RT

I tried to come up with something to talk about other than my recent experience going to a large book convention, but I quickly discovered that nothing else compares to it. I attended the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. The flight to Pittsburgh went smoothly, but the shuttle from the airport to my hotel was less than fun considering I was dropped off in the middle of a construction zone and had to walk through it toting way too heavy suitcases. Promo alley was amazing. This was literally tables upon tables filled with free author promo stuff for the taking. I have a huge duffle bag stuffed full of bookmarks, postcards, and CDs, which I still need to go through. I have a list of e-books I want to order which would wear down the numbers on my credit card.

Wednesday’s RT was spent with me playing stalker…er, fangirl. I met Lisa Jackson, Jade Lee, Marjorie M. Liu, Colleen Gleason and many others. Thursday I attended workshops all day. There was a particularly interesting one with a Harlequin editor, which unfortunately, I cannot remember her name, and Kate Duffy from Kensington. The general consensus was that historicals are not dead, that they’re making a larger than life come back with edgier plots and hotter sex.

Thursday night I went to the famous “Fairy Ball” dinner and dance. I did not dress up, but boy the costumes went from beautiful to the outrageous. I had the chance to sit with a table full of librarians, one from Boston, who said her trip was all expense paid by the library she worked for. Talk about your dream job! I learned so much about what criteria make them order books and the main one was cover then the back cover blurb, but they said cover was the ultimate deciding factor. All interesting stuff.

Friday it was more workshops, one on blogging, two more editor panels, another on e-book marketing which I learned I was already doing everything they suggested. I didn’t go to the famous Heather Graham “Vampire dinner” Friday night because I was completely worn out. A friend once told me large conventions were intense, and I never really understood what that meant. By Friday, I knew.

Thanks for reading!

~ Nancy
http://www.nancyhenderson.com
http://www.nancyhenderson.blogspot.com

Thinking outside the box

Thinking outside the box is one of those educator terms teachers like to bandy about. But what does it mean? For some, it means coming up with a creative solution to a problem. For others, it means the process by which we solve problems. Either way, it deals with creativity, of thinking beyond the mundane.

So, how do we train our muse to think outside the box? I would suggest a healthy dose of exercise. And yes, you can train yourself to be more creative. One of the first art workshops I ever attended discussed methods for getting children to be more inventive with their ideas. The presenter introduced me to two fabulous books; A Whack on the Side of the Head and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants, both by Roger von Oech. He also developed a Creative Whack Pack, a set of cards designed to help solve problems from a different angle.

About that same time, I took on a coaching job for a Destination Imagination team. This is a wonderful competition that encourages the kids to "think." As part of the training and part of the competition, the kids are asked to solve problems in 5 - 8 minutes. These problems are called instant challenges.

So - what does this have to do with writing? Everything. I think one of the biggest challenges a writer is faced with it coming up with "creative ideas." Many believe that there are no new plots, that writers must use basic plots and change them up or present them in such a way that they seem new. Not an easy task.

Discussion has already been presented on pantser vs plotter. I'm a certified pantser, but regardless, my characters often get themselves into impossible situations. To try and think outside the box, I try very hard to throw out my first two solutions. In my opinion, the first solution is the one that most readers will expect and a writer doesn't want to state the obvious. The second solution might also fall into this category. So - my challenge to myself is to find a third solution to the problem created by my contrary characters. I think and hope that this practice helps create page turners and stories that will engage the reader to the bitter end.

In this respect, doing brain exercises, teasers, instant challenges all help develop a creative mind. The best writers in the world will take their creative thoughts and present them in novel format. Some write well, but the story is lacking and some have the most awesome ideas but a writing style that's hard to follow. A marriage of both creative thought and superb writing is what we all strive for.

Writing Methods

If you listen to actors talking about how they get into their roles, you’ll hear things like,
‘method actor’, ‘living the role’, ‘be yourself’ and much more. Writers are not much different because we have our own ways to create the stories we write.

I remember my astonishment when I found that Steven King was what we writers call a ‘panters’. He sits down at his computer – he started with an old typewriter – and with a scene, a character, a thought, he starts a book, with no idea where he’s going. In other words, he writers ‘by the seat of his pants’. Sherrilyn Kenyon does the same.

Then, there are authors like me. A detailed outline and character interview sheets need to be filled out, and my research completed. Even though sometimes my characters take me in another direction, I start with a detailed road map. I write from an outline.

There are combinations of the two. A good friend, and author of dozens of books, always has a beginning and an end, but as she begins she doesn’t have any idea how she’ll get to the final pages of her novel. It works for her.

If you spend time on line, researching the various writing methods, an example would be the classic “W” plot, or the “snowflake” model, I suspect you’d be stunned at how almost every writer has his or her unique why to go from the beginning to the end of a story. As each book, each author is different, so also is the method that individual uses to get the words on paper. All of this verbiage leads to one important point – there is no perfect way to write a book.

Forever Faithful

A November 2008 release.

I'm so excited about this book. I don't have a cover yet as we are still in edits. I added the first clip as a substitute. Hope you enjoy the trailer. Let me know what you think.

Linda

The Long and Winding Road

The Long and Winding Road (with special thanks to Lennon and McCartney)

There are defining moments in an author’s life, or for that matter, any artist’s life – whether they be author, poet, painter or sculptor. Being creative souls, we produce works of art which are a direct reflection of ourselves. We have a great deal fun of creating them. We strive very hard to market and sell them. But when we hear words from someone who has critically appraised our works and finds them worthy of commendation, it brings our art to a whole new level.

We love what we do. Otherwise, how could we possibly be part of the crazy “long and winding road” that is publishing, or creating an artistic piece? I’ll tell you – the answer is “no way”. Unless you’re deemed the current year’s sensation, making a living through creative processes is no picnic in the park.

So why do we do it? To entertain, of course. We entertain ourselves and hope to do the same for our readers.

I recently received my first “fan” message and my first novel review all in the space of a week and I’ve got to tell you – I am thrilled. I am more than thrilled, I am on top of the world. This is what makes it all worthwhile. The validation that what I create is not only fun for me to do, but fun for someone else to read.

For me, it’s taken a decade: from the first time I wrote the manuscript for Golden Enchantment in the early 1990s to the second time of rewriting and finishing in September 2007, to publication in March, 2008, to this day, finally, receiving the validation that someone likes what I wrote!

And that’s what it’s all about. We’ll keep on writing and continue the journey down that long and winding road, as you keep on reading.

“The long and winding road

That leads to your door

Will never disappear

I’ve seen that road before”

The Idea Factory

Hi, folks, and welcome to the factory (large engine noises) where today we're working on the first draft of "Rogue Dancer", the SF sequal to "Blade Dancer". If you would step around those boards...that's it. Like to show you this large brown thing here on the table - the one that looks like someone tried carving a Nintendo out of a big honk'n brick.

Now, this here's what you and I call a computer. That's right, there ain't nothing fancy about it. (Looks up the scaffolding) We're about to insert this thing into the First Draft beside me. Gonna be a tight fit, cause we don't want people just thinking that aliens are gonna call this the same thing we do. It's all part of that world-building stuff. Getting readers inside something different. (quickly tears the Intel logo off the side of the box).

So, what the hell do we call this thing? Yeah, I know. Computer. (jerks head at scaffolding) That's not what they call it, though, so we got to come up with something fancy. (gives box a speculative look). We can call it a box I suppose. Calculator? Naw, cause you and I already know what a calulator is, and this shore as hell ain't it. Adder? Hmmm, naw, cause it can do more than that. Folks might think I'm talking snake here too. Hell of a puzzle trying to figure this thing out, ain't it? (obligatory light bulb above his head)


Later, with Rale in one arm and a half-empty wine bottle in the other, Mikial ventured over to the table to discover the source of all the music. She recognized the series of jewel buttons affixed to a board in front of the brown cube, and there was the crystal display listing songs too. “You pulled this out of the palace dance hall Paleen and I found?”

Dalen, still sweating from his and Paleen’s exuberant performance, nodded guardedly. “When Paleen described that room, I knew immediately what they had up there and, with your Kiorannan mother’s permission, took it.”

Mikial shrugged. “This is the big mystery you were afraid of showing me?”

Dalen exchanged looks with the other Cothra at the table that told Mikial she was completely missing something. “This is a Taqurl puzzle box, Mikial.”

The trials of making a book trailer

The last few days have been a real learning experience for me. I've spend hours making a video, trying to get everything just right.

First my timing messed up so my tiles overlaped.

Then there is the music. Where do you find the perfect song to add for the background? When you find it, how do you cut it to end with the video?

And pictures. I searched a lot of the free royalty image sites, but when I get ready to download there is the mention of credits. I have no credits. How do I get them? Money of course. I admit there are a few sites where they are actually free, but I couldn't find everything I needed there.I got an account at fotolia. A dollar a picture. That's not bad. So, with my paypal account I buy 30 credits. I download six pictures and notice I only have 4 credits left. How can that be? For the smallest size, they're all a dollar each, right? I double check and the cowboy I downloaded was 20 credits. TWENTY DOLLARS!!! And he needs a shave and a haircut. My husband and son have made rude remarks about him all week.As a last resort, I went through my personal picture files and found three pictures I'd taken myself. From now on I plan to have my camera with me in case I see something I might someday want in a video. I tried to get my son to dress like a cowboy for a picture, but he wasn't interested.

I've trashed two trailers. Tonight I'll make the third and hope it's a charm. Check it out at www.myspace.com/lindalaroqueauthor Now I'm starting on one for Forever Faithful, coming out with Champagne Books in November 2008. Good luck out there making yours.

Linda