Yes, I love those rainy days and nights.  There is something magical and romantic about walking in the rain with the one you love under a big umbrella. Even sitting by the window and watching the drops cleanse the earth and refresh the spirit. The most relaxing thing in the world for me is listening the gentle patter of rain against the roof or skylight just above my bed when wrapped in my guy's arms.

When was the last time you ran through a puddle – on purpose? Remember being a carefree kid and stomping in the puddle?

As for inspiration for plotting? Rain? Well, yeah. Just sit, listen and let your body and mind run wild through the drizzle. Put on your favorite rain coat and go for a walk in the summer rain – don't think about your troubles, don't think about your plot…just let the water sing to your soul. Running water can have an amazing effect on your imagination, if you listen to it. It's natural, it's a force of nature that can be both refreshing and deadly, depending on the circumstances.

Now take your character and put them in the rain. How do they react? Do you have the primadona who is horrified her hair will frizz? Are there bad memories of a storm as a child? Does your hero want nothing more than to drag the heroine into his arms and kiss the rain from her lips?

Next time it rains, make use of all of your senses and enjoy!  And to really set the mood – here's some inspiration from the Neil Sedaka.

Every romance writer has heard these comments a thousand times. Some try to argue against them, but many prefer to ignore the critics and put their energies into producing and selling lots of books.

But is it true? Or, do romances in fact address some of the same issues as literary novels, but in a manner which allows the reader a choice: just relax and enjoy the love story, or engage their mind with the questions raised.

Let’s take my latest release, SECRETS OF THE PAST, out from The Wild Rose Press a few days ago. Romantic suspense. Is it all about the hero and heroine meeting and having a few nail biting obstacles along the way, before they confess their love and settle down together?

No. Not to me. There are serious themes beneath, for those who wish to explore them.

Plot aspect: The heroine is the daughter of a wealthy family, and all her life she has been successful. When she sets up a business on her own, she fails. She has to accept that what she thought of as her own achievements were in fact a result of her privileged background. She must adjust her idea of herself, and learn to live with financial hardship.

Questions: Do we really know who we are? How close is our idea of our identity to that of others? How easily do we adapt when our world changes? Does learning humility make you a better person?

Plot aspect: The hero’s parents disappeared when he was a child. Rumors claim that he murdered them, but powerful family friends and the local police covered up the crime.

Questions: Do we have a right to make decisions that affect others so deeply? Is hiding the truth always going to leave a festering secret which in the end destroys the people it meant to protect? How does a shared secret tie people together? Can the past ever be left behind?

Plot aspect: The reclusive hero sees the heroine and sets out to take care of her, fixing up her house, keeping an eye on her.

Questions: What is the difference between a stalker and a guardian angel? Is there any real difference between the two in intent and action? Or is it all in the mind of the recipient, whether the attention is welcome or not, how the recipient feels about the perpetrator?

Plot aspect: The heroine falls in love with the hero at first sight, and then finds out that he may be a murderer.

Questions: Is there love at first sight? And if such love does exist, can it be renounced if the object proves undeserving? Does love ever depend on a deserving object? Or is love so blind that it simply exists, unconnected to the qualities of the person to whom the love is directed? Is love inspired by deeds and qualities, or a random gift of fate?

Back to the opening argument: Are romantic novels trash or literature?

You read. You decide. And let us know.

Buy SECRETS OF THE PAST from The Wild Rose Press!

PS – Romance writers do admit to the happy-ever-after aspect.

There appears to be this great big misconception that it’s two spaces after a period.
It used to be two spaces.
It changed.

If you refer to the newer style guides, they all unanimously state one space after a period.
The 2000 and 2008 editions of the GPO Style Manual are unequivocal:

“A single justified word space will be used between sentences. This applies to all types of composition.” (Paragraph 2.49)

In chapter 6 Punctuation section 3 Typographic and Aesthetic Considerations, the Chicago Manual of Style states:

6.11 Space between sentences In typeset matter, one space, not two (in other words, a regular word space), follows any mark of punctuation that ends a sentence, whether a period, a colon, a question mark, an exclamation point, or closing quotation marks.

So there you have it.
ONE space. Not two.

The reason there used to be two spaces was because typewriters used a monospace font, and people thought it was easier to read if there were two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence.
Today things are a little different. While we still submit in monospace fonts (Courier / Courier New), the poor, hardworking copy editors absolutely loathe the practice of two spaces. They have to take them all out again before sending the manuscript to press.
Now, even if you do a seek-and-destroy… err… find and replace, things get a bit messy. Not because the formatting is being messed up, but these poor people (and you, the author) tend to use track changes.
Turn on track changes.
Go into your manuscript and do a find and replace on all the double spaces.
Choose “Show Revisions in Balloons”.
Welcome to Hell.

Do your copyeditor a favor — use one space only.

The name of the hero.

I know, so shallow of me. But, really in all honestly do I want to spend the next few hours of my life, curled up in my bed reading a book with a hero whose name I either (a) cannot pronounce or (b) is a name that conjurs up images of limp noodles or worse – an ex-boyfriend?

Let’s take (a) – If you want me to fall for the hero, give him a name that not only fits his personality, his powerful physique and sure, make it something that sets him apart. DO NOT make up some name that’s clearly made up (it’s okay, you can agree with me!) or something that my tongue trips over everytime or I pronounce a hundred different ways until I’m finally forced to give him a nickname before I throw the book against the wall.

On to (b) I’m sorry, but if you name you hero Wesley, Barney or Elmo – I’m probably putting your book back on the shelves.

The second part of (b) would be the ex-boyfriends, which of course is totally random, and totally personal. I don’t hold any author responsible for the bad memories I have associated with the 8 (yes, you read that right, EIGHT) Johns I dated before I married my husband.

So how do you name your hero? Think strong, think cutting edge, but give me something I can sink my teeth into when I’m reading. I’ve got a few baby name books I refer to and I admit sometimes it takes me a chapter or two before I completely hone in on a name that truly fits all his quirks.

Do you have a name that makes you cringe? A name that would make you put that book down? Or does the name not matter to you at all?

When I think about these two types of men, I can’t help but think about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Popular and controversial as it is, she did an excellent job defining the two extremes. And for once a beta ends up with the girl.

Far too often, I read alphas. I even write alphas. But Edward Cullen? He’s a beta all the way. Jacob Black? A total alpha who winds up without the girl.

Let’s look at the differences between the two characters:

Edward (beta): Vampire, cold skin, pale, rich, temperate, considerate of Bella. All aspects of his life are quietly lived.

Jacob (alpha): Werewolf, hot skin, russet skin (oh my, did no one edit the books for that word?!?!), poor, hot temper, thought of himself first. Puffed up about his abilities and his lifestyle.

I’ll be the first to admit, I loved Jacob. I wanted Jacob to win Bella over, because at several points in the series, I thought Edward was being a total passive idiot. Did he not want to be happy? Did he not recognize his own ability to protect her and make HER happy? BETAS! So self-sacrificing, but we love them anyway.

So, I guess when all is said and done, I love my alphas. It was nice to read the Twilight series and see how black and white Stephenie made the differences, not just in personality types, but lifestyles. It was nice to see the beta win, but I couldn’t help feeling like I need to read Jacob’s story now. But, of course, like any good author, I think that was probably Stephenie’s plan.

So, what kind of “man” are you? Alpha? Beta? Both?

If I go back to all my old favorites, Arsenic and Old Lace…Abbott and Costello, Breakfast at Tiffany’s…. Bringing up Baby. I could go on. The thing about those old movies is that they would have collapsed without good dialogue.  The time when movies were based on really good writing.

We’ve got that today, don’t get me wrong, but more often I like to sit down with a book and enjoy the lost art of dialogue and conversation–a witty read that pulls me into the character’s lives.

How do I apply that to my own writing? 

I see it in my head like an old-time movie. [okay, i'll admit, this movie line just cracks me up]

Bobe Hope on Zombies [sorry, the embeding html didn't work ]

Dialogue. It’s what moves the story at a faster pace. It’s what drags the reader into the world of the character and breathes life into the scene you’ve created.

Can I talk to anyone in real life? YES.

Am I ever at a loss for words? HARDLY EVER!

But when it comes to my writing, I love my narratives and my descriptions and even those inner dialogues my characters have with themselves (hey, if I can talk to myself, why can’t they? ) - it just seems when I get those two people together on the page – I stop dead.

I’ll labor over those important words for DAYS. I’ll stare at the open quote mark and bang my head on the desk. If only my characters could all be telepathic mutes – I’d be fine

And the kicker? I struggle days over my dialogue and my crit partners comment how sparkling and easy it appears on the page.  HAHAHA. Thanks girls for the boost – just don’t ask how long those few lines of dialogue took me to write or how much blood was spilled for that one stinking scene. You really don’t want to know!

At my recent local RWA meeting,  I got some ideas that I plan to try this week – because as always, I’ve been staring at my hero’s blank response for just a little too long!

It was suggested I talk it out – yes, out loud. Okay, I talk to myself constantly…this should not be a problem. Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

Another suggestion was to write out the narrative and then convert as much as possible to dialogue (of course, without it being telling or an info-dump!) Another great suggestion – especially since I love my narratives.

What really surprised me is that some writers actually write the dialogue first. I almost passed out.  Of course it got me thinking about this and I wonder how many writers either struggle with dialogue or love it? What techniques do they employ to get that dialogue sounding real and in abundance?

This inquiring writer needs to know.

So, how much is too much?

Let me give you a couple of examples –
One of my heroes drugs the heroine with something that gets her pretty darn hot under the collar, chains her naked to the bed, and films her. Then he sends the tape to the guy he thinks is her husband, to torment him. (Along with some pretty dire threats, I might add.)
Too much?
I don’t think so. He’s not forcing her as such, he’s not even touching her.
He also gets his comeuppance at her hands.
She essentially rapes him. (Result of the drug.)
Is that too much?

Another scene/chapter I have (different novel) is one where the hero reduces the heroine from a sassy, snarky, sexy young woman, to a naked, terrified, crying wreck on the bathroom floor.
Sounds awful, doesn’t it?
It’s what happens. There’s nothing he can do to prevent it, he doesn’t want to do it, but the end result is awful.
Still sounds awful, and I hear people go “You always have a choice”.
Yes. He has a choice. The other choice is letting her die.
Although she knows this, what happens to her at his hands is going to make both their lives hell.
So, is it too much?
Should I soften the blow, because reading that chapter is going to make a great many readers cringe? They won’t hate him, he’s doing it for all the right reasons, but it is going to make for a bit of dreadful reading.

I don’t like the old historicals anymore, but I wonder how we will react to some things written today, in ten years time.

You tell me.
How much is too much? Can you justify away everything? Or not?
Does a taboo only apply to physical violence, or is mental torture just as bad?
Is threatening as bad as doing?
What about the role reversal? (She doing it to him, rather than the other way around.)

Is it a better understanding of the characters, the plot, all of the above? Could it be the voice and/or genre?

My current ms is a YA mystery. It’s my first YA, so it could go to reason that it would be difficult. But my heroine, a snarky teenager, is a breeze. Her words come almost effortlessly and her GMC is pretty easy. Her voice doesn’t seem far away from the snarky heroine I wrote in my last adult mystery, yet this one is practically writing itself. (Perhaps it has something to do with my own level of sarcasm and still present teenage angst. )

I also started writing (or tried to) my next project, which is an adult mystery. I’m purposely attempting for this heroine to not speak with snark, for the most part, and it’s definitely not writing itself. In fact, I’m currently working on my third opening. It’s not fun, cute or funny, like I hoped. Am I just not connecting with my heroine? Maybe I don’t fully understand her, or maybe she’s not fun to me.

So what about you? Do you have books that naturally flow (give or take amodicum of hair pulling)?

My conversations with other writers were heavily about what I had difficulty with. It was after all mostly what I thought about. But isn’t that the way of life for some people? We concentrate on what needs improvement and take for granted the rest. I knew I was good at dialogue, so I didn’t need to think about it. Did I?

The ironic thing is I’m usually a pretty positive person. In my every day life, I refuse to focus on the negative. I believe what you put out into the universe in terms of actions and thoughts, comes back to you. And I certainly don’t need to bring any negativity upon myself. So then why am I this way with my writing? While trying to learn and improve, I forgot to be grateful. I forgot to smell those virtual roses. I forgot to remember the good…the great.

I write awesome dialogue. My voice is incredible. My characters have unique sounds/voices. And I have a talent for plotting that makes my pacing flow smoothly and my plots believable. These are not insignificant and surely shouldn’t be overlooked. It is these attributes that will help pull me out of a mental funk after a crushing critique or a rejection. I won’t forget to smell those roses now.

So tell me…

What are you good at?