Anne Gracie Boards the Ship!
[Hellion racing along the deck of the ship, Captain Jack Sparrow close behind]
Jack: I don’t see why I can’t be the one to do the interview. I always do the interview.
Hellion: I know, and you always spend three-quarters of the time badgering the poor author for information why more of her heroes aren’t pirates. And do not get me started what you did to poor Teresa Medeiros. I can’t even look the poor lady in the face when we meet.
Jack: You can’t tell me she didn’t enjoy it at the time.
Hellion: [scathing glare] Regardless, you’re not interviewing Anne Gracie. [strides off] I want to maintain the illusion she may come back for a second interview.
Jack: [calling after her] In that case, don’t you think I should do the interview?
[Hellion gestures at Jack with one hand, but due to blurry camera defects, we’re unable to truly see what the communication was. Hellion enters her cabin, where Anne Gracie is waiting.]
Hellion: Anne, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting.
Anne: [holding up a feather tickler with a bemused look] I’ve been keeping myself entertained. You have quite the library. And thanks for inviting me, though you didn't need to chase off Jack Sparrow. (pout) I could have kept him occupied with this— um, yes, I was saying what a fine library you have.
Hellion: I do! Here are where I keep your books. [gestures to a midrow pile of carefully kept books] The Perfect Rake, The Perfect Waltz, The Perfect Stranger, and the Perfect Kiss; as well as your new series, the Devil Riders. I did adore Harry—that first scene where he and Nell meet and he gives her his hat and gloves? That’s a BBC movie moment there. I had images of Richard Armitage, dripping raindrops and…. [clears throat] Never mind. First let’s celebrate the good news from the Romance Writers of Australia conference. The Stolen Princess, the first in the Devil Riders series, was a finalist for Romantic Book of the Year—how did that go?
Anne: I'm very pleased to say it won! I now have a ruby trophy (It's not really a ruby, but RBY, you know, sounds like ruby and the trophy is clear and throws red gleams. More when you put some red foil behind it, LOL.) It's lovely to win the RBY because it's judged by romance readers across Australia, not members of Romance Writers of Australia, so it's not your friends being nice. LOL And thank you for taking such good care of my books.
Hellion: Your books frequently final for categories like “Best Couple” and “Favorite Funny” and “Most Hanky Read”. First, how do you create such memorable, real characters; and two, how is it you’re able to make us laugh hysterically one moment (that scene when we first meet Gideon in The Perfect Rake comes to mind), but also cry like our hearts are breaking?
Anne: I've always worked hard on characters because for me as a reader, it's the people in the story that matter, not so much the event. My process — and this is going to sound stupid to anyone who isn't a writer — is first finding the character and getting them to turn up on the page as a walking, talking real person, and then digging deep into what makes them tick (And no, Captain Hook, if you're listening, it's not about swallowing clocks.) So after they turn up on the page, I go back and delve into their backgrounds, the events and people in their lives who made them who they are today, and uncover their dreams, hopes, fears.
Do you want me to explain the "turn up on the page" thing? OK, when I first started to write The Perfect Rake, Gideon, the hero, was supposed to be a dark and dangerous hero of the vaguely sinister sort. That was The Plan. Only the hero who strolled onto the page, being funny and flippant and charming was Gideon. And I wrestled with him for ages, trying to make him brood and be tormented, and he just refused. So then I decided to let him have his own way, and just followed along. And I'm very glad I did. :) It can be a terrible waste of me to plan for a certain kind of character and then find I have someone different on my hands. So I try to find them first.
As for the comedy-to-tragedy aspect of my writing, honestly, I don't know. I think it's just part of my natural voice. When I first started writing I used to get comments from people that I couldn't have comedy and deep emotion at that same time, that I should choose. But I didn't. I've always been attracted to the Greek drama mask, with comedy looking one way and tragedy looking the other. I think life's like that: that in the midst of tragedy there is comedy, and at the heart of some comedy, there's tragedy.
Plus I'm deeply flippant at heart. Ask any of my schoolteachers. I was always getting into trouble for laughing at the wrong time.
[a scratching, knocking sound occurs at the back window; and Anne and Hellion turn to find Jack hanging upside down by a rope by one foot.]
Jack: ‘ello, ladies. Anne, my luv, I had a question.
Hellion: [warning voice] Jack.
Anne: Oh, hello Jack.... [fanning self madly with feather tickler while trying to look cool and composed. ] I'm so glaaad you er, dropped in. Ropes, eh? Hmm. Your question, Jack?
Jack: Do you have any stories about pirates?
Anne: [as Hellion groans and covers her face with her sheaf of questions] I do have one actually, though it's not yet written. It's called Miss Hetty and the Pirate. [Hellion nudges Anne, and gives her a gimlet look. Anne continues:] Oh, er, yes, that's right. Some pirates do appear briefly in my latest book, but they're a sad, rubbishy bunch, not your sort of pirate at all...not the romantic lead kind of pirate...like you." [Sighs. Fanning madly]
Hellion: Thank you, Anne, and thank you, Jack, that is quite enough. I think you should go topside and find some rum. Your motorskills are in dire need of a flagon. Back to the interview…. [Jack disappears nimbly up the rope]
Anne: He’s really quite... amusing. I see why you keep him around. [twirls feather tickler thoughtfully] Or one of the reasons, I suppose.
Hellion: [blushing] Yes, um, tell us about your new book, Anne. To Catch a Bride is the third in the Devil Riders books; and it’s Rafe’s story. [grins roguishly] Tell us a little about Rafe.
Anne: [glances at back window.] Who? Oh, Rafe! Well, Rafe is a cool, elegant regency dude, very much in control of himself — he thinks— and keeping his emotions well buttoned down. He grew up estranged from his father, an earl, and his older brother, the current earl. He was the "spare", unneeded and unwanted. But his brother has been married for 10 years and is still childless, so it's Rafe's duty to marry. His brother finds him a rich, pretty, well born lady, and the betrothal party is planned, until Rafe discovers his brother and his bride-to-be have come to a secret, outrageous agreement. In his fury, he seizes on the first excuse to leave the country he can find, to go in search of Alicia Cleeve, the long-lost granddaughter of a family friend, lost six years ago, after her father died in Egypt. He has only a sketch of the girl aged 12 or 13, and expects it to be a wild goose-chase, but he doesn't care. Instead, he find the girl in the picture, only she's not at all what he expected...There's an extract here: http://www.annegracie.com/books/CatchBridextract.html
Hellion: What’s up next for you? And what is your writing process like?
Anne: I'm currently working on Nash's story. I hadn't planned to write a story for him, but an idea for him bubbled up and refused to go away, so I mentioned it to my editor and she laughed and said "Write it." He's a light-hearted, bad-boy charmer of a hero – a little like Gideon. And my heroine keeps bees.
Hellion: [swoony look] Gideon….
Anne: As for my writing process, it's not at all consistent. I either dive straight into the writing day, having woken with a scene in my head, or I fritter away half the morning on email, and blogs, "getting ready to work." Sometimes the writing flies, sometimes I have to forge grimly on, but I try to stick to my minimum of 1k a day.
I'm an "organic writer" which means I don't have it all planned out ahead. I have a rough idea of where my story's going, and I know some scenes up ahead, but the more I write the more I know my characters and sometimes a story twist pops ups and surprises me, and I like that. I also do a lot of rewriting because of heading up false trails.
And I use collage. I can't show you the collage for TO CATCH A BRIDE because it gives away too much of the
story, but here's one for the Stolen Princess and one for The Perfect Kiss.
http://www.annegracie.com/books/Princess.html#collage
http://www.annegracie.com/kisscollbig.jpg
Hellion: Anne, I just wanted to thank you again for agreeing to blog with us today. I hope you will come back and visit with us again—and in the meantime, I want to encourage everyone to rush out and buy To Catch a Bride. Do you have any questions for the crew?
Anne: Thanks so much Hellion, you and Jack can drop by any time. ;) I can't think of any questions in particular, but if anyone has any questions for me, go ahead and ask. I'll do my best to respond.
You hear her crew! FIRE AT WILL! I mean, line up civilly and ask questions...and for God's sake don't take her rum. [looks around for Anne] Where did she go? Where's the feather? And where's Jack?
Books by the Crew
82 comments:
Hel - Have ya considered a leash fer Jack? ;)
Annie, what a wonderful interview. So glad ta hear 'bout the organic nature a' yer writin'. And I agree, nothin' better than when a character simply steps up and strolls off wit' the story. Though I agree, the edits be murder.
Now, I be the bartender on the Revenge, can I replace that simple rum wit' somethin' a bit more tasty? Glittery Hooha?
So, yer from Australia...I hear ya 'ave no squirrels in Australia...is that true?
Oh! I thought of a sensible question! Ya mentioned false trails and story twists that ya 'ave ta work on wit' rewrites. I know this... So. How do ya pick and choose which trail be true and which be false? Or if not false, jus' not leadin' where ya want ta go right then...
Hi Anne, Welcome aboard!
I have just read 'The Perfect Kiss' and was very impressed. Looking at your comments above on 'first find the character' I thought of the beginning of the book where Lord D'Acre rides toward Wolfstone and I imagined a historical Clint Eastwood riding into a deserted town. Wonderful character!
Do you think that any of your books would transcribe well into film or video?
On your web site you say that Stokesey Castle in Shropshire was the inspiration for Wolfstone. This is in my neck of the woods, and as I was walking on the Long Mynd at the weekend I detoured to have a quick look at the castle. It is rather special and for me it will now always be associated with Wolfstone!
I must read the other 'Perfect' books before exploring your other work. I'm not sure whether I'm unusual in reading the last book of a series first, but this one makes me want to read all of the others!
Fabulous interview
Thanks for chatting with us today!
Arrrr, 2nd Chance, matey, I'm right fond o' bartenders! And up to recently I've never been a run drinker, but in August I had a delicious grapefruit daiquiri: Havana blanco run infused with fresh vanilla beans, then shaken with vanilla syrup and blood grapefruit. (which sounds perfect for a pirate, don';t you agree?)
And no, we don't have squirrels here. But we do have sugar gliders, which are very sweet and tiny and could sit in your palm. When they spread their limbs, they're like a small furry flying carpet.
http://tinyurl.com/n967yh
I should just point out that the collage picture on the blog is actually part of the collage for TO CATCH A BRIDE, not Perfect Kiss or Stolen Princess. I decided I could show you just a bit and it wouldn't give away too much of the story. So in that pic you have my hero, my heroine and a painting of her grandmother as a young woman.
"How do ya pick and choose which trail be true and which be false? Or if not false, jus’ not leadin’ where ya want ta go right then…"
That's a hard one to answer because each time it's different. Usually I go down the trail until I realize it's false. It might come to a dead end that leads nowhere. It might start off a subplot that does nothing to advance the romance and distracts from it, so it has to go.
It's partly instinct -- if it feels right, I'll keep going, even if I have no idea where it's heading. And when I get stuck, I sit down and nut it out asking myself questions about the main characters. Sometimes they're questions I asked half a book earlier, but the thing is, motivation changes, and the more you get to know a character, the more you learn about them. So the question, what does s/ want, and what does s/he really want can gave different answers at different stages.
You're an organic writer. Do you get stuck sometimes? What do you do when you find you're on a false trail.
Hi Quantum, oh, I envy your being able to just walk past Stokesay Castle.
I'm so pleased you liked Perfect Kiss -- something about the castle and the location I chose made me weave a sort of gothic threat through that book. I had a lot of fun with the mysterious stranger riding into town.
(For those who want to see the castle that inspired the setting for the book, there are some pics here, including the collage for the story:
http://www.annegracie.com/books/perfKiss.htm )
All my books are stand-alone in that they can be read out of order, even though they're part of a series. As a reader I hate it when I start a book and realize there are all these books before this story , and the author spends the first chapter or so catching you up on what's happened in the previous books. I do bring in characters from previous books, but it's not a big part of the story.
I try to strike a balance between pleasing all the readers who have read the earlier books and who want to catch up with those characters, and trying not to crazify the readers who've just started with this one book. It's tricky at times.
Hi Annie! Thanks for coming aboard (and get more rum - it looks like time for a refill!).
The excerpt for "To Catch a Bride" was wonderful - I'll definitely be picking up that book. You mentioned you write organically and get to know your characters as you write. Do you find you have to go back to the beginning and adjust your characters once you know them better? Or is how they appear on paper the first time how they stay?
Good morning, Anne, and welcome aboard. Congrats on the RuBY win.
That excerpt is awesome. I like that your characters are the first part of the story to develop, but I'm curious how you create your first encounter scenes. If this one is any indication, you must have some very fun encounters.
I guess I just outed myself, didn't I? I'm sorry to say I've yet to read one of your books. But as I tell all our guests, your work is included with a great many other wonderful writers on my extensive TBR shelves. :)
Hi Haleigh
I do sometimes adjust the beginning after I'm halfway through the book, and even when I'm almost finished but I'm not so much adjusting the character as changing emphasis or maybe deciding to keep something back that I'd revealed. Really, once the hero and heroine start interacting -- with chemistry happening -- they're there on the page and that's who they are and that doesn't change. But sometimes it takes a while to get the right two characters together. I sometimes have to play around with a character until they emerge. I write consecutively, so I can't really get moving on a story until I have the right two people.
I should have said, thanks for the congrats on the RBY -- it was a huge thrill to win it.
Terrio, glad you liked it. The first encounter is so important and if I can have some fun with it, I will. In this one, it sets the tone for a cool, self-controlled man to confront a fiery young woman who doesn't play by his rules.
For the first encounter scene I try to find a good moment that will set them interacting from the beginning, but also showing the beginnings of conflict. In this scene the conflict is up front and obvious, LOL, but often it's a more subtle thing. But the first scenes also set the tone of the conflict.
For instance, this scene is the first meeting between Prudence and Gideon, the hero in The Perfect Rake, and it sets up the conflict and the tone for the rest of the book. She's serious, and trying desperately to make things all right for her sisters, and he's not the slightest bit serious, and finds the whole thing a huge joke, and the more he plays along, the more he finds himself tangled up in her problems...
http://www.annegracie.com/books/Rake-extract.html
Hi Annie! Loved your interview! (Sorry to interrupt if you're, um, busy with Jack. lol)
Congratulations on your writing successes!
You've been very forthcoming to admit to taking a few false trails that have resulted in rewrites or "frittering the morning away on email or blogs." Your body of work is proof that you get on track and back to it - - obviously! I can't deny this is encouraging, though. lol I think I'm just learning not be execessively frustrated or hard on myself when either of these things occur!
Which leads me to my question or questions. I'm curious if, over the course of writing several books, if your writing habits changed? Other than just flat out asking, does it get easier? (lol - that too!), I'm wondering if earlier you may have been harder on yourself while you settled into your process? What kinds of mistakes did you make early? Anything that you wish, if I'd known then what I know now, might have saved some frustration? :)
Oh, and I love the idea of using a collage! I am definitely going to do that.
This is how I know I follow too many blogs. LOL! I've read that excerpt before. And I remember loving it the first time. Damn and hell fire but I need to get to these books faster!
I was also wondering about that "does it easier" business. And anything you know now but wish you knew when you started out would be a priceless gem!
Annie, your responses to the comments have been so helpful! I do have another question if you don't mind. :)
I see from your web site that you have earlier books written for Harlequin. Did you start out with Harlequin and, if so, did you write your first book with them in mind? Which came first, the market or your story for your first novel?
Oops, I keep calling you Annie. Sorry, Anne. :)
Anne knows I'm a huge fan of her books and have been since I first read The Gallant Waif, one of my all-time favorite romances. Hi, Anne (waving wildly).
I can't say how pleased I am that you are writing Nash's story. I've been intrigued with him since he first appeared in The Stolen Princess. (Congrats on the Ruby, btw). Of course, I always make room on my keeper shelves for any Anne Gracie book.
I love the Egyptian setting in To Catch a Bride. Do you have any ideas for other out-of-the-ordinary settings you's like to write about?
I forgot to say a big thank you, Anne, for all the info for writers you have on your website. Your sample synopsis saved my sanity when I was struggling to write my first one.
Yes, Anne, I've been reading many of your writing articles and workshop notes on your web site. It is incredibly generous of you to share your knowledge and experience. Thank you.
I think you've answered a couple of my questions on your web site! For instance, in your article "Romantic Myths," I see what is my tendancy toward too many minor characters. I see you also had this occur and you adapted. I can't help wondering though, if for a while you rebelled (sigh, like I do!) and wanted to keep those secondary characters. What is your advice? How much conforming to the market or searching for the right market do you recommend for a new writer? :)
Just wanted to stop by and say congrats on your Ruby win!!! Your stories are wonderful and I always look forward to an Anne Gracie book!
Anne!! *waves* I'm so glad you agreed to blog with us--and I'm so glad there are so many like me who adore an Anne Grace book.
I'm sorry I had to trim the interview. (You guys don't realize but I asked Anne like another three questions--but had to trim them. Granted the one about exotic Australian foods was purely for me.)
Terri, I'd say I can't believe you haven't read The Perfect Rake yet, but then again, look who I'm talking to.
I know! There is a list as long as my arm of MUST READS I haven't gotten to. Owning that dagburn things has GOT to count for something.
Really, that school thing totally threw me off. Cut my reading speed to shreds. But I'm working on it.
Now, she has a sample synopsis?! I have to write one by the end of the week. This could totally save my sanity. Off to check out the site.
Hi Anne! Thanks for stopping by the ship and for humoring our Jack. :)
To Catch a Bride sounds really interesting. He's searching for a girl in a picture? That's an interesting plot device.
Congrats on you Ruby! :) And I'm off to check out the synopsis advice right now!
Oooooh! A new author for me. I'm wondering where I've been all this time to have never picked up one of your books, especially since you used words like 'organic writer' and 'false trails'. I love making collages, they are so much fun to create.
Now, I heard an author say somewhere that a writer should never allow their characters to have any say. Too many times my hero has never turned out to be how I planned him to be. Same with my heroines. I was beginning to think maybe I should force them to be what I planned.
Since you're an organic writer, do you meet your deadlines with time to spare?
Whoa! Did I sink the ship?
Where she go? We scare 'er off? I do like the sounds a' that drink... Let's add it ta the menu. Suggestions fer a name, crew?
As few what I do when the trails wind inta a tangle?
Get out a very big hammer and try ta force the roung peg inta the square hole.
That generally don't work well, so I figure it out as I edit. Or I jus' make it more complicated. I been known ta hang upside down from the yardarm in a tangle of plot lines...
For days.
And weeks.
It be interestein' about secondary characters... I be talkin' wit' me mentor about a secondary couple I gots in me current WIP. They be intricately involved in the plot. She says two couples don't work well for a romance... I've reached the conclusion I ain't writin' true romance, so I'm stickin' wit' 'em.
Me fault ya all keep gettin' stuck on Annie...I called 'er that wit' me first comment. Apologies!
Anne is in Australia so I believe the time difference has got her. It's getting close to morning there so depending on how early she rises, she should be back with us soon.
I suggest we name the drink a Frozen Nipple. It's cold, it's sweet, and I'm guessing the blook grapefruit makes it a bit pink. What do you think?
Frozen nipples and glittery hoohas!
Do we have one called full mast?
We have the Mighty Mast. But I likes the Frozen Nipple! Huzzah, Terrio!
*takes a bow* Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Finally got a chance to check out the site. I can see I will be spending lots of time this evening with Ms. Gracie's input. Actual examples, be still my heart. I can read how to articles all day, but without an example, I'm wasting my time.
Thanks and I'll be sure to check out all that other great info too. I so love Romance authors, they are the most generous people you'll ever meet.
Any one else look at the sugarglider pic? Oh, man! What a cutie!
Congrats on your RBY, Anne!
Sin, I'm fixing tacos tonight, not fajitas. It's what I got stuff for. Is that cool with you?
No, Sin wants fajitas! What kind a' friend are ya, changin' the menus just like that?
Now, me...I'd settle fer tacos. ;)
Well, you're welcome to come eat, 2nd, because I'm pretty sure it's tacos that's in my fridge.
Not that it matters. Sin eats like a bird.
Hellie, I can eat tacos! Can't eat fajitas though. Does Sin get chocolate cake too?
Does it get easier? I wish I could say it does, but for me, it hasn't. In some ways it's very freeing when you don't know anything: it's just full steam ahead. LOL.
For me, while with each book I know more about what I'm doing, and my knowledge of craft has increased, each book is a new challenge, a new adventure and has new and different problems. It's not the how to that's the difficult part, it's which choices to make.
Does that make sense?
And, Melissa, I could be busy with jack, except somebody— not saying who, (slews gimlet look toward Hellion) seems to have confiscated my feather tickler and locked him in the brig. Hmph!
I'm down with the tacos. I love tacos. The food kind, that is.
*giving a look* I had to add that in there because I know what kind of crew I roll with.
You're a doll, Hells.
In some ways it’s very freeing when you don’t know anything: it’s just full steam ahead. LOL.
VERY Socrates, Anne! *LOL* No expectations...
No chocolate cake, but I do have brownie mix. I might be talked into some margharitas. Have to see what's available.
And, Melissa, I could be busy with jack, except somebody— not saying who, (slews gimlet look toward Hellion) seems to have confiscated my feather tickler and locked him in the brig. Hmph!
It's really in your best interest. He's still contagious.
I had to add that in there because I know what kind of crew I roll with.
Why, whatever do you mean, Sin?
You know me, I love to cook.
Melissa, I didn't write my first book with harlequin in mins. I actually aimed my first book for the US single title market. I was planning on a fat book -- and when I was on about 120K I started writing query letters to the big NY publishing houses. Only I didn't know the jargon. In Australia, "a regency" is any book set in the Regency period. So that's what I offered to those publishers. And they, thinking I was offering a traditional regency, wrote back saying no thanks, we don't publish regencies. (If I'd called it a regency historical, it might have been a different story!)
So in the end, Harlequin Mills and Boon was the only house I knew that was interested in regencies /. (The UK also call Regencies any book set in the regency period.) So they said, yes, they were interested, but the final manuscript had to be 85K max.
So I cut off 40k words — man, it nearly killed me — and, after some revisions, I sold it to them.
Wow, that is a matter of knowing the "lingo" in the industry and making sure you know the market you're selling to. I would think a Regency is anything set in the Regency period...and I'm from the USA.
It reminds me of students trying to get information on campus around here. If you don't word your question right, there is no telling where an office will send you, just so they don't have to deal with you.
Actually I'll add a bit more, since you guys are interested in hearing more about the process.
That first book was called Gallant Waif, and the cutting off of 40 k words was the best revision I've ever done for a book.
First off I went through the manuscript and took out everything that wasn't serving the story or the romance — some nice but basically pointless scenes. But there were still far too many words, so I set myself a target of cutting so many words a page, and that tightened up my writing considerably. Finally I read the whole manuscript aloud, and that was the best thing I did for it — when you read it aloud, you pick up any awkwardness or repetition or any false-sounding dialogue.
It taught me a lot, and despite the pain of cutting all those words, it made the manuscript so much tighter and better and the book was a RITA finalist for best first book. And that led to my books being released in the Nth American market — the first of the english edited Harlequin historicals to be released in the US retail market.
Harlequin was brilliant to me, and my English editors were fantastic, so it was really hard for me to leave them. But in the end I didn't want to keep working so hard on books that were only on the shelves for a month.
Omgosh, cutting that many words had to really hurt.
And Melissa, don't worry -- most of my friends call me Annie, so I'm very happy for you to call me Annie.
Anne, I think if I started reading my own stuff out loud, I'd feel like the dog that ran into the fence and hoped nobody witnessed it.
Melissa, I realize I didn't exactly answer your question — the story came first. That's something that hasn't changed: though knowledge of the market creeps in these days, I try to shut it out.
First, last and always, I try to go with the characters and the story.
If I'd gone with my knowledge of the market, I wouldn't set my stories outside of London or the UK — I knew a lot of readers don't like foreign settings, but I just had to set this story in Egypt because it was right for the characters and the story. And luckily I have an editor who is very flexible.
I find the market odd, because I love stories set outside of the UK, especially when they are written very well. It gives me the ability to experience a new and enticing world.
Hi there Janga! (waving wildly back)
I'm just about to go out and meet a friend for breakfast, so I'll be back in a couple of hours, and then I'll answer your questions.
I lovvvve me a good craft-of-writing discussion, so keep those questions coming.
Thanks, Annie! It's funny how you're going out to breakfast while the rest of us are getting ready for dinner! Thank you for your great response to my questions. I appreciate your insight from your experience. I'm trying to find that balance; story and characters first, but discipline to tighten the writing to serve the romance and target my market.
It's very interesting that you first aimed for a single title and queried the big publishing houses. I'm sure it lessened the blow of cutting so many words when you finaled as a RITA for best first book!
I love this craft talk. I'm finding that cutting gets easier the more you write and the more you learn. I have a habit of wanting to keep something just because I think it's funny or cute, but funny and cute do not matter if they don't contribute to the story.
Sin - What joke could we make about tacos? *pictures a taco* Ooohhhhh, yeah, that could go in a bad direction.
But if funny and cute contribute ta who the characters are? Keep it. Authors that make me smile are fergiven a lot a' stuff. Not that I think ya'll need fergivin', Terrio!
Yeah, but oddly enough, when I cut and it sounds better, I feel better about it. It's a good feeling, at least until I get some feedback that tells me I'm off the mark. :)
Anne, what a great article, and ladies, what a wonderful discussion! The books sounds wonderful, but I'm mostly interested in that shiny red thingy. Looks gorgeous! I think I have a new goal in life--earning one of those lovely baubles for meself!
Hey, Kat! That is pretty cool. Does that mean your plan of pirate world domination includes Australia?
Here, have a Frozen Nipple and relax.
I am so-so-sooooo sorry. I went for breakfast and said I'd be back in a couple of hours, but... well... um... shopping happened.
This is the problem when you let a writer on deadline out of her cave . LOL
Janga, thanks, I'm so glad you liked the Egyptian setting. As I said, that sort of setting makes publishers a bit nervous, as so many people recoil from foreign settings, so I'm grateful my editor allowed it.
I have a plan to set Luke's story partly in Spain — his story started back when he was a very young man at war, but the book starts after the war.
I'm also very pleased you found my synopsis on my website helpful. When I first put it up there were very few actual examples up for people to see, and I think once you see a few, they stop feeling such scary things to do.
Tiffany, thank you so much! I'm blushing! I hope you like this one,too.
Actually the friend I had breakfast with was one of my first critique partners -- she writes children's books -- and she gave me a sparkly tiara (the really expensive sort -- plastic that lights up. LOL), a beautiful (real) amethyst ring and an antique silver teaspoon to celebrate the RBY win. Nice, eh?
Melissa, I didn't actually adapt to having too many minor characters -- I had too many for a short series romance book, so my solution was to write longer books.
The thing with minor characters is they have to serve the story, they can't be there for their own sake, or because they're cute or funny or whatever.
The danger of minor characters is that they can:
a) distract from the main characters and set things in motion that it would be better for the main characters to do.
b) take away intensity from the romance
c) lead the story in a different direction
I gots one a' those! A tiara that lights up, puts on a lightshow! Fab!
I'm really glad you celebrated with your girlfriend and now you're rocking it with a wonderful tiara and other bling. Girlfriends rock! :)
I hope your editor rolls with the Spain idea too. The diverse settings are AWESOME!
"How much conforming to the market or searching for the right market do you recommend for a new writer?"
Ok, this is purely my opinion — other writers might disagree.
I really recommend that you first write the book as you feel it has to be written — without compromise, making it the very best it can be.
If you try to second-guess the market, you run into the problem that the market is always changing, and that even editors don''t know what they're looking for until they find it — or until someone else publishes it. And sometimes a book will be rejected a few times, but all it takes is one person to buy it. Some "out of the box" books have set trends and become the poster child for a new subgenre.
So if you write the best you can and really can't sell it, then look at what various editors have said and go for a more commercial proposition that you can still be yourself in.
I really believe that it's your unique voice that's the key to getting you published.
@nd Chance and Hellion -- thanks -- the tiara is fab, I agree. I admit when I opened it, I stared at it for a moment and thought "why?"
But I hadn't had my morning coffee, and the brain took a moment to kick in. Then I recalled that there was a tiara on the cover of The Stolen Princess, and that it was symbolic in several ways.
A good friend is a blessing, I agree — and I am blessed in my friends.
Hellion, no worries about trimming the interview -- I warned you it was long, didn't I. I don't write short ;)
Hi Marnee, yes, he really thought the whole thing was a wild goose chase, but he was determined to leave England, so took this as an excuse. But when he showed the picture around in the Cario market place, flashing gold for any information leading to this girl, it stirred up sleeping dogs (of the nasty sort) for the heroine, and she had to act to stop it. And got caught.
Renee, I only came to collage fairly recently -- when my friend Barbara Hannay first talked about it, I thought, no, not for me. Fast forward a few years and I played with the idea and now I'm hooked.
I also got a few friends of mine hooked -- a group of author friends went on a writing retreat, and we planned a number of group activities to do with writing, and collage was one of them. Most of them hadn't ever done it, and were not sure if it was for them, but they tried. The results were brilliant. They're mostly category romance writers and on my website I have 3 of the collages done on that retreat, and you can tell from the collages which one is a Desire book, which one is a Harlequin Presents and which one is a Harlequin Romance. It's uncanny.
Click here and then scroll down and you'll see the collages.
http://www.annegracie.com/writing/retreat.html
"Now, I heard an author say somewhere that a writer should never allow their characters to have any say. ..snip... I was beginning to think maybe I should force them to be what I planned. "
I don't believe there is any "right way" to write. You have to find the best path for you.
I do have to control some characters -- they could run away with the book otherwise — I'm forever pruning (slashing?) feisty old dowagers ;)
But for me, if I stuck exactly to the characters as I first imagined them, they wouldn't be as dimensional I think. And when a character surprises me -- in a good way -- it also surprises the reader, and I figure that's got to be a good thing.
"Since you’re an organic writer, do you meet your deadlines with time to spare?"
No. I am, and always have been a scrape-in-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth meeter of deadlines.
A frozen nipple? There is no way I'm going to order a frozen nipple. LOL
I'd order a Bloody Annie, though ;)
Terrio, I'll drink one, with pleasure, but no way am I ordering that aloud.
Glad you found the writing articles useful. I'm a teacher at heart and I enjoy sharing what knowledge I have.
Thanks, Sin, it was a very cool night, because 2 or my good buddies also won in their categories -- we took out 3 out of 4 RBYs, so there was much celebrating.
"She says two couples don’t work well for a romance… I’ve reached the conclusion I ain’t writin’ true romance, so I’m stickin’ wit’ ‘em."
2nd Chance, I *always* have a secondary couple in my books. The secondary romance usually plays at a kind of counterpoint to the primary romance.
But also they're *fun* to do. In my secondary romances I can have the kind of people who the market don't want as a central romance hero and heroine, or else they're a couple who don't have enough conflict to nourish a full plot. But mostly they're fun.
The only danger with the secondary couple is that they can distract from the main couple. I remember having to take out the scene where the secondary couple in Perfect Stranger finally get it together and make love. It was such a fun scene, but my ed said it distracted and detracted from the main romance, and dammit she was right, so i took it out.
"I’m finding that cutting gets easier the more you write and the more you learn. I have a habit of wanting to keep something just because I think it’s funny or cute, but funny and cute do not matter if they don’t contribute to the story."
Yes, you really know you're a writer when you can cut scenes you love because they don't serve the story. I once saw this brilliant -- I mean brilliant-- scene on Joanna Bourne's blog, where the heroine's mother makes her face her blindness and get over it. It's amazing. Stunning. The kind of writing that makes other writers want to give up and shoot themselves ;)
And she cut it because it didn't fit. For that alone she deserves a RITA. (She won it with her second book.)
Ok I found the out-take on Joanna Bourne's blog.
Read what she took out of the book.
http://jobourne.blogspot.com/2008/07/out-take-from-spymasters-lady.html
Joanna Bourne is in a league all her own. Spymaster's Lady is a masterpiece and one of the best books I've ever read. Ever.
Needless to say, I'm not cutting anything that good. :)
Anne - You can call it a Frozen Nurple and we'll know what you mean.
Your synopsis example is going to save my arse. I hope you'll be in Nashville next summer so I can hug you with gratitude! And buy you a frozen drink. ;)
Thanks for hanging with us and congrats on the goodies, especially the tiara!
She's brilliant, isn't she Terrio?
Ok I'll go for a Frozen Nurple thanks.
I'm so glad the synopsis article helped. Best of luck with your submission.
I'm not sure if I'm going to Nashville next year, though I'd really like to. Can't resist the capital of country music! (I was in a band once that played country —and rock and jazz and blues) But will depend on my deadlines.
I lived in Nashville for three years and even worked in the conference hotel once upon a time. Add my 8 years in country radio and I'm THERE!
Oh, were you the singer?
Backups, only Terrio — I adore singing harmonies -— and a couple of comedy numbers.
We called ourselves Platform Souls and we sang a lot of train songs. ;)
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