The Lure of Cowboys

What makes a cowboy a sought-after hero? Rugged good looks, handsome features, toned body...I could go on and on. But, other things add to his allure.

Hats: I don't know about you, but there's something about how a cowboy angles his hat to shade his face. That cute little tug he does to pull it firmly in place can cause a heart to flutter. And, the gallant "tip" of his hat to impress a woman can melt the heroine's heart in a flash.

Tone/twang: It's all in the accent. Put a cowboy hat on a hero and he speaks fluent "rugged outdoors/ranch, along with lots of courteous "ma'ams". That slight drawl, lazy and well-accented, will surely catch the heroine's interest.

Spurs: Not sure about this one. Could it be the sound of spurs jangling that captures a heroine's attention?

Jeans: No doubt a major lure. Take one well-toned, cowboy, pour him into form-fitting jeans, and be sure to have your heroine check him out from all angles. He'll be as good-looking in the front as well as causing heart palpitations as he swaggers away and gives the heroine a rear view.

Horse: No doubt the cowboy bonds with his horse. Mounting that horse and riding into the sunset creates images of being whisked away into a fantasy escape. Of course, the heroine needs to be sitting in front of the cowboy, enjoying the close proximity to her hero cowboy as they bounce along at the horse's pace.

And then, there are cowboy boots, ranches, rodeos, guitars, etc. All connected to cowboys and all adding to their mystique. How could any heroine avoid falling in love?

So, why don't I write about cowboys? Hmm. Need to add that to my "to do" list. A man in jeans is a man in jeans. A cowboy in jeans is a whole other image. Yee-Ha!


Now for some SKATING COWBOYS!

Photos: Flickr: Sean, Alan Light, and dbking's photostreams.
Video: youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBUy0mPwocQ

Editing: A love/hate relationship

I'm going to discuss my favorite topic—editing. Seriously, it's my least favorite. When an editor returns a manuscript and those bubbles fill the side of the page, I cringe. What was I thinking? What did I do? What isn't clear? Oops, forgot a word. Scrolling on, the pages with no comments allow me to breathe easier. All in all, the revisions improve the manuscript. Make it shine. I love to see the final version. So why do I detest the task of editing so much?

I'll tell you why. It's not that I'm close to my work, as if it were my "baby". Hell no. I can change a scene or take something out without a second thought. That doesn't bother me. What brings me down with edits is the time involved and the whole rethinking process to make sure everything runs smooth. It's a time consuming task, and quite frankly, I'd rather be writing. Edits always come through when I'm in the middle of another project. Not the editor's fault. That's just the way the world spins. So, I'm having to put aside the project I'm happily working on to revise the last book or the one from a year ago. Naturally, I don't want to do it. (The kid in me is coming out.)

After several deep breaths, I remind myself the finished product will be good. It always is. Not to mention, edits are part of the "writing process". I learn from my mistakes, which means I apply what I've learned to future projects, which should reduce the amount of edits. One day. I hope. LOL.

Bottom line, it's good to have an editor and to revise a manuscript. Although I'm not fond of the task of editing, I would never publish without an editor reviewing my work. The time spent revising is well worth it. I deeply appreciate editors for taking their time to read and make comments (sometimes four times). After all, they have the difficult part of the "publication journey". Writers spill the beans and editors grab the mop and point where to clean. Their job is not one I'd want, but I totally respect and appreciate, even if I'm the one cleaning up the mess. LOL. The finished product always shines, and that is what we all want.

My urban fantasy novel, The Awakening, comes out next month (January 2012). Here's the blurb:

Two investigators--one human, one vampire--find a young woman among a mass of dead bodies. She has no memories, and nothing but her clothes, two receipts, and a mysterious dagger carved with the initials 'SB'.

As she seeks her identity, SB realizes she's unlike any other creature in the world, making her the most valuable person on the planet. And the most wanted.

I have 4 other books published. They are paranormal/urban fantasy romances. The Soul Catcher series includes:

Claiming the Evil Dead

Catching an Evil Tail

Fighting Evil

Love Conquers All Evil

Available from Noble Romance Publishing, Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, and more.

Happy Holidays!!

Mary Abshire

Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Author

http://www.facebook.com/mary.abshire

http://www.maryabshire.com

http://www.goodreads.com/maryabshire

http://twitter.com/maryabshire

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maryabshire

http://www.maryabshire.wordpress.com

A Year of Publication (well, almost) - Ramblings from a Newbie

I can't believe it's November already. A year ago, I had just signed a contract for my first novel, Claiming the Evil Dead. The pub date was set for end of December. I was so excited, and stressed out. My mother had taken ill and I was running between hospitals, taking her to appointments, and looking for a nursing home. Then there was the matter of her house that needed attending to. Stressful times indeed.

Christmas drew near and so did the pub date. More stress. I was so busy, I didn't even put up the tree. I saw edits for the first time and thought, this isn't so bad, but very time consuming. I didn't have much to edit on my sex scene and I'd thought for sure I'd have to make major revisions. I was glad to see I was wrong. LOL.

New year. New opportunities. New hope.

I sign contracts for books 2 and 3 in the series, and they get published in Feb. and March. Edits were more difficult, more time consuming, and time was limited. My mom had major surgery and I moved her into a nursing home. I definitely added some gray hairs. The good news... mom gets better, much better. By April, I have her house cleaned and she moves back home. Hurray!!

With three books out, I spent a lot of time promoting in various yahoo groups and paying for advertising. By late spring, I realized the error of my ways. The advertising didn't pay off at all. I'm a newbie. An unknown author. What does one such as myself do?

I beef up my activity in Goodreads and blogs. No more advertising. I create a twitter account. (I love twitter now). I focus on writing too.

June comes and my family and I head to NYC for the RWA conference. That was a great vacation, and sadly, probably my last. Still, great time. On another note, my mother is doing well on her own, better than a year ago!

August, the 4th book, Love Conquers All Evil, comes out. Around that time, I got a contract for an urban fantasy novel, The Awakening, which comes out in Jan. 2012. Things are looking good.

As for promotion, I have more giveaways and contests. I started a blog for giveaways of print books. Am I making progress with my published books? The truth is, I'm still new and unknown. But I love writing, so I continue. And I'm making wonderful contacts.

Present day. Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon. I'm almost done with a PNR book in a new series. I have a novella under a pen name needing revision, and the sequel to the Awakening needing major edits. As for the tree, I am putting it up! Christmas will be extremely different this year, but I am determined to make it a pleasant one.

I look back from my first publication in December and realize writing is the easy part. Revisions are time consuming and dreaded, but I will admit that when they are done, they are well worth it! Advertising is so not worth it. I focus on writing and blog a couple times a month. I've found Goodreads and twitter are good tools. Live chats are fun too. I always enjoy those! I have seen a lot of self-published works that do well and I am encouraged to pursue that route. Maybe with the new year...

Authors: what have you found that has worked for you and not worked? How was your first year of publication?

Mary Abshire is the author of the Soul Catcher series (Claiming the Evil Dead, Catching an Evil Tail, Fighting Evil, Love Conquers All Evil)

The Awakening, an urban fantasy novel, comes out January 2012 from Lyrical Press.

For more information about Mary's books, visit www.maryabshire.com

http://www.facebook.com/mary.abshire
http://www.goodreads.com/maryabshire
http://twitter.com/maryabshire

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maryabshire

http://www.maryabshire.wordpress.com

A Halloween Inspired Tale

Witches, ghosts, and hobgoblins... Halloween is a perfect time of year to enjoy yourself with all the creatures of the night. Chills, thrills, and spills (of candy!) are the order of the day. And while I’ve given up dressing in costume for this special day, I do have fun giving out plenty of the sugary stuff when visitors knock on my door.

Naturally, to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, I had to create a story featuring one of my top ten candies: Candy Corn. Since I write romance (in several genres), I had to include a love twist. As I talked about in a previous blog (Real Life Inspires Art), I like to combine real life events in my stories. So for this short story, I drew upon treat-or-treating back in the old days... well, in the sixties, anyway. This short story includes the fear of my younger self that my grownup lipstick would mysteriously disappear, the frantic rush to ring as many doorbells as possible, and the dark, dank atmosphere of city apartment buildings.

The short story title: “True Love And Candy Corn”



BLURB: On a Halloween outing, thirteen-year-old Rebecca knocks on a “witch’s” door. As her treat, she is cursed with true love until the end of time, and even though desirable Frank Palmer seems to be the love object in question, Rebecca is thoroughly spooked. Now, nine years later, Rebecca is treat-or-treating again as she escorts her young cousins on their rounds. When she comes face to face with Frank, she doesn’t see true love as a curse anymore. Will the witch’s prophecy come true?

Available electronically only at fictionwise.com

So, if you love candy corn but worry about the sugar, try this zero calorie treat on Halloween night, but be sure to reward your trick or treaters... just in case a real “witch” is on the other side of your door!

Just joking! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Susanne Marie Knight
http://www.susanneknight.com 
Read outside the box: award-winning Romance Writing With A Twist!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Coming December: The Minx Tobin Mystery Series: The Yuletide Yorkshire--Case Five (Desert Breeze Publishing)
Minx finds something unexpected under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, it wasn’t left by Santa.

To write a series, or not write a series?

As a reader, I love a series. I enjoy reading a series with the same characters and seeing how they evolve. A good example, J. Frost's Night Huntress books with Cat and Bones. In other books/series, I enjoy reading about the different characters and their struggles. Good examples include Kerrelyn Sparks' Love At Stake series and Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. In the former, each book is about a different character, yet involves other important players that show up in all the books. And those other characters eventually get to tell "their" story in a book in the series. Great idea. In the The Otherworld series, one book may be about werewolves, and another about a witch or demon, yet they are all tied together in the same world, in this case "Otherworld" and have a challenge to face. Books with these two series could easily stand-alone.

In my Soul Catcher series, my characters are pretty much the same in each book. They evolve and the protagonist has to face some kind of challenge. I have 4 books in that series and I grew very close to them. I could probably keep it going for a very long time, but there's so much more I long to write.

In my new series, I decided to try something new. I created a paranormal world and the people "moving" into the community (or already "moved" in) will have a book and will have some kind of relationship challenge. So each will stand alone, yet will be part of a large series. (I hope large—lol). Since this is new for me, I hope it works. I'm halfway done and my goal is to finish the first book this year, then submit it in Dec, maybe January. We'll see what happens.

Why do I write books in a series? Because that's what I read and what I like. Plain and simple.

I have to admit that my ideas are mostly large scale ones and that plays a part in why I write books in/for a series too. Sure, I have a couple ideas for single novels, but I tend to get attached to my characters or their world, which makes me want to develop the books into a series. It's a difficult decision for me to make (which book to write) when I have several ideas jumping up and down in my head. Based on what I like to read, you can guess what my selection will be.

Are you a series lover too?

Mary Abshire

Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Author

http://www.maryabshire.com

http://www.facebook.com/mary.abshire
http://www.goodreads.com/maryabshire
http://twitter.com/maryabshire

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maryabshire

http://www.maryabshire.wordpress.com

When Is Self-Promotion too, too blatant?

As authors in this e-friendly world, we all think we have to promote ourselves and our books, and I fully believe this is true. If I didn't believe it, why would I keep spending an hour or more each day on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets?

What bothers me--and I assume makes others' heads sizzle with annoyance--is authors "preaching to the choir". By this I mean posting every review, every release, every guest blogging date, ad nauseum, on sites and lists which are frequented only by their fellow authors as well as on all the social media sites.

Yes, I frequently read other authors' books. I think almost every author does. I make it a point, though, not to buy the books of authors who keep my email boxes stuffed with blatant self-promotion I've already seen on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Because I feel this way, I've begun to wonder whether pure readers I try to reach in social media also get testy when they see too many promo posts from one author.

Just how much promo is too much?

Readers need to know about new releases--once or twice, just before and on the release date. I question whether they also need to know when (a few days after the release at the publisher site) the same book is released at Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, etc.

I usually link to one or two favorable reviews for a book--not every review, and certainly not less than flattering ones. It's also been my practice to post new cover art on Facebook which also slides over to Twitter. In between, I try to find interesting pieces that aren't related to my books and post them on my FB page so it won't seem to be nothing but blatant self-promotion.

Does this amount to overkill?

I'm in a quandary. Sometimes I think I'm a mean curmudgeon for seething at the sight of the third or fourth announcement of the same self-promo information from a fellow author. Other times I wonder if I'm not irritating potential readers by tooting my own horn too loudly.

What do you think? At what point does useful promotion slip over into the nuisance category? I imagine there are a lot of authors who really want to know!

Urban Fantasy - What's so good about it?

I was thinking this morning about why I love this genre. I instantly came up with a list. Here are my top 6 reasons for loving urban fantasy.

1. First person POV – I find this POV easy to write and I love to read from this POV. For some reason, it really puts me inside the head of the character, what they see and what they feel.
2. Fast paced – I like a book that moves quickly.
3. Action – I like action. Action is exciting. It involves conflict and or coming to a conflicting situation. Love conflict.
4. Setting – The city setting in urban fantasies seems more real to me. I can visualize the setting more.
5. Fantastical aspect – I'm a paranormal lover, so I do enjoy the various creatures and the worlds created in urban fantasy. The mind is a wonderful tool to use for creating new creatures and new worlds.
6. Romance is not central – While I do enjoy romance, urban fantasy doesn't have romance as the central theme. Sure, you can have a romantic element or parties having sex, but it's not the core of the book. Some other theme is important – like saving the world, or someone's life… something big. Hell, it doesn't really have to be a big, it could be anything that is important to the protagonist.

What draws you into a certain genre?

Mary Abshire is the author of the Soul Catcher series (paranormal romance). Her first urban fantasy novel, The Awakening, is set for release Jan. 2012. As soon as she polishes the sequel, The Quest, she hopes it will be released in 2012 too.

Links:

http://www.maryabshire.com

http://www.facebook.com/mary.abshire

http://www.goodreads.com/maryabshire

http://twitter.com/maryabshire

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maryabshire

http://www.maryabshire.wordpress.com

Real Life Inspires Art

A big hello to our All Day, All Night Writing Divas aficionados! I’m Susanne Marie Knight (SusANNE is my entry into this terrific group of writers!) and I write in quite a few different genres. My motto is Romance Writing with a Twist! To date I have 32 books published/under contract.

For today’s blog, let’s talk about incorporating things from the real world or from your personal life into your books. By “things” I mean events, locations, emotions, experiences; you know, the kinds of touches that can bring your novel to life. These snippets or bits and pieces from real life can help endear the story to you AND your readers.

For example, in my newest fantasy romance, UNCOVERING CAMELOT, Stonehenge, specifically the Stonehenge Memorial in Washington State, figures prominently. Also important are Merlin and other members of the Arthurian legend.

But a personal touch to this tale concerns an off-chance remark a friend had said before I’d even started to think about writing this book: she was the youngest in a family of seven daughters. Seven daughters conjured up fairy tales I’d read as a child. The hero was often the seventh son of the seventh son. I couldn’t ignore this opportunity. My heroine, Heather Woods, had to be the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, thereby enabling her to have a magical experience.

Here’s the blurb:

A VACATION RUINED--Heather Woods suddenly learns her boyfriend, Connor, cancelled their summer plans. Determined to forget about him, she visits her flaky godmother, Nerissa, instead, for an impromptu vacation. Nerissa insists that Heather has a healing gift, something Heather doesn’t believe. But when she experiences visions... hallucinations... or whatever her jaunts back to Camelot are, she fears for her sanity. Meeting a man that might actually be Merlin the magician, and his very attractive nephew, Matthew, convince Heather that she’s in the middle of a strange, metaphysical phenomenon.

A VACATION CHANGED--Judge Matthew Limner also finds his vacation plans changed. He receives a call from a long-lost Uncle Mallory--so long-lost that he hadn’t even known Mallory existed. Mallory flies in from London, and expects to go sightseeing with Matthew. Resigned, Matthew plays the host. First stop: the Stonehenge Memorial in southern Washington. A chance encounter--or is it?--with Nerissa and Heather convince Matthew that something much more than coincidence is happening in this tiny corner of the world.

Video Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTGkLGFbC5c.

Available at Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/3m9nk5r.

For my newest book in the popular Minx Tobin Murder Mystery Series, THE VIRTUAL VALENTINE, I combined my love for the murder mystery genre with my fitness background for the heroine’s occupation. Here’s a pic of me with the legendary Sherlock Holmes!

I also included an interest of mine in THE VIRTUAL VALENTINE--Lewis Carroll’s fantasy world. In my book, I created a café called the Mimsy Grove, based on Carroll’s poem, “Jabberwocky.” The café features servers dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland. “Off with her head!” Oops!

 



Here’s the blurb:

KISSES CAN BE DEADLY--The serial killer stalking Los Angeles will soon be served his just deserts. But that doesn’t mean Minx Tobin is out of danger. First, there’s a crank caller. Then her tire is slashed. Quite possibly, her throat is next. But if the throat-slashing murderer is out of the picture, then who has it in for Minx?

Gabe Harris works two full-time jobs. First is solving murders as homicide lieutenant for LAPD. Second is trying to keep his new girlfriend, Minx, out of danger. But this time, she isn’t to blame for her predicament. Gabe’s job is proving hazardous to her health.

Video Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drlmBm27qIQ.

Available at Desert Breeze Publishing, www.desertbreezepublishing.com , Amazon.com, and other Internet locations.

A few quick examples that also helped motivate me to include in my books are:

GRAVE FUTURE (paranormal suspense): I did get lost in the Poconos looking for a friend’s summer home.

THE RELUCTANT LANDLORD (Regency romance): The young character of Freddy likes to insist he's the Duke of Wellington, a hero from the Napoleonic Wars. I can thank a child from my daughter's pre-school for this. Out of the blue, a boy walked over to me and with a serious face, told me he was Batman!

Alien Heat (science-fiction/futuristic romance): The secondary character of Will Flagg was inspired by a boy I knew in seventh grade, and generated this passage: "There were two things Will Flagg hated above all else. The first was to be called 'short.' The second was to be a disappointment to someone he thought highly of. Unfortunately, the latter was just about to happen."

PAST INDISCRETIONS (paranormal suspense): This novel is about Atlantis, past lives, and cloning. I created the Colby clan with three boys and a girl. One weekend, my family met a couple with three boys and a girl in the same birth order as my book. My daughter mentioned, "Mom, they all have the same face. It's scary!" I pounced on this sentence because it was a perfect fit, especially since my book deals with human cloning.

What type of personal experiences do you like to include in your writing? Or read about?

For more info on Romance Writing with a Twist, visit me at my website or blog! Thanks!

Susanne Marie Knight

Romance...the fantasy vs. realities

As a genre, the word romance conjures happily ever after (or at least happy for now). In real life it’s too often not that way. Enjoy the fantasy in my new Quickie, MUTUAL FANTASY, available now from Ellora's Cave, Amazon.com and most online booksellers.

I'm thinking that many of us are searching for the happily ever after fantasy to come alive in our real lives, and when it doesn’t we're too quick to discard what could be a satisfying, lasting relationship. Observing a good many young couples' romances has left me with the impression that they often begin relationships too easily, before they truly know their lovers—and I don’t only mean how well he performs in the sack compared with her former lovers, or how hot she looks in a bikini.

Traits they thought were fun and cool at first tarnish in the bright light of everyday sharing. While she loved partying with him at first, she now views his affinity for sports bars as taking something away from their relationship—unless he happens to be doing all that partying with her. He didn’t worry about her lack of homemaking skills—until he woke up facing filth, clutter and dirty clothes day in and day out.

This alone dooms a lot of romances, but let's go further. Ratchet up the responsibility with a baby before they’re ready financially (and maybe emotionally as well) for the added responsibility. They decide after baby is born that she should stay home a while, which adds to the financial stress since he now must pay her hefty debts on an income he has to stretch by working longer hours at the job he hates. She isn’t used to sitting home and isn’t interested in staring at the four walls, so she takes the baby and fritters money away by shopping, meeting friends for lunch and so on. She wants him to join the Air Force as an enlisted man, but as a college graduate, he's holding out for an officer's commission.

Meanwhile he keeps working and going to graduate school. He hates coming home without unwinding from long days on the job, so he stops by a bar with coworkers and has a few drinks. She gets furious, which only makes him less anxious to come home other than to play with the baby with whom he has bonded. She'd probably never admit it, but she’s jealous that he apparently loves the baby more than he does her.

She takes a long trip with baby--without discussing it with him. Car breaks down and incurs a huge bill while away. He starts fuming because that car was hers before they met and she's upside down in it--owes thousands more than it's worth in trade. She comes back. Car breaks down yet again. Things are getting worse. Finances are stretched as tight as a small condom on a large cock. He demands she get a job. She refuses and throws his drinking in his face--again.

By this time she has stopped caring for him and thinks longingly of an old boyfriend, contacts him, decides he may be a better bet even though he’s still married to somebody else. She takes baby and walks out, leaving him with nothing but debt he incurred trying to support her, and an apartment full of memories he cannot face.

Their fantasy romance is over. She’s bloodsucking off yet another meal ticket. He's trying to get his life together while maintaining a relationship with his baby that requires him to maintain often painful contact with her.

This account is fiction, a composite of many broken romances I've observed over the years, not any particular one. I certainly like stories like MUTUAL FANTASY much better! My hope is that all of us will eventually find our real "Happily Ever Afters"--or at least "Contented Ever Afters"--in spite of life's sometimes bleak realities.