IWSG & Romantic Suspense & Time Machines

 The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!   

March 2 question - Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably heard me say I have a bouncy brain. I tend to have far too many ideas going on at once.

For instance, I'm currently planning (as much as my non-plotting brain can plan) and writing a new six-book Small Town Heroes series. I've got one written, the second mostly written, the third started, and the other three sets of characters walking around in my head.

I need to know my characters before I write their stories. While they wander my brain, they're telling me their backstories and I'm finding out where the conflicts are. Of course, there are also some secondary characters who want to bump up to main characters vying for my attention as well.

I also have several folks from Bloo Moose walking around in my brain telling me who they need to meet and demanding their turn in the spotlight.

Then I have an outline (in my head) for my third series and the 6 (potentially 7) sets of characters who will be its focus.

Now, to answer the question 😊

I have a really great idea for a speculative fiction series. It would be a long multi-generational series about the future of humanity with lots of cool SF elements.

Here's my conflict.

When am I supposed to fit this in? Would I need a pen name for the new series (SF) as it doesn't follow my current brand (romantic suspense)? Where in the world would I find time to work on building up another pen name???? So far, no answers, just lots of ideas.

Anyone working on a time machine that will give me more hours in the day just for writing?

How about you? Do you have characters knocking impatiently on your skull too? Anyone else with a bouncy brain?

Winners for the #WEP challenge All You Need is Love are being announced today! Check out the winners and the other stories HERE! There are so many talented writers in this challenge!

Pippa Roscoe & How To Pitch

Please welcome Pippa Roscoe to the blog today!
***

So you’ve got that five minute slot with an editor – perhaps you know of them, even better, you know the publisher! You’re nervous, you’re terrified that you’re going to waste an opportunity, you’re worried that you’re not wearing the right clothes, you won’t get to express how much you want this, or how great your book is… 

Yup. It’s so overwhelming that it’s quite likely you’ll walk away thinking – what just happened? What did I say? (or in my case – did I actually say that?!) It’s brain short-circuiting, emotionally draining, terrifying stuff! 

But it doesn’t have to be. So here are some handy tips on how to get the most out of your one-to-one with an editor:

1. 1. Know what the publishing company you're pitching to is looking for. This sounds like the most simple and obvious thing in the world, but it’s not. At a conference or book fair, there are a lot of publishers out there, all printing vastly different genres. It may be that you don’t necessarily have control over who you get to pitch to, but once you have their name, look them up. You don’t have to be BFFs with them, but you do have to know what they’re looking for. Because pitching a post apocalyptic sci-fi who dunnit romance to an indi digi only non-fiction publisher is going to be a little awkward. 
2. Don’t panic if your one-to-one is with a publisher that doesn’t publish your genre. If you’ve got five minutes with them – they’re in the publishing industry and may be able to help answer any questions you might have about the industry rather than your specific genre. Can they offer advice on how best to write a covering letter? Do they know any editors looking for your genre? Do they have any do’s and don’ts about first submissions? They might not be able to help with your specific book, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help with the experience of writing and submitting. 
3. Have a three – five sentence outline of your story ready. This is sometimes called an elevator pitch, a premise, a blurb… But you don’t want to waste the five minutes explaining the backstory of a secondary character who is vital to bringing your hero and heroine together on the last page of your book. 
4. Know what your hero and heroine’s conflicts are in one sentence. This sounds deceptively easy, but it’s really hard and will require a bit of homework. There’s a whole host of information out there on the internet about conflicts, but this is the central tension of your romance… and one that the editor will want to know. It’s the beating heart of your story. And if they don’t ask? Then they’ll be even happier when you present it to them without them asking! 
5. Know that this isn’t your one and only shot. It’s not the last chance saloon, this editor is not the last editor you’ll ever meet. It may feel like it, but it’s not. Writing is hard, and takes determination and takes many meetings with editors. So take a deep breath and think of it as an experience to be intrigued by, to be curious about, and see it as a huge achievement, because it is! 
6. And lastly, editors are humans too. They may not feel like it, seem like it, or sometimes even sound like it, but they are. They understand that this is important to you, they also understand the nerves, so don’t worry and have fun with it.  

I hope this helps, and I wish you the very best of luck! 

***

Mills & Boon author Pippa Roscoe lives in Norfolk near her family and makes daily promises that this will be the

day she will leave the computer and take a long walk in the countryside. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t dreaming of gorgeous alpha males and misunderstood heroines. Totally her mother’s fault of course—she gave Pippa her first romance to read at the age of seven! She is inconceivably happy that she gets to share those daydreams with her readers.

Pippa Roscoe on the web:

Website          Facebook        Twitter 

Conquering His Virgin Queen

Six months ago, their marriage ended…

He has twelve hours to claim her back!

Odir Farouk is about to become king—but to take his throne, he needs his errant wife by his side! Odir denied his hunger for Eloise, refusing to compromise power for passion. His rejection drove her away. Now Odir has until news of his succession breaks to win back his queen…and pleasure will be his most powerful weapon!

Read Reader Reviews

Buy on:

Amazon Kindle             Amazon Paperback

Amazon UK                 Amazon Aust

Harlequin        B&N

Kobo               Book Depository            iBooks

***
Thanks Pippa!
Pitching in person sounds terrifying to me! But these tips are perfect for helping me out if I'm ever lucky enough to get to a conference!

How about you? Any tips to add? Have you ever had the chance to pitch your story? How did you conquer your nerves?

Romantic Tension in Whiskey & Gumdrops

It's here!!!!

I'm SO excited - my crit buddy Jean Oram is releasing the 2nd book in her Blueberry Springs romance series today! It's called Whiskey & Gumdrops and it's a companion book to her first release Champagne & Lemon Drops (a fantastic FREE read!).

Here's Jean herself to talk about Developing Romantic Tension in Whiskey and Gumdrops

***

I decided while writing my latest book, Whiskey and Gumdrops {LINK}, that I needed some significant romantic tension between the hero and heroine. But how could I do that when they don't even 'get together' in the book in an x-rated way? How could I give them a few kisses, but not let them get together? How could I keep them battling each other but not let the heroine give in until the end of the book? (Oh damn, that was a spoiler, wasn't it? Oh, let's face it. It's a romance! You know they're going to get together!)

First of all, I had to give them history. They'd dated in the past but had been 'just friends' for eons.

Then I had to give them different wants. Mandy wanted to remain friends and Frankie wanted them to get together.

But I had to give Mandy a good reason why she thought she shouldn't get together with Frankie. Give her some legit fears that had nothing to do with him, but everything to do with herself. You don't want the issues to be about him so much because it is easy to muddy the waters and water down your conflict. (Plus make the reader think she should move on to someone else and you don't want that!) So, she can blame him, but it has to be obvious to the reader that it is about her--not his flaws.

Then the fun part--letting her get over those fears! For Whiskey and Gumdrops, I tied it into Mandy's growth arc and the plot. So, in order to get what she wants--to be someone in the small town of Blueberry Springs--she has to figure out her fears and overcome them. In overcoming them, she is able to open her eyes to the man who has been waiting in front of her for years.

And I needed something to instigate it all. So, in goes one marrying ex-boyfriend. Instant ka-pow to her gut, forcing her to see that she needs to make a change and setting the story in motion.

Now… about that tension. I made these two friends (Mandy and Frankie) argue here and there. But when they were arguing, they were also really arguing about something else. About Mandy's fears. About Frankie's wants. Here's a little sneak peek:

“I won’t take that kind of risk with your money, Frankie.”

“What? I’m not good enough?” He thrust his shoulders forward. “You have to do everything on your own?”

“Look.” Her hands clenched into tight bundles by her side. “I’m not willing to ruin our friendship. I’ll happily be a waitress forever if it means keeping you as a friend. I’d rather do anything than hurt you.”

“Too late on that one,” he muttered.

Mandy’s eyelids flicked closed and she fought for control. “Frankie…”

“Why won’t you accept my help, Mandy? Why won’t you accept me?”

“Because—” she opened her eyes and gripped his face, staring him in the eye, needing him to understand “—you’re the one thing I can’t afford to lose.”

As you can see in the above bit we've got Mandy saying she won't take his money in order to pursue her dream and Frankie taking it as a personal rejection of his overtures. She wants a friendship. He wants more. They are at odds which creates tension. Especially if you add in bits like so where the character struggles internally:

Was it just her or was he brushing against her intentionally as he moused around her website?

Stop it! Just stop it, brain! He’s off limits! Just because you’re excited about the restaurant, don’t go projecting it onto him and his heavenly body.

She turned to face Frankie, pushing her chair away when his proximity threw her off again. His lips were much too close to hers if she wanted to avoid grabbing him and shoving herself into his lap. Her mouth was hungry for more of him than was right to want from a friend.

“He, um…they...” Damn. Look away from his lips. Be strong. He’s waiting for you to make the next move and you will not make it! Do you understand? And while you're at it, breathe, dammit. 

Can you see the tension? If you have those elements--fears (or a character's fatal flaw) working against what they want and the character's at odds with each other in terms of wants, you've got a great starting point for creating romantic tension.

 

You can get your copy of Whiskey and Gumdrops and enjoy the full version of Mandy and Frankies' romantic tension for only $2.99! Amazon  Amazon.co.uk  Smashwords  

You can find Jean here:
Facebook     Twitter     The Helpful Writer     The LoveBug Blog     Newsletter

***
Thanks Jean - I'm still struggling with adding tension of all kinds in my stories, so I appreciate the tips!

How about you - do you find it easy to add tension to your stories?