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February - March 2003
Subscribers: 435 |
Published by Su Kopil
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 Love Sizzles
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My father has this habit of saving away bolts, screws, old nails, handles from long gone furniture. His workshop is filled with pieces of this, parts of that. Shelves of baby bottles filled with doohickeys, stacks of wood that have seen better days, drawers full of surprises. My father is a builder, a jack-of-all-trades. He creates wonderful projects from bits and pieces. Something you or I may have long ago tossed away as useless. On a recent visit home, I realized old habits die hard. In the winter, my father divides his time between his workshop and the computer. Instead of squirreling away nuts and bolts, he saves files, programs that mysteriously pop up on his desktop, bytes of information here, odd graphics there. While helping him clean up items on his hard drive, I asked him if it was okay to delete something. "Why don't we save it," he said, already retrieving a disc full of other such saves. "Why? Do you think you'll need it?" I asked. He just offered the smile of a kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar and shrugged. "Maybe someday." Though I shook my head at the time, once I was home slashing characters and description from my work in progress, I began to wonder if he might not be on to something. What if instead of instantly deleting sentences and pages of words I'd struggled so hard to write, I started saving them? Odd and ends, snippets of dialogue, a tender glance or beautiful phrase. Words that didn't fit in my current story but just might help me build a future one. So I opened a spreadsheet and started saving the words I would have once tossed away. I was hooked. Entrees from my writing journal soon found their way into the file. Character sketches I jotted at the mall, exercises, from writing workshops, gestures, settings, names of towns or people that caught my fancy. It was all worth saving. As my file grew so did the richness of my writing. I like to think I'm carrying on a family tradition - creating wonderful stories from odds and ends. The other day a friend of mine stopped by after a long day of work. One bite into the chocolate cake I served with tea she said, "Chocolate restores my sanity." My ears perked up and my mind swirled wondering what type of character would say such a thing. "Mind if I save that?" I asked. Knowing I'm a writer she replied. "Are you going to use it?" "Maybe someday." I said Read an excerpt of Su's latest book, Love Sizzles at: http://www.earthlycharms.com/1/sukopil.htm |
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Likes to Read: I love horror/thriller, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, gothic, paranormal, children's books/YA, action/adventure/suspense, classic literature...I read in pretty much every genre, which is probably why I *write* in so many different genres (currently I write: romance, mystery, action/adventure/suspense, paranormal, children's books, nonfiction, poetry. I have plans in the future to branch out into horror, gothic, science fiction and YA.) I don't like to limit my options. There are worlds to discover in each genre, both in reading and writing. Favorite Authors: My favorite writers are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs, Michael Crichton, Elizabeth Dearl, Christine Spindler, J.K. Rowling, Terry Brooks, Mary Alice Monroe, Marion Marshall, Robert Munsch and J.R.R. Tolkien. I have to admit that I'm also a big fan of my own writing, as well. I think all writers should admit that, with pride, not conceit. If they don't like their own writing, why do it, right? I write because I love to create worlds I can immerse myself into. Reading Now: I just finished Preston and Childs new book, Cabinet of Curiosities. You could say I have books tucked in places I visit throughout the day. In the bedroom, I'm reading Shogun (which is something I've been reading for at least a year and a half) and The Island of Lost Maps {A True Story of Cartographic Crime}. In the, um {cough} bathroom, I'm reading Book Business Publishing Past Present and Future. In the living room: A Wrinkle in Time and Miss Hickory (with my 5 year old). And in the car with my husband and son, I'm reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (with my 5 year old). Website: www.karenwiesner.com Latest Release: MAKING GOOD CHOICES SERIES: Book 1 TAKING RESPONSIBILITY BUILDS TRUST (Children's Interactive) Writers Exchange E-Publishing http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/karen-book1.htm |
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 Quade, the Irresistible One (Silhouette Desire)
QUICK FAQS: What do you fear? Spiders. Mice. Things that go bump in the night. Favorite fan story? Not so much a fan story but my favorite mail was from a contest winner who wrote to say she'd come home from a lousy day at a lousy job with nothing to look forward to ... and the prize was in her mailbox. It didn't matter what was in the package -- its unexpectedness, the fact it was from Australia, made her heart beat faster and brought a smile to her face. That's what I want to do - make people forget their troubles for a little while and feel good. Best time saving tip? Sell your modem. <g> What are you reading now? Just finished Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory (riveting, unique) and I'm about to start City Girl In Training by Liz Fielding. I read lots, across lines and genres. Writing schedule? Wish I had one. I would like to write five days a week, during school hours, but never seem to manage. Favorite Movie? The Big Easy. Favorite Quote? "There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley "If you put on new clothes for the first time, make a wish. If there is a pocket, put a coin in it to ensure plenty of money for the future." - Superstitions, Eleanor Coombe |
Five years after she started writing her first romance novel, Australian writer, Bronwyn Jameson, sold her first book. She has gone on to publish four books. Three of which have made the Waldenbooks Series Bestsellers List. And it's no wonder with reviews like the one from Romantic Times Bookclub who rated her latest Desire, Quade: The Irresistible One, 4 ˝ stars. "Bronwyn Jameson's story is a definite must-read for fans of passionate, fast-paced, sexy love stories." Or this one from Writers Unlimited, "Ms. Jameson once again shows her readers that she is a talented author who writes from her heart." Join in me as we find out what's at the heart of this talented author's writing. SU: Bron, you're known for writing books of hot desire from the land down under. Tell us a bit about life in Australia and how living there effects your writing. BRON: Australia is a land of vast contrasts, from the cosmopolitan cities to sultry tropical paradises to the laidback beach culture to the harsh landscape and isolated vastness of the outback. My home is not quite the outback but interior farmland where we live by the vagaries of nature -- at the moment we're experiencing a cruel drought. Next year it may be unseasonal frosts. The year after, our creek may flood. How does this affect my writing? I suspect my "Australian-ness" comes through in my language and word choices, my dialogue, in humor that carries a tad of the dry, laconic Aussie style. I also think I'm quite attuned to atmosphere, to nature's role in our lives, and I'm big on using the senses to create mood and intensify emotion. SU: Quade: The Irresistible One, your latest Silhouette Desire, is filled with sexual tension so real you want to wipe the sweat from the hero's forehead. How do you illicit such a response in your readers? Where do the details come from? BRON: That's exactly the response I hope to illicit, so I'm thrilled that it works for you. As for the details ... hmm ... I try to immerse myself in the scene, in the character, to see what they're seeing, to feel what they're feeling. As I said above - I also try to relate those feelings to the setting, to the situation and especially to the specific character. That last is key, so the scene doesn't (I hope) come across as generic, but is personal to this man and this woman. Oh, and I spend quite considerable time deciding on scene ideas, ones that suit the mood and the characters. SU: Tell us about Chantal, your heroine. What motivates her? BRON: Success. As the youngest in a high-achieving family she was always chasing after her elder siblings, trying to catch them, to earn her parents' praise which, to her, meant their love. She worked hard at everything to achieve excellence but skimped on social interaction - something she couldn't learn from books, and so she isn't good with relationships. Beneath Chantal's power-suits lurks a bookish boyfriendless teen with big self-esteem issues. SU: Quade truly is irresistible. Did you base his character on anyone? What made Chantal the perfect woman for him? BRON: No, not on anyone real. But I had a very clear image of him in my head, not so much how he looked, but how he thought. What mattered to him. In Chantal he found someone smart, strong-willed, someone who put her whole self into everything. During the book she discovered that her family meant far more to her than her career, and that is what Quade was searching for: he yearned for the happy family of his childhood. SU: Do you do a lot of preparation for your stories - character sketches, plotting, people watching? BRON: I do A LOT of preparation, starting with character sketches and interviews. From the characters I develop a story to suit their GMC, often quite different to what I started out thinking the story would be. Despite writing short books, I like a many-faceted conflict, layered and/or dynamic. I don't write a "big" story, there's not a lot of action or bad guys or car chases, so I need to make sure there's plenty happening character and conflict wise to keep the reader turning the pages. SU: What drives you to succeed? Is there someone or something that inspires you to live your life to the fullest? BRON: Confession time - I'm not driven to succeed although I do like to do things well for my own sense of satisfaction - I hate regrets, whether over not giving something a go or over not doing it as well as I could. Happiness is my goal and writing is one of the many things that make me happy, but not the only thing nor the most important. My boys - one husband, three sons -- ALWAYS come first. SU: Writing a book is as individual as the people who are writing them. What is your process? What do you wish you knew writing that first book? BRON: It's taken me a while to arrive at the best process for me. When I started I knew nothing of plotting or planning and that ignorance was, indeed, blissful. However it didn't help me produce a structured, well-paced book. For that, I need a minimum of: GMC, the areas of character growth/change, and the major turning points. For GMC I need to know a fair bit about the characters so I start with a chart that is a combination of basic information and interview questions. I spend a lot of time thinking at this stage and usually I come up with some scene ideas and write some draft scenes. Some of my best scenes come during these early planning stages - they just hit me, Whammo!, and I write them quick and dirty on my Alphasmart. I end up with all these bits and pieces in files - a real mess - but I piece them together in a rough outline. From this I write a synopsis, which I still HATE writing no matter how well I know the story structure. Then I need the first three chapters to turn in a proposal to my editor. What do I wish I knew? How to map out those turning points so I had a basic structure or road map before I started. SU: Is being a published author all that you dreamed it would be? How has your life changed? BRON: Yes, and more. I LOVE hearing from readers, knowing they've enjoyed my books. I LOVE the promo part, chatting with readers and other romance writers (they're the BEST people!), buying contest prizes. My life hasn't changed a whole lot, day to day, except I don't feel guilty spending time writing now it's a paying job. Guilt is a killer emotion, isn't it? SU: What can Bronwyn Jameson fans look forward to? BRON: The last two books -- Mitch's story and Kree's story -- in what I call my "One Slow Dance" series. Readers of Zane: The Wild One and Quade: The Irresistible One will recognize those characters and wait patiently for their books, I hope. Visit Bronwyn Jameson at: www.bronwynjameson.com |
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Pocket Books
July 2003
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KRESLEY COLE is Pocket's Newest Historical Romance Author The Where? At home, catching up on sleep. Three weeks before, I had an editor appointment with Lauren McKenna, Pocket Books editor, at the Duel on the Delta Conference, and she requested my manuscript. My goal was to send her the book before my husband and I left for the Dreaming in Dallas Conference. I enjoyed numerous late nighters until that Thursday when we screeched into the post office, shot the ms in the mail, then sped to the airport for our flight. Sunday night on the way out, our plane was weather-delayed indefinitely, so we spent the night on benches. When we got home Monday afternoon, I was cross-eyed. The phone rang Wednesday around eleven, and I answered in a scratchy, peeved voice. Most Memorable Moment? I didn't believe it was Lauren. The caller said, "This is Lauren McKenna and I'd like to offer you a two-book deal." I laughed. Said ohhh-kay, with a strong "whatever" undertone. This was five days after I'd submitted, so I knew it had to be one of my juvenile friends. When I finally realized she was the real deal, I was mortified and babbling in a thick Alabama accent. How Long? Two and a half-years. Visit this up and coming author at: www.kresleycole.com |
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entered in the bi-monthly drawings. Next drawing you can win... ............An Ireland 2003 page a day calendar along with a few promotional goodies Visit the contest page to see last month's winners! Copyright (c) 2002-3, Su Kopil. All Rights Reserved. All articles and contents are used with permission from the authors. Do not reprint without written permission. Please respect all copyright laws. Thank you. For Writer's Guidelines or Advertising Rates Email: Su Kopil at sukopil@aol.com |
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