There is no month I like better than April. Why? My birthday. LOL No matter that I add an extra year. I still love the day...the whole month actually.
So for me there is no better thrill than having a book out in the month I love. Especially when it's the first book in an amazing series.
Why do I call this series amazing? Well, first off, the characters just sort of appeared to me one day. And each came with a fabulous backstory. But, second, their romances were a cut above the romances I'd written before.
Darius is a wealthy bachelor, who, with the deaths of his parents about a year apart, suddenly realizes he's alone.
Except he's not really alone. He has some half-brothers. Nick and Cade. Products of affairs his father had. He doesn't like them. They only serve to force him to share his inheritance. But when they discover there's a fourth Andreas son, at the reading of the will, and this son is only six months old...and Darius gets custody...shared with his father's beautiful attorney...Well, let's just say Darius's whole world changes.
Especially when he finds out Whitney isn't just a smart, beautiful woman. She's a widow.
Whitney is so devistated by her loss that she doesn't want to come back to the land of the living, but getting custody of Gino forces her to at least pretend. Falling in love with Darius, however, will press her smack dab up against all her fears and force her to face them.
It's a wonderful story. (If I do say so myself! LOL) I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts after you read it.
This month, I'm posting lesson 2 of THE POWER OF QUESTIONS workshop. Follow me through the next few issues of this Ezine and you'll get the whole workshop.
Remember, there are three free workshops on susanmeier.com. Goal Setting, The 10-Minute Solution and How to Analyze the Books You Read.
I'm also posting my schedule for online classes this year and some links that will take you to short stories and "prequils" I'm posting on my website. In fact, go to the website right now and you'll find "What Happened Before" for Darius. How did he become the person you'll meet on Page 1 of THE BABY PROJECT? It's a neat way to get some information that didn't make it into the book.
There's a Cat Tail. What issue would be complete without a story about Sophie or Fluffy?
And an excerpt from THE BABY PROJECT.
So enjoy! And meet me back here next month for the next lesson in THE POWER OF QUESTIONS and some dish about SECOND CHANCE BABY!
susan
For the Writers Among Us!
Lesson Two: Core Story Question
Like it or not, every time a reader picks up a romance, she expects certain things. Every time a reader picks up a thriller, she expects other things. Every time a reader picks up a sci-fi, she expects a totally different set of things.
And how do we know what readers expect from every book in the genre or subgenre currently popular?
Because at its heart every genre and subgenre has a core story question.
Every genre or subgenre has its own "signature" question that makes a book fit that genre. It’s a marketing tool for booksellers to know how to shelve books, but more than that it's also a tool that helps an author keep his or her book focused so it not only results in a tight book. . .it also ensures a book hits its market.
Some of you are going to rebel against this because you WANT to be writing mainstream. You WANT to appeal to a broad audience.
I agree. I applaud you, but don't turn away the tool that might jumpstart your story and give it enough focus that readers will love you.
For instance. . .
In CJ Lyons’ workshop, Thrills, Chills and Spills, How to Write the Modern-Day Thriller, she says, the story question of a mystery is Who. Who done it? LOL. The protagonist works to figure out who killed the cop, who murdered the mom, who blew up the bishop. Who done it?
The story question of a thriller is how? How will your protagonist save the world (albeit his or her own personal world) from the evil villain intent on destroying it?
That’s pretty obvious stuff. But how do YOU as author use it? How can it make writing your book easier? How can it make your book better?
To answer those questions, let’s look at the movie AIR FORCE ONE with Harrison Ford.
After the plane of the president of the United States is hijacked and most of the secret service agents on board are killed, it's pretty clear that the president is going to have to save himself. So the question becomes how.
How will an aging military hero save himself when he's trapped on a plane, has no weapon, is outgunned and the villains are using his family against him?
Did you notice what I did there? I took the broad and general 'GENRE' question for a thriller (How will the protagonist save the world) and turned it into a concise story question for a specific story.
Because that's what makes your book unique. If you’re writing a thriller, the way you twist or turn or enhance YOUR version of “how will the hero save the world” is the way you make your book great, or different, or unique.
So right off the bat you need to know what genre you are writing so you know how to direct your story, but once you know that, you can manipulate the question with your story facts and make your story the best it can be.
Why is this important? Very simple. If you can write a clear, concise story question, you can show yourself (and potentially an editor) that your story fits your genre, making it marketable. Even better, as we did with the core story question for AIR FORCE ONE…you can almost “outline” your story for yourself to keep yourself on track.
Think it through. Is the AIR FORCE ONE story question not a mini-outline?
How will an aging military hero save himself when
he's trapped on a plane,
has no weapon,
is outgunned
and the villains are using his family against him?
We first hear that Harrison Ford is an aging military hero in the setup. The press is questioning his ability to do his job – President of the United States - because he’s getting up in years. He was elected as a hero. Now he’s getting old. He’s not the guy the American people elected.
Then the terrorists take over Air Force One, and he realizes he’s trapped.
But he can’t do anything because he has no weapon. So he knocks somebody out and gets a gun.
But guess what? One gun against five isn’t such good odds. (LOL)
So he stealthily “takes” the terrorists one by one.
Until he’s coming so close to having the upper hand that the terrorists tell him (over the loudspeaker) that they have his wife and daughter, more or less forcing him to give up.
That’s pretty much a summary of the plot points. And the core story question contained all that. So, the core story question created for this movie contains the highlights, or plot points, of the story.
And you can do that too. The trick is…Know your core story question for your genre, then give it life and energy with the specifics of your particular plot!
But Mystery and Thriller aren’t the only two genres. My followers are typically romance writers, so I know that lots of you write romance. So let’s breakdown the core story question for Romance. . .
The question of a romance seems to be How? How will the hero and heroine get together?
But that isn’t really a romance. You have to take that question one step further. The real question is: How will the hero and heroine get together in spite of their differences – and the intense internal conflict (incorrect core belief) that separates them?
Why did I add more to the original question? Because all romance novels have conflicts. If you didn't have that distinction in your core story question, the answer to "How will they get together?" could be that a neighbor arranges a date and they have seven more dates and, boom, they get married.
You'd still have a book, but you wouldn't have a romance novel because your story wouldn't be rich or deep in the way that today's romance novels are. So adding the conflict into the core story question reminds you that you must have a conflict that keeps your novel focused.
How about a coming-of-age story? This isn't a genre. It's a story type, but story types also have a core story question. . .For a coming-of-age story the core story question is: What will it take for the protagonist to learn his lesson and grow up?
Let's look at the coming-of-age movie Sixteen Candles. As the heroine and her family prepare for her older sister’s wedding, the heroine is bummed because it’s her birthday and nobody’s noticing. Her lesson is. . .seriously. . .LOL . . .THIS is her lesson:
You will have lots of birthdays in your lifetime but your sister (hopefully) will only have one wedding day. It's time to grow up and not be a special princess today and let your sister have her wedding day in the sun.
So the core story question is…What will it take for our heroine to realize she will have lots of birthdays in her lifetime but her sister (hopefully) will only have one wedding day, so it's time to grow up and not be a special princess today and let your sister have her wedding day in the sun?
Let’s look at the movie a little closer to prove to you that this really is the core story question (LOL!) . . .
At first we sympathize with the heroine. It's her birthday, nobody remembers. We're a tad bummed for her. But as the story progresses and everything goes wrong with her sister's wedding, we suddenly realize the heroine is sixteen, having one of many birthdays, her sister is getting married. Hopefully for the one and only time in her life! This is a more important day to her sister. And everything that can go wrong is going wrong!
Amid all the craziness of the wedding, our heroine comes up against the lesson she needs to learn several times. Instead of truly learning her lesson, she 'pretends' it doesn't matter that everyone's forgotten her; but it does. She sighs and accepts. But deep down, she still feels bad. Then finally, finally, in the end she goes beyond acceptance, to actually being happy for her sister and we realize she's grown.
The implication is that in a coming-of-age story the protagonist has to have several opportunities to 'grasp' the truth, face the truth, learn his or her lesson, and though he or she grows a little bit through every stage of the story, it takes several tries before she gets the lesson completely.
And could you, if you were writing a coming-of-age story, use those “opportunities” as plot points for your story? Couldn’t you put them into your core story question and make it very easy to focus and direct your story? Of course you could!
So your assignment for today is to figure out the core story question for your genre/subgenre/story type and then modify it to fit your story.
If you're writing a romance, mystery, thriller or coming of age, you’re in luck! We’ve done half your work!
If you’re writing something outside the examples I gave, you've got a little more work to do!
susan meier
THE BABY PROJECT, 4/11, Part of the BABY IN THE BOARDROOM mini-series from Harlequin Romance
Coming Attractions
Release of THE BABY PROJECT, April, 2011
SECOND CHANCE BABY, May 2011
BABY ON THE RANCH, June 2011
April
http://starrwa.org/on-line-workshops/
April 4 – 29, 2011: Can This Manuscript be Saved
SUSAN MEIER IS ONLY OFFERING THIS CLASS ONCE IN 2011!
Instructor: Susan Meier
Deadline to Register: April 3, 2011
Course Content: Rejected? Can’t get an agent? Can’t sell, even though your critique partners LOVE your work? Susan Meier reviews the seven most common rejection catch phrases and explains how determining whether your problem is a story, scene or word problem, a first step on the road to recovery. She’ll shares tricks-of-the-trade to finding and fixing your errors before you submit. Following the assignments at the end of each lesson, attendees will learn how to “skim-read” their manuscripts quickly, marking specific problems with post-its. Susan also demonstrates how to use a storyboard, a list of twenty and a one-paragraph blurb to create a plan of attack for fixing your book’s trouble. She can’t revise or rewrite your manuscript for you, but with her tricks you’ll not only see how to revise the book of your heart; you’ll also see how published authors are able to write four, five and even six books a year without breaking a sweat!
August
Journey Steps. NEORWA (Info not up on site yet!)
http://www.neorwa.com/index.php/Workshops/Workshops
Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere
Ever wonder what you’re supposed to “put” in between those four or five turning points of your story? Susan Meier’s Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere provides quick, easy solutions for any author who has ever wondered “now what?”
Topics include the “magic formula” for plotting, the list of five, explanation of plot threads versus subplot and tricks for writing an “edge-of-the-seat” read. Learn to tell your story in one straight-forward paragraph that can be used for pitches! Beginners, intermediate and experienced authors will benefit from this workshop.
And ... for the first time ever...In October, I will be doing a 4-week workshop for Pennwriters PREPARING FOR NANO!
Cat Tails!
Poor, sweet Sophia is sitting around the house waiting for spring. She's a hunter. She doesn't like this sitting-around-the-house stuff. Last week, the weather was exceptionally warm but there was still snow on the ground. She'd paw at the door. I'd open it and she'd see the snow and look back at me as if to say, "You have got to be kidding."
So now she doesn't paw at the door. She sits on the window sill and sighs!
Hopefully, by the time this is out, she will be too!
Excerpt
THE BABY PROJECT
Chapter 1
“The Andreas brothers have arrived.”
As the secretary’s announcement came through the speaker phone, attorney Whitney Ross turned from the window in her father’s law office. The gathering January storm clouds above the New York City skyscrapers concerned her, but the Andreas brothers’ visit would be every bit as tumultuous.
Gerard Ross pressed a button on his phone. “Tell them I need five minutes.”
He caught Whitney’s gaze, his green eyes bright with something she decided was a cross between trepidation and humor.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Not enjoying exactly.” He grimaced, leaning his round body back in his office chair. He rhythmically tapped the blotter on his cherry wood desk. “How about if we say Stephone used his will to accomplish a few important things?”
Though Whitney had never met Stephone Andreas’s sons, Stephone had been a close friend of her father’s. He’d come to dinner at least once a month from the time she was six, and had talked about “his boys” incessantly. So she suspected she knew what was going on. The senior Andreas had always believed his three sons needed a kick in the pants and it seemed he’d finally found a way to give them one.
“You persuaded Stephone to use his will to force them to grow up.”
“This is about more than growing up. All three are smart. All three are good businessmen. Any one of them could take over the family holdings. But not one of them has a sense of loyalty or family.”
“And this is where the will comes in?”
“Yes. Stephone gave everything important to his oldest son, Darius. Whether or not that divides them for good or forces them to unite all depends on whether Darius takes the reins like a true leader and unites them.”
He rose and headed for the black leather sofa in the comfortable meeting area in the corner of his big law office. After he sat, he patted the spot beside him, indicating this is where she should sit for their upcoming meeting.
“But before I bring the brothers in, there’s something you need to know. Missy had something put in her will for you that Stephone agreed would also go into his.”
Whitney took the seat he’d offered. “Missy put something in her will for me?” She wasn’t surprised. Missy Harrington had been her roommate from the time they were freshman at university the whole way through law school. With an alcoholic mom and a dad who’d left when Missy was young, Missy had adopted Whitney’s family. For seven years, she’d shared every holiday and most of her vacations with the Rosses. Though Whitney had hardly seen her since she introduced Missy to Stephone, when they’d run off to Greece together, Whitney and Missy had a strong bond.
“She didn’t exactly leave you something. In accordance with Stephone and Missy’s wills, you and Darius got shared custody of their son.”
Her stomach squeezed. “What?”
“Okay. Look. It’s been three years since the accident that took Burn and Layla. And though I hadn’t known Missy and Stephone would die so soon when I let them put this provision in their wills, it’s still time you came back to the land of the living.” Her dad pulled a small envelope from one of the files in the stack on the coffee table. “She left this note for you.”
Her hand wrapped around the envelope and she paled.
“Stephone wanted Darius to raise their son, but Missy was adamant about you having joint custody. The Andreas brothers are rich and spoiled. And they don’t even know their father had another son. It’s anybody’s guess how they’ll react when they find out. I believe that Missy made you co-guardian to assure Gino was also in the hands of someone she trusted.”
“But I don’t know Gino either! When Missy and Stephone moved to Greece, we lost touch. I’ve never met Gino. I’ll be no better for this baby than his brother.”
He caught her hand. “You might not know Gino, but Missy knew you. She knew you had a sense of family. A sense of right and wrong. You’ve also been a mom. You’ll get to know Gino and, as young as he is, Gino will grow accustomed to you too.” He squeezed her fingers. “Besides, you need this.”
She tried to bounce off the sofa, but her dad held fast to her hand. When she faced him her eyes were blazing. “No! I don’t need this! I’m fine!”
“You’re not fine. Otherwise, getting custody of Gino wouldn’t make you angry.”
He pressed a button on the phone on the coffee table that sat in the center of the circle made by the sofa and three black leather chairs. “Cynthia, bring in Gino, please.”
Whitney’s heart stopped. Her stomach rolled. Her head spun. For the past three years, she’d avoided even being near a baby. The scent of baby powder, the feel of snuggly blankets, the sight of someone so tiny, so helpless, and so beautiful would have been her undoing. And now her father wanted her to take a baby into her home?
The side door opened and Cyndy Smith walked in carrying six-month-old Gino Andreas in a baby carrier, along with a diaper bag and duffle.
Her father squeezed her hand again. “Your mother and I have been keeping Gino during the Andreas funerals, but it’s time you took him.” He rose and accepted the baby carrier from Cyndy. “Thank you, Cyn.”
She nodded and her blonde hair bobbed. “You’re welcome, sir.”
As Cyn left the room, Whitney’s father set the carrier on the sofa, pulled Gino out and presented the dark-haired, dark-eyed baby boy to her. “He’s yours, Whitney.”
Knowing there was no arguing with her father or he’d send her back to therapy, Whitney slid the envelope into her jacket pocket and took the six-month-old with shaking hands. He immediately began to cry.
“Don’t cry, sweetie,” she crooned, automatically pressing his head to her shoulder to comfort him. “It’s okay.”
Her instinctive response to his crying amazed her, but she wasn’t surprised by the pain that sliced through her – the memories that flashed through her brain. Her daughter had been a tiny blonde with huge blue eyes. She’d rarely cried. Except when she missed her mother. She’d loved bananas and puppies. To Whitney she’d seemed the smartest baby on the face of the earth.
Tears filled her eyes. Her stomach tightened.
She couldn’t do this.
Maybe she did need more time with Dr. Miller?
But before she could say anything to her dad, the office door opened. Wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a cable knit sweater, Cade Andreas entered first. Behind him was Nick, the dark-haired, dark-eyed brother who most resembled the senior Andreas. And finally Darius. Taller than their father, but with eyes and hair as dark as his, striking in his expensive business suit, Darius was very clearly the leader of the group.
Their expressions were solemn, yet strong. Almost arrogant. The head of the Andreas family was dead. They now controlled one of the largest shipping conglomerates in the world.
Or so they thought.
She glanced at the baby in her arms. For the first time in three years she felt a swell of protectiveness only a mother could feel, and she understood why Missy had given her custody along with Darius. The Andreas men were strong. Maybe too strong. And babies needed love.
The question was did she have any left to give?
* * *
“Are you kidding me?”
Darius Andreas gaped at Gerard Ross, his deceased father’s attorney, then his daughter Whitney Ross, a tall, cool blonde with gray-blue eyes who looked nothing like her short, round father. The pair sat on the black leather sofa. The Andreas brothers sat across from them on three black leather chairs. Beside Whitney was a baby carrier and inside the carrier was a baby boy who looked to be only a few months old. His black hair and dark eyes marked him as an Andreas as clearly as Gerard Ross’s pronouncement did.
“I assure you, there’s no joke.” Gerard leaned back, getting more comfortable. “This little boy is your father’s final son. There are four of you now.”
He picked up the will and began reading again. “It is my wish that the remaining two-thirds share of Andreas Holdings be divided equally among my four sons: Darius, Cade, Nick and Gino.”
Gino.
A baby.
His final half-sibling was a baby!
Darius sucked in a breath, forcing that to sink in, but it wouldn’t. His brain had frozen. He was stunned, speechless, and working not to lose his temper over something he couldn’t change. Silent Nick and Cade appeared to be equally shell shocked.
Finally, the business sense Darius had trusted his entire life came to his rescue. “I want a DNA test.”
The smooth leather sofa sighed when Gerard sat forward. He looked down at his entwined fingers then caught Darius’s gaze. “Your father might not have married Missy Harrington, but he’s named on the birth certificate as Gino’s father. Had Missy not died with your father, you might be fighting her for the company right now.”
“I still want DNA.”
“I understand you’re surprised—“
“Surprised? How about shocked? First, our father calls us to the hospital after the accident to tell us that he gave one-third interest in the company to his first administrative assistant. So we’ll never fully own our own damned company. Then he tells us we have no sense of family and unless we pull together we’re going to lose everything he built. Then he dies. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Now you’re telling us there’s a fourth brother?”
“Mr. Andreas, the very fact that you didn’t know your father had another child is proof that your sense of family leaves a bit to be desired.”
Darius nearly cursed. Who was his womanizing father to tell him that he had no sense of family? His father had abandoned his mother. Hell, Stephone had abandoned him until he was in his teens. And then he’d only appeared in Darius’s life because he wanted to assure that Darius went to a good university so he could be groomed to work for Andreas Holdings.
“For decades our father preached that we shouldn’t take family troubles to outsiders.” He rose. “Yet it looks like that’s exactly what he’s done.” He reached for the baby carrier. Now that the shock was receding, things were beginning to sink in and make sense. He didn’t really need DNA to tell him this was his brother. His father had been living with a thirty-year-old woman. It was no shock she’d gotten pregnant. Gino had all the physical markings of an Andreas. With his father’s name on the birth certificate and Gino’s name in the will, this little boy was family. And his father wanted him to care for him. So he would. Unlike his two brothers, Darius always did want their father asked.
“We’ll take our brother and go now.”
Whitney held back the carrier. “Dad?”
Gerard said, “There’s more.”
Darius just barely controlled his rising fury. “More?”
“You, Darius, get custody of Gino but you share it with Whitney.”
He turned his heated gaze on her.
Her yellow hair was probably pretty, but she had it rolled in a tight, no-nonsense bun at the back of her head. Her gray suit hid any hint of the body beneath it. He caught the gaze of her blue-gray eyes. In spite of the fact that she dressed to downplay her appearance, Darius felt a click of attraction. And it was mutual. He saw the flicker in her pretty blue orbs.
“It’s up to you how you divide Gino’s time. If you want to have him three days a week and Whitney four, or if you want to have him for two weeks a month and Whitney two, whatever you choose is up to you two. But she will vote his share at your board of directors meetings.”
This time Darius did curse. But he quickly pulled in a breath, struggling to rein in his temper, and glanced again at Whitney. The click of attraction he’d felt when he’d first looked into her eyes turned into a current of electricity that zapped between them. They were definitely attracted.
If this were any other day, any other time, any other circumstance, he would have pursued her. Peel off a few layers of clothes, take down her hair and he was just about certain he’d find paradise.
But those eyes, those pretty Persian cat eyes, told him to forget it. It didn’t matter if they were attracted to each other. They had a job to do. Raise Gino.
Together.
* * *
Whitney stayed perfectly still under Darius Andreas’s scrutiny, though warm, sweet attraction hummed through her. She ignored it. He was a gorgeous man with his dark, brooding good looks, tailored suit made to accentuate his broad shoulders and trim hips, and commanding personality. Any woman would react to him. Simply from the way his other brothers hadn’t even spoken since introductions were made, it was clear that Darius was the brother in charge. And that was very sexy.
With piercing his onyx eyes boring into hers, she suppressed a shiver. But she wasn’t worried about falling victim to the attraction. Attractions frequently grew into relationships and relationships made people vulnerable. The pain that had followed the loss of her husband had been indescribable. She’d never put herself through that again. She’d never even let herself get close. She couldn’t be attracted to Darius Andreas. She refused.
Darius squeezed his eyes shut in disgust and popped them open again. “All right. Fine.” He motioned for Whitney to follow him. “Let’s go.”
“Go?”
“If this baby’s on the board, he’s working for a living.”
Whitney’s dad laughed. “Very funny, Darius.”
“I’m not laughing. My father left the company in a sad state. There’s work to do. And nobody’s excused. Since your daughter has his vote, she’ll pull his share of the duty.”
“That’s preposterous—“
“Dad,” Whitney interrupted her father. “It’s okay. I’ve never been one to shirk my responsibilities.” She straightened her shoulders and looked Darius in the eye, accepting his challenge. If he thought he’d intimidate her on day one, he was sadly mistaken. She could handle a little work. “If everybody’s working, then I will too.”
“All right,” her dad agreed, “but before anybody leaves there’s one more thing.”
Darius turned. His dark eyes were ablaze now.
Whitney’s dad looked from Darius to Cade to Nick and back at Darius again. “With your father’s former assistant in possession of a one-third share of Andreas Holdings, and four brothers sharing the other two thirds, you don’t have to be a math scholar to know that individually none of you has controlling interest in the whole company.” He glanced from Darius to Cade to Nick again. “Your father has instructed me to allow the benefactor of the final one-third interest to remain anonymous until she decides how to handle her position. She’s in her seventies, so she may simply want to sit back and enjoy the profits. But if she decides she wants to be active in the company, you had better be united or Andreas Holdings will end up being run by somebody other than an Andreas.”
Don't forget to go to susanmeier.com to read What Came Before...The beginning of Darius's story!
