Pace

While being interviewed the other day over at Just Me & You, I was asked what I thought made a good story. I said well-developed characters and great emotion. Since then, I've been thinking, and have to add pacing to my list.

While we all agree that conflict is the heart of every good novel, we must also agree that without great pacing the reader will swiftly lose interest. The story can seem to drag and become boring.

It's all about rhythm. The peaks and valleys, speed it up, slow it down. Don't let you story follow one monotonous pattern. Even the way you break up your paragraphs adds to the rhythm and flow. Mix short, snappy sentences with longer complex one.

I like to think my novels are pacy. How do I achieve this? I stick to the point. Never settle in for long descriptive sentences, and I'll always aim to keep back story to very snappy sentences throughout the story.

How to slow your pace: Lengthy descriptions detailing environment, setting, back story, memories; flashbacks; Getting bogged down with tiny details; Lots of tags--especially the dreaded speech tags!

These are good ways to give readers a breather, but don't drone on until you put them to sleep.

How to speed up your pace: Snappy, rapid-fire dialogue; Precise action tags; Snippets of memories, setting etc; Stick to the point of the scene. Keep action/speech as significant as possible; Increase urgency; Make your reader want to find out what will happen next by hooking them with pieces of information. Never give away everything at once; Rein in flashbacks.

Mixing these two methods together will give your story ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, and balance your book. As well as high tension scenes that keep your reader on the edge of her seat, you have to give her a quick breather in between scenes. You can do this using sequel scenes.

And don't forget to fill each page with tension (whether that's sexual tension or suspense, or both) and emotion.

Until next time,
God bless.

Happy Birthday to Me

It's my birthday!


This year has been a good year, with more ups than downs. People usually begin the new year on January 1st. I begin my new year the day of my birthday. At some point today I will sit and re-evaluate my plans, and make new ones.


This whole year has been an internal battle on what I should be writing. I've decided to go with the flow. Especially since I got a request for a full from Harlequin Mills & Boon, which I hope to get to them by the end of December.


You never know, by my next birthday (the big 4-oh) I might be celebrating a turn in my writing career!


As for b-day prezzies, I can't wait to read Wendy Alec's new release Son of Perdition -yay!


Anyway, thanks for hanging out with me. Have a little champagne and some of this delicious posh chocolate, but please don't sit on the chaise longue, that's my thinking chair...

Get yours at SweetIM.com

19 Year Wedding Anniversary

It's my and hubby's wedding anniversary today! Nineteen years. I can't believe it. Where did the years go? It only feels as if we got married yesterday. That has to be a good thing, don't you agree?

I've been asked how we did it. Let me see if I can break it down: Here is 19 reasons:

1. Dave is totally left brain and I am completely right brained ~ between the two of us, we have one brain -- hahaha.
2. As a deeply creative person, I need a lot of ego-stroking. Dave has perfected this fine art form over the years.
3. He is my best friend.
4. He is still as cute as he was at sixteen when I fell for him.
5. He is sweet, and yet an Alpha male.
6. He is a great dad.
7. Almost forgot, he's a great husband too.
8. He's clever.
9. He is a fantastic lov--um...guy (cheesy grin, telling wink)
10. He's perfected the ability to read my mind. Amazingly, he knows what I mean by, thingy, bit, the thing, on the side, the whatsit, "ah, you know what I mean", and "what was I going to say?"
11. He surprises me with little treats like a McDonald's Hot Apple Pie when I really would love one. Sometime I whinge about it when I've just started a diet--you know the one, it starts every Monday and only lasts half-a-day :)
12. He records programs he knows I'd like. 
13. After twenty-two years together, he still can't keep his hands off me. Nor I him.
14. He let's me be me!
15. He is everyone of my Heroes. All of my strong, sweet, clever, Alpha hero are based on my beloved Dave.
16. He's never jealous.
17. He keeps me from jumping into my impulsive decisions.
18. He makes me laugh even when I'm in the middle of a hissy fit.
19. He loves me beyond reason, and that's the way I love him too!

So there you go. 19 reasons for 19 years as to why we're still so deeply in love after all this time.     

Back Home With Megyn

Wow! It’s been a loooooog time since I had the chance to touch base. As some of you know, my adorable little girl, Megyn was diagnosed with Leukaemia in late October. In fact, looking below, I can see that it was the day after I posted the "Agents: What is the benefit? And who is Avon?" blog entry that we ended up rushing her to hospital to find out she was so ill.

There is a lot I can say about the medical system leading up to her diagnosis, but I won’t. Suffice to say, if you ever have to take your child to the doctor because they’ve been ill for a while, DO NOT accept the “it’s only a virus, she/he will get over it” line of fobbing off the system seems to prefer as a recognised form of medical care!

I don’t want to get into that line of discussion, because it upsets me very much. What I do want to say is Meg is responded to her chemo treatment astonishingly well and we thank everyone who has prayed for her and those who have continued to pray. As I write this, she has swine flu and a couple other viruses. Yet she is so well, she amazes everyone.

God is indeed an awesome God!

Megyn sends her love to everyone who has taken an interest in her, and promises to update her blog when she feels stronger. megynsblog.blogspot.com

Since I haven’t had much time to market my new book, Divorce Etiquette, I will take the opportunity to remind you that it is out now, and available from The Wild Rose Press.

I love to hear from my fans, so feel free to drop me a line at monique@moniquedevere.co.uk

Free ebook Cookbook

Do you fancy a free cookbook packed with delicious recipes from several Wild Rose Press authors? Then pop over to TWRP for your copy: www.thewildrosepress.com

I contributed a recipe to this years Garden Gourmet Cookbook, so keep an eye out for Michelle's-Lick-The-Ice-Cream-Right-Off-Him Sundae.

If you get the chance to read Divorce Etiquette, you'll know what I mean. Only four days until Divorce etiquette is released. You can read an excerpt and view the trailer HERE.

Happy reading.

Agents: What is the benefit? And who is Avon?

Today, one of my friends asked this question and it made me think of new writers, and how much you don't know you don't know when you're starting out.
I've been plugging away at the writing thing for twenty years, so I've picked up industry info as I went. Now I take it for granted that everyone knows all about this business. It isn't until a new writer asks a question that this is highlighted. I am in no way claiming to know a heaping load, but I do know one or two things. And I'm happy to share.

Therefore, I've decided to blog my answer because I believe it will help other new writers. And despite what those in the know may think, it's not because I'm lazy...I mean frightfully busy, and can't come up with anything to blog. I promise you, it's because I want to help the new writers out there.

So hon,

Let's take a walk to my office...

The reason authors prefer to be represented by agents is because agents can get authors better deals. They can get your book in front of editors who wouldn't look at a slush pile. There are a lot of publishers these days who will only look at work sent in by an agent.

Agents get us better deals. Sometimes if more than two houses are interested in your book, they can start a bidding war and you can end up with a major book contract--major contracts are anything over 500,000 £/$.

Having an agent frees the author to concentrate on writing while she has someone to deal with the selling. Agents know the market and can give great guidance as well as advice on editing/polishing.

Plus, when you have an agent you can sell to several different publishing houses--not the same book! Your other work. Although, books are often resold/reprinted by other publishers once the rights revert back to the author. All they do is change the title and note it on the cover. ie first published under the title bla-bla-bla.

You don't have to worry about fitting your book into a market, the agent takes on this headache. They also deal with foreign rights and translation rights and... oh please, Heavenly Father... film rights! So, all in all, an agent is a most desirable thing to have if you want to hit the potential big times.

Now, Avon is an imprint of Harper Collins, which is owned by News Corporation--a combination of the British publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, and the American company Harper & Row. They publish primarily romance novels. They are big and one of the very few publishers still accepting unsolicited manuscripts/queries.

Hope that gives you a quick rundown of a tiny part of this wonderful industry we're in and the advantages of having an agent.


Can I offer you a hot drink? Tea? Coffee? Herbal? "James!" That's my assistant hehehe... have a great weekend!

What a Saturday

Woke at six this morning with high hopes for my Saturday. Then discovered hackers are targeting author’s sites.

Being paranoid...I mean sensible, I rushed over to my website to check that it was all right. As far as I can see, it’s fine, praise God!!

Needless to say, my day has been totally derailed and to add a little extra irritation, I can’t get my Dragon Naturally Speaking software to work! It’s been months since I last used it and never seem to have the time to spend to sort it out.

I sincerely hope your Saturday is sailing along smoother than mine.

My Blog Made The Top Romance Novels Blog List

Top romance novels Blogs

I’m rather pleased that my blog got onto the Daily Review’s Top 100 Romance Novels Blogs. How cool is that? I didn’t even know such a thing existed. But since it does, I’m proud to be a part of it. Especially since I get to have that nifty Award seal on my blog.

I expect I’ll have to make more of an effort to keep up with my blog entries, now. Hmm, let me think of something worthwhile to blog...

Think, think, think...I’m bound to come up with something soon.

My New Story: Let's Pretend

Blurb:

True love needs no pretence

When A&E trauma surgeon, Isobel, married sexy Irish firefighter, Lucas Delaney, she knew it was going to be forever. Unfortunately, she didn’t realise forever would only last five short years.

Keeping her failed marriage from her family seems like a piece of cake, until her grandmother calls a family gathering and Belle suspects she’s about to break unpleasant news. Making excuses for Luc’s absence, she flies home to Connecticut.

Then delicious Lucas arrives for the three-day get-together and Belle knows things are going to get dicey. Especially since he still has the power to make her heart miss a beat, and her stomach bottom out.

When Belle asks him to pretend they’re still deeply in love, Luc doesn’t have a problem. He sees an opportunity to reclaim the love of his life. And he goes all out to remind Belle how it used to be between them, before long work hours and clashing schedules invaded their marriage.

What he needs to know though, is, once the pretence is over, will Belle be signing divorce papers? Or will they be renewing wedding vows?

More Than a Playboy

Thought I'd post a little teaser of More Than a Playboy.

Blurb:

She has a shield...he has one too...and they’re both hiding secrets behind them.

Serious-minded Alexandra (Sandy) Donovan has one unbreakable rule—never fall for a rich playboy. She’s seen the pain it caused her mother, how it ruined her childhood, and she’s determined never to let the same thing happen to her.

Unfortunately, the only man to make her hormones sit up and take notice is a rich playboy who doesn’t know the first thing about taking life seriously.

A lonely miserable childhood has taught Cameron Berkeley-Scott to hide his feelings in humour, but his comic nature seems to be pushing away the one woman he wants to draw near. She thinks he’s a playboy—a title he has no desire to have—and she ignores his outrageous flirting.

Now it’s time for Cameron to show Sandy he isn’t all about seeking life’s pleasures without commitment or responsibilities, but will it push her further away when she finds out who he really is?

The Perfect Life

Hello beloved visitor!

I’ve been lax lately with my blog entries. To say I never know what to blog about is an understatement! A natural loner, and private person, I don’t talk about my personal life. I don’t want to bore blog readers with constant how to articles, or talk about what’s in the news, since I don’t have a clue what’s going on in the big ol’ world anyway. If you haven’t guessed, the news depresses me. I’d be a recluse in a heartbeat if I got the chance.
One day I intend to buy a little island and live a quiet existence. Yeah I know...I just told you personal stuff about myself. But I feel okay with that, cos it’s just a dream and we all have our dreamy images of the perfect life.

Mine is my little island somewhere in the tropics, where life never intrudes and I can write and write and read and write and swim and...mmmm, perfect bliss. Unfortunately, my husband and kids have a problem being imprisoned on an island with me. I can’t think why.

What’s your idea of your perfect reality? I can’t wait to hear...

Until next time, here's my love.

Autumn Goals

Where has the summer gone? I woke this morning to a distinct sense of autumn in the air. Soon the days will be short and night long and cold. The perfect setting for snuggling in my comfy executive chair and writing.

Autumn is also a time to review my writing goals. My new book—Divorce Etiquette—is on sale this autumn (November 18th) and I’m thrilled. But with the approaching release I’m conscious that I need to keep up a steady output of stories, and have been hard at work to do so.

This in mind, my autumn/winter goals are to compartmentalize my life so I give more time to my family. “Give me just one minute” is starting to lose its power. I have been neglecting my exercise routine also, so I really need to get back on some kind of exercise plan.

I’ve just finished writing More Than a Playboy and am planning to get Zach’s Rebound Girl done and out the door asap.

What are your autumn/winter goals?

Mistaken for a Celebrity

While pushing my shopping trolley around the supermarket where I do my weekly shop, I noticed one of the staff giving me strange looks.

I did what any sane person would do, I gave her a wide berth—she seemed a little odd to me.

Anyway, after about an hour, she tackled me at the spices. “I know you!” she said. “You’re that actress off Emmerdale, aren’t you?”

Since I’ve never watched the soap, I had no idea who she was referring to. “No,” I assured her.

She gave me a thorough up and down, the frown between her brows attesting to her disbelief. “Are you sure?”

I smiled and edged a little away. “I’m sure,” I told her. “I’m not an actress.”

She gave me a look that said she knew I really was, but was lying to her. “I was sure you were. You look just like her.”

She returned to her task of stacking shelves, and I hurried in the opposite direction.

The thing is, I kinda liked it. This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened to me, and I have to say, I’m looking forward to the day when strangers come up to me because they recognise me as an author, and love my books.

Have you ever had an incident when someone mistook you for a celebrity? Alternatively, if you are a fellow author, have you had fans come up to you because they recognised you? How did you react? Hopefully you didn’t run in the other direction.

Got My Release Date!

I got my release date for Divorce Etiquette today! Oh, how my heart pitter-pattered when I opened that email from my editor.

My release date, in case you missed it above...is November 18th 2009!

Now I’m in a bit of a panic. I’ve been approaching my marketing campaign with a sense of, “I’ve got ages”. Unfortunately, I only have four months to get my finger out. I’ve got a huge list of things to do, and seemingly not a whole lot of time left.

I know I’ll get it sorted, but the “oh, no,” where do I get started is causing a little nail biting.

If any of you have any great marketing strategies you wish to share, I’m all ears.

Until next time.

Author, Brand Thy Self

Have you ever wondered why some websites appear as a lovely picture icon, while others appear as an Internet Explorer icon, when you add them to favourites or as a shortcut on your desktop?

Would you like your website to appear as a picture icon? Then read on.

To achieve this, you need to create a favicon—short for favourites icon, which is also known as a website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon. It’s a tiny square 16 x 16 pixel picture. If you have a web designer, then he/she can do this for you. But if, like me, you are creative and like to take sole control of building and up keeping your own site, then you can easily do this yourself.

Here is mine, but much bigger so you can easily see it. I’ve chosen to create an icon that matches my website. Just like an author’s slogan—Humorous Character-Driven Romance, Packed with Emotion—little things like icons can really help to brand your name, and make you memorable to your readers.

First: you need to create the icon. I’ve found a fantastic site, Favicon.ico Generator, which not only allows you to create your own icon, they also has hundreds of icons you can choose from to download.

When you’ve finished creating your favicon, or choosing one from the site, you need to download it to your computer. Don’t rename. The file must be called “favicon.ico”, this is what the web browsers will look for.

2nd: you need to upload the “favicon.ico” file to your public_html folder in the root directory of your website.

That’s it!

You may need to clear you browser’s Cache before you can see the new icon, though. As there are several types of browsers, I will suggest this link on How to Clear Your Browser's Cache to save me having to explain how to empty the temporary content web browsers store on your computer while you're surfing the net. Things like cookies, images, and web pages are all downloaded to your computer while you are online, and take up space on your hard drive. Getting into the habit of clearing your browser’s cache often can free up space on your computer, and also protect your privacy.

When you are finished, you should be able to see your icon in your browser’s address bar, and next to your website page's title on the tab.

Best of all, when your visitors add your site to their favourites, they get a lovely icon next to the link. Or your icon on the desktop as a shortcut.

Until next time L'Chayim (to life—to good health)

Add Richness to Your Writing

Free Read Romantic Short Story

Do you like free reads? I know I do. There’s just something superlative about getting something for free, isn’t it?

Offering free reads is a great way to market yourself as an author. It gives readers the opportunity to view your writing style before they put money on you. Some may think that’s a gamble. I think if the reader likes you she/he’s sure to keep an eye out for your books, and if not, at least they haven’t parted with hard-earned cash for the privilege of disappointment.

So, with this in mind I’ve put up a free short story on my Free Reads page over at my website. Pop on over and get yourself a free read on me.

Until next time.

Happy reading x

Desktop Progress Meters For Writers

For a long time I’ve been looking for a desktop progress meter to keep an eye on the progress of each of my WIPs.

There are quite a few of these word count meters around on the Internet. The problem I had was that they all seem to be designed to put on your blog or website. I like my privacy and putting these things up for all to see made me uncomfortable. Like opening up myself to criticism on my writing speed.

So I took them down. However, I still wanted to be able to keep an eye on how much I’d written and how much I had to go.

I am pleased to say I finally found a fantastic progress meter. It’s called Barbecue Desktop Progress Meter. You can find it here if, like me, you like to see how your work is progressing without the whole world knowing it too.

You have to take a look at it! I personally think it’s a wonderful desktop gadget. And wholeheartedly thank the brilliant guys who created it. It allows you to have all you WIPs bars right on your desktop. How cool is that?

I just love mine. Which is why I wanted to share it with my fellow authors and friends.

Do let me know if you use it, and what you think of the Barbecue Desktop Progress Meter.

Until next time, all the love in the world.

Celebrate the Success

I used to daydream of celebrating the success of book contracts. In my head, I must have covered every area. You know the sort of thing. Throw a huge party with Champagne. Take off for the weekend to some romantic getaway—just hubby and I for a private celebration. The list goes on.

When I got the Email-Call from my editor, I realized I wanted to do none of the things I’d previously dreamed up. Instead, I wanted something that was tangible and would last a lot longer than Champagne or a romantic weekend. I wanted something unique that would remind me of the long years of hard work I had to put in before I finally made it.

I wanted something alive with beauty and character, like my books.

So, I started to pay attention to any potential celebration ideas. Then while buying some fantastic books from my publisher’s site, an idea clunked me over the head. The perfect celebratory souvenir would be to buy a Champagne rose bush! After all, Divorce Etiquette will be published under the Champagne line at The Wild Rose Press.

What’s more beautiful than flowers, and more tangible than a rose bush I get to tend and nurture the way I do my WIPs? Okay, I admit I may have a slight problem when it comes to the last-a-long-time part, since I tend to kill off plants by drowning the poor things. Come to think of it...that may be the reason hubby insisted on buying a book on how to care for roses! Prayfully, the two rose bushes can live a long and happy life now.

Yes, I did say two rose bushes. I couldn’t decide, so hubby bought both. Isn’t he sweet? They are Floribunda rose bushes. The first is a creamy apricot colour called Champagne Moment, which was voted Rose of the Year in 2006.
The second is called Champagne Cocktail. It's pale with splashes of carmine pink. Don’t know if you can see the hint of it on the first rose unfurling, but it’s beautiful.
Look carefully. You can see my rabbit, Jack, sampling the foliage to see if the Champagne Cocktail tastes as delicious as it sounds. Since I had to chase him off, I think he decided it did. Naughty Jack!

If you’ve been to my website, you’ll know I find it very fascinating that flowers have meanings. So, of course, I had to find out the meaning of my new roses.

Just in case you’re also intrigued by flower meanings, the Champagne rose symbolizes loveliness and “You are Tender.”

That works for me!

My question to you is this: how do you intend to celebrate your first sale? On the other hand, if you’ve sold and celebrated already, how did you choose to celebrate your transition from writer to author?

I would love it if you’d join me for a Champagne Cocktail while we share celebratory dreams, or even celebratory realities.

New Book Promotion Page

Hmmm, it’s Saturday again. My favourite day of the week, to be sure.

I’ve neglected my garden terribly these last few weeks, so I’ve decided to spent today getting it sorted.

First, I want to tell you about my new page over at my website. www.moniquedevere.co.uk. It’s a “Book Promotion” page featuring Divorce Etiquette. You can read an excerpt and see what fellow award-winning authors have to say about Divorce Etiquette.

It would be lovely if you would pop back here to leave a comment.

Thanks for dropping by, and for your support. Lots of love. I’m off to search the garden centres for a Champagne rose bush, which I promised myself if Divorce Etiquette got accepted by the Champagne line of The Wild Rose Press.

God bless and see you soon.

Divorce Etiquette

I got my cover for Divorce Etiquette yesterday. The look on the female model's face says everything, doesn't it?

I haven't got a release date yet. Will keep you posted. Rest assured, I'll be broadcasting the news the moment I hear.

As you can see, I've created a book trailer. Don't forget to have a look. If you'd like to leave a comment about the trailer, you can leave it on the comments part of this post.

As always, thanks for dropping by.

Divorce Etiquette. Coming Soon from The Wild Rose Press.

A better view of this banner is on my website www.moniquedevere.co.uk

Happy Mother’s Day...To Me! The Email Call!

Happy Mother’s day, again.

Here in England we celebrated our Mother’s day on March 22nd. This in no way stops me from enjoying a second Mother’s day.

Why? I hear you ask.

This morning I woke up for church and, as I’ve taken to doing since I submitted Divorce Etiquette to The Wild Rose Press, grabbed my laptop to check my emails.

I was speechless!

Sitting in my inbox was an email from my reviewing editor offering me a contract! How cool is that? I can’t think of a better Mother’s day present for a writer...can you? Especially since I really wanted a book contract offer for Mother’s day in March!

Can a Relationship be Restored After Infidelity?

If you know me, you know I mostly write reunion stories when I’m wearing my Romance Author’s hat. I just love the idea of finally getting together with your "one who got away" (OWGA).

In the past, I’ve used all sorts of plot ideas for the reasons my H/h went separate ways, but I’ve never tackled infidelity.

Mainly because I would never think or desire to cheat on my hubby and after twenty-two years together, he still treats me as if I’m the only woman alive. It makes me very secured in my marriage. Therefore, I find it difficult to grasp the deep emotional devastation such a betrayal would instil in an individual.

However, I know many people are not as blessed, and for whatever reason people cheat. As Christians, I would like to believe if my husband or I found ourselves in this situation, we would find a way to forgive each other and rebuild our trust in our marriage.

The more I think about this emotionally painful betrayal of the sacred sanctity of marriage, I find myself wondering what pushes a person to be unfaithful. Sure there are a trillion reasons, but what is the thinking when the cheater makes the decision to “go for it”? Is there even a moment when they consider consequences?

I’m thinking no one strays if they are happy in a relationship, right? So there must be something thought missing in the relationship. Maybe lack of quality time together? Non communication? Too busy for each other? Stopped trying?

Why?

Then when the infidelity is discovered is it too late to fix the relationship? I mean, there must be major trust issues to overcome. Then there’s also the core issues—what made them cheat in the first place.

Some people believe a partner having an affair is enough cause to end a relationship. I disagree. I believe a relationship can be rescued despite the crazy, sometimes impulsive, things people do. If these two people got married for love then nothing should be too difficult to overcome, if both parties are willing to work at fixing their relationship.

The Bible tells us about Wives and Husbands in Ephesians (5:25,28,31-33) Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. As the scripture says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one”. There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church. But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

It’s very easy for me to say, if we all lived by this scripture, we’ll never hurt our beloved ones. However, I know we live in a fallen world, and we sometimes succumb to the enemy. The trick is not to let him win when he tries to take away what God has given us.

There is no excuse for hurting our loved ones. But surely, with forgiveness and a willingness to overcome hurt pride and work to rebuild trust, a relationship can be mended? And with hard work and prayer that restored section can become the strongest part of the garment of marriage.

Prayer, forgiveness, time, and patients, I think are important threads when it comes to mending relationships.

What do you think? I know some people have been hurt so badly that forgiveness doesn’t even feature in their minds as an option. Let me remind you, an unforgiving heart is a blessing blocker. You will never find happiness, even if you aren’t looking for another person to provide that happiness. You can never be truly happy within yourself, because you’ve allowed the enemy to rob you of the simple gift of joy from God.

I would like to hear your experiences. Have you ever cheated, been cheated on? Did you overcome the betrayal or left the relationship? If you have not had this experience, do you know of anyone who has? How did they react? I’m looking for inside information because I think I may tackle this subject in the future.


Thanks for sharing.

And Then He Kissed Her…Getting Physically Romantic

Don’t you just adore reading a well-written romance with great sexual tension, and glib toe-to-toe/head-to-head scenes between the hero and heroine that sizzle?

I do!

Have you noticed these kinds of romances have you just dying for the hero to grab the heroine and kiss her?

Then when he finally does—if it’s well-written—we thoroughly enjoy his kiss almost as much as the heroine.

Now this is where we, as authors, can come unstuck.

How do we describe a kiss so we make the reader want to hunt her beloved down and plant one on him? (After she’s read your entire book, of course. After all, SHE JUST CAN’T PUT IT DOWN!)

When I’m writing K.I.S.S scenes, I like to Keep. It. Soft. And Slow. I can’t stomach a hero who grabs the poor heroine and kiss her so hard, it’s “punitive”. As a reader, all I’m thinking is: Girl, mace him! Kick him in the goolies, and run!

I don’t know any woman who would enjoy such an awful kiss. I’m sure they are some. I’m simply saying I don’t know of any.

So back to our hero, heroine and the K.I.S.S (Keep It Soft and Slow or... Keep It Simple Stupid!)

He gives her a soft kiss that clings. It’s like a peck, but he doesn’t pull back. He waits for her to decide. Does she respond or push him away?

When she responds, he draws her closer with one hand on her hip and the other buried in her hair, cupping the back of her head just above her nape. She smoothes her hands up over his chest, touches his face. She parts her lips in invitation and he accepts. With soft tongue and lips, he deepens the kiss…

Don’t you just love to read those melt-in-the-mouth-kisses?

What sort of kiss do you enjoy reading in the romance novel?

Until next time.

Body Language: The Lean

This is one of my favourite body language tools when writing. I always use this for my heroes-–not my heroine, unless she’s mirroring him--because I see it as a very Alpha male thing to do.

Let’s face it; our Alphas have absolutely no remorse about blatantly invading our heroines’ personal space.

Of course, for it to work there must be mutual attraction between the hero and heroine, or else they could end up doing an impromptu surreptitious waltz around the room as the hero leans in and the heroine steps back in an effort to regain her personal space.

However, we need not worry about this because our heroes & heroines are always majorly attracted to each other!

I’ve found this to be a great way to crank up the sexual tension, and add conflict & emotion. He leans in, but instead of feeling he’s invading her personal space, our heroine experiences all sorts of pleasant physiological and psychological reactions--even if she doesn’t want to feel anything for him!

Like all forms of body language, THE LEAN is subliminal, closing the distance between two people. Telling her, she’s the only woman in the world at that moment and she has his undivided attention. What woman doesn’t want to feel that way?

On the other hand, leaning away has the effect of putting distance between two people, regaining personal space that says, “I don’t like you!” which is a good way to show how the heroine would normally react. Good to use to contrast her reaction to other men. This will cement her attraction towards the hero in the reader’s mind. Have her mirror his lean to show he has her all to himself, even in a room full of people.

However, let her lean away when any other man tries THE LEAN on her. After all, once she’s had THE LEAN from the hero, it spoils her for all other men who try to use this powerful technique on her.

A word of caution: don’t over use this nonverbal form of communication. And don’t allow you hero to overdo it, let him lean away from your heroine every now and then. Have him divert his attention, look away--not at another woman, though. Let your heroine miss the intimacy of your hero’s lean. Then give it back and let her react.

A great way to keep the pull-push ever-present between your two protagonists.

Until next time.
God bless x

Happy Mother’s Day to All Mothers Out There.

Here in the UK it’s Mothering Sunday, and what a blessed day it’s been. For the first time in a while, I had all my kids – four children and I grandchild – with hubby and me at church today.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to have my babies all together. If you’re a parent of young adults, you’ll understand what I mean when I say it’s hard to pin them down for family time.

Anyway, I’m having a great Mother’s Day, and not because I got lots of lovely chockies, flowering plants, home-school made fudge – yum, I do love fudge!

Not even because I got a fab new Sony Reader... {insert huge grin here} But because I’m thankful for all my beautiful, talented, wonderful children.

More importantly, I’m thankful to God for blessing me with health, so I get to watch my kids grow from babies to funny, entertaining kids and on to wonderful adults.

Have a great day all who's celebrating Mother’s Day today.

God bless!

What makes a Novel funny?

Is it the author’s voice? Sentence structure? Characters and their reactions? Comic situation? Witty descriptions? Great one-liners?

I would have to conclude it’s all of the above.

We know humour differs from person to person. Therefore, comedy must also differ from one author to another, conveyed through our unique writer’s voices.

I think this might be a prominent factor.

Authors who write good humour awe me. I often wonder how they do it. I imagine them to be the life of the party, the type of person who tells a story or joke and have people rolling around holding their sides.

I am nothing like that. I think I’m the worst at telling jokes. I’m certain to mess up the punch line of any joke. Or tell it at the beginning of the joke and say, “No, wait, it’s supposed to be…” A sentence guaranteed to ruin any funny story and turn me into the butt of the joke.

Needless to say, I stopped telling jokes long ago! Though I’ve felt reassured over the years that I may have some comic value. I seem to have the ability to make people laugh on occasion. Generally it’s my husband and kids and usually it’s when I’m mad that they find me funniest.

Something occurred to me lately. I do write humour! I really do. I once read an article by Shirley Jump, who said our books don’t have to be a laugh a page (I honesty thought they did). She also said something that has stayed with me: It’s even better if we can make our readers laugh and cry within our word count.

Now, that I can do!