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Hi, Everyone! A quick update to let you know what I've been up to lately. News: From June 12th through June 26th, I'm participating in a twelve stop blog tour for my new novel, The Sacrifice. To enter for a free ebook through Enchanted Book Promotions, and where I'll be for the next two weeks, go to: http://www.enchantedbookpromotions.com/tour-schedule-the-sacrifice/ I'd love for you to stop by and leave a comment. Personal note and writing update: I just returned from a week at Panama City Beach. After basking in the sun and sand, it's time to buckle down and get to work finishing the next book in the series, Crucify My Heart. This book features two characters from The Sacrifice who have a strong dislike for each other. They find themselves working together to find a Sivadian serial killer who turns his victims into, what he believes, is art. You can read a short preview of this story at the end of The Sacrifice. Until next time, Mia  As I’ve stated in my website and bio’s, I’ve participated in the National Novel Writing Month for four years now. Any chance I get, I recommend this program to others. Why? Because, I believe it challenges the writer to do what I call “free writing”. The official challenge of this program is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Each year during the month of November, writers from around the world participate. They are very supportive in their forums as well as local support groups. They encourage the participants to just write or type without fear of criticism, without editing, without worrying about someone reading their story. I love it.
When I did my first year, I had to fight the urge to stop and edit as I went along. I also found that when I had a momentary mind dump on a word, I’d sit and stare at my computer screen, wasting valuable minutes trying to come up with the word I was looking for to fit my current sentence. It was frustrating, to say the least. Each minute I sat staring was less words I was typing. Or worse, I’d get up and move away from the computer to get a book to find the word I wanted…or “gasp”, close my manuscript to get on the internet and do a thesaurus search. Well, by then I’m sure you can guess…the writing was over. That internet is addictive! How could I break this vicious cycle? Then it hit me: I used brackets around an idea…or if I couldn’t think of it, I’d use brackets around something as simple as [insert idea here]. This technique allowed me to continue typing and not break my rhythm in the story. When I completed my manuscript, I simply did a search for the brackets and revised accordingly. My best friend and fellow writer, now a published author, used a triple x: XXX to mark her momentary stops. Recently, a fellow Georgia Romance Writer noted on her facebook page that she uses a key word she made up and would never, ever use in her stories. Then, when done with her manuscript, she’d do a search for that word. I am an advocate for using this method. It’s a time saver, stress reliever and, most important of all, it allows me to continue to write. I know I’m not the first to use this method…nor do I own this idea. I’m sure other writers have thought of it and used it often. Some may even be embarrassed to say what word and/or symbol they use. I dare you to share. If you use this method, what is your “marker”? Also, if you'd like more information on NaNoWriMo, visit their site: http://nanowrimo.org Sherrie Lea Morgan Empathy is the ability to share in another’s emotions, thoughts, or feelings.
A few years ago I joined my first professional writers group, Romance Writers of America. I was amazed at how kind and supportive everyone was. Empathy among this group of writers was evident, in spades. I’ve heard writers say that fellow writers are the only people who know what you’re going through. That may be true, but there was something else. Never had I seen this type of camaraderie with my other jobs. I began to wondered, what was the cohesiveness that made this group different? It didn’t exist among my fellow workers when I was a nurse, (which should have been some of the most kind and caring people on earth.) No one but another nurse could possibly understand the stress you’re under. Nor was it there when I was a hair dresser, or the numerous jobs I held when I was young. To become a good nurse, you must learn to distance yourself from the patients you care for. If you didn’t, you couldn’t be effective at your job. You would be an emotional mess. As a hairdresser, you hear a lot of customer’s problems. And again, you must distance yourself. Then, it dawned on me that as a writer, you must do the opposite. When I finished the first draft of my first novel and started looking for my character arcs. I realized how deeply I cared about them, as if I had lived their story right along with them. I’d cry when they cried, laugh when they laughed, and feel their excitement with their first kiss. I had an epiphany (aha moment.) To write a character well, you put yourself in his or her shoes. You feel what they feel - you are empathetic. Writers develop empathetic personalities. I believe it’s why we’re more in tuned to our fellow writers. We not only have first-hand knowledge of what they’re going through, we feel their struggle, their frustration with that difficult scene, their fear of rejection, and heartache when it comes. And if we develop this character trait well, we can take our readers on that same journey, making them feel the same empathy toward our characters and story as we feel. I’ve enjoyed being a member of RWA and the wonderful group of writers I’ve found there. I joined my local chapter to get one on one face time and support. I also joined my subgenre chapter (Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal.) And then I joined another group I’ve enjoyed (Savvy Authors.) I’ve met some fantastic people and made life- long friends. In all my years, and professions, I’ve never met a more empathetic, supportive group of worldwide coworkers. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If you’re a writer, and you’ve held off on joining a group of like-minded people, give it a try. You won’t regret it. If you have questions about any of these writing groups, or just want to chat, please leave a comment. Happy Writing, Mia  [email protected] In our age of technical, medical and every other type of advancement imaginable, you may believe we could never have silly, superstitious beliefs like our ancestors did. But, maybe the apple doesn’t fall that far from the tree.
I actually began thinking about this back when Stephanie Myers' Twilight Series came out. As a writer, I wasn’t bothered in the least by the idea of a vampire baby. Hey, it’s fiction. However, some of my non-writer friends were appalled by the idea, one to the point of not finishing the series. So I decided to do a little research. Here are a few facts I found pertaining to vampire babies. In the Middle Ages, the timing of a baby’s birth held negative as well as positive significance. Much the same as the details of the child’s lineage could have all kinds of mysterious meanings, such as, the seventh son of the seventh son might be considered to have supernatural powers. Many of the old superstitions pertained to birth defects and abnormalities that would be considered normal today. During my years as a labor and delivery nurse, I came across one such superstition that's still around today. I assisted in a delivery where the baby was born with what they called a veil. This is actually a membrane from the amniotic sac that separates the baby from the wall of the mother’s womb. It is completely normal, but when it fails to rupture during delivery the baby will emerge wrapped inside it. This hardly ever happens today because if it doesn’t rupture on its own the doctor will do it. Some still believe that a baby born under a veil will have special powers. For example: It’s believed if you touch the child it could bring good luck, heal the sick, or ward off evil. Twins born with a veil are said to have a guardian angel throughout life. In the relatively small town where I live, word spread fast about the birth I’d witnessed. Several local clergymen and priests came to see the baby born under a veil. This proved to me that some of the superstitions of old still thrived in today's modern society. The origins of the vampire legend go back centuries, to the dark ages of Transylvania, and the pagan beliefs of the Slavic people. Vampire folklore dominated the lives of peasants and priests during the Middle Ages. As the vampire myth spread from the Balkans and took hold of the imaginations of Europe, so did the superstitions connecting a baby’s birth and vampirism. First and foremost were birth defects that would be considered normal today. If you had been born during medieval times with any of these minor abnormalities, people would’ve believed you were, or would eventually become, a vampire.
I’m certainly glad I wasn’t born in Romania. How did anyone ever live until adulthood? Even if you weren’t afflicted by something unusual at birth, there were plenty of superstitions that carried over into an adult’s life.
If you think the living were a target for vampire superstitions, once a person died, it went into overdrive. Maybe I’ll save that for another post. And I’ve only scratched the surface for the living! This has been a fun topic. But, I've always enjoyed talking about vampires and everything paranormal. For this writer, there's no other genre I'd be happy thinking about 24/7. Please hit the 'Comments' button below, and share vampire mythology/superstitions that you’ve come across. Are any of them still alive today? And how do you feel about fictional, vampire babies? If you'd like to receive our weekly post, just add your email to the sidebar. Your privacy will always be protected. Until next time, Mia  As I’ve stated in my website and bio’s, I’ve participated in the National Novel Writing Month for four years now. Any chance I get, I recommend this program to others. Why? Because, I believe it challenges the writer to do what I call “free writing”. The official challenge of this program is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Each year during the month of November, writers from around the world participate. They are very supportive in their forums as well as local support groups. They encourage the participants to just write or type without fear of criticism, without editing, without worrying about someone reading their story. I love it.
When I did my first year, I had to fight the urge to stop and edit as I went along. I also found that when I had a momentary mind dump on a word, I’d sit and stare at my computer screen, wasting valuable minutes trying to come up with the word I was looking for to fit my current sentence. It was frustrating, to say the least. Each minute I sat staring was less words I was typing. Or worse, I’d get up and move away from the computer to get a book to find the word I wanted…or “gasp”, close my manuscript to get on the internet and do a thesaurus search. Well, by then I’m sure you can guess…the writing was over. That internet is addictive! How could I break this vicious cycle? Then it hit me: I used brackets around an idea…or if I couldn’t think of it, I’d use brackets around something as simple as [insert idea here]. This technique allowed me to continue typing and not break my rhythm in the story. When I completed my manuscript, I simply did a search for the brackets and revised accordingly. My best friend and fellow writer, now a published author, used a triple x: XXX to mark her momentary stops. Recently, a fellow Georgia Romance Writer noted on her facebook page that she uses a key word she made up and would never, ever use in her stories. Then, when done with her manuscript, she’d do a search for that word. I am an advocate for using this method. It’s a time saver, stress reliever and, most important of all, it allows me to continue to write. I know I’m not the first to use this method…nor do I own this idea. I’m sure other writers have thought of it and used it often. Some may even be embarrassed to say what word and/or symbol they use. I dare you to share. If you use this method, what is your “marker”? Also, if you'd like more information on NaNoWriMo, visit their site: http://nanowrimo.org  I was honored when Michele Stegman asked me to be a part of this blog hop! She is a true Renaissance and writes delightful books. She answers the same four questions on this hop as I am answering here today. Check out her writing process, on her blog at: http://michelestegman.com/ Michele Stegman has loved history all her life. When she was studying history in graduate school, one of her professors quipped that she put too much romance in her research papers. She decided to put in more romance and write historical romances. Her Fortune series is following the adventures of the Fortune family through piracy and war in the 1700’s. Her latest release is The Shrew That Tames. It was written as a challenge from Breathless Press to write a story based on a Shakespeare play. It is set in the English Regency period. For more information about her and her books you can go to: Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Stegman/e/B003ZOE176/ Website - http://michelestegman.com/ Like Michele’s author page at: www.Facebook.com/MicheleStegmanAuthor Follow her on Twitter @MicheleStegman Here are my answers to the four blog questions: 1) What am I working on? I’m working on the last book of my Dark Seas trilogy, published by Harlequin Nocturne. Book two, Siren’s Treasure, will be published in November 2014 and my current work-in-progress, Siren’s Call, is scheduled for 2015. The books follow the lives of a secret mermaid clan that live deep in an Alabama bayou. 2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? My mermaid romances aren’t the usual sweet fantasy mermaids that are caricatures of the Disney ilk. If I had to describe them in three words: Mermaids, Murder, Mayhem. Why do I write what I do? I love paranormal romance – the idea that hidden worlds are just beyond our vision and comprehension. And I love when characters, after trials and tribulations of course, earn their happily-ever-afters. 4) How does my writing process work? I like to start with what I call the Big Premise idea. From there, I develop characters to fit the plot and storyboard the book’s chapters. I’m somewhere between a pantser and a plotter – I make chapter notes, but usually end up not following them! What’s your writing process? 
Did you always imagine great writers have a natural flow and cadence to their words that they were “just born with?”
While it’s true that writing skills come more easily to some than others, it is still a craft and there are thousands of techniques. Last weekend, I and my co-bloggers attended a Georgia Romance Writers workshop that featured instructor Margie Lawson. Enlightening! She presented career-changing advice on analyzing best-selling authors and incorporating the techniques they use to make our own prose pop and connect with readers. Today I’m sharing one of twenty rhetorical devices she taught. It’s widely-used in fiction, even if the writer wasn't consciously aware of the device or know its name. Anaphora is repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of three or more successive phrases or sentences. Here’s the example Margie Lawson used: About a Scandal, Elizabeth Essex – “Lady Claire Jellicoe hadn’t thought to protest. She hadn’t thought Lord Peter Rosing would ever do anything untoward. She hadn’t thought someone she’d just met on a ballroom floor could ever wish her irreparable harm. She simply hadn’t thought.” Isn’t that lovely? Inspired, the three of us examined our own works-in-progress to give it a try. Below is my initial play with anaphora. “She hadn’t known how lonely she was. Solitary swims, days and nights at a time with nothing but her painting – canvas and acrylics – as company. She hadn’t known her childhood friend would return in a grown-up man version that would quicken her heart with hope. She hadn’t known what it felt like to have no control of her emotions with a man. She’d always been the one that set the parameters in every affair. Until Nash.” True, it’s not quite there yet but I’m working on it. (And if you have any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them!) Here are two that Mia McKimmey has written. Yes, she’s done two – and gets the gold star! "Prince Cygan held hope for the day the war dividing his race would end. He held hope for the day they would put an end to the slaughtering of innocent lives. He held hope for the day he could keep his promise to his dying father. He held hope for the day he could accept his appointed position on the throne. None of these would come to pass, not until the day Cy destroyed his twin." And here’s the second one: "It's believed some twins share an unbreakable bond. It's believed some twins can read each other’s mind. It's even believed some twins feel the others pain. But Cy's twin, Cy's twin wants nothing more than to destroy his brother’s life." And here's an example from our third co-blogger, Sherrie Morgan: "She walked to the front door and exited. She walked down the side path of her once beautiful home and exited the garden gate. She walked down the hillside until she heard the water sounds from the shore. Then, Alice ran. She ran on toward the water and its waves called out to her. I’d love for our writer friends to share an anaphora or other rhetorical device they have experimented with in their writing! Until next time – Debbie Herbert, author of Siren's Secret, http://goo.gl/cdgxFT This month marks our first year as a blog group. We've written posts on a wide range of topics. Everything from our families, our pets, hobbies, vacations, and our writing. We have enjoyed sharing a small part of our lives with you. I wrote the first post last April as an introduction to our group. I told a little about each of us and where we were on our writing journey. As we look back at our first year, I wanted to write this anniversary post to give everyone a short update. In case you didn't notice, our title has slightly changed. Sadly, we lost our "Plus One." Heather Eustis-Fillion is Sherrie's daughter, who over the past year has been attending college. She's a wonderful pastry chef and is now looking forward to starting her own bakery. We wish Heather the best of luck with her new adventure. She will return to guest post from time to time. She's currently working on a series called "Seven Dates with Darcy." If Mr. Darcy time traveled to your house for dinner, Heather will reveal seven Regency inspired meals to serve him for dinner. We're looking forward to those post from Heather. Sherrie Lea Morgan makes up the second member of our blog. Sherrie had a heart to heart talk with her muse during the past year. He convinced her to put away her Contemporary Romances and search for her Historical Romance voice. Who knew muses were so smart? Sherrie has a strong Historical Romance voice, and is currently writing a Regency entitled "The Storm of an Earl." It's about a time obsessive Earl whose entire schedule is thrown out of whack by the disappearance of his brother (Thomas) who has recently returned from the war. With his neighbor's daughter, who can't draw two stick figures, he is off to London to locate the last person seen with Thomas. Along the way, they end up chasing a band of gypsies and falling in love. As for me, last year I had completed my first novel, "Sons of Sivadia" and started on the second book in the series. I still wasn't satisfied with book one and began taking online classes to improve my writing. The more classes I took, the more I realized why I never felt book one was ready to submit. It needed help, and the best way to do that was learning more about my craft. By learning to become a better writer, I'm feeling confident enough to start the submission process over again. Is it good enough for a publisher to say "YES"? Only time will tell. As for book two, it's about three-fourths completed, and the writing was way easier this time. Because this time, my confidence soared with new found knowledge. So, I will continue to take classes, and I will continue on my writing journey. To read the blurb for "Sons of Sivadia" hit the button above our blog title. While we've all grown as writers during the last year, co-blogger Debbie Herbert's journey has changed most of all. Last April Debbie had just received a two book deal from Harlequin Nocturne for her "Dark Seas" Series. After the release of "Siren's Secret" last October, Harlequin extended it to three, instead of two books. The second book "Siren's Treasure" is set to release in October of this year. And the third book "Siren's Call' is scheduled to release in 2015. If you're ready for a great mermaid adventure, you can follow the link and be reading Siren's Secret within minutes. http://goo.go/cdgxFT To wet you appetite here's the blurb, followed by Debbie's gorgeous cover. In Debbie Herbert's debut novel, there are two secrets, each one with a deadly consequence… Shelly Connors's worlds—on land and in the sea—are turned upside down when an evening swim turns into a nightmare. On a sweltering night deep in the bayou, the mystical mermaid witnesses a horrifying act. With a monstrous killer now hot on her trail, her life and the lives of her kin are in jeopardy. Terrified of becoming the next victim, Shelly has no choice but to turn to Sheriff Tillman Angier. Tillman has had his intense gray eyes on the sultry honey-haired beauty for a while. The feelings are mutual…and impossible to ignore. But he's determined to solve the murders, and he knows Shelly's hiding something. Can she trust him with her deepest secret?  Thanks to my co-blogger Debbie Herbert for inviting me to participate in the blog tour "Inside of Your Creative Process." Check out the post below to read about Debbie's process. She writes an amazing series of novels for Harlequin Nocturne called "Dark Seas." If you love mermaids, and who doesn't, Debbie's books are a must read. Siren's Secret is available at: http://goo.gl/cdgxFT. And her second book, Siren's Treasure, will be out in October. The third book, Siren's Call is scheduled to release in 2015. You can read an excerpt of Siren's Secret at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1790013-siren-s-secret?ac=1
You can catch up to Debbie anytime at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Debbie-Herbert-Author/15179345. Or on twitter: @debherbertwrit Anytime I can surround myself by fellow writers, I am in my element. I call it my "happy place". I have been listening to recorded conference CD's and am in my third repeat of the whole CD. I'm still learning! So here are the questions and my answers: Q. What am I working on? I'm currently working on a Historical Romance story. This is a genre jump for me while I have been searching for my voice. I found writing Historical both thrilling and a lot easier, it seems than my contemporary. My book "The Storm of an Earl" is about a time obsessive Earl whose entire schedule is thrown out of whack by the disappearance of his brother (Thomas) who has recently returned from the war. With his neighbor's daughter, who can't draw two stick figures, he is off to London to locate the last person seen with Thomas. Along the way, they end up chasing a band of gypsies and falling in love. Q. How does my work differ from others of its genre. As any new writer, I hope my stories differ with my own unique voice. I have historical figures working with obsessive personalities and still finding a happily ever after. Q. Why do I write what I do? My first novel was a historical romance written by Kathleen Woodwiss. Ninety percent of the books I own are historical romance. I first wrote contemporary until a fellow writer asked me why, when I owned so many Historical's, would I spend time on a contemporary. It finally sunk into my head that maybe I need to try another era. Ergo, I'm now writing historical romance and loving every minute of it. Q. How does your writing process work? I've tried many ways to write and found that I prefer to be as organized as possible. But then, I felt my creativity was being boxed in. With that said, my first novel was completely by the seat of my pants. My second novel was outlined to include every last detail. Each at the other end of the spectrum. I have found that the easiest way for me is to write an outline of questions I want the reader to be asking by the end of each chapter. Then, it's up to me to create the scenes that will cause that question to appear. It's a split of plotter and pantser, I think. Sherrie |