Romance Writers Weekly Blog Chat for September 8, 2015

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome to this weeks Romance Writer Weekly blog hop. If you've arrived at my blog after having visited Tracey Gee  LOVExtra.com http://wp.me/p5uNdS-qM  then welcome, and I'm glad you're here. I'm sure Tracey had a really terrific answer to today's chat. If you haven't visited Tracey, then please hop back to her website once you've finished reading my blog.

What are chatting about today? Well, we've been asked the classic question by Susan Scott Shelley, http://www.susanscottshelley.com/#!her-blog/c1cod  ... "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." No, we're not discussing the Sidney Poitier movie by that title. What Susan has suggested is that given the choice of any author in the world, either living or dead, who would we like to have to as a dinner guest?

I have to be honest and tell you what a difficult choice this was for me. I have so many favorites, it was hard to choose. But in the end, my all time favorite romance writer who had an exceptional flair for combining a wonderful mystery along with a satisfying romance was... Mary Stewart.

Maybe you're not familiar with Mary Stewart. So a little history is probably required. Mary was born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow on September 17, 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England. Her husband was knighted in 1974 and she was granted the title of Lady at the same time. Always an avid story teller, Mary began writing in the early 1950's and her first book, "Madam, Will You Talk?" was an instant success.

Mary was the most popular during the late 1950's and into the 1980's and wrote over twenty-three novels, including children's books and poetry. One of her movies, 'The Moon-Spinners" was made into a movie by Disney.

My favorite book was "Five Coaches Waiting". I have a very old, very dog-eared copy of that book and I absolutely love it. I must have read "Five Coaches Waiting" at least thirty times, if not more, over the years. It was because of this book and others like it, that I fell in love with the romantic suspense genre.

There is a wonderful sentiment about Mary's writing style that I found on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Stewart_%28novelist%29, and I'd like to re-quote it here. "She seamlessly combined the two genres, maintaining a full mystery while focusing on the courtship between two people, so that the process of solving the mystery 'helps to illuminate' the hero's personality—thereby helping the heroine to fall in love with him."  How true!

Sadly, Mary Stewart passed away on May 9, 2014. If I had had the chance to have Mary Stewart to dinner, I would love to have discussed her ideas for plotting and setting. She placed her novels in some very romantic and very real settings, and it seemed clear to me that she must have done a lot of traveling to Greece, Austria, Spain and France. Her descriptions of these locations are amazing, and many times the words created such strong visuals that I could see, smell and hear the words written on the pages. Her hero's were each unique, never perfect, but they always rose to the occasion when needed to help solve the mystery or subdue the villain. Her heroines were smart, strong willed and able to survive any of the unusual situations they found themselves in.

I think dinner wouldn't have been enough, and I would have probably invited Mary to spend the entire weekend. Wouldn't that would have been wonderful!

Now that you've heard all about my dinner guest, please hop over to A.S. Fenichel  http://asfenichel.net/blog    and read about who she's inviting to dinner! I'm sure it's someone terrific.

I hope to see you next time!

Warmly,
Mikki Cober

Romance Writers Weekly Blog Chat for August 18, 2015

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome everyone! So glad you stopped by. If you hopped over from Tessa Gray http://www.tessagray.com/tessas-blog-page/ then I'm glad you're here. If you missed Tessa, then please go back and check out her blog. I'm sure she wrote something terrific!

Today we have been asked by the amazing Carrie Elks http://carrieelks.com/blog/ to share our 'darlings'. What are 'darlings', you ask? 'Darlings' are those pithy, well written, fabulous to read statements... those special lines of prose that we absolutely love, but do almost nothing at all for the story. Well, Stephen King once said that it's necessary to 'kill your darlings' when editing your work. Carrie has asked if we are brave enough to share a 'darling' that we've had to kill.

I have quite a few darlings that, for one reason or another, have lost their place of residence in one of my manuscripts. I selected one 'darling' in particular that I have a love/hate relationship with, and had to cut for two reasons. One, it did nothing to move my plot forward, and two, my heroine was sounding so piteous and whiney I was starting to hate her. I figured I had better take this out or my readers would vote to kill her off at this point.

Ready? Here goes -

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

  By the time I made it back into Georgetown, it was early evening, and M street was already beginning to glow with a soft wash of colored neon. I turned into my drive a few minutes later, pulling into the detached garage. Leaving the car gurgling as the engine began to cool; I stepped out of the garage locking the door behind me and headed along the sidewalk to the back door of the house.

  Slipping in quietly, I began to turn on lamps in the downstairs rooms. Ever since Richard had left, I hated to be in a quiet, dark house. Even while I was sleeping, I usually had the television or radio playing.

  Flicking on the stereo system, I reached for a Billie Holliday CD. I had a passion for blues and jazz, especially from the 40’s and 50’s. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn were just a few of my favorites. When I was particularly depressed, and lately that was fairly often, I played Billie’s "Lady Sings the Blues" CD. The songs were melancholy, filled with images of lost love. As Billie’s raspy voice filled the room, I settled into my favorite chair to wait for Miller. It was a little after six o’clock and he had said he would be over around six-thirty.

  I picked up a pile of mail that I had stacked on the small table next to the chair and absently flipped through a couple of magazines. Closing my eyes, I let the soothing throaty sounds of Billie’s voice fill my mind as she sang several ballads.

  The doorbell rang jolting me awake. In a sleep-induced fog, I opened the front door to find an overly enthusiastic Miller standing there, just bubbling with energy and good humor.

  "Lexie! We’re here to celebrate your new job and we’ve brought take out," he said, giving me a quick peck on the check as he pushed past me.

  "We…?" I asked, my voice bleak. Why did he always turn every event into a party? I didn’t know where he found the energy.

  "Alexis! Hello, again!" William was all smiles as he followed Miller into the hallway, carrying another bag of food and a couple bottles of wine.

  "Hey there, William." I sighed as I closed the door behind them.

  "Billie Holiday, Lex?" Miller looked at me with disapproving eyes. I shrugged my shoulders in a ‘so what’ gesture and looked away. Now my music choices were the focus of criticism. Was nothing in my life sacred?

  Turning to William, he said, "Alexis has this thing about old music, particularly the blues. When she’s in a funk this is all she ever listens to."

  Setting the bags of food down on the hallway sideboard, he headed for the stereo and began rummaging through the CDs.

  With his back to me, he said, "This music has got to go. I am officially taking over the role of DJ here, and Billie Holiday is not on the list. We need something more high energy… ah this will do. The Black Eyed Peas; definitely better party music. Do you like this group, Will?"

  While the two of them stood over my music collection and reprogrammed my CD player, I moved the bags of takeout food into the kitchen and spread out the contents on the center island.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Okay - enough! See why I cut it? Alexis is even making me depressed.

Will I ever use this again? I seriously doubt it. While I liked some of the imagery in the first paragraph and might reuse those words elsewhere, the rest is not resuscitation worthy.

Well, after baring my soul to you and letting you see some not so great writing, let's stop here. I now invite you to jump over to the fabulous Betty Bolte www.bettybolte.com/blog.htm, who I'm sure has some excellent examples of darlings.

Thanks for coming by, and I hope to see you next time!

Warmly,
Mikki

Romance Writers Weekly Blog Chat for August 11, 2015

 

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome everyone! So glad you stopped by. If you hopped over from J.J. Devine's amazing blog  http://definingjjdevine.weebly.com/ramblings-of-a-writer then thank you!

Today's topic comes to us from Jeanne McDonald, http://www.jeannemcdonald.com, who asks the question "Outside of writing, what is your day job? What inspired you to take on this job and would you ever consider giving this job to one of your characters?"

Interesting question. Two years ago I semi-retired from a career in Business Development for a Systems Engineering firm outside of Washington, DC. We moved to Florida and I finally was able to pursue my passion as an author. For two glorious years I've been honing my craft, writing and rewriting, working hard to be a better author. It's been wonderful. All told, over these past twenty-four months, I've finished a total of three novels and have started a fourth.

But unfortunately, reality recently slapped me upside the head and in a nagging voice reminded me that while... "Writing is wonderful, it's not going to pay the bills."

There's one thing I've learned over these past two plus years and that's writing isn't easy. It's a labor of love and not something that earns big bucks quickly. At least not for some of us.

So, as a yet to be published author (but I'm getting close! I've had a couple of wonderful rejection letters with requests for resubmits once changes are made), I realized I needed to find another job.

The solution came to me after a month of web searching. I love to travel. I love to talk to people. My favorite things about my old job were working deals with other companies, making connections and bringing in new business.

I found a franchise opportunity with Cruise Planners. Founded in 1994, Cruise Planners is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network with more than 1,000 franchise owners.
What a perfect fit! So, in mid-July, my husband (who is older and already finished two careers) and I
bought a franchise.



I'm just starting in this new endeavor, and I'm very excited about it. The best thing? I can work both of my careers out of my home! And while I need to build a client base, it's fun and interesting, and very much like my old career.

So stop by and visit our new website   http://www.planyourtrips.org/ and if you're in need of a getaway to someplace exotic or right around the corner, come talk to me!

And to answer the final question - YES! I would definitely make an upcoming character a travel agent. I love to write romantic suspense, and what fun to write about love and murder on a tropical island.

Now, hop on over to Ronnie Allen's blog at  http://ronnieallennovel.com/blog  and see what Ronnie has to say about careers and writing. I'm sure she has some very interesting life stories to share.

 Stop by again soon - loved having you on my blog.

Warmly,
Mikki

Romance Writers Weekly Blog Chat for April 21, 2015

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.
Welcome everyone! So glad you stopped by.

If you've jumped over from the talented Carolyn Spears  http://www.carolynspearromance.com/blog  then I'm glad you're here. If not, please head back over and check out her website - it's amazing.

This week, we've been challenged by the lovely Fiona Riplee  http://fionariplee.com/blog to describe a kiss in ten words or less, using the key words "pink" and "sweet".

Ready? Here we go...

 

      

 

 

 "Sweet temptation, pink seduction, flaming desire.

Ahhh.... the perfect kiss."
 

 

 

Ten simple little words to jumpstart the libido. Phew - I need to fan myself.



All right, now it's time for you to hop over to Xio Axlerod's blog  http://www.xioaxelrod.com and see what the fabulous Xio has done with our ten word challenge.


Thank you for stopping by and I hope you visit me again soon.

Warmly,
Mikki Cober

Romance Writer Weekly Blog Chat for March 31, 2015

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome, welcome!

If you've joined me from the amazing Steven C. Mitchell, https://scmitchell.wordpress.com/, then thank you. Isn't his website fantastic? If you haven't, please jump back and check it out. I'm sure he's written something really unique for this week's blog chat.

Today the fabulous Veronica Forand, http://veronicaforand.com/, has inspired us to create a 100-word piece of flash fiction , using these three words: coffee, lizard and spring. Here is my snippet, I hope you enjoy it.

*******************

She raised the cup of coffee to her lips, and blew a soft breath across the steaming liquid. A sip, a smile, and then a sigh. Delicious.

Shading her eyes, she squinted at the lizard as it curled across the top of a nearby sun-drenched rock. Absorbing the heat from an early morning sun that promised a day of lazy warmth, it lay motionless.

Like the lizard she relaxed, and let her body sink into the padded chaise lounge.

A perfect spring day. One she intended to enjoy at all costs.

The handgun tucked in her waistband would ensure it.

*******************

Thank you for visiting with me, and I hope you stop by next time. Before you go, please hop over to Veronica's blog, http://veronicaforand.com/. She always writes super flash fiction pieces. 

See you next time!

Warmly,
Mikki

Romance Writer Weekly Blog Chat for March 10, 2015

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome to my blog!

If you've hopped over from Collette Cameron http://collettecameron.com/blog I thank you, and hope you've enjoyed your visit with her. Collette's website is amazing - I just love the blue roses, don't you?

Our blog chat topic was selected by S.C. Mitchell https://scmitchell.wordpress.com/ and if you haven't visited his website, please do so! He's an amazing author of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal romance novels.

This week the authors of Romance Writers Weekly are chatting about "our perfect writing retreat."

In answer to that question, I might be a little out of the ordinary. I don't use an office. I worked in an office for over 30 years and can't stand to be confined to that one space any longer. Mind you, it was a nice office - lots of pictures on the walls, plants and my books, but all in all, it was still an office with corporate furniture, in a corporate building. No more.

Since our move to Florida almost two years ago, I have identified several places in the house that are comfortable and where I prefer to write.

First, is the leather recliner in the family room. There is a table and a lamp right next to me. I can raise the footrest portion of the recliner and even lean back. With my laptop balanced across my knees, I'm very comfortable and can sit (and I have) in that chair for several hours typing away. Besides, I keep a piece of chocolate and cup of something (tea, water, wine?) close at hand. That always helps.

My second favorite spot is the kitchen bar. Sometimes I like to stand when I write and it turns out that standing alleviates leg cramps and back aches from sitting too long. There were several people in
my old office who had standing desks and I never understood why until I tried it. It works! When I get tired of standing, I just drag one of the bar stools over and keep right on working. Plus the bar top gives me a lot of room for books, notes, etc. and the overhead lighting is perfect. Also plenty of room for my chocolate and wine!


The third spot is out of my lanai. I wish this could be my second favorite spot to write, but the entire lanai area faces south and it gets very hot, very quickly. So unless I plan on jumping in the pool every thirty minutes, which can be a bit distracting, I only use the table on the lanai when it's a cool day.

So, where do you like to write? Where do you feel you get your best work done?

I'm sure Gemma Brocato http://www.gemmabrocato.com/blog has an interesting answer to today's blog question, so be sure to visit her after you leave me.

Thanks for stopping by! As always, I hope to see you next time.

Mikki Cober

"Cookie Cutter" - Coming Soon by J.R. Richardson

Cookie Cutter

Author: Jo Richardson
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing
Genre: Contemporary RomCom

Release date: March 23, 2015

Iris Alden and Carter Blackwood couldn't be more different. Change-averse Iris likes her life neat and organized, while Carter's itchy feet mean he doesn’t plan to stay in the same place for long.

When Carter moves into the house across the street from Iris, to renovate it, she fights the disruption it causes in her life. Before long, though, it's not simply the house Carter's rebuilding, but Iris's heart, too.


Here's a little teaser from the book:

"What are you doing here?"

It’s Carter freaking Blackwood. Of course.

He smiles that ridiculously bright, white smile of his and lets out a soft snicker. "I’m fixing a floor for a friend, what are you doing here?"

It’s completely obvious what I’m doing here, seeing as I’m carrying two huge trays of sugar cookies in my arms.

"A friend? You just moved in. How do you have friends already?" I say it a bit harsher than I probably should but honestly, how does he have friends already? 　James and I were here a good six months before people started really talking to me. 　It was a year before I could call any of them friends. The edges of Carter’s mouth turn down and his head dips to one side as his shoulders hunch then settle.

"People like me, I guess."

The smug look on his face is enough to make me want to slap it. 　Or kiss it.

Wait. Not kiss it. I didn’t mean kiss it. Why am I staring at his lips?

"People who don’t want to kill me that is. 　Are you okay?"

I blink, and search my brain, but I’m still not quite sure what to say to him, so I extend my arms. "I brought cookies." As soon as I say the words, I hear them. I sound ridiculous and Carter’s bright eyes crinkle with amusement.

He closes his lids and he breathes the baked goods in. Then hums. The sound of his voice sends a vibration through me and I shiver. I am eternally grateful that he doesn’t see it happen.

His eyes open slowly. When they reach mine, I’m glued to his stare like a deer in headlights.

"Those cookies smell really fucking good, Iris."

The bedroom eyes catch me off guard and my mouth falls open so I snap it shut. I’m a buffoon with no ability to speak.

"Can I have one?" He reaches out and I balance the platter with one hand, then slap his fingers with the other while I find words. A word that is.

"No."

"Ow." He pulls his hand away, like a child getting reprimanded, only when we make eye contact again, he doesn’t seem child like to me.

I wouldn’t say he’s angry. He doesn’t exactly laugh, either. And his eyes gleam as he stares at me. I hate his eyes almost as much as I hate his teeth. Maybe more. Dammit, I’m staring, again.

"They’re for Ally’s class," I tell him. "Fundraiser, I mean bake sale." I fumble my words. He’s so frustrating.


Other works by Jo:

Cursed be the Wicked, a paranormal mystery romance, released March 2014 through Soul Mate Publishing

AMAZON | B&N | GOODREADS

Lost in Christmas, a short story included in Soul Mate Publishing’s 2013 Christmas anthology

AMAZON | GOODREADS

***************************

A movie fanatic, a writer of stories, a lover of life.

Jo grew up in Maryland with four siblings, three parents and an endless number of cousins within the vicinity – but it was too cold up North for this thin blooded girl. So today, she lives in Florida with her two girls and a husband that shares her same sense of humor and basic take on life as we know it.

Life is too short to put dreams on the back burner.

Jo tells contemporary stories with romance, humor, the supernatural, the paranormal, suspense, mystery, action and anything else she can think up.

In 2012, she wrote Cursed be the Wicked, a character driven, paranormal mystery romance that was picked up by Soul Mate Publishing and released in March of 2014. Since then, Jo has also written a couple of short stories and her recently contracted contemporary romantic comedy, entitled Cookie Cutter, is set to release on March 23, 2015 through Little Bird Publishing.


Connect with Jo on Social Media:

WEBSITE: http://jrrichardsonfics.weebly.com

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/author/jrrichardsonfics

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JRRichardsonAuthor

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jofictionfreak

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/JRRichardson

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24974934-cookie-cutter