What Price Freedom? Invaluable!

Freedom is one of those human conditions we all strive for and yet can often be elusive, since there is a fine line between personal freedom and selfishness, the need to do your own thing balanced by the needs of others. The urge to follow our dreams versus the need to make ends meet. For most of us, these are the issues we battle with as we seek liberty—freedom to create what we want, be it a life, art, relationships, careers—but we should never forget we are the lucky ones. As a descendent of slaves I try to keep perspective by reminding myself that while I search for freedom to write what I want, to live as I like, it’s nothing in comparison to what my ancestors faced, and unfortunately what millions of people around the world still face.

Of course the search for freedom makes a wonderful plot point too, because it’s such a fundamental urge. In “Dragon’s Claim” my hero Talathion, an elf, has never known true freedom. Since the moment he was born his path has been set, the needs of his clan having to take precedent over whatever dreams he had for his own life. When his task is interrupted by an encounter with the dragon-shifter Hervé, Tala is left struggling to control his growing love for the other man, knowing there is no future for them. Too many others will suffer if he puts his personal freedom ahead of the task he’s been assigned.

And while Hervé can’t truly understand his lover’s need to do what the elf considers to be the right thing, he has to accept that the impulse to give, to elevate his clan through sacrifice, is an integral part of Tala’s character. He can’t love the man without accepting this facet of him, without accepting his freedom to be who he is at that most basic level.

And I think that is the ultimate freedom, being able to choose how we live, where and how much we sacrifice to build not only a good life for ourselves but for others. Without giving, without sacrificing for others and acknowledging those who have less, I don’t think we can truly appreciate what we have. So many people are bound in by expectations, traditions, the desperate need just to survive or the implacable control of others. If you are not one of these people, if you have the ability to choose where and how you live, what you present to others, how much of yourself you give, then enjoy that freedom. Enjoy it, and give thanks for it.

From Slave to Leader: Choices Are What Makes Dinah Free

Freedom is never simple.

It's not just a matter of  escaping a tyrannical master, starting over, or even grabbing enough power so that no one can control you. It's also about changing outlooks and seeing that with freedom comes an ever-increasing array of choices, some of which affect other people's lives.

In Dinah of Seneca, my heroine is Dinah. She's a former Roman slave trained as a spy and assassin, and has traveled to a new world across the ocean to start a new life.

But she finds out her bonds aren't easily shed. She's still constrained by Roman society and set at the lower rung. She's also under obligation to the man who freed her, Roman Commander Tabor, and owes him allegiance, even if it means sacrificing herself.

What I loved about writing Dinah's journey is that she moves from seeing freedom as moving up the rungs of Roman society to finding true freedom by breaking from Roman society altogether.

At one point in the story, Dinah feels as if she's been trapped in figurative chains as her new circumstances, including a marriage of convenience to a former enemy, make her feel boxed in and helpless. Tabor points out to her that she still has choices, if she's willing to take on the consequences of those choices.

Tabor says Dinah could run and abandon them all. She could break from her new marriage and leave her new husband and his people vulnerable to destruction. Such a choice will also mean the end of the Roman community as well.

But she could survive fine on her own. It's her choice, Tabor says, to stay and try to help or leave and serve only herself.

Tabor's words changes Dinah's perspective. He's right. She could run or stay. Her choice.  And when she stays with her new husband, and finally agrees to participate in a religious ritual that requires a sexual sacrifice, she knows she's not boxed in.

She can run. She simply chooses not to.

And having decided that, she feels free, even with the burdens and obligations she has to assume on behalf of her husband and his people. Even when all seems lost, even when she's injured and all she tried to protect seems destroyed, it's worth it to her.

She's free.

Of course, Dinah receives some <g> compensation for her marriage of convenience. She receives the home she's always longed for, a position of respect and authority and the absolute, unswerving allegiance of her warrior Viking husband.

It's not the position in Roman society she dreamed about when she was freed by Tabor.

It's better.

The Fickle Nature of Publishing

I have been trying to get this Steampunk/Historical Fantasy/Fairy-tale Retelling novel published for what seems like forever. It's been though edits, and total rewrites, and of, course, a myriad of rejections. Not terribly many, though it feels like a million. But what struck me this week was that I got two rejections within hours of one another, and the reasons for rejection are so...contrary. 

One publisher said there was so much to love about the book. They gave me a long list of the things they had liked about it in the two months they had it. Ah, that's nice. But then there was a long list of things they didn't like and felt would require too much revision. One stood out. They said the setting seemed like 'window dressing', and they would have liked to see more world building. Huh.

The other publisher said that there was too MUCH detail, and they would liked to have seen details shaved down to concentrate on the plot. That was the SOLE reason they gave for rejection. To be fair, it IS a 99,000 word book. There is probably some room for tightening, but...really? That's all you could find wrong? You couldn't assign an editor to work with that? But, seriously? One wanted more, the other less.

It's enough to make one drink.

It reminded me of the absolute subjective nature of publishing. Even myself, when I'm looking for books to acquire for Palomino. I read a lot of YA speculative fiction, so I know what the market is doing. I kind of look for something that will sell, of course, but mostly I look for manuscripts that I can't put down, that have great voices and that I can't live without. We've all read or heard of books that, well, we think are just awful. That a lot of people think are awful. But somewhere along the line, and editor read the manuscript and thought it was GREAT, then managed to convince other people it was GREAT, and managed to convince the accountants that it would SELL and MAKE MONEY. And then that awful book hits the shelves, and my manuscript is still unpublished.  I mean, it's okay, it's the way publishing is. It's not personal, it's a matter of taste. Of one or two people's taste.

I'm going to go find that drink.

Freedom in My Writing

(photo by Diego Hernandez)

FREEDOM... Such a beautiful thing.

I'm blessed to live in a country where freedom of speech is a Constitutional right. Sure, sometimes we want to smack people for abusing that right and spouting harmful, stupid things, but to have the ability, the freedom, to say what we we feel? That right is important. It is a gift.

My forefathers insured that I could share this gift and do what I love to do--write. I take my right to write very seriously.

It is my duty and my absolute desire to create the best stories I can for my readers every time I set pen to page or fingers to keyboard. I challenge myself to dig deep and produce thoughtful, evocative, heart-touching stories. I am free to let my stories soar.

I never forget that you readers have rights too. You have the freedom to search for your own happiness and entertainment. Your time is precious. I understand that, truly I do. I can only hope that you will let me be a small part of your joy. If reading my words and living within my stories makes you feel good then we've both won.

Freedom. Love. Happiness.

Let them ring.

www.kimberleytroutte.com

Freedom - Oh yeah, I'm all over that!

When I think of Freedom as an individual - much of the concept revolves around Financial vs. Self and the conflict between the two.  Having been raised by children of the sixties, my parents wanted nothing more for me than to be happy.

Well parents - Mission accomplished! 

Now I'm not saying I don't have problems like the rest of the world.  I have illness, bills and some debt.  I hate when simple decisions are made by financial need.  Things like going to a movie, taking a trip, or even picking up a good book.  :(

Considering these items, I'm overall happy with my life. Why? I have the freedom of writing - an opportunity to escape, to a world I love, and make some money along my journey.

These days I tend to be more of a Hobbie Writer - doing it in my spare time when I'm not working the M-F gig to pay the bills.  However, I have big dreams - I plan to gain my financial freedom with my writing.  I don't need millions of dollars, though that would be nice. :)   Thanks to said hippie parents, I've never been one to live much beyond my means. 

My husband, finally achieve his freedom to do and be what he loves.  He went back to school, and now is an instructor to student pilots.

This brings me to the second part of my Freedom concept -self.  When you have to pay bills and meet financial obligations, this requires you to have money.  For most authors this means you have to either, make enough money writing, or keep a job. For most, this tears us between writing and work.  A rock and hard place.  We need to work to make money, but sometimes a job inteferes with our creative process by consuming our time, energy and resources.

What's a writer to do?  There is a school of thought that in order to "make it", you need to focus only on your writing.  Quit your day (or night) job and treat writing as a business.  This might work for some people, but it would not work for me.   I think if I treated my creative process as work, I might not enjoy it as much.  

In order for me to achieve results as a writer, I need to achieve a sense of self.  Who am I?  How do I want people to remember me? If you're not sure, imagine introducing yourself at a community cocktail party (not a conference, not the company Christmas party, and maybe not necessarily your own community).

"Hi my name is Tina."
"Hi Tina.  What do you do?"

There it is- what do you do?  How do you answer this question?  Are you an author?  Do you get into specific genres or only when prodded?  Do you identify more with a title you have at work?  Do you identify with being a parent, spouse or some other connection? 

To say,  "I'm a parent putting two kids through college," does not make me less of a writer.  It's simply my sense of self - right now, at this time, in my life.  As I go on, I will talk about the books I write, and the fortune 500 company I work for.  Identifying my sense of self, helps give way to my goals (where I want to be), and give me a sense of achievable Freedom in my future.  

"You have freedom when you're easy in your harness."  ~Robert Frost

Don't tell me what to do!

Freedom means a lot of different things to me, depending on my mood and the context.

In general, it means the freedom to make choices -- whether that's how to vote; where to go to church or if I go to church at all; what to watch on television; what to eat; what to read; and of course, what to write.

I was once asked about my choice to write romance. The exact question wasn't put so nicely and I remember that moment well. It was asked, not with curiosity so much as with judgmental derision. She might as well have asked me: "What are you thinking?"

Yes, most of us know that romance -- in any form or sub-genre -- has a bad rap. Honestly, if I hear/read one more reference to romance novels as being "mommy porn", I might throttle someone.

I. HATE. That. It angers and frustrates me to no end.

But back to my brief confrontation: I smiled; bit back a mixture of hurt and anger, and replied: "Because I'm a romantic at heart."

Which is the truth. I believe in love and romance -- although I admit 'romance' often takes a backseat in everyday life.

I crave the happy ending that isn't always guaranteed in other literature or in life itself. Steven King is a master storyteller, but you can bet most of his characters will not live happily-ever-after. I'll still read his stories because, well, he's amazing. But I can only take so much before I turn back to romance.

It's my choice what I read and what I write. Freedom is a wonderful concept.

Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

Canada D'eh?

So our Independence Day was July 1st.

In 1867 Canada became a nation, but with ties to Britain still. Queen Elizabeth II is our figurehead, but it was her great-great grand daughter of Queen Victoria who gave granted Canada to become a nation.

We don't have a president. We have a Prime Minister.

We spell things with u's like colour and favourite. As I type this spell checker is seriously underlining the words with red.

It doesn't like the u words. ;)

We love poutine and our beer is a wee bit stronger than yours!

I love being Canadian and though Canada Day has passed, the theme this month was Independence and pride.

I'm proud of being Canadian, eh.

You can find out more about Amy and her latest releases at:

Web: http://www.amyruttan.com
Blog: http://amyruttan.blogspot.com
Twitter: @ruttanamy

Catch a Tiger by the Tale

Catch a Tiger by the Tale Blog Tour

TT | 07 | 2K13 | 01

Welcome to the first blog post of the Catch a Tiger by the Tale Blog Tour, celebrating the release on Tuesday, July 23rd, of our second book the Chicagoland Shifters series, TIGER TIGER.  We're excited about the chance to continue the series and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers and writing friends for the support and guidance during the process of brining this book to completion.

One of the hardest things about writing a novel, I've found, is sustaining the creative output for the long haul.  It's a little like weight loss or, I've heard, training for a marathon (I've participated in weight loss efforts but haven't run a marathon).  Each day brings its challenges in the form of one's day job, family responsibilities, and plain and simple exhaustion.  Time management skills that one learned in school suddenly become all-important because without it, we can lose entire weeks watching television or farting around on the internet with no word count to show for it.

If I were to pick one of my favorite tools, it would be the "30/30" method.  Here's how it works:

You need a digital timer, ideally.  If you don't have one, you can purchase one at retailers like Target in the kitchen section.  If you have a smart phone, you can use the alarm function on it.

Set the timer for 30 minutes and, during that time, brainstorm all the things that you want to get done - whether or not they'll fit into your day, regardless of whether you want to do them - just get everything in one place to start.  And don't worry - you can add and delete stuff on this master task list as you need to.

When the timer dings, or rings, or sings at you, or buzzes, or any of a hundred other alerts, stop.  Step back and get yourself some coffee, tea, or ice water and relax.  Set the timer for another 30 minutes and this is your "Off" time - time for you to fart around online or play video games or whatever other relaxing task you enjoy (try knitting).

When the timer dings, focus on one thing on your list.  The idea here is to pick the most important - "important" as in, time-sensitive or something you don't get to focus on or, worse, procrastinate over (i.e., your writing).  Don't worry about doing more than 30 minutes.  All we're after right now is a focused 30 minutes - that's easy, right?  You don't have to write the whole novel in one sitting; just write what will fit in 30 minutes.

Ding!  Turn the timer off and relax for 30.  Have a snack.  Read a book.  Do something rewarding.  In this way, you can while away an entire weekend day and at the end of it, have a lot to show for it!

What's your favorite productivity tool?

And, so you're not dying with suspense, here is the blurb for TIGER TIGER for you to enjoy.  We hope you like reading it as much as we did writing it!

Chicagoland Shifters, Book 2

Veterinary trauma surgeon and animal empath Sasha Soskoff has found everything he ever wanted with his new partners Neal, Steve and Carlos. Life feels as safe and secure as it can be among a group of ex-Marine tiger shifters. Until a homeless man is found, gruesomely mauled and murdered, near Neal’s BDSM club.

When it’s determined a rogue tiger did the deed, the jaguars’ accusing eyes turn toward Sasha’s lovers. The precarious balance of peace tips dangerously toward war.

Neal knows damned well none of his tigers committed the crime. Someone must be in Chicago without his knowledge or permission, and they’d better find him fast before uncertainty and conflict rip the tight-knit band apart from the inside.

As Sasha struggles to heal the stress fractures forming among his tiger family, he begins to wonder if his dreams of a home, and love, were too good to be true. And it’s precisely that moment the killer strikes at the heart of the tiger clan—Sasha himself.

TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing July 23rd.

Fade to black...

I'm probably one of those odd folks who can't write a love scene for love or money but LOVES to read a good love scene. Put a Sara Brookes story in front of me and I'm diving in and not coming up for air until I get my fill of some sweet luvin'!

But as for my own works I've been sort of, well... fade to black. While I'll drag the lovers up to the edge I just can't push them over, preferring to leave the good details to the reader's imagination - because that's what I think works for my characters and the way I write.

Here's an example from the first book in the "Blood of the Pride" series.

***

I fumbled with his shirt, fingers numb with anticipation. “Maybe. Okay, yes.” I ran my hands over his chest, pleasantly surprised at the light fur covering his skin. “Maybe you’ve got a little Felis in you after all.”

“Maybe. Does that mean I get to be on top?” A tingle ran down my spine as he drew his fingers leisurely down my back, stroking the scarred skin before expertly snapping my bra open. “Or do I have to wrestle you for it?”

Maybe. Yes. I don’t know.” I let out a sigh, surrendering to the mixture of emotions, exhaustion and plain old lust drowning me. “Shut up and keep touching me.”

***

To me that's enough to give the reader - you can figure out what happens next, right?

But, as I said above, I'm no prude - give me a hot and heavy love scene and I haz great fun! It's only when the scene seems forced and suddenly I find my mind wandering as to trying to figure out how person A is still breathing and where person B's leg is and how the heck can anyone be that flexible and I'm bounced out of the story.

A good love scene can be graphic or may not be. But what it has to do is send the reader on an emotional ride that's got to pay off at the end with flushed cheeks and grabbing for the water bottle. Whether it's a "fade to black" or a hot steamy scene the writer's got to deliver those feelings or it just descends into an engineering test of who fits into whom.

As with all things - just my wandering thoughts! Feel free to agree or disagree below and if you have any refs to authors you want to recommend - jump on in!

Once More, with Feeling

For me, love scenes are tough to write (gasp!) and sometimes tough to read. It seems there is, in some quarters, the feeling that erotic romance is basically stringing a succession of sex-scenes together. Yet it is, like any other genre, subject to rules. Yes, there is a heightened sexuality and frank language, but just as in any other kind of book there has to be a cohesive plot. Without one, you might as well be reading a bunch of those “true confession” letters in a men’s magazine.

And also each scene must serve a purpose—including the sex/love scenes. For me, when the love scenes are really hot you can almost bet your sweet bippy there is a new and thrilling shift in the relationship going along with it. Yes, the characters are having sex, slots and tabs as per usual, acrobatics, dominance etc. not essential (although sometimes welcome and even necessary, depending on the characters), but they’re also discovering something about themselves or their partner at the same time. While they’re doing that, the reader is learning about them too, and the heat is ramped up.

For me there has to be emotion, whether acknowledged or fought against, and relevance, or it’s just sex.

It could be the thrill of finally realizing the dream of having an encounter with the man the heroine’s been lusting after forever. Or perhaps the moment when a man looks at the person he’s having sex with and thinks, ‘Mine.’ Even the second when, scared spitless, one of the characters recognizes the very thing they didn’t want—love—has entered the equation. There are a bunch of different scenarios, instant attraction, resurgence of floundering love, angry sex, make-up sex, etc. that we use as plot devices, but the bottom line is if you don’t have emotion behind it and a reason for the sex, it just isn’t hot to me.

And let’s not forget there are scenes in books where the characters never even get undressed, much less get to actual sex, that can be hotter than the desert on a mid-summer day! The slow seduction scene that gets interrupted or is curtailed because one character knows the other isn’t ready is an example that comes to mind. Again I bet it's the heap of emotion behind it that makes the temperature rise.

So up the stakes, up the feelings behind the action, up the revelations and discoveries through the lovemaking and, in my estimation, the heat quotient rises too!

Anya

Journeys Through Seduction

Anya Richards/Anya Delvay books available from Samhain Publishing, Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters Indigo.

Some Like it...not as hot

I know this month's theme is Some Like it Hot. But I write YA, and I don't really read romance outside of that genre. But lately I've been thinking about YA romance, which is a , um, hot thing right now. And I'll tie it into a theme that comes up at just about every conference I've been to in the last year or two. How much is too much for YA? What is the line?

Well, I usually answer, if you've read the Hunger Games, then you know the line is WAY back there.

 But what about sex in YA? That's a tougher questions. I mean, it's obviously going to be off-screen sex, or toned down. YA is more of the sweet variety of romance, but that doesn't mean it can't have a little heat in the buildup. In the Young Adult romance, there is the added layer of turmoil that comes with adolescence, the hormones, the flirting, the jealousy, the uncertainty of first (or second) love. There's kissing, petting, even allusions to sex, off-stage sex, and some of those flirting and kissing scenes can leave you swooning. It's almost an art form.

And it's a rich soil in which to grow a story. Add in fantasy elements, and it can be a roller coaster ride.

For me, the look at it this way, whether dealing with violence in YA or with romance scenes: it's not the subject, it's the author's treatment of it. Cursing, for example. A book for older kids may use the word "Bitch", but one for younger kids might say "he cursed", leaving to the reader's imagination. For a violent scene, it's the difference between a scene written by Suzanne Collins vs. the same scene written by Stephen King. See what I mean?  Same with romance. The difference between a scene written by Cassandra Clare and the same one written by...someone who writes hotter than that. LOL.

Hot can be hot without being...hot. In YA, it has to be.

Hot Stuff

I totally agree with my blog co-authors. I love to read stories with sizzle. The characters don't have to enter the bedroom as long as the attraction between them is real and palpable. That attraction will keep me reading.

I will be the first to admit that writing, ahem, hot scenes is outside my comfort zone.  I've gotten better at it because I let the characters guide me, not the other way around. If I am deeply connected with my characters, they will do what they do naturally. I just try to get out of the way.

That said, I am not a fan of including sex scenes in a story just to jack up the heat level. The scenes I write, no matter what they are, have to serve specific purposes.

They MUST:
Drive the story forward
Give the reader a peek into the character's soul
Establish the conflict and keep cranking up the difficulties
Keep the reader entranced

In that respect, hot scenes are no different than, say, action scenes.

Crawling under the sheets together is apt to create more problems and conflict for the characters than before. Coming together shows strength as well as vulnerabilities. More is at stake once the characters make that leap, which is juicy fun for the reader.

In my mind, conflict is what keeps us turning the pages. Can the sizzle be part of the conflict? You betcha.
Love is the glue that sticks us to the characters. A satisfying ending makes us want to pick up another book and start all over again.

So...is it hot in here?

www.kimberleytroutte.com

Do I really need a sex scene?

When it comes to writing Sex Scenes, I'm a panster and I let my characters decide.  I write mostly M/F but some characters in my contemporary novels have wanted more in the bedroom.  More partners, more positions, a little more kink.

Lance anted a threesome with his ex to get to her best friend (F-M-F).

Dani couldn't decide between two men (M-F-M).

The Caulfield cowboys like to tie their partners up and participate in light bondage.

Needless to say, my fantasy characters have much more interesting sexual characteristics.

My werewolves tend to go into heat, and of course with shifters, there's a lot of nipping, biting and general teeth involved. I have a vampire, who of course, takes on blood slaves and a zombie who sleeps (and thus heals), in his case sex is therapeutic. :)

I have a fire fairy who plays with candles and wax, an Atlantian with gills who likes to give blow jobs under water and a fire elemental who can mark you (like a sunburn) when he gets out of control.

What I put the story to paper, sex and what happens in the bedroom tends be what characters are by their nature. 

I was once asked to add a sex scene much earlier in a book, I refused and added a masturbation scene to appease my editor at the time.  I found it to be much more believable for the character than if she randomly called my hero, ran into him conveniently, or whatever plot device I needed for them to get it on.  She simply wasn't that kind of girl.

I just typed "THE END" on a book and am debating an additional love scene for the characters, I have a perfect spot for it and I think it will show readers on their trust issues, but they haven't decided if they'll let me open the door.  Ultimately I let the characters decide what they want share.  After all I'm merely writing their story. :)

Birds, bees, and other fun stuff

Late to the party again -- sorry! Life has been a roller-coaster lately. But nonetheless, here I am.

Some like it hot -- yep, they sure do. I don't mind a little heat, myself, however if you really want to know the truth, I prefer what I like to call 'the sizzle'. ;)

The sizzle is all that sexual tension that leads up to the big moment between the main couple in a story -- whether that moment is on-screen, off-screen, or some combo of the two, it doesn't really matter to me. The sizzle is where a romance shines. It shows the couple falling in love.

Honestly, many romance writers will tell you that writing love scenes can be tough. I've even had some writers tell me it's their least favorite part of the story. Reason? There are many to choose from.

For instance: You can either wind up sounding like a biology textbook or an engineer.

Really? (fights urge to turn book sideways) Is that physically possible?* 

Then there is the issue of what words to use. Should you call it what it is? Use the clinical and sometimes cold or jarring terms? Should you find some interesting metaphors or euphemisms to soften the prose? And what if your mother reads this?!

"Yes, mom, I know that word."

Yes, there are quite a few reasons why writing sex is last on many writers' list of fun things to do. It's also difficult to make things different from book to book -- I can't even imagine the magnitude of that task for some multi-multi-published authors.

As I said before, I prefer sizzle. A subtle glance; a brush of skin to skin; the sudden realization that he really, really smells good. *sigh* I like to build that tension between my hero and heroine, usually from the moment they appear on the page together. Spark. Heat. Blush. Sizzle... and then on to something else if the story line and story length allow.

Romance novels are not, despite popular opinion, all about the sex. They are about relationships and trust. But I shouldn't have to defend the genre here. Everyone here loves romance. :)

~~Meg Allison

www.megallisonauthor.com