I shifted my newsletter over to Mailchimp and though the newsletters are fantastic, I missed my ezine, so I thought I'd send one out. Below are Coming Attractions, along with an excerpt from HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE and, for the writers among us, a writing lesson! This is lesson one from HOW TO WRITE A CATEGORY ROMANCE. It's a workshop I haven't given often so the lesson should be new to a lot of you.
It's been a busy year for me. I signed a contract with Harlequin and one with Entangled last year, so for the next few years I'll have 4 books a year to write. Which I love. I get to continue writing the deeply emotional stories for Harlequin that I've been writing, but I now also get to write small town, funny books that are also incredibly sexy.
Ebooks also publish faster. I finished drafting HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE around November 15 and it has a release date of Monday, March 10th. Four months from start to finish. Amazing. And breath-stealing! LOL
The book is the first of a shoot-off of the Entangled Bliss line. You'll see the difference in the cover.
Cute, isn't it?
Anyway, this is a three-book series about three brothers, the Donovans, who return to their small town to help their mom get away from their abusive father. All three books are deeply emotional, but they're also funny. I think you're going to like them.
And this fall, I have another Christmas book coming out from Harlequin. I had titled it THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS, but my editor tells me the title might not stick. It's a great story about a totally broke heroine who agrees to go to several Christmas parties with a friend of a friend, so people will stop worrying about him after the death of his son. I had so much fun writing it because it takes place in NYC. There is no more beautiful setting than Christmas in New York City.
The second book in the Donovan Brothers series will also be out this fall!
So get ready for some more fun from me this year!
Oh, I almost forgot! HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE is ON SALE for $.99 for the first two weeks. So get a copy now while it's under a buck! LOL
Here's a link!
http://www.amazon.com/Her-Summer-Marine-Brothers-Entangled-ebook/dp/B00IHCFAHQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1394202377&sr=1-1&keywords=her+summer+with+the+marine
Oh! Drat! I almost forgot this too...At the end of my blog tour for HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE, I'm giving away a beach basket that doesn't just contain sunscreen and sunglasses...there's KINDLE in there too. So look for details about the blog tour on my facebook page...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Susan-Meiers-Books/120647777954747
Happy Reading...
susan meier
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Every Monday morning I post a blog for writers! So be sure to watch for that. http://susanmeier.blogspot.com/
But I'm also sporadically posting blogs for readers. It's much easier for me to think of something to say to other writers than to spill my guts about real life...but I'm getting there. :)
And if you like blogs by writers, check out http://www.chocolateboxwriters.com/ There are ten or twenty writers who post every day about the trials and tribulations of being a mom, wife, daughter and a writer! Lots of wonderful insights at this site.
March 13, I'm blogging at Fresh Fiction.
I'm also at Harlequin Junkies and imperfect women.com
And let's not forget the March 10 release of HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE! $.99 for two weeks only...quite a bargain! :)
Excerpt HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE
Chapter One
“Golden
Years Inc. just called the partners.”
“And?” Ellie McDermott’s grip on her
smartphone tightened as she got out of her little red car and stood on the
sidewalk.
“They loved your ad campaign for
Tidy Whitiez adult diapers.” The voice of her boss, Nicole Levine, vibrated
with excitement. “You’re their choice to head up the campaign.”
She closed her eyes, savoring the
sweetness of the win. Who would have ever guessed she could get so excited over
adult diapers? And who would have guessed that when the account she wanted was
finally hers, she wouldn't be able to take it?
“There’s a six-figure bonus attached.”
Her eyes popped open. “Six figures?”
“Not high six figures, but close to
mid.”
“Wow.”
“Can I tell them you’ll do it?”
Her head spun. She’d gotten a call
in the middle of the night from Red Garmin, the chief of police for Harmony
Hills, Pennsylvania. Her dad had been found sitting naked in the park and hadn't recognized the officers who’d come to offer assistance. For two-plus hours,
she’d driven through the early May fog on the mountain to get to her hometown,
where she’d spent another eight hours intermittently talking to doctors and
sitting beside the bed of a man who sometimes knew who she was, sometimes didn't. As tempting as taking this campaign sounded, every decision she made
from now until the day her father died revolved around assuring he would be
properly cared for. And right now she didn't have enough information about his
condition to even know what “properly cared for” entailed.
“I wish I could say yes.”
“Just use your mouth to form the
word. Geez, I thought you’d be jumping for joy right now. You’re leading the
campaign. Getting a bonus. At least a little ‘yippee’ is in order.”
“Nicole, I’m home.”
“Of course you’re home. It’s
Saturday. You have no life. You’re always home on Saturday night.”
“No, I mean I’m back in Harmony
Hills. My dad—” She paused as her throat closed, and grief, confusion, and
guilt overwhelmed her. She had to swallow hard and take a deep breath before
she could say, “My dad has Alzheimer’s.”
“I’m so sorry.” Nicole’s voice
softened.
“Apparently he’s had it for a while and
it’s progressing rapidly. They found him in the park last night, naked,
thinking he was at home watching TV.”
“Your dad watches TV naked?”
“He does live alone.” A fact that
haunted her. If she’d been in Harmony Hills, she would have found him, not a
bunch of kids. If she’d been here, maybe he wouldn't even have left the house
at all. If she’d been here, she might have noticed as soon as he started getting
sick and gotten him treatment so that his disease wouldn't be as far along as
it was now.
She swallowed again. “He’s going to need
to go into a personal care facility.”
“And a six-figure bonus would go a
long way toward making that happen.”
“After taxes, even six figures would
last only a few years. And my dad’s sixty-seven. He could live another ten,
maybe even twenty years. I need a real, permanent solution.”
She looked up at the stately yellow
Victorian house and the McDermott Funeral
Home sign. “The only way I can get enough money every month is to run
the family business.”
“The funeral home? Can you even run
a funeral home?”
She sighed. “I remember some
things.”
“Don’t you need a license?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to check.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to just sell Tidy
Whitiez?”
“In the short-term. But at ten
thousand dollars a month, three hundred thousand dollars would only be thirty
months. Not even three years. I need a solid, dependable income.”
A motorcycle roared into the funeral
home’s side driveway. The engine hummed to a stop. The driver took off his
shiny black helmet.
Ellie’s breathing stopped. “Oh, no.”
“What?”
“It’s Finn Donovan.”
“The guy who stole valedictorian from
you?”
“Yep.”
“The same guy who took your virginity
and then asked somebody else to the graduation party?”
“Yes, again.”
“Oh my God! Skype me in!”
Wearing jeans and a sleeveless white
T-shirt that showed off bulging biceps and a skull-and-crossbones Semper Fi tattoo,
Finn got off the sleek bike and strolled up the sidewalk toward her. Taller
than he had been in high school and broader in the shoulders, with a lazy gait
that spoke of the insolent way he looked at life, he set every nerve ending in
her body on fire.
He reached her, smiled. “Ellie.”
How could the slight lift of a man’s
lips make her breathless?
“Finn.”
The fire nibbling her nerve endings spiked.
Her chest pinched and her gut tightened as another regret filled her. If she’d
stayed in Harmony Hills, she probably wouldn't swoon every time she saw this blue-eyed,
blond-haired dingbat.
“At least put me on speaker!”
“Actually, Nic, I’ll call you
later.”
“No!”
Click.
FOR THE WRITERS AMONG US...
Lesson 1 from HOW TO WRITE A CATEGORY ROMANCE...
Lesson
1 What is a Category Romance?
A
category romance is the story of a hero and heroine that focuses on how they
resolve their external and internal conflicts and commit for life at the end of
the book.
In
this day and age, even RWA found it necessary to send a reminder to the judges
for the RITA that lots of books on the market today (and books submitted for
the RITA) are not romances in the truest sense of the word.
Why?
Because, with self-publishing, there is no gatekeeper.
Frankly, in some
respects that’s good. Lots of great books are being published that might not
otherwise have made it.
In
others it’s bad -- FOR YOU.
Why
you?
Because
even if you want to self-publish, though you don’t have to please an editor,
you still have to please readers. And with the abundance of books out there
saying they are “romances” you can get confused about what’s really required in
a category romance.
Why
should you care? I mean, why not toss all the spaghetti against the wall and
see what sticks? Because there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Readers have
shown time and time again that they want certain things in their books,
especially category romances. So you still have to please somebody – except
instead of an editor, it’s now readers.
If
you want to write for any of Harlequin’s category romance lines or any of the
category romance lines that are springing up at many of the e-publishers, then
you already know this. J
What
you might not know are the actual “things” needed in a category romance and/or
how to get them into your story.
So
let’s start at the beginning…What is a category romance?
As
we’ve already said, a category romance is the story of a hero and heroine that
focuses on how they resolve their external and internal conflicts and commit
for life at the end of the book.
What
is the difference between a category romance and a single title?
Actually,
there are 2.
First,
a single title isn't "just" the story of a hero and heroine falling
in love. There must also be a story line that takes it beyond a mere romance.
Single
title romantic suspense, thrillers and mysteries involve the bigger, broader
story element of the suspense, mystery or thriller. Those things aren't merely
a BACKDROP for the romance (as they are in CATEGORY suspense, mystery or
thriller). Though interwoven with the romance, the suspense, mystery or
thriller aspect of the story holds a big place in the novel on its own and
usually takes up 50% of the story.
But
a book doesn't have to be a suspense, thriller or mystery to be a single title.
A contemporary romance can also be single title. All the author has to do is
add another dimension to her story. Something that takes it beyond a category
romance. The hero could be a returning-to-town bad boy looking to make up for
his past. He could have several people to apologize to and not all the
situations could be resolved easily! A heroine could be dealing with mother
problems or daughter problems or best friend problems.
In
a category romance, however, our readers are only interested in the romance. Even
if there are mother problems, people the hero has to make up to for his bad boy
past, or a crime that has to be solved, we want everything ON THE PAGE to
relate to the romance!
What
do I mean?
Well,
think about this…
I
remember reading Sydney Sheldon's BLOOD LINE before I started reading romance
and writing romance. I found myself skipping all the scenes that didn't relate
back to the hero and heroine and their budding romance and reading only the
scenes with the hero and heroine! A friend said, “Susan, you're not a
mainstream reader. You're a romance reader.” I went to the bookstore, bought a
few (hundred) romances and never looked back.
The
same is true for you as a writer. If you're getting rejections on your beloved
category romance that say, "There wasn't enough focus on the romance"
... this can be easily corrected by going back into your story and getting
every scene into the POV of either the hero and heroine. And making sure that
everything relates back to them and their romance somehow.
Which
takes us to our second difference between category romance and single title...
Focus.
Everything
in a category romance must be seen through the eyes of the hero and/or heroine
and must ultimately relate back to them.
In
my workshop, Journey Steps, I use the example of a hero having an argument with
his son. The boy storms out of the room and to his bedroom, slamming the door.
In a category romance, the scene stops there and picks up the next morning when
the hero discovers his son is gone. In a single title, the author could follow
the boy to his room while he packs and go with him out the window and into the
cold, dark night.
In
a single title, authors use various character points of view and tell the
stories of those secondary characters. In a category, our focus is the romance,
so all our readers want to know is HOW DOES THIS IMPACT THE ROMANCE! We show
them how through the reactions of the hero and heroine.
The
exceptions to this are the few times a villain's POV is heard in category
romantic suspense or thriller, and the few times a secondary character gets a
'quick' POV for a reason. Usually there's a story element or thread that the
hero and heroine can't be privy to, but it's essential for the "fun"
or "drama" of the story for readers.
In
THE MAGIC OF A FAMILY CHRISTMAS, I gave the little boy a 3 or 4-paragraph POV
so that he and the cat [yes, the cat] could plot their matchmaking, so readers
would know what was going on...since the kid wasn't about to tell either the
hero or heroine that he was setting them up to fall in love!
So
that's the "quick and dirty" difference between a category romance
and a single title. Focus and bigger, broader story.
For
some people, writing a single title seems easier, because they can rely on that
bigger, broader story to give them fodder for their scenes. In a category
romance, we rely on the external conflict to do the same thing.
Except
sometimes the external conflict doesn't seem to be enough! We still sit at our
computers wondering, “Now what!”
That’s
because external conflicts also need a vehicle.
A
vehicle is the “thing” that forces the action in your story and keeps the
action going.
In
my summer 2010 release, MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD, the story type is a nanny
story. (Even though she’s the maid, the heroine also cares for the hero’s
kids.) The vehicle…what forces the action of the story…is taking care of the
hero’s two kids. The kids force the hero and heroine to work together, to
interact, as they feed them, dress them, play with them, and that’s how they
fall in love…by interacting.
I didn't need to think of a vehicle. The story type provided it. You have to have
kids to have a nanny story! LOL
In
HER BABY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS, driving across the country is the vehicle. Being in
the same car [and ultimately the same house] is what forces them to interact.
In
THE TYCOON’S SECRET DAUGHTER the hero getting to know the daughter his ex-wife
had hidden from him was the vehicle.
In
ONE MAN AND A BABY the hero training the heroine for the job as manager of her
dad’s horse farm is the vehicle.
In
SECOND CHANCE BABY the heroine working as the hero’s secretary is the vehicle.
In
KISSES ON HER CHRISTMAS LIST the hero investigating the heroine’s store to
possibly buy it for his family’s holding company is the vehicle.
I
once read a book where the heroine and hero had been in a plane wreck. They
survived…weren't even hurt. But they had to walk fifty miles back to town
together, on foot, off a mountain with dense foliage, where a rescue team wasn't available. (I can’t remember the country they were in but it was in
Central America somewhere.) That walk was the vehicle.
I
once read a book where the hero had the get the heroine out of a foreign
country and the time they spent together getting out of the country caused them
to fall in love.
A
hero and heroine searching for something, stuck in a cabin in a storm, working
together, living together, doing ANYTHING together gives them a reason to be
TOGETHER and being together is the vehicle that forces them to get to know each
other and fall in love.
It’s
as easy to keep a category romance moving with a vehicle as it is to keep a
single title moving with a bigger, broader story.
So
that’s lesson 1: What is a category romance?
A
category romance is the story of a hero and heroine that focuses on how they
resolve their external and internal conflicts and commit for life at the end of
the book.
You
keep your story focused on the hero and heroine and the story of how they fall
in love.
You
provide a vehicle so that you have fodder for scenes, ways to get them together
and keep them together.
And
you also have a conflict, something that keeps them from wanting to fall in
love.
_____
I hope you enjoy HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE... http://www.amazon.com/Her-Summer-Marine-Brothers-Entangled-ebook/dp/B00IHCFAHQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1394202377&sr=1-1&keywords=her+summer+with+the+marine
Remember...it's $.99 only for 2 weeks
Until next issue...
Happy reading...
susan meier
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