Last week I enjoyed a visit to Mouseland, otherwise known as Disneyland. Had a ripping good time, rode Pirates of the Caribbean and had dinner at the restaurant inside the ride, the Blue Bayou. Great fun was had by me and the mister, despite the heat and massive amounts of people.

 

Disney was all dressed up for Halloween and it’s a lovely sight! It’s been a while since we spent any real time there. California Adventure Resort was new and Downtown Disney had just a few storefronts the last time we visited.

Now, for our high school, we had grad nite at Disney. Oh…back in 1978. Space Mountain was the newest ride at the time. No Grizzly Mountain, no Indiana Jones Adventure…there were still sky chairs that crossed the park high in the air, actually routing through the Matterhorn! (Gone now, probably to stop adolescent punks from spitting down onto people.)

This trip, we took some time to sit back and escape from the heat and really notice what had changed. Or been…revised!

(Bet you didn’t think I’d tie this into writing, did you? HA!)

Disneyland first opened in 1955. A lot has changed since then. The Tomorrowland of the 1950s has changed, drastically. The world has no flying cars, or Monorail system, despite Walt’s hopes and visions. But we have things I’m sure he didn’t imagine. Like the internet, like cell phones, laptops, etc.

I’ve read old science fiction and though most of those stories are still fun, the technology is woefully out of date. A good reason to revise. Keep track of technology, make sure it’s appropriate for your story.

(Unless you’re me and it’s all about mucking all of those things up and making a smorgasbord out of things. Cafeteria writer, that’s me!)

Now, we also noticed how Disney updates things, other than the obvious. Some of this stuff is done well and with good reason. The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo went through a phase as Ariel’s something or another, now it’s all about Finding Nemo. Well, I get it. Sorta miss the giant squid and all, but I get it.

The Swiss Family Tree House is now Tarzan’s Treehouse. Yeah, I get it. Bear Country Jamboree is now Winnie the Pooh’s Adventures. (They really did need something Pooh-ish so I can dig this.) Tom Sawyer Island is now the Pirate Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. (You can never go wrong with pirates.)

Which leaves me with Pirates of the Caribbean and its addition of a plot involving the search for Captain Sparrow and the warnings of Davy Jones…all good fun! (Glad they left out the monkey.)

Rides that haven’t faired so well in revision? Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Okay, I’m glad it’s still there. While visiting Orlando’s Disneyworld, I was dismayed to see they had removed said ride. (They also tore down their Matterhorn…which means they deserve excommunication from the Church of Disney. I mean, come on! No Matterhorn? They needed another store selling t-shirts and mouse-ears?)

 

What did they do to Mr. Toad? They…sigh…they made it less scary. I mean it was never meant to terrify. It’s about a toad and his fascination with cars and what a terrible driver he is. (Though he is terribly charming…and quite bashful!)

Anyway, at one point, he loses control of his car…your car…and crashes into a warehouse full of explosives. And the obstacles fly out of the way of your car and there were bright, bright, super bright flashes of color and loud booms…and…now there aren’t. All the fluorescent colors are gone, no more ‘batman’ like effects. Some minor booms, some ho-hum colors. NO strobes!

Did someone have a fit on the ride? I mean, what the heck happened? This was a revision that I feel failed. They changed it, made it tame. You could say they dumbed it down. Very disappointed.

The dangers of revising to avoid offense and lawsuits (maybe some kid did have a fit… Those lights were bright!) But they took away what made it so fun and surprising. Even when Toad is sentenced and does a few seconds in hell, they removed the hot wet air and devilish imps that torment the cars… (I hate PC stuff.)

Next door is Peter Pan’s Flight. Nice revisions! They redid the stars you fly through and they are excellent. Applause for this.

What needs revision? The Matterhorn. Those bobsleds are scary. And not for the right reasons! I mean, a chiropractor could set up shop at the bottom of the ride and make a fortune with onsite adjustments. This ride needs some major technological improvements.

 

So, what did I learn about revisions? Starting from scratch is a sad, sad, sad thing to do. I mean, they could have dumped the submarines and put in a new shopping area. But they didn’t! They updated according to their code of keeping Disney fresh. You, the writer, had an idea…a couple, a location, a time period…keep something when you decide major remodeling…errrr…revision has to be done.

Don’t revise the fire out of things. Mr. Toad has lost some real flash, and though the very young may be happier, those of us with good memories (for a ride, what irony!) are saddened by the loss. Take chances, be willing to lose some readers to gain new ones. Keep the flash!

Invest in what needs to be changed so you don’t give your reader whiplash. Smooth out POV difficulties. Maybe five secondary plots is too many…

Side notes. Keep the marketing out of the actual ride…errr…book. Put it on the side, preferable somewhere nearby for when the reader wants to pick up something to remember the adventure with.

I know Marn covered the agony of revision last Friday, while I was flirting with Mr. Toad and winking at Jack…both of them. Sparrow and Skellington. And my captain, Captain Stephen…he makes a great pirate, don’t he!? And there I am, a blond! HA!

 

And some months ago, Hellie discussed the theme park that would be built around your story. But I do need a theme…How about…

Today? Favorite Disney memory? At the park or at the movies? And Stitch is going to take on the monkey again, rematch…and beat his desiccated little behind all over again!

Greetings, pirate lasses. I’m thrilled to be on board The Revenge today to talk about that topic close to every pirate’s heart: virgins. I’m talking about sweet, young, innocent man flesh a girl can tie to the mast and have her wicked way with …

Maybe not. I’m not here to pimp a reverse bodice ripper. (Though that is an idea: how about shirt rippers for a new genre?). But the hero of THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT is inexperienced. Totally. If you read THE WILD MARQUIS you’ve already met Sebastian Iverley, a book collector with glasses who has no time for women. But unlike many a misogynistic romance hero who shows his scorn for the female sex by boinking every woman in sight, Sebastian takes the logical course: he leaves them alone. Until he sets eyes on Diana (or rather Diana’s silk clad leg). At which point, for the next 400 pages, he thinks about sex pretty much all the time. In other words he turns into a normal guy.

Here’s the set up. Diana, a rich widow, wants to marry Lord Blakeney, a hot ducal heir and Sebastian’s cousin. Trying to demonstrate her own hotness to Blake, Diana bets him she can get Sebastian to kiss her.  What she doesn’t know is that (a) Sebastian has fallen for her hard and (b) he and Blake have hated each other all their lives. So when Sebastian finds out about the bet he’s devastated. He swears to seduce her in revenge and gets an extreme makeover. And Sebastian cleans up really well. I must say, I just adore him.

We are very familiar with virgin heroines, especially in historicals. It’s not so long ago that they were almost required, to the extent of having virgin widows. And if a heroine was experienced, she never enjoyed it until the hero came along (OK, I admit, I’ve written that one). These days heroines who have had and enjoyed sex are the norm (and Diana is one of those: she’s dying to marry again so she can get some). But inexperienced heroes are still relatively unusual and deciding how to portray Sebastian’s developing sexuality was an interesting – and enjoyable challenge.

I’m not going to give things away by telling you how it works out when he finally gets Diana into bed. In real life sex for the first time isn’t usually that great, especially with one or more virgins involved. But the romance writer has to decide just how realistic she wants to be. I will say that Sebastian likes to Be Prepared (and no, he wasn’t a boy scout) so he asks his buddy Tarquin for some advice.

“Don’t worry. When it comes down to it you’ll know what to do. Men have an instinct for it.”

Of that Sebastian had no doubt. His “instinct” had been lately speaking to him with great urgency. “I’d like to do better than muddling through,” he said, remembering his first attempt at a kiss. If he ever got Diana Fanshawe into bed—and he still couldn’t believe it would ever happen--Sebastian wanted to do much better.

“It’s true, the first time tends to be fast,” Tarquin said. “I was so excited I lasted exactly half a minute. Of course I was only sixteen.”

….

“Do women enjoy it?” Sebastian asked.

“They certainly can.”

“Even ladies?”

“The sexual tastes of ladies are outside my area of expertise, but I don’t see why not. They are just women after all. I can give you a few suggestions, I suppose.”

Sebastian wasn’t sure he was up to such frankness in conversation, even with Tarquin. “Can I learn about it from a book? All those erotic rarities you buy must hold some useful information.”

“You are welcome to make use of my library. Just let me know if you need any help with French vocabulary of a specialized nature.”

If you want to read a longer excerpt go to my website, or the HarperCollins site for the first 60 pages.

Do you like to read about virgin heroes and if so, which are your favorites? Do you have a preference for or against inexperienced heroines? If you are a writer, how have you approached writing sex scenes for virgins of either gender? One commenter picked at random or by whim will win a copy of THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT.

It seems like our inner critics have gone above and beyond lately to make us doubt our writerly abilities.

They spew criticism we would never tolerate from friends and family.  They micromanage our writing in ways that are only permissible from people who sign our paychecks.   If a critique partner dared to talk to us about our work this way. . .I shudder to think of the bloodshed involved. 

Yet this brutal inner critic's voice that knocks us to our knees, sobbing, is the very one we cater to.  It's definitely the loudest, drowning out the encouraging voice of the muse, along with the much more interesting ones of our characters. 

The inner critics know we listen to every word they utter, but even worse, they know we believe them.

They are like weather forecasters who predict it will be sunny for the weekend and then it rains the entire time.  Even then, we continue to have complete faith the next time we hear, "We'll have sun and a high of 80", even though a hurricane is flattening the trees in the front yard. 

Inner critics make us react the same way.  Yet how do they manage it?  Here's just a few of their methods:

Non-motivational quotes

"With this manuscript, failure is not an option.  It's a certainty."

Sarcastic commentary

"Snore, bore, and chore.  Alex, I know this one.  What are three words to describe this manuscript?"

Doubt-mongering

"Do you really think it's any good?  I mean, I like it, but I'm not sure I like it like it, you know?  It's not anywhere near as good as all those other books you buy.  You know, those ones that actually got published.  And it's not like you'll never get published.  It's just that there are a lot a lot a LOT of really good writers out there to compete with.  I'm just sayin'."

On days when I'm feeling charitable (maybe once or thrice a year), I could argue that the inner critics are merely trying to protect us, from harm, or ridicule, or heartbreak.

But if that's true, then why are THEY the ones heaping us with harm and ridicule and heartbreak?

There's plenty to be learned from our inner critics.  But first we need to rehab them, so they can be useful, productive members of the writing team.  Anybody can point out problems.  It takes somebody creative to provide solutions.

First off, let's not take the inner critics at face value anymore.  They have to get specific with their concerns.  When they say, "this sucks", they need to explain what in particular is causing them heartburn.  Pin them down and make them deliver some practical advice we can apply to our manuscripts. No more blanket statements allowed.

Next, insist that the inner critics wait their turn.  If their relentless condemnation keeps us from producing anything, they won't have anything to whip into shape later, right?  The role of inner critic is an important one, but it is dependent on proper timing.  So write, then critique.  It doesn't work the other way.

Finally, don't be discouraged if this inner critic rehab doesn't work perfectly the first time you try it.  It might take a little time since the inner critic is an old dog, and you know how they are with new tricks.  But hang in there.  Revisions aren't perfect the first go-round either.  But isn't the finished result worthwhile?

So let's share some of the lines our inner critics spit out and see what we can do to rehab them.  Feel free to tell us how you get your inner critic to do a better job.  By the end of today, we ought to have some factory-reconditioned, refurbished, better-than-original inner critics to work on our manuscripts!

There are many, many techniques and strategies when you find yourself stuck in your manuscript. All and none of them work, depending on the manuscript and writer. Sometimes it’s best to take the dying WIP and euthanize it, and sometimes it works to run through all the diagnostics and run the gamut of writing medical solutions. Sometimes it works to do nothing.

It’s like if you’re lost in the woods.

Stay with me. Writing is like hiking: you go off in the woods alone with just your canteen, a crappy little compass, and optimism you will return before supper. When you first set off on the trail, it’s fun. You’re excited. You’re walking deliberately and with great enthusiasm. You’re going to set a land-speed record of the fastest, bestest hike ever.  I’m not sure when it happens, but somewhere mid-hike, you begin to notice your mosquito bites, you’ve twisted your ankle when you fell off a rock, and your shoes are wet from crossing a creek. But you’re a pro. You’re going to tough this out. It’s good. You’re going to have quite the adventure to tell your hiking buddies at supper tonight. You keep walking. You’re still enjoying this walk, you tell yourself firmly. It’s the best goddamned hike ever. And then you get lost.

You don’t notice you’re lost right away, but around the third time you’ve passed the tree with the three boulders, you think: “Crap.” Then you think, “Don’t panic. I’m prepared. I’m a hiker. I have a canteen. I have a compass.” And you bring out your canteen and realize you’re out of water; and you look at your compass and it’s not working. You’re seriously considering abandoning this hike, except well, you don’t know to get the hell out of this mess. You keep walking. You keep passing the same tree and boulders. You really hate this hike. You promise yourself never to go hiking again. You’re the worst hiker ever.

But you keep walking and circling because you might stumble onto the path right out of here, except it’s not working. So finally you sit on one of the boulders, thinking this is an absolute waste of time. After all, if you don’t figure out something, you’re going to be stuck in these woods overnight. With the snakes and the chipmunks. This is unacceptable. You’re tempted to start down the path you did before, but you know if you do, you’re just going to be back at these boulders again. Anyway, the first rule they teach you about being lost in the woods is to stop walking around lost. Sit some place and give the rescue party a chance to find you.

Now if your rescue party isn’t good at finding you, sitting still and getting your bearings works. If your compass is broken, there are other ways to figure out your north-south-east-west. One of those ways may be exactly what you need to get you back on track.

Lastly, the best reason to stop walking in circles is that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you want to stop going in circles, then stop walking in circles.

So this was where I was in my woods. I was lost in the middle of my manuscript, and I swear to God I have circled the tree with the boulders no less than four times. I hate that tree. I admit I have done nothing, but not the sort of nothing I mean here. There is the nothing I’ve been doing, which is not writing at all. Watching TV, reading or listening to books, going to the gym—all that I have done; and they’re all necessary, but not to the point of never opening the WIP. I mean the sort of yoga nothing, the hardest nothing to do.

In yoga, you’re supposed to hold a position and not think. You’re just doing, you’re just being, you’re perfectly present. While holding a pose, I admit it’s easier (relatively) to not think of anything but holding that pose, that is if you’re as uncoordinated as me. But you get to corpse pose and your mind is supposed to be a blank slate; and I can tell you mine never is. It’s thinking about what I’ll be eating after class, will I get home in time to see Modern Family, will Deerhunter call me sometime this week.

So you’re lost in the woods and you’ve decided to practice “nothing”, except the whole time you’re thinking “what if the rescue party never gets here and I’m eaten by bears” or “what if I never finish this manuscript, everyone will publish but me.” Not good for practice.

No, the kind of nothing I mean is to sit and become part of your woods. Listen to the surroundings and become in tune. The reason you’re lost is because you’ve lost the point of your hike, being all focused on getting to the destination, concentrating more on your map than your surroundings. When you freak out about being lost, you stop listening to what the woods are saying. You may even realize when you listen, the woods are telling you to go on a path you find too scary and you want to stick to the map. But if you want to get out of the woods, you’re going to have to trust the process. Whatever the process might be this week.

Does anyone else have trouble doing “active” nothing or is everyone better than me at yoga? What do you prefer to do when you’re “lost in the woods”? Anyone else been known to wait it out until you figure out where you’re at again?  Anyone else seen the new Harry Potter trailer and absolutely so excited about it that they also can’t think of a remotely original blog?

There's a heat wave slamming the East Coast right now. Ninety-freaking-five degrees the last weekend of September. The good news? Boys take off their shirts when it's this hot.

So this Sunday, let's appreciate the (hopefully) last heat wave of the season and check out these biceps. They're about to be put away for the long, cold winter, girls, so make sure you get a GOOD look!


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and for no other reason than my huge crush on Daniel Craig:

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We've got some awesome guest pirates climbing aboard the ship this week, mixed up with our regular heaping of pirate wit and humor.


On Tuesday, be sure to stop by and give a big pirate welcome to Susanna Fraser, who is celebrating last month's release of The Sergeant's Lady.


On Thursday, Miranda Neville will be returning to the ship -- you definitely don't want to miss this! Her latest, The Dangerous Viscount, comes out this week!

Every writer has heard the old mantra for revisions: “Writing is Rewriting.”

Every time I heard that, I wanted to chuck my computer, manuscript still on harddrive, right over a cliff.  Because if writing is rewriting, what the hell is all the stuff I do BEFORE I rewrite?  “Writing is Rewriting” makes my first draft sound like an elaborate finger massage of my keyboard.

I’m just being ornery.  A few weeks ago, I admitted to cutting out a quarter of my manuscript.  Well, this past week or so, I realized I needed to start over.

I don’t know if I can call it starting over.  I’m using already created characters that have already starred in half of a now defunct manuscript.  But I prefer not to think of it as starting over.  That just sounds… defeated.  In this case, I’m just doing the most extensive rewrite I’ve ever undertaken.

Yeah.  I’m rewriting everything that came after “Chapter One.”

I spent a few days dejected and another few days feeling like I needed to stop pretending to be a writer and take up mosquito herding or some equally productive hobby.  But after that I started to not feel so bad about it.  I mean, I know these characters.  I’m changing their circumstances because their circumstances didn’t work.  But they are still the same characters.  I’m just going to change up the messes I put them in.  It won’t be as hard this time around.  Right?

I’d imagine I’ll use some of my old material.  But for the most part, I’m just going to pretend I highlighted everything and hit the delete key.  Literally, I’m rewriting it all.  So in this case, my writing is really rewriting.

I remember reading somewhere that some amazing author (Maybe La Nora even?) writes a complete first draft and deletes it all before starting to write the real story.  I hate to say it but I can see how this might work for me.  I don’t get to know my characters really until I’m about halfway through.  Maybe I literally need to be a rewriter, not a writer.

I kind of hope not.  I can’t even explain my pain this week as I stared at that cursor after the “Chapter One” again.

How about it, folks?  Anyone else ever done such an elaborate “revision?”  Anyone else ever hated the whole “writing is rewriting” phrase?  Or does anyone have a different take on it?  Ever read your first draft and thought, “For all that is holy, is this really what I have to work with?”  Any thoughts on managing major revisions?

Have you ever been halfway through reading the blurb on the back of a book, and gotten so excited you stopped reading? This has happened to me a few times recently. I'll be plopped on the floor in the back corner of the library where the romance novels are shoved, glancing at the back blurbs, and suddenly, BAM! I'm reading through the blurb and something says, "Yes! This is a book that I want to read!"

Often, this concluded with me immediately dashing toward the check-out desk and only later realizing that I'd never finished reading the back copy to see what happened. But it didn't really matter -- the blurb had already done it's job.

It'd hooked me.

I picked up a Harlan Coben novel -- he writes thrillers whose characters are ordinary people like socer moms rather than James Bond -- and found this on the back. I wonder if you can guess which sentence hooked me so much I stopped reading:

An ordinary snapshot causes a suburban mother’s world to unravel in an instant. When Grace Lawson picks up a newly developed set of family photographs, there is a picture that doesn’t belong -- a photo from at least twenty years ago. In the photo are five people, four Grace can’t recognize and one that looks strikingly like her husband, Jack.

When Jack sees the photo, he denies he’s the man in it. But later that night, while Grace lies in bed waiting, he drives away in the family's minivan without an explanation, taking the photograph with him.

Not knowing where he went or why he left, Grace struggles alone to shield her children from Jack’s absence in the days that follow. Each passing day brings only doubts about herself and her marriage and yet more unanswered questions about Jack, along with the realization that there are others looking for Jack and the photograph -- including one fierce, silent killer who will not be stopped from finding his quarry, no matter who or what stands in his way.

When the police won’t help her, and neighbors and friends alike seem to have agendas of their own, she must confront the dark corners of her own tragic past to keep her children safe and learn the truth that might bring her husband home.

I don't know if hooks work universally -- I'm curious if you would have had the same reaction. After reading this, I was psyched to read this book and tell everyone about it after reading the first two paragraphs alone. Did it hook you?

Here's another example, from romance this time -- Mary Jo Putney's The Bargain:

To keep her fortune, a beautiful heiress impulsively weds a penniless officer dying of wounds received at Waterloo. But when the blasted man hasn't the grace to die, she suddenly finds herself with a healthy, vibrant husband who wants to renegotiate the terms of their bargain--and ultimately possess the heart of his bewildered bride...

I saw that, said, "He's alive? I have to read this book!"

What do you think of these blurbs? Did they work for you as hooks, or did they fail to grab you? Have any examples of books whose hook was so great you just had to read it? Have you ever thought of a hook first, and then built a book around it?

My BFF and I were emailing about a neat costume I saw and I thought she’d like. She was amazed like me, and she asked me, “Have you thought about Halloween?” As far back as I can remember, I’ve been an avid fan of Halloween. I love the whole spooky and superstitious parts of it; I love the candy; I love the dressing up and pretending to be someone else.

The problem is: I don’t know what I’ll be dressing as. Last year I was completely uninspired and dressed as Harry Potter. Again. The year before I dressed as a slutty devil—again, completely uninspired and not nearly at my level of costuming commitment I usually do. I don’t even remember 2007. I’m sure it was also uninspired as well. Since 1997, I usually come up with some elaborate costume to dress in and I get co-workers into it. I have staff and faculty who ask me around this time of year what I’ll be dressing as because I’m that well-known. I’ve been a Scottish wench, three types of pirate, a Can-Can girl, Harry Potter, Eve, and Little Red Riding Hood. People love my costumes.

And for the third year straight I’m not feeling the Halloween spirit. Something is wrong.

This is no reason to panic, I realize. People outgrow these things. I’d go with that—except there are other things I used to do that I don’t do now. Scrapbooking homemade cards. I have a closet full of scrapbooking materials. I haven’t scrapbooked in two years. I’ve bought blank canvases and paints—but I don’t paint. I have drawing paper, but I no longer draw.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a funeral and the preacher’s wife, who knew me when I was 16 but hadn’t seen me since then, hunted me down. “I’ve been dying to talk to you. I wanted to know if you became an art teacher.”

“Um, no.” I laughed because I get the teacher thing all the time. It’s my bane in life. I don’t want to be a teacher, yet everyone asks if I am one. “Oh,” she said, looking disappointed or sad, “do you still do something in art?” “Actually no,” I confessed. I never thought of myself as an artist. My BFF was the real artist; I was just a hack who sketched people who ended up looking cartoonish. Hardly a skill. But I remembered now why she might have thought I pursued it. I was always sketching people. I grinned at her. “I was never really that good, I thought,” I explained. “I write now. That’s my creative outlet.”

Still…the preacher’s wife brought up an interesting point: I did used to create drawings and paintings; and even back then I was a writer, but I’d write and draw. One creative endeavor fed the other. And then when I was emailing my BFF and we were discussing the costumes, I realized that my costuming is what I did with my later writing. Sewing became my Art.

Now I don’t costume. Nor do I draw. Nor do I scrapbook. And guess what? I don’t write either.

My theory is this: art is a sort of yoga. When I’m sewing or drawing or gluing pieces of paper, my hands are busy and the internal critic is busy criticizing the project in hand and not paying attention to what my real brain is doing, which is thinking about the story and writing. Then when I sit and write, I write. My internal critic is either exhausted from bitching about my other artistic endeavors, or my writing brain just doesn’t care at that point and doesn’t listen. I don’t know. But my writing seems to be tied to art hobbies.

I don’t think I’m the only writer who thinks this. Jennifer Crusie makes those elaborate collages for her stories. Art and writing. I don’t exactly make costumes that mimic my books, though the year I sewed my Elizabeth Swann pirate gown, it was included in Girl on a Grecian Urn. And that might be the last year I sewed a costume, which incidentally is the last book I finished. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I need a new costume. I need to be inspired in a physical way, not a muse way. I need some brain yoga.

Is your writing tied to any other hobby (i.e. cooking, music, art)? Are you dressing for Halloween? I need some ideas. I mean, I have an idea, but if yours is better, I may steal it. Do you like Halloween? What’s your favorite holiday?

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, maties! And just to really get us into the pirate mentality, I thought some visual aids would be a good start to a Sunday.


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and just for fun....

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In the line up this week is J Perry, who always throws a fun party. So practice talking like a pirate and jump on board!

Hellion: Well, it’s the end of the week, and the headliners have been completely out of whack, haven’t they? We just like to keep you on your toes. No room for complacency on this ship, right? So in keeping with keeping on your toes, I thought we’d have a little Friday Musical Dance Parody. (That’s a really bad title. I really should work on that. *shrugs* Eh. No time.)

I’ve been a little dementor’d lately (yes, I made it up, stop picking) and I needed to come up with a little peppy song to inspire me. That this book IS going to rock. That this book IS good enough, sharp enough, and doggone it, people like it. (Yeah, I’m mixing it up, go with it, people.)

Sooo… *whips out a mock up of her novel, gesturing as music for “Greased Lightning” cues*

Well this book is scintillatin’, captivatin’, fascinatin’—

Why it could be a Best Seller!

*Marn & Hal whiz onto the ship’s deck on their office chairs*: “We’re listening!”

Hellion: We’ll get some overbuff heroes and some quick-witted broads, oh yeah

Marn & Hal: Keep talkin’, whoa keep talkin’!

Hellion: Work confrontation conflict and sexy chemistry, oh yeah,

Sin: I’m going to write this! I’m really going to write this!

Hellion: With some sex against the wall, they’ll be rushin’ to the mall

You know we will persist when we make the NYT list

Best Seller!

(Chorus: all RWR crew, in sequined pirate costumes and dancing around a float with rotating bestseller books and a cartoonish statue of a NYT editor)

Go, Best Seller,

You’re burnin’ up the New York Times!

Best Seller, go Best Seller,

Go Best Seller

You’ve got those readers all standin’ in lines!

Best Seller, go Best Seller,

You’re totally neat!

Success is sweet!

Best Seller

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
Hellion: We’ll get some mean and nasty villain and a lot of quirky friends, oh yeah,

A disabled dashhound and perhaps a meddling mother, depends, oh yeah,

With new plot twists, guns, and sex

I can get those readers to spend their checks

You know that I ain’t braggin, but my hero’s great at shaggin’

Best Seller!

Bo’sun: Hey, where did the “chicks’ll cream” go? I don’t know about you, but if a hero had me against a wall, I’d….

RWR crew: (hanging off the editor statue and synchronized hand movements and Elvis hip movements)

(Chorus)

Go, Best Seller,

You’re burnin’ up the New York Times!

Best Seller, go Best Seller,

Go Best Seller

You’ve got those readers all standin’ in lines!

Best Seller, go Best Seller,

You’re totally neat!

Success is sweet!

Best Seller

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go

Hellion: Go, go, go—go write that bestseller. What the hell are you guys still doing on this deck? You should be writing, not screwing around, singing badly written parodies! Go, now! And don’t come back until you can tell me you’ve written at least 500 words today.

There's a whole lot of magic, and faith, involved in any creative endeavor, especially writing. 

We show up with our tools, in this case, pen and paper, or keyboard and computer screen, along with the fervent desire to create something that doesn't yet exist.  We chant the magic words, "What if?", and then we ponder and cogitate and dream, waiting for inspiration to slap us silly, convinced that brilliance is just around the corner.

Sometimes it's hard to hang on to that faith, though, because we don't really know HOW creativity works.  When an idea bursts forth from deep within our brain cells, we act like cavewomen who have just seen fire for the first time.  We are understandably afraid to believe that "whatever this is" will come back, that it wasn't just some sort of fluke.  If only someone would give us the recipe, so we can reproduce that creative miracle whenever we need it.  

What I love most about the creative process is this: it's a process.  It's not called the creative schedule, or the creative checklist.  It's a process, and we all have different ways of implementing it.  It's about as personal as religion or politics or your favorite meatloaf recipe.  Trying to force my process into a particular form would be the death knell of my creativity.

And yet. . .

I think we end up restricting our creative process all the time, without conscious intent.  We conduct archaeological expeditions in the creative centers of our minds, eager to unearth fresh new ideas for our manuscripts.  When our brain cooperates and coughs up all kinds of unusual nuggets, what do we do?  Do we drop to our knees and thank every deity in existence for the beautiful gift of these wondrous ideas?

Yeah, not so much. 

We barely give them a glance before we toss them into the trash pile, judging them as "too out there".  Before an idea has had a chance to fully form, or to show its depths and nuances, we shoot it dead, declaring, "That'll never work.  It's just too crazy."

It's like wishing on a star and then smashing the gift on the ground with a whiny, "I wanted something with more SPARKLES on it!"  Or praying for a miracle, and then refusing it on arrival, since it wasn't preceded by blaring trumpets and hosannas from wing'd angels. 

But let's go back to the idea that was instantly dismissed for being outlandish.  This is the one you want to explore, because it's different, and fresh. 

Maybe it hasn't worked before now because no one will even consider it.  It's possible this particular whacky idea might be better than anything you ever imagined.  Even if you don't ending up using it, it might have appeared on the scene simply to help you stretch your imagination, to prepare you for other ideas you might otherwise ignore. 

So, when a notion looks like it's been wrapped in too many layers of crazy, deep fried in outrageous, and then topped off with a dollop of ridiculous. . .give the poor little nutjob a chance to explain itself.  We all want recognition for what we do.  Our craziest ideas are no different.  If we don't give them an opportunity to speak their piece, they will continue to poke and nag, and the more we swat them away, the more persistent they will become--like a child ignored by its mom, chanting over and over, louder and louder, until it finally gets the attention it requested in the first place.

Maybe these kooky ideas won't lead to anything useful, but what if they do?  Or maybe they're blocking the really brilliant idea, only you can't get to it until you've dealt with the seemingly zany stuff. 

This is where faith comes in, requiring you to believe in something when it's not entirely clear how it functions.  The creative process is mysterious, there's no doubt about that.  Yet if you're willing to believe that ideas for books appear out of nowhere, then you have to consider the possibility that these oddball ideas were entrusted to you, for your benefit.

As crazy as that sounds.

So tell us all the crazy ideas that have led to the stories you've written.  Or tell us how your creative process works, and how it delivers ideas to you.  Or share your favorite meatloaf recipe.  Nothing is too crazy for us today!

Morning! Bo’sun here! Didn’t I do a great job with our fabulous guest yesterday? I know, I’m just brilliant. I tell you all yet about buying a townhouse? The ipod? The…

Hee, hee. Just kidding, 2^nd Chance here. We’re messing with the blog this week and everyone is out of whack, schedule wise. For today, pretend it’s Friday. Or don’t, since Friday has been shutting down so quickly lately!

 

On with the blog!

Well, as most of ya know, I signed a contract yesterday with Decadent Publishing, for The Kraken’s Mirror. Yippee!

I was figuring on something like this happening once Saritza Hernandez, my agent with the Lori Perkins Literary Agency, started shopping my story around…but really didn’t think it would happen so soon… ( No complaints!)

But, I figured on getting ready for marketing, publicizing, promoting more than a month ago. Let’s face it, we all know that authors are expected to do a whole lot of this stuff themselves nowadays. I have a website, and spoke with a wed designer about redoing it back in April, but she was slammed, and nothing is going on just yet. I started a new blog on Typepad which I intend to be my official writer’s blog eventually. (Do come by, it’s called Believing in Second Chances.)

Being the bright and going-for-it pirate writer that I am, I enrolled in an online class called Making Money with Your Writing Blog. I wasn’t really all that gung-ho about making money with my blog, I just wanted to learn how all the other things worked. Like Twitter, Mailing Lists, and all of that. It’s the stiletto heel of classes…



I mean, look at this synopsis!

CLASS SYLLABUS

WEEK 1 - Blogging and Website Basics:
*  A quick overview of Setup, Domain Names, Taglines, and Themes.
*  How to Blog in a way that will bring readers back.
*  How to Blog in a way that appeases the Search Engine Spiders and moves your site up in the rankings.

WEEK 2 - Getting Readers for Free
*  An overview of RSS and Email Subscriptions
*  Social Networking Basics and why Social Networking Works
*  LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

WEEK 3 - Making Money
*  No-Pressure Money-Making Elements
*  An Overview of Affiliate Income
*  Products that will Make You Money and Help You Sell Your Books

WEEK 4 - More Readers Than Ever Before
*  Building Your Mailing List
*  How to Get Massive Amounts of Traffic
*  How to Keep People Coming Back

Like, wow! The class started first of September and within a week I was doing great. I was dancing the tango, I was learning how to foxtrot…I was…totally overwhelmed with my head spinning and plastered to a wall, eyes wide open and wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into.

This was so fast! I needed an easier dance shoe!



So, I followed my normal course of action. I hid under the covers and sent an frantic e-mail to the Bo’sun about it. She said, “Relax! You started a blog, your publisher will help you figure out where to go, you don’t have to do it all at once…” Something like that. Very calming and practical.

I love the Bo’sun.

And I realized she is so right. All the stuff in my class that had me freaking out… RSS Feeds, LinkedIn Groups, Plug In Options, Aps and Aps and Aps…and wordtracking…

*pant…*pant

It’s nuts. And then the bulletin board of people taking the class, over 40 starting chiming in with what they did and how they did and this service and that service and…and…and…

*pant…*pant

You know, I want to do this right. I want my book to be the start of a career and know I need to be on top of doing it right from the very beginning. But I think I almost need a by-my-side tutor. I’m not ancient and I’m not a total boob with the technical jargon, but I’ve decided to take a step back. And work on making what I have pretty.



Wearing shoes I know I can dance in for now…  I’m going to step back and get the website redone, get a professional to help. Work on learning Twitter. Since Scape got me started in Orland. (It just took me nearly two months to actually get a posting up…) (It sorta scared me…)

So, I’m curious. The crew be from many backgrounds and generations… (I feel so old sometimes…) How do YOU learn this stuff? What do you figure is imperative when it comes to promoting yourself and getting ready for that great call? Come on, you all know my MO, I’m looking for shortcuts! ;-)

With huge blazes in Detroit and Colorado and San Francisco, our firemen have been working their butts off this week, and they're in need of reinforcements. So I found these Brazilian firefighters to help out. I think that we should sail down to Brazil this week, pick these guys up, and give them a ride. What do you say, Wenches?


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p.s. -- I don't understand this last picture. Why are they naked?? And in a line? Not that I'm complaining, really.

We have an exciting line up this week, starting with

guest Jeanne Adams, whose romantic suspense, Deadly Little Secrets, cane out this week! Now that is a sexy cover. I think she deserves a Brazilian firefighter too, don't you?

I had a different blog planned for today, than Hal sparked some ideas for me with her blog yesterday. She was talking about Keep It Simple, Stupid. What I want to chat about it more how to avoid simple and explain subtle.

For example, I’ve been told a few times that my heroines aren’t realistic, don’t inspire sympathy. Basically, that there is too much distance. Sigh.

How to build a bridge across the gap I keep writing without needing to build a basic step by step bridge. I like my heroines to have some hard to pin down mystery to them. They aren’t obvious about their wounds, but they are definitely wounded.

Wounds are difficult to diagnose sometimes, and even more difficult to show as opposed to tell. If I could take the words and discuss Post Traumatic Stress Disorder…but I can’t.

In the public eye, PTSD has been sold as something very obvious. An extreme reaction to loud noises, a paranoia, a phobia regarding public exposure, aggressiveness…all fight or flight reactions. Hide out, can’t step outside into life…

When I was diagnoses with PTSD I did a lot of reading up on the disorder. And I discovered a third reaction. Freeze. Between fight, flight and freeze, most victims of PTSD hover. And over the course of months of therapy I came to understand that PTSD is mainly about protection.

For some, this means flight. Run like hell. Easy aspect to depict in a heroine. Easy to show a tendency to avoid and run when confronted with something threatening. (Can be harder to really communicate that what one person sees as threatening, another doesn’t see at all…but it can be done!)

For others, this means fight. Nails and claw, fang and fury. Oh, yeah. Great things to show. Anything threatening, scary, challenging and wham-bam-slam. I’ve added in some bits of fight. (Hard not to when dealing with post-apocalyptic worlds, for example!)



Now, freeze. Well, that was an interesting thing to read up on. Basically, we’re all gazelles and on the Serengeti there are lions. When the lions attack, we kick like a pissed off five year old. Or we run as if Beelzebub himself is at our heels. Or once those fangs touch us, we freeze. We play dead, we go limp. Part of the way instincts protect us from the inevitable crunch… But! Also the way our instincts try to buy us space and time. Maybe that lion will drop us, thinking we’re dead. Yawn, stretch…look away and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a chance to dart to our speedy little hooves and get the hell off the plain.

Hard to really show freeze in a character. It’s a passive reaction. It’s also sneaky. And in humans, freeze can appear as floating. Floating above all the drama, all the decisions, all the self-examination that life can present. It’s all about how PTSD protects the individual from the reality of trauma induced difficulties.

I suffered sudden cardiac death and never had a real diagnosis. I had no idea if it could happen again. So, my body/mind threw up walls of defense. I floated. I floated through the implantation of my interior cardio defibrillator. I floated above my father’s death 10 weeks after my sudden cardiac death. I floated for months.

 

Until the panic attack. According to my therapist, the protective nature of my PTSD was breaking apart and the delayed reactions of the months before hit me. Instinct was kicking in that…maybe, just maybe, the lion’s attention had drifted? Seemed as good a possibility as anything else!

But, how does a writer show that to a reader? How does a writer show that the passiveness isn’t really about being passive? That it’s about protection and it isn’t deliberate.

I have characters that suffer from the freeze aspect of a mild form of PTSD. Trauma isn’t always blatant and everyone has a different tolerance level for traumas. Blatant trauma would be easy. Subtle? Not easy. And frankly, part of the difficulty is that my story flirts with comedy.

I admit, I do have aspects of my character that are deliberately passive. She’s a very go with the flow woman. She has never been one to challenge the status quo. She’s had few friends and skated through life content with what happens. She’s a bit of a follower. She doesn’t react, she reflects and then responds.

Sigh. These are not easy things to show in a MS! Without telling. Or without info dumping. I’ve considered a few elements I can insert. A few small examples…but I don’t want to hit the reader over the head.

Any suggestions? Anyone else every dealt with troubling subtle elements that are foundational to your character? And is this all too confusing for a Friday blog? Maybe we should all just have a drink… And celebrate the offer on my book. The book with the character I need to make more sympathetic. Oh, bother! ;-)

 

And huzzahs for the Bo’sun! Woman’s World is on the shelves with her story in it! Let’s all rush out and buy ten!

We all know the KISS acronym: Keep it Simple, Stupid. I had a "well, duh" moment with this while writing recently.



I mean, really, it's not a difficult concept. As implied by its title, even the stupidest person should be able to grasp it. But somehow, it often slips my mind. And this is never so obvious to me as when I'm fighting with a piece of description.

When I'm trying to describe something, I have a tendency to pile up my descriptors. And the more I struggle with it, the more I add to it, just to make sure the reader understands *precisely* what I mean.

But often, adding more description doesn't necessarily give the reader a clearer image. Sometimes it only muddies up the water.

Sometimes what's necessary is to strip it down, pull away all the excess, and leave only that one, telling detail. The simple detail.

I was working on an antagonistic exchange between my heroine and an important secondary female character recently. I wanted to make sure the reader understood that even though the dialog wasn't overtly rude, Noami (heroine) had very deliberately (if subtlety) insulted Josephine, and Jo knew it. I started going into detail after detail, describing first the tone of Naomi's voice, then the tightening of Josephine's eyes, then the way she paused before replying.

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And the more detail I added, the more the subtly and tone of the original insult got lost. The interaction was muddled, and the more detail I added, the worse it got.

And I thought, aha! Delete!! Apparently, adding on more and more is just my way of coping when I don't know how to fix a scene. Deleting a few sentences here and there, pulling out the fluff to let the true tone and subtly come through -- that can be much more effective.

So what about you? When you get stuck, what do you automatically do? Pile on more, or start deleting? Does it work for you, or just make the problem worse? Ever had one of those moments where you said, Oh, duh! And did the opposite?

“In Fate's Hands” The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Don't You Fake This, 2006)

I never really put much thought into what goes into making it through a day. I spent a lot of mornings in a mindless routine maintained to get me through the motions until I'm awake. This does include driving to work. For a person who lives on two hours of sleep a night, my mindless routine is what gets me going and keeps one foot in front of another until I wake up enough to bite someone's head off at work. But routine doesn't write in for disasters or little nuisances that pop up unexpectedly. The blown out tire on a two lane road with no shoulders. The down phone lines. The Internet connection that is no longer functioning. The brand new sparkly computer systems that can't seem to operate with the damned network you built. The Admin password that doesn't seem to work. The patient who feels they can be 30 minutes late and are still entitled to take another patient's spot because it's not their fault. A clearinghouse that can't seem to make your format work. The DR who sees it's sunny out and wants to play golf at lunch but needs to do his charts. None of these little disasters are built into a routine, yet as it springs up you take care of it. This is built into your character. You're programmed to head off disaster as it raises it's ugly head.

Now, not all characters are built to handle multitasking situations that arise out of routine. Some characters abhor routine. Each day is a different day filled with something that's not on a list, that's not a usual task to be taken care of and is stimulating to the character. These characters find themselves in more trouble than they can handle because they weren't looking for it. It's just the opposite. Trouble was out looking for them. These characters can look at this misfortune in two different ways. The character can either behave lackadaisical and pretend it's not happening. Or the character might think bad stuff always happens to them and Karma is out to get them. Either way, coping with the disaster is merely another adventure they absorb themselves in. It doesn't really get solved. The disaster somehow becomes a part of their daily life.

Then you have the characters who believe their shit don't stink. There is nothing they can't control. Nothing bad could ever happen to them. And why would it? Obviously, life is exactly what they've made it. When disaster strikes (what am I saying, disaster NEVER strikes these sort of characters! <snicker snort>) the disaster is quickly assessed and dealt with by pawning it off on someone else. But if you never deal with your own disasters as they come up and you let them stock pile in the corner, what do you think will happen? Exactly. The damned pile falls over on top of you and all hell breaks loose.

While I may not think about the never ending pile of stuff that ends up on top of me, I sure as hell give it thought when writing up my story. If only one bad thing is happening to your main character, they are getting off too easy. I can't remember the last time only one situation cropped up on me during the day. Try fifty. In one day. Why should my characters get off easier than me? No way. Don't think while my character is being blackmailed by one bad guy, she's not going to get blackmailed by the hero. And not to mention she's got a stalker and an “accidental” sister who shows up at her office 8 months pregnant and no where to live. And this all happens in one day. Can you imagine waking up to that day? Hell no. But that's why I'm writing it and not waking up to it.

The point is to make your characters live to their breaking point and push them one step past it. If you can't feel the character's frustration and disbelief at the day they are having, then maybe you need to have their roof collapse in on top of them. Or if you're Janet Evanovich, bring a monkey into it. Whatever suits your fancy. I'm an equal opportunity chaos distributor.

Now, what chaos do you like to distribute onto your characters? What pushes you past your breaking point? Have you read any books lately where the disasters seemed to get the best of the character?

It's Labor Day holiday, and we pirates like to celebrate this most reverential of holidays by doing absolutely nothing. However, I'm sure there are a number of good pirates here and there who are steadily writing or revising--and we salute you! Meanwhile, I've spent my weekend at a get together with friends; a birthday party (slip and slide party); and basically recovering from said slip and slide party.

Fall is about to kick off and the nasty hot weather is soon going to be replaced by warm days and chilly nights. What are you looking forward to most this fall? There is only like three months until the end of the year--how have your writing goals been this year? There are only a few more weeks until the Golden Heart deadline is upon us. Are any of you entering? And what did you all do with your Labor Day weekend to celebrate the end of summer?

A lot of us are enjoying a three day weekend, and just settling into it today. So I thought we could cheer for those poor guys who are stuck working today. Pay close attention, ladies -- these boys deserve it!


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Happy Labor Day!

I’m not a writer who analyzes or spends much time wondering how I write what I write. (I’ve explored a bit of the why, but that is more a philosophical question and has little practical application. But it’s loads of fun!)

(I think my definition of fun differs than most, but…well…it’s fun for me.)

When it comes to practical writing, I’m totally at sea. The concept of involving a formula of any sort to what I do gives me the shivers. I figure I’ll never be much help to those looking for advice on how to write. But I’ll be a good cheerleader!

I’ve taken classes and online workshops and gone to panels and taken notes and found it all really, really, really interesting. But the thought of how one deliberately examines a MS and inserts more suspense/drama/conflict/tension…gives me hives.

I’m superstitious. I admit it. I never thought I was, but the more I look at why I shy away from even sliding a sideways glance at all of these techniques to enhance the MS…the more aware I am that I honestly don’t want to know.

So, I had to examine the why I don’t want to know.

And instinct dove right to the front of the pack of my gibbering answers. Instinct. Hmmm. Well, OK. I can see that. I write by instinct. And I think I’m too close to my writing to find the space necessary to analyze and insert techniques that others find useful. It could be the fear of an ugly baby thing… Don’t want to risk the perspective of seeing how ugly the kid really is.



Or…I don’t want to take the time because…well, there are sabertooths out there waiting to pounce and make a meal out of me. Instinct says to just keep going. Just kept writing, just push through…out of that open savannah where danger lurks. Too easy to stop and lose my focus point, the landmark I’m heading for. Which leads to the rocks, to safety, to the oasis where water waits.

I run a lot on instinct. Which means I lose out on a lot of the sweeter shortcuts modern life offers. I think a lot of those writing techniques would really be useful for me. But I can’t. I have to get through to the other side… Once there, I can splash in the oasis with some of them and maybe find a way to use them. Maybe.

But honestly? Not very much.

Another thing…I don’t want to question the magic. I’m not a scientist. (Q, I hope you’ll forgive me this sentiment. I love science, really.) But science is apt to destroy the apple while trying to understand it. Science will uncover all the secrets of the magician and reveal to all that the rabbit was never really in the hat.



I like the magic of it. I don’t want to know how things are done. I mean, to a certain point, I want to know, but not the point of not believing in magic anymore. I don’t want to strip away the magic.

I do believe at the heart of science lies a hell of a lot of magic and miracles and things so beyond our understanding that it all might as well be magic. And maybe it is! ;-)

Sigh. Lovely sigh.

I’m a believer. At the heart of it all, I’m a believer. I believe there are days when things are easy. Even the writing. I know I fly in the face of several of the pirates with this sentiment, but there are times…even when I can feel the sabertooth breathing on my neck, that it’s easy to keep ahead of it. Fate spills my way, sabertooth stumbles, falls in a crevice I easily leapt over and for a short period, the writing spills from me like a steady rain. And it’s easy.

And I dance in that rain and just relish these times.

So, I’m standing tall today. Because instinct works for me. I trust my primal brain. And I trust the magic to keep me entranced. And that rain felt good this week, when the scene I’ve been stewing about poured down on me and it was good.

It may be an ugly baby, but it will grow up to be a handsome man…

Friday’s topic… Instinct verses training? Magic verses science? Easy verses hard? Take your pick!

My Regency historical is also a bit of a romantic suspense.  But, as I’ve been going back over  my story and synopsis post pregnancy, (read: after the resuscitation of many of my brain cells) I’ve realized there’s not a lot of suspense in my suspense.

There’s the plot.  They’re trying to trap the “villain.”  To gain enough information about him to put him in jail and avenge an innocent party.  But, that’s the plot, not the suspense.

So, I ruminated.  I picked and pulled at my brain, trying to find a way to keep readers at the edge of their seat.  I want them asking: will they catch the villain at his dastardly deeds or will the slippery fellow get away again?  Worse, will he accomplish his goal before they do?

Ultimately, I found myself asking, “Who cares?”  Not in a this-is-a-boring-storyline kind of way, but in a who-has-the-most-to-lose kind of way.

When I started, the only one who really cared if the villain got caught was my hero.  If the villain is caught, my hero’s brother is avenged and my hero’s reputation is quasi-repaired.  But, that was all I had.

Initially, my heroine sort of just got drug into the conflict.  She was collateral damage, forced to be part of catching the villain due to extenuating circumstances.  But she didn’t care because of her own motivation and I decided it would be more suspenseful if she wanted to catch the bad guy all on her own.   So, I added an external conflict that would be resolved if she got involved, namely, the hero offers to pay her a lot for her help and she needs the money to accomplish a very altruistic goal.

Finally, I decided the villain needed to care.  At the onset, he just didn’t want to be caught for the sake of it.  I mean, who wants to go to jail?  But that’s not an interesting reason because, in fact, no one wants to go to jail.  I wanted something specific to him, something that was compelling.  Something that makes him hell-bent on working at odds to my hero and heroine.  I’m still working on that part.

But I realized that there was a trend here.  I wanted all my characters to have a stake in the outcome of their actions.  And, I wanted that “stake” to be something immediate.  It couldn’t be something without a timeframe.  My hero only has a certain time to catch the villain because once the villain realizes he’s on to him, he’ll disappear and my hero will lose his chance.  My heroine needs to take the “job” my hero has offered because she needs the money—fast.  My villain can’t run and hide even when he’s foiled because of… well, something I haven’t figured out yet.

Their needs have to be immediate and volatile and in complete opposition.   And they have to be completely invested.  No turning back.

My story gets a little life or death.  But I don’t think suspense in every story has to be that dire.  I think as long as the characters have an immediate need that is in opposition to another character, an author creates tension and suspense.

So, I wanted to see how everyone else does this.  How do you create the suspense between your characters, the immediacy of them accomplishing their goals?  Anyone want to offer up their own hero's or heroine's motivations for example?