Juggling for Writers

posted by Nancy

Barbara Monajem returns to chat with us about juggling two very different types of stories at the same time. Welcome, Barbara!

You're writing two very different kinds of stories at the moment, historicals for Harlequin Undone and the Bayou Gavotte paranormals for Dorchester. How do you stay in the right mindset for each?

People often ask me this question, and the answer is, I really don’t know. I just do it. When writing a contemporary paranormal, I’m in the modern world, thinking in present-day slang with a 21st century mindset. When I’m writing a Regency historical, I’m in an entirely different mental environment, with a different vocabulary and different values. It’s almost as if I flip a switch in my brain... and suddenly I’m someplace else.

The greatest difficulties have to do with the worlds themselves. In the contemporary novels, I have to think about stuff like which phone can I give my heroine that won’t be outdated in a year, while in the historicals, there’s a constant challenge to make my heroine appealing to modern women while keeping her believable in a historical context.

Tell us a bit about your current projects.

Right now I’m working on a full-length Regency for Harlequin. It’s the third in a series about the Carling siblings, James, Simon, and Sally. James’s story comes first in my recent novella, The Wanton Governess. The second novella is Simon’s story. I don’t have a title yet, but it’s scheduled to be released in January. Simon is a rake and was a hoot to write.

Recently, I handed the third Bayou Gavotte paranormal in to my editor. It’s about the rock star, Constantine Dufray, who was a secondary character in the first two novels. I’ve written his story several times over the years –- it was really the first I wrote about Bayou Gavotte, but his character deepened as I wrote the others -– and I’m quite jubilant that finally it’s finished! Also, I’ve just begun the fourth paranormal, a murder mystery. The heroine is a vampire, and the hero, Gill, is a secondary character from Tastes of Love & Evil. He’s possessed – but I still haven’t figured out by what! Hopefully that will be solved, as well as the murder, by the end of the book.

What's Pompeia and James's biggest problem in The Wanton Governess?

To grab their second chance at first love and run with it!! Here is a blurb that makes the problem clear:

In exchange for a few days’ shelter, dismissed governess Pompeia Grant pretends to be the wife of a man who spurned her years earlier. James Carling, the man in question, is in America, so he’ll never know. And it’s only for a couple of days. And she’s helping a friend, so she’s doing a good deed… But the next day, James comes home.

Would you like to share an excerpt?

Sure.

Sussex, 1801

"What in hell's name were you thinking?"

At this furious bellow all the ladies froze, then gaped. "Who was that?" Clarabelle faltered.

Pompeia rose in horror. She would know that enraged shout anywhere. She had heard it only once before, and she would never forget it.

But this time it was surely directed at her.

Footsteps hammered on the staircase, and her heart abandoned itself to terror. She had to run. She had to flee.

No! She had to do something.

"James, wait!" That was Sally's voice from the corridor. "Please, just let me --"

"James wasn't supposed to be home yet," Clarabelle moaned, and meanwhile the footsteps pounded down the passage.

Think, think! There must be some way to avert disaster. Not to Pompeia herself -- that was impossible -- but to Sally, to whom the vouchers for Almack's meant so much. But there wasn't time, because it would mean convincing Sir James to talk to her privately before exposing the deception. It would mean making him want to. Inexorably, the footsteps approached the drawing-room doorway.

I know how to make a man want to, said the Wanton Within.

Not that! Pompeia's rational mind screamed. Not now! But after a second's furious pause, she realized that for once the Wanton might be right. She got her feet moving and went straight for the door.

Too late.

He came into the room like a thunderstorm. It was James indeed, older, broader, and even more beautiful than four years ago, from his dark, wavy hair and grey eyes to his well-worn leathers. The Wanton Within applauded, but mostly, Pompeia cringed. She closed her eyes, desperate to compose herself. A babble of voices roiled around her, but she was poised only for his, for the fatal words exposing her as a fraud, commanding her to leave.

Open your eyes, said the Wanton. Look at him.

She did. He stared back, the anger slowly draining from his features, surprise taking its place.

That's a good start, the Wanton said. Now, let your eyes do the talking. But Pompeia had done that once before to Sir James -- accompanied by words that permitted no misunderstanding -- and received a stinging refusal.

That was then; this is now, the Wanton insisted. Smile, for pity's sake!

Pompeia felt her lips tremble into a travesty of a welcome.

Sir James's mouth quirked the tiniest bit in response. "Pompeia," he said.

She forced her tongue into motion. "J-James."

"Unbelievable." Slowly, he shook his head. "Oh, Pompeia." His eyes rested on her, warmly approving. No, wickedly so.

This was astonishingly different from the last time they'd met, when the chill in those eyes had made even the Wanton cower. No, particularly the Wanton, who had gone into hiding for quite a while after that.

What had happened to change things?

Ah. James did know of Pompeia's disgrace, just as she'd assumed. And, in the way of all men, he anticipated that she would willingly be just as disgraceful with him.

Yes! Do let's! Just this once! the Wanton said.

Wow, what a place to leave us hanging! Meanwhile, in your other subgenre, what's the issue between Rose and Jack?

Rose saves Jack’s life…but Jack loathes vampires. Forced to work together to rescue a runaway, they combine her allure and his talent for vanishing into thin air to tackle a vamp-gone-bad and unearth the secrets of the most dangerous club in Bayou Gavotte.

What's next for you?

When I finish the two books I’m working on now, I’ll probably write another historical novella just for fun, or maybe a full-length based on a secondary character in the one I’m writing now. I’ll decide when the time comes!

You write great blurbs on your website. How do you approach creating these short summaries?

With a lot of groaning and moaning and hopefully some help from my editors. :)

For more about Barbara and her books, visit her website.

Barbara is giving away one copy of Tastes of Love and Evil (paperback or Kindle e-book) and one copy of The Wanton Governess (Kindle e-book only).

So tell us about the last time you had to juggle projects. What were they, and how did you manage? Or tell us whether you read (or write) more than one subgenre at a time, and why.

And let us know, please, whether you're able to read Kindle books.

****

Don't forget we're kicking off Trick or Treat in the Lair on with a BIG announcement on October 14, with a special treat to follow on Halloween.

The Golden Rooster is poking into the corners to find out what's going on. He even asked Ermingarde the Dragon what was coming(from a safe distance, of course). But Ermingarde doesn't know, either.

All will be revealed on the 14th!

Double Dose of Booty

posted by Nancy
I have two prizes to award tonight!

The winner of Barbara Monajem's prize, a signed copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil, is Daz!

The winner of three books I picked up at RWA (Annie Solomon's One Deadly Sin (signed), Jayne Anne Krentz's Running Hot, and Karin Harlow's Enemy Lover,) for commenting on my "The Year of Lasts" is Cories!

Winners, please email contact info to romancebandits AT gmail DOT com with "for Nancy" in the subject line. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

Vicarious Competence, or Things I Can't Do

posted by Nancy
Today Barbara Monajem joins us to celebrate the release of her second book, Tastes of Love and Evil.

One of the cool things about writing books is making your characters do things you can’t. In my first paranormal romance, Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil, the heroine is a landscaper. The only things I can grow successfully are grass (by not mowing it) and wisteria (which is actually a demon in disguise and needs no help at all). It was fun writing about someone who could not only garden, but conquer. :)

For my new release, Tastes of Love & Evil, I chose another skill I don’t have: costume and fabric design and construction. Oh, I can sew reasonably well – I made clothing for my daughters when they were young, and some of the dresses were pretty cute – but as for coming out with anything elaborate or original… in my dreams. Or stories! Rose Fairburn, the vampire heroine, designs and constructs all kinds of cool costumes, and in Tastes, she’s in the process of finishing and delivering an Elizabethan gown to her customer. The costume is based on the one Elizabeth I wears in this picture.

Isn’t it scrumptious? I can’t imagine even beginning to construct something like this! Fortunately, Rose can, and does. She also designs and makes her own gorgeous, artsy fabric. My inspiration for Rose’s fabric was the work of Australian artist Dale Rollerson. I first saw Ms. Rollerson’s work in an issue of Quilting Arts magazine. These photos show the fabric I found so inspiring. You can see more examples of her fabulous artwork in her gallery at The Thread Studio.

I couldn’t resist trying something of the sort myself. (One would think, by now, that I would know better, but… sigh.) Just so you know how far I got with trying to make fabric myself (you can start laughing now), the article in Quilting Arts mentions using water-soluble stabilizer while constructing your fabric. Afterward, it washes right out.


I went to a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store and bought myself a yard of it. I couldn’t find the stiff kind Ms. Rollerson recommended, so I got whatever they had, which had a consistency somewhat like interfacing and would (I guess) need a hoop. (I have hoops from back in the days when I did a lot of cross-stitch.)

Anyway, I held it in my hot little hands while looking at yarn. By the time I got to the register, the part touching my hand already had a hole in it. I now had proof positive of how well this stuff disintegrates. I brought it home and put it away someplace. I have a feeling if I look for it now, I won’t find it. My house is so humid it has probably evaporated long since. Rose, of course, knows how to buy, hold, store, and use it perfectly.

Here’s an excerpt from Tastes of Love and Evil. Jack, the hero (a sort of human chameleon, by the way – no, he doesn’t look like a lizard; actually, he’s cute in an unobtrusive sort of way, and he can literally fade into the background), has just been shot by some bad guys, and although Rose doesn’t know him (she thinks of him as some random man), she’s given him her hotel room key so he can take refuge. But the bad guys are posing as feds, and they’re searching the hotel.

The room was empty.

No, it just appeared to be. “I told you there was no one here.” Her nostrils quivering, every sense alert, Rose scanned the bed, the curtains, the embroidered mantle draped on a chair, the Elizabethan gown on the luggage cart. “Now get out of my room!”

The gunman ignored her, ducking in and out of the bathroom, glancing into the closet, going efficiently through every hiding place. Warmer, cried Rose’s senses, warmer, warmer, damn, oh God please no, as he shoved past the luggage cart to the window, and then as he returned, colder, warmer, colder, where the hell is the man? One-handed, the fake fed lifted the mattress and box spring, but no one was concealed underneath.

Sirens cried in the distance, and a second later the gunman’s phone squawked a warning. He left without looking back.

Rose retrieved her breakfast, double-locked the door, and scanned the room. Aha. She’d seen this phenomenon once before. She knew Random Man was in the room, somewhere near the window. “They’ve gone,” she said softly. “You can come out now. You need to have that wound tended.”

Nothing. Where was he?

“I brought coffee and doughnuts.” She put the food on the table. “I’d be happy to share, once we’ve patched you up.” Pause. “I know you’re here. I can hear you breathing.”

Nothing.

“I can smell you,” Rose said, her voice rising, tendrils of allure escaping. You and your blood. “I’m here to help, you fool!”

Still nothing. Or maybe…a faint shimmer, like heat rising in summer air, over on the luggage cart, right by the Elizabethan gown. Damn it, thought Rose. If he stains that costume… Anger coupled with the aroma of blood overwhelmed her senses, and her fangs slotted down. Purposely this time, she directed her allure toward the luggage cart. Another shimmer, instantly controlled, and then absolute stillness.

No more pussyfooting around. She smiled and sent a wave of allure crashing across the room. Random Man resolved into view, gold and tan and brown blending with the dress, then gradually reacquiring his own muted shape and colors, blue denims and Saints jacket, nondescript but definitely all there.

“God help me,” Random Man said. “Not another vamp.”

For more about Barbara and her books, check out her website.

Which skill or talent do you wish you had? What have you tried and failed at? (Or succeeded at, of course.:))

One lucky commenter will receive a signed copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil.

Coming Right Up....

by Susan Sey

BREAKING NEWS: Last night, our own fabulous BETH ANDREWS won the RITA Award in the Best Contemporary Series Romance category for her wonderful book A Not-So-Perfect Past. Congratulations, Beth!!! You can check out all the winners at the RWA National website. PARTY IN THE LAIR!!!

August! Welcome home, all you RWA goers! I know you miss all your writing friends like crazy, so here's a little something to cheer you up: A preview of August's fantastic features!

August 3: Donna MacMeans will host Heather Webber who'll be talking about her casting decisions for her latest release Deeply, Desperately.



August 5: Nancy interviews Avon debut author Katherine Ashe about her dynamite historical, Swept Away by a Kiss.



August 6: One of the Lair's favourite visitors, Eloisa James, returns to talk about fairy tales, Cinderella and her eagerly awaited book, A Kiss at Midnight.
August 16: Best selling author Brenda Novak will return to the Lair with JoMama to discuss her new trilogy and answer questions most asked by her fans.




WHITE HEAT releases on July 27 and Brenda's throwing a fabulous cyber-party to celebrate. Visit www.brendanovak.com for the deets. Her annual Auction fo Diabetes Research reached the one million mark this year!

Also, Brenda's been nominated for a 2010 RITA for her ON A SNOWY CHRISTMAS. Congratulations! We're so fortunate to have her return to the Lair again!
August 15: Trish Milburn's (or should I say Tricia Mills?) release party for her newest young adult novel, Winter Longing. Love Alaska? Love tales of first love? Books that twist your emotions like a dish cloth? This book has it all!




August 19: Suzanne Ferrell brings Wendy Watson to chat with us about her second in the Murder A La Mode series, Scoop To Kill. Wendy and Suz will serve up some fun, mystery and maybe an ice cream or two in the hot summer fun!

August 20: Tawny's release party

August 27: Barbara Monjem returns to chat with Nancy about Tastes of Love and Evil, the second in her Bayou Gavotte paranormal romance series (which was also an unpubbed Maggie winner!)
August 31: Grab a gladiator & a drink (not necessarily in that order) and get ready to get sinful as we celebrate Jeanne Adam's smokin' new release Deadly Little Sins!





And warm up that lucky rabbit's foot, because we have contests, too! From Anna Campbell:


Anna Campbell is giving away TWO Change of Season Reading Packs in her latest website contest. Each pack will include signed copies of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER by AnnaCampbell, SWEETEST LITTLE SIN by Christine WElls, IS MISTRESS FOR A MILLION by Trish Morey, THE GREEK'S CONVENIENT MISTRESS by Annie West, DARK DECEIVER by Pamela Palmer, and either DOES SHE DARE? or RISQUE BUSINESS by Tawny Weber. Just email Anna on anna@annacampbell.info and tell her one other book by each of these authors (the website links are on her contest page to make it easy) to go into the draw. For more information, please visit Anna's contest page.

A Different Kind of Sunrise

posted by Nancy

Today we welcome Lair regular and award-winning author Barbara Monajem to discuss her dynamite debut paranormal, Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil. Welcome, Barbara!

We love call stories. Tell us how you sold Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil.

Oh, I just sat around polishing my nails and waited for the call. :)

Well, not exactly, but apart from writing the story and entering it in a contest, that’s pretty close to the truth (except that I’m really terrible at nail care). I was nowhere near as proactive as I should have been. I entered the Daphne du Maurier Contest in 2005 and finaled. Chris Keeslar at Dorchester Publishing was one of the judges. He asked for the full manuscript, so I finished the story (I was about 60 pages from the end) and sent it a few months later. Then I went on to write other novels, improve my craft, enter more contests, and submit to some agents. I didn’t follow up with Chris because I didn’t want him to say no! Three years later, he emailed to ask if the story was still available - if so, he would finish reading it and get back to me. The next day, he called and offered me a contract. So although I wouldn’t recommend sitting around waiting, in this case it worked for me.

Who are the hero and heroine, and what are they trying to accomplish?

The heroine, Ophelia Beliveau, is a hereditary vampire. My vampires are not undead. (I’m such a daytime person that I don’t think I could write characters who are awake only at night.) They sprout fangs at puberty and develop a craving for sex and blood. For Ophelia, this causes nothing but trouble. Eventually, she’s had one too many obsessive boyfriends and decides to give up on men. Fortunately (although it doesn’t seem that way at first), she gets caught in a web of vandalism, blackmail, and murder, and meets Gideon O’Toole, a hunky police detective. I was really surprised to find myself writing a cop hero. Generally, I’m not into cop stories, but Gideon strolled right onto the page and took over.

What’s the biggest problem between them, and what’s the biggest other problem they face?

Between them: Ophelia really, really needs to bury the past, and Gideon can’t help but dig it up. :)

Apart from that, it’s just one thing after another - death threats, blackmail, character defamation, and murder.


Can we have a peek inside the book?

Here’s a short excerpt:

Gideon left the headlights on and the engine running, got out, and held the door open for his dog. “Put the gun away, Ophelia.” He walked calmly toward her. “It’s only me.”

“I know who it is.” Ophelia’s voice broke, and a tear spilled treacherously down her cheek. “Go away!”

“Sweetheart—”

“Don’t call me that! I am not sweet.”

She watched Gideon control himself and start again. “I brought Gretchen to stay with you. She’ll warn you if there’s any danger.”

How had he come up with such a blessed idea? “I don’t need her. Take your dog and go home.” Ophelia bit down hard, piercing her lip, ignoring the blood, fighting tears, wanting the dog like crazy. She felt so alone.

Anguish in his voice, Gideon said, “Ophelia, don’t cry. Honey, you can’t think I’d harass you after what you’ve been through tonight.”

“You are harassing me,” she choked out. “I am not honey. I am poison. Get the hell away.”

Gretchen trotted up and stuck a cool nose under her hand. Ophelia’s fingers moved by instinct toward the dog’s curls, but she yanked her hand away, clenching and unclenching her fist, needing and wanting the animal so much it hurt. “Gretchen doesn’t want to stay with me. She’s yours. Take her and go away.”

“I discussed it with her on the ride over, and she agreed to stay with you.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Ophelia cocked the shotgun. “Get off my property and don’t come back.”

Gideon swore under his breath. “Stupid or not, Gretchen is staying with you.” As if on cue, the dog planted her butt on the drive.

“Damn it, Gideon!” Ophelia let out a scream of rage and fired, kicking up gravel far too close to Gideon’s feet. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move a goddamn hair. “Don’t you get it?” she yelled. “I’m trying to protect you from yourself. I am not safe!”

“‘That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life,’” Gideon echoed in bitter mockery. “You could at least come up with an intelligent lie.”

Ophelia opened her mouth and shut it again. Pissing him off was what she wanted. Still, the disgust in his voice tore into her.

“I’m out of here,” he said. “I won’t come back unless you need me.” He turned to the dog. “Stay, Gretchen. Stay with Ophelia.” He got in his car and backed into the turnaround, flinging his last words through the window. “What makes you think I give a damn about being safe?”

What’s next for you?

The next novel in the Bayou Gavotte Series, Tastes of Love and Evil, will be released in late August. It’s about another vampire heroine and a hero who can literally fade into the background. In spite of initial distrust, they work together to save a runaway and rid the world of some bad, bad people. :)

One person who comments will win a signed copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil. Also, I’m holding a contest on my website with more free copies and socks. (Bayou Gavotte, Louisiana, the imaginary town where my story takes place, has a lot of fetish clubs. If I have a fetish, it’s for socks. But don’t despair - there are other prizes, too!) More information about the contest can be found on the contact page of my website, www.BarbaraMonajem.com

So tell us, what's your favorite cop story? Or your favorite story where the hero has to protect the heroine? What do you like to see in a heroine in such stories?

Historical Research and Twelfth Night

posted by Nancy

Today we welcome Lair regular and debut author Barbara Monajem! Barbara's novella, Notorious Eliza, is out from Harlequin Undone, and her single title debut, Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil, will be out from Dorchester this spring. Barbara's here to chat about her love of history.

When I was a kid, we stayed up late on New Year’s Eve, and at the stroke of midnight, the whole family went onto the front porch and banged pots and pans. While staying up late was in itself a real treat, getting to make a huge racket in the middle of the night was FABULOUS. I never questioned why. It was fun, and therefore good.

It turns out we were driving away evil spirits. Whoa! How cool is that?

I never would have known if it weren’t for historical research. I love doing research,
because it leads me down so many unexpected paths, most of which have nothing to do with what I’m writing at the time. It’s like being in a maze, but instead of meeting a lot of frustrating dead ends, I meander happily from one path to another, wandering in ever-widening circles, far, far from where I began.

Then reality sets in and I go back to what I was researching, but the trip was fun. And productive! A few weeks ago, I researched wassailing in connection with a recipe blog on the Harlequin community. My goal was to find a few recipes to compare with the one I already had. Instead, I got a great history lesson and pots of fun ideas.

What sprang to my mind (before tripping in research world) was carolers in Victorian garb going door-to-door, rosy-cheeked from the nippy winter air (and perhaps the frequent imbibing of wassail to keep warm). But there’s much, much more. Wassailing has pagan origins (no surprise -- don’t all fun celebrations?) and it’s been going on in one form or another for a long, long time. Door-to-door wassailing was a way of cleansing houses of evil spirits so as to start the year out right. Householders would deck their doorways with greenery. (Hence, here we go a-wassailing, among the leaves so green… Think holly and other evergreens, like we use for Christmas decorations now.) There was an exchange of sung verses at the doorway, and the wassailers would parade through the house, GOING INTO EVERY ROOM (what a cleaning nightmare for the house-proud, before and after) making a huge hullabaloo with pots, pans, musical instruments, and so on, to drive the evil spirits away.

One of my life’s great mysteries solved, all because of historical research.

In return for driving out the poor, beleaguered spirits (I can’t help but see a paranormal in this), you would feed the wassailers snacks and, of course, your home-made wassail. I won’t even start on all the bizarre ingredients your wassail might contain. Regardless, a house-wassailing scene, with all its comic possibilities, definitely belongs in a story. Or a not-so-comic situation involving thieves or smugglers, or a search for missing documents, or secret rooms where the evil spirits – or maybe irritable but well-intentioned ghosts – lurk until the foolishness is over.

Then there was the not-so-nice version, where groups of men would come a-wassailing and wreak vengeance (think curses -- more paranormal stuff! -- or vandalism) on anyone who didn’t give them enough to eat and drink.

Then there’s apple tree wassailing, which took place on Twelfth Night. (And still does in some locations – how fabulous is that? I would be in Somerset or Devon right now, begging to come along, if I had the time and money and guts.) It’s a night known for turning life topsy-turvy, for being the opposite of what you usually are, and for doing what you wouldn’t at any other time (which is of course ideal story fodder). Villagers selected a wassail king and queen, who would lead a procession from one orchard to another. The oldest tree in each orchard was given a taste of the wassail made from its fruit, to encourage it to produce abundantly the next year. A huge racket was made to drive the evil spirits from the trees. People got to kick back and have a grand old time before settling down to the business of the New Year. (And it was nighttime… perfect for illicit romance, as long as you could find someplace warm. :)

I don’t have an apple tree, but this year I’m paying homage to my antiquated pear tree, which deigns to produce now and then, and to the oaks and pecans which provide so well for our squirrels.

As for Notorious Eliza, the idea came partly from research (sort of) and partly from real life. A friend, who does fabulous trompe l’oeil work, painted scenes with a classical feel to them on his dining room walls. The same friend suggested I read William Manchester’s A World Lit Only By Fire, which contains, among other things, much mind-boggling info about the Borgias and their orgies. Put those together, and I had a ballroom with obscene murals on its walls. Add a heroine who paints nudes for a living, and a hero insisting on covering up the murals so he can marry and bring home a respectable wife, and… whee! A story which practically wrote itself.

Happy Twelfth Night and Day to you!

Barbara is giving away a $10 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble to one commenter today, so tell us: What's your favorite obscure fact? Your favorite holiday custom, the one you can't wait to celebrate? Or a bit of historical trivia that you were surprised to learn was true?