On this Make-believe Monday I'm happy to introduce New York Times best selling author Bobbi Smith. Bobbi writes western historical romance for Dorchester Publishing and she also writes inspirational romance under the name Julie Marshall.
I owe a great debt of thanks to Bobbi. Last year I entered her creative writing challenge and was thrilled to learn at the RT convention that I was a finalist. Bobbi met with each of us to advise us on our writing. She told me I needed to change one thing. My first chapter began in the wrong place. I came home, rewrote it, and entered it in the American Title II contest where it finalled again! I can honestly say that I wouldn't be where I am today without Bobbi. Thank you, Bobbi for taking the time to share so generously with authors who are just starting out.
Bobbi, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.
Bobbi: Currently, I'm starting my next historical titled Hired Gun. The heroine's sister has been taken captive by Indians and she hires our hero to track her down when all else fails. She also insists on going with him. This is going to be fun.
It does sound like fun! I'll be waiting for this one to come out!
Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?
Bobbi: I've never thought of my imagination as being in or out of focus. My brain just takes off and all these people start talking in my head and arguing with me sometimes. Writers are weird, there's no doubt about it.
Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?
Bobbi: By page 50 my characters are usually alive and well. It's fun when they start talking to me - especially when they come up with an idea out of
nowhere. That's amazing to me.
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Elle: I don't play with the English language. My 7th and 8th grade teachers would be outraged! The humiliation at the blackboard back then was quite an incentive to learn how to do it right.
For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?
Elle: I wish I could remember my dreams, but I don't. They slip away as soon as I wake up, darn it.
As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?
Elle: I loved Boxcar Children! It was awesome.
If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?
Elle: I would like to inspire people to be kind to one another and to love one another. If my writing could achieve that, I would know that I'd used my talent in the right way.
Bobbi, you are an inspiration to us by your actions as well as the pages you've written.
Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?
Bobbi: The ability to be a storyteller is a definite gift. Writers are born, they're not made. Our imaginations are really amazing. How the brain works that way I have no idea, but I sure do have fun with it!
Bobbi, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.
You can learn more about Bobbi at www.bobbismithbooks.com
(Next week I will be in Tahiti with my husband celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, so there will be no posts here until we return on March 6th. Make-believe Mondays will resume then.)
Monday, February 20, 2006
Monday, February 13, 2006
Make-Believe Mondays With Elle James
This morning on Make-believe Mondays I'd like to introduce you to Elle James. I met Elle through my friend Susan and we had a blast at the RT convention last year. Elle and I are kindred spirits in that we both love to dance. Elle won the Golden Heart for paranormal romance in 2004 with To Kiss A Frog and sold it to Dorchester, launching her career. Since then she has sold to Harlequin Intrigue and has several books coming out.
Elle, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.
Elle: I’m working LAKOTA BABY for Harlequin Intrigue. It’s set on a fictitious Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota and is about a woman who’s baby is stolen and held for ransom and how she and his father find him. I’ve finished the rough draft and hope to complete revisions by the end of February!
A stolen baby! Now that's intriguing.
Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?
Elle: I get with my sister and my other writer friends online or in person to brainstorm and just talk about writing. There’s nothing more uplifting to an author than to talk about writing with others who “understand”.
Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?
Elle: That point is when I put my fingers on the keyboard. I don’t have conversations in my head between them until I apply myself to actually writing the story. Then it gets fun!
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Elle: I wrote a futuristic romance where my heroine was from another planet. I made up a curse word for her to use and you knew it was a curse word based on how she used it. Nothing too hard to pronounce, though or you lose your reader!
For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?
Elle: No. I’m one of those “force it out” authors. I have to concentrate completely on my story ideas before they come to me. No music, no distractions, just story.
As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?
Elle: Wrinkle In Time and anything by Dr. Suess! I used to read short science fiction books as well about mutant people. I loved to escape into other worlds.
If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?
Elle: I like what I’m writing now. I would like to do more romantic comedies because I have such fun with quirky characters and impossible situations. And I love paranormal and want to do more in that genre as well.
I'm glad to hear that, because I very much enjoyed reading To Kiss A Frog.
Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?
Elle: Not everyone has ideas popping out of their heads at all crazy hours of the morning and night, and that’s not a bad thing. I used to think, I’ll never be able to come up with a continuous stream of ideas, but I was soooo wrong. I have enough book ideas to keep me writing for the next 300 years. It’s like a muscle. Once you start make stuff up, it’s hard to quit!
Watch for my Harlequin Intrigues coming out this year!
BENEATH THE TEXAS MOON in March 2006 – paranormal and RT TOP PICK for Mar
DAKOTA MELTDOWN – Aug 2006
LAKOTA BABY – Dec 2006
You can learn more at www.ellejames.com. Elle, thanks for visiting with us here on Make-believe Mondays!
Elle, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.
Elle: I’m working LAKOTA BABY for Harlequin Intrigue. It’s set on a fictitious Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota and is about a woman who’s baby is stolen and held for ransom and how she and his father find him. I’ve finished the rough draft and hope to complete revisions by the end of February!
A stolen baby! Now that's intriguing.
Mark Twain said, “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?
Elle: I get with my sister and my other writer friends online or in person to brainstorm and just talk about writing. There’s nothing more uplifting to an author than to talk about writing with others who “understand”.
Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?
Elle: That point is when I put my fingers on the keyboard. I don’t have conversations in my head between them until I apply myself to actually writing the story. Then it gets fun!
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Elle: I wrote a futuristic romance where my heroine was from another planet. I made up a curse word for her to use and you knew it was a curse word based on how she used it. Nothing too hard to pronounce, though or you lose your reader!
For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?
Elle: No. I’m one of those “force it out” authors. I have to concentrate completely on my story ideas before they come to me. No music, no distractions, just story.
As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?
Elle: Wrinkle In Time and anything by Dr. Suess! I used to read short science fiction books as well about mutant people. I loved to escape into other worlds.
If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?
Elle: I like what I’m writing now. I would like to do more romantic comedies because I have such fun with quirky characters and impossible situations. And I love paranormal and want to do more in that genre as well.
I'm glad to hear that, because I very much enjoyed reading To Kiss A Frog.
Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?
Elle: Not everyone has ideas popping out of their heads at all crazy hours of the morning and night, and that’s not a bad thing. I used to think, I’ll never be able to come up with a continuous stream of ideas, but I was soooo wrong. I have enough book ideas to keep me writing for the next 300 years. It’s like a muscle. Once you start make stuff up, it’s hard to quit!
Watch for my Harlequin Intrigues coming out this year!
BENEATH THE TEXAS MOON in March 2006 – paranormal and RT TOP PICK for Mar
DAKOTA MELTDOWN – Aug 2006
LAKOTA BABY – Dec 2006
You can learn more at www.ellejames.com. Elle, thanks for visiting with us here on Make-believe Mondays!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Make-Believe Mondays With Laura Drewry
So many of you have written to me expressing how much you enjoy reading western historical romances. I'm happy to introduce Laura Drewry, one of my friends from RWAonline on this Make-believe Monday. Laura's first book, Here Comes the Bride was published by Kensington in 2005. If you like reading western historical romance, you'll enjoy this one.
Laura, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you're working on now.
Laura: I have a new book, CHARMING JO, coming out in September. In the meantime, I'm working on a proposal for a western historical trilogy that's been a lot of fun to create. I'm very superstitious about jinxing myself (don't laugh at me! LOL), so I don't want to get into too much detail about it, but let me just say this - all hell breaks loose in these books. After this, I have a couple contemporary stories I'd like to work on. That will take me a lot of practice, though, because I find them so much harder to write.
Laura, I certainly would never laugh at that. There's a bit of magic and mystery to creating a story and to be honest, I don't like to talk abut my stories until that first draft is done.
Mark Twain said, "You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?
Laura: I read, I try to take in as much as I can when I'm outside or even in the mall, and I listen to what people are saying. I find that because the world is so busy, we can tend to get caught up in our little worlds and forget that there's so much more out there. So what I've started doing is studying the people I see (not my friends, but strangers who are driving or walking by). Who are they? Where are they from? Where are they going? Why? What joys and tragedies have they lived through? I don't know that this actually keeps my imagination in focus, but it sure keeps it busy!
Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?
Laura: My characters take over right from the get-go. I do my best to try and rein them in, but it never works. They always take over and run the story in directions I would never anticipate. They say things that shock me, and I'm the one typing the story! I don't know how it happens, and I'm sure anyone who doesn't write probably thinks I'm completely off my nut, but that's how my stories get written.
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Laura: No, not so much. Though I will admit to 'borrowing' certain words and expressions from my family. One of my favorites is my Grandma's expression 'gawkarse'. When I introduced Bart as the brother in HERE COMES THE BRIDE, I knew it was an expression he'd have to use.
As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?
Laura: The first book I ever remember owning was On The Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was probably 6 or 7 when I won it at a neighbors birthday party and it immediately sucked me in. Made my parents' life easy, though, because for the next several years they had easy gifts for me for Christmas and my birthday. I've kept the whole series, too. Love them all.
If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?
Laura: Honestly - it would be a romance. I'm far from perfect, but I do believe if we'd all just let ourselves love each other, the world would be a much
better place. And I think that's what we get from a romance novel. It shows us that love can build bridges, it can climb mountains and it can do everything all the other cliches say it can. We just have to believe in it.
Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?
Laura: Your imagination needs to be exercised. If you dream a scene and are able to get it down before you forget it, more the better. But in between those dreams, you need to stretch your imagination. You need to slough off the restraints of being an adult and put your mind back to when you were a child and everything was exciting; everything had possibilities. Every idea has the opportunity of being a great story - it just needs someone to tell it. If you've imagined an idea or a scene and it's not working for you right now - save it. Jot it down and file it away. It might not work in the story you're writing now and it may never see the light of day. But you never know what other ideas will spin off that one when you re-read it a year from now.
You're right. Children don't put limits on themselves the way we do as adults. Ideas are out there waiting to be caught like fireflies.
Laura, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a glimpse into the creative world we authors live in.
Thank you, Debra, for including me!
Visit Laura's website at www.lauradrewry.com
Laura, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you're working on now.
Laura: I have a new book, CHARMING JO, coming out in September. In the meantime, I'm working on a proposal for a western historical trilogy that's been a lot of fun to create. I'm very superstitious about jinxing myself (don't laugh at me! LOL), so I don't want to get into too much detail about it, but let me just say this - all hell breaks loose in these books. After this, I have a couple contemporary stories I'd like to work on. That will take me a lot of practice, though, because I find them so much harder to write.
Laura, I certainly would never laugh at that. There's a bit of magic and mystery to creating a story and to be honest, I don't like to talk abut my stories until that first draft is done.
Mark Twain said, "You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." How do you fill your creative well to keep your imagination in focus?
Laura: I read, I try to take in as much as I can when I'm outside or even in the mall, and I listen to what people are saying. I find that because the world is so busy, we can tend to get caught up in our little worlds and forget that there's so much more out there. So what I've started doing is studying the people I see (not my friends, but strangers who are driving or walking by). Who are they? Where are they from? Where are they going? Why? What joys and tragedies have they lived through? I don't know that this actually keeps my imagination in focus, but it sure keeps it busy!
Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?
Laura: My characters take over right from the get-go. I do my best to try and rein them in, but it never works. They always take over and run the story in directions I would never anticipate. They say things that shock me, and I'm the one typing the story! I don't know how it happens, and I'm sure anyone who doesn't write probably thinks I'm completely off my nut, but that's how my stories get written.
Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?
Laura: No, not so much. Though I will admit to 'borrowing' certain words and expressions from my family. One of my favorites is my Grandma's expression 'gawkarse'. When I introduced Bart as the brother in HERE COMES THE BRIDE, I knew it was an expression he'd have to use.
As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?
Laura: The first book I ever remember owning was On The Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was probably 6 or 7 when I won it at a neighbors birthday party and it immediately sucked me in. Made my parents' life easy, though, because for the next several years they had easy gifts for me for Christmas and my birthday. I've kept the whole series, too. Love them all.
If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?
Laura: Honestly - it would be a romance. I'm far from perfect, but I do believe if we'd all just let ourselves love each other, the world would be a much
better place. And I think that's what we get from a romance novel. It shows us that love can build bridges, it can climb mountains and it can do everything all the other cliches say it can. We just have to believe in it.
Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?
Laura: Your imagination needs to be exercised. If you dream a scene and are able to get it down before you forget it, more the better. But in between those dreams, you need to stretch your imagination. You need to slough off the restraints of being an adult and put your mind back to when you were a child and everything was exciting; everything had possibilities. Every idea has the opportunity of being a great story - it just needs someone to tell it. If you've imagined an idea or a scene and it's not working for you right now - save it. Jot it down and file it away. It might not work in the story you're writing now and it may never see the light of day. But you never know what other ideas will spin off that one when you re-read it a year from now.
You're right. Children don't put limits on themselves the way we do as adults. Ideas are out there waiting to be caught like fireflies.
Laura, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a glimpse into the creative world we authors live in.
Thank you, Debra, for including me!
Visit Laura's website at www.lauradrewry.com
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