Recharging batteries

I spent the weekend out of town, traveling to present a workshop on dialogue at the Sacramento Valley Rose writers' group monthly meeting. My husband surprised me a few days before I left by suggesting that he join me for the weekend, and I was delighted to have his company.

My plans for a quick trip south on Friday and a drive back directly after the meeting on Saturday changed to incorporate a two-night stay at a spot near some terrific shops, a more leisurely and scenic drive with someone else behind the wheel, and several wonderful meals at some of our favorite restaurants. This morning we detoured through the Napa Valley on our way home to enjoy the scenery and pick up a few bottles of wine. We stopped for a tasting at the chateau at Rubicon estate, pictured below.


What a wonderful way to recharge my batteries. I visited with fellow writers, sharing a mutual enthusiasm for the romance genre and excitement over works in progress. And I enjoyed some relaxing time with my husband. Of course we spent some of that time discussing story ideas. My characters travel with me wherever I go.

Where do you like to go to recharge your batteries?

Summer on the screen

I'm crazy about movies. Always have been. As a child, I was indulged in my passion by parents who liked movies, too--especially the fact that they could send all five of their children to the Saturday double feature and then indulge in some private time at home. Even the discovery of the reason my parents insisted--yes, insisted!--we go to the movies every Saturday failed to squelch my enthusiasm for the story magic on the silver screen.

Lately I find that watching a movie is the best way to set myself free of nagging deadlines and the stories in my head for a few precious hours. They're more than entertainment; they're a mini-vacation.

This time of year, I start checking out the season's offerings. Superheroes, car chases, thrillers, sequels--I love the larger-than-life fun of the summer blockbusters. Sitting in a darkened theater may sometimes seem a silly waste of a lovely summer evening, but once I smell the popcorn I don't mind escaping the real world.

What movies are you looking forward to seeing this summer?

Masked marauders

When I was young, I thought raccoons were adorable, and I fantasized about having one for a pet. They seemed like so much fun. Not anymore.

Lately my husband has been engaged in guerilla warfare with some raccoons that knock over our trash cans and spread a mess around the can enclosure. He's tied the lids on the cans with elastic cords and set a few booby traps, but nothing seems to have worked.

It's easy for me to laugh at his frustrations--I'm not the one dealing with the morning mess. However, I don't like being awakened when the dogs sound the alarm.

Do any of you have any suggestions for discouraging our nightly visitors?

Happy Mother's Day

I'm sending wishes for a special, happy day to all the mothers among my readers.

My family knows I don't like to make too much of a fuss on this day. After all, motherhood was a wonderful gift I gave myself, a gift that continues to bring me joy every time I spend time with my children. And now my son has given me another daughter to love and a grandbaby to cuddle. I'm a very happy mother, every day of the year.

When I first began writing, I read some surprising advice in one of many craft articles: I should avoid giving the heroine's mother a major role in my stories. The rebel in me wanted to see if I could do it and get away with it, and I've discovered that relationship can add a fascinating subplot to enrich a story. I realized this morning I've featured mothers of heroines in all my books, sometimes giving them a romance of their own.

Mothers deserve their happy endings, too, don't you think?

Sweet treat

The hero of my newest release, A Small-Town Temptation, loves caramels. Although Jack Maguire prefers his without chocolate, I think he'd approve of these special caramels from one of my favorite chocolate stores, Woodhouse Chocolate, in the Napa Valley.

To help celebrate the release of Jack's story, I'm offering a box of chocolate-covered caramels to one of my blog visitors who shares a comment or two before the end of May.

I'll have lots of other prize offers during the next several weeks, so be sure to stop by often.

Happy reading!

Stuck in the middle

This morning I took my granddaughter through the gate at the bottom of our drive for a walk through one of our fields. We picked wildflowers, studied a fat black beetle, and startled a garter snake that slithered away.

Eventually, around a bend in the track, we saw the cows that are currently grazing there. My granddaughter wanted to get closer and say hello; I explained that they'd probably run off as we got near. She wrapped her baby fingers around one of mine and tugged me down the hill.

Sure enough, once we got within a few yards, the cows jumped up from their shady resting spots and dashed out of sight. "I want to talk wiff 'em," my granddaughter insisted. "We're getting too far from the house," I answered, thinking of the long hike back. But on we trudged.

Once more, as we approached, the cows jogged off. This time they squeezed through a second gate and headed out into a larger field, moving too far away for a visit. My granddaughter was very disappointed, and when she saw how far we'd hiked from the house, she dropped her fistful of wildflowers. Suddenly those few stems seemed too big a burden for the trip back up the hill.

Writing the middle of a story is a little like trying to talk to a herd of shy cows. I walk in a certain direction, hoping to pin down my characters and discover their story's meaning, but they shift and move off in seemingly random directions. The beginning is far behind me, and the end waits in an unknown corner of a big, empty field. All I can do is trudge on.

Do you feel stuck in the middle at times--too far from the beginning to turn back and too far from the finish line to see it?

Pleasant surprises

During the past several days I've received some wonderful news. My 2007 Superromance releases have both been nominated for book awards.

Maybe, Baby has won second place in the Contemporary category in the Lories contest. This book was a joy to write, for many reasons. It has a special place in my heart because I wrote it with my infant granddaughter's as inspiration, plotting scenes while I rocked her to sleep at naptime. And it was my last chance to spend time with a cast of characters I'd come to know so well--the people who populate the Bright Lights, Big Sky series.

The Rancher Needs a Wife was a great deal more difficult to write. I struggled with it from beginning to end, and as a result I had somewhat less than fond feelings for this story when I'd finished it. So it's with a certain degree of relief and pleasure that I'm discovering the book has its fans--it's been nominated for a Golden Quill award, it's a finalist in the More Than Magic contest, and it has won a HOLT Award of Merit.

Several readers have asked if I'll write Jody Harrison's story someday. I have one in mind, and I'm daydreaming possibilities for another series combining Hollywood with Tucker, Montana. I can hardly wait to spend more time with the characters from the Bright Lights, Big Sky series. It's easy for me to understand why other writers enjoy writing linked stories.

Do you like to read books that are part of a series?

Fictional real estate shopping

Today you'll find me at the Wet Noodle Posse blog, where'll I'll be discussing the process I used to create the settings for the books in my Bright Lights, Big Sky series.


It involves a little online shopping, a trip to the post office, and a cooperative realty.

Stop by for a visit, if you get the chance.

Spinning a yarn

We've all done it: we've all told a story.

Maybe we've repeated a story we've been told. And because we're all different, we've put our own spin on things and made that version ours alone. Or perhaps we've spun our own tales, using our memories and experiences to entertain or make a point. And because we're all creative, we've used our imaginations to touch our audiences on some level.

Today I chatted with an acquaintance about how I go about writing a book. She believes it takes a kind of creativity she doesn't have; I told her I don't think there's all that much creativity involved. I didn't tell her that much of the process involves forcing myself to sit in this chair and type when I'd much rather be doing something--anything!--else. (That's the only way the pages pile up.) But I explained that it's a bit like the chat we were having: we each had something we wanted to communicate, but we didn't know exactly what would pop out of our mouths until the moment the words formed in our minds.

For me, writing is somewhat like a conversation. I have a specific thing I want to say--a conversation starter--and I put my hands on the keyboard and begin to type. But just as conversations sometimes take unexpected detours, so do the paragraphs that appear on my pages.

When one of those detours occurs, I take some time to think. How might this new development work within the story framework I'm building? How might my characters react if I allow them to continue down this road? Sometimes the accidents seem more interesting than the planned story events, and I reconfigure my story to allow for the change in direction. Any story can be told in any number of ways. The detours--the possibilities--are limitless.

Pat mentioned in her comment yesterday that she's heard authors talk about their characters heading off down their own paths. This happens the same way a conversation does. I type the hero's opening line--the one I've planned--and then the heroine's expected response. He has to say something else, and she has to answer again. Their lines follow in a logical pattern, as does any conversation. But as I begin to sink into the scene, as my fingers begin to fly over the keyboard, it's as if I'm eavesdropping on an actual conversation. You see, they're real people to me at this point--as real to me as the characters in any book I've read or any movie I've watched. And they're as unpredictable as real people, too.

One of the fun things about writing fiction is that I can always go back and edit--I can't do that in real life.

Do you sometimes wish you could put a different spin on one of your tales? Have you ever wanted to rewrite your lines?

Climbing out of a writing rut

I'm making satisfactory progress on the current book project--a sequel to A Small-Town Temptation--but I've begun to notice something odd about the way the story is developing. It's very different from most of the others I've written. I don't know whether this is something good or something I should be worried about.

I like to inject a lot of humor into my stories, since I love plenty of it in my personal life. However, much of the humor in my books comes from the hero, who's typically a teasing, wise-cracking kind of guy. And this particular hero doesn't have much to laugh about.

Perhaps I'll find a way to loosen him up a bit, as the heroine begins to bring some light into his life. But he's rather intense so far, and his shadows are adding an edginess to the story I didn't imagine when I first sketched the outline.

It's fascinating how characters emerge to become the cocreators of their story, bringing a certain mood to the tale as they help make their magic. I'm excited these two people are coming to life on the page, and I'm delighted their story is gaining so much texture.

However, I've been comfortable in my writing habits. I'm feeling a bit disoriented now that I've been forced to climb out of my creative rut to deal with unfamiliar dialogue and uncharted emotions. The story feels right, though, so I guess I'd better close my eyes, hold on tight, and let these two people take me where they need to go.