Today we have Harlequin and Signet author, JESSICA ANDERSEN, author of the Novels of the Final Prophecies visiting the ship.  This paranormal series about the Doomsday prophecies has lots of plot twists, some amazingly hot characters, and all the emotional angst a reader could want.  Her latest, SKYKEEPERS, is out in stores now.  

 

I've already read SKYKEEPERS and I officially think it's my favorite so far.  Michael is deliciously tortured; Sasha, sassy and strong.  And their sexual tension?  To die for.  If you've read Ms. Andersen's work before, you're in for a real treat with this one.  Don't miss it!

 

Take it away, Doc Jess!

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Hello, and thanks to Marnee for inviting me to visit and talk about SKYKEEPERS: A NOVEL OF THE FINAL PROPHECY!  

 

One randomly selected commenter will win a signed copy of NIGHTKEEPERS or DAWNKEEPERS, which are the first two books in this sexy series of paranormal thrillers. And, of course, SKYKEEPERS is in a bookstore near you now!

 

Here’s the blurb:

 

Ancient prophecy holds that 12/21/2012 will bring a global cataclysm. Mankind’s only hope lies with the Nightkeepers, modern magic-wielding warriors who must find their destined mates and fulfill the legends to defeat the rise of terrible Mayan demons in the last few years leading up to 2012.

 

In SKYKEEPERS, Michael Stone is a man with a dark secret that has skewed his magical abilities dangerously toward the underworld. Seeking redemption, he sets out on a perilous mission to save the daughter of Ambrose Ledbetter, a renowned Mayanist who died before he could reveal the location of a hidden library. The Nightkeepers must find the library before their enemies gain access to its valuable cache of spells and prophecies.

 

Sasha Ledbetter grew up hearing heroic tales of an ancient group of powerful magi who were destined to save the world from destruction. She never expected that her bedtime stories would come to life in the form of Nightkeeper Michael Stone, or that she’d hold the key to the warrior’s survival. As Sasha and Michael join forces to prevent the imminent battle, sparks of attraction ignite between them, and they’re forced to confront the unexpected passion that brings them together … and also tears them apart.

 

This series (and particularly this book) often looks at what makes people afraid. In the largest sense, the overall arc is about the fear of death and endings: The Nightkeepers are fighting to keep the world from ending, and to keep themselves (and future generations) alive. But more, it’s about the fear of failure: The Nightkeepers’ parents sacrificed themselves in an effort to short-circuit the 12/21/2012 countdown, but it continued and their children grew up orphans, in many cases not realizing their true natures. Now reunited, the modern magi are struggling to find their footing amidst new magic, ancient prophecies, and things that go bump in the night.

 

Within each story, the hero and heroine must deal with more personal fears. In SKYKEEPERS, Michael fears the loss of control—of his temper, his soul, the situation around him … and his heart. Likewise, Sasha fears change, growth, and learning the truth about her father and herself.

 

I think we can all relate to these fears, some of which might reflect back on our own lives. The concept of a relatable fear is in part what makes us (as readers) connect with a story, even if it’s about something that might not be in our immediate lives, such as Mayan magi, or vampires, or spacemen … The world of the story might interest us, but without a relatable character, it’s just a world.  It’s the characters that help us connect.

 

Beyond the ‘big picture’ stuff, smaller fears can become important details that help bring your characters to life.  In the fourth book in this series (DEMONKEEPERS, April ’10), the hero is recovering from a demonic possession that kept him trapped inside his own skull for nearly a year. As such, he emerges badly claustrophobic, to the point that he avoids his own couch because its soft, enfolding cushions and high arms make him feel trapped. 

 

Most often, these small details about a character emerge as I’m writing the story. Sometimes I don’t even know why someone has a certain phobia at first, only to see it later and think, “Duh. Of course!”  But by the same token, (as a writer) don’t be afraid to think about your characters’ phobias and use them as quirks, or clues into that person’s backstory.  As part of this, I’ve always thought that it’s interesting to look at the wide variety of phobias out there, and think about where they might stem from, and what interesting behaviors those fears might create.

 

Here’s one of mine: I have to minutely check over my earmuff-type hearing protectors every time I put them on, whether for mowing, nail-gunning, target practice, or whatnot. This is contrary to my overall character, as I’m fairly easygoing about my equipment and its state of repair (my significant other is the maintenance guy in the family- I tend to use what’s available, then complain when it breaks).

 

So … what does this mean?  As a writer, if I had an otherwise casual (borderline too casual) character who insisted on obsessing about one piece of equipment (hearing protectors), I would ask myself: why?  An immediate answer in this case might be that I might be afraid of going deaf. Maybe I have a family history of deafness, or already have some hearing impairment, making me hyperconscious of hearing protection.  Okay, that’s not bad … but it’s not the case here. 

 

So let’s go a level deeper.  What might have happened to this character (me) to make her obsess over her hearing protectors?  Well, in most cases, I use hearing protectors with a built-in radio (thus why I use earmuffs over earplugs). That might suggest that I’m easily bored, and don’t like being left alone with my own thoughts when doing activities that require hearing protection (check and check). But it also suggests that something might’ve happened with the radio, thus causing my paranoia.  Did it short-circuit, zapping me unconsciousness one day?  Nice try, but no. 

 

For me, the answer is another fear that I think many people can relate to: Spiders.  Now, I don’t love spiders, but I’ve learned to tolerate them without screaming and bolting. For the most part, anyway. But one day a few years ago, I shut off the mower mid-chore one morning, stripped off my gloves and ear protectors, and went inside to get a drink. When I got back to the mower, I skipped my usual (and semi-casual) “check to make sure nothing crawled into the earmuffs” routine—it’d only been a couple of minutes, after all.

 

Well, I hadn’t mowed much further when there was a tickle in my ear.  Thinking it was a stray piece of hair, I pulled off the muffs, scratched my ear, put them back on, and continued mowing. The tickle returned; I repeated the scratch, this time glancing into the muff to see if there was something in there—a piece of grass or something.  I didn’t see anything.  Tickle, look, scratch. Rinse; repeat. 

 

This went on for a good ten minutes before I finally shut down the mower, took the headphones all the way off, and examined them in detail, only to find a BIG, JUICY BROWN SPIDER hiding all tucked up under the lining.  Aaahhh!!!  It looked like he (she?) had been hiding up there when I took off the muffs, and then when I put them back on, s/he would come out in the nice, warm darkness to explore MY EAR.  Urgh.  (Shuddering at the memory.)

 

From a character standpoint, we could go deeper with this, into how I had an uncle who suffered a catastrophic aneurysm in his forties, and a grandmother with late-onset Alzheimers. I’ve got an ego about being fairly intelligent, make my living as a writer and technical editor (both brain-critical jobs), and live with a low-grade fear of brain injury: I ride showjumpers, and although I always wear the latest in crash helmet technology, head injuries are unfortunately a risk in the sport. And while I intellectually know that there’s an infinitesimal chance that the spider could have crawled up inside my ear canal and laid eggs, and then that the resulting progeny could have somehow burrowed up into my brain, thereby damaging it … I had nightmares for a couple of weeks after that incident. Seriously. I would wake up, convinced there were baby spiders coming out of my ear and I couldn’t remember my own name.

 

Thus we arrive at the otherwise-casual character who obsesses about her ear protectors.

 

Will I ever use this particular detail and backstory for a character?  Maybe. Probably not. But I think it gives an interesting perspective on how small details can provide larger insights into characters, and how it’s important to keep both large and small details in mind when writing a story. 

 

So tell me … what small, strange thing scares you (and if you’re willing to share … why)???

*****

Dive in there, ladies and gent, let's give ourselves the creeps.  And don't forget, one lucky commenter will receive a signed copy of NIGHTKEEPERS or DAWNKEEPERS!

Hi, I’m Hells, and I over write.  Fortunately I’m pretty sure I’m not alone here. I think there are a lot of over writers out there. We fear empty space. We fear not explaining our characters enough, making them lovable enough to our readers. We all want our characters to be loved as much as we love them; and sometimes I think we over compensate trying to “sell” them to the reader by over writing. It’s not the worse writing sin in The 10 Commandments, but it probably ranks as one of the top ten. (The Golden Rule Commandment being, of course, don’t bore your reader.)

 

Now we all have our own specialties in writing. I know when you write, you have strengths. Maybe you’re great with description or setting (like Teresa Medeiros) or sexual tension (like Lisa Kleypas) or bad sex that leads to great sex (like Eloisa James—doesn’t that fried chicken scene in Your Wicked Ways crack you up?) Me, I like dialogue. Banter and wit is my idea of foreplay in real life as well as the written word. If I’m writing a scene and completely blowing character, plot, and description and setting, I try to get a conversation going just so I rebuild my writer’s self-esteem before it shreds entirely.

 

However, dialogue is not exactly the meat and potatoes of the story. It’s more like the frosting. It’s fun; it’s flavorful; and for many, it’s their favorite part, but it’s probably the nutritional equivalent of ho-ho’s. Possibly it’s most important value is how it paces a novel. Dialogue is quick and feels like action even when the characters are sitting in a coffee shop. Because talking is an action; and action is good.

 

However, consider the other part of dialogue: what isn’t said.

 

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;

But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends.

We turn clay to make a vessel;

But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends.

We pierce doors and windows to make a house;

And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends.

Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

 

--Tao Te Ching, Chap 11, tr. Waley.

 

So if witty banter is not your forte, remember that’s not necessarily the important part of dialogue. Think about every Black Moment you’ve ever read. It’s all the things your hero didn’t tell the heroine until it was too late that is revealed in the Black Moment. Like he loved her. Or oops, it was her he wanted to marry all along, not that hussy he’d been engaged to for the last 300 pages. Or he was a jerk, but he didn’t know how to apologize for it because who is good at apologizing? No one, exactly. We hold our cards to our chest just as closely as we play them. It’s human nature not to reveal too much because, frankly, there are things we just won’t even admit to ourselves. That empty dialogue reveals just as much character as anything spoken aloud.

 

What about you? Do you think dialogue is a meat-and-potatoes sort of aspect of writing, or do you too think it’s more frosting? Who are your go-to authors for the best banter and dialogue? Does anyone else watch TV shows for dialogue tips? (I get some of my best dialogue and “plotting” (braiding) tips from watching re-runs of Friends.)  If so, which shows do you enjoy watching for this?

Just a quick note to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.   We are incredibly thankful for you, our gentle readers, because you stop by faithfully.  Your unbending support keeps us afloat here.

So thank you, from your pirates.

Mad Annie Mizzenmast...I mean, the incomparable Annie West is sharing two of her books with two commenters from yesterday's fabulous blog! The winners are:

KATHY: The Greek Tycoon's Unexpected Wife

KELLY: For the Sheikh's Pleasure (lucky girl, Arik is SO delicious!)

Thank you, everyone, who came yesterday and made Annie's visit with us a wonderful one. And be sure to visit us again when she visits us with her next book: The Desert King's Pregnant Bride.

Kathy & Kelly, email me (mshellion@gmail.com) with your snail mail addresses and I'll forward them to Annie.

Welcome, Colette Gale aboard the RWR. She is joining us today, on the day of her new release Master, to tell us about the ins and out of writing erotica. Please give a hearty welcome to Colette! *yelling and screaming*

What I love most about her books is that she writes from characters we know and love--and gives them the happy endings we wished for them. (Anyone as unhappy as I was about Phantom of the Opera? She fixed it! And she did it with lots of hot, spicy scenes. Good thing my sheets are flame-retardant. Had to get those after Jack arrived....)

The first time I watched Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, I was entranced. I loved it! I cried at the end, though, when Christine chose to go with Raoul instead of the Phantom. After all, it was obvious to me that they belonged together.

I saw the play over and over through the years, and its soundtrack became one of my favorites. When the movie version, starring Gerard Butler, came out, I hoped....hoped!...that Webber would give me that happy ending.

Alas, he did not.

So I set out to write my own happy ending...and that was my first foray into writing erotica.

I've always been a fan of erotic novels--I count among some of my favorite reads The Story of O, Ann Rice's Sleeping Beauty series, and Bertrice Small's ground-breakiing Skye O'Malley saga (ground-breaking because it was erotica, but marketed and sold as part of the romance genre).

All of these books influenced my writing when I sat down to work on what later came to be officially titled Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera....but at the time was, really, just an experiment for me. Could I write erotica?

Well, apparently, I can, since my second erotic novel, Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo is released today!

So how and where do I get these ideas? Do my husband and I have a harp in our bedroom? Have we done all these things?

Er. Without divulging too much information...no. Sorry.

Just as writers of psychological thrillers, who often get inside the heads of their murderers--and victims--couldn't possibly have done those things, so can I say that, no. Only in my fantasies.

Here's the important thing about erotica: it is fantasy. Remembering that is key. Just because I (or you) fantasize about something doesn't mean we really would want it to happen. Just because we have fantasies about forced seduction, bondage, menage a trois, etc., doesn't mean that we would really indulge in those activities...although there are certainly people who do put their fantasies into play.



But my erotic novels are also romances at the very heart. There is one man and one woman who ride off into their Happily Ever After at the end of the book. That's part of the story--that's why I wrote Unmasqued and Master.

And even though there is a lot of sex (a lot of sex) in the books, every single sex scene has a purpose. It moves the plot and it demonstrates the relationship between the two main characters. Or, in the subplots that happen around the hero and heroine. In fact, my rule of thumb is: at least one orgasm per chapter. Someone gets the happy at least once in each chapter--and it's not always the hero or heroine.

In fact, in my books, the hero and heroine can and do interact with other characters...but...and here's the very subtle place where I draw the line: they never have intercourse with anyone but each other.

A very subtle split of hairs, I know, but that's where the line is drawn.

So. I'm very excited to announce the release of my second erotic novel, Master, based on Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo. It is a revenge love story and I absolutely loved writing it. I think it's my favorite book, even moreso than the Phantom book because this one has three love stories entwined in it.

I'm late getting this blog post to the ship, so in apology, I'd like to offer a copy of Unmasqued and also a copy of Master as prizes today...along with my heartfelt apology for my tardiness, my thanks to the Yoho Ladies for having me, and my promise to stick around an answer ANY questions you might have!

Thanks so much for having me!

Colette

‘Ello me hearty mates and crew. Today we’re going to do a little elementary compass navigation and orientation. (No, Jack my love, not sexual orientation; you are prickly. And no, Sin, I’m not dumping anyone off into the middle of the woods and saying, “Well, see you at supper!” and then giving you a merit badge if you arrive back without being covered in poison ivy.)

 

No, I speak of: Writing Orientation. How to get your bearings in your book, head off again in the right direction (i.e. start writing again) and arrive at your destination (i.e. HEA) sometime before your supplies (i.e. the rum) run out. A handy device all pirates need if they find themselves marooned…or possibly in a hurricane in which they think their ship is going to sink.

 

First and most important, find due NORTH. You won’t get your bearings or headings or anything until you’ve got your center. Your due NORTH is two things: characters and goals. So if you’re ever stuck, flailing about, sitting in Doldrums and wondering if a brisk wind will come again, find due NORTH. Remember where you are going and put it in contrast with where you are now. Just like NORTH is the most important of the four, your characters and their goals are the most important part of your story. They are the story. Are your characters still behaving true to themselves? Are they pursuing their goals for all they’re worth? Like NORTH, are they bigger and bolder than everything else (i.e. plot, secondary characters)? Are you keeping your scenes (like your sails) trim? If the scenes you’re putting on the page aren’t necessary to the characters or the goals, then they’re most likely dross that’s weighing down your ship and sailing you the long way to China.

 

 

Once you’ve got NORTH, glance behind you to the SOUTH. Notice this. There is no North without South, no love without hate, no peace without war, no romance without heartbreak. Here in the SOUTH lies conflict and irony. While your NORTH is focusing on character and goals, the SOUTH should be raising hell on the NORTH, making everyone wonder which side is going to win. (Am I the only one hearing “Dixie”?) Conflict keeps your characters and their goals in sharp desire. And while you’re at it, make sure some of your conflict is of the ironic variety. If your heroine hates class reunions and hell would freeze over before she attended one, make her go to accomplish something that is very important to her, more important than her fear and hatred of confronting her demons. Irony sticks. Irony is conflict inflicted by method of laughing gas.

 

So we got the NORTH and SOUTH opposing each other; take a look over your right shoulder to the EAST. Venus the Morningstar is your guide. So our next important bearing: Love. Love is important since you need conflict for your Conflict, and nothing conflicts Conflict more than Love. (One of those ironic things again.) Clearly if you’re writing a romance, love is a main bearing. Make it big, make it count, and make it believable. We all need the Big 3: Faith, Hope, and Love, but most of all Love. John said it first; then the other John made a song about it. Notice, though, Love is not the sole focus of your story, nor the biggest focus—but it does shine the brightest.

 

Now look WEST, young man, look WEST. What good is the WEST? Why the ending, of course. We all admire the perfect sunset, and though it may be the same sun, no two are the same. The same is true of your happily ever after. Yes, it’s romance; yes, it’s a happy ending; yes, there are a 100 Regencies published a year—but your Happily Ever After is just as beautiful, just as unique as the thousand other sunsets across the world. Someone will enjoy seeing it; someone will be moved by it; someone will even remember it forever. And the thing about sunsets is you never get tired of seeing them and marveling at how beautiful they are—and how at peace with the world they make us feel. Write your happy ending; do it to make the world a little sweeter.

 

All right. Got your bearings now? Have you found your characters and goals? Is the SOUTH rising again? (Lisa, Sin, get your minds out of the gutter.) Have you put on that Beatles CD and a little song in your heart? Then start cracking toward that Happy Ending, mates. Head West to your destination.

 

What do you guys think? Any important headings I should have focused on instead? Anyone else dallied in filing their taxes like I did and are running to the post office after work like a chicken with its head cut off? Anyone else able to orientate themselves with a compass? (Me, I use the sun rather than magnets.)

 

I watched it all float in front of my eyes. Memories not so distant and years ago, reminding me of where I’d been and where I was yet to go. Stuck with you just like a shadow, following you wherever you may roam. I couldn’t get away. I couldn’t run fast enough. Hide away until they floated by. I couldn’t deny them. No matter how far I tried to shove them down in that deep dark corner of my heart, they're always lurking. Haunting you like your long lost conscience. Whispering. Taunting. Making you out of your mind as you try to lie down to sleep. There was no rest to be found. Closure was something of a dream- an afterthought, something I wanted to obtain but never found a way.

There is no denying it. Memories are your own. You can’t run. You have to face them. Eventually.

There's nothing like reminiscing about days passed. I mean, memories are what keep you going when you're stuck in a rut. They make you laugh. They make you cry. They bring back feelings you wish you could forget and the emotions you wished you still had. There is something about memories that if you didn't have them, you'd be empty inside even when you think you’d be better off.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise to most of you, that I wasn't always a pirate. Being a pirate is just something that happens. I didn't fall off the turnip truck as one. I didn't thumb my way across the world. I didn't swim across the seven seas and come out of the water all Bond girl-ish with perfect hair and in a white swimsuit with no nipples showing. (Because let's face it wenches and pirates, you wear white in the water and it turns see-through. And yes I know this to be a fact.) It's all the experiences along the way that turn you into a pirate. A pirate of your own life.

I use memories in my writing. Sometimes it’s just a glimmer of things that have happened, conversations gone haywire, situations gone bad. Fun times. Crazy times. Use rough outlines of my favorite girlfriends for secondary characters. For me, it makes it fun to write. Besides, who hasn't thought about the time someone burned you and you couldn't think of something to say until two days after? It's all about rewriting it to get your revenge. It's about reliving a dream you always wanted to share. A life you always wanted but could never have. Taking the chances through a character and forgoing the consequences. Seeing how much they can take before they break. Or you. Depends on the memory.

Memory writing can be tough. It can also be like therapy. We’ve talked about that on the ship before so I’m not going into it again. A good example of writing from memories can be writing high school scenes with your characters. Everyone has a high school memory they’d like to tweak. Rewrite. Fix for the better. But for me, it's like writing sex. Sex is hard to write. Hands down. I can write torture. I can write blood dripping from the edge of a bathtub. I can write evil bad guys- murder in their eyes, cruel smiles twisted on their lips, without a problem. But writing a sex scene is sheer agony. I spend most of my time while writing a sex scene running through my head (this goes here, that goes there, insert here, do this, touch that) it’s completely nerve wracking. I suppose for me, it’s like that first time together. It’s supposed to be this beautiful moment, and really it ends up being this massive clus-- *ahem* mess where you bump heads right as your about to have that sweet moment. It ruins it.

I have no problem with people reading what I write. No. I couldn’t care less if someone reads a sex scene I wrote where it’s reverse cowgirl and she’s waving the cowboy hat in the air like she’s in the rodeo. It's the intimacy of the scene between me and my reader. It's like being a voyeur in my own world. Mostly because you write what you know. So when I write sex, it feels like I'm spilling the dirty details of my bedroom romps. I’m not… really. To me, writing certain things reminds me of memories whether they are or not. And sex happens to be one of those memory things that no matter how hard you try to stray from experience, you end up writing exactly how it goes in your mind. Except you make it a little more… perfect.

So I can’t be the only one. Spill it pirates and wenches. Have you ever had a memory that you put into book form? For readers, have you ever read a book that mirrored something that happened in your life or something like it? Care to share?