Daisy Dexter Dobbs - Author, Artist and Grand High Exalted Goddess of Make-Believe

Just Like Les Misérables, but with Peaches

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I’ve been hard at work rewriting my entire backlist, as well as adding some brand new stories, so that I can bring you a whole bunch of fabulous, all-new DDD romance novels in the coming months. Yay!

In order to get all that writing (as well as working with my editor) completed, I’ve had to discipline myself and keep offline as much as possible. But I figured it was probably about time that I checked in, just to let you all know that I’m still alive and kicking.

Here’s a special little story I created just for you while you’re patiently waiting the release of my new books. It’s a bittersweet romance; a stirring tale of one sweet woman’s unfaltering belief in the man she loves--complete with illustrations. I hope you enjoy it!

~~~ Just Like Les Misérables, but with Peaches

This is Lucinda Jane Abernathy. Lucy is 81.

And here’s Lucinda’s husband of 10 years, Reginald Barcliff Abernathy III. Reggie is 93. He’s a rascal and a rogue. Some might even say he’s a cradle robber for snatching up a sweet young thing 12 years his junior.

It seemed to everyone who knew them that Lucy and Reggie had an ideal marriage...that they adored each other and were deeply in love.

While Reggie had always had a reputation as an outrageous flirt and a bit of a womanizer, most people thought it was just part of his roguish charm.

But Lucinda knew different. Old Reggie had a real wild side. She’d caught him dallying with that 70-something floozy from bingo more than once.

He’d sometimes come home drunk as a skunk at the outrageous hour of 9 p.m., long after most men his age were fast asleep and sawing logs. Lucy knew he’d been out philandering because of the hours-long tenting of the sheets after he plopped into bed, sprawled on his back. Yes, it was clear he’d been taking his happy pills again.

Lucy had come to accept his boozing and infidelity because she loved Reggie so dearly, but she had a more difficult time coming to terms with his gambling addiction. Month after month she watched their retirement income dwindle after Reggie gave in to yet another bingo rampage. And then there were all those shopping sprees for his snappy fedoras and snazzy bow ties.

Things got so bad that sometimes there was no food in the house for days and poor Lucy was starving. The utility companies kept threatening to turn off their services. Lucy was frightened and didn’t know what to do. She tried reasoning with Reggie about his gambling problem and fashionista shopaholic tendencies. He always offered a tearful apology, promising he’d do better and pledging his undying love for Lucy.

As always, Lucy forgave her beloved Reggie and believed his endless promises, trusting that one day he really would change...because he loved her as much as she loved him. But, sadly, Reggie’s inborn urge to be bad was just too strong.

One day poor, starving Lucy did something shameful...something she’d never, ever done before. She stole some food. A can of peaches. She couldn’t help it. She was so terribly weak from hunger, lightheaded, and becoming more frail by the day. Unfortunately, Lucy was nabbed by the cops for shoplifting. She was booked, fingerprinted, given a standard issue orange jumpsuit, and had a mug shot taken.

She was only allowed one call and, of course, she phoned her beloved Reggie, explaining what happened and begging him to come down and keep her from spending time in jail for her shameful crime. Reggie, of course, rushed to his wife’s side, soothing and calming her.

At the hearing, the judge asked Lucinda what she had stolen. “A can of peaches, your honor,” she said. He asked her why she would do such a terrible thing. “Because I was so very hungry, sir,” she explained.

The judge contemplated for a moment while Reggie wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulder, comforting and supporting her. “Everything’s going to be all right, Lucy,” he promised her. “Your Reggie is here, my love.”

The judge asked Lucy how many peaches were in the can. “There were six,” she replied, feeling so much better because Reggie was there at her side. He may have been a rogue and a gambler, but she knew he loved her and wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

Nodding solemnly, the judge repeated, “Six peaches.” Then he said, “That will be six days in jail, Mrs. Abernathy.”

“What?! For just six peaches?” Lucy cried out. “Oh no! Reggie...oh my dear Reggie, do something,” Lucy pleaded, clutching her husband’s arm and sobbing. “Please...do something. They want to lock me up, away from you for six whole days and nights!”

“Six peaches...six days and nights...” Reggie said, gazing intently into his distraught, peach-thieving wife’s eyes. “Your honor,” he addressed the judge, “may I say something on my dear wife’s behalf?”

His gavel in midair as he was about to pronounce sentencing, the judge stopped. “Certainly, Mr. Abernathy. What is it you wish to say to the court?”

“Well, sir, Lucinda also stole a can of peas. The giant, economy size.”

And that, dear friends, is the sad and tragic tale of poor, sweet, trusting Lucinda Jane Abernathy. She is due to be out of jail in another 1,436 days.

--Daisy Dexter Dobbs

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I Wear the Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Hello my lovely friends! My lack of presence here and elsewhere on the internet probably makes it apparent that I’m having difficulty keeping up my blogs or engaging in social networking while working on my books (I have 20 of them to update and rewrite for new release).

I’ve been writing like crazy and making fabulous progress on my latest manuscript. It’s the second book in a series. The first book is in the capable hands of my editor.

I came across a joke today that made me smile, so I thought I’d share it with you. I even made the time to draw a picture for you to go along with the joke! Since the book I’m writing is a contemporary romance, I was inspired by the characters in my story so I’ve used them here in my illustration.

As you can see in my expertly drawn image, these chic, fashionable characters are the embodiment of the term romance. They’re bold, beautiful, and sexy as hell. I wanted give you an idea of how incredibly sexy and romantic my books are so that you’ll be clamoring for them once they’re released.

And now, without further ado, I Wear the Pants:

Before Kevin married Lori, his dad sat him down for a father/son chat. "Kevin,” he said, “on my wedding night in our honeymoon suite, I took off my pants and handed them to your mother, saying, ‘Here, try these on.’ She did and said, ‘These are too big, I can't wear them.’ I replied, ‘Exactly. I wear the pants in this family and I always will.’ Ever since that night we’ve never had any problems."

Kevin liked the idea. On his honeymoon, he took off his pants, telling Lori to try them on. She did and said, "These are too large, they don't fit me."

"Exactly,” Kevin said. “I wear the pants in this family and I always will. I don't want you to ever forget it."

Lori took off her pants, handing them to Kevin. "Here you try on mine," she said.

He did. "I can't get into your pants," he told her.

Lori smiled. "Exactly. And if you don't change your smartass attitude, you never will."

--Super Earthling (a/k/a Daisy Dexter Dobbs)…roger wilco, over and out

My Reason is Better than Yours

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:50:00 +0000

If you've wondered why you haven't seen me online in a while, I have a really good excuse.

Hop over to my illustrated Super Earthling art/humor blog to find out what’s happened.

The good news? There’s no need to send chocolate.

--Daisy

Daisy Hangs Up her Holiday Super Hostess Apron and Wears Holiday Dunce Hat Instead

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:00:00 +0000

This is a shameful holiday confession.

I love and adore Christmastime. I love the classic holiday movies, as well as the sappy, schmaltzy movies on Hallmark and Lifetime. I love Christmas carols. I love holiday decorations. I love giving gifts because the feeling you get in return is a bazillion times better than receiving them.

I’ve always been into arts and crafts and for years I made beautiful, detailed handmade gifts for family members and friends. They also each received a big box of my homemade cookies, cakes, yeast breads, candies & recipe mixes. I hosted festive holiday parties and provided lavish spreads of delectable foods, all made from scratch. I also handcrafted our Christmas cards each year. And I made my own holiday wrapping paper.

Yes, I was truly the epitome of the Holiday Super Hostess.

This year is different.

I recently got the rights back to 20 of my books and have been busy as hell rewriting and proofing and editing and creating covers and formatting and doing everything else necessary to get books ready for publishing. I’ve decided to go the indie writer route this time around. There are many reasons, but topping the list is the fact that indie publishing gives me far more control over my stories. I’m able to rewrite them as they should have been written in the first place instead of according to publisher guidelines that often made me uncomfortable.

I’ve been dedicated. Diligent. Determined. (“I love alliteration, don’t you,” said Daisy Dexter Dobbs, author of Polly’s Perilous Pleasures.) Because of my writing commitments, I haven’t done any holiday baking yet, and I’m not sure I will. I haven’t made any handmade gifts...or handmade wrapping paper. I’m not doing any entertaining. I don’t know what I’m making for Christmas dinner. I didn’t even send out any Christmas cards.

Each day, as new Christmas cards arrive from family and friends, I feel the whack of the mighty guilt hammer upside my head, telling me I totally suck at reciprocating.

Sadly, I have no choice but to hang up my holiday super hostess apron and put on a holiday dunce hat instead.

Okay, horrible, shameful confession over.

The good news is that, while I may totally suck at Christmas preparation and reciprocation this year, my new books (the first couple books will be available early 2013) will totally rock! Yay! I just finished the proofing & editing of my first rewritten manuscript and it’s ready to send to my editor. The original book title was Polly’s Perilous Pleasures (which was just 54K words). The new title is EXERCISING HER OPTIONS (it’s a romantic comedy and has 92K words). This is book 1 of my Greek Delights series. I’m working on the creation of the book’s cover now. After that, I’ll begin rewriting book 2 in the series (this one will be shorter so it won’t take as long to complete). I plan to have 8 or 9 books in the Greek Delights series.

So now it’s your turn. Any holiday confessions you’d like to make so I know I’m not the only holiday dunce out there? Please? Pretty please...?

WAIT!!! I do have something festive to share with you after all! Yay! Come check out my Super Earthling art and humor blog and see my Baa Baa Black Sheep post! :D

Ding Dong Delivery Service

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:32:00 +0000

No, I’m not talking about the now defunct Hostess cakes. I’m talking about a real, live, walking, talking ding dong.

Yesterday we had a new widescreen TV delivered that we purchased from Costco online for a great price. Yay!

During the timeframe earmarked for delivery, I noticed a vehicle that looked like a cross between a station wagon and a small van parked in front of our house with “Airport Shuttle -- Express Door to Door” on the window. I figured the driver was lost or something and was getting his bearings.

The doorbell rang and when I open the door the guy (he looked about 45 to 50) smiles and I was hit with a powerful whiff of what smelled like women’s cheap perfume. I knew without doubt the man was straight because no self-respecting gay man would ever wear that scent.

Assuming he was about to ask directions, he surprised me by saying (in a foreign accent), “I have your TV.”

“Oh,” I said, smiling. “Great!” At the same time, I was struck by a feeling of pity for the other delivery guy stuck in the small vehicle with him because the man honestly reeked.

And here’s the rest of our conversation:

Him: Can you help me carry it?

Me: *blink* What?

Him: I need you to help me carry it up the stairs. (ed: there are 2 flights to the front door of our house)

Me (looking for a hidden camera): You’re kidding, right?

Him: No. I am alone and I can’t get it up here by myself. Someone here must help me. You will help, yes?

Me: Seriously? (ed: I clearly don’t look like a limber 20-something woman. I’ve got an adult daughter and anyone can see that I’m past...um...38)

He nodded, giving me a blank stare.

Me: No, I can’t help you carry a TV up two flights of stairs, I have arthritis in my spine. (ed: actually, I have ankylosing spondylitis, but that would take way too long to explain--and then I thought...why the hell should I even feel the need to make an excuse to a goddamn delivery man about why I can’t help carry a heavy TV up the stairs?)

Him: Oh...what will we do?

Me: What do you mean, what will we do? You’re the delivery man, aren’t you?

Again he nodded, giving the same blank stare. The gears in my tiny brain started turning...

Me: You can bring it in through the patio door, okay?

Him: I will try.

Me: Well great, that’s just peachy...meet me there (I told him where).

Looking terrified that he might drop it, which made me terrified, the guy wheeled the boxed TV, positioned vertically on a dolly, to the patio door, which I had wide open for him. He couldn’t figure out how to get it inside. The box wavered back and forth as he made one attempt after another and I was afraid it was going to fall. I held out my hands to catch it, almost dissolving into laughter, thinking how totally surreal this all was.

Finally, he managed to get the box inside, looking very proud of himself. He asked where I wanted it and I showed him an area about two feet away. He looked chagrined.

Me: The box has openings on either side to use for handles.

Him: I will try that.

His arms weren’t long enough so it got dicey there for a while. He finally managed to get it off the dolly and onto the floor where it wavered after he set it down. I helped him drag it to a more stable position.

After debating about making a fuss and not signing for delivery, I decided to keep my mouth shut and sign for the damn thing, contacting Costco directly to make a complaint later.

They somehow knew I was calling because the customer service line was busy the rest of the day. I have yet to talk to them.

I like Costco and have been pleased with their merchandise and service in the past. This is the first time we’ve ever had anything other than a small item (that shipped via UPS) delivered. They need to know who they’re contracting with for deliveries. This was almost too unbelievable to be real. But it happened, just exactly as I posted here, without a bit of embellishment.

The good news?

One: We have our new TV. Yay!

Two: People always ask me where I get all my ideas for writing comedy. This is a perfect example of why I tell them that I need look no further than my own everyday existence. :D

Now You Can Say You Knew Me When!

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Holy cow, this is pretty damn cool! I have discovered, ladies and gentlemen, that Daisy Dexter Dobbs has arrived!

The print version of one of my OOP (out of print) books, FINDING CUPID, is available from a used book seller on Amazon for...wait for it...

$944.99!

Yes, you read it right. Almost $950!

Plus $3.99 S&H. :)

I am not kidding. Seriously. It’s not a joke. For a mere $948.98, you can own this rare, out of print collector’s gem!

I took a screenshot because who knows how long before someone plops down a grand for my book and the page disappears. :D

Here’s a close-up of the price:

Isn’t that just insane? Needless to say, this really made my day!

As of yesterday I had checked and found that my books and I are no longer listed on the websites of my previous publishers. That means, with all of my books now officially out of print, the only place the paperbacks are available is from used book sellers, or individuals selling their used books at various online venues. (The electronic versions are still being pirated, of course.)

Here’s the Amazon link if you want to check it out yourself.

And how was your day? :D

Signed:
--Daisy Dexter Dobbs, the shy and retiring mega-bestselling author

Romantic Comedy Writers Have a Serious Side Too

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:55:00 +0000

I have my intense face on this morning.

Yesterday I added the much-needed conflict that was missing from the original version of my previously published romantic comedy novel, Polly’s Perilous Pleasures.

It was perfect. Deliciously grim. As of last night when I left my manuscript, the heroine’s heart had just been broken. So had the hero’s.

The scene was raw with anger, betrayal, sadness and misunderstanding. And now, this morning, it’s my job as a writer to fix it all--to somehow, beyond all logic or reason, craft a stunningly satisfying happily-ever-after ending from the bitter, painful shards that remain of a shattered relationship.

And you thought my job was easy. Ha!

Anatomy of a Rewrite 2: Kill Your Darlings

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:40:00 +0000

“In writing, you must kill your darlings.”
--William Faulkner

“When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them--then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.”
--Mark Twain

“The road to hell is paved with adjectives.”
--Stephen King

"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."
--Harper Lee in Chapter 7 of To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus Finch is a fictional character in Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.)

All the quotes above are just as pertinent today as when first uttered, and there’s a damn good reason why they were voiced in the first place. When writers rely on an abundance of adjectives and adverbs, no matter how seemingly perfect the words we’ve chosen, it’s a sign of weak writing. Like using crutches when your legs are healthy. It’s an indicator of telling, rather than showing. If we use our writing skills to show emotion, feelings, sensations, rather than simply telling our readers about the emotions, we succeed in crafting a memorable scene that moves our reader, satisfying them, captivating them, making them want to stick around to experience more of the same.

I’m rewriting a number of my previously published (and now out of print) books. I selected Polly’s Perilous Pleasures for the first rewrite because I knew it would be the most challenging and time consuming. While it’s not the first book I ever wrote, it’s my first erotic romance. I wrote it early in 2004 (it’s now the end of 2012, which makes PPP nearly 9 years old). It was published in 2005, by Ellora’s Cave. It was one of the first (perhaps the first) erotic romantic comedies they released.

PPP was a reader favorite and consistent top seller for me for 7 years. When released, reviewers called it a comedy cult classic, which was pretty darn cool. As you can imagine, I made sure to slap that quote all over the internet at the time! :D The story features Polly Patrick, an average to slightly plus-sized woman, a chocoholic who works as a caterer, and Nick Kokoris, a handsome Greek personal trainer.

I loved creating those characters as well as all their mishaps and the hot, fun-filled love scenes. Once I decided to rewrite my older books to get them ready for future release, I was delighted at the prospect of revisiting favorite characters, fleshing them out, tweaking teensy, minor problems here and there, doing a few itsy bitsy updates throughout the story.

How joyous it would be to read all about Polly and Nick and their hot, humorous escapades again! How satisfying to get carried away with their sexy encounters! Rereading my perfect, golden words would be a treasured reminiscence. Getting caught up in the impeccable lusciousness of the prose that spilled from my mind would be the epitome of a truly great reading experience.

I opened the manuscript and started to read. Although I’m not prone to headaches, my head throbbed as words I tried to ignore slammed into my head like a Chinese cleaver hacks into bok choy. I cringed and winced and whimpered and had a loud, whiny pity party, finally realizing the arduous task ahead of me.

PPP was nothing like I’d remembered. Oh God how I tried, I mean reeeeeeally tried, to pretend my writing style and skill level are the same now as 9 years ago. They’re not. (Thank you, God!) While I yearned to embrace my nearly decade-old story, I found myself haunted by William Faulkner's words, “In writing, you must kill your darlings,” instead. It wasn't a wispy sort of haunting, but more of a clanging alarm bell inside my head kind of warning. As my eyes skimmed great portions of the bland, boring, weak text I’d written, for the first time I truly understood what Faulkner meant.

He was saying writers shouldn’t become so attached to (or enamored with) their characters, or anything else they’ve written, that they fail to recognize when something needs to be cut out or deleted. Sometimes that “something” amounts to great portions of a manuscript. It hurts like hell to have to be the cutter...but unless the job is tackled aggressively, fiercely, brutally, the story will suffer. My book deserves better than that. It has good bones that deserved to be saved.

Like many writers, I become strongly devoted to my characters and often so captivated by my words that I foolishly believe every single part of speech I’ve written is gold and therefore must not be excised for any reason. Oh what melodic pairings of adjectives and adverbs! What perfectly appropriate clichés! Ah yes, the masterful use of the thesaurus is magnificently evident in my narration, while the expert use of synonyms positively shines in the loves scenes where I create a million and one different ways to describe...it.

Thank God my tiny brain realizes that’s bullshit thinking.

Trust me when I tell you this rewrite has been one damn, maddening project. My manuscript has become like an abstract landscape, filled with hundreds of directional signs all blaring the same thing: Delete!! Delete, delete, delete, delete!!!! I have obeyed the call to obliterate until my delete-key finger is sore, stiff and bruised.

I’ve been forced to viciously slash dialogue, narrative and even some characters. As I read through what I’d written, my eyes started glazing over. Skimming overlong passages, I asked myself, who cares? Seriously, who gives a shit about this part or that part or what the side character had to say, etc. Delete, delete, DELETE!!!

So I’ve spent the last couple of months steeped in cutting, slashing, gutting, disemboweling, blasting away huge portions of precious but tarnished gold that’s seriously in need of being melted in a blast furnace. It’s been hard. Damn tough. I’ve searched for instances of telling when I should have been showing, got out my samurai sword and started hacking. Mercilessly...savagely...

He shook his head DELETE! He smiled SLASH! He shrugged his shoulders SLICE! He nodded OBLITERATE! He winked ABOLISH! He laughed RIP! He frowned ANNIHILATE! He was gorgeous CUT! He looked so handsome REMOVE! He was tall and muscular TRASH! He gave an angry scowl EXPUNGE!

And then DELETE! had been DELETE! was DELETE! very DELETE! extremely DELETE! a bit DELETE! a little DELETE!

My poor characters. I had betrayed them, altered them, forced them without any notice to mature. I felt like a goddamn murderess. Like a B-movie slasher. But it had to be done. As I exterminated left and right, I prayed my brutal, homicidal actions were justified...

Fortunately, once I got immersed in ruthlessly killing my darlings a great sense of relief washed over me. I knew without a doubt that by deleting hefty portions of godawful text, I’d made my book immensely better, the story is tighter, the pacing faster, and the characters more real.

The rewritten book (which is almost complete) is now almost twice as long as the original version. I’ve replaced all the garbage words with shiny new significant words that, hopefully, make the story blossom, bringing the plot and characters to life, fully fleshing it out into the well-rounded romantic comedy novel it was always meant to be.

Of course, Polly’s Perilous Pleasures will never be the same (which is one of the reasons I’ve decided to rename the rewritten book). Logically, I understand that’s a good thing. Because I’m an eccentric (nicer word for crazy) creative person, I’m still gripped by a sense of loss. And yet, I’m happy at the same time. It’s like someone dying. You feel terrible for your loss but happy they’re (hopefully) in a better place. I’m sorry it was necessary for me to butcher my poor, unsuspecting book...but I can breathe easier now, knowing how far I’ve come as a writer.

I’ll be back with more posts in this series detailing my rewriting experiences, so stay tuned! If you missed it, you can read part 1 here: Anatomy of a Rewrite 1: Just Like Einstein and Frankenstein.

NOTE: If you know of any writers who might benefit from this series, please do share my blog posts with them. Thanks!

Until next time...

--Daisy

Anatomy of a Rewrite: Just like Einstein and Frankenstein

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:30:00 +0000

I recently got the rights back to nearly 20 of my books. Most of these stories are personal favorites, and many were reader favorites and popular with reviewers, having won a number of awards. Against the counsel of wise people who kindly warned me about taking on the daunting, truly tedious task of rewriting these books, I am, of course, rewriting them.

The anatomy of a book rewrite is proving to be fascinating as well as frustrating. It’s a great deal of work, but also a true labor of love because I get to revisit favorite characters, fixing them up and fleshing them out so they’re better, more relatable, and more believable than before.

Since I’ve been making plenty of notes along the way, I thought sharing my journey of turning previously written books into fresh, shiny new ones, might prove interesting for both readers and fellow writers.

I’ll be releasing the rewritten books as an indie writer this time. Indie publishing gives me much more control over style and content.

My oldest books were written in the mid 1990s. The first book I’m rewriting is Polly’s Perilous Pleasures, which was written in early 2004 and published in 2005. As you can imagine, much of the technology mentioned in my older books is all but obsolete. Huge advancements in technology and the way we communicate with each other make updates crucial. I have characters using answering machines, pay phones and car phones. There’s no texting. No Facebook, Twitter or Google. Computers and email either weren’t available, or not yet in wide use. Without careful rewriting, my new releases could be laughable...and not in a good romantic comedy way.

I had a pivotal scene in PPP that took place in the bedroom when a phone call came in and the answering machine clicked on. It was crucial for the hero and heroine to hear the message at that time, but I realized as I read the scene that I’d either have to scrap the idea or use a cell phone and voicemail, or some other method of getting the information across to the reader. The option I chose entailed a rewrite of the scene, using a cell phone...which I finally chose to cut out altogether (*ack!*) because I thought of something much better that night (in the middle of the night, about 3 a.m., when all book ideas seem to nag at me) and changed everything the next morning. Since the rewritten scene is really good, I’ve saved it in a file for possible use in another book (I do that for all the material I’ve cut if it’s of good quality). So that involved some wasted time but, ultimately, the book is much better for it.

While working on this first rewrite, I’ve made several significant discoveries, the first of which is realizing how much this project makes me like a cross between Albert Einstein (oh the rewriting formulas I’ve had to create!) and Dr. Victor Frankenstein (you know, the mad scientist who created the monster).

We share certain traits, necessary for successfully completing an expertly produced rewrite. For starters, we’re all forward thinkers, all creative geniuses, and Dr. Frankenstein and I are both craz--

Anyway...

I’m certainly not implying my new books will be monsters. (Aw, look at Daisy’s little baby Frankenstein romance book...cootchie-cootchie-coo) ...

But they will have undergone the cruel, savage process of having their guts, nerves and brain matter ripped out, leaving only the heart and soul intact. The book innards worth salvaging will be diced up, rearranged, sewn and pasted neatly back where they belong. The old innards will be enhanced by the addition of shiny new innards, freshly generated by my tiny creative genius brain.

Here’s where my likeness to Einstein comes in...

The first thing I did was to read the entire published manuscript of 54,745 words from beginning to end.

When Polly’s Perilous Pleasures (my new working title is EXERCISING HER OPTIONS) was released in 2005 it had 54,745 words. After reading through the manuscript in preparation for the rewrite, the first thing I did (after plenty of cringing, wincing, swearing, whining and whimpering the entire way through because I realized the original manuscript was a catastrophe) was to cut out the last four chapters of the original book (12,260 words). I decided they didn’t belong in this book, although they’ll be a perfect addition to the rewrite of Accidental Foursome (to be retitled), PPP’s sequel. That left me with a book of only 42,485 words and no real ending.

The next thing I did was to add 3 brand new chapters (15,700 words) to the beginning of the new PPP. Now the book had 58,185 words. Two new characters are introduced in those chapters and both will have their own books later in the series (my working series title is GREEK DELIGHTS and this is book 1). Since there are 8 sexy, Greek Kokoris brothers, I’m planning to write 9 books (Accidental Foursome is an extra book featuring 2 brothers who will also have their own books as well).

As of this writing, I’m at 69,300 words on the new book, which means I’ve added 26,815 new words. It actually comes out to a lot more than that because I’ve cut huge scraps and entire paragraphs and blocks of text along the way, completely rewriting them (or simply discarding them because they totally sucked).

I have 1 more chapter from the old manuscript left to rewrite and I need to add about 2 more brand new chapters toward the end, which will add some much needed conflict to the original story. So I’m close to being finished. Unless I make additional changes (I’ve discovered anything is possible during a rewrite and to always expect the unexpected), it appears the final book will probably be between 80,000-90,000 words.

I hope you’ll stay tuned to this blog because there are so many subjects I plan to tackle in this blog series about The Anatomy of a Book Rewrite, including:

Killing your darlings
How to show rather than tell
How to build believable conflict
Which words to savagely cut from your manuscript
How to handle foreign accents and words
How to write a satisfying romance with lots of sex, rather than a sex book with some romance thrown in
How to write romantic comedy without having it come across as silly or stupid
How to create heroines that aren’t annoying or, worse yet, TSTL (too stupid to live)
How to write believable dialogue
How to spot and correct dangling or misplaced metaphors
When to use correct grammar and when to forget it
How to create compelling character names
How to create satisfying, passionate love scenes without writing something smutty
What to do when trying like hell to come up with different words to describe body parts or the sex act

And that’s just for starters.

I’ll update as often as possible (with illustrations if I have the time), but probably not more often than once or twice a week because, after all, I’ve got 20 books to rewrite! :-o

Also--I plan to have some contests once my rewritten books are available. I think they’ll be fun.

NOTE: If you know of any writers who might benefit from what I’ll be discussing in this series, please do share my blog posts with them. Those of you who’ve known me for any length of time (especially those of you who have contacted me for writing advice over the years) know that I’m a great believer in writers generously helping their fellow writers--and that I practice what I preach. There’s plenty of room at the top and I’d love nothing better than to see us all get there, stay there, and celebrate together! :D

Until next time...

--Daisy

Killing off Daisy Dexter Dobbs: A Murder Plot Gets Foiled

noreply@blogger.com (Daisy Dexter Dobbs) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I started this blog at the beginning of 2005 but it’s been on hiatus for most of this year. Today, November 5, is my birthday. What better day to reopen my blog? :D

So why, you might ask, did I leave this blog unattended for so long? The answer is simple...

Because I had intended to kill off Daisy.

You see, I recently got the rights back to all of my published books from their publishers. There are more than 20. After much contemplation, I had decided to retire my Daisy Dexter Dobbs pen name and no longer write erotic romance. My intention was to rewrite the books as non-erotic romances, to be released under a separate pen name, Susan Bodendo.

As if I didn’t already have enough to do, I made time to create brand new Facebook and Twitter accounts for my alter ego, spending an inordinate amount of time telling everyone I’d no longer be active as Daisy and asking them to switch to my newly created Susan accounts.

I should have known better...I really should have, because after publicly stating I wouldn’t be writing as DDD any longer, something totally unexpected happened. I received more email and messages on FB and Twitter in one month’s time than I have in ages. Readers, reviewers, fellow writers and past editors were asking me to PLEASE reconsider because they wanted more Daisy books.

I was truly touched and surprised. I don’t mean mildly surprised, I’m talking downright flabbergasted. Since I hadn’t had a new book release in about two years, I figured people had probably forgotten about me--thereby making it a cinch for me to kill Daisy off without much notice.

Erotic romantic comedy has never sold as well as darker, more serious, intense erotic stories, or BDSM or kinky stuff, etc., so I assumed readers didn’t care much my comedic, feel-good stories. In reviews posted online I’d even had a few reader-reviewers say they thought my books were ridiculous because, hey, no one buys erotic stories to laugh, right? They gave a couple of my books 1 star, solely because of the humor in the stories. As creative people with fragile psyches tend to do, I zeroed in on those few negative comments, ignoring the wealth of positive reviews, awards and feedback I’d received for my work over the years.

As a writer, I felt somewhat lost and sad because romantic comedy (whether erotic or not) and humorous women’s fiction are what I love to write most. Firsthand experience, not to mention numerous medical/scientific studies, has proven laughter to be immensely joyous and healing (both mentally and physically). My mission in life is to use my natural affinity for humor, combined with my talent as a writer and artist, to do all I can to infuse the world with more humor. With all the stress and anxiety surrounding us, what better way to achieve a healthy balance than taking time to smile, to laugh, to break out in periodic spontaneous bursts of joy?

As for humor in the bedroom? Sex is one of life’s most enjoyable pastimes. Of course there are fun-filled, and sometimes even awkward, moments along with the passion. :)

You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear from people encouraging me to continue writing romantic comedies as DDD. That’s exactly what I’ll be doing. My previously published erotic romantic comedies will all be updated, thoroughly rewritten and lengthened to fully flesh them out into the wonderful love stories I’d always envisioned when first writing them (but couldn’t achieve because I had to adhere to publisher guidelines).

As stated in the header of this blog, I enjoy creating love stories filled with warmth, passion, humor and happy endings. A true romantic at heart, I ensure my erotic romances provide satisfying love stories complemented by lots of wonderful sex scenes. If you’re looking for sex books that happen to have some romance, my books probably aren’t for you.

(For those of you who don’t care for erotic romance, yes, I’ve got a number of non-erotic books on the horizon too.)

One significant difference is that I’ll be doing these books as an indie writer this time. Indie publishing gives me the freedom to build these into the stories I had originally planned. Now I’ll be able to focus more on the romance aspect, crafting better, more well-rounded stories with added conflict and the introduction of some fabulous new characters. As for humor, the rewritten stories are funnier than ever.

As I make progress, I’ll add updates here and on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can also follow along with my crazy fun-filled illustrated adventures on my Super Earthling blog and Super Earthling Facebook page. (Heck, while you’re at it, you may as well follow Daisy on Pinterest too!)

People often ask me where I get the ideas for the screwy mishaps in my romantic comedies. I’m completely honest when I tell them my life provides more than the normal share of calamities. Stay tuned to this blog where you’ll get to hear about my personal misadventures; my life as a writer; all the latest information about my writing; as well as plenty of writing tips and articles about the anatomy of a full book rewrite.

Since this blog has been dormant for so long, I don’t know if anyone will even see this post but for those of you who do--I just want to let you know that all your wonderful emails and messages, urging me to keep Daisy alive and writing, made the top of my gratitude list and will remain there for a long time.

Thank you all so very much for caring and for helping to foil the murder plot against Daisy! :D

--Daisy (who’s still alive and kicking and has every intention of remaining so for many years to come!)