Lexi has a $25 Gift Card to giveaway during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember you may enter every day for your chance to win. You may find the tour locations here https://goo.gl/sPP5CV.
About One of a Kind Christmas:
For her to love him, he must face a spirit, an archangelā¦and himself.
The spirit of Cameron Douglas has totally screwed-upā¦again. Now, he has to fix his mess in one night with the help of his best friend and somehow encourage his widow to move on.
Holly Douglas is anguished that this is the last Christmas sheāll be visited by her late husband, Cameron. For three years heās sent her the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and theyāve helped her cope with her loss. But now all that ends, and she doesnāt understand why he must push her away.
Ethan Stewart has been in love with Holly since Cameronās death, but she isolated herself from everyone, including him. Then something changed, and he was welcomed back as her friend. But he wants moreā to love her openly, and most of all to make her happy again. Though he loved his best friend like a brother and will do anything for Holly, as heās pulled into the spirit world, he discovers the price they must pay for their chance at foreverā¦and it just might be too high.
Releases Day December 5, 2018
Buy Links for One of a Kind Christmas:
Excerpt:
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. āI miss Cam. It was as if we were two parts of the same soul. I lived vicariously through him even while I worried constantly about him. It was one of the reasons I was constantly warning him to be careful. I was afraid to lose him.ā
Ethan looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. āAnd then I did.ā
She felt as if her heart were breaking all over again, not for her but for Ethan. He was so good to her. He even loved her. And she⦠āEthan, I understand.ā
His gaze returned to hers. Though she couldnāt see his face clearly, the limited light reflected off the sheen in his eyes.
She placed her hand on his cheek and rising on her toes brushed her lips across his in a feather-light kiss. She only meant to give comfort, but a spark of something else hit her heart.
She remained there, her lips close to his but not touching, wanting more but afraid to ask.
Ethan remained absolutely still, his breath mixing with her own.
He loved her but would never push her. It wasnāt his nature. She could walk away right now, but to what?
Nothing.
She stared at his mouth in the dim light. She wanted to live again. She wanted to feel again. Tilting her head, she pressed her lips more firmly against his, moving her hand down his stubbled jaw and behind his neck to pull him closer.
Ethanās lips opened, and she slipped her tongue between them.
As his arms came around her, it was like waking from a dream. A slow burn flowed through her veins as he took control of the kiss and explored her mouth with his tongue. It was an unhurried exploration and heat built in her belly. When he pulled back to lick the underside of her top lip, she took her first deep breath. As she exhaled, tingles spread throughout her body.
He kissed the corners of her mouth before leaning his forehead against her own. āYe catch my blood on fire, lass.ā
Other Books in the Series:
A Christmas Carol Book 1, Pleasures of Christmas Past is on sale for only $.99!
Jessica is assigned a hot, Scottish mentor who confuses her heart. But will he protect her soul?
Buy Links for Pleasures of Christmas Past:
Temptations of Christmas Future (A Christmas Carol Book 3)
He set out to prove the future was far worse than she imagined. Now he wished it wasnāt.
Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe’s short story āThe Masque of the Red Deathā to Tolstoyās War and Peace, she’s read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.
But Lexi’s first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. From hot paranormals to sizzling cowboys to hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a āwhole lotta story.ā
Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her cat in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you will never see her without a hat.
Constance has 2 $10 gift certificates to Paparazzi Accessories to giveaway during the tour. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember you may enter every day for your chance to win one of the prize packages. You may find the tour locations here https://goo.gl/taJJDH.
About The Christmas Ballet:
Laura Hemmingway cut herself off from men and her family when the man she loved married her sister. She moved across the country and was doing just fine until she received a devastating call to return to New York. She had to face the death of her sister, her sisterās little girl, Maria, and Mariaās father, Stefanāthe man she had once loved. She figured she would pay her respects and leave as soon as possible. She never anticipated on the beautiful little girl stealing her heart. And she never expected that seeing Stefan again after twelve years would stir up old feelings.
Stefanās life was complete. He had a successful career as an attorney, a beautiful wife and an adorable six-year-old daughter. Although he and his wife had been married in name only for the past several years, he cared for her deeply. Then her unexpected death brought him face-to-face with his former lover, and the guilt heād carried for years.
Stefan is still in love with Laura and wants to give her everything she deserves. He and Maria are racing against time to convince Laura to stay with them in New York.
Can a little girlās love, and the true magic of Christmas, help Stefan convince Laura to stay and give their relationship another chance?
Content Warning: contains some sexual content
Genre ā Contemporary Romance
Heat Level – Hot
Excerpt from The Christmas Ballet:
He smiled as he thought about the look on her face when heād stroked her. Maybe she was more interested in him than she either believed or cared to be.
Then he thought of something. āOne more thing, Laura,ā he called out to her, and she stopped at the door and turned around.
āOn the nineteenth, the law firm is hosting the annual Christmas party. Itās quite grand and lasts all evening long.ā
āYou want me to be sure to be available to babysit Maria,ā Laura said.
āNo. I want you to plan to come with me.ā
āWhat?ā
āRemember that beautiful, green, velvet dress we saw at Macyās? I want you to get that dress, and the accessories to go with it, and attend the party with me.ā
āStefan, really. You know I donāt go to those types of events, and I donāt wear those kinds of clothes. Iām not comfortable with either of those things.ā
āYou need to get comfortable.ā He smiled.
āThis is not a part of a job for the nanny and teacher. Itās out of the range of the job description. You need to get Ginger to go with you. Iām not going.ā She gave him a defiant look.
āLaura, I want to take you to this event. Iām not taking no for an answer. I will arrange for Rhonda to take you shopping to help you get what you need. You will charge all the purchases to a credit card I will give you thatās for your use only. This is the first of many social parties you will be attending.ā
He watched her as she clenched her hands into fists and released them.
āWho do you think you will get to care for Maria on theseā¦occasions?ā
āUsually Lillian is available.ā
āStefan, itās my job to care for Maria, not be your date to your parties. I donāt like being told what I will or wonāt do. I donāt like social parties, and I donāt like wearing expensive clothes. Itās not me, and youāre not going to change me.ā
āI donāt want to change you. I want you to attend an event by my side. It wonāt hurt you to have some beautiful clothing to show your feminine side. I want the world to see the beauty I see. Be glad I want to show you off. Some men might decide they donāt want others to see what they see.ā
āFlattery doesnāt work with me. You can tell me what to do as far as Maria is concerned, but my personal life is off limits to you.ā
āThatās good to know. At least I know you wonāt get carried away and escape my grasp by someone making flattering remarks to you. Your personal life interests me.ā
āStefan, you just donāt get it. I am not going to this party,ā she said, enunciating each word slowly and carefully. āBesides, your mother would be horrified to see me walk in with you.ā Her face hardened as she stared at him.
āLook at it this wayāyouād be doing me a big favor.ā
āHow?ā She raised an eyebrow.
āIām not interested in the other women that come to this social party looking for an eligible bachelor. With you on my arm, it would send a clear message to all the others that Iām taken.ā
āGod, youāre impossible. Ginger is more than capable of providing you that kind of service.ā
āI donāt want Ginger. You have the grace, quiet beauty, and finesse I want in a date, and I will not take no for an answer. After Mariaās recital, you and Rhonda will set a shopping date. And one more thing. When you get your hair done, Iād like you to wear it down.ā He smiled at her.
āThis is not going to happen.ā She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
āIt will. Iāll just have Maria work on you.ā He eyed her.
āWhat?ā
Stefan grinned. āYou heard me. Youād never turn down anything from Maria.ā
āGrrrr.ā She growled and stomped up the stairs.
He laced his hands and put them behind his head. Oh yeah, itāll be a night sheāll never forget.
About the Author:
Constance Bretes is an author of contemporary romance and suspense. Her romance books are often set in different parts of the country, but her favorite site is Montana. She retired from the State of Michigan after 38-plus years of service and now writes and researches full time. She is married to her best friend and has recently moved from Montana to Alabama. Her hobbies include basket weaving, sapphire digging, and checking out old ghost towns.
Constance’s Social Links:
About Snatching Dianna:
Hello My Awesome Readers,
The annual Winter Wonderland romance reader event is on!
Ready to Win? Iāve teamed up with Night Owl Romance and other authors to bring you the chance to win a Kindle, Amazon cards, SpaFinder.com cards, Sephora.com cards and eBooks.
During this event I’m going to help you find some great new books. Make sure to check my novel Ghost of a Chance along the way.
The grand prize is a Kindle Fire HD 8 w/Alexa!
Enter the giveaway at: http://bit.ly/NorWinter2018
What a wonderful Christmas gift, eh? And even if you don’t win, there are fabulous deals on great stories so it really is a win-win for everyone! Since the weather outside is frightful, let’s sit down in front of a fire with some delightful hot reads to warm us up!
I’ve been finding it very difficult to write lately.
I know I’m not alone in this–it’s a refrain I hear from many creative types right now. It has less to do with my personal battles with depression and more to do with the constant bombardment of horrific news–especially the mounting tension as we move steadily toward the US mid-term elections. These elections are going to prove to be a referendum on so many things: where we stand as a nation on democracy, diversity, climate change, health care, decency, equality, and compassion. The stakes have never been higher.
As such, I find myself creatively holding my breath, unable to concentrate on the WIP despite a looming deadline. It feels too damn frivolous to be carving out a HEA right now, even though readers probably need the stress-relief, temporary escape, and emotional encouragement more than ever.
And yet I believe in the transformative power of storytelling.
For a while now, Supergirl has been accurately needling social issues of the day in its writing. On the surface, the show is nothing more than a little escapist superhero television action, but at the end of season 2, Cat Grant makes an amazing speech on resistance and courage in the face of fearful times, and I fistpump the air every time I watch it.
It’s a powerful scene that fits seamlessly with the the plot without overtly hammering the viewer over the head with the message. It’s brilliant.
But the writers of Supergirl haven’t stopped there. In another episode, James Olsen shares an experience of being accosted and accused of a crime as young black child–an experience Mehcad Brooks had in real life when he was only seven years old.
And this season, the show’s opening montage openly describes Supergirl as a refugee on our planet–and the first couple of episodes have dealt with the growing hostility and suspicion of “aliens” living on Earth and a rising “Earth First” movement. Yes, it’s a somewhat cheesy CW show–but it’s tackling real issues and I applaud them for it. I was particularly struck in this past week’s episode when the AI’s shield that allows him to look human fails while he’s ordering pizza–and the resulting hostility on the part of the restaurant owner takes Brainy completely by surprise. He keeps saying, “But you know me…” while the pizza guy calls out workers with baseball bats to beat the AI to a pulp.
The imminent violence was stopped because one person stood up–a person, it turned out, who also had a lot to lose if her own secrets were publicly known. Who wouldn’t have been spared from the same violence. That’s courage. As is telling your boss that he needs to do more than ‘tell both sides of the story’, that he needs to take a stand.
And that’s what makes storytelling compelling. It’s what moves a program beyond the realm of ‘cheesy superhero TV show’ into something worth watching.
This is the kind of writing I want to do myself. I want to bring that kind of layering and introspection to a story that is meant for entertaining consumption. Because when we start to have compassion for the Brainys and Nias of this world, then we can see them as people in our neighborhood, and not enemies to be hated.
But it’s hard when your creative well is dry. When fear and anxiety dominate your thoughts. I’ve recently come to the realization that I can no longer support this sustained level of outrage and horror. It’s not healthy. It’s not useful to anyone, let alone me.
In some ways, it means I’m still speaking from a place of privilege, that I can even say I need to distance myself from current events. There are so many who can’t, who are living the very events I find so appalling. But self-care and distancing is not the same as turning a blind eye. It’s saying that a warrior needs to sleep before a battle. That an army must be well-fed and rested before an incursion. That this is a marathon, not a sprint, and there must be breaks along the way.
So I purchased the little notebook pictured above. I can’t say that I really believe its sentiments, but I’m making a concentrated effort to find something each day that makes me happy–something for which I’m grateful–and jot it down in this little book. I’m cultivating a sense of gratitude in a field sowed with fear and poisoned with anxiety.
WE ARE ALLOWED TO DO THIS.
No one would expect you to eat tainted food day after day without making any effort to clean it up and make it healthier. No one would demand you willingly consume poison in sublethal levels when it’s possible to filter it (unless you live in Flint, Michigan, apparently). Yes, we should be outraged at what’s happening in our country and our world. But outrage alone is ineffective. And a steady diet of outrage will kill us as surely as the things we’re outraged about.
So I’m reading more and watching the news less. Taking a little break from writing and playing around with other forms of artistic expression, such as painting. I’m having my nails done, despite the fact it’s an expensive luxury. Having nice nails makes me feel good at a time when precious little else does. As coping mechanisms go, it’s probably one of the less destructive ones.
I’m also making a determined effort not to spread fear and hate. I’m of two minds over this–I think we should be outraged. I think we should be making our voices heard. To say nothing is to be complicit. But I also fear by pointing fingers at it, we’re also fanning the flames over it and keeping it alive.
Vote. Donate your time or money, whichever you might have. Overcome your fears and participate in the process. But don’t let the fear consume you.
Remember it’s okay to tell stories that are simply pure escapism. What may be a light fluffy story to you is what gets someone else through a dark time. It’s not a crime to be proud of your successes, and share your happy news. We need more happy in this world.
On the back of my little “Okay” notebook is an awesome quote from Jane Austen. I leave you with that thought now.
Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
Let me start this post by saying I’m not against audiobooks. I’m listening to an audiobook right now, as it was started on a long car drive and I hadn’t finished it by the time I returned home. A well-done audiobook is a delight, and some of my favorites include the Poirot books read by David Suchet, the actor who has played Poirot in some of the Agatha Christie screen adaptations.
My husband has a two hour commute to work each day, and has become a big fan of podcasts as a result. My current commute is much shorter, so I tend to listen to music instead. I get frustrated when I can’t listen to something in large blocks of time. I also tend to use walking the dogs and riding horses as a writing brainstorming time, and as such, would prefer music or simply appreciating nature to listening to an audiobook anyway. Ditto the rare times I clean house. š Since I tend to listen to an audibook when I’m doing something else, I’m usually not able to devote my full attention to it, and as such, I don’t feel as though I’m getting the maximum amount of enjoyment out of the story as I would if I were reading it instead.
But I don’t begrudge people the right or ability to access their reading material via audio over the printed word. For many, audio represents the only way they can easily access books, especially for the visually impaired. Many more simply prefer audio to print. Perhaps like everyone else, they’re so busy it’s the only way they can fit “reading” into their schedule. Or maybe reading presents challenges for them that listening does not. I’m all for people accessing fiction any way they can get it, and it is one reason I’d like to create audio versions of all my works.
As a reader, however, I can rarely afford to buy audiobooks. Death on the Nile as read by David Suchet is almost $30 US dollars. Newer cars are no longer including CD players, so checking out books on CD from the local library won’t work for me either. Sure, I can subscribe to a service like Audible.com but we’re back to another subscription service. Do I really want to pay for cable, Netflix, Hulu, CBS All-Access, Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, and Audible, too?
The answer is no.
Yes, I have a smartphone, but it’s an Android, not Apple. I don’t have a tablet. I have an elderly iPod Nano that is on its last legs and I don’t want to lose it because they aren’t freaking making them anymore and that’s how I listen to music in the car. *weeps*
But that’s okay, right? I don’t have to listen to audiobooks if I don’t want to.
Only the buzz I keep hearing is that in the not-too-distant future, everything is going to go the way of audiobooks and podcasts. I haven’t been able to pin down the source of this information, but I keep hearing it repeated over and over. Certainly articles such as as in Forbes, calling Audiobooks Officially 2018’s Publishing Trend would seem to support this notion. Sales of audiobooks were up 43% in 2018. I keep getting advice to make podcasts, or short video presentations on Youtube. Every time I open a news article, it pops up with video. Whenever I click on a link for marketing information these days, it is only available in a video format.
I have to say, as a consumer, this pisses me off a bit. I can read an article–and retain the information in it–faster and more efficiently than it takes for me to watch a 45 minute video. I can read articles on my lunch break–or when I have five minutes between appointments. Presenting everything in video format also assumes the viewer has perfect hearing, which isn’t necessarily the case. Moreover, I can’t watch videos until I’ve finished my 10-12 hour workday and am at home with the headphones on so as not to interrupt anyone else’s activity, and let me tell you, I have more pressing needs to take care of by then. Am I going to take 45 minutes to watch another video or spend that block of time writing a scene? Writing is going to take precedence every time.
As a writer, this notion that everything will go to audio format in the future disturbs me greatly. For starters, creating quality audiobooks is expensive. I experimented with creating an audiobook for one of my older stories, and I found that while I could lower production costs by sharing royalties with the narrator, the top-notch narrators wanted payment up front. Also, for the costs involved, the payout is skewed. Despite the high costs of production, only a sliver of money earned gets paid in royalties. I have as yet to recoup my ROI for my one attempt at producing an audiobook. I may never earn back the investment at this rate.
But it’s possible I’m just doing things wrong. Perhaps my tech is out of date. Maybe I’m uninformed because I’m behind the times. So I’m curious: how do you consume your fictions these days? Ebook? Print? Audiobook? Do you pay for a subscription service? Are you finding limitations on the books you’d like to check out because it doesn’t come in your preferred format? If you preferentially consume audiobooks, does this dictate what other books you may or may not read?
If you’re an author, what cost-effective methods are you using to invest in audiobook production? Are you seeing a ROI? What service are you using? How are you finding your narrators?
Drop a comment here and let me know what you’re doing. I’ll select someone at random from the comments to win their choice of one of my stories (though sadly, they will only be available as ebooks).
Time is Running Outā¦For Both of Them
Join Tyler and Regan as they seek their happily ever after in the conclusion of the steamy, contemporary Beguiling Bachelor romance series.
Amazon Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2AiK2MQ
Hey, it’s Feature Friday, so that means we have a guest poster today. Please welcome Viviana MacKade as she shares with us a little about her upcoming release, His Midnight Sun!
His Midnight Sun
by Viviana MacKade
Tormented, fierce, and broken, sculptor Aidan Murphy has judged himself guilty. He yearns for love but pushes everyone away. He longs for acceptance but has lost the key to open his heart. Until he meets Summer Williams. Beautiful and smart, Dr. Williams promises haven for a man who believes he deserves none. All he has to do is let her in and risk his heart and soul.
Summerās managed to keep her inner light alive, even through tragedy. Sheās created a new life for herself and her daughter in Crescent Creek with loving, caring and fun friendsāwell, except brooding, breathtaking Aidan. Sheās used to keeping away from his type, though. All she has to do is ignore the pull of a man whoās turning up to be much more than snarls and storms. Will her compassion and medical instincts let her?
Love can heal a broken soul and shake up a timid heart. Or it can unleash devastation and revenge.
Will Aidan and Summer survive the hurricane?
Release September 15, available for pre-sale
$ 0.99 FREE with KU
I didnāt realize His Midnight Sun had a theme until well after I finished it. Honestly, I donāt write to teach, preach or any other significant and profound reason. I write to entertain. To give people a break. I like to think my stories are fairy tales for adults, where the characters go through changes and problems and tragedies, but will get to the happily ever after. The great Susan Elizabeth Phillips said that life is too short to waste with depressing books, and that sums perfectly the way I want my books to be.
An escape. Heaven knows if we all need it one sometimes.
So I didnāt have anything in mind other than telling Aidanās story when I started.
And what do you know, I found myself with a phoenixās story. A man who learns how to leave the past where itās supposed to stay, who learns how to forgive himself and how to accept love. And through him, I discovered the same things. In many ways, Aidanās story is my story, his demons are my demons, and because of him, I saw a way to boot them out.
Summer showed him the power of loveānot just romantic love, but for the other people. For friends and strangers alike. Which turned out to be the theme of the book.
The healing power of love.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Crescent Creek, early July.
With no fight left in him, Aidan Murphy sank down on the wooden floor of his home studio.
Done.
Aidan filled his burning sight with the finished, almost 7 feet tall piece of art. Hell to work on, pure and simple, but it couldnāt be helped, not when it had called to him with such powerful voice.
Two weeks earlier, heād been wandering around the stone-site when his skin began humming, and his heart beating faster. Years of sculpting had taught him how to hear the calling, the silent scream of whatever form lay trapped inside the rocks begging him to free it.
Heād followed his guts like so many times before and laying a palm on the cold, white alabaster, had known something waited in there. Heād bought the squared monstrosity, never stopped working on it since the day it had been delivered to his address. At every bite of the masonry blade, at every kiss of the chisel and caress of the rasp, its voice had been easier to hear, pushing him, constantly pushing him to keep going, keep working.
A couple had emerged from the stone and if beauty could hurt, by God, this one would in so many ways. Those two people were set to break any viewerās heart. Nothing happy or gleeful about them, nothing about being lost in the fallacy of love; the pair stood in a tight embrace made of disillusion and reality. Rightfully so, because wasnāt love just that? Another form of pain? A delusion?
Aidan shook his head. Whatever love was for the average person, these two people heād given life to scratched at the thick walls of his reticent heart. He didnāt care for such shit.
Much smarter to focus on his very real, very tired body.
Too bad the small motherfucker rock poked at the edge of his consciousness, staring from the opposite side of the room.
Not the colossal couple heād just freed from alabaster. Oh, no, the one giving him attitude was a stupid overgrown pebble slightly smaller than his fist. Why was it even in the house? Heād cut outside, it made no sense for it to be there. āShut the fuck up,ā he grumbled, rubbing exhausted eyes with scarred, dirty hands.
Never a stoneās call had been left unanswered, but⦠fuck it, it was too much, too soon. He needed time to return human before starting a new project and besides, what could possibly be inside that little piece of shit? A fucking bug? āFuck off.ā
Of course, the nagging didnāt stop.
Ignoring the silent pull to the useless stone, he got up, walked to the other side of the room, picked it up and all but crashed it on his desk. āBetter leave it alone, matey. Next time you bug me, Iāll turn you into sable. Ugly fucker.ā
Aches pulsed and hissed everywhere; a thin layer of dust, crumble of wax, and sweat covered him, made his skin prickle. For all the good clothes had done to him, he might as well work buck naked next time.
Back in front of the new statue he stood, hands on hips, looking at itātall and strong, fiercely beautiful in its message of pain. Perfect.
A sudden ray of light stabbed his eyes, made him jerk his head in protection. Fucking morning sun. Or afternoon sun. He had no clue. It was hard to tell the passing of time when he got lost in the wild, strenuous journey into the heart of a rock.
How many days had gone since it had been delivered and heād started working on it, four? Probably more as not bruising the stone had slowed everything down. Heād heard fireworks in the distance, so Independence Day had come and gone. Hard to say how long had passed after it.
For days heād eaten bread straight from the plastic bag or some other easy crap when hunger punched his stomach; had drank lukewarm water from bottles scattered everywhere; slept on the couch when he made it so far from the sculpture, although most of the times heād pass out on the hard floor until discomfort woke him up, and heād go back at the rock again.
Ah, but what an adventure, he thought with awe as he ran a hand over the side of the sculpted woman.
Now he was done, meaning he didnāt want to have anything to do with stones for the near future.
He took a sharp intake of air when the little rock on his desk poked at his mind again. No clue as to when but at some point, the cleaning crew would come, letās see how the rock would like it. āIf I throw you back on the floor, they will get rid of you. Thatās right, theyāll throw you away,ā he croaked, his damned throat hurting from not having talked in days.
Aidan sat down, stretched his aching legs in front of him, and tried to lean back on his arms; his muscles screamed in protest.
Shit, he was in pieces, worse than usual.
Giving up, he laid on the dirty floor and closed his eyesāthey scratched like sandpaper.
Bed. He craved a bed more than the next breath. Decent food. A shower. After that, the little stone would stop being a bitch and leave him alone. It was only a fucking pebble, a leftover from the couple and too small to have anything special in it, anyway.
Heād wait five minutes, no more, and heād get up, order food, hit the shower and, finally, pass out on a real bed. Satisfied with the carved couple, clean, and with a full belly.
Just five more minutes.
THE AUTHOR
Beach bum and country music addicted, Viviana lives in a small Floridian town with her husband and her son, her die-hard fans and personal cheer squad. She spends her days between typing on her beloved keyboard, playing in the pool with her boy, and eating whatever her husband puts on her plate (the guy is that good, and she really loves eating). Besides beaching, she enjoys long walks, horse-riding, hiking, and pretty much whatever she can do outside with her family.
Find me:
On my website http://www.viviana-mackade.blog/
On FB
On Twitter
There’s an adage for lawyers that goes something like this: Don’t ask a question in court you don’t already know the answer to.
The idea being that if you don’t know how the witness is likely to respond, you may have just opened up a whole can of worms you now have to deal with.
The same holds true for getting an opinion on your WIP. If you’re not prepared to deal with worms, perhaps you should refrain from seeking that opinion.
Last year I began a WIP (actually the origin story for the Redclaw series) and was writing gangbusters on it until a series of family tragedies derailed my writing for most of the last fifteen months. Before I’d abandoned the story, my critique group had loved it–they thought it was the best thing I’d written so far. I kind of liked it myself, and yet when I tried to go back to working on it again, I seemed to be stuck. Part of the problem was that my vision of the story had changed significantly from when I first began working on it–and the new beginning no longer fit well with older material. Part of the problem was that having just finished writing another story that had been difficult for me to complete for the same reasons as I mentioned before, I was having a hard time getting back into this older story. But I suspected I wasn’t being objective, so I asked my editor to read over what I had from a developmental standpoint.
Now mind you, I almost never let anyone read an unfinished draft. It took me a long time to get comfortable with the idea of having my critique group read drafts as they were being written. So it was a great act of trust to turn over this fledgling story to my new editor, but she’d done such a great job helping me get the last book to market that I decided her input was worth potentially hurting my feelings.
Here’s the feedback I got–and my reaction–more or less… (Go to the link if you want to see the crying GIF).
Developmental Editor: I love your WIP! The characters, the dialogue, the pacing–all fantastic! There’s just one thing… a small plot point that will require you to rewrite the first third of the story to fix. No biggie.
Me: Okay. I think I’ll go clean litterboxes now. Thanks.
Generally speaking, I’m usually my own harshest critic. I’m the one who thinks the story sucks, that I’ll never be as good a writer as I want to be. It’s not that I don’t want to hear that something is wrong with a story in progress–it’s just that I’ve probably already realized it and am beating myself up about fixing it. It’s one of the reasons I rarely share WIPs with anyone–I have to make sure the story has a strong enough foundation before I begin tearing it down.
That said, I’m usually an adult about criticism. If the recommended changes are something I vehemently disagree with (on the lines of “Oh, hell no!”), I’m comfortable saying so and ignoring the advice. More often than not, the critique suggests altering something relatively minor–playing up one plot point over another, or doing away with an unnecessary subplot. I’m not so precious about my work that I dig my heels in when advised to cut out two pages of pretty-but-useless exposition because it is slowing down the story, and I have a pretty darn good grasp of who my characters are and what they want in that first draft. Most of my failings as a writer are more from lack of quality to the execution than a misunderstanding of what the story needs.
But I’ll admit a little shock of dismay when I got back my editor’s critique.
Unfortunately, she was right. The things she pointed out as flaws definitely need to be addressed–and I can’t move forward with the story until I do. She was also wrong–in that to her, this would be a relatively simple thing to fix. I don’t think so. I think it will require rewriting nearly every line from the beginning to where I am now. The changes she’s suggested can’t just be slapped on top of the existing story. Threads must be pulled, traced back to the source, and rewoven along the way. The recommended changes will alter the very fabric of the story by fundamentally altering the heroine herself.
And I really regretted opening that can of worms.
I resisted her recommendations. I made excuses as to why it couldn’t be done. I was on a deadline–granted, self-imposed, but on one just the same. This was the third time I’d started this story–did I really want to re-write it again from the beginning? Could I do it without irrevocably changing the tone of the story? Did I have enough room to tell the new and improved story within the scope of one book?
Ultimately, my decision to capitulate was based on the irrefutable fact that she was right–and also on a scene between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane in Have His Carcase. I’m going to have to paraphrase, as all my books are packed for the upcoming renovations, but the gist of it is this: Harriet, struggling with the current mystery she’s writing, complains to Peter about the motives of her murderer. Peter tosses out a couple of suggestions, making Harriet realize that while he is right, changing the murderer’s motivations will be a painful process for her, both personally and as a writer, and she says so.
Peter’s reaction is somewhat brutal. “What difference does that make, if it makes for a better story?”
Ultimately, Lord Peter is right. And so is my editor. And whether it takes me another six months or a year to make things right with my current story, I need to do so. Because bottom line, what matters most to me is telling the best story I possibly can.