Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

The other day I was preparing a blog for a guest appearance spot over at Nine Naughty Novelists. I was writing about adding real life to your stories. It got me thinking of the old adage, write what you know.I’ll admit I’ve written many stories based off of things I know.

Body Shots has a hero who is a singer. Music is my first love. Back in high school thru my early twenties I dated musicians. I know more about drums than I possibly need to. I’ve spent summer nights just attending concerts. When I was growing up in Upstate New York, every teen spent the summer at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. This was where all the good concerts took place. In 2003 when I was sowing my royal oats (I was celebrating my freedom from my ex), my best friend and I traveled all over to see concerts. In fact once at 5pm on a Saturday night we drove from Albany NY to the Comcast Center in MA (it was the Tweeter Center back then) to see Disturbed and Korn. A three hour drive one way AND we drove back home after the concert. Okay, so we were a little crazy what can I say.

Splashing Good Time the hero owns his own pool company. I’ve been in the business in the past and again in my present, someone close to me owns a few pool stores.

Gettin’ Lucky my heroine owns her own grocery store. My ex-husband and I owned a corner grocery store for almost ten years. And like Marcy, my heroine, the store was in a poor section of town.

Another story that will be published under my real name is about a woman’s journey to motherhood. She’s not taking the conventional way. After finding herself single, because her ex-fiancé doesn’t want children, Hailey decides to take out an ad for a sperm donor.

Granted I’ve never taken out an ad, but I’ve journeyed through the fertility process – more times than I’d like to admit. So I can add those little details to my story that make it that much more believable. Obviously my heroine will get a HEA, but the bottom line is I KNOW fertility.

But should we always write what we know? I say NO. Eventually you’ll come to a point where you want to diversify and move in a new direction. To do this you’ll have to learn something new and experiment. That’s what I plan to do.

I’m embarking on a new chapter or journey in my writing career. I’m taking on a subject and genre that is relatively foreign to me. But guess what? I’m excited about it. I may stumble along the way and I may suck at it, but I won’t know unless I try.

I’ll be honest – I’m scared witless. But that’s the thrill. That’s how I know it’s the right time to do it.

I’ve become too comfortable in my writing. I haven’t challenged myself in a very long time. A friend has thrown down the gauntlet and I’ve accepted the challenge!

Do you only write what you know? If not, how do you step out of your comfort zone?

PS...If you get a chance please stop by Nine Naughty Novelists. I could use some support! Thanks.

Can Heroes Play the Accordion/Tuba/do the Polka?

Can your hero play chess? Knit? Do the polka?

While all are worthwhile things to do...and I don't want to slight any man who does them!...I think these hobbies can't stand alone as a masculine lure but can add to a hero's macho facade and alpha male persona in romance books to gain a reader's attention.

In a book I'm writing/editing now, the hero finds out the heroine has asked a mutual friend about him in an effort to "catch" him by showing interest in his hobbies. Deciding to "turn the table" on her, he has the friend feed her misinformation. Two of his favorite things? Playing the accordion and dancing the polka.

In my published book "Strip Poker for Two" by April Ash, hero Jason actually has played the tuba while in the angst years of teen crushes. He tried serenading the girl of his dreams, heroine Allison. His tuba playing expertise and stories are inserted in their story, and he gets one last embarrassing chance to play for a room full of guests...including the heroine.

Do these hobbies make the heroes any less desirable? Hell, no. In my WIP, the heroine does her best to keep a smile on her face as the hero talks about his love of polka dancing and accordion music, although she finds an excuse not to join him. She does, however, try to act interested as she seeks his undivided attention.

In "Strip Poker for Two", Allison realizes she'd been embarrassed by Jason's school-years attention, and the tuba serenades just made him more undesirable at the time. Memories of Jason's playing music just for her make him more endearing as their relationship heats up and the tuba songs don't seem quite so embarrassing.

Can your heroes have these hobbies and still have you craving their passionate embraces?

Photos: Flickr: Sandy Kemsley, Michel Banabila, and Carsten Knoch photostreams.

http://www.mariannestephens.net
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http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus
http://flirtyauthorbitches.com

New cherries! 2 this week!

With one new book out tomorrow, FOR HER HONOUR medieval England at http://www.total-e-bound.com/ and another this Wednesday, LADY FEATHERSTONE'S FERVENT AFFAIR Regency England, at http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/ , I am taking a breather from text!

Why?

Well, I have another coming August 20 from EC! WHENEVER WE MEET is a contemporary helping to launch the BRANDED line, "marital heat", they call it. I call WHENEVER my Harlequin Romance with lots of sex! Older rich man sees younger woman, wants, needs, must have her, she finds him irresistible, has problem, but with love both can fix in marriage!

Hope you like!

New Release Contest is underway...

Woman on Fire is coming on September 3, 2010 from Ellora's Cave! Don't have my cover art for a day or so, so I will add it when available.

If you have not yet read the "rules" for my New Release Contest, please click on the News link on my website at: http://www.franleeromance.com

Be sure to read to the end, where you will find the info about how this one will be run. I have TEN prizes to give away...and I have just one entrant so far. Hmmm...

Please note that every person who enters this contest will win something! I have many prizes waiting, from Classic Romances and Adventures to signed cover art. After the ten books are given away by random drawing, all others will receive a consolation prize.

Winners will be drawn and announced on my website on September 4, 2010. Join the fun!

Fran
http://www.franleeromance.com

Good Gawd I'm bad!

Remember this oldie but goodie?

This sweet, smart cowboy romance is coming back after a tune-up. It's sweeter, smarter, sharper and the cover is smokin' hot! I love it!

Anytime Darlin' is the first romance I ever wrote. I am so happy it's being re-released by Siren this month!

Stay tuned for the date. Here's a teaser:

Devlin Barre lies near death, her family destroyed, her hopes for the future, dashed. Jake McKenna saves her life. Worried she's becoming dependent on him, Devlin runs off without a word. Years later, Jake and Devlin meet again. Has their deep connection survived? What of the murderer who still hunts her?

Quickie 101

Today I want to expand on the topic Amber Skyzes brought up yesterday about “Quickies”.

“Quickie” is the term Ellora’s Cave uses for short form fiction that runs between 7-15 K or approximately 25-50 pages. A Quickie is a whole other art form away from a novel. The structure, the pacing and reader expectations must be adjusted accordingly. Think of a Quickie as a beautifully prepared hor d'oeuvre meant to deliver a burst of flavor-it's NOT a four-course meal. It’s an opportunity to sample a new genre or author at little cost or investment of time.

As the market for ebooks booms more new readers from the paperback world arrive everyday. Many bring their familiar reading standards and expectations with them. They expect big stories that need 400 pages to play out. There’s nothing wrong with that but readers do need to have realistic expectations. Few authors can deliver a big plot, character development and sensual scenes with a fully realized happy ending in only 7-15K. We can only give readers a taste, make hints and hopefully make a few vivid impressions.

I read a book review several days ago where the reviewer said she loved the Quickie and that it was beautifully written, but she gave it 3 out of 5 simply BECAUSE it was a Quickie! I thought it was very unfair and ignorant of the reviewer to diminish the author’s value. Short fiction should be judged as short fiction-it’s a separate format as different as television is from film.

I’ve also been saddened to receive low marks on a Quickie not because the reader didn't like it but because it was a “short read”. One woman said she loved “Adult Education” but gave it one star because it was “too short”. She did take the time to write me and apologize “for having to do that”. She has no idea how hard I worked to trim words and struggled to fit a full experience into only 15K. I actually came within 30 words of my limit and had to leave a little wiggle room for the final lines editor to do her work. There seems to be an idea out there that Quickie authors need to be punished for being lazy... Please folks this just isn’t the case. We‘re trying to entertain readers and introduce ourselves in a fast affordable manner.

I firmly believe there's a place for Quickies. They’re a great introduction to an author's writing style. Every e-author should have one. They are a quick thrill during a lunch break and they make great fodder for mixed author anthologies. Short fiction is the driving engine of the emerging ebook market and it’s an evolving art form. The human eye and mind process an ebook very differently from a print book. Quickies need to judged for what they are—quality short fiction. Think of them as gemstones or special treats where quality outweighs quantity.

XXOO Kat

PS Two Lips Reviews gave “Beautiful Stranger” 5 Kisses and I’m thrilled!

http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5395&Itemid=36

Quickies and a Contest

I love writing quickies in between other books. Why? Well because they’re fun, quick and it’s a book out there. Lately though I’ve been getting discouraged, mostly because some readers obviously don’t get the “jest” of quickies.
A quickie is a blip in time, usually one event. Take for instance my recent release Submit With Me. It’s a quickie – 7400 words. It’s a story about giving someone control of your body for one night.
Two people who purchased the book over at the Jasmine Jade site gave it 1 star. One stated it wasn’t worth the $1.49 and the other said the characters weren’t fully developed. I’m not sure how developed they expect them to be when it’s written under 10k. On top of that it was all about the fantasy.
One nice commenter gave it 5 stars.
I’ve learned to take the good with the bad, but now I question writing these quick books. Is it worth the backlash? A bunch of EC authors told me it would be a smart idea to write a free read story. They said it gives you a lot of exposure you might not have gotten otherwise. I can see the point. If you’re unsure you want to try an author a free read could help you decide if you want to buy her other books.
I had considered writing one about Tommy from Pretend With Me, book one in the Freedom Fantasies series or one about Lucky from my Cougar Challenge book Gettin’ Lucky (coming soon). Lately I’ve been asking myself WHY? WHY bother? These are under 6k – I can’t imagine what these people commenting on my stories will say then.
Readers complain they want a quick, cheap read, but expect the full plot and storyline you get from a 30k. What’s a writer to do?
Today I've decided to give away a copy of Submit With Me to one lucky commenter and I'd love to hear what you think about the story after you read it. I'm a big girl if you hate it, tell me. If you love it, tell me. :o)