Welcome to My Guest Author: Carla Caruso

Today I welcome Author  Carla Caruso to my blog!  

Carla is giving away an Amazon Kindle copy of Second Chance to one lucky commenter!  So over to Carla...

 

First vs. third-person POV

I recently made the switch from writing in the point of view (POV) of first-person to third-person. It was difficult for me to do as first-person is something I have written in since a teen when merely dreaming about being a novelist! The last time I did something that even looked like third-person was way back in primary school.

A lot of my favourite chick-lit authors (hello Sophie Kinsella) also write in first-person, so it’s something my brain is used to seeing.

However, first-person seems to be something that is going slightly out of favour as happens with book trends (unless you’re E.L. James or Stephenie Meyer, of course). And the term, chick-lit, is definitely so last century, seeming to have a nineties/Bridget Jones whiff about it…

Some of my other fave authors, like Maggie Alderson and Zoe Foster, have also recently gone to the other side too, now writing in third-person. So I thought it was high time I gave it a go, seeing it seems to be what readers prefer.

At first, I found it really, really difficult to make the switch. Everything I typed came out sounding clunky and I had to revise each scene half a million times. It felt extremely tough to get inside a character’s head without being able to write their every thought and reaction.

I wrote that first manuscript in third-person – it sucked – and then I attempted a second. Suddenly, something clicked. I actually began to ENJOY writing from this new perspective – so long as it was deep POV, and thus, not far a stretch from first-person. Plus, I now relished also being able to write from the viewpoint of the hero.

Being a chick-lit devotee, I’ve always been inclined to keep Mr Silent Brooding Type more mysterious rather than getting inside his head. But now I’m loving being able to go between scenes in the eyes of the heroine and her love interest.

In another change, I also swapped from present tense to past. Whew!...

So, now what the fun is going to be? It’s seeing whether I can swap back to writing in first-person and present tense for a sequel to Cityglitter (another book of mine), so that it looks consistent. Wish me luck! I’ll need it.

Hugs,

Carla

Bio: Carla Caruso

Carla Caruso was born in Adelaide, grew up amid a boisterous extended Italian family – yet somehow managed to become a bookworm...

Carla always wanted to be a novelist, annoying the kindergarten teachers by dictating long, detailed stories to them. It just took her a while to realise her childhood dream - journalism seemed a more practical course. Her media career has included stints as a newspaper and magazine journalist, government PR and fashion stylist. These days, she works as a freelance journalist and copywriter. She began seriously writing fiction three years ago when she went freelance full-time.

The romance genre appeals as she is a sucker for rom-coms (especially if Channing Tatum is in the mix) and likes to think her Italian ancestry means she lives with passion. Hobbies include watching trashy TV shows, fashion (her mum named her after Carla Zampatti!), astrology and running. She lives in Adelaide.

Carla Around The Web:

Website

Author Page

Twitter

 

Blurb: Second Chance

On the night of her 36th birthday, Flora Brunelli is full of regrets. The celebrations have turned sour 

and life hasn’t gone according to plan. Then she finds herself zapped back in time, landing in the summer of 1998 when she was 20 years old. The Spice Girls are at the top of the charts and The X-Files is the hit TV show. It’s also the week Flora’s life unravelled.

For Flora, this is a chance to change her future: win back the love of her life, stay friends with her former best mate and succeed in landing her dream job. It should be easy. But her ex’s best friend, Lance Devic, who she never really noticed before, keeps popping up and messing with her head. And after a while Flora begins to wonder if living in the past really will deliver her the happiness she seeks?

www.destinyromance.com

Buy Links:
Amazon
ITunes
Google Play
Kobo





 

Welcome to My Guest Author: Kamy Chetty

Today I welcome Author Kamy Chetty to my blog!   So over to Kamy...

 

Using Deep POV to step out of the Slush Pile

As a writer we get told a whole bunch of things that we have to stay true to, if we want to catch that editor’s/agent’s attention and not have to get picked up off the slush pile. Don’t get me wrong, many great writers have been picked up off that slush pile but we both know that it’s getting harder to get noticed.

Not too much back story or you slow the pace; your characters need to be believable; your reader needs to be invested in the story. You have to get the reader to have that emotional journey, and the most important one of them all, show, don’t tell. It’s impossible to remember all of this when you’re writing your story and to be honest, if you did, you’d drive yourself nuts and never get past page five. You’re sitting there thinking, this still isn’t telling me anything about deep POV, so here goes, I’m going to show you an e.g of how I used deep POV in getting published.

I wrote Falling into Paradise in three weeks but it took me a lot longer than that to edit the book. I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful editor, but there were a lot of things I learnt that helped. The concept of layering opened new doors to me and my writing started making sense which resulted in a stronger book.

Deep point of view is when you go into the character’s head and start writing from their POV, instead of the narrative. You might say what are the benefits? Think of it this way. By going into deep POV you can start writing actively and you can show things your character sees and does and that added layer gives your reader the key to your book and the characters.

E.g. when you meet Sophie you see a woman who dresses up in expensive suits with a flashy car, so you think rich doctor from a cultured background.

‘She looked down and wanted to say she felt more like the prostitute from down the road where she lived as a child than Catwoman, but it didn't seem appropriate to share that much information with a man she barely knew.’

Now that little thought Sophie shares with us tells us she didn’t grow up with a silver spoon stuck to her palate and that is a very important thread in the story. I could have used a few paragraphs to imply the same thing but saying that she grew up around a prostitute has a lot more punch and power than anything I as a writer could have narrated.

The other thing deep POV can do is give your book sass. Throughout the book I use deep POV to deepen the characters and their motivations and make it all real. It heightens the tension and makes the story flow.

I can go on about deep POV if you let me but I’d rather you ask questions and I am happy to answer them as best I can. Thanks for having me, it has been a real pleasure being here and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the book or about being a newly published author.

Cheers

Kamy

Kamy Chetty Around the Web:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Author Page

 

 

 

 Blurb - Falling Into Paradise:

A woman too afraid to commit. A man too hurt to love again. A passion that refuses to be denied.

Sophie Redmond knew betrayal, she knew mistrust. She knew everything that was wrong with the world, until Damon Watson charmed his way into her life.

The rules she used to shield her heart were broken one by one, as Damon showed her compassion and kindness. When no one else believes in her, he shows her hope. But is hope ever enough?

Damon knew trouble when he saw it. He was the sheriff. He could spot it a mile away and Sophie was trouble with a capital T. What was it about this City Slicker doctor that made him want to forget everything but those whiskey brown eyes and that honey blonde hair spilled against his naked chest.

Can Damon put the past behind him and choose to love again?

Buy Links:

Red Sage

Amazon

Amazon UK

B & N

 

 

 

 

Welcome to My Guest Author: Suzanna Ross

Today I welcome Author Suzanna Ross to my blog!  

Suzanna is giving away to one lucky commenter a copy of her previous release Trust In Me or a copy of her Short Story Book.  So over to Suzanna...

The Magic of Writing Friends

I’ve been trying to establish a writing career for a long time. Such a long time that I wrote in

the days before word processors – and in the days before the Internet. And I wrote when there
were no writing groups geographically close enough to join.

It was a very lonely and scary place to be.

In those dark days of being alone with my writing, my sales successes were limited: A

handful of short stories. An article and filler or two. Obviously, each hit was to be celebrated,
but they were very few and far between. Besides, even when I did make a rare sale, who was
there to tell? My family and non-writing friends didn’t understand.

Then I found the online writing community. And I did nothing but read writing blogs and

online forums for weeks. It seemed Christmas had arrived with the discovery of the like-
minded members of these groups.

My first tentative steps into blogging were ignored. But, gradually, I gained the confidence

to comment on others’ blog posts – and those comments were returned. Friendships were
formed. Eventually, these friendships developed into invitations to join private groups.

And my hit rate exploded.

Yes, I do think my writing has improved in that time – but that can be attributed to my

friendships with other writers, too. Because these friendships – some involving critiquing and
being critiqued – have increased my confidence in my abilities. And increased confidence can
only result in better writing.

I’m no longer in that scary, lonely, place. Now I have people I can tell when I make a sale.

People who are pleased for me – and who share their own successes, too.

The writing community – real or virtual – is a great thing to be a part of.

Above all, the generosity of writing friends is endless. They’ll spend time reading my work

and tell me straight if the story isn’t working. They’ll help me to find solutions to problems
that I might not see a way out of. They’ll talk about my characters as though they’re real
people. They cheer me on when I’m feeling down and talk me out of it when I’m ready to
give it all up. And, they’ll share contact details, submission guidelines – and shout if they
notice something they think might benefit my career.

Most of all, they cheer loudest of all when I place a piece of writing. At last, someone to tell

who actually cares.

Even if I haven’t met most of them in real life, these are real friends. People I turn to first

when thing go wrong – in my writing or in my real life.

And they’ve made a world of difference.

Honestly, the single best thing I’ve done for my writing is to make friends with other writers.

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog today. And for the opportunity to write
this post – because it’s made me realise just how lucky I am.

Suzanna on the Web:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads





Blurb - Hidden Heartache:

Dr Emma Bradshaw’s life is disrupted when Nick Rudd arrives back in town to take up a post at the GP practice where Emma works. The bad boy attitude is still very much in evidence, but Nick is a doctor now – against the odds – and Emma’s forced to work closely with him. Not so easy to ignore the love of your life when you have to see him on a daily basis. And Nick’s getting perilously close to breaking down the barriers Emma’s built to protect herself from the tragedy in her past.

Nick thought, as a doctor, it would be easy to command respect from the residents of his hometown – and most are pleased to see how well he’s done. But, the one person he wants to impress remains unmoved. Emma is keeping her distance. And she’s changed – the fun loving girl he knew has gone. She’s hiding something big, he’s sure, but she’s not telling. He can’t blame her – he knows he let her down badly in the past. But now he’ll do anything to rekindle the trust and love she once showed him.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

 

Welcome to My Guest Author: Juanita Kees

Today I welcome Author Juantia Kees to my blog!   So over to Juanita...

Do you Love your Characters?

Building a story is like building a house. I discussed this topic in a post about Writing from the Heart on Rachael John’s blog last year. Heart and a good foundation is what helps you and your characters build a riveting story that will engage the reader from start to finish. Add to the mix the walls to make the story strong, and windows to peek into the heads and the hearts of your hero and heroine. The roof is the finishing touch to protect your investment and the people you care about most…your characters.  But their journey doesn’t end there, it’s only the beginning.

I went on to discuss the welcoming party in Write a Book, Bake a Cake which takes a look at the importance of editing your manuscript for submission. Writing is only a part of the incredible learning journey to publication. The more you write, the more confident you become. Research, critique partners, writing groups, contests and workshops all play a big part in helping you hone your craft.  Think of these as the ingredients for a fluffy chocolate cake batter. Leave any of the ingredients out and the consistency of your batter could let you down.

But what about the most important part of all in the story—the people? Who are they? What are they like? Are they heroes and heroines readers will love? Imagine a good, solid house with strong walls and a new roof, pretty gardens and rolling lawns, but the rooms are empty. Void of life, love and laughter. What brings life to the house? Is it the furniture, the paint on the walls, the shiny appliances in the kitchen? Absolutely not! What brings life to the house is the characters.

Readers read to find magic in a story, an element of happiness, hope and escape from the dramas of the real world. By building good, solid characters you can help them find that escape. I recently read a book where the heroine’s daughter was a whiny little girl whose bottom I wanted to spank for the temper tantrums she threw and the distress she caused her mum. Is that a criticism of the author’s writing? No, I’m giving the author huge credit for creating believable four-year-old behavior that drew me right into the scene and made me want to give the girl’s mum a big hug.

In Fly Away Peta, I created a feisty heroine in Peta; someone I hope readers will relate to in her fierce fight to protect her daughter against the dangers of life and heartbreak, while she battles her own demons. And Jaime—gorgeous, strong, delectable Jaime Caruso—a man who jumps feet-first into the fray to fight for the woman he’s loved forever, no matter what danger she’s in.

And if you enjoyed Jaime and Peta’s spirited characters, you are going to love TJ and Scott in Under the Hood, due for release from Escape Publishing in March 2013. This energetic story stars yet another feisty heroine not afraid to step forward and a delectable hero who can’t resist her charm or her dilemma. Together they fight to save a teenage gang from the grip of crime and drugs, all while resisting the temptation to fall in love.

Thank you to my lovely friend and editing buddy, Serena Tatti for hosting me today and letting me waffle on about building houses, baking cakes and creating characters. For a handy guide to creating character profiles, I can recommend Valerie Parv’s The Art of Romance Writing. It’s a guide that’s stood the test of time and a book that holds pride of place amongst my reference books, as battered, dog-eared and full of post-it notes as it is.

Blurb: Fly Away Peta from Eternal Press

The time has come to face her worst fear and the clock is ticking…

Peta Johnson will go to extreme lengths to protect her daughter Bella. When Bella is kidnapped, the search for her takes Peta back to the small Western Australian country town of Williams, a place she’d vowed never to return to. The town where her dreams were shattered and her nightmare began. Back to the place she’d been destined to meet two very powerful, yet very different men. One would break her heart; the other would destroy her soul. Both would change her life forever.

The search for Bella brings them together. Secrets and lies keep them apart. Will Jaime and Peta renew their love in the face of danger or will he let her fly away again?


Bio:

Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and now proudly Australian, Juanita is a freelance writer of book reviews, blogs, web content, advertorials, newsletters, resumes and training manuals. She has written articles on business management for Stanford Who’s Who, New York, USA.

Having completed a diploma in Proofreading, Editing and Publishing through the Australian College QED, Bondi, NSW, Juanita is a freelance editor for Damnation Books, Eternal Press and Escape Publishing, and proofreads scientific text books for Elsevier Press, Oxford, UK.

Juanita gained her professional experience in the motor industry as an administrator and Customer Care/Quality Assurance Coordinator conducting audits; writing and proof-reading reports, operating procedures, company policies, capability statements, newsletters and customer correspondence.

Juanita escapes the real world by reading and writing romantic fiction. She conducts interviews with fellow authors and writes book reviews, as well as the odd blog about the frustrations and delights of being a writer.

When she’s not writing, editing or proofreading, Juanita is the cleaning fairy and mother to three boys (hubby included, his toys are just a little more expensive). Her not-so-miniature Daschund, Sam is her critique partner and keeps her company while writing.

Juanita loves to hear from fans and would love for you to enjoy her writing journey with her at:

On the Web:   

Kees 2 Create

Juanita Kees Website

Twitter

Facebook

Buy Link:
Amazon

 

Links used in this blog:

Write from the Heart

Write a Story, Bake a Cake

Strong Heroines Readers Will Admire

In the Armchair with Jaime Caruso

Escape Publishing

The Art of Romance Writing

Eternal Press 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to My Guest Author: Valerie Parv

Today I welcome Author Valerie Parv to my blog!   So over to Valerie...

You’ve made your New Year resolutions, but what about your characters?

This is the time of year when we all…okay, I…should plan to get thinner, fitter and better organized. Instead of making resolutions, I imagine where I want to be by year’s end, then work out what steps will get me closer to my goal.

You can do the same in your writing. Just like the real world, your story needs high days and holidays. Not that I’ve ever forgotten to include a Christmas between November and January, and had to go back and write one in. *Valerie hides growing nose.* What holidays are in your story? How do they affect the characters’ hopes and dreams?

Making a timeline is a good idea. In what month does your book start? Roughly when does it end? What’s your setting? The answers will tell you what seasons the characters will deal with, the clothes they wear, and the holidays you need to allow for.

Holidays can help or hinder the characters with their goals. In Birthright, set in my fictional island kingdom of Carramer, a holiday called Journey Day adds depth to the story. The indigenous people see Journey Day differently from the descendants of the French colonists who are now in the majority. Writing about the day let me explore both sides’ attitudes and beliefs, and how they affect my alien characters who must come together to defeat a terrifying threat facing humanity.

What holidays work for you in a book? Have you made New Year resolutions this year? What about for your characters? Your comment could win a copy of Birthright for Kindle with a personalized “authorgraph” to start off your writing year.

Valerie Parv is one of Australia's most successful writers with more than 29 million books sold in 26 languages. She is the only Australian author honored with a Pioneer of Romance award from RT Book Reviews, New York. With a lifelong interest in space exploration, she counts meeting Neil Armstrong as a personal high point. So it's no wonder she's taking romance to the stars and beyond In Birthright, her most ambitious novel yet. She loves connecting with readers via her Website, Blog, Twitter and on Facebook.

About Birthright
Former police officer turned deputy governor, Shana Akers, is used to handling high-stakes situations. But after learning that a space shuttle mission about to be launched from her island home may have a shocking secret agenda, she must turn for answers to the man who has challenged her mind and emotions for years.

Scientific genius and space center director, Adam Desai, is a truly self-made man. Found adrift at sea as a baby, he knows nothing about his origins until two VIPs attending the launch force him to confront the truth about his past, changing everything Adam has ever believed about himself.

Faced with a danger that threatens the entire world, can Adam and Shana find the strength to trust not only each other, but the mysterious VIPs whose unusual abilities defy logical thinking? Especially when it becomes clear that they'll need all of their combined resources to reclaim humanity's BIRTHRIGHT. Published by Corvallis Press USA 2012.

    

Welcome to My Guest Author: Jenny Schwartz

Today I welcome Author Jenny Schwartz to my blog!   So over to Jenny...

Thanks, again, Serena, for this chance to visit your blog and chat about my passion: writing. I hope everyone enjoys “Drawing Closer”. I will be giving away one Kindle copy of Drawing Closer to one commenter today.

 

Writing is Not a Solitary Craft

Being an author means building your support network. Next time you’re reading a novel, flick back to the acknowledgements page of the book. You’ll see the author thanking all the people who made the book possible. She’s not kidding. An author is a professional who knows she’s part of a team.

There are the people in your life who aren’t authors, aren’t in any way connected to the publishing world, but they’re family and friends who support you because they love you. They are gold. Stop reading this and go hug them.

Okay, so now you’re back I want to talk about the support team you’re building for your writing.

Start with author friends. These guys are on the writing journey, too. You won’t walk quite the same path as one another, but you’ll be walking close enough to shout encouragement, pick each other up when you stumble and share gossip. Yes, gossip. Every profession has its own inner workings, trends and possibilities. When I say gossip, I’m not talking about nastiness. I’m talking about keeping an ear to the ground in your industry, publishing.

Where do you find these friends? A great place to start is by joining a professional association, such as the Romance Writers of Australia, which I belong to. Whatever point you’re at with your writing career, you’ll find people like you. But you can also find and build these friendships organically by joining in Twitter and Facebook conversations and commenting at blogs. Basically, you find a community that feels right for you and you join in. Sometimes you can also be lucky and have the community find you. When I had a handful of novellas published with Carina Press I became part of their author group and it’s proved enormously supportive.

Which brings me to my luckiest break of all. Editors. Great editors are an integral part of your writing journey. I’ve been blessed. From Anna Genoese who while she was at Tor rejected my first ever novel, but did so with such kindness and encouragement that she inspired me to keep going, to Nas Dean who has just edited “Drawing Closer” and taught me to delve even deeper into my characters’ emotional responses. Good editors are focussed on the manuscript they’re responsible for, but their comments and advice develop your craft.

Finally, remember and respect reviewers and readers. They provide you with feedback (sometimes negative! eek!) and encouragement.

For all that I was trying to keep this post short, I seem to have rambled on for quite a bit. I’m going to be brief then in my take on how, having identified your support network, you nurture it. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I first read this phrase, but it’s what I hope you take from this post: bank social credit.

Behave professionally. If you’ve made a commitment (revisions, a blog post, a review, a critique), then meet it. Promote your author friends’ work. Volunteer for a role in your professional association. Walk the talk that tells people you’re serious about being part of the community. Comment on blogs, retweet great reviews via Twitter. Be authentic.

I used the phrase “bank social credit” not because I think of nurturing your support network as a soulless transaction, but because I want to counter the Demon Doubt that says you should be WRITING and that anything else is wasting time. Nope. Building a support network is part of the author’s craft. In this world of social media craziness, it’s essential.  

Jenny on the Web:

Website
Facebook
Twitter










Blurb Drawing Closer:

Zoe Loyola has a secret. Just between her and her sketchbook, she loves sculptor Nick Gordon. Her drawings of him are hot and naked.

Nick has a secret, too. He’s being blackmailed. Protecting his family means ignoring his desire for Zoe.

But in the world of art, passion breaks every rule and secrets are made for sharing.

 

Please add to your Goodreads

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon

Escape Publishing

Amazon UK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

Welcome to My Guest Author: Jennifer St. George

Today I welcome Author Jennifer St. George to my blog!  

Jennifer is giving away a Kindle copy of The Convenient Bride to one lucky commenter here today!  So over to Jennifer...

Staying Motivated – Tricks to Keeping Those Fingers on the Keyboard

Let’s face it, it can be hard work to hammer out a novel, especially if you are yet to be published and there’s no deadline. I’ve only been writing seriously for about four years but I realised very quickly that I had to be disciplined for words to appear on a page.  After all, there wasn’t an editor cracking the whip waiting for the manuscript.

I’ve found three things really helped pump out the words.

Competitions Create Deadlines

There were certainly times when I would be up at the crack of dawn writing and wondering if this would ever be worthwhile. I can distinctly remember doing so early one New Year’s Day, having had nothing to drink the night before, because I had a deadline looming for the Romance Writers of Australia 5DI program (the five-day intensive writing retreat).

So how do you keep motivated?  I found writing competitions a great source of stimulus.  If you follow the Romance Writers of Australia competition schedule it helps enormously.  The High Five competition gets those first pages polished.  The Selling Synopsis competition forces out that dreaded précis and you actually have to finish the book to enter the Emerald Award.  If RWA had a ‘cover letter’ writing comp, you would have an entire submission package ready by the time RWA competition season finished. 

I used RWA (Aust), RWA (USA) and Romance Writers of NZ competitions (especially the Clendon) to ensure I had solid deadlines through the year.  I also made a New Years resolution in 2010 to enter every RWA competition with the maximum number entries allowed – that adds up to thousands of words (you have to be in it to win it!)

Daily Word Goals

If I don’t fix a daily word goal, I’m definitely less efficient.  If I don’t have this written in stone before I sit down for the day, it’s amazing what can distract me.  I loathe ironing more than almost anything, but it’s amazing how that overflowing basket can beckon when the words aren’t flowing. But if I have that goal in my head, I don’t sleep until I reach it.

Make More Time

My house is generally a mad house!  Always lots going on. In the beginning, I wondered how I would ever find the time and space to write a novel. So, I created more time. I began getting up an hour and half earlier (and I’m am soooo not a morning person). Now I nail most of my word count before anything in the day ahead can distract me. 

 

Visit Jennifer Around The Web:

 

Website
Twitter
Author Page







Blurb - The Convenient Bride:

Jennifer's debut book released by Destiny Romance.

Sienna De Luca will do anything to save her family's hotel, and ruthless Italian businessman Antonio Moretti knows it. With problems of his own, he proposes a marriage of convenience and plans to use Sienna to secure his next business deal. But things don't go quite according to plan.

In keeping with her part of the bargain, Sienna travels to Venice to be with Antonio, who introduces her to a life of great luxury and opulence. As befits the fiancée of the famous Antonio Moretti, Sienna is given a new wardrobe of designer gowns and outfits and instructed exactly how to behave when out in public. But after thinking he can manipulate her at will, Antonio begins to realize he has seriously underestimated Sienna, her intelligence, her skills, her courage – and her beauty. Unexpectedly, Sienna gets too close and when she discovers his dark secret, Antonio's perfectly planned life begins to unravel.

 

Buy Links:

 

Destiny Romance
Amazon
iTunes