Archive for the 'Writing' Category

Page 2 of 27

So a hero walked into a speech therapist’s office…

Published on February 28, 2011 in Movies, Reading and Writing. 0 Comments

…and walked out with an Oscar.

I know I’m not alone in my lovefest for Colin Firth. Hell, even my husband thought he was kick ass after I made him watch Pride and Prejudice (side note – my husband rocks!). When I’d heard Mr. Darcy…err Firth had been nominated for the Oscar this year, I knew I had to go out and see The King’s Speech.

I won’t gush over the movie because really, it rocked. But what I found wonderful about the movie was the bravery of the King himself. It really pointed out to me as a writer that we don’t necessarily need to throw our heroes into a blood bath (I’m also watching Spartacus) to give them the opportunity to be heroic.

I’m also reading What I Did For A Duke, by Julie Ann Long. I’m remiss to say I’d never even heard of Ms. Long before I saw a shout-out for this book on Dear Author. I’m so glad I did! Like King George VI,  Duke Alex (because what an awesome name) has his own internal demons he’s struggling with. I’m only about halfway done the book, but I’m hoping his growth (with Genevieve’s help) will be as rewarding as I think it will be.

What am I getting at with this post? I don’t have a clue. Maybe because I’m struggling with my own dark characters right now, I’m finding myself tuned in to how other writers work through that emotional journey. How these men battle their demons without giving up that essence that is who they truly are is something I’m desperately working toward.

If the King can get through his speech (and win the Oscar), then I can get my heroes to behave.

Onward and upward, Bertie.

Goals – I Have Them

Published on January 3, 2011 in Goals, Life and Writing. 4 Comments

Whenever I sit down to do up my New Year’s resolutions, I always feel a bit silly. I’m normally a pretty goal oriented person to begin with, so doing up special goals for the whole year don’t always have the impact on me that they probably should. That said, the year I put down “I will get published” on my list I actually did. So I’ll keep doing it just to keep the positive vibes going.

So sit down and brace yourself, kind readers. Here are Christine’s Goals for 2011!

The Goal List

Blog More. Yeah, yeah, I know, blogging is sooooo 2010ish. I didn’t get a chance to do a lot of blogging last year due to health and laziness issues. I don’t want to necessarily focus on writing as much as I have (thought that will be a big chunk still), but throw in some more interested bits for you to read. Don’t have a CLUE what they are yet, but I’ll figure it out.

Get an Agent. Yeah, yeah, I know, getting an agent is soooooo 1990ish. I also know this is something out of my control to a certain extent. But what I’m more interested in doing from my own perspective is not rushing my submissions to agents. I’m taking a look at the material I’m writing and how I can make it more marketable to a larger readership. Those are the projects I need to start pitching to agents and only to agents who I’ve done enough research on. Starting with the book I’m editing right now. :D Be Forgiving. I like to think I’m a nice person, but I have a bit of a mean streak in me. Thankfully, most of the time this is directed at myself and not others. In 2011, I’m vowing to give myself a bit of a break. Not from accomplishing the goals I want, but when I don’t quite live up to my own expectations. This will be a hard goal for me to meet.

Write, write, write! Goes without saying, doesn’t it? But my writing goals for the year are as follows.

  • Finish the full length novel, No Master (EC)
  • Finish the full length novel, No Honor (EC)
  • Write two novellas (EC, other)
  • Finish the full length novel I’m writing with Delphine Dryden (lord knows where that will end up. :D )
  • Edit and submit urban fantasy novel (Carina, I hope…)

Promote. I suck at this. I need to do a better job at getting out there and getting my name known. This is the one aspect of publishing that I’ve always struggled with (mum raised me not to brag), and I know I need to do better.

Exercise. Yeah, yeah, I know, this is so…well, insert any year you want. One of the things I realized in 2010 was that I think better when I’m consistently exercising. So my vow is to do this not only for my physical health, but for my mental health as well. A less mental Christine means more writing accomplished. :D  Lord did I just write that…

Well I think that’s good enough for now. I like to keep busy and this will certainly do that for me. I hope you all meet any goals you set for yourself in 2011!

*does a snoopy dance*

State of the Bedroom…err Union

Published on October 24, 2010 in 1-800-DOM-help, Commanding Acquisitions, Firm Touch, In Print, NaNoWriMo, No Quarter, No Remedy, Primal Elements, Review, The Bond That Consumes Us, The Bond That Saves Us and Writing. 2 Comments

Sunday is supposed to be a day for reflection. As I sit here on my bed, cup of coffee in hand, I’m trying to get my head around a lot of news I’ve received recently. Thankfully, most of it is good! I thought I’d share with you some of the things coming up in the Christineland.

In Print

I found out on Friday that not one, or two, but three of my Ellora’s Cave books will be coming out in print in 2011! For those of you collecting the paperbacks, both The Bond That Consumes Us and The Bond That Saves Us will be hitting the shelves. I’m also thrilled to have learned that Primal Elements will also be coming out in print! I’ll keep you posted on any other updates.

New Sales

I have a very exciting new sale that I am desperate to announce, but I can’t quite yet. I just received the contract and will be sending it in shortly (must give it a good read through first). Let’s just say I’m VERY excited with this one.

EDIT: Hell, I just read the contract and signed, so I’m going to announce it anyway! I’m thrilled to say that my short story, Bruised Ego, will be in the November 2011 Berkley anthology, Agony and Ecstacy. To say I’m still in shock is an understatement. I have to thank J.K Coi for encouraging (making) me write this story right before the deadline. Even better? Her story also got in!!!

Reviews

Thank you to everyone who has bought and read No Remedy! I have received a ton of emails on this book and many people are also going back to read No Quarter. I had this review from Carla at RomFan Reviews pop up in my Google Alerts. They gave No Remedy a five hunk rating! Thanks to them and please check out their other reviews.

I know I’ve said it before, but to everyone who has taken the time to either place a review on Goodreads, the Ellora’s Cave site, a blog or even sent me an email – THANK YOU! Your comments mean so much to me.

Coming Soon

I have two releases coming out in the next few weeks! Commanding Acquisitions is my first novella in the 1-800-DOM-help series from Ellora’s Cave. Writing this book was like a gift from my (smutty) muse. Simon and Gavin came to me complete (with a bow around their necks) and the story setup really flowed. I am really excited it will be out on November 10th and I hope to have the cover to share with you shortly.

In addition, I have a short story coming out as part of the EC Merry Kinkmas line. My story Firm Touch will be out on December 6th and has to deal with….

*drum roll*

M/M Fisting.

*and waits for the audience to breath again*

I know what you’re thinking, but it is a very thinking/smutty book. According to my beta readers, it’s pretty hot too LOL! I’ll have to wait to see what you all think about it.

In Progress

With all this going on, I’m not slowing down. I am currently working on No Master, which is book three in my space pirate series. This one is dealing with Korbin, the Admiral of the Black and Zain Strand, his second in command. I’m about a third of the way through I am hoping to have it finished by the end of December.

I’ll be working on a different book for NaNoWriMo. I’m still working out all the details, but the book will be three interconnected novellas. Should be a lot of fun. :)

I also have plans to do a second book for the 1-800-DOM-help series. More on that once I get it done. :)

Well, that’s me. As always, I’ll keep people posted of updates as they happen. I wish everyone a fantastic week!

Words…I need them

Published on September 8, 2010 in Commanding Acquisitions, No Remedy, TV and Writing. 0 Comments

I was on a real roll for a while with my writing. The last few days I haven’t done very much. Not because I don’t have any ideas, I just seen to run out of hours in the day.

The good news is that I have everything worked out in my head for the third book in my space pirate series. The Admiral is shaping up nicely and I’m having fun writing a darker character. I’ve decided once I’ve finished this one, I’m going to take a turn at writing a paranormal erotic. I have a few ideas kicking around, so we’ll have to see if anything materializes.

I’m also still a bit in shock that No Remedy will be releasing in three weeks. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I wrote The End on the first draft. I have at least one more coming out after that, though I don’t have a release date yet for Commanding Acquisitions. I’m also still waiting to hear if my Kinkmas story for EC has been accepted or not, so keep your fingers crossed on that one!

Not much of a Wednesday writing update, but there you have it. Today I’ll leave you with a picture of Sam and Dean from Supernatural! God I can’t wait for September 23rd to come…

Kick Starting Things

Published on August 22, 2010 in Health, Interview, TV and Writing. 0 Comments

I have to admit, I’ve been a bad blogger recently. There has been so much going that this poor old blog has taken a bit of a beating. I’m going to do my best to get back here on a bit more of a regular basis. As a result, I’m going to try and have a few more regular features.

Yes, I know. But I promise I will!

Starting next week, I will be featuring interviews with authors, readers, reviews…pretty much anyone who wants to answer my silliness. :D I’ve also started a new exercise routine and (you poor people) will now get to hear all about my pain.

Of course, there will be the normal bits on my books, favorite TV shows and all that jazz. :D

Let’s have some fun people.

Updates

Published on June 24, 2010 in Contest, Letter of Marque, No Quarter and Writing. 1 Comment

Hello all you wonderful people out there. I hope you have been having a great week where you are. In my neck of the woods, we got to experience an earthquake yesterday. I’m Canadian remember, not something we normally get up here. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Fun times!

On the writing front, I am pleased to let you all know that Letter of Marque, the sequel to No Quarter, is done! I’m just going back now to tweak a few things, then it’s off to my critique partners and then my editor. I am soooo happy to have this one done. I can’t wait to share it with all of you. :D

A note to those of you who entered the Name That Ship contest. I will be picking a winner this weekend. Stay tuned!

Next on my plate is a m/m novella I’m writing as part of a multiy author EC series. I have to say I’m super excited to be a part of this and can’t wait to get the story done. I’m traveling for business soon which means I’ll have time to write waiting at the airport. Have to look at the positive side of these things. hehee! Once I’m done that story, I’ve decided to do a very short Quickie as part of the EC Merry Kinkmas theme. Fingers crossed it gets accepted.

You might have noticed the lack of banner on my blog. My wonderful web guy is in the process of updating WordPress for me. He’ll have the pretty back soon. :D

Finally, I’m thrilled to let everyone know that my EC editor has finally joined Twitter! You can follow her at @BriannaStJames if you want to see the craziness I put her through.

Be safe and have a great rest of your week everyone!

Still Motoring

Published on May 31, 2010 in Writing. 0 Comments

I think summer is a challenge for writers – well, for me at least. I have so many things that I love to do outside, it’s hard for me to stay in front of my computer typing away. I mean, who wants to sit in a basement when I could be outside in the warm sun…gardening…walking the dog…

And while I do have a laptop, I have the attention span of a crow and wouldn’t be able to concentrate if I was outside writing.

That said, I’ve been making steady progress on Letter of Marque, the sequel to No Quarter. I also have another BDSM novella in the works, and while I can’t give you any of the details yet, I am sooooo excited about that project. It will be big! Epic! Involves more than me!!

Letters is turning out to be an interesting story from my perspective. I have one character who I know very well – Mace for those of you who’ve read No Quarter. The other two men have been interesting to learn about. The little buggers have also changed on me! Alec is becoming much more analytical and yet passionate than I’d expected. Byron is still a smart ass, but he’s developing more protective qualities than I’d first intended. I like them! There will be some tweaking to do, but I think they have finally come into their own.

With luck, I’ll have the first draft finished in two weeks. If things go well, then I’ll have the final version off to my editor by the end of June! *does a snoopy dance*

I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather where you are.

Speaking of Henson

Published on February 25, 2010 in TV and Writing. 0 Comments

Funny how things pop up. I stumbled over this link on Twitter this morning. It’s a blog post from Sugith Varughese on the writing process Henson and the writers used on Fraggle Rock.

Seeing as I loved FR with all my heart as a kid, it is fascinating as an adult and a writer to get a glimpse into how they constructed each episode. I hope you enjoy.

You can read the post here.

What Henson Knew And Pixar Understood

Published on February 21, 2010 in Writing. 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking a lot about characterization recently. A bit later today I’ll be giving a workshop on how to plot characters. See, I’m a firm believe that while a good, strong plot is essential to any novel, strong character will make or break a story. I’ve seen myself be very forgiving of plot holes when I’m completely engaged in a character and their journey.

This has been brought even more to light for me as I’ve been rewatching some movies with my kids. At Christmas, my oldest daughter bought the Superman movie four pack. We’d been watching Smallville and she wanted to see the original movies. Great! I remember seeing number three as a kid in the movie theatre and thought what a great chance to relive my youth.

PAINFUL!!

I was shocked to see how thin the characters were, their motivation and the large, GLARING plot holes in the story. Yes, they are old, but it was more than them not standing the test of time. Color me more surprised when I realized it was written by Mario Puzo. The Godfather this isn’t. The writers didn’t draw on the rich history of the Superman world, leaving us with only the vaguest of charactures.

I’ve also been watching some of Jim Henson’s older movies with my kids. The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth are AMAZING movies. Like some of the better kids movies out there today, Henson knew that you don’t have to dumb the characters down in order for kids to be engaged. They understand the complexities of adult behavior more than we parents would like to admit. The characters are flawed, make bad decisions, make mistakes, but in the end they realize their errors and come out on top.

Pixar does much the same thing with their movies. My youngest put on Monsters Inc the other day. I was upstairs but could hear the story. There was so much spoken between the lines, the characters were complex and flawed.Finding Nemo is another example. The plots are basic, but the characters are complex landscapes where the writers can build a reaction in the viewed and steadily pull on our emotions.

Building a good character means digging down into their guts and understanding what drives them. Yes, this is very basic, but it shocks me how many people forget this. Jack Bauer and Jack Sparrow will react differently to the same situation (and wouldn’t that be a great movie LOL!) I know myself, I sometimes don’t dig down deep enough to find the core of who my characters are. When I do, I find so much more satisfaction in the resulting story.

2010 Reboot

Published on January 28, 2010 in Health, Life and Writing. 5 Comments

I’ve had an interesting start to my year. As some of you know, I’ve been sick for the past month. Not “hey I’ve had a bad flu” sick. More like “hey, this could kill you if you’re not careful” sick. The good news is that I’m on the mend. The bad news is I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands.

This shouldn’t be a problem.

I haven’t been able to write anything since this mess started. Understandably, my creativity has been sapped a bit. But what it has done, is given me time to think. Its helped me focus on what I want my year to be like going forward.

First off, I’m going to start taking care of myself better. That means listening to my body and not ignoring things when they’re not right. Yes, women tend to do this a lot, but I won’t anymore. I’ve also learned that bad things can happen to me. It’s funny, I never considered before that something could. I know that sounds naive, but really, who does. I’m not old, I thought I was healthy, why would I think bad things were about to happen. I now know that I’m not invincible and need to put myself first so I can be there for my family.

On the writing front, I’ve learned that if I want things to move forward, I need to make them happen. No more sitting around thinking I can’t get an agent, or a bigger contract, or write the book I always wanted, just because it’s hard. Of course its hard, and I might even fail. But one thing I know for certain, it will never happen if I don’t try.

So, I’ve decided to start 2010 over. I go back to my day job on Monday after having been on sick leave for a month. I’m also going to start writing again and get those queries out to agents. No, I won’t giver up after getting five rejections and think I’m a sucky writer.

Positive side of life. It’s a nice place to be.

:)