I hear people

Frequently, when I speak with other writers, the phrase "I have voices in my head," is mentioned.

I love hearing the stories behind the voices in the head. Often, people push their dreams to the side in search for stability. And believe me when I say I understand the need for stability. But, isn't it sad that more often than not, it means the sacrifice of NOT doing what we really love.

Avril Ashton is a new author; currently writing for Secret Cravings Publishing and eXtasybooks. This week on RtP Avril will discuss what happens when the voices just won't go away.


A Wicked Ride will be available February 1, 2011.

Blurb:

Sasha Forde has hung up her thieving stilettos, but a visit from a mobster sends her right back to her old life. In order to save her family-and herself-from jail, she must steal evidence hidden in a lawyer's office. She sets out to do what she considers a simple B and E, but someone else has arrived first. And he holds her life in his tattooed hands. Not for long.

Niko Davaris is all about revenge on the man who tried to kill him. The evidence he stole is the first step in that direction. He's not thrilled to wake up with a gun to his head. The woman on the other end is cocky, smug, and too damn hot for her own good. He wants her, she wants the evidence. When she takes it and disappears, he gives chase. Battle lines are blurred as they give in to temptation, but on a ride like this someone has to come out on top. Who will it be?

Visit Romancing the Pen for more!

Voices From the Heart

Don't forget to drop by Voices From the Heart on the 27th to read my latest post.

Where do you get your ideas?

The ideas for my stories come from a million different places. I've discovered that my mind is always open to everything around me. Whether reading the newspaper, playing around on the Internet, or talking with friends ideas for stories blossom. Sometimes fully formed, sometimes they need a little coaxing, but there's always that small seed.

Rachel Brimble, discusses where some of her story ideas come from, and how they translated into novels.

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Submissions???

Okay, I submitted my latest baby to several publishers, and I'm waiting, patiently. Maybe not so patiently to hear.

It's an odd experience for this piece because it's extremely close to my heart. I set the story in Memphis, TN my hometown. I would love to pay tribute to my childhood home by having this story released.

I picture myself doing book signings at the local book stores back home with my family and friends in attendance ;-)

The waiting is killing me. So, keep your fingers, toes, eyes, and any other body part you can twist into knots crossed!

Dream big for 2011!

Character Inspiration

Collin Ferrell, Actor

First guest author of the new year!

Cynthia resides in Orlando, Florida, the land of magic, surrounded by the treasured gems in her life: a caring, loving husband, dutiful and loyal daughter, and precious delightful granddaughter. Oh and not to forget, her mischievous Yorkshire Terrier, Thumper.

Cynthia was a “Navy Brat” calling a different port home every couple of years—from Southern California, to Boston, to Virginia, to Florida. She developed wandering feet and diverse interests and passionately incorporates those experiences into her stories, bringing characters to life, and eloquently sharing the vivid images of her mind with her audience.

Cynthia worked as a real estate broker for over twenty years before retiring to Florida. Recently, she turned to writing to stretch her creative muscle. Those ideas of faraway places and quirky characters lay dormant for years, but finally demanded their story be told.

Cynthia plans on putting some mileage on those wandering feet and travel to exotic locations in the coming years. So look for the journeys to be expressed in Romantic Words by Cynthia in the future.

Visit Romancing the Pen to read about Cynthia's release Born To Be Wild.

Character Inspiration

Michael Ealy, movie and television actor

Rules for writing fiction

As written for The Guardian by Diana Athill, editor, novelist, and memoirist.


1 Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out – they can be got right only by ear).

2 Cut (perhaps that should be CUT): only by having no ­inessential words can every essential word be made to count.

3 You don't always have to go so far as to murder your darlings – those turns of phrase or images of which you felt extra proud when they appeared on the page – but go back and look at them with a very beady eye. Almost always it turns out that they'd be better dead. (Not every little twinge of satisfaction is suspect – it's the ones which amount to a sort of smug glee you must watch out for.)

Internal Rhyme

My heroine from Love's Chance, Sinclair Mosley read her lover's poem, "For My Father". The poem touched her heart. She decided to write a piece to explain to him what she was going through when he first met her.

It was never about not loving him, it was about her commitments.