Welcome Cathryn Fox

By the time you read this article, I’ll be smack dab in the middle of NaNoWriMo, and will probably be ready to pull my hair out, toss my computer out the window, or sit in a corner and eat copious amounts of chocolate. What is NaNoWriMo, you ask. Well it’s National Novel Writer’s Month. Here’s the link if you want to check it out. http://www.nanowrimo.org/

So basically what you do is write like crazy for the month of November, and try to complete a whole book. You’re supposed to turn off the internal editor and just forge ahead without looking back to ‘fix’ anything that feels off. Forget about cooking, forget about laundry, forget about car-pooling, heck forget about showering if you want to…okay, well, maybe that’s not the best advice. Please shower.

Believe it or not, this is a fun experience because Nano is more than about just making a word count and walking away with the bare bones of a book. It’s about connecting with other writers, cheering and encouraging one another on, and forging friendships. My local RWA writing chapter has set up a yahoo account where we all have friendly competitions, pep talks and push one another to reach our daily word count.

So what can you do ahead of time to prepare for Nano?

First, tell your family what you’re doing so they know not to disturb you. I let mine know that "Mom, I need-" is no longer in our vocabulary.

Turn off the phone during your working hours and tell the family to text you only if it’s important. (Why is it teenage girls think everything is important? I can certainly wait until December to hear that someone put a bad facebook picture of her up. Ah, the drama.)

Be sure to delegate chores, and if you can, solicit the help of family members and other relatives.
Put a sign on your door that says, "Disturb only if you’re bleeding from the head." Oddly enough, this has happened.

Drama Daughter: Knock Knock. "Mom I need-"

Crazy Writer: "Stop, that is no longer in our vocabulary."

Drama Daughter: "But Mom I’m bleeding…"

Crazy Writer: "From the head?"

Drama Daughter: "Yes."

Crazy Writer: "Oh."

Prepare easy meals ahead of time, and stick them in the freezer. Spaghetti sauces, lasagne, pizza and casseroles. Heck fast food for a month isn’t going to kill anyone, and if they get tired of it, maybe it will inspire them to cook. That’s my secret evil plan actually.

So those are just a few tips on how to survive Nano month. Sound like fun? You bet it is. Come check it out and I hope to see you participating next year!

Oh, for those with any other advice on how to prepare, or recipes for easy meals I’d love to hear from you. Anyone who leaves a comment gets a chance to win a copy of Instinctive, NAL HEAT!

In Fox's titillating new series we enter Serene, a supernatural playground where sexy shape shifters live behind the white picket fences...

"Cathryn Fox is the next Queen of Steamy Romance." Julianne MacLean-USA today best selling author

Cathryn's website has a complete list of her books, a link to her blog, AND an excerpt from Instinctive.

Perfect Pitch...

Last week I talked about the Surrey International Writer’s Conference from a generalist viewpoint. This week, I thought I’d share my pitch and blue pencil session experience and I’ll try not to use the word ‘wow’.

In preparation for the conference, I spent a lot of time creating and perfecting a one sheet. I had done some research before, finding these two articles gave the best information and examples: http://resourcesforwriters.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_writers_onesheet and http://wannabepublished.blogspot.com/2008/04/crafting-fiction-one-sheets.html. I was also lucky enough to have been at one of the SRW meetings where the topic was one sheets. We had discussed the essential elements and tried to create a one sheet for the movie Stardust. An interesting discussion ensued with everyone having a different vision for the document. We finally agreed that a one sheet was highly personal and would not only reflect the book you were pitching, but also your voice.

Basically, the one sheet includes your contact information and a synopsis of your book. It’s not a query letter. It’s more like a blurb you’d find on the back cover of a book.

Of course you can all guess that I was pitching The Seduction of Lady Bells. And to create a one sheet with the potential to get someone to ask for more, I needed a rock solid summary of my manuscript. The short synopsis on my query letter, which had garnered requests, would be too long. So, I went to work revamping it down to one paragraph. I also wanted a fabulous tagline that would get attention and make you want to read more. I suffered through Hayley’s Synopsis Bootcamp. She made me sweat and pushed me to find the choicest nuggets in my story. Various writer friends were inundated with e-mails asking for their opinion as I wrote and re-wrote. In the end, my blurb rocked.

Then I had to decide on contact info and a tagline, how the whole thing would be laid out on the page, and then make copies. I opted for a stylized feather and inkpot instead of my picture only because I didn’t have a good, professional picture (I didn’t thing the agents and editors would appreciate me in my jammies with my dog, Taz). It was Muriel who pointed out the connection with writing historicals and the feather pen – that had never even crossed my mind. I decided while I was burning the midnight oil, that I should also have some business cards. Thank goodness for computers, cardstock, and a husband who is a genius with technology. I used the same feather pen/inkpot on my cards, made sure all my contact information was there, added the blog address, and congratulated myself on a job well done.

Oh, the excitement escalated. If I wasn’t already rushing around to get ready, I decided I better have two one sheets AND write my taglines on the back of my business cards. The first extracurricular activity was for my Blue Pencil Session. I was going to be speaking with an author of romantic comedy and I figured Lady Bells wouldn’t be appropriate. I had an agenda – I wanted someone to tell me which genre I should focus on. I created another one sheet and changed up the font to be more contemporary, fun. Forced my brain to come up with a great tagline AND a title, and printed off copies of that. Then I had to figure out how to print on the back of my business cards (so it wasn’t upside down and too small to be readable). After all that, I remembered Anita’s advice to have a folder for each project so you weren’t juggling papers while the 10 minute pitch clock was counting down and the next person in line was breathing down your neck. Whew!

Boy, am I ever glad I did all of that. I felt professional as I took the seat at my pitch session with Ms. Valerie Gray of Mira Books. I handed her my one sheet and then used another copy to help me stay true to my pitch. She loved it. There were questions about sequels (because that seems to be a big thing in the publishing world right now), if I had other manuscripts in the medieval romance genre, and if I had an agent. Oops, no agent. That’s OK, she pointed out agents I should talk to and told me I had a viable, interesting story that could do very well, even when medieval romances are not the trend. Just to have someone from the industry look at my writing and confirm its merit had me beaming. I wasn’t looking to sell my book right then and there – I wanted to know that I had a chance, that my story was worth telling, and that my writing didn’t make people wish they had never learned how to read.

Then I did something I never thought I would – I approached an agent after a workshop. It wasn’t the workshop I was supposed to be in, but the one I had chosen was full. Serendipity? I didn’t even know I was sitting next to an agent until I stood up to leave and happened to read her nametag. In a split second’s decision, I stepped closer, held out my hand and introduced myself. When I told her about my pitch and the need for an agent – she asked if I had anything with me. Why, yes, yes I did. And I handed her my one sheet. She read it over, told me it was pitch enough, and asked that I send a partial to her after the conference. ACK!!

The Blue Pencil Session went equally as well. Eileen Cook liked my one sheet, enjoyed the three pages I had brought with me as per conference guidelines, and suggested that I should write romantic comedy. She made my day – this being the second day of the conference and the agent excitement had been the first day. I handed her my card – the one with the taglines – and she liked both story ideas. My time was up as I asked my last question "What about branding?" A topic for a lengthy discussion - which we had later at the book signing.

One sheets and business cards – so worth the blood, sweat and tears! With those tools in my briefcase, I felt professional and prepared. Now I probably should have given out more than just one business card (not counting the cards I gave to the SRW members who were at conference with me), but I know I can always use them again. And because of my work on the one paragraph synopsis, I believe I have a much better handle on writing short blurbs for query letters in the future.

So, People of Blogland, have you written a one sheet? How about a blurb for your query? Do you have business cards? And are you prepared to hand them out at conferences and other writerly functions? I’ve shared my good news (partial request), what good news have you had recently that you’d like to share?

Janet (who was also lucky enough to sign up for a second Blue Pencil with the fabulous Diana Gabaldon - I was just a little starstruck :)

Prairie Chicks Welcome Cathryn Fox

Join us this Saturday when Cathryn Fox becomes an Honorary Chick. Cathryn's booklist is extensive and she's published with Ellora's Cave, Avon Red-Harper Collins, NAL-Penguin Group, Spice Brief-Harlequin, and has recently signed with Samhain Publishing. Her books are both e-published and print. Check out her website for a full list of her titles, upcoming releases, and her blog.

Here's a section of her bio from www.cathrynfox.com -

I've been reading romance novels for as long as I can remember. I just never thought I'd be writing them. In fact, I graduated from university with a business degree and started working in the Finance Department of Environment Canada...shiver. A few years into my career, my hubby, who's a meteorologist, got posted up north, population 800. I quit my job and went with him. At first all the spare time was great, then I got bored so I started to read. Day and night. When I ran out of books to read I decided to try writing one. After all, how hard could it be. Ha!! Well, you guessed it. It was hard!

And this is what Romantic Times Magazine has to say about her latest release, Instinctive -


"Fox's tale of paranormal beings and primal exploration lurking under the surface of a quaint New England town is a winner! The strong heroine and hot panther hero are a combustible combination. This book is hot enough to steam up the windows and exciting enough that you'll ruin your manicure." — Romantic Times Magazine

FYI - anyone leaving a comment on Saturday during Cathryn's visit will have a chance to win a copy of Instinctive. See you then!

Bales, Buckets and Bedrolls

I'm working diligently on Emma's Outlaw which is my NaNo project but keep running into things I need to research so I thought I'd tell you about some of the items that are taking up my time.

If you recall, I did a similar post Jan 15th when I wrote about some of the items Emma carries with her and the research I did to confirm they were available in 1879 in the American West. These items included paper, a pencil and a penknife. I researched many other items while writing this story and thought I’d checked them all but now as I’m editing, others have begged for my attention. Among them bales, buckets and bedrolls. Oh, and hotcakes. And baking powder. *sigh

Bales: I have a scene where Emma and the outlaws put the horses in a small barn for the night because there’s a raging storm outside. So, they tether the horses and break open some hay bales for feed. Several hours after I revised the above scene, it dawned on me that bales weren’t used in the 19th century. I did some research and sure enough, the machine we refer to as a baler wasn’t invented until the 1930’s. There were some stationary balers used around the turn of the century but the hay needed to be brought to them much like an old threshing machine. This wouldn’t have been economical for the land around the barn my travelers stumble across. Result: Find loose hay or have the horses go hungry.

Buckets: At one point, Emma takes her water-filled bucket and puts it on the stove to heat. In my mind, it was a metal bucket so there wasn’t a problem. But wait—was the metal bucket readily available in the old west at that time? I’ve spent hours researching this and although I’ve found old metal buckets for sale as antiques, I can’t find a definitive circulation date. By the 1860’s there was a plethora of tin household items available but the only reference I could find to a metal water bucket started in 1881. Two years too late for me. Instead, I have Emma finding an old lard tin and using that to heat her water.

Bedrolls: Because they take to the trail, they use bedrolls and sleep under the stars. Except Emma doesn’t have a bedroll so Dan shares his. Bedrolls are a lot more padded now than they were 100 yrs ago but they still use a heavy cotton canvas on the outside and a blanket or quilt on the inside. I couldn’t find an authentic photo of a bedroll so I’ll show you the one closest to the one in my book. Well, except instead of plastic buckles, it will be tied to the saddle with rawhide.

While on the trail, Emma does some cooking so I had to research if they had pancakes back in her day, and no—they had flapjacks.

They also didn’t have baking powder for her biscuits so I had to find another leavening agent to activate the baking soda. So far they all need a liquid except cream of tartar which has been around since 800 AD so I’ll use that.

It seems I can’t go a day without wondering about the origin of some word. It’s frustrating at times but I want to be as accurate to the time period as possible so I go through the hardship of surfing the net for answers. I just wish it wasn’t so time consuming.

Have you every slept under the stars without any kind of covering like a roof or a tent? Would you if given the opportunity? Or do you worry about bugs and animals crawling all over you?

My Top Ten Female Villains

“A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.” Agnes Repplier

Female villains are on my minds these days as I have one running around on the loose in my head. She’s doing her best to make my hero’s life miserable and I like to think she’s succeeding with some measure of success. I like being in her head. It’s fun in there.

It’s got me thinking of other female villains or antagonists. And there had been some great ones! So I decided to create a list of my favorites. Feel free to add the names of your own top female baddies in the comment section.

My Top Ten Favorite Female Villains

10. Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger. Brought to life on film by the inestimable Meryl Streep. Just once. Just one time I’d like to turn to someone and say: “Is there some reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?”

9. Famke Janssen as Phoenix in the movie X-Men: The Last Stand. Haven’t read the Marvel Comics so can’t say how the movie compares to the comics, possibly it doesn’t in any way. This pick might be a bit iffy but Jean Gray to the Dark Phoenix works for me.

8. It’s my way or a lobotomy. Nurse Mildred Ratched (the best female villain name ever) from Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Louise Fletcher won an Academy Award for her Nurse Ratched portrayal. Such a great movie!

7. Who can forget Annie Wilkes from Stephen King’s Misery or Kathy Bates depiction for which she won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe? To this day the sight of a sledgehammer gives me shudders.

6. Angelina Jolie as the assassin Fox in the movie Wanted who believes in a twisted “Kill one, save a thousand” philosophy. Also, very nice…tattoos.

5. The White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Tilda Swinton stole the show, or the movie I should say, with her portrayal of The White Witch. Is it cold in here, or is it just me?

4. I may have mention a time or two that I’m kind of a Nora Roberts fan. I may have also mentioned in the past that my favorites are her Chesapeake Bay series. This series also includes one of my favorite villains, Gloria DeLauter. Joan Crawford has nothing on this woman. Shudders.

3. How about Rebecca De Mornay as Peyton Flanders in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Out of all the creepy scenes in that movie, the breastfeeding scene is still the one that creeps me out the most, proving you don’t need to hold a gun to be terrifying.

2. Then there is Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell character, a crime novelist / psychopath / leg crossing femme fatale from Basic Instinct. She gave new meaning to the word ‘research’. And proves you do have to be careful of crime novelists welding ice picks.

1. And my favorite female villain of all time is Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction. I don’t recommend her stew recipe. Does Michael Douglas know how to pick them or what?

So there they are, my top ten list. And I didn’t even get to Disney’s female villains: Maleficent, Cruella De Vill, Madame Medusa, Ursula, Yzma, or the Queen of Hearts. Which one’s your favorite? I’d have to say my personal, hands down number one Disney female villain is …

Some great links to blog posts and articles on creating memorable villains.

Antagonizing on the Prairies a blog post by our own Prairie Chick, Hayley.

How Not to Create a Villain found at Writing-World.com.

Creating Villains People Love to Hate and Villains, both found a Fiction Factor.

Creating Memorable Villains Here’s an interesting blog post written by Jeffrey Hirschberg with questions to ask your villain to help develop his or her persona. Written with screenwriters in mind but well worth a look.

Hope you enjoy the links.

The Ring in Fire

Bear with me please folks. I don’t, at the moment, have a character I know well enough, or wish to digress with, to do this exercise of creating for them a life-changing decision.
As some of you know, I have been playing with the idea of writing a book using a second century B.C. ring I have, as a link between stories set in half a dozen time periods.
To get the ring in motion, I have thought about - but not yet written about - a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great. The soldier is the first character to receive the ring because the artist witnesses him make a decision of life-changing magnitude.
So, this will be the first draft of the first scene. I don’t plan to stay up all night with it so it will be a rough, rough draft and feel free to criticize at length. Advice never hurts and you have helped me so many times already with your comments to me and to others.
Edward is obviously not an ancient name of a Mesopotamian, Persian or any other ‘ian’ I suppose, but I need a name tonight and I will research later
Here goes:
The smoke, the fire and the screams, but most of all the roar of a firestorm, ground at him until he owned a rage that exploded within him, to tear at his brain. He shook with it. He thought it would burst out of him like a demon. His terror at his rage frightened him as much as the blood and the fire viciously whirling out of control around him, making the city square worse than Hades could ever be.
He was covered in ash, grime and blood that wriggled down his bare chest in streams of sweat. The heat weakened him, but he, Edward of Mesopotamia, soldier who marched with Alexander the Great, was no longer strengthened by the blood madness that had held him until seconds before. His eyes were opened and he was aware now.
He was stunned, aghast at the sights before him. This walled city of Hanula, once the strongest city in Persia, never before entered by an enemy, had been entered now. Alexander’s army, 10,000 strong, was celebrating, still driven by the fury that allowed it to defeat Hanula’s army. Now, the fury drove it to recreate the city with blocks of the dead and dying, streets full of blood and towers of fire which were rising a hundred feet above the city walls. By morning, this uncontrolled and utterly vicious crushing of liberty and of life of Hanula’s people, would leave a city of the dead. The only thing that would quiver with any life at all would be snakes of smoke rising weakly as the fires burned down to coals and entered the earth below to wait like an animal for another chance to destroy.
Edward’s attention was drawn abruptly to his left. An old man lay in the street struggling uselessly to rise or crawl away before the maddened, stampeding horses, slashed him to death with horrific blows of their iron shod hooves. He was partially covered by a blood-stained robe that might have been white or maybe grey.
What a stupid question to ask himself - the color of his robe - Edward thought. He raged toward the man, sending horses, soldiers, screaming women, children and terrified dogs fleeing from him with his whistling sword as he slashed back and forth before him to clear his way. The old man’s eyes widened but he composed himself in the same breath of time, to face the death he believed Edward was bringing to him. The sword sighed as Edward slipped into its sheath and clanked against the stones, as Edward kneeled to lift the old man into his arms.
A blast of air caused by a disintegrating, fire-eaten building crashing down, blew an opening in the smoke around them. Edward glimpsed a vision of a hell-bent man glowering in the opening, his sword raised with both hands and his legs spread apart to take the shock of the blow he was about to swing down across Edward’s neck; a blow that would tear off his head.
For a speck in time, Edward stared at his murderer, then he deliberately straightened his shoulders and glared defiantly at the man in the vision, kneeling at the same time to lift the old man into his arms.
Alexander himself stared back, then stabbed his sword into its scabbard and strode away into the smoke.
Edward climbed the marble steps of some kind of temple with the old man sagging in his arms. He knew nothing of these people and their gods. He placed the old man on the stone floor as comfortably as he could make him and then slid down beside him, leaning his head wearily against the wall. He pulled off his helmet, dropped it beside him and dropped his forearms onto his bent knees.
“That was stupid you know. He won’t forget. You have brought on your own death by carrying me here. What possessed you?”
“Hate, I suppose”, Edward answered in a voice so hollow it shook the old man.

Secondary Characters - Part Two

Last week in Part One of "Secondary Characters", I discussed the types of secondary characters. This week we're looking at the jobs secondary characters need to do in our books.

Purposes of Secondary Characters.

Comic Relief – These are my favourite secondary characters to write because, unlike the hero and heroine, they don’t have to behave better than most mortals. They can say, and do, outrageous things and get away with them, making them great fun to write. One of my favourite characters from my own work is Josie in “Her Best Man”. She’s the over the top, lovey-dovey newly wed on the cruise ship who can’t take the hint that Sarah and Will don’t want to spend every waking minute with her.

Tragedy – Sometimes the actions or the fates of secondary characters point the way for our lead characters, telling them what to avoid. In Marsha Canham’s book “The Blood of Roses”, the secondary characters Deirdre and Aluinn come to a tragic end at the Battle of Culloden. Main characters Catherine and Alex must fight that much harder to avoid the fate of their best friends.

Rounding Out Characters – Providing families and friends to our characters makes them more rounded, real people. After all, few real people live in isolation so why should your characters?

Providing Friendship and Guidance – Secondary characters often act as sounding boards to the main characters. The heroine can discuss her feelings about the hero with her best friend and the best friend can offer advice. Readers are then privy to the feelings of the main characters.

Pointing out Contrasts – The virtues of a lead character may be illustrated by contrasting her character with that of a secondary character. For example, the hero may come to see the inner beauty of the heroine when it is directly compared to the ugliness of spirit of his ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend may be far more physically beautiful, but she can’t compete with the heroine’s kindness, humility and courage.

Showing True Colors – When heroes and heroines interact with secondary characters they reveal who they really are. For instance in the TV show “The Gilmore Girls” Lorelai treats best friend Sookie with love. Although the citizens of Stars Hollow are quirky to say the least, she shows them respect and loyalty. And although she makes jokes about her parents, we see her vulnerability in her interactions with them.

Advancing the Love Plot – Secondary characters should always advance the plot in some way, especially the romance plot. Perhaps they introduce the main characters. Or perhaps the secondary character is someone the hero and heroine both care about. In K.N. Casper’s Superromance “Her Brother’s Keeper” Krisanne must return to her hometown when she receives the news that her brother is dying. Going back home puts her in contact once more with his best friend and business partner Drew, the man she’d loved and who betrayed her seven years earlier. They must come together to look after Krisanne’s brother in his last days.

What Not to Write

There are certain pitfalls to avoid when building a secondary character:

Stereotypes and Cartoons – While secondary characters should be drawn with broad strokes rather than fine details like the main characters, they should not be so one-dimensional that they feel like cardboard cut outs. Try to avoid the stereotypes that we’ve seen so many times – the scheming other woman, the evil ex-boyfriend, the nasty mother-in-law. Give your secondary characters something that makes them more human and less cartoonish. One of the secondary characters I despise is the precocious/over-precious child. Having raised children of my own, I know that children are not sweet and adorable at all times. Especially teenagers.

Secondary characters that steal the show - These are secondary characters that are so well drawn and interesting that they make the lead characters look bland in comparison. I once read a category romance in which the heroine, a former professional ballerina, left the stage to marry the hero, who was a forest ranger, or some such thing. When the heroine’s former dance partner arrived on the scene, he was so much more compelling and interesting than the hero that I had to ask “You left this guy for the forest ranger?” It made the characters lose all credibility for me.

Same old, same old – If the secondary characters in one of your stories could be interchangeable with the secondary characters in another of your stories, you’ve failed to make them truly unique. Literary agent Donald Maass says “Supporting players in manuscripts are too often forgettable. They walk on, walk off, making no particular impression. What wasted opportunities”.

Secondary Characters who control the fate of the lead characters – A story in which secondary characters scheme to throw the heroine or heroine together, or solve the mystery, or explain things to the main characters that clear up all disagreements and misunderstandings between them, is far less satisfying for a reader than a story in which the heroine and hero achieve these goals by their own actions. Lead characters must always be active and in charge of their own fates.

Do you have a favourite type of secondary character? Do you like series where your favourite secondary characters are given books of their own? Which authors do you believe create the most memorable secondary characters? Do you have favourite examples of secondary characters from books, TV or movies?