A Short Sizzle

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, and Children...well, no, no kids allowed tonight :).

As promised, here's a little snippet of the first time Eden meets Declan. There were so many good scenes to pick from, but I wanted to start with this one because there's nothing like that first impression, you know what I mean? Love it! I'd say more, but hey, we all know why you're here, so without further interruption, I bring you a short sizzle.

*

Then, her mind registered something else.

            A steady, deep breathing that mirrored her own.

            She wasn’t alone.

            From across the room, the flame wavered, shifting as whatever it was resting on moved, towards her. Hypnotized but strangely unafraid, Eden held her breath and watched as a shadow emerged, and that shadow became a form, and then a man.

            The first thing she noticed was his eyes.

            Brilliant enough to catch the candlelight and throw it back in an emerald glow, the jade depths sparkled with flecks of silver, edged in dark and thick lashes. Her eyes dropped lower, landing on his mouth and something in her body trembled. Sculpted, sensuous lips were fixed in a tight line as he studied her. He was tall, nearly a good foot taller than she was, and his body was a testament to God’s craftsmanship, each and every inch of him revealed by the dim glow more perfect than the last. His hands were cupping the light, sheltering the flame as he stopped in front of her, watching and waiting. The open collar of his shirt revealed a neck thick and corded with muscle, drawing her eyes down to the skin that disappeared beneath the dark fabric. A silver colored chain followed, making her wonder what lay at the end of it.

            Blinking, she raised her eyes to his face, a languid warmth sliding over her limbs when she registered the hunger in his gaze. But she remained unafraid.

            Undaunted, she watched him raise a hand, the one that wasn’t holding the candle, and bring it up to her face.

            All the moisture in her mouth evaporated as she pulled in a slow breath, just as his thumb brushed against her lower lip, and drew it down ever so slightly.

*

 

Writing What You Believe

I love a good plot bunny. Really I do. They're the cutest little things, hopping in and out of the meadow I that my ideas come from and generally exude overall happy-bunny sunshine and rainbows. However, sometimes, one of them gets brave and comes charging up out of the grass like a Halloween nightmare hare (with long, jagged teeth and beady red eyes) and takes a big 'ol bite out of my ankle. Then it proceeds to dart away, cackling (because we all know evil bunnies cackle), forcing me to chase after it.

The little sh*t.

That's what happened to me about five days ago. I was probably 80k into this WIP I've been working on for months and months and all of the sudden, this plot bunny takes a swipe at me and leaves me standing there without the slightest motivation to type a single letter more. Not because I don't absolutely love my WIP, because I do. The two leads, Eden and DC are incredible and their voices in my head have brought to life this amazing paranormal world that I simply can't shut out. They've present me with a series (at least 7 books), so it's a sizable amount of material to play with and flesh out, requiring a good deal of time as well. Again, not a problem. The only problem I have is the question that my new plot bunny friend brought to mind and I can't get it out of my head: how do I write something that doesn't coincide with my beliefs?

If you're going to laugh, go ahead, but let me explain my thinking. I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ and no, that doesn't mean I'm some fanatical lunatic who endorses crazed ideas like those of the Westboro Baptist Church or anyone else who uses the guise of Christianity to press their own agenda. It's unfortunate that our society chooses to latch on to the most extreme example of a religion, be it Christianity or anything else, and use that one example to define the whole. But that is another post. My new plot bunny is more in line with my own personal beliefs, whereas my older WIP features a paranormal world that some might say goes against God's teachings. My dilemma, and the question that I pose to all of you, is this: how do you write something like that? My own answer is this: I believe God gave me a talent and a passion for writing and I will do my best to put that to good use. I'm not writing on behalf of God or Christianity as a whole, but I do think the stories in my head deal with valuable moral challenges and vulnerable characters who, like any one of us, make mistakes and decisions that they must live with and learn from.

I'd love to hear what you guys think about it! Until then, I've got a plot bunny to chase down and lots of writing to do!

Write dirty,

K.C.

Oh, NaNo....

Wow. NaNo WriMo really kicked my butt this year and I did fail to reach my 50k mark. Bummer. On the bright side though, I added 21k to my WIP and finally figured out a major plot concern for my female lead. Success! It was much more satisfying to figure that out (and the course of the rest of her thread in the series) than to write 50k of stuff I was going to have to sort through later. I hope all of you who participated in NaNo, in some form or fashion, were successful in your own ways as well.

Now, let me take a moment to explain what my concept of "writing dirty" is all about. I know some of you might be thinking that it speaks to the sexiness of whatever WIP I'm working on, and in some small way, you'd be right. But largely when the idea for this blog hit me, writing "dirty" was more about getting yours hands dirty, in the sense that you really get into and do the work for the story you're trying to tell. A lot of very successful authors make writing seem easy. Their stories flow, the character seem like real people you could meet down the street (or in some Paranormal cases, beings you'd encounter in a dark alley at night), and the churn their books out like clock work. Ask them if it's easy. I bet that 98% of them say that writing is Work. Hard work, work that interrupts their quiet moments, that attacks them while they're driving or trying to sleep. It's work that they dedicate themselves to and their characters and stories are a product of that work, that dedication. In fact, one paranormal author whose series I'm obsessed with (not to name names hahaha) once wrote that she writes 7-8 hours a day, every day of the week, holidays included and has been doing that same routine for years. Yes, years. That is dedication. That is, in essence, writing dirty.

I know that all of us do not have that kind of luxury. We have kids, school, day jobs and families that demand our attention and we write when we can. The point of bringing that author up is not to say "wow, I'm a slacker" but more to show that writing real Work when we have the time is key to becoming successful. So yes, I didn't make the 50k NaNo word mark, but I gained 21k of real Work that counts toward my WIP and strengthens the series as a whole. That is my success and I will take a moment to be proud of myself for it, as we all should do with our work after accomplishing something we feel to be great. We must be our biggest cheerleader, because if we don't believe in what we write, how will we ever convince anyone else to believe in it?

So take a moment and give yourself a hug. Then, plug in the coffee maker and get back to it, if you've got a free second.

Remember, whenever possible, write dirty,

K.C.

2 Rejections down, 50k to go

It's November, which means for all of my fellow writers out there, it's NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) and thousands of your closest friends, colleagues and family will beat themselves and their keyboards senseless trying to grind out the next Great American Novel.

Or not.

A girl can dream, though, right? After receiving my second rejection on an older manuscript of mine, I've decided to kick my own butt into gear and finish the WIP I have by December 15, 2011 with the hopes of submitting a query for it to a literary giant of an agent in NYC. I'd put a name to the "giant" but I'm keeping it mum for now in the hopes I'm not laughed off the blogosphere. Needless to say, I need to get going and NaNo is the perfect opportunity for me to do just that. Starting with 33,645 words (or around that), I'm hoping to add another 50k by month's end, and that should put me close to the end. (I'm assuming it will be around 110-120k at most). So I'm wishing all my fellow writers the best of luck and if you want to follow my progress, you can find me here.

So have an awesome day and remember: Whenever possible, Write Dirty :)

K.C.

Rejection. It happens.

So I've gotten my first rejection email regarding the manuscript I sent in to the first of two different e-pubs. I'm starting small, and figured that while I love my story, it might not fit in with the genre that the first e-pub seems to be concentrating in. Though the big R still stung, it wasn't as if a part of me wasn't already expecting it. The jury is still out on the second publisher, so I'm keeping my toes crossed and my fingers busy writing.

As the mom of a daughter who recently turned one, I have to say that the biggest challenge I face these days, aside from trying to chase her around the house, is finding the time to write. Mostly, it's while she naps (like now) or after she goes to bed and after my nightly trip to the gym. Writing and working out were two things I did daily, like a machine, before she was born, but now, it's much harder to do both. But it's not as if I'm willing to give up either one of them, so I compromise as best I can.

So while the baby is still napping and my muse is slapping me in the back of the head and yelling at me to get on with it, I'm off to write. Here's hoping that my characters feel like showing up!

Have a wonderful day and whenever possible, write dirty.

K.C.

One Step Forward...

Hello world. It's me, taking my first real step out to say hello.
Today I submitted my first novel. Yikes. Talk about throwing myself off a cliff and not knowing what the heck is waiting for you. If I think about it too long, I get a bit dizzy in the head and start to wonder what I was thinking when I sent that email off.

But then I calm down, realize that eventually I had to take that first step and regardless of what happens, at least I've tried.

So this blog is a record of my writing, and (more often than not), an outlet for things I want to say but really have no one to say them to. I'm working on that. I'm sure if I had a few more moments, I could better explain what I mean but I don't and if I want this to work, then I need to start small.

So give me time, bear with me, and I promise, it will all be worth it in the end.

Whenever possible, write dirty.

K.C.