack? She knew he’d be an asset. (She also thought he was unbearably hot, but that’s beside the point I’m trying to make here.)
Their relationship is certainly a model for a lot of stories that we read, watch, and love today—especially in paranormals and action-adventure. Look at how Buffy and Angel worked together, wiping floors with vamp blood. Vaughn and Sydney put the bad guys away on ALIAS as they spied their way around the globe. These characters weren’t just in love—they were partners in every way, solving problems, saving the world, knowing that when the chips are down, both were capable of taking up each others’ backs.
Also, the heroes always seem to depend upon the heroines in a way that goes beyond warming the bed or heart. The heroes will send the heroines on the most dangerous of missions because they’re as good as any man, although the heroines always give the heroes more than any mere war buddy. My own urban fantasies definitely have that “Han and the Princess” dynamic, too. From Camille and Sarg in my first vampire book, The Huntress, to Dawn and The Voice in my Vampire Babylon series, there are many I-love-you-I-know beats.
May the Force be with you on this Valentine’s Day! Oh, and if you’d also like to spend some time with a giveaway, I’ll send a signed copy of THE PATH OF RAZORS, Vampire Babylon, Book Five, to one person who leaves a comment here. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced tomorrow afternoon.
Chris writes urban fantasy as Chris Marie Green and romance as Crystal Green.
LOVERS ROCK WEEK (Day 2): Hosted by Candace Havens
UPDATE: The winner of TAKE ME IF YOU DARE by Candace Havens is Sue (okibi_insanity). Congrats! Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
When Jia asked me if I would be interested in writing a blog about Lover’s Who Rock this week, the first couple who popped into mind was a fictional one – Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy from the Bridget Jones Diary series. Now, I have to admit this isn’t usually my first romantic couple I pick when asked this question. But they have a special place in my heart right now.
Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy helped to launch my career. No, I’m serious. I was writing my first book CHARMED & DANGEROUS in diary format and I couldn’t figure out how to get it to work technically. A friend suggested I read the Bridget Jones book. I did, and that’s when I figured out that I just had to talk to my readers as if they were friends. It worked.
But something else happened when I read that book. I fell big time for Bridget and Mark’s relationship. Sure there were some over the top moments, but it felt more real to me than a lot of relationships I’d read in books. Things were messy and their timing was never quite right.
Isn’t that the way life is most of the time? You’re in one place and he’s in another? I loved that Bridget had, in much the same way as Jane Austen’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE, a bad first impression of Mark Darcy. She thought he was a pompous ass, and he didn’t know what to think of her. That felt very real to me. It’s tough to get past those bad first impressions, but it just gives the couples a more interesting journey.
When the movie version came out, I was ecstatic about the casting. I have a crush on Colin Firth whether he’s play Mark Darcy, Mr. Darcy or a gay guy in THE SINGLE MAN. He just does it for me. There’s something very earnest about him in every role he plays. And I may have a slight crush on Rene Zellweger too. In the comedies, she has that everywoman quality that is so endearing.
That final scene in the movie where she thinks he’s left after reading her diary and she runs out in the snow to find him is one of my all-time favorites. When they kiss, it’s almost as if the universe isn’t such a bad place after all. *happy sigh* So that is why Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy are my favorite romantic couples. I’ve had many favorites through the years, but these guys helped to launch my career.
Following along those lines of inspiration, you can win a copy of my latest book, TAKE ME IF YOU DARE, which was inspired by the Bourne films and the television show Burn Notice, by posting a comment. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced tomorrow afternoon.
TKA Agent Nephele Tempest is hosting I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, a week-long submissions festival on her blog. Here are the deets excerpted from her blog:
"In honor of Valentine's Day, I am currently accepting pitches here on the blog for any novel that falls within one of the genres I am presently seeking (list below), as long as there is some sort of romantic relationship in the book. It does not have to be the focus of the book; this does not have to be a romance novel. But most novels have a little flirting or romance in them, even if it's not the primary subject, so this is going to include plenty of projects.
Accepted genres: Literary fiction, contemporary/mainstream fiction, women's fiction, historical fiction, romance (including contemporary, historical, paranormal, and romantic suspense), young adult fiction (no children's or middle grade please), steampunk, and urban fantasy.Your book needs to be completed and ready to be sent out. This means revised and edited and in a state that makes you proud."
This event ends on February 14th. Click here to visit Nephele's blog and get more details!
LOVERS ROCK WEEK (Day 1): Hosted by Jasmine Haynes
UPDATE: The winner of YOURS FOR THE NIGHT by Jasmine Haynes is Cecile. Please email you physcial addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Note from TPTB: This week we have invited five fabulous authors to guest blog about some of their favorite lovers of all time, fictional or real, in honor of the upcoming Valentine's holiday. Each author will be giving away a signed copy of one of their books, so make sure you check back throughout the week!
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There are so many examples of famous lovers, both real and fictional, Scarlett and Rhett, Maid Marian and Robin Hood, Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, Bonnie and Clyde, Tracy and Hepburn, Bacall and Bogart, Ned and Matty. Ned and Matty, you ask? Who the heck are they? Just about my favorite pair of fictional lovers. Perhaps it was the steamy nature of the movie. I’d never seen anything quite like it, albeit I was mucho younger at the time with it being the early 80s and all. It was completely...hot. I remember an eye-popping scene where Ned throws a chair through a window to get at Matty, her in that sexy red skirt. It was shocking and...hot. Or maybe I already mentioned that. Got it figured out yet? Still don’t know? Think of it as a film noir reminiscent of the 1940s classics like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity? Heh, in making sure I get all my dates correct, I see that the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson was actually the same year as my fave, 1981, and talk about another steamy scene, whoa! However, I have to admit I still prefer the original version with Lana Turner. But I’m getting off topic here! Ned and Matty, William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. No matter the wonderful movies I’ve seen her in since, Kathleen Turner will always be Matty Walker in Body Heat. Did you guess correctly?
Now I wouldn’t exactly call Ned and Matty hero and heroine. They aren’t the nicest people. There’s a core of badness in each of them. First of all, Matty’s married to Edmund! Not to mention that perhaps Edmund stands in the way of what she wants. And how best to deal with a husband who’s in the way when divorce won’t work? Maybe a little murder. They were great characters, and I always find not-so-nice characters fascinating. They’re dark and luscious and drag me into a great story with intense emotions. Maybe that’s why I love these kinds of lovers, that intensity of emotion between them. Somehow, I keep rooting for them even though I know it’s probably going to end badly for them. I think of Ann Stuart’s and Linda Howard’s assassins, especially Death Angel. The assassin with a heart of gold.
Which makes me think of another phrase, the hooker with a heart of gold. And that brings me to my own series, Courtesans Tales. My heroines are just that. But please, we prefer to call them courtesans, LOL. I wanted to explore all the reasons a woman might choose to become a courtesan. The good, the bad, and the ugly, so to speak, yet still classy and elegant with romance and a happy ending, even if it might not always be traditional. Tackling characters who are doing something a little outside the mainstream, why they would choose to do it, well, that all fascinates me as much as Matty and Ned. YOURS FOR THE NIGHT is the first book in my series, and to give you a taste, I’m offering an autographed copy to one lucky winner from those who post a comment on the blog. Book 2, HERS FOR THE EVENING, will be out in May, and the third, MINE UNTIL MORNING will arrive in stores in December. In LACED WITH DESIRE, out this month in time for Valentines and also featuring stories by Jaci Burton, Joey Hill, and Denise Rossetti, my story, “La Petite Mort,” visits with one of the characters featured in Courtesans Tales. Please try out an excerpt here.
So, I’d love to hear who your favorite bad-to-the-bone lovers are? Don’t forget to post a comment to be entered in my drawing for YOURS FOR THE NIGHT! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
Jasmine Haynes (also writing as JB Skully and Jennifer Skully)!
TKA Agents Lucienne Diver and Nephele Tempest will host a very special publishing chat* this Thursday, February 11th at 9pm ET. Get ALL of your publishing questions answered: find out what's hot and what's not, what the number one qualities in a query are that really impress an agent, how to stand out at writers' conferences, and beyond! They are ready and waiting to answer your quesitons. And, of course, we'll be giving away some awesome books by TKA authors.
WHAT: Chat with Lucienne Diver and Nephele Tempest
Kristen Painter, author of ALL FIRED UP, has a free read available on the Samhellion website. "Her Viking Valentine," might be just the thing to get you in the mood for Valentine's Day... Synopsis:A Viking chieftain and his modern day bride get tested by the goddess of love on their first Valentine’s Day. (Featuring Alrik and Calleigh from ALL FIRED UP).
Submissions Call for New Holiday Book by Cecil Murphey and Marley Gibson
From the co-authors of the highly popular CHRISTMAS MIRACLES, Cecil Murphey and Marley Gibson are seeking submissions for their follow-up book, CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, to be published by St. Martin's Press in the fall of 2011, with a foreward by New York Times bestselling author, Debbie Macomber.
The project seeks true stories that emphasize the significance of the Christmas season. We get caught up in the busy-ness of the season—the shopping, the family drama, and the event planning--that we lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Sometimes, through God's grace or what some call a twist of fate, we're able to step back and grasp the real meaning of Christmas and our lives are enriched. This is a great opportunity for authors of all kinds to participate in a successful compilation.
UPDATE: The winner of THE HORSEMEN'S GAMBIT by David B. Coe is Kerri C at CK Farms! Congrats!!! Please email your physical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Today, David B. Coe is guest blogging to celebrate the mass market re-release of THE HORSEMEN'S GAMBIT, Book Two in the BLOOD OF THE SOUTHLANDS trilogy. Leave a comment and enter to win a copy of David's release! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon. Take it away David....
One of the things that surprised me most about the publishing business when I first started my career as a professional writer, was the lag time between my submission of a manuscript and the actual publication of the book. Had I given the matter much thought, I would have realized that it made sense, that books don’t edit or print themselves. The production of a novel is a complex process. A book has to be written and revised, copyedited and proofed. An artist has to create an image for the jacket and an art department needs to combine that image with titles and design concepts. In the case of fantasy and science fiction, a different artist might need to draw maps of an imagined world. How could this process not take a good deal of time?
But sometimes people lose sight of this. I know that I did when I was still unpublished. Let’s take the case of my upcoming releases as an example. I have two books coming out in February. The first, due out on February 2, is the paperback re-release of THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT, book II in my Blood of the Southlands trilogy. The hardcover edition was first published about a year ago, and my publisher, Tor Books, is now putting this book out again in anticipation of my second February release . . . Which will be the hardcover edition of the final book in the series, THE DARK-EYES’ WAR, due out February 16.
In the past several months, many people have told me how much they enjoyed reading HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT and have then asked, “So are you hard at work on the final book?” They are always rather surprised when I say, “Actually, no, I handed that in last February (2009). I’ve started work on something new.”
Now for many people, particularly in these tough economic times, a hardcover book is an extravagance. They wait for a book to come out in paperback. So a lot of my readers haven’t yet read HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT; they have only read THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE, the first book in the trilogy. So for them, GAMBIT is the newest thing I’ve done. And that’s a little weird for me, because I’ve written four books since I finished that one. I’ve written three since completing THE DARK-EYES’ WAR.
This is very common for authors. There are a few writers whose books are in such demand that their publishers release the things within just a month or two of their completion. But these authors are the exceptions to the rule. For most of us, there is a substantial delay between the creation of the book and the time when we finally get to see it in print. We often wind up promoting “new” books that, to us, feel anything but new. Don’t get me wrong. I still like the Southlands books; I’m proud of them and believe they represent some of my best work. But at this point, they are no longer foremost in my mind. When readers ask me questions about some detail of a character’s background or a certain twist in the narrative, I have to pause and try to remember. My mind is in another world, occupied by a new cast of protagonists and antagonists. The plot lines winding their way through my imagination are utterly unknown to the people reading my books. That’s how it should be, of course. It does mean, though, that my readers and I are living in different creative worlds, and that can be disorienting at times.
What world am I in now? Well, that’s probably a subject for another post at another time. Suffice it to say that I’m in several places these days. In the past few months I’ve been working on a book set in modern-day Phoenix, Arizona, and another set in colonial Boston, and yet another set in the late twelfth century, in the town of Nottingham, on the edge of Sherwood Forest. I’ve written short stories set in some unnamed American city, and in an imagined world called Islevale, and I’ve been playing with an idea set in a futuristic Manhattan. We authors may not get out much, but that doesn’t keep us from traveling through time and space.
So when you see me at a signing or a convention and you want to talk about the Southlands, please feel free to approach me with questions and comments. I’d love to meet you and chat with you. Just give me a second or two to get myself oriented. It’s possible that I’ve come from far away.
***** David B. Coe Crawford Award-winning author of the LONTOBYN CHRONICLE, WINDS OF THE FORELANDS, AND BLOOD OF THE SOUTHLANDS Soon to be Released: THE DARK-EYES' WAR, Book 3 of BLOOD OF THE SOUTHLANDS Please visit my website at www.DavidBCoe.com.
