These Wicked Games Read online

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  October 3, 2006

  May Chen

  My Super Next Boyfriend

  To me, a compelling hero is essential to a compelling romance. There’s nothing better than immersing myself in the psyche of a sexy, complex man. And I love the process of a strong heroine turning a wild and wicked rogue into someone who’s barely tamed. Yeah! So what can be even better than a hero—a superhero!

  I always thought the relationships between Batman and Catwoman, Superman and Lois Lane, Spider-Man and Mary Jane, Wolverine and Dr. Jean Grey, were the most intriguing plots of the story. And out of all the superheroes, I love the Dark Knight of Gotham the best. He’s so tortured! He’s so selfless! He has such a strong jawline!

  So which superhero are you drawn to and why? Would you rather be Mary Jane or, like me, Selina Kyle?

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  October 4, 2006

  Joanna Barrett

  Weathergirls and Other Not-So-Mundane Topics

  Hello there, fellow writers and romantics!

  Jo Barrett here. As a matter of brief introduction, I wrote a book about women’s bathroom conversations that is due out in March. My main character is divorced and searching for new beginnings. So all of you divorced women out there who are looking for a little camaraderie, I’m your gal.

  When I read romance novels, I tend to sop up every word like chicken soup. These books aren’t fiction—they’re hope! Of course, most romance novels are written by women, so I have to pose the question: Are we being a bit too dreamy, here?

  Can any man live up to the romantic illusions we read and write about? While writing The Men’s Guide to the Women’s Bathroom, I found it challenging to depict a “real guy” who was an entertaining read. So, I focused on finding humor in the mundane. Boring, you say? Snore? Not in the least!

  What’s boring about a man whispering in your ear, “You look nice, today—kind of like a weather girl.” Yes, this is a real-life compliment I once received! And yet, as a divorced woman, I swooned. I flipped on the Weather Channel immediately to see if the weather girls were hotties.

  Which brings me to my main point. Sometimes, as writers, we can find the unusual within the banal. Perhaps an interesting word or turn of phrase will capture the essence of our characters.

  I’m currently reading The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter. He writes the following sentence: “‘I only ask you because I love you,’ she crooned in her motherly way, which is what she says to everybody she dislikes.”

  So, why is this sentence unusual? Here is what I came up with. See if you agree:

  The character croons in a “motherly way,” which makes you think she is a sincere, mother figure—until you read the next part: “which is what she says to everybody she dislikes.”

  Wow! Shazam! I love this sentence. It’s a BIG surprise. Like being called a weather girl and blushing with delight.

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  October 5, 2006

  Anne Mallory

  Making Time to Write—

  Or Anything Else You Fancy!

  Between day jobs, family, friends, and activities, you may feel you need four extra hours in the day to accomplish everything.

  So how do you find the time to write (or exercise!) when things get crazy?

  Examine your schedule. Is there a block of time you can grab? A half hour after dinner, before bedtime, or first thing in the morning? If so, nab it quickly! Tell everyone that chunk of time is yours. Really emphasize that with loved ones. Close the door, take your work elsewhere (if possible), or use a timer. Let them know that when the door opens or the timer goes off, you are back up for grabs, but not before.

  No block of time in your schedule? Then you are going to have to carve one from something else. Perhaps you can TiVo a favorite weekly show. Watch it without commercials and use that precious twenty minutes for writing. Two taped shows = forty minutes of commercials you can use for something else!

  Still no time? Carry a notebook. Jot notes while waiting for the laundry. Write longhand scenes (or use an AlphaSmart) while waiting in the car or during your child’s soccer practice. Five minutes here, five minutes there. Those minutes add up!

  What are the things that get in the way of your writing? How do you deal with them? Any tips to help the rest of us?

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  October 6, 2006

  Valerie Frankel

  The Plot Simmers

  In my seventeen years as a novelist, I’ve never been blocked (knock wood).

  But, often, I get stumped. I’ll be writing merrily along, hitting my page/word counts, coming up with good lines.

  Everything seems great. I’ll find myself heading in a surprising direction, letting my subconscious take me away. And then, often, I pull up short, stop suddenly in confusion, and wonder: Where is this going?

  I have always believed that my subconscious is a reliable, trustworthy guide. If it tells me to have a sexy man walk into a scene, I’m not going to argue with that. But—you have to meet your subconscious in the middle.

  Asking key questions such as, “Where is this going?” “Do I like these characters?” and “Is this predictable?”—helps keep the story swimming, even if you have to tread water while you sort out your answers.

  I lose a lot of sleep, puzzling. Sometimes, after laying awake for hours thinking about plots, I dream about my characters. Those are the best nights. A true meeting of my two minds. Regarding plotting, you have to take your ideas on a cloud, by force, by reason, with scrutiny—and enjoyment. Puzzling is the fun part. Writing is the hard work.

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  October 9, 2006

  Sophia Nash

  Writing Gems

  It is a truth universally acknowledged that trying to produce a best-selling, award-winning novel will drive a writer insane.

  That said, most writers do occasionally experience the rare “Aha!” moment when understanding intersects with insight to provide a beam of light in the dark jungle of snarled plotlines, cardboard characterizations, and uneven pacing. Sometimes it can be simple. Other concepts boggle the mind.

  Here are a few “Writing gems” I reread often:

  1. Mary Jo Putney advises: Be confident, arrogant even, in your writing. Stephen King believes fear is at the heart of all bad writing.

  2. Your characters will be what people remember most. The hero and/or heroine should be likable or you risk losing your reader. This sounds obvious, but it can be tricky if you want to add exquisite depth via the emotional growth of flawed characters.

  3. Pacing: “Write each chapter as though it’s your first,” says James Patterson. And Maggie Shayne advises, “You know those long tedious passages of description/ narrative that go on and on, and how you end up skipping them altogether to get back to the story? Yeah. Don’t write those.”

  What are your “writing gems?” Have you ever experienced the glow of an “Aha!” moment?

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  October 10, 2006

  Liate Stehlik

  The Love of Reading Is a Powerful Thing

  As a publisher, I can’t think of anything more exciting than creating a community where readers, published authors, aspiring writers, and editors are able to interact together in an open forum such as the one we have right now on Avon FanLit. The love of reading is a powerful thing, and to be able to share your favorite authors with your friends, to be able to discover new authors you may not have heard of yet, to be able to try your hand at writing, to be able to hear what authors are thinking about, and, in turn, what you readers are thinking about, is priceless. At Avon we always talk about how powerful and generous the romance community is, and I think this event has solidified that belief and even magnified it in a way that is beyond our expectations.

  Many of our authors have told us what a great experience Avon FanLit has been for them, and we here at Avon are thinking of ways to keep this connection going. We would love to hear what you think about the community that has developed here, and
what you want to see as romance readers and writers in the months ahead. Another event? More forums? More blogs and tips from authors and editors? I know the prizes are great, but I would guess that a lot of you are here for other reasons too. If you are like us, it’s probably because at some point your love of reading became something you wanted to share with others, whether it be through your own writing or just by talking with others who are as passionate as you are. So I will leave it open to you—tell us what you think, and we’ll do our best to make it happen.

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  October 11, 2006

  Gayle Callen

  Hello, My Name Is Gayle and I’m a Plotter

  They say there are two kinds of writers in the world: Pantsers (who write by the seat of their pants) and Plotters (who plan the book in advance). I confess that I’m a Plotter. I have to figure out the characters and the plot points before I write. I panic at the mere thought of facing a blank computer screen with only a vague idea of a plot.

  I start by asking myself the basic questions: What does this character want? Why can’t he have it? What kind of woman would drive him nuts? Plotting is a series of questions for me, like fitting together a jigsaw puzzle. I figure out the characters’ Goals, Motivations, and Conflict (thanks to Deb Dixon for writing a great book explaining this!), both internal and external, then jot down scenes on index cards that would show these elements. I figure out a reason they have to be together ALL THE TIME, which is tough when you write historicals with heroines who need chaperones. First kiss, first love scene, Black Moment, resolution, I know them all before I start writing.

  So what kind of writer are you, and what writing method do you use?

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  October 12, 2006

  Shana Galen

  Invincible

  I saw the movie Invincible recently. It’s about Vince Papale, a regular guy who went to open tryouts and was invited to the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp. Every day he played hard, but waited, playbook in hand, to be cut from the team.

  Initially, I sympathized with Vince—a humble man who was happy that for a few days he got to live his dream. But halfway through the movie, Vince began to annoy me. Why didn’t he believe in himself? How was I supposed to cheer for him if he didn’t cheer for himself?

  Of course, in the end Vince does trust in himself. And later I realized how much Vince’s journey is like that of a writer’s. There are so many doubts and insecurities. Maybe you’re feeling them right now. Maybe you think you should just give up because there is no way you can win this thing anyway.

  Or maybe you can do what Vince did and focus on your strengths. Vince wasn’t the strongest, but he was fast and he could catch the ball, so he capitalized on that. Ask yourself what your strengths are. Do you write sparkling dialogue? Are you good at emotional scenes? Focus on what you do well, and you might be surprised at your success.

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  October 13, 2006

  Edith Layton

  From Real Life to Swoondom

  You have to be in love to write a romance.

  The best part is: your hero doesn’t have to be real. Fictional men are so much easier to love, aren’t they? I take my heroes from the streets, from the TV, from films, and once from a man driving a cab in New York City. Then I put him into the Regency era, and he looked great there. Of course, I do a lot of mental plastic surgery. A weak chin is made stronger, blue eyes get bluer, and things like age and mental ability are either pumped up or down, depending on what my heroine needs.

  But if I’m not in love with him, how can I expect my readers to be? So, you might say that all romance writers are fantasy writers too.

  But can you think of any real man who could go into a romance as a hero exactly as he is? Even the best ones? That’s for Fiction with a capital F for foibles. A romance hero can have some, but not too many, can he? What do you think?

  Do you have any nominations for a hero from life who would transfer to swoondom in a novel precisely as he is?

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  October 16, 2006

  Suzanne Enoch

  That’s Your Voice You Hear Talking

  Have you heard the expression, “Dying is easy; comedy is hard”? While I don’t have any personal experience with the former, I have to take issue with the latter part of the statement. I write comedy. And it’s not hard. It’s what I do.

  After eighteen full-length romances, both historical and contemporary, I’ve become comfortable with my voice—the one that has heroes hit over the head with teakettles, horses dumping riders into streams, ferrets hiding beneath discarded clothing, the sudden appearance of Chinese swordsmen in Regency London, and a mostly reformed thief who can’t resist breaking into her lover’s house at every opportunity.

  That’s not to say that I don’t write serious moments—balance is important, and the characters need to have a certain level of believability in order to be sympathetic. But my point is that it’s much easier to listen to your voice than to fight it. And much more successful in the long run.

  Have you found your voice? Have you looked for it? There’s nothing more satisfying than that moment when you sit down to write and the words just flow. That’s your voice talking. Listen to it.

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  October 17, 2006

  Cait London

  Male Posturing

  Characterization is composed of many elements: not only what the characters look like, but what clothing/jewels/wristwatches they prefer, what cars they drive and how they drive them, why they prefer (or don’t) one food or another. (I should note here that the description of a hero/ heroine is one who puts the welfare of others above their own.)

  You’ve heard of body language, a woman who toys with her hair while locking onto a potential male—the ritualistic, time-old flirting stuff. Body language can be read and is a character study in itself. If a character crosses his or her arms, that’s protective body language, and so on.

  Male and female posturing is essential in writing good romantic characterization. The posturing of a woman tells us so much about that individual, but how a male character moves and gestures is interesting to me and rarely noted in how-to books. There’s just something about how a man spins a chair around backward and sits with his arms across the back. He may brace one foot up on a log or whatever and remain standing that way. When shaving with a mirror, he angles his chin one way, and within a suit jacket or dress shirt with a tie, he’s apt to roll his shoulders. Then there’s the male hiding-in-cave, or I-don’t-want-to-talk posture, when his jaw lowers defensively and his lips set into that hard line. (I love it when they brood and sulk, don’t you?:))

  But most interesting of the male postures is when he’s in his ritualistic mode, trying to attract female attention. He may do a little show-off muscle flex, letting her know just what’s available. Then he probably has what I call a “raised antenna” or “pointed ear” look that’s all sensual and hot, his body tense and honed in on a desirable female. When writing romance, these body “attitudes” define the male attracted to the female, summoning her.

  The last two are my favorite male-characterization postures. What are yours?

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  October 18, 2006

  Tessa Woodward

  Feeding Your Addiction

  I think I must have been a governess in a past life. I had this realization the other day. You see, apparently I have a compulsion: governesses. I physically cannot bring myself to pass by a book/movie/TV show that has anything even remotely to do with them. I can’t help it. And this isn’t a new thing either. I think I can date it as far back as my complete and utter fascination with the Babysitter’s Club books. It’s the reason that I’ve read Jane Eyre more times than I’d like to admit, and that I annoy friends and family by watching my favorite British nanny miniseries on repeat whenever I get sick. And it’s not just romance—give me a governess mystery series or thriller, and I won’t leave my room for days. Of course, I also love stories where
the girl has to masquerade as a boy…but I’d rather not delve too deeply into that past life…

  Do you have that one element that feeds your addiction—a certain word/place/situation that screams to you from the cover copy and makes you physically unable not to buy the book? Is it a marriage of convenience? A dark and troubled hero with a dangerous past? A pirate? What is it for you?

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  October 19, 2006

  Terri Garey

  Things that Go Bump in the Night

  Halloween is less than two weeks away, and everywhere I look there are Fright Fests and Zoo Boos and Horror Nights…all evidence that a good scare is something a lot of people enjoy. As a writer of contemporary paranormals for Avon, I’m not complaining, not one little bit. But what is it about that little shiver down our spines that we find so compelling?

  Halloween is the only holiday that allows us, as adults, to tiptoe past the forgotten graveyards of our childhoods, when we were able to imagine the unknown—and live to tell about it. We go all out at my house: spiderwebs, spooky music and black lights, tombstones in the yard, plenty of candy, and trick-or-treaters. I’m the neighborhood “ghostess with the mostess” on Halloween, I let my imagination run free (as long as it’s back by dawn:).

  What’s your earliest spooky memory? Watching a scary movie during a sleepover? Trying out a Ouija board with your best friend? Telling ghost stories over a campfire? Reach back for that memory, find it—and savor it, just for a moment. Use your imagination and enjoy that little shiver down your spine.