Make-Believe Mondays With Antonia Pearce

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Antonia Pearce.

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

Antonia: I'm working on a number of projects right now. I have an erotic suspense with paranormal elements trilogy called, Nemesis: The Legacy, Nemesis: The Wraith and Nemesis: The Successor in the works, also and erotic contemporary called, "Rub Me Right," and erotic paranormal called tentatively, "Windward Destiny" and a Celtic/Gael inspired Medieval fantasy with a working title of "Sword." When I become blocked on one story or get an idea for a scene for a different story, I have to switch. Unfortunately, the only way I can stay true to one story is when I am meeting a tight deadline.

Debra: Yes, it's a great way to keep from getting blocked. And it's always nice to know I'm not the only one who works on multiple manuscripts in this way.

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?

Antonia: Reading books, watching people around me, movies, music, just living life. I never have a problem coming up with a new idea for a story, unless the parameters for that story are extremely narrow or center on something I know nothing about. My husband says I "do the 'what if' scenarios." Yes, duh, I'm a writer, that's how I write my stories. Years ago, in my other life, I was a nurse. If you are a nurse and don't plan for contingencies your patients could be in real trouble and how would you know what those might be? I'm a "what-ifer" and proud of it!

Now, letting "the beautiful stuff out," that's the real trick, isn't it? As I said before, I have no problem getting halfway through a story. Then I'll usually hit a wall and I have to push a bit to get going again. I don't outline, but I do always know where I want to go.

Debra: Those murky middles that so many of us strufggle with. "What if" is the way all my stories start too. :) I agree it is a thing to be proud of.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or image that later wound up in one of your books?

Antonia: Oh, absolutely. I have used characters, concepts, plot devices or even whole scenes that I got from a dream. The trick is getting them in the computer before I forget the details.

Debra: Yes, that's the tricky part. Holding on to them once we wake.

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

Antonia: The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett was quite memorable. The imagery of that story stays with me today. Also, the Bobbsey Twins mysteries, the Trixie Beldon mysteries, the Nancy Drew mysteries. Also, the Cherry Ames nurse series. I was always in an imaginary world, LOL. Usually hunting for a real mystery. Then I discovered Georgette Heyer, Barbara Cartland, and Gothic romances when I was about eleven or twelve…

Debra: The Secret Garden is a wonderful story.
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?

Antonia: One I love to explore is the death experience. Is a dead character really finished? Or can they stay in the story? What is death? What are ghosts? My fantasy story, "Sword" pretty much pushes the boundaries with this. Plus, it has the whole Celtic/Medieval ambiance going on and lots of horses, swords and sword fighting. I adore swashbucklers and paranormals, so this is going to be my version of that combination.

Debra: Very interesting questions to play with. Oh, I can't wait for 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?

Antonia: Control your internal editor. It can stop the creative process dead in its tracks. Don't let that cool dream or that great story idea go to waste because you tell yourself it's dumb, or you think person X might not like it. Also, you have to be willing to let your imagination do its job. It's a scary thing to do and you may face criticism from critique partners, reviewers, editors, etc. No question about it. You are putting yourself out there on a limb. You have to learn to sort through the negative things and use the constructive points to improve your writing and marketability and put the rest away.

I'd love to hear from readers.

I'm online at my website, http://www.antoniapearceromance.com

At my blog: http://antoniapearceromance.blogspot.com

And on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/antoniapearce

Debra: Antonia, that is such excellent advice. Thank you for joining us here on this Make-Believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Antonia: Thank you again for inviting me, Debra! What great questions! It's been a pleasure visiting with you and your readers.

Debra: Thanks, Antonia. It has been my pleasure as well.

Make-Believe Mondays With Janice Maynard

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Janice Maynard.

Janice, first tell us a little bit about the manuscript you are working on now.

Janice: I just turned in a book at the end of February that will be out in January 2008 - tentative title "The Perfect Ten". It's about three female cousins who own a shop called "Lotions and Potions". When hunky, wonderful men suddenly start showing up in their lives, the women wonder if a new lotion they have created just might be an aphrodisiac!

Debra: Oh my. Women would swarm to a store that had a lotion like that. ;)

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

Janice: My characters walk around in my head like a movie. When I am in the midst of writing a book, it is sometimes hard to sleep at night, because when I close my eyes, I keep writing dialog and scenes in my head...

Debra: I understand that. I'm more likely to get caught up in the writing at night, too. Sometimes it's better to just stay up and get the words out.

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

Janice: As a child I read anything and everything! I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys. The entire Little Women series... some nurse books about Cherry Ames. And an older author called Maud Hart Lovelace who wrote the Betsy, Tracy and Tip books. I really enjoyed the Five Little Peppers books...the Borrowers series...

I could go on and on!

Debra: Oh, I had forgotten about the Borrowers. What a fascinating series that was. So imaginative.

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?

Janice: I truly love writing "plain old" romance. Boy meets girls with really hot scenes and a happy ending! Although I enjoy reading many subgenres such as Erin McCarthy's vampires and Mary Janice Davidson's Betsy books, the stories I most love to write are about that magical journey for a man and a woman who are falling in love! People like you and me. :)

Debra: I agree. There is no better story than that magical journey of falling in love.

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?

Janice: One of the best part of being a writer is finally getting to tell the stories that I've imagined for so many years. That's magic!

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

Janice: Thanks for including me in Make-Believe Mondays!

Please visit Janice at www.janicemaynard.com and www.vampsandscamps.blogspot.com

Make-Believe Mondays Announcement

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, we're taking a break from our regular schedule so I can make this announcement.

My first novel, Desperate Journey, the American Title II manuscript, just sold to Samhain Publishing and I am thrilled!

One of my friends once asked if I had answered the Make-Believe Monday interview questions for my own interview for the day when I sold my first book. I hadn't thought of that, or of who I might get to interview me. :) I'll schedule my interview for the week the book first comes out, but since I don't have a publishing date yet, I don't know when that will be. I'll keep you posted. ;)

Make-Believe Monday with Melissa Mayhue

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce my friend Melissa Mayhue. Melissa writes for Pocket and her first book is coming out in July.

Melissa, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript

you’re working on now.

Melissa: Right now I’m working on the third book in the Daughters of the Glen series. The first – THIRTY NIGHTS WITH A HIGHLAND HUSBAND – is due to hit the shelves in July 2007. The second – HIGHLAND GUARDIAN – is slated for November 2007. This third book, tentatively titled SOUL OF A HIGHLANDER – is a time travel back to 13th century Scotland, just like the first. And like both the other two, it’s set in a world of where Faeries, both good and evil, walk among us. I’m enjoying writing this book because my heroine appeared in the first book, and the hero comes from the second book. It’s almost like a reunion!

Debra: Highlanders and faeries, well I can't even begin to tell you how I'm looking forward to reading these books.

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

Melissa: My characters come alive from the first moment I envision them. I ‘see’ them before I ever write the first word. But, I do have to admit, they constantly surprise me. I’ve had more than one character who just refused to be what he was originally written to be. As a result, I’ve had to learn to be flexible with my characters and their stories!

Debra: And as some of your characters are faeries, I wouldn't be surprised if they played tricks on you as well. ;)

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

Melissa: I was an avid reader from the moment I learned to read. To me, there was nothing better than escaping into a whole new world within the covers of a book. I loved the entire Nancy Drew series and had every single story. But the first book that I loved enough to read over and over and over was THE MOONSPINNERS by Mary Stewart. Though I haven’t read it in many years, I still have an old copy on my bookshelves.

Debra: Oh, I loved that book! Wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy of it as well.

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?

Melissa: I honestly don’t think I set out to write to meet any categories or expectations, other than my own. I write what I like to read. When I finished the first book, it was difficult for me to describe what category it fit into exactly. It’s a little bit historical, a little contemporary, and a little suspense, with a little magic and a healthy dose of Faeries. Oh, and of course there’s the time travel. Thank goodness for the all-encompassing category of “Paranormal!” And when you’ve got characters that spend part of their time in the world of Mortals and part of their time living in the Realm of Faerie...well, I think my imagination is already engaged here!

Debra: I agree. And the stories sound wonderful.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction?

Melissa: I believe reading is all about imagination and dreams. I want a heroine I can identify with and a hero I can fall in love with. To me, if I’ve invested hours of my time in reading a book, when I turn that last page, I want to be happy and feel satisfied that things turned out the way I wanted them to. I can find enough sorrow and controversy in the newspaper or on television, or just in everyday life. When I sink into a book for a good read, I want a Happy Ever After. My goal as a writer is to deliver that!

Debra: Yes, we all need a bit of dreaming. Everyday life is hard enough. The joy a good story can bring to the reader is a great gift.

Any other message for our readers?

Melissa: I’d like to invite everyone to stop by my website [www.MelissaMayhue.com] where they can read a sample from each of the first two books. And by all means, if anyone has questions or comments, don’t hesitate to drop me an email. I’d love to hear from you! Also, my new MySpace page is taking shape now. Feel free to visit there, where I’ll try to keep the latest information on my books and writing updated. [www.MySpace.com/MelissaMayhue].

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

Melissa: Thank you, Debra! I think it’s wonderful that you offer this spot for readers and writers to connect. I’ve loved being here today.

Debra: Why thank you, Melissa. It has been my pleasure.

Make-Believe Monday with Diane Whiteside

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Diane Whiteside.

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

Diane: I’m currently working on Bond of Fire, Volume 2 of my Texas vampire trilogy. It’s Jean-Marie St. Just’s story, a Frenchman who’s loved only one woman and has waited almost two hundred years for her. But to save his family, he may need to do the one thing she can’t forgive: kill her sister – who’s trying to murder his brother.

Debra: That sounds like an exciting 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?

Diane: Music and meditation keep me relaxed and happy enough to let my muse bubble up.

Debra: Relaxation is important when getting into that creative zone.

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

Diane: Always. A story’s starting point is always a high-emotion scene. But I can’t really begin to write until the characters are banging on the inside of my skull, desperate to get out and onto the page. That’s when I can see and hear them, just as if they were standing in front of me.

Debra: What a great image. I can just see it.

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?

Diane: Alas, no. I do like to play with words from very obscure languages, though.

Debra: What fun!

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?

Diane: Visuals rarely come to me from dreams but words frequently do. I actually once unlocked a very complicated plot this way, coming up with three major plot points for the backstory, which sent the book spinning forward.

Debra: How interesting. I hope you keep a notepad by the bed.

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

Diane: Zane Grey, JRR Tolkien, Georgette Heyer, and Elswyth Thane. I can still recite entire passages and see their worlds in my mind’s eye.

Debra: It's wonderful how some stories stick with us this way.

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?

Diane: It would definitely be a futuristic space opera with pirates, based on the 17th-18th century world. Swashbuckling to the max!

Debra: Oh, what fun! I hope you write that one some day.

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?

Diane: Trust them. Don’t edit or dilute them. They’re the greatest source of creative power.

Debra: Such excellent advice.

Diane, thank you for joining us here on Make-Believe Mondays to share a bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Diane: Thank you for letting me join you, Debra!

Debra: It was my pleasure.

Readers may visit Diane at www.dianewhiteside.com

Make-Believe Monday with Beth Williamson

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Beth Williamson.

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

Beth: I’m working on The Legacy – book 7 of the Malloy family series.

Debra: 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?

Beth: I love that quote! Hm, how do I keep my creative cup filled? I think I suffer from an overabundance of imagination to begin with, so it doesn’t take much for my creative cup to tip over. LOL! But to energize myself, I read a book from my enormous TBR pile or watch a good movie. Sometimes I pick one of my favs to re-read or watch again.

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

Beth: If I say yes, you won’t call the men in white coats will you?

Debra: Oh, no. You'd be in good company as so many authors I know (including myself) experience this with every book they write.

Beth: Yes, absolutely! I hear them and see them all the time. I carry an MP3 player that I can record on and as I drive back and forth to work, I write scenes out loud.

Debra: 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?

Beth: I don’t write fantasy or paranormal or sci-fi, so I’ve never had occasion to make up words. However, I do like to use phrases or character-specific words that you always associate with them. Like in The Bounty, Tyler called Nicky “Magpie” – it started as an insult and became a term of endearment.

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?

Beth: Absolutely! I had a very, er, erotic dream last week that I proposed to my editor at Loose Id for a story. She thought she might need a new fire extinguisher. ROFL!

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

Beth: You know I always read books and went to the library, but I can’t remember any childhood book pulling me too hard. However, when I started reading romances, that’s when it happened. Man alive, I fell in love with the genre immediately.

Debra: 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?

Beth: A story where the reader gets completely captivated by the characters, cannot put it down, and experiences true emotions when reading it. The very best books are the ones that make me cry, laugh, and rage right along with them.

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?

Beth: I think imagination is the cornerstone of what it is to be human. Without dreams and imagining things, there would be no books or readers. What fun would that be? Writing books allows me to share my dreams and imagination, to spread my wings and soar in the land of words, carrying readers on my wings.

Debra: And as your imagination allows you to soar, the readers can soar along with you. :)

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

Make-Believe Monday with Susan Stephens

We're a day late on Make-Believe Mondays this week because I just returned home from the RT convention. It was a pleasure to meet so many authors and readers at the convention and to discover how many of you enjoy reading this little blog. Thank you for all the kind and supportive comments. And now, I would like to introduce Susan Stephens.

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

I have just finished working on an on-line Daily serial for e-harlequin, called The Venetian's Defiant Woman, which plunged me into the drama and glamorous eroticism of the international Presents genre, and now I’m working on a manuscript for Harlequin Modern Series Extra, which is young and sassy, and very, very sexy, with arguably a lighter look at life and love. For this I’ve taken a super bright heroine, who nevertheless sees herself as a bit of a country bumpkin, and set her in conflict with a wickedly attractive Italian American called Lorenzo Domenico who holds our heroine, Carly’s legal career in the palm of his hand. For Carly and Lorenzo it’s a case of light the blue touch paper, and stand well back!

Debra: Sounds like sparks will be flying in 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?

Susan: Life itself fills my creative cup. Every day my senses are replenished with the stuff of enough stories to keep me writing well into my dotage! Walking in the countryside seems to be when my ideas crystallize. I start off with the germ of an idea, and by the time I get back home I’m burning to get back to the computer.

Debra: There is something about the motions of walking or riding on a train which allows those creative ideas to flow, isn't there?

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

Susan: I hear snatches from the word go, but even though I work to a vague sort of word map I write several drafts before I finish, because it’s only when I get to the end of a book that I understand the journey my characters have taken. I just have to go back at this point and flesh our their sentiments and bring them to life.

Debra: Susan, thank you for joining us here on Make-Believe Mondays to share a bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

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/

Make-Believe Monday with Susan Grant

Today on Make-Believe on Make-Believe Mondays, I'm pleased to introduce Susan Grant.

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

Susan: I just finished edits on How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days. It comes out in August July 26th. It’s a stand alone final book in my Earthling trilogy. I love bringing back bad boys as heroes. I got to here. Reef was the villain from Your Planet or Mine? He’s a cyborg assassin whose hardware is ultimately disabled, requiring him to learn to live as a human. Since he’s being hunted by killers of his own, he’s forced into a witness protection program...in divorced mom Evie Holloway’s suburban home!

Debra: There is something about bad boys, isn't there?

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?

Susan: I try to do nice things FOR ME--like bubble baths, and pedicures, and long walks in pretty places, or a good book in my favorite chair, or a meal of my favorite foods, i.e. Treat Yourself. It’s easy to not make time for this, but you have to if you’re to keep your muse plumped up and content.

Debra: This is so true. We should schedule a little me time every day, even if it's only twenty minutes.

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

Susan: Oh, yes! They seem so real to me that I tend to forget they’re not people I’ve actually met and interacted with!

Debra: So good to hear this. At a certain point they stop being characters and become people.

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?

Susan: Not dreamed, no but lived them, yes. I fly all over the world as a 747 airline pilot. I had the best adventures in foreign lands. Many of these experiences make their way into my books. For instance, at dawn on the street in Shanghai, there is a lady who will cook you breakfast for about 25 cents. She has a metal drum cover a coal fire. She’ll pour a cup-full of batter and a filling you choose, like cooked vegetables, and make you a crepe. The “pancake lady” as we call her, showed up in the book The Scarlet Empress, in a futuristic version of Korea, where my characters are starving and on the run form the bad guys, and buy street food!

Debra: Oh, I love these travel stories! (I'm probably going to corner you at RT, you know, pestering you to tell me more.) :)

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?

Susan: Why, the ones I am writing now!

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?

Susan: I want to tell all the yet-to-be writers here not to give up hope, to hang tough and never take the first (or even the 2nd or 3rd “no” for an answer). I always want to let each and every reader of my books how deeply I appreciate them. I just sold my 12th book. It would not have been possible without you.

I have a website at http://www.susangrant.com/

A blog, too! http://www.susangrant.blogspot.com/

And Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/susangrant
Thank you for having me at Make-believe Monday!

Debra: It was my pleasure, Susan.

Make-Believe Monday with Bonnie Vanak

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce my friend Bonnie Vanak. All my bellydancer friends will be thrilled to meet you here as they are always asking about books with bellydancing in the story. ;)

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

Bonnie: I just finished my first Silhouette NOCTURNE book. The working title is Empath, and is slotted for December 2007. It’s about a gentle veterinarian seduced by a fierce warrior werewolf who must mate with her and turn her into a killer to destroy the shapeshifters stalking his pack. Maggie is an empath, a werewolf who heals with her touch. She’s been living as a human, blocking out any knowledge of being a wolf. Nicolas is a big, muscled werewolf who has devoted his life to killing the enemy to keep his pack safe and he extends this protection quite vigorously to Maggie, his mate. I love the dichotomy between these two. Nicolas is a killer and Maggie is nonviolent. In the end, their differences make them stronger. He forces Maggie to acknowledge her wolf and she exposes the tender, vulnerable side of Nicolas that he’s afraid to show to the world.

Debra: The dichotomy is fascinating. I look forward to reading their 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?

Bonnie: Excellent question! I love that quote, and have used it often. A good author friend, Jennifer Ashley, always reminds me to “fill the well” and take a break. It’s really necessary for us as writers to take a break and sit back and relax. For me, it’s watching a good movie, relaxing with my hubby on the beach near our home or just going for a walk and letting my imagination drift. If I had more time, I’d take more trips to places that inspire me. Part of EMPATH was written on the beach on the west coast, and the opening chapters are set there. That always inspires me; being able to research a location.

Debra: The beach does this for me as well. There is something about the ever changing ocean and those shifting sands.

Bonnie: For my Egyptian books, I’ve never traveled to Egypt but I find inspiration in books, magazine articles and television specials on Egypt. Just the idea of exploring ancient Egyptian history fills my well!

Debra: You and I both share a love of ancient Egpyt. I once pulled our son out of junior high when a famous Egyptologist visited our college to speak. He wanted to be an Egyptologist when he grew up and I think he still has the tape. One day perhaps we'll both go there.

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

Bonnie: Definitely! I suppose it sounds odd, but my characters do surface and begin to speak their minds. In The Sword & the Sheath, my March Egyptian release, Tarik was quite assertive in stating his demands in wanting to seduce Fatima, the heroine assigned to guard him. And Fatima was equally demanding in her need to prove herself among the men. I remember writing one scene in Starbucks on a Sunday… it was the scene where Fatima watches women belly dance for Tarik and then one woman comes over to take him to her bed for the night. He refuses because he wants only Fatima, his beautiful Tima, his only love, not just the pleasures of the flesh. I could see and hear him as clearly as I could hear the orders at the counter for non-fat decaf mocha lattes!

Debra: I can't wait to read this story. It's every woman's dream to be the one and only.

Bonnie: I’m so thankful I was given the gift of words. Being a writer is a terrific way to express ourselves. We can soar the heights, explore places we’ve never visited, and mine the depths of our imagination. It’s hard work, sweat, tears and sometimes it feels like there’s blood on the keyboard, but I can’t imagine having a more fulfilling dream. I’m very grateful I have the opportunity to share my imagination with readers.

Thanks for the interview!

Debra: You're quite welcome, Bonnie. It was my pleasure.

You can visit Bonnie at my Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/bonnievanak
Or at her blog: http://www.bonnievanakjournal.blogspot.com/

Make-Believe Monday with Darlene Marshall

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce my friend from RWAonline, Darlene Marshall. Darlene is just back from Epicon where Pirate's Price and Captain Sinister's Lady both won Eppie awards in the historical romance category.

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

Darlene: In my WIP, Captain Jack Burrell has a good life--loving parents, loyal friends, a fine ship with which to harass the British during the War of 1812. In fact the only really terrible thing that’s ever happened to him was the fault of Miss Sophia Deford, who robbed him, stripped him naked, and left him at the mercy of a Royal Navy press gang.

And now she’s back in his life. She has a pirate treasure map and a letter from Jack’s late mentor calling in a debt of honor. And to discharge this obligation, all Jack has to do is team up with Sophia and help her find the treasure. Without wringing her neck.

It’s a “road book”, set in 1817 Florida and I promise it will have excitement, passion, danger and laughter.

Debra: It sounds exciting! When pirate treasure is involved anything can happen!

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

Darlene: Yes, but I never know when that will occur. I’m a “seat of the pants” writer, or to use a more elegant term, “an organic writer”, and it usually starts with a scene in my head, the hero and heroine interacting in some fashion. But I don’t always know who these people are, or what makes them tick. I have to start writing about them to find out the answer for myself, and for my readers.

Oftentimes though a character will appear to me in a scene. For instance, the first time I “saw” Morgan Roberts, the hero of Captain Sinister’s Lady, he was looking into a mirror in his cabin and wondering when he got so much gray in his hair and beard. He covers the white with red paint to give him a ferocious, bloody appearance before going abovedecks to attack a ship.

Even though this scene didn’t make it into the novel, it gave me clues about Morgan right from the start–there were issues about aging, he was a pirate captain, he liked to use tricks to get his way. That was the start of how I began writing about Morgan and his desire to settle down and raise a family.

Debra: The aging pirate, how fascinating!

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

Darlene: I loved Eloise Jarvis McGraw’s Mara, Daughter of the Nile. I first read it in the 6th grade and it had everything! Danger, spies, romance, a plucky heroine, a mysterious hero, a cool historical setting and historical accuracy to make it all come alive. A heroine overcoming the odds through her own wit and courage has always appealed to me, and in Mara I found a story I could enjoy over and over again. Even today I still re-read because it’s so well written.

I hear people ask all the time, “how do you write?” and the only answer I can offer is, “If you have a story in you, just sit down and start writing it. And then write some more, and write some more. When you’re not writing, read. That’s the only ‘writing secret’ I know.”

If readers would like to see excerpts of my work, stop by my website, http://www.darlenemarshall.com/ and to keep up with my writing and what’s happening in my life, visit “Darlene’s Digest” at Blogspot, http://darlenemarshall.blogspot.com/.

Darlene, thank you for visiting Make-Believe Mondays to share a bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Make-Believe Monday with Diane Komp

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce a dear friend of mine. Diane Komp (affectionately known as Doctor Di) and I met at the Antioch Writers Workshop several years ago and I'm thrilled that her book is finally in print.

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

Diane: “The Healer’s Heart” is a modern setting of the life of St. Luke, who was, like me, a physician and writer. I asked the question, “If Dr. St. Luke were alive today, what kind of medicine would he practice, who would he chose for companions and where in the world would they hang out?”

My fictional “Luke” became the head of the AIDS program at Yale Medical School (where I was on faculty for more than 20 years). The best traditions say that Luke was a Greek converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul. I wanted an engaging, larger than life Paul.

In the novel he appears as an African-American preacher who serves as chaplain to the AIDS team. I wanted the novel to climax in one of the most dangerous countries in the world and I wanted that country to be related to the American slavery story (through genealogical links to both Luke and Paul).

This took me to Sierra Leone, a country in the throes of a ten-year civil war (readers may have seen the historically accurate current film “Blood Diamond.”) In Sierra Leone, Luke seeks the answer to a question posed by his grandfather in an unpublished story of their family history: . If you have no cause worth dying for, do you really have a reason to live?

Debra: Diane, the work you do over there fills me with admiration. So many people talk about problems in our world, yet never lift a finger.

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?

Diane: For “The Healer’s Heart”, I filled my cup in Sierra Leone. My fictional doctor was going to be dropped out of Yale’s ivory tower into the bush to practice medicine. To authenticate this journey, I volunteered to work in mobile clinics in Sierra Leone bush. Before I left for Sierra Leone, I updated my will and drafted the Sierra Leone portion of the book. Although my will stayed intact, I had to throw out everything I wrote from stateside research. If I had not gone to Sierra Leone, I could not have written that part of the book.



When I came home, I tipped the cup and poured out a new character, Brima, the local nurse with whom Luke works. The character is based on a real nurse named Brima with whom I worked. Parenthetically, I got hooked on the people and have gone back to Sierra Leone annually to work. Of course, this has filled my cup with sequels.

Debra: Oh, the stories you can tell... and now we'll be able to read some of them!

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



Diane: Early on, I “see” and “hear” my characters, but like Dr. St. Luke, I did not want to overwrite the physical features of my characters. The biblical writers only included physical characteristics when it furthered the plot of a story, not just to paint a picture. When I read Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostle, I appreciate the freedom the author gave me to put faces from my circle of friends onto his characters.

Although I have vivid pictures of my characters, I want to give my readers the same freedom. There are minimal but plot-important features of Luke, his wife, Paul and Brima in the book, all of which advance the plot. For example, as Luke struggles with his father’s terminal illness, he looks in the mirrors and reports the physical similarities he sees to his father. When we (and Luke) first meet Theodora, we learn of her remarkable resemblance to Botticelli’s model for women of mythic importance. Paul, whose personality is larger than life, is “plagiarized” from an African-American pastor in my community whom I saw vividly as I wrote. (Anyone who knows Rev. Woody recognized him in the book.) And, I describe Brima as slim and sinewy “like one of those African runners who always win the Boston Marathon.”

Debra: I'm looking forward to reading this book. I can only imagine how facinating these charcters must be!


Diane, thank you for visiting with us here on Make-Believe Mondays to share a bit of the magic of creation and imagination with our readers.

Visit http://www.picturetrail.com/doktordi
to learn more about Diane and her work.

Make-Believe Monday with Kate Davies

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Kate Davies.

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


Kate: I'm editing two different manuscripts right now, in preparation for submission. After that, I'm hoping to start work on a military romantic suspense trilogy.

Debra: 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?

Kate: I played with language much more when I wrote fantasy fiction. Now that I'm focusing on contemporary romance, there's less wiggle room for making up words, but I certainly enjoyed it back in my sf/f days.

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?


Kate: Do daydreams count?

Debra: Oh, yes. Daydreams definately count.

Kate: My first published book, Taking the Cake, grew out of a daydream moment at an RWA meeting. I was listening to the speaker, thinking about what direction I wanted to go with my writing, when a scene popped into my head fully developed. It was of a woman jumping out of the cake at her fiance's bachelor party, only to find him cheating on her. I knew instantly that I had to write her story, if only to find out what happened next. At the time, I was writing traditional, close-the-bedroom-door sweet romances, so this image ended up changing the entire direction of my writing career.


Debra: If we would but follow where our dreams lead us.

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

Kate: Absolutely! More than I can count. I could always be depended on to get lost in a book – so much so that I missed my cousin's baptism because I was reading in the back bedroom and didn't notice that everyone else had left for the church!

Debra: LOL

Kate: For me, the author who captivated me the most was Susan Cooper. I read The Dark Is Rising series when I was in junior high, and absolutely loved it. The blend of Celtic legends, epic battles between good and evil, and mysterious quests just captivated me. I still read The Dark Is Rising (the book, if not the entire series) around the winter solstice most years. I even made it a point to visit some of the places she mentioned in her books when I traveled through the UK after I graduated from college.

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?


Kate: I love to listen to children when they're playing. The breathtaking creativity they exhibit, the casual acceptance of the possible and the fantastic, is such a gift. As they get older, that gift can fade. Writing, to me, is a chance to tap into that wellspring of the possible, to explore 'what-if' and 'why not?'

I encourage everyone to give it a try!

Debra: But sometimes, even if the gift fades, it can come back again. The thing is, we have to be receptive to it.

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

Make-Believe Monday with Carly Phillips

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

Carly: HOT PROPERTY, a follow up to the three Hot Zone stories, Hot Stuff, Hot Number and Hot Item. HOT PROPERTY tells John Roper's story, a character introduced in earlier books and his happily ever after with Amy Stone who readers met in Hot Item. It's a fun story that revisits old friends. Roper's in a career slump (think A-Rod on the New York Yankees) and everyone in his family from his soon to be married sister, his jealous, do-nothing brother, and his mother want something from him - from money to his time and advice. He's burnt out and fried and needs to focus on getting his groove back before he has no career left at all. Amy Stone is his agent, Spencer Atkins' niece and unbeknownst to Roper, she's going to lead the party planning division of the Hot Zone. Some matchmaking and heavy duty chemistry bring these two opposites together - but can they make a relationship work? HOT PROPERTY will be a 2008 release.

Debra:
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?

Carly: It isn't easy! Days and weeks can go by when I think the well is dry. I believe that sometimes I need to completely empty my mind - either first thing in the morning before I get out of bed or on a vacation when I can put the stress of carpool, dinners, driving and life out of my mind - then the work flows and I pray it continues to!

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

Carly: Yes! I always say that by page 100 or so, all the elements come together, from the characters and their conflicts and how they tie together to the plot and the secondary characters. At that point the reader is fully invested in all parts of the story. Prior to that point I hope I am taking the reader on an interesting journey they'll want to keep reading.

Debra:
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?

Carly: Lucky me! I'm already doing exactly what I love!!!!!

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

Thank you! This has been fun ;)
Carly

Make-Believe Mondays with Susan Kearney

Today on Make-Believe Mondays Susan Kearney is visiting with us. I met Susan last year at the RT convention at the belly dance class she sponsored and I can tell you that Susan is a lot of fun.

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

Susan: Right now I'm working on POLAR HEAT, the sequel to ISLAND HEAT. And I'm taking the series into space, to other worlds. Usually I hate writing the beginning of a book but this one is actually working well from the start. I believe it's due to the set up - lots of conflict and tension. The heroine is a spy and the hero is suspicious. She must repress her power to dominate, but as her feelings emerge, she begins to lose her ability to stop herself from dominating him. Oh, yeah. This one's fun.

Debra: I'm looking forward to reading it. The fun you have writing your stories spills over into the fun we have reading them. :)

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?

Susan: I keep my creative cup filled by enjoying life. I figure skate and belly dance and take lots of vacations. In addition I spend time with family and friends. And since my daughter is a book cover artist, we often work together on covers. In fact, she shot the people on the cove of ISLAND HEAT. You can see her photograph on my website.
http://www.susankearney.com

Debra: It's a beautiful cover. Your daughter is very talented.

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

Susan: Yes, but it's different in every book. I'm lucky when they talk to me right from the start. But sometimes, its like sculpting, I have to keep chipping away layer by layer until I figure them out.

Debra: What a wonderful image. It makes me think of how we have to let some things go to get at the stronger features beneath.

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?

Susan: Well, this is what I do. I write futuristics. So I am always making up worlds, and filling them with new words. In my Rystani warrior series, everyone had to tap into their psi to make their suits work. These are suits that clothe and bathe and shield the people both in space and under water. In my heat series, the Firsts, firstborn, have Quait. Quait is the ability to dominate others. And in ISLAND HEAT I used Quait to explore what would happen when a former slave learned he has the ability to dominate. In POLAR HEAT, I gave the heroine the ability to dominate and it's proving . . . interesting.

Debra: Now you've intrigued me. :)

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?

Susan: Only once. I dreamed about giant kangaroos that carried people around in their pockets. I used the idea in a short story.

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

Susan: I loved Robert Heinlein. He wrote Starship Trooper and several other books for kids. He started me on my SF kick.

Debra: 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?

Susan: Exactly what I write right now. I'm so lucky Tor lets me write what I want and how I want to write it. It's a freedom I've never had before . . . and I'm taking full advantage.

In THE CHALLENGE, I wrote about a man who stimulates a woman sexually to make her psi poers come out.

In THE DARE I wrote about a 300 year old computer who wants a body so she can make love.

In THE ULTIMATUM I wrote about a woman scientist who has to make love to regenerate her cells or she dies.

And THE QUEST was about a man who had every power at his disposal, then loses them all but still must combat the greatest enemy his people have ever known.

In ISLAND HEAT, an alien falls from the sky. He's on a mission to tap into a volcano's powers to open a portal between Earth and his world. And the heroine must stop him at any cost.

And when I want to write a book that's not quite so far out there, TOR lets me write romantic suspense. KISS ME DEADLY, about 6 women who win the lottery and then are being killed one by one will be out in July 07.

Debra: TOR's ability to publish authors who write with wild imagination brings us a much richer variety of books to choose from. And for that I am very grateful.

Susan, 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?

Susan: I like to write books about people. No matter how imaginative we are in worldbuilding, the story is always about how people react to their worlds. And what fascinates me is how we take our good qualities and our weaknesses with us where ever we go . . . even into cyberspace. And I'd like to invite readers to visit my site so they can watch my book trailers. I'm at http://www.susankearney.com

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

Make-Believe Monday with Linnea Sinclair

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce my friend Linnea Sinclair. It's late and some of you have been patiently waiting, so let's jump right in.

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

Linnea: Ever see that great fun movie, Men In Black (or Men in Black 2)? Combine that with the TV cop show, Hill Street Blues and you’ve got my The Down Home Zombie Blues. It’s science fiction. No, wait. It’s romance. No, wait. It’s police procedural. No, wait. It’s comedy. No wait. It’s edge of your seat intergalactic monster action adventure…

My working blurb for the book:
After almost twenty years on the job Bahia Vista homicide detective, Theo Petrakos, is used to the fact that almost everyone in Florida is from somewhere else. Then a mummified corpse and a room full of high tech computer equipment sends Guardian Force commander and intergalactic zombie hunter, Jorie Mikkalah, into his life. And ‘illegal alien’ takes on a whole new meaning...

I’m just about finished with the book (yes, running a month late) but my editor has the first 3/4ths of it so she and the art department have it in process already. It’s due out (pending schedule changes) Fall of 2007, which is kind of cool because the book’s action centers over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays.

Christmas? New Years? But wait, Linnea, you say in your mellifluous voice. You write science fiction!

Debra: LOL :)

Linnea: Ah-hah! Yes, I do. The Down Home Zombie Blues is science fiction but set here in Florida, USA. A first for me.

Debra: 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?

Linnea: I dare say I’m still running on imagination overload (gluttony?) from twenty years past. My brain seems to be stuck in a constant “what if..?” mode. I’m always what-iffing. Probably too much as I get ideas for books in the midst of writing a book and sometimes get distracted from what I should be doing.

I’m a relentless observer of human nature. That’s a polite way of saying I’m nosy. This started long before I was a private detective, where I got paid good money to be nosy.

So I watch people, wonder how did they get where they are, why are they where they are and from that do little novels grow.

Debra: "What-iffing" is such fun. I'm going to have to borrow your name for this game now you know. :)

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

Linnea: I can’t write until I can see and hear my characters. When their sadness brings tears to my eyes, then I’m there.

Debra: 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?

Linnea: I write science fiction romance so yes, I’m always inventing things: planets, cities, ships, recipes, religions, cultures, etc.. I invent entire languages. I have a Zafharish lexicon (the language spoken in my Finders Keepers, which was a 2006 RITA award finalist) on my site:
http://linneasinclair.com/FKLexicon.htm

I also invent swear words. Those are the most fun. What does someone from another star system say when she drops a sonic wrench on her toe or finds out his plan to save the galaxy has come unraveled? Oh, darn? I don’t think so. Try:

Mullytrock or trock-brained
Vomit-brained slut bucket
Motherless son of a Procyon whore
Ass-faced demon’s whore
Dirtsucker

I’ve blogged about it here: http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2006/11/part-deux-swearing-in-alien-tongues.html

Mullytrock is from my February 2007 release Games of Command. My female protagonist is a starship fleet captain with a very sordid past that—literally—comes back to haunt her as she’s forced to relive it. As she revisits a part of her life she’d rather forget (in front of someone who shouldn’t know about that part of her life), her vocabulary reverts back to what she’d been:

A rectangular data-systems panel jutted out from the wall a few feet in front of them, its cover tarnished and dented. He reminded himself that there were very serious issues at stake here—hallucinations that could kill. The crew of Degun’s Luck had learned that. Who she was and whether she viewed him only as a ’cybe had to be tabled for now. He peeled off his gloves and answered without looking at her. “Do you really think I wouldn’t know how to get into U-Cee hardware? But if you remember the primary security codes, I can work more quickly. Are we looking for Zanorian’s dock assignment?”
“We’re looking to create a diversion. RaftTraff gets mighty testy when a ship breaks dock. And I’m not willing to wait for clearance.”
RaftTraff. Mining Raft Traffic Control. Definitely not Fleet terminology.
He flipped the cover open, studied the interfaces and crystal boards while she rattled off the codes. A patched mess but not unworkable. One stroke of luck: a compatible dataport. “What kind of diversion? I need location, start time and duration.”
“I’d love to launch a raftwide mullytrock, but then we’d have every other damned jockey in straps burning bulkheads. ’Course, that would work too. RaftTraff wouldn’t know which one of us to send the sec tugs after first.”
Mullytrock. Definitely Lady Sass. He remembered Ralland at fourteen getting his mouth washed out with soap for saying that.
“You want a mullytrock, Sass, I can give you that.” Roving, sporadic power outages, ventilation failures, lift malfunctions. For starters. “But I still need start time.” He took his attention from the panel and looked at her. “How far are we from the Blade?”
(FROM Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair, Bantam Spectra, Feb. 2007)

RaftTraff, burning bulkheads, mullytrock and others are all words I created for the book. The slang (“burning bulkheads) is indicative of the culture of a itinerant starfreighter crewmember. In the same way that someone working in a hospital, school or in law enforcement has their own slang and acronyms here on our world.

Speaking of which, for The Down Home Zombie Blues, I’ve had to learn both law enforcement slang and how to curse in Greek (because my male protagonist is Greek-American). I must say that the Greeks have cursing down to a fine art.
Ti mano popi sekone rroosooza pootanis

…has to do with your mother, her illegal occupation and resemblance to a gargoyle. A truly useful epithet. I’m duly impressed.

Debra: I'm impressed too!

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?

Linnea: I write all my scenes first in my dreams—not the middle-of-the-night-out-of-control, giraffe-driving-the-Jeep-made-of-chocolate-under-the-ocean-while-Marie-Antoinette-sings-Feelings-in-Portuguese kind of dreams (you guys all have those, right?). But rather the musing, daydreams that you can do whilst folding laundry or driving or cleaning the kitty litter pan.

Debra: Yes I have those. (And the other type as well.)

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

Linnea: Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. I think that’s why I enjoy Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series so much.

Debra: 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?

Linnea: Probably exactly what I write because I don’t write to genre. I write what I write and Bantam Spectra, bless them, pulls their hair out trying to market me.

To date, I’ve been shelved in science fiction, even though my back covers promise “sexy stellar romance”. With Games of Command, Bantam is shelving me—first time!—in romance. See, they don’t quite know what to do with me. I have a strong SF following but then Gabriel’s Ghost won the RITA award and suddenly they realized I have a strong romance following as well.

I just received a terrifc 4-1/2 star (highest number they give) review from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine for Games of Command,

“When it comes to high-flying adventure, political intrigue and dark romance Sinclair has it aced! This surprising tale is filled with shifting loyalties, deception and jaw-dropping flying maneuvers. The characters in this complex novel are all faced with the realization that what they have always believed may not be the truth and that powerful emotions can be stronger than any mechanical implants.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

and they labeled me ‘fantasy’ then in parenthesis ‘futuristic’. Which makes no sense as my cover art is clearly SF. But yes, there is a telepathic/paranormal element in Games of Command. But I would never consider it fantasy.

But some people do, and that’s okay. I recognize I don’t write inside the box. Or perhaps I color outside the lines.

Debra: Writing outside the box is good. I don't think our imaginations as writers (or as readers) want to play inside the box. There's so muchmore to be discovered outside.

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?

Linnea: Imagination—the muse part of writing—is terribly important. It’s the one part of writing that can’t be taught. But it’s not the only part of writing and if you ignore the others: craft (grammar, word choice, pacing, etc.) and business (marketing, contracts, etc.) you’re setting yourself up for failure if you’re looking to get published in commercial genre fiction.

The good news is you can be taught craft and marketing. So if you have the muse part down pat, then you’re one third of the way there.

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

Linnea:
Please do visit me on my website
http://www.linneasinclair.com/
and my MYSPACE page
www.myspace.com/linneasinclair
and my shared blog
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com

I also have a fan group on Yahoo that’s oodles of fun AND I have special contests AND sneak peeks at upcoming books!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinneaSinclair/

Make-Believe Monday with Jacquelyn Frank

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our visiting author is Jacquelyn Frank. Jacquelyn writes for Kensington.



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

Jacquelyn: Actually, I am not working on anything at the moment. I have decided to take off from work to focus on my little girl and recovering from surgery. I was working on an angels universe, but then read Meljean Brook’s excerpt from Demon Angel and scrapped it. It was just too close and she was doing a much better job of it! I prefer to be more out of step with anyone else.

Debra: I hope you are fully recovered soon, rested and ready to write again.

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?

Jacquelyn: Well, wow, neat question. Basically, the answer is: I sleep. I get most of my best stuff from my freaky little dreams. The worst thing to happen to me was falling victim to sleep apnea and fibromyalgia. Together they robbed me of dream time almost completely. Now that I have been diagnosed it is much, much better and back to normal! Boy, you can complain about the weird stuff you dream all you like, but I really missed it when it was gone. The opening scene of Jacob, leaping from pole to pole and that perspective of looking down on the world like some kind of superhero, that was the dream I’d had initially for that book. So glad I wrote it down!

Debra: I'm glad you did too! It's fascinating how rich our dreams can be and what stories they contain.

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

Jacquelyn: Oh yeah. Most definitely. Which is very handy, especially when they are running throughout several stories. Isabella, for instance, the heroine from Jacob…she has a significant amount of sass and vitality. She really has never cared what people think of her and can’t stand that Jacob does care what his people think of him…and cares deeply. She tells me so. In her voice and body language. I hear Bella’s NY accent in my head, reminding me that she grew up in the Bronx around a mix of ethnicities and cultures and strong attitudes. Coming across another race is nothing to her. She’s lived in a thick mix of cultures all her life. What’s one more?

Debra: 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?

Jacqueyn: I think that’s obvious if you read Jacob and as we progress throughout the series. I use capitalizations that are inappropriate in the English language to convey the societal importance and the difference in esteem the words hold in Demon culture. I believe this is much to the dismay of the copyeditor. Poor thing. I make up my own rules as I go. My own words. For example…in our language the proper use and spelling is summonsing. I call it Summoning when a Demon is summoned. (summonsed). Ack. I can’t look at that too long or it hurts my brain. Councillor is another. Even capping every instance of the word King--when made in Demon reference. Later in the series I just plain make up my own language. But it has rules, I swear it does! Who knows, maybe one day someone will figure them all out and it’ll be like the Klingon language. I just don’t have that much time on my hands!

Debra: Oh but just think, someone may map out what you are creating instinctively. (Kind of like a musician who plays by ear.) That's pretty cool.

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?

Jacquelyn: Umm. I think I answered that already.

Debra: Yes, you did. Very well I might add.

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

Jacquelyn: These are such awesome questions. Refreshing. Let’s see…Nancy Drew was always a favorite. I started reading her when I was very, very young (long story as to why) and I used to devour the books. Usually I was looking to see how Nancy and Ned made out…back then, they never did! I got tired of Nan never putting out for poor Ned. Heh. Then on to romances I went!

Debra: Thank you! These are the kinds of questions I would ask if we were sitting around having a glass of wine. :) Nancy Drew was one of my favorites too. Poor Ned. LOL

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?

Jacquelyn: That story exists. It’s right here on my laptop. No story I create will ever lack romance or sex. They are so integral to our human drives, so I always imagine them to be integral to every humanoid species. Kate Duffy, my editor, doesn’t put limitations on me. I don’t write thinking what is popular or expected of me…I've only edited that way (before Kate and Kensington told me I could do whatever I wanted) in anticipation of submission. Sometimes people get freaked if you are too radical. I know some authors who are shunned for walking out of step and that’s as good as crushing creativity at its inception. The more I work with Kensington the more I spin out of the mainstream. I expect people won’t like that. I expect others will love it. We’ll see.

Debra: So much of the advice authors hear is about writing to the market and it makes me cringe. How many good stories are shuffled away out of fear? Kate sounds like an awesome editor to work with. I hope your stories spin as far as you want to take them.

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?

Jacquelyn: Yes. Think of literacy, art and schooling. This is where we learn to use imagination and to either think freely or become automatons. Every year more and more arts programs are being shredded away and science and math are becoming a central focus. We are also imbedding our fears into our kids and stunting their imaginations. For example, my sister once punished my nephew severely for tying a towel around his neck and running around playing Superman. C’mon…who didn’t pretend to be a superhero when we were young? When I protested she said something to the effect of “I don’t need him running around thinking he can jump off stuff and fly!” I realize she thought he was going to get hurt, but I guess I saw more damage in the way she was suppressing his natural imagination. There has to be a better way, a way of meeting the two in the middle. Safety vs. imagination. Math vs. English. Arts vs. Practicality. If we used our imaginations, we could figure that out…don’t you think?

Debra: Oh how sad. My boys used to jump off the furniture playing "soup man". It was so cute. Yes, I think if we used our imaginations to the fullest and without fear we could figure out how to change many things.

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