Edgy Beta Man

This week, I'm joined by Erika Lindsen at Romancing the Pen.  Erika talks this week about bad boys or sensitive ones.

Personally, I like a little bit of both.  I like an edgy little beta man :-)  He has to know what he's talking about to make it through my front door.  But, I need to know if someone else is trying to break it down, he's not going to hide behind me.  I'm just saying...

Join us as she tells us about her hero in her latest book, Soul.

Blood runs across the floor like a winter’s creek.  It always puts a smile on his face. As a Taker – a demon sent to entice humans to commit suicide in order to gain their soul for Lucifer – Drebin is at the top of his game. He has already claimed  421 souls and there is no sign of him slowing down. Much like a fine wine, Drebin gets better with age.

Alexia Downer is just a few months into her freshman year of college and still undecided about a career. Ally is more than eager to meet new people and live up to the college stereotypes. But her gentle nature may cause her to put trust in the wrong person.

The stage is set, the hound is released, but Drebin begins to have second thoughts about his next victim, Alexia, his 422^nd victim. Her beauty is mesmerizing and her spirit is captivating.

As much as he tries, Drebin cannot bring himself to destroy her, yet he must. He has a higher, more vicious power to answer to, after all… 

This much I know...

Everything you do in life has a purpose or meaning.  I know there are a lot of people out there who will disagree with me, but let me tell you why I believe this before you disagree.

In high school I couldn't decide which college I wanted to attend.  Although I'd received scholarships to various schools of merit, none of them really spoke to me.  Then, one day, some college recruiters came to my high school (their alma mater) and blew me away!  I wanted to be a part of that type of excitement.  So, I'd set my mind on that college, and nothing less would be acceptable.  I applied (late) and waited.

Nothing.

The other offers began to dwindle, and still nothing.

I was so disappointed and discouraged that I'd decided to blow college off and join the military.  I took the ASVAB, provided them with my medical records.  Everything moved quickly.  My parents disagreed, but I didn't care.  I was going to do what I wanted.

Then, I received a letter in the mail welcoming me to my dream college!  But, I hadn't received a welcome packet from the college itself, it was from my campus liaison.

How was that possible?  Had I really been accepted, or was this a cruel joke of the universe?

Nope, it was true.  It was all true.  I'd made it, and literally only moments before I signed my name on the dotted line for the U.S. Army.

In so many ways, my life has had many moments like this one, each one speaking louder and louder to me and directing my life in some marvelous way.

One of those moments lead me to meet my guest this week at Romancing the Pen.  Truly a friend and a fabulous author, Charmaine Gordon.

She has truly lived an exciting and interesting life from the stage to TV to writing to family and friends.

Join me this week at Romancing the Pen as I welcome her once again.

It was 2:30 a.m. when the phone rang. I fumbled for it, my heart starting a race toward bad news. Our doctor s voice urged me to hurry. I crammed into clothes as if I expected this call. It is only a fever that won t go down, isn't it? Our doctor shook his head. ...We did everything possible to save him. I held him in my arms when he took his last breath. Carly, I m so sorry. Settling in beside my Bob, I held his cooling hand and asked the two words spoken many times during our years together. Now what? This time there was no response. I was on my own for the first time. When my fingers touched his wedding ring, I slipped it off and held it in my fist. The gold band was warm. I clung to him. Come back to me, dearest. Sometimes what you wish for is more than you can live with.

Character Inspiration

Luke Evans, actor

Finding your passion

For anyone that's traveled along the road of storytelling with me, you know that I was laid-off in 2010.  At that point in my life, I decided to make the decision to take the time, while I focused on my own business, to also put more time into my writing.

When I became more driven, everything with my writing changed.  My family and friends took my writing more seriously, I attended conferences, met other authors, and eventually sold my first piece to Red Rose Publishing.

This week on Romancing the Pen, my guest is Cassandra Carr.  As I got to know Cassandra, her story didn't sound unlike my own.  It's been a pleasure to learn a little about her and her journey.

I hope you'll drop by Romancing the Pen, and join us this week!

BLURB:

Luc, Carter, and Jake make up the Buffalo Intimidators’ top scoring line. Each of them is also a client of massage therapist Eva. When they decide they want to be more than clients, they approach her. Eva’s been secretly lusting after the guys for months but was afraid to say anything, trying to keep everything on a professional level.

She agrees to a menage relationship, but when people on the team start getting sick, will it turn into more than a fun roll in the hay with her hockey boys?

Rules for writing fiction

As written for The Guardian by Michael Moorcock, novelist.


1 My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt.

2 Find an author you admire (mine was Conrad) and copy their plots and characters in order to tell your own story, just as people learn to draw and paint by copying the masters.

3 Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel.

4 If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction.

5 Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development.

6 Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution.

7 For a good melodrama study the famous "Lester Dent master plot formula" which you can find online. It was written to show how to write a short story for the pulps, but can be adapted successfully for most stories of any length or genre.

8 If possible have something going on while you have your characters delivering exposition or philosophising. This helps retain dramatic tension.

9 Carrot and stick – have protagonists pursued (by an obsession or a villain) and pursuing (idea, object, person, mystery).

10 Ignore all proferred rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.