This week starts an 11 Week Blog Spotlight on the Writing Process. Each week, I’ll feature a fellow writer of varying genres to talk about HOW they write.
Join the discussion by leaving a comment and enjoy each veteran author or new, emerging voice!
First up, Multicultural, New-Adult, Romance Author –
Inge Saunders
Since I embarked on the romance writing road in 2012 I’ve read so many different takes on authors writing process. From James Scott Bell who starts from the middle of his novel, he believes in writing from the ‘midpoint’ or ‘the point of commitment’ or as others calls it, ‘raising the stakes’. To begin there he states brings illumination over the whole writing project. Then there’s Harlequin author Tawny Weber who, though loves plotting, is not a detailed plotter. She needs three things to start a story: A premise, a good grasp on the characters…
At the end of last year I vowed I wouldn`t go on my social networks for a whole month after my book released. Why you ask? *smile* Because I didn`t want to become paranoid with checking out how it`s doing on Amazon or any other sites. I didn`t want to obsessively look to see when Falling for Mr. Unexpected would get its first review etc. I wanted my mind free of that. I wanted to simply enjoy the fact that my book was ‘out there’…finally *grin* That`s just me. I know as authors we have to go on these sites to see how we`re doing, especially in regards to reviews, so we can promote our books on those reviews from lovely readers who took the time out to write them 🙂
So when my book had hit #1 on Amazon`s Dramas & Plays, Regional & Cultural, African category. I had no clue. While I was sweating up a storm (can I use those?) in summer hot Worcester, some really wonderful people had bought my book.
I`m truly stunned. I had mistakenly (and very gratefully) thought, the highest my book had gone in the category was #39 in the Top 100. To have had it gone straight to #1…that`s a bit of a brain stutter moment for me. It was a big moment AND I had missed it!lol
But the funny part`s (or maybe not funny) I think I saw it exactly when I needed to. See, I`ve been going through senior edits for my 2nd book with Decadent Publishing, Dance of Love. It`s been gruelling. I`m also in the process of planning (and by planning I mean a lot of staring into the distance and daydreaming up worlds) a story for their Beyond Fairytales line. A story I might add the editor of the line specifically gave me because she liked how I wrote the books I`ve written for them so far (Mr. Unexpected & DoL), which of course made me (crazy writer that I am) very nervous. I`ve also talked myself into entering another writing competition. So there was that stress as well. I`ve been a bit apprehensive about my writing lately.
It`s wonderful to write a story for yourself, but when it becomes ‘public domain’, as in it`s in the hands of a publisher, and every sentence/structure`s being scrutinized, confidence levels become very low. There`s no place for egos in the writing world. Not when there`s every colour of the rainbow going through your manuscript. Yes at one point you might have thought the story was ‘good enough’ but by the end of an edit *cringe* not so much.
So even though I saw this almost *head on desk* two months after it had appeared on Amazon, it lifted my spirit. It encouraged me to work hard on all the above mentioned endeavours, because you never know what might happen and who`s waiting to read it.
And that`s also what this post is about. To not give up on what you want, the dream, the vision, the plan…whatever it is. You never know what might happen. How in future it will encourage you and confirm to you, that every single sacrifice you`ve made to see that wonderful surprise …was not in vain.
Keep on writing.
#EnjoyTheJourney
Hallo world! *shouts* Can you hear me, I`m back in the bloggers-sphere! LOL
I deliberately left my first post for 2015 to February, because I didn`t want to do a ‘new-year’s-resolution-writing’ post. I honestly don`t believe in them and while I`m all for goal setting and having a plan, resolutions always tend to be on the frivolous side of life. So I don`t make them. Never have. Never will.
Now back to my first blog post for the year 2015 *grin*
My first release, Falling for Mr. Unexpected hit all virtual stores on December 23rd and is now available in Paperback ( http://amzn.to/1z0vy7R ). To say I was excited would be an understatement. Any author would tell you that it`s one of those indescribable moments in life you couldn`t define even if you tried. Which is funny, because as writers we have a huge vocabulary to draw from. But I didn`t, all I could say was thank you to everyone who made the book possible, who gave the story a chance, who went out and bought it, who reviewed it! It`s more than a month after its release and it still feels like release day!
I`m enjoying the journey so far and keep myself from going completely bonkers by NOT checking how my book`s doing on the Amazon ranks or any ranking system for that matter. I`m surprisingly sober about the whole process. But then again, when you grow up with a mother who has a mind for business and constantly reminds you that as an author ‘you`re also ‘running a business’ and that a new business shouldn`t expect to hit a home run from the get-go’, but to build up customers (in this case readers). With this piece of advice you do have a tendency to be very sober-minded about you`re first book`s success.
I`ve gotten great reports from fellow authors on how my book`s fairing for a first time author as well as from my publisher (Decadent Publishing). And it really builds a writer to know your publisher`s with you every step of the way. Recently I decided to write for another of Decadent`s Lines and as I queried the editor of the Line, she actually mentioned that she`d been one of the Acquisition Editors who read through my work and enjoyed it. My jaw literally dropped. Because as a writer you feel like you`re on an island and no one other than the handful of people you interact with on your manuscript, really know about your story and you. So, this was such a great compliment, as well as motivation to get into the story I was about to write and to do a great job *knock on wood*
It`s 2015, I started my writing journey in 2012. I`ve come far. There`s still people who ask me on whether I wanted to return to teaching and I unwaveringly say a resounding no. In these last couple of years since permanently putting on my writing hat, I`ve learned a lot about myself. I`ve become a student again, a researcher, an entrepreneur, a marketer and created worlds I hoped to hear people got lost in. My career path might not have been as smooth as others, but it`s truly been enjoyable. I love what I do, where I`m at. I love that I`m surprising people. I love that when I go to a party, I`ve got something to talk about other than how much I hate my boss or how mundane my day job was. I am my own boss. As demanding as running your own business can be, I wouldn`t trade the freedom it provides for my writing.
My 2nd book Dance of Love is set for release in April 2015, I`m currently working on another submission for the Ubuntu Line with Decadent Publishing, Falling for Mr. Right and writing a brand new story for their Beyond Fairytale Line. I`m excited for this year. Many people do not have a silver lining in their lives and I`m so glad that I have mine.
Thank you readers of Inside These Lines, I`m again, happy to take the writing journey with you in 2015.
It`s our amazing 2014Ubuntu Line April Blog Hop. So far you`ve been introduced to some great authors from the African continent and island (Mauritius) surrounding it. Our theme is Pop Culture and if you`ve noticed of late, I`ve had posts already tying my book in with the theme.
Since I`ve written a romance comedy, it started me thinking: What does a South African Rom Com movie look like? I instantly thought of a film directed and co-written by Henk Pretorius, Fanie Fourie’s Lobola: A feel good film that lightly addresses cultural divides and also an emerging culture in Post-Apartheid SA. It`s a contemporary romantic comedy about love and tradition in a rapidly evolving society. (You can find the official trailer here http://bit.ly/1eodhNt )
It showcases how deeply romantic comedies have become embedded in the Pop Culture of the world. You can literally pick up a Rom Com movie/book from anywhere in the world and enjoy yourself, no matter what cultural or traditional matter it deals with. I`m thinking now of Zee`s Island Girls Trilogy where Indian culture is the backdrop for her stories.
Since Falling for Mr. Unexpected is still in the editing process I decided to share an excerpt with you and hope you`ll forgive the ‘rawness’ *laugh*It`s an out-and-out contemporary romance comedy/chicklit novel.
I posted a blurb in the previous post! So I`ll only set up the ‘scene’ for the excerpt. Before this point in the story Emma had begged off going on holiday with her friend Nomsa, she had a nightmare of a flashback that involved her on a date with one of Nomsa`s cousins. An IT-guy who liked long walks on the beach *raised eyebrow* Yeah Emma also thought that was a red flag *wink* She sufficiently wiggled her way out of the holiday and headed for what she thought was her brother in-law`s beach house in Strand.
So without further introduction here`s Emma and Damian`s first clash *cough* I mean introduction to each other *grin*
Emma rushed in through the patio door and screamed a loud ear-splitting scream.
“Ah!”
Before her stood a half-naked man, dressed only in a white towel.
As this knowledge registered, so did the fact she wore little else but her underwear. Her eyes were out of their sockets and she still hadn`t stopped screaming. “Ah!”
“Would you stop it!” The half-naked stranger yelled in a deep baritone causing her to clip her mouth shut.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? I`m calling the police!”
He didn`t even flinch at her nakedness, instead he turned his back on her and stalked to the small side table next to a big white and blue sofa.
Before his huge frame could obscure her vision, she made out a black cordless phone.
Her chest heaved. Oh my goodness, he`s serious!
“I`m sick and tired of this,” he said into the phone, and waited for whomever to pick up on the other side. “If it`s not underwear in the mail, naked photos on my car`s windshields.” He looked to her. “It`s running around naked in my home.”
His fiery eyes burned holes into her.
“What?” she blurted out. She clutched her dry clothes in front of herself. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
*laughs* I had fun writing this book!
Now here`s for the truly fun part. You get a chance at an 30$ Amazon gift card and AMAZING books!
Book Bundle 1
The Dashing Debutante Print Book by Alissa Baxter
Love Through Time E-book by Nana Prah
Wedding Gown Girl E-book by Kathy Bosman
Book Bundle 2
Lord Fenmore’s Wager Print Book by Alissa Baxter
A Touch of WinterAnthology E-book by Nana Prah
A Valentine Challenge E-book by KiruTaye
Book Bundle 3
Send and Receive Print Book by Alissa Baxter
Three Tiers for Win E-book by Kathy Bosman
An Engagement Challenge E-book by KiruTaye
Book Bundle 4
The Complete “Eternelles” Series by Zee Monodee
Adrasteia E-book
Seraphine E-book
Inescapable E-book
Indomitable E-book
Don’t forget to check out the other authors in this tour! Here’s the lineup:
Pop Culture piques my interest. I can sit through E-News and treat it like it was actual news *laughs* Yes I can take a hiatus from it and be like “Kim Kardashian who?”*smile* It`s mindless TV. Literally aimed at entertaining and offers an escape from real life, if only for an hour. And now for a little confession on my part *pulls face* I started writing Falling for Mr. Unexpected as a tongue and cheek response to the ‘typical’ romance novel *hides* (Hope nothing hits my head *ducks anyway*)
You see, when I wrote the sytycw2012 entry I didn`t expect to win *blink* Shocker! lol No it wasn`t *teeth* It`s my first ‘grown up’ novel, before I wrote it I mainly wrote YA/Teen romance, though at the time I didn`t know that. I used my competition entry as my way of telling the world, look I want to be a published author. I have stories to tell and I`d like you to read them. And yes I`m serious about this. It`s NOT a WHIM! So to that end it did serve its purpose since the book got contracted *wink*
But I went in guns blazing, I mean I wrote everything in that novel I wanted to see and yes, even not see in a romance novel, with all my sarcastic humor. Thank God the editor of Ubuntu Line got that!
Here`s the Blurb (before edits):
Can you fall for Mr. Unexpected when you don`t believe in Mr. Right or even Mr. Right Now…?
Primary school teacher Emma Cupido compares the notion of ‘The One’, with believing in the Tooth Fairy. When the school holidays starts, she heads for her bother in-law`s beach house in Strand and stumbles on more than she bargained for.
Hollywood heartthrob Damian Davidson flees LA thinking his beach house in SA would be a safe hideout from his sex scandal. He`s had his fill of manipulative women and when he mistakes Emma for a crazy fan, all hell breaks loose!
Emma and Damian get off to a rocky start but first impressions can be deceiving. Is there more to Damian than the superficial taint of Hollywood? And what happens when she agrees to a trip to LA? Will she become a believer in ‘The One’ or just another Hollywood scandal?
As you can see I had fun with the whole Pop Culture element. I literally took a headline from E-News and turned it into one of my main conflicts within the story. I took a straight laced small town teacher and threw her into the path of a Hollywood ‘bad boy’. I aimed for toe curling and a heroine that would make Jane Austin proud. Because in all her straight laced persona, Emma is anything but perfect! And Damian though perceived as just another self-absorbed Hollywood hunk turns out be anything but or does he? *cheeky grin*
And I have to be honest again (don`t you just cringe when people say that! *laughs*), I wrote Falling for Mr. Unexpected, for all my girlfriends. Every friend I`ve known throughout my life would find aspects of themselves in there if they looked closely. I catered to all their feminine hearts. I made the hero someone I know they`d have a silly grin for. But most of all, I wrote it, at the time for myself. I never enjoyed a piece of writing as much in years and I hope the reader will be able to spot that.
I made these characters do and say things I believe would be great elements for a Rom Com movie (please Hollywood producer stumble on this post!). It`s a universal story. Whether it`s set in a beach house, Strand, South Africa or LA, Hollywood, it`s relatable. The biggest compliment I got from a Beta Reader when they read the story was that they could relate to Emma. Not because she was this ‘ordinary’ woman, in the presence of Hollywood ‘royalty’. But because of the choices she made.
I can guarantee there will be moments in the story you`ll want to kill me, but please do read on! It will get better 😉 Plus I`m on the other side of the world, even if you want to roundhouse kick me you can`t! Not even Chuck Norris can *raised eyebrow*
*laughs*
Another thing I commented on in the novel is how the paparazzi come with celebrity culture. It`s invasive and yes, me sitting in front of E-News probably contribute to it. But it`s something that in the 90`s (that`s when I was a teenager) wasn`t as prevalent. They shape you the viewer`s world, with the help of tabloids. I remember as I sat and watched the headline that inspired this story, I was actually a bit disgusted. I cringed. Because I didn`t want to know every single detail of a celebrity`s life. Nope. Didn`t need to know what was found in his trash or how many strippers he/she had at their birthday party. And that`s the reason why in Falling for Mr. Unexpected, they do make an appearance. Indirectly I do make a comment on this culture and what repercussions there are once the paparazzi has labeled a person or decided on what perception about that person makes them more money.
Like I said I was writing my kind of romance novel *grin*
And yes it does have all the traditional elements of a true romance novel. It is a holiday read. You can curl up with it in front of a roaring fire. And I`m not just saying that because I wrote it *ha*
This is my 2nd installment of the inside story of Falling for Mr. Unexpected. As part of the Ubuntu Line`s April Blog Hop, I`ll post an excerpt of the story on Friday the 11th.
Now ladies, bear with me for a moment. I`ve always been a fan of Enrique Iglesias since he came on the scene, it was a toss between him and Ricky Martin but not even Ricky`s Bon Bon`s could compete *cheeky grin* So when I first started with my sytycw2012 entry, Falling for Mr. Unexpected, it was no wonder that the male lead would be a spitting image of Enrique. (Let`s ignore the fact that I was watching a Perez Hilton interview with him, in his hotel room, at the time inspiration over took.)
SA has such a rich culture of people and backgrounds especially in the Western Cape that a guy who looked like Enrique would fit in perfectly with the Malaysian influences of the province`s colonial past.
Therefore, Hollywood Actor Damian Davidson the male lead in the story inherited the history of being of Malaysian and British descent. With black straight hair, in a short conservative cut that`s just a touch longer on top than on the sides and back, with a fringe that`s easily spiked for a ‘devil may care’ attitude *wink* Damian has the same dark brown eyes as his celebrity counterpart. At 6’2 he`s lean, toned and muscular. Being an actor, he exercises a lot *bug eyed* and takes care of himself, but doesn`t ‘dress up’ when he`s on holiday. He does simple elegance in jeans and body hugging t-shirts and walks around barefoot mostly or in thong sandals, in true South African fashion when on holiday at the beach.
Now seriously, who can`t picture this guy walking down Strand`s beachfront? *swoo-0h-oon*
My heroine, Emma took some thought. Why you ask, because for some reason or other I started writing the character without a clear image of what she would look like! *laughs*
I had her personality down to a T. I knew what her moral inclinations were going to be, her pet peeves. But halfway through I realized I had done something I haven`t done in my writing before, I wrote the story with a mental image of someone similar to myself *slaps forehead* Yeah I know. Who does that? BUT it was Enrique Iglesias people! *laughs* It`s his fault!*embarrassed smile*
So I had to backtrack. Me as the female lead in my book wasn’t going to cut it. I already described her curly hair and short stature. Emma already had a sarcastic slant to her. I couldn`t, no wouldn`t give her my face! That would be too much! Goodness! No!
After lots of musing and sitting in front of the TV, an episode of Vampire Diaries came on (yep I`m a fan *grin*) and I started watching. It was one of the episodes where Bonnie (Kat Graham) featured with some freaky witchy stuff.
She was fierce, cheeky and downright mean. The actress (Kat) playing her, has such a clear pixie face, she didn`t look like someone who could harm a fly. Her hair was in a mass of wavy curls and her big light brown eyes flashed as she stared down a vampire. Her frame`s small, but she wasn`t delicate. She was what you would call petite at 1, 6 meters tall. Her style: comfortable chic, she loved her jeans and ballet shoes but was finished off with a romantic frilly top.
I had my Emma!
It was easy to move on from there and complete the book. Not only could I picture the two characters in their celebrity lookalike visages, but it was easy to translate them to Los Angeles, where the other half of the story takes place.
From beach town Strand, South Africa, in an exclusive private beachfront home right on the doorstep of the Atlantic Ocean to LA, Hollywood and red carpet events.
It was the start of a modern day Prince Charming and Cinderella story, as Oscar Nominated Actor, Damian Davidson (only in a towel and nothing else) bumped into a half-naked Emma Cupido (only in her to match nude colored panty and bra).
And yes *clears throat* the proverbial sparks do fly! *wink wink nudge nudge*
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