Make-Believe Monday with Theresa Meyers

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm thrilled to introduce my dear friend and American Title II sister, Theresa Myers. Theresa has sold her first book and we're all thrilled for her.

Theresa, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript
you’re working on now.

Theresa: I’m currently working on what can be best described as a regency Mr. & Mrs. Smith, called Lord & Lady Spy. James Ryland, Earl of Grayston, and a spy for the crown, was directed to find and eliminate the French spy, Le Fantom…the only thing stopping him was that Le Fantom turned out to be his wife.

The daughter of a British Marquis and a French aristocrat mother, Giselle was the perfect foil to disguise his spy work and a constant mystery to him. But after seven years of marriage, and an ever-increasing emotional gap between them, he is beginning to wonder if he really knows his wife at all.

For years Giselle has had a secret of her own. She has purposely deceived her husband as a double spy seeking to avenge her family lost to the revolution and assist those who were not as fortunate to escape as she was. While she secretly owes her allegiance to England, she is known as a spy for the French in order to gain the inside information no one else can obtain. Yet, even as she secretly works for the English against the French, her own personal goal is about to be realized. She has only one chance to save her brother being held by Napoleon’s forces. And no one is going to stop her.

While the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith inspired me to start thinking in historical terms, the characters have really given the story a life of their own. Normally one doesn’t have the chance to put in sword fighting scenes where the heroine is a near match to the hero. It’s kind of fun seeing this alpha male have to realize that there’s every possibility his wife is capable of being his match professionally, as well as emotionally and that the secrets they’ve both kept really in the end are what bring them closer together.

Debra: I love sword fighting scenes and I can't wait to read this!

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Theresa: Usually as soon as I have an idea who they are in terms of personality, they become very vivid for me. I’m a very visual person, so when I write it’s like I’m transcribing a movie in my head only with taste, touch and smellovision. The first draft through I am just writing down the basics of what is going on, who is where and what they are saying. Then I rewind the movie and find out what was happening around them and fill it in. As far as characters being real. Oh yeah. I’ve had some flat out refuse to do things and go walking off in an entirely different direction (which always makes the story stronger).

Debra: They can be stubborn that way, can't they? ;)

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Theresa: Absolutely. My mother read to us using different voices for different characters. She was a total bibliophile and pretty much turned us into bibliophiles too. When she read a Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle you could feel the tesseract pull around you and pulsating energy off of the giant brain. When we read The Tower of Geburah by John White, you could smell the must in the attic where they find the televisions that transport them and the tingle in your fingers as Lisa picks up the book for the first time (by the way if your kids like the Narnia series or the Harry Potter series, I highly recommend The Tower of Geburah which is part of the Archives of Anthropos series.)

Debra: What a wonderful gift her story telling must have been. The way tales were once told around the campfire.

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?

Theresa: That’s a good question. In some measure I already have. The book is called The Morelock Project. It’s a sci-fi romantic adventure – think James Rollins crossed with James Patterson--where two scientists uncover a mummy of a centaur and are asked to find it’s origins by the government to uncover the possibility of genetic hybridization and how it would work. They crisscross the globe from the ruins of a ancient Etruscan site to the jungles of Thailand, where they encounter a secret sect bent on protecting humanity from the truth, that all those monsters we learned about in Greek mythology, weren’t myths, but oral history. They did exist and the humans on this planet were being used as colonial resources for experiments by the colony of “gods” at Atlantis. When they uncover the truth in the South China Sea, revealed by the tsunami, they have a choice to expose the truth or save the world.

Debra: That sounds fascinating!

Theresa, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Readers may visit Theresa at http://www.theresameyers.com/

Make-Believe Monday with Vicki Sweatman

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'd like to introduce Vicki Sweatman.


Vicki, First, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Vicki: Biker Sunday is a Southern inspirational romance, and it is filled with a kind of humor that could only be set in the South. A prissy Southern belle is drawn out of her safe, predictable world and is thrown into the middle of a gang of rough bikers for the sake of helping her Sunday school student who is battling leukemia. Country clubs, bait and tackle shops, corporate ladders, Harley garages, fancy designer dresses and leather fringes do not mix well. Ultimately, the conservative heroine, April Church, must decide whether working with the biker hero, Bullworth Clayton, is worth what she has to give up in order to help the little boy she adores.

Debra: Such opposites. It sounds like an interesting story.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Vicki: Keeping my creative cup filled is easy because I live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. I am privileged to live in—what I think—is one of the most naturally beautiful places in America. I reside in the midst of ancient oaks with long beards of Spanish moss hanging from their limbs, swamps that hide all manner of creatures and secrets, and palmetto trees that sway in the breezes which blow from the oyster-colored beaches that are strung along our coast. The unique beauty of this area seems to have given birth to some pretty unique characters, as well—and I’m talking real people here. In addition, Charleston, South Carolina, is filled with history, myths and tales (true or not). My creativity overflows from the rich environment in which I live.

Debra: Charleston is indeed beautiful and imbued with such rich history.

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?

Vicki: You don’t even want to get me started here. Since childhood, I have admired language and the way words sound when they play against one another. I have envied authors and have written poetry since I was very young, so naturally, I studied English literature and language when in college and in graduate school. Teaching English became the natural next step. I adored sharing my love of literature and writing with my high school seniors, showing them not only what was being said in a piece of literature, but how the author was saying it. Though I played at writing while teaching, I desired to write professionally and on a full-time basis, so I retired early. Now my days are filled with creating worlds and characters with thought-provoking similes and fresh metaphors, and I charge myself daily with entertaining readers with a new experience with language.

Debra: Thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

(If you would like to learn more about Vicki Sweatman and the South Carolina Lowcountry about which she writes, visit her website: http://vickisweatman.com/.)

Make-Believe Mondays with Julie Kenner

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce Julie Kenner.

Julie, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Julie: At this very moment, I'm working on three things:
a) plotting and starting to write the fourth book in my demon-hunting soccer mom series, DEJA DEMON,
b) finishing a proposal for a new paranormal romance series (which DESPERATELY needs a title), and
c) putting together a proposal for a project that I'm hoping will come to fruition, but is still in such an early stage that it may not get off the ground. Fingers crossed!
(Okay, a quick amendment ... the proposals are out the door! Yay! So now I'm focusing on the demon series, working on the next book and updating the series bible.)

Debra: It's nice to know I'm not the only author working on multiple maunscripts. Yes, fingers crossed on those proposals!

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Julie: I think Bradbury is right and it's not something that you actively do. Your cup is always being filled simply by being in the world around you. Going to the store, playing with your kids, reading books, taking long walks, sitting in a dark theater with a bag of popcorn! I think with regard to storytelling in particular, so much creativity spins off of the simple question: What if? If you're open and let yourself go from there, you can come up with any number of wonderful tales to tell!

Debra: Oh yes, the "what if" is the ultimate question for any weaver of stories.

Julie: The harder part, I think, is the second part of Bradbury's quote: tipping over and letting the good stuff out. I think that's what stymies a lot of potential authors. I know that I had hundreds of false starts in fiction, and a lot of that stemmed from a basic shyness in my personality. I wanted to write, but I didn't necessarily want to reveal myself.

Debra: This is so very true and I suspect it's where voice comes from. The more personal, the harder it is to share.

Julie: And even if you're writing about superheroes or psychotic killers or demon hunting soccer moms, a little bit of you will always seep into a story. It wasn't until I was finally able to get over that hurdle of letting other people (my mom, my friends) read my stuff, that I was able to step back and seriously think about trying to get it published.

Debra: 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?

Julie: Not really. I tend not to remember my dreams, and if I do remember them, they're usually more Lovecraftian than I tend to write.

Debra: As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Julie: Oh my gosh, yes! I was so influenced by books as a kid. Madeleine L'Engle and A Wrinkle in Time and it's sequels, Half Magic and all the other books by Edward Eager, Paul Zindel, Paula Danziger, Judy Blume. Zilpha Keatly Snyder. E.L. Konigsburg. Shel Silverstein. Man, I could go on forever!!

Debra: Madeline L'Engle and Shel Silverstein were also favorites of mine. I'm always happy to continue this conversation any time you bump into me at a writers conference. :)

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?

Julie: Honestly, I'm writing them! If you look at my book history, you can see that I've had a very varied past within women's fiction. I've been very fortunate that the ideas I've pitched have sold. That's not to say there haven't been rejections along the way – there most definitely have – but I don't feel like there's some story out there that's the book of my heart just waiting for the market to open up and let me write it.

Debra: 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?

Julie: Just that it's important to follow your dreams!

I'd love to hear from readers. I'm online at my website, http://www.juliekenner.com/
At my blog: http://writes-and-wrongs.blogspot.com/
And on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/juliekenner

Debra: Julie, I'm pleased you could join us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Julie: Thanks for having me!

Debra: It was my pleasure. :)

Make-Believe Monday with Anna Campbell

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce Anna Campbell. Anna writes historical romance for Avon.

Anna, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript
you’re working on now.

Anna: I’m working on my third dark, intense, sexy Regency historical for Avon which has been tentatively titled The Devil’s Due. I’d describe this story as a Regency Noir (thank you, Stephanie Laurens, I’m eternally in your debt for that description of my first book!) Affair to Remember. It’s about two people who’ve done everything and seen everything and who guard their feelings like Fort Knox. For these two, falling in love is the greatest risk they’ll ever take. I’m only in the first draft stage but I’m really enjoying writing this story. My hero and heroine are both clever, sophisticated and cynical and, boy, are they striking sparks off each other!

Debra: Sometimes falling in love is the greatest risk of all. I can't wait to read this one.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Anna: I listen to a lot of music, mainly classical, although popular contemporary and world and soundtracks and what I call my ‘dag’ collection get a regular run too. Do you have that word in the US?

Debra: This isn't a word I've heard of.

Anna: It means hopelessly uncool! My dag collection covers things like Herb Alpert and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and greatest hits of the ‘60s with all those tragic girly songs like You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me and Ne Me Quitte Pas and Where Do You Go to, My Lovely (I know it’s not a girl singing it, but it’s a girly song). Mind you, if I was being totally honest, I’d have to say I find my ‘dag’ collection the coolest thing out, at least for me! Spanish Flea really gets a party jumping! When I’m writing, the stereo is set mostly to classical. I find words distract me from what’s going on in my head. Even words in another language, so opera is out!

Debra: I like those oldies too, especially Frank. Somewhere I read that the right classical music can put us into a highly creative state.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Anna: Before I start writing, my hero and heroine have clamored for their place in the sun for a long time. Yes, Doctor, I do hear voices! With my first book for Avon, Claiming the Courtesan, which comes out this month, the two main characters were particularly vociferous (aka pushy!). I kept telling them that I wrote light romantic comedies, not dark, emotional books. And I certainly didn’t write sexy and if any characters needed someone who could write sexy, it was these two. When the book starts, the heroine is London’s most notorious courtesan and she’s been the hero’s mistress for a year. And he’s so intensely focused on the heroine, he basically burns up the air around him.

Debra: Oh, now that sounds steamy. :)

Anna: Anyway, eventually, just to shut them up, I wrote the first chapter, then the next, then eventually the complete book and it seemed I did write dark and intense, and hey, those love scenes made me blush but they seemed to come from somewhere! But it’s interesting – the people I think I know at the start of the book reveal layers and layers of complexity as I tell their story. They end up being much richer beings than they are when we first meet – it’s like getting to know someone over the course of a wonderful friendship. I’m really getting into the right space when the characters take over the story and start telling me what they’re doing. They really do develop a separate, vivid existence of their own. It’s odd, it’s hard to explain, but it definitely happens.

Debra: I think you've explained it very well.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Anna: I was a great Enid Blyton fan when I was a kid. Read her like she was going out of fashion (actually, I think at the time, she was! Although I’m pleased to see that she’s since come back to her rightful place in the world). My mother kept a composition I wrote in grade two where I proudly proclaimed to the world that I was going to be the new Enid Blyton. At least I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!

Debra: And here you are! Living the dream. :)

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?

Anna: Hold on to your dreams as hard as you can. Remember why you had that dream when you’re disheartened or disappointed or tired and impatient. When I was six, I had a dream that one day, I’d have a book published – even if the final result is far removed from an Enid Blyton! Now, so many years later, I can hardly believe that Claiming the Courtesan with my name on it is in the bookstores! Long live dreams!

Debra: Yes! Long live dreams!

Anna, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Readers can visit Anna at http://www.annacampbell.info/