Sunday, November 17, 2013

What's In A Name? by Olivia Starke

This week I am Absolutely thrilled to have an Author I adore... Olivia Starke take it away...


What’s In A Name?


Why do you use a penname, are you embarrassed by your work? As an erotic romance author I’ve been asked this question. I can honestly say that no, I’m not embarrassed by what I write, but I can tell you that in the ultra-conservative area that I live in a pseudonym is a necessity lest I invite derision by the town. In the end it would be my family that would suffer the consequences, and I certainly don’t want to bring that on them. Here sex is a sin, and I wouldn’t be much more than a pervert peddling smut (though why they would find me out while scanning for romantic erotica online is another story.)

Other than concealing your identity, there are other reasons for a pen name. While my surname and given name were decided for me at birth, my alter ego Olivia Starke is my creation alone. Think of it as the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde phenomenon, as Olivia I am completely free to express myself and in a shocking way at times while my real life self lives beneath the expectations of family and society. Olivia is a wild child who is open in her sexuality and is free to explore and express herself in whatever way she desires in her writing. Real life me must remain demure, closed mouth, because honestly I have the look of a good little church girl.

Under a pseudonym I am liberated, and my fellow author friends know me better than my own family and any others in my real life who would never accept me as a sexual being. For some this may be sad, perhaps they would frown on me caring what others think, but short of shaving my head and getting tats from head to toe, it’s the look I was gifted with and fighting it is nothing but a frustration.

Outside of the sex that is inherent in my genre, there are other reasons that I want to remain anonymous. I am always a part of my characters and many times as I bare their souls I bare mine as well. As authors we do this, this is how our heroes and heroines come alive to the readers. Within their insecurities and weaknesses lie my own. Much as the musicians I listen to scream their emotions into the microphone, I scream mine onto the pages. Having someone in my real life circle read my work would feel like they were reading all the secrets in my personal diary. As Olivia I can comfortably and safely share these feelings with my readers.

For anyone and everyone who is interested in exploring life as an author as both a career and a past-time I invite them to consider using a pen name. Even if you don’t choose erotic romance and believe you’ve nothing to hide, give an alter-ego a chance. You might be surprised at the freedom you feel as you recreate yourself, your true self that is one hundred percent you and you alone without the world’s tampering.


Olivia Starke

Originally Posted on the Aspiring Romance Writers Website http://aspiringromancewriters.webs.com/apps/blog/categories/show/938475-olivia-starke

Olivia Starke calls the Ozarks home. One of the most beautiful areas in the country, she loves hiking trails with her dogs, kayaking on the numerous waterways, and enjoying southern Missouri's fresh air and sunshine.
She's also 'Mom' to four dogs, a growing number of kitties that show up at her door, and four VERY spoiled horses that do little to earn their keep. Not that she'd ever hold that against them.
She's a HUGE fangirl of Doctor Who and to a lesser extent Supernatural, and has a pretty interesting love triangle (or square?) going on in her head between the Doctor and the Winchesters.

'Adding a Little Kink to Your Bedtime Story'

www.AuthorOliviaStarke.com
http://RomancingThePenToday.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Importance of Writing Groups by Kiss Carson

 
Today AWR is thrilled to welcome a new author to us Kiss Carson. Kiss has been gracious enough to chat with us about the importance of writing groups.


I’m a member of a face-to-face writer’s group. It’s called Romantix ~ for lovers of reading and writing. Only half of us write romance but all of us read absolutely BUCKETLOADS! There are seven members in total and although we all lived on the north side of Brisbane at one stage, we are now scattered around Australia, sometimes the world. Skype has come in very handy during our monthly meetings, and we’ve even been reduced to typing meetings because someone’s internet was unreliable. Each one of us has a specific writing skill, be it grammar, editing, research, character development, plot development, promotion, or writing sex scenes (this topic calls for some very interesting conversation and not for public consumption. But that hasn’t stopped us on occasion). When we come together, we use these skills to help and encourage each other.





 

My Romantix girls keep me going when I’ve reached that dreaded saggy middle; they give me plot solutions; tell me if a scene is working, and are excellent pep-talkers. We celebrate every milestone and commiserate every rejection but then point out the positive side of that impersonal form letter. I guess what I’m trying to say is that without my writing group I may have stopped writing years ago.

 

When I formed Romantix about five years ago, now, I put a notice in the local library’s newspaper, posted flyers at the shopping centre, and gave the details to Romance Writers of Australia. There had to be other writers close by, and within a few weeks I was contacted by Zoe, the first member of our little group. I’d hit the jackpot with Zoe, she was -and still is - the most knowledgeable writer I know and she is also my editor. I send her my manuscripts before I send them off to the publisher. Zoe gracefully pointed out that “eyelashes don’t batter”. Ah, yes, I had my heroine battering her eyelashes. Tasty? I think not!


But most of all, our writing group is fun. Looking back, Romantix would be the best writing tool I have (apart from my brain…oh, and my computer), and my advice to novice writers would be to find yourself a writing group, maybe two or three, depending on what you want to get out of your groups. Visit your local library and ask the librarians if they know of any local writing groups and I’m sure they will steer you in the right direction. Contact your local writers’ association chapter. They’ll be able to help you, too. Or, create your own. Surround yourself with a network of writers, experienced and beginners, online and face-to-face. Someone is bound to have an answer to that 3am question that won’t let you sleep, and if you’re really lucky you’ll make some life-long friends.

 

To the wonderful girls of Romantix. I dedicate every word I write to you.

 
Kiss Carson

Twitter - @kisscarson

FAIRVIEW

BY

KISS CARSON

 

The idea of a murder mystery party is simple. Someone pretends to die. The guests solve the murder. Simple. But when Marina Cornell is invited to Fairview House by her brother, solving the murder becomes a lot harder than she expected, especially because she is so easily distracted by Jackson Bradley, the gorgeous owner of the estate.

 

Cast as the nanny to watch over Jackson’s younger sisters, Marina is told blood-chilling stories of suspected murder and abandoned children, and it becomes quickly apparent that something isn’t right about the Bradley family. Or the house. One by one, the Bradley siblings are found dead and Marina finds her perception of real and make-believe distorted. Someone really is killing Jackson’s family, but the murderer is the one person she never expects and in the end, she must rely on more than love to save her life.

 
 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

How's NaNoWriMo

 
 
 
What's your number count?
 
Come on you can do it...

Monday, November 11, 2013

Weaving in Historical Elements by Starla Kaye

Today we are thrilled to have the very talented and super sweet Starla Kaye at ARW :)  Take it away Starla.


 Weaving in Historical Elements


I love writing all kinds of genres and sub-genres of romance, including stories based in different time periods. Creating characters that feel “real” to a reader is an art. Establishing a believable setting for those characters, with conflicts also believable for the period, is a challenge. When a writer manages to pull it all together, the story can be a special gift to the readers. And when readers and reviewers appreciate the author’s hard work that is a gift to the author.

I really enjoyed writing my three medieval stories (Their Lady Gloriana, Maggie Mine, and its sequel The Great Scottish Devil) but they were a trial at times. The medieval period has always attracted me. I admit that the movies involving such a hard time and the romances that greatly soften the realities of living back then are what I enjoy. And I admit that I would never have wanted to live in those difficult days. But I write fiction and the worlds I create are acceptable to me and to my readers.
So what kind of historical elements are acceptable and make a story believable and enjoyable? A reader doesn’t want to read about some of the true hardships knights faced. She wants to read and visualize in her mind the powerful, handsome, buff knight riding proudly on his destrier and leading his men to battle or to whatever the story involves. She doesn’t want to know that many of the armored knights fell off their horses, couldn’t get up without assistance, and that a lot of them drowned in creeks and rivers because of the bulky armor. What readers want and rightly expect are simple details that give the sense of the setting and character particulars for the period.

The following are some setting examples from The Great Scottish Devil:

For a second he simply looked at her, struggling to draw in yet another breath. Slowly, he turned his head and she watched him raise his face to the skies laden with heavy gray clouds, appearing to study them. He shivered against the air chilled this mid-August morn. Then he looked around at their surroundings, at the grassy area on this northern slope of the Grampian Mountains, at the spattering of low shrubs, birches, and patches of purple heather. He’d been so determined to cross over these highest mountains in Scotland as quickly as possible. He’d seemed oddly anxious to head toward the villages in the Highlands they visited as tinkers this time of year. It should have taken them longer to ride. She’d wondered what had driven him so hard this trip.
 
As he rode with Sir Douglas at his side down the final slope of the Grampian Mountains, Brodie breathed a sigh of relief. The fifty men who traveled with them were a ways behind. Yet the sounds of so many hooves, so many heavily breathing horses carried to him even from this distance.

The following are some character details from The Great Scottish Devil:

He squinted at the sudden brightness as the sun rested high in the sky. The swirling gray clouds of the early morn had drifted away and now it was hotter. Sweat trickled down his back beneath his shirt. A warm breeze passed over him, fluttering the shoulder-length hair that he should have tied back.

His thoughts wandered to Urquhart and what awaited him there: many people who would be disappointed that he returned still without his memories. Still, they could not be any more disappointed than he. His head throbbed with the now familiar headache that plagued him whenever he tried to think about his past. He reached up to rub his forehead and caught sight of a tinker’s wagon at the foot of the hill they were going down.
 
The boy blinked and tears sparkled in his eyes. Slender shoulders shuddered beneath the dirt-dusted white shirt, and then straightened. A pouty lower lip trembled for but an instant. Then anger spread across a face that appeared too delicate for even a young boy.
“I’m not a thief!” the boy protested. He had the gall to glower at Brodie, to continue holding the ridiculously small weapon out in defense.
“’Tis a lass!” Douglas said in shock.
Brodie, too, had surmised that from the “boy’s” all-too-feminine voice, more so when the “boy’s” chest had thrust out in anger. There was no mistaking the swell of plump breasts shoving against the front of the shirt. It took him a second to come to terms with the surprising discover; it took another second to get beyond his surprise and back to his fury.
 
A good historical story will also include a limited amount of language used at the time. It is important to weave in certain terms that might have been used, a sense of the uniqueness of expressions common to the time period, and maybe a hint of an accent. But it is also important not to overdue all of this. Reading oddly spelled words or being constantly bombarded with unfamiliar language can frustrate a reader and pull them from a story. The key is to give only a flavor of the various elements of the historical period.

The following are some language details from The Great Scottish Devil:

To his annoyance, Douglas chuckled behind him. “I dinna think the lass has seen a mon in a kilt ‘ere. Or what a mon doesna wear under a kilt.” He chuckled again.
 
Disgusted, Brodie strode toward the lass, who was now scooting back toward the wagon, still brandishing the useless dirk. He pointed with his sword at the clearly dead man. “If ye killed him, ye will die here as well.”

Starla writes in many sub-genres of romance, but her heart really belongs to cowboys. There is just something about a man in worn denim jeans, a hard muscled body from everyday physical labor, scuffed boots, and a Stetson worn low and oh so sexily.
When she isn’t writing or struggling with social media, she hangs out with her sister making small memory quilts or scrapbooking. Or she’s traveling somewhere: to conferences, for vacation (research trips, she likes to call them), or going to visit her daughter, who often travels with her. And she reads every spare minute she has. So many books to read, so little time.
Starla lives in the Midwestern part of the United States with her accountant husband. Yes, there are times when he fits the “boring accountant” image, but many times when he does not. After so many long years of marriage, she is still in love with the man she married at nineteen. Okay, she wishes he still had his beautiful blond hair instead of being basically bald now. But would she trade him just because of that? No way!

tarla writes in many sub-genres of romance, but her heart really belongs to cowboys. There is just something about a man in worn denim jeans, a hard muscled body from everyday physical labor, scuffed boots, and a Stetson worn low and oh so sexily.
When she isn’t writing or struggling with social media, she hangs out with her sister making small memory quilts or scrapbooking. Or she’s traveling somewhere: to conferences, for vacation (research trips, she likes to call them), or going to visit her daughter, who often travels with her. And she reads every spare minute she has. So many books to read, so little time.
Starla lives in the Midwestern part of the United States with her accountant husband. Yes, there are times when he fits the “boring accountant” image, but many times when he does not. After so many long years of marriage, she is still in love with the man she married at nineteen. Okay, she wishes he still had his beautiful blond hair instead of being basically bald now. But would she trade him just because of that? No way!
tarla writes in many sub-genres of romance, but her heart really belongs to cowboys. There is just something about a man in worn denim jeans, a hard muscled body from everyday physical labor, scuffed boots, and a Stetson worn low and oh so sexily.
When she isn’t writing or struggling with social media, she hangs out with her sister making small memory quilts or scrapbooking. Or she’s traveling somewhere: to conferences, for vacation (research trips, she likes to call them), or going to visit her daughter, who often travels with her. And she reads every spare minute she has. So many books to read, so little time.
Starla lives in the Midwestern part of the United States with her accountant husband. Yes, there are times when he fits the “boring accountant” image, but many times when he does not. After so many long years of marriage, she is still in love with the man she married at nineteen. Okay, she wishes he still had his beautiful blond hair instead of being basically bald now. But would she trade him just because of that? No way!

The Great Scottish DevilBook Title: The Great Scottish Devil
Author: Starla Kaye
Genre: Medieval Romance
Publisher: Blushing Books
Publication Date: June 1, 2012
Format: eBook, Kindle, Nook

Book Blurb:

Annabel Henderson’s life has fallen apart yet again, worse this time than before. She lost her beloved younger brother, then her mother a year ago, and now her father. His dying words talk of his regrets; warn her of someone or something that he was unable to fully explain. Confused, grieving, she is left alone in the Scottish Highlands to deal with her father’s body and wondering how she can continue on with her family’s tinker trade traveling from village to village. She must do it, for it is the only life she knows. In her heart, though, she yearns for a man to love her and to help her with the trade. Instead her first encounter is with the famed Great Scottish Devil returning to his home of Urquhart. The Devil is more annoying and demanding than he is handsome. How dare he think to take charge of her life!
Brodie Durward isn’t sure he can deal with another problem in his life. He’d barely survived being taken prisoner and seriously wounded in the final battle of the Crusades, left with the loss of his memories. Still struggling with that, he had to go to England and save his sister Maggie from being hung. All he wants now is to return to his family’s holding of the Castle Urquhart. He hopes the once familiar surroundings and being around his clan will help him completely heal and regain his memories. Then he and his men run across a young lad apparently trying to steal the valuables off a dead man. Such a travesty can’t be tolerated! But the “lad” isn’t a boy at all. The supposed bandit is a tiny sprite of a woman, far too pleasing to the eye for his comfort, and furious at having been called a thief. And then she tries to refuse to travel with him under his protection, claiming she doesn’t need it, doesn’t wish to go in that direction. He has no patience for her foolishness. She will go with him!
Author Info:

Website: http://starlakaye.com
https://twitter.com/starla_kaye" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Twitter: https://twitter.com/starla_kaye
https://www.facebook.com/StarlaKayeWriter" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarlaKayeWriter
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5494986-starla-kaye
Authors Den: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=151725
Night Owl Reviews: http://www.nightowlreviews.com/nor/Authors/Starla-Kaye.aspx
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/starlakaye/


Originally posted http://aspiringromancewriters.webs.com/apps/blog/categories/show/1426234-starla-kaye

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Rules of Writing

Rules of Writing!
 

1. Don't get it Right, Get it Written!
2. You cannot fix a blank page!
3. Give yourself permission to write crap,
Crap can be fixed...see #2!