Make-Believe Mondays With Ann Lethbridge

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Ann Lethbridge, who writes Regencies for Harlequin Historicals

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

Ann: I am currently working on my third book for Harlequin Historicals, it is a story of misplaced revenge and I am enjoying it enormously. My first book with them, The Rake’s Inherited Courtesan is due out in April. I was also invited to submit a short story to their Undone line which is out this month, The Rake’s Intimate Encounter which you can download at eharlequin.com. The second book is waiting for the editor’s edits and so I am busy with number three, expecting at any moment to have to stop and go back to book number two to make revisions. Up to now all of my books have been and are regencies. I would love to write a paranormal/fantasy one of these days, but I am having so much fun with the regencies, I haven’t quite managed to fit one in.

Debra: If you're fun writing them, then you know that is what you were meant to do. I'm a firm believer in doing the things that bring us joy.

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

Ann: It is my characters coming alive and seeing and hearing them that usually sets me off on the path of my story. In the one I am working on currently, I envisaged a privateer firing on a fleeing merchant ship and his enemy’s daughter on board. I do tend to see and hear my characters long before I actually start to write anything down. At that point I don’t have a clue about their backstory, who they are, and why they are doing what they are doing. Once I am a few scenes into the book and sometimes even later, they begin to reveal interesting details. It makes for lots of surprises and some very interesting conversations. Now and again I will get an idea for a plot and have the character’s develop because of it, but not often.

Debra: Ah privateers. I love stories about pirates. It's nice, that process of getting to know new characters. Like meeting a new friend.

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?

Ann: I don’t dream, as in fall asleep and wake up remembering a scene, because I rarely if ever remember anything but nightmares and they don’t usually make sense. I do however find myself entering a dream state when I’m working on a book, it might be while I am doing the dishes, or walking the dog, or just lying on the couch wondering, “what comes next” ~ I write alone at home in the day, so this is quite a frequent occurrence, and very much to the delight of my dog. I really do believe I need to achieve another level of consciousness to reach into the depths of creativity. Certainly the scenes come alive in pictures and fragments of speech, rather than in full blown paragraphs. It sometimes requires quite a bit of patience to knock them into sentences and words though.
The worst thing is getting distracted between the playing out of the scene and getting to a computer or a writing pad, because like dreams they can slip away.

Debra: I have come to believe this state is a form of self hypnosis. Maybe that is one reason it is sometimes an effort to get the story down on paper they way you see and hear it. Like a dream that waking state is an other way of being and thinking.

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?

Ann: You ask some very interesting questions Debra. I would say to writers, keep on dreaming, but do sit down and write as well and to those who read, use our dreams to take you out of your everyday world and enjoy the ride.

Debra: Why thank you, Ann. When I came up with the questions I asked myself what I would want to know should I have a dinner party and authors all around the table. Three years later and I'm still not tired of these questions.

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

For more information you can find Ann at www.annlethbridge.com or rambling through regency England at .micheleannyoung.blogspot.com with her very good friend.

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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

This is a busy week as I am revising my novella and planning for RT and book signings.

It is also my turn to blog over at Title Wave and that post will be up next.

Today my guest on Make-Believe Mondays is Delle Jacobs.

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

Delle: Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Debra. What a fun subject you have!

Delle: My current works in progress would fit right in with that because they’re both fantasies, and both historical, which combines two types of fantasy in one.

SIDHE is a very sensual medieval paranormal story set in Norman England. The Sidhe (pronounced Shee, are the Celtic faeriekind, not your ordinary wee creature casting about fairy dust, but tall, slim and elegant descendants of the legendary Tuatha de Danaan, with powers beyond those humans can comprehend. Leonie of Bosewood, daughter of a Norman lord, hides her true Sidhe heritage, lest odinary humans think her a witch. But a forced marriage to a Norman she believes means to kill her thrusts her into the middle of a furious struggle for power over Northern England, pitting Normans against Scots. She is forced to ally with her mysterious and frightening husband against even more dangerous, unknown powers that threaten to destroy them, the world of man and the hidden world of the Sidhe.

SIREN is completely different, a short novella that is a very hot, sensual re-telling of the Siren myth. For thousands of years, sirens have lured sailors to their deaths with their beautiful song. Clipper ship Captain John Wall has heard and felt the lure, and it took everything he had in him to resist its power. But he will let nothing and no one stand between him and his dreams of success and wealth. Then, just as he is about to achieve his goal, he meets the King of Storms, and his beloved ship, with the cargo that cost him his last shilling, goes down off the Coast of Africa. Clinging to debris and nearly dead, he succumbs to the Siren’s kiss, and in her embrace, slips beneath the waves. He believes he must be dead, for what happens to him is beyond his wildest imagination.

Debra: It's my pleasure, Delle, and thank you. I love stories about faeries and sirens.

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?

Delle: I think this is both an enormous challenge, and an easy fix. The power is always in our own minds, and how we open ourselves to new ideas comes not just from our natural creativity but how we challenge it and shove it around. I don’t buy the Muse theory. I’m not willing to let anything so arbitrary control my mind. It’s my own responsibility to get my imagination in gear. I do lots of things, like read or go through my large collection of books with photos of settings I love. I try to avoid surfing the net because it’s too easy to waylay myself with something that’s fun but mindless. I try to look beyond the narrow scope of what I’m currently writing, to different times or places, or people who wouldn’t normally be in my story. These can often lend a piece that fits into my puzzle and gives it unique qualities.

I’ve discovered that when I encounter a mind block or stuck place in my story, the problem is not that my brain just won’t cooperate. I’m actually at a point of opportunity. This is my chance to take my story out of the ordinary into something special. I use the technique I learned from Jolie Kramer: “List ten things that could happen. Throw away the first six because they’re trite.” The reality is, I rarely get to six before I find the perfect solution- the one thing I know in my heart is what would really happen.

And the funny part of this is, the more I write, the better my imaginations does its job.

Debra: Yes, and when it becomes the day job, we can't be sitting around staring at the blank page and hoping the muse will arrive. We have to do things to make it happen.

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

Delle: Yes, the ornery devils. They never let me write my own stories. I may think I know the best way to go, but they don’t care.

Debra: They can be stubborn that way. :-)

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?

Delle: My most creative writing time comes to me in the reverie right before I fall asleep. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to wake up enough to jot down a few notes in the notebook beside my bed. If not, sometimes I manage to persuade myself to memorize the dream to write it in the morning. True dreams, when I’m really asleep, also influence my writing. The basic concept for SIREN came to me in a dream. The mindset (that’s the only way I can describe it) for SIDHE was part of a dream, which I developed into the concept the next morning. A number of scenes and secrets (it’s full of secrets) of SIDHE have come in dreams through the year I’ve been writing it. They’ve given the story a completely different cast from what it would have been.

Debra: Those bedside notebooks are sometimes the only way to capture what might otherwise drift back into the world of dreams, making us forget.

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?*

Delle: Even as a child, I was always one to go off into the world of Make Believe for adventure. So I think it’s wonderful that as an adult I still get to visit that world daily, simply because I write fiction.

We read and write fiction because there is something in us that must have a world beyond ourselves. Fiction helps us to reach beyond our own limitations to grasp for the stars. It reminds us of a bigger universe and takes us out of the isolation of our inner being. Those who learn to reach beyond themselves, through fiction or other means, find they have more to give to the world than their simple day-to-day existence. They have the sort of far-reaching vision that can make the world a better place.

Debra: Yes, indeed. Well stated.

Readers please visit Delle at:

Website: http://dellejacobs.com

Delle: I’m excited by it because I’ve just got the new one up. Completely re-decorated! I still have some pages and links I want to add, and still spotting bloopers. Feel free to tell me if you see anything wrong.

My blog is new, and is generating lots of excitement. That’s because it’s about something that interests all romance readers and writers: IN SEARCH OF HEROES

We’re exploring heroes and all aspects of them, real or fictional.
Check it out at
www.dellejacobs.blogspot.com

I have some great book videos (and a holiday greeting you’ll like) on YouTube: Delle on Utube

My latest book release, APHRODITE’S BREW, will come out in print at the end of this month, January 27^th . It’s available now as an ebook, as is SINS OF THE HEART.

Delle-Jacobs at Samhain
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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

www.debraparmley.com

This week I'm a day late posting the interview and seem to be behind on everything. I've been down with something for the last six days but have antibiotic for it now and hope to catch up and be feeling better by the end of the week.

We all have weeks like that, don't we?

One happy little plus is, my flight for the RT convention has been purchased this week. I am looking forward to sunny Orlando, visiting with friends, teaching, and signing books. Something to think about on a cold January day when I'm feeling rather icky. Now that I have my schedule set I'll be posting it in the calendar section on my website this week.

Stay warm, be well, and do something today that makes you smile!

Debra

Make-Believe Mondays With Erastes

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Erastes.

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

Erastes: I've just finished editing "Transgressions" which is an English Civil war (gay) romance and will be out in April--and I've just started something new. It's very new, and I'm not really sure where it's going yet. I'm not a plotter, in general--sending an outline to a publisher terrifies the life out of me--and so far I've got "character character character in a coach on their way to X"

It's going to be set in the Norfolk Broads, because I live here - and I suddenly realised that I'd be barmy not to use such an enigmatic, Gothic landscape for a Gothic novel. I can't say much about the plot as yet, as it's a mystery as well as a romance, but if I were to say "gay Victorian Vertigo" that might give people a flavour of what I'm aiming for.

Debra: Yes, that is a perfect setting for a Gothic novel. You'd be surprised how many authors have done just that, written books set outside of their surroundings and then suddenly realized the place they call home is the perfect setting for what they want to write. :-)

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?

Erastes: I'm not really sure. I'm constantly being touched with small brushes of inspiration. I see something on the TV, or I read something, or overhear a conversation, or have an email from someone and something sparks--and I think. "Hmmm. Now what if I were to drop that sort of thing back to the 18th century, make it homosexual, change this and that...." - that's the wonderful thing about gay historical fiction - there are so very many ideas that have not yet been explored, the genre is still very finite.

Debra: Small brushes of inspiration is a lovely way to describe it. Everything which we come into contact with becomes fodder for the page, even the slightest thing we brush up against.

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

Erastes: Definitely. In fact I find it hard to write until that process has happened. I may not know my plot in advance but I HAVE to know my characters before I can get involved with them. I find the best way to avoid writer's block is to write my own fanfic - put the character into a situation and see how he deals with it. I must know not only how they look, but how they dress, what their mannerisms are, their speech patterns, whether they are stubborn, or carelessly cruel. I think this deep immersion technique helps to bring the characters to the reader, quickly and seemingly effortlessly. It gets to a stage when the characters start nagging me to get on with it, or I'll be yelling at them to stop bloody TALKING and kiss already!

Debra: That inevitable question - Are you a plotter or a pantser (writing by the seat of your pants for those who don't write) has always seemed to me to be a question which leaves out the vast middle, as if there were only two ways to write. Many authors begin with character studies and go about the process in just the way you described. There is more than one or two ways to write story.

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?

Erastes: I don't think I've ever created words, per se, not in the way that Lewis Carroll did for example--but I will play with word structure, creating double barrelled words that illustrate something more succinctly. I haven't tried this technique in my novels yet, I think that 100,000 words of Erastes doing slipstream would be a bit wearing, (laughs) but I have done it in some short published stories, such as Drug Colours which appeared in Where the Boys Are by Cleis. Or I'll warp the imagery - the piece is about drugs and punks in London in 1978.

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?

No, I'm afraid not. I'm hopeless! I often do dream what seem to me to be the most brilliant scenes ever (I doubt they are) and I wake up and think, I must remember that in the morning, and I never do. One of these days I'll get a voice recorder and put it next to the bed and see just how brilliant my ideas in the night really are!

Debra: Now that is an excellent idea. I'd get a voice recorder too except that my spouse would probably not appreciate me waking him up by talking into it. With a dream journal I can quietly use a book light.

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

Erastes: Far too many to count, really. I was reading long before I went to school and my mother was actually told off for putting me so far ahead of most of the class. I think the one that has stayed with me forever has to be The Narnian Chronicles because I beleived in that world completely. Still do, in a way, still looking hopefully into wardrobes.

Debra: Oh, yes, I had a teacher like that. Brought my mother in for a conference because "Debar always has her head in a book" and she was "concerned" Well and I still peer into and under things. Who knows, perhaps one of us will find Narnia after 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?

Erastes: I think I'll probably disappoint people here, because what I'd like to do more than anything is to write gay historical fiction in more of the way that I'd like to write it--without the category, without the genre, without the expectation of a happy ending, without being trammelled with "your hero must be 18" - because all that is nonsense when you start writing historical fiction. I don't necessarily WANT to write sad endings, but I want to be able to have the freedom to do so without my publisher automatically turning them down because everyone wants a HEA. It's a tricky thing to manage, especially in the Regency!

Debra: Yes, romance of any sort must have that happy ending. I admit if a romantic movie doesn't end with the two of them together, say one is killed off, I am a bit upset and want to rewrite the end. But that is just me. There is a reader out there for every story, I believe.

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?

Erastes: I suppose the most important thing I could say at the moment is don't be too influenced by what people say. Listen to advice, certainly, but don't take it if it's not right for you. Let the story and the characters guide you, and if it goes in a different way to the way that other books go, don't stress about it. When I first started out, I didn't realise that there were "rules" - like POVs and HEAs and the like. I just wrote. The more I learned, the more I found it difficult to write. I just now trying to break myself of those bonds of reader and publisher expectations and am struggling to find my voice again.

Debra: Voice can be so hard to find and can be difficult to hold onto. I hope you find it soon and can hold onto it.

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 Erastes at
www.erastes.com
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www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Rae Lori

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Rae Lori.

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

Rae: Hi Debra, thanks for having me as a guest! I’m currently working on a few. Two are sequels to the first books in my two series, Within the Shadows of Mortals and Mind’s Awakening. Both are paranormals, one focuses on an underground group of vampires, werewolves and shifters that are being hunted once humans find out about them. Two people, a fairy and a vampire couple are at the center of all the controversy. The latter book focuses on a tribe of Skinwalkers and one girl apart of the tribe comes upon a amnesiac member who may be the heir to the throne of a local tribe. I love writing paranormals but I also have some other genres I’ll be working on probably after I finish these in the series.

Debra: It's a pleasure having you here! There's just something about a paranormal, isn't there? I'm being drawn there myself lately. They are such fun to write.

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?

Rae: Ooh good quote. Bradbury is one of my favorite authors. I usually take a break from writing and do something completely unrelated. Diving into my artwork really helps me to switch focus and get on that right side of my brain. So does working on something other than my WIPs, maybe a short story prompt for a market I may be eyeing. Or just the usual watching a movie, climbing on the elliptical, kickboxing or playing Tomb Raider and/or Silent Hill. ;-)

Debra: Bradbury is wonderful and that's one of my favorite quotes. I think you are the first author in all this time to mention kickboxing. That's awesome. ;-)

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

Rae: Yes definitely! I love it when that happens because I have a feeling I’m doing something right and I’ve given them enough background to jump off the page. I find it takes a bit to get to that point, especially when I’m starting a new story. Usually when events pop up that sync into some thing that happened near the beginning really makes it feel like they have a history.

Debra: There's nothing like that feeling when you can finally hear them and see them and everything starts to fall into place.

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?

Rae: That actually happened with my first book Cimmerian City. I think I had just seen Blade II and I had a dream about being in a deserted train or bus station at night. I walked across some tracks that were supposed to be empty but then I heard the blare a train’s horn alerting its arrival despite it being deserted. There was an overall ominous feeling about the whole thing and it stayed with me once I woke up. I knew I had to add it to my book.

Debra: Oh, I love these stories of dreams guiding us to write. Some very good stories come out of that and it's just fascinating.

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?

Rae: That actually sounds like fun. I’d probably write a historical fantasy romance about a woman coming of age and eventually coming to terms with finding love. It’s sort of like an idea I have in mind for a side character in a classic favorite book I read in high school, only without the fantasy ingredient.

Debra: Hmmm then at some point you must write that one. ;-)

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?

Rae: Writing to me is like another form of dreaming, especially when you just let it all flow out like Bradbury said. The subconscious is at work while watching the characters interact and grow in your mind’s eye. It’s the same experience for the reader when they lose themselves in the world you’ve created. It takes them away from their world and life for a little bit and I guess that’s why reading is so addicting. There’s a certain magical quality to it that really touches something personal inside. For your readers, I’d say never stop reading and if you feel compelled and inspired by something you’ve read to create your own work, do so. You may never know what worlds may come from your own imagination.

Debra: This is so true. To be in the zone of writing is like nothing else. The same is true of reading and being swept into that world. We should always trust in our imaginations wherever they choose to lead us.

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

Rae: Thanks for having me, Debra! Feel free to drop by my sites and add me on any networks you may be apart of. I love to hear from readers anytime: Rachel@Raelori.com

Website – www.raelori.com
Blog - raelori.blogspot.com
Myspace – www.myspace.com/Rachelbeachgirl
www.myspace.com/Cimmerian_City
Twitter - www.twitter.com/RaeLori

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I've been nominated for a CAPA award and I'm just thrilled about it! Here's a little bit about it:

Nominees for the Sixth Annual Cupid and Psyche Awards (CAPA)

For more details on the CAPA's, see theromancestudio.com/capa.php

Here are the nominees in each category nominated only by the reviewers of
TRS. Congratulations everyone!

Historical romance category:
A Desperate Journey by Debra Parmley (Samhain Publishing)
Moon Of The falling Leaves by Diane davis White (Highland Press)
Annabel's Courtship by Lucy Monroe (Samhain Publishing)
Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes (Sourcebooks)
Where the Heart Is by Sheridon Smythe (The Wild Rose Press)
The Captive Heart by Bertrice Small (Berkley)
The Pearl at the Gate by Anya Delvay (samhain Publishing)
Dido's Prize by Eugenia O'Neal (Parker Publishing)

Planning my calendar this week and will have events posted on my website
www.debraparmley.com by next Monday. The book launch party, book signings, writers events, all those new and exciting things!