Nah, I couldn’t quite accept a less than perfect video, so I had to go back and do it again — let me know what you think. This is much better! Now to do a general trailer for all my books!
Tag Archives: friends
Pick Me Ups
During the inevitable down times, when thoughts turn dark and things feel impossible, you have to remind yourself of the good things and remember how joyful writing, creating can be. I recently stumbled across this fabulous video thanks to a fabulous blog called When I Grow Up. I’m not a big Jim Carrey fan, but I think I’m going to have to see Yes Man just to see this band that has the wonderful name of Munchhausen by Proxy:
Guest Blogging: Jane’s Ride 27/7
I’ll be guest blogging next Monday on Jane Kennedy Sutton’s lovely blog, Jane’s Ride, writing about how to do a good sex scene that won’t make your reader cringe or laugh out loud. This came about because Jane and I were part of a fantastic blog tour course, where new students (like me) make a commitment to both blogging every day and commenting on classmates’ blogs, as well as those who have been through the class already (like Jane).
A conversation got going on her blog about how difficult it is to write a sex scene. Many folks said they preferred to just shy away from the whole thing. I left a comment about my own experiences and voilà, Jane asked whether I might write about it for a guest blog. Of course!
So check out Jane’s blog, which is chock full of writing advice and knowledge, and check out her novel Ride, too, for an exciting journey!
Guest Blogger: Savannah Chase
The wonderful and terribly sweet Savannah Chase shares her words with us today:
Inspire Me Any Way You Want
I want to start off by saying a huge thank you to C.Margery Kempe for letting me be her guest blogger today. It is my pleasure to be here.
The one question that I get asked a lot as an author has to be Where do you get your ideas from?
Oh boy….the only thing I can tell you is from everywhere.. I’ve always had a wild imagination that has given me stories and ideas. I don’t have one thing or another that influences me when it comes to my books. Things that happen around me play a huge part. I will say one thing….Music plays a huge part in the stories I create. I get inspired by the different genre’s I listen to. There is something about them that get the muse going.
I’ve said this before, my mind never takes a break when it comes to new ideas. Even when I go to bed at night my mind is racing with ideas and things that interest me. Many times I find myself scratching down notes in the dark on the notepad that lays on the table next to me. You can only imagine how bad my writing sometimes looks since I try to jot this stuff down in the dark before I forget it.
Sometimes all I need is a title for a particular story and the words just flow through my fingers as I type. Other times I need a kick to get me started but it doesn’t take much.
When a new book idea comes to me it is pretty much in the form of a mini movie…All I have to do is get it all down on paper or most the time my computer…
I hope that my imagination never stops working overtime since it has been amazing to me so far. This gift has given me the chance to bring to life so many different characters and tales of passion to life. Ones that readers have fallen in love with and cheered for.
With the way my muse is working you can bet there will be many many more books coming soon.
Savannah
Author Of Romance & Erotica
Join her Yahoo group!
Thank you, Savannah! It was a delight to have you here.
Revision
Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
Colette
One of the least celebrated parts of writing is the art of revision. Working on my forthcoming sexy tarot story for Midnight Showcase last night, I was struck by the usefulness of having one more go at the piece. There’s always a little more polishing to be done. The more the story shines, the more I do, too.
The story focuses on a tarot card reader who takes more than a slight interest in a client at a psychic fair. It’s loosely based on some friends and a local psychic fair — and the diner everyone goes to afterward. The signal card is the Two of Cups. I found this charming image by artist Kathleen Lolley, who has a lovely print of it available. It’s amazing all the people who have been inspired by the tarot over the years. What’s your favourite deck?
Ornery 11 @ Sia’s Thoughts On…
We’re off on the tour bus again, drinks spilling and voices raised in laughter and good-hearted shouts. Our featured writer today is the fabulously Neve Black, author of Sex Through the Zodiac. The amazing Sia has put up *ALL* our covers! Wow, you rock!
And of course, don’t forget to stop by and leave a comment. You will be entered to win VALUABLE prizes!
Community
It’s Virginia Woolf‘s birthday today. You may tend to think of the resigned suicide portrayed in The Hours, but she was an innovative writer with a good sense of humour and an ambition to write the kind of stories that fired her imagination.
While troubled and struggling for much of her life, Woolf survived longer than she might have done because she had a community of other writers and creators who gave her inspiration and support. Without that safety net, Woolf probably would have given in to despair even sooner. She was able to complete a number of fascinating and ground-breaking works before she took that final walk to the river.
Woolf wrote, “Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.”
Woolf reminds me of the importance of community for writers. Our work is solitary. It requires a lot of hours simply putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. While you can do that anywhere—in your office or out in a coffee shop—the process is one that requires spending much of your day inside your own head where the movies unfurl and you try to capture every nuance (or where you kick the projector to get it running again).
That’s why you need that community—people who understand that need for solitude, the difficulty of the process and the hunger to fill your head. One of the best things about Ravenous Romance is that it has brought together a whole new community of writers. There’s a broad range here, from old hands who’ve been writing erotica for years, to people new to the genre and even folks who are publishing for the first time (yay you!).
Without fail, the other writers here have been supportive, cheerleading and generous with their knowledge and experience. Just look at the blog entries here, where folks offer advice, tips and insight into the writing process. Experienced writers model the way to promote their works without being overbearing, while new writers get to share their excitement and pleasure to a wider audience. I have new friends here, on Facebook, on Twitter and the ripples widen.
In other situations, I have seen writers overwhelmed by envy and so competitive as to grudge the least bit of success to others. There’s none of that here. We all know that the success of Ravenous Romance is a tide that raises all boats. We spread the word not just to promote our own projects, but all our friends here, too. We’re an eclectic bunch and we have a publisher who celebrates it. How great is that?
