Pitch Perfect

by Christine Wells

Many of us in Romanceland are eagerly anticipating the national conference of Romance Writers of America® in Washington D.C. next week. A large number of our Bandita Buddies are aspiring writers, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about pitching your manuscript.

There are all kinds of pitches, from the short elevator pitch (useful for cocktail parties or casual encounters with publishing professionals) to the longer, blurb-style pitch you might use in a scheduled meeting. Which you use depends on the circumstances, but two things must be present: conflict and what I call ‘sexy’ words—specific details from your story that have that ‘wow’ factor. These are the kinds of words that imply high stakes, immediacy, humor, quirkiness, mystery, intrigue or yes, sometimes, plain old sex. We’re all interested in those things, right? Specifics will set your book apart from the herd.

Taking a well-known concept and giving it a twist can be an effective way of pitching a story. The high concept pitch Anna Campbell used for her debut novel CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, which sold to Avon at auction, was Pretty Woman by candlelight. Everyone has seen the movie Pretty Woman or at least knows the premise. The twist is setting the story in the Regency period (the candlelight reference), when a courtesan was wholly in her keeper’s power.

When Kirsten Scott sold her young adult novel, DELCROIX ACADEMY: THE CHOICE in a ‘good’ deal to Hyperion, her agent called it X-Men for girls. That succinct, three word pitch speaks volumes, doesn’t it? It gives you the tone, the subgenre, the type of conflict and the fresh twist.

My pitch for WICKED LITTLE GAME was Indecent Proposal with a Regency twist.

Of course, the movie world is where the high concept pitch was born. The movie ALIEN was pitched as Jaws in space. If you want to find more examples of high concept pitches for movies, you can search IMDB by keyword.

But the movie with a twist won’t work for every story, and can be risky unless you refer to a blockbuster or a classic. Even then, if the editor or agent hated the movie or didn’t see it or just doesn’t get the significance of the twist, you’ve lost her. So, let’s move on to the slightly longer logline.

Anna Sugden, whose fabulous Panic-Free Pitching workshop handout is on her website, has a perfect logline for LOVE BY BEQUEST: A Texas cowboy inherits an English sheep farm. Now, the conflict is obvious, isn’t it? A classic fish out of water story. For the logline, you don’t even need to know who the heroine of this romance is. That comes later in the blurb-style paragraph in your query. Don’t try to tell the whole story in this short, one line pitch.

For her recent release, THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY, Donna MacMeans used this logline: A Victorian strip-tease. Yep, that’s it. Intrigued? Go buy the book!

Donna’s next novel for Berkley, THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT, was about a Victorian heroine who turns invisible in moonlight. Just her, not her clothes. Donna says: ‘Did I mention she's a bit of a thief? If you want her to get something for you, she'll do it for a price but it's always during a full moon and, of course, she must be...’ You fill in the blank! A nekked invisible heroine thieving in Victorian England? Now that’s something I want to read. This pitch juxtaposes paranormal and historical romance in a fresh and intriguing way.

For her manuscript REFUGE, Suzanne Welsh’s more detailed pitch uses specific language to convey high-stakes action and conflict. After witnessing a senator's assassination, a spinster-librarian flees into the west as a mail-order bride to escape the clutches of the murderer.

Look at how many specific, ‘sexy’ words Suzanne uses to really enhance the punch of her pitch: senator (high profile implies high stakes) assassination (again, high stakes) spinster librarian (rightly or wrongly, we assume someone intelligent, sheltered and quiet, someone who must struggle to face the challenges ahead of her) the west (again, fish out of water scenario here) mail-order bride (hints at romance and an interesting conflict for someone labeled ‘spinster’) escape a murderer (high stakes, suspense).

I pitched my Berkley historical romance, THE DANGEROUS DUKE like this: A duke accidentally steals a lady’s erotic diary. Can you see this is going to be a sexy story about stolen secrets? Are you already wondering what will happen when my hero reads that diary and whether he’ll be caught out? I hope so!

Notice that none of these pitches goes into detail about the story. They focus on piquing the reader’s interest, that’s all. Usually, in a query letter or formal pitch session you need more detail than that, but it’s a great tactic to have the logline front and centre, before you move on to the longer blurb. A real sock-it-to-’em sentence that makes an agent or editor give the rest of your query their full attention. The ‘what if’ question can work well for this purpose, too.

For more examples of pitches that work, read through the deals on Karen Fox's wonderful website.

Now, not every book lends itself to a logline. My advice—write a book that does. That’s not as flippant as it might appear. Think about it—if a book lends itself to a dynamic, interesting hook, isn’t it more likely to be a dynamic, interesting book? Plus, writing a logline for your story before you begin gives you a sharpened focus, a touchstone to keep your story on track.

However, if you are submitting and you just can’t get that snappy one-liner, don’t despair. For my first novel, SCANDAL’S DAUGHTER, I wrote a standard one paragraph pitch and it had a 100% success rate. Which is not to say that every editor or agent offered representation or a contract, but everyone I queried asked for more.

That’s all a pitch can do for you. In the end, the proof is in the pages.

If you're a reader, do you find the 'high concept' attracts you to a story if you haven't read an author before? Can you think of any intriguing ways just one line about a story or a movie has captured your attention? I'd love to know your thoughts.

If you're a writer, pitch us your logline (and yes, published and unpublished writers are welcome to do this). Or share your own tips for writing great pitches. We have it on good authority that some editors and agents read our blog, so if you're an unpubbed, give it your best shot!

For those attending National, if you would like to win a one hour session with me at National to work on your pitch or even just chat about writing in general, please state it in your comment. I'll post the winner before I leave for D.C. on Monday and we can arrange a mutually convenient time.

Tim Tams for Everyone!

by Christine Wells

Please, please forgive my extreme tardiness in announcing the winners of the 'hooky pitch' contest from last month! I enjoyed them all so much, I'm sending Tim Tams to everyone who had a go at pitching their hooky historicals--Minna, Kim, Fedora, MsHellion, Marie-Nicole (did I miss anyone? Banditas, you will get your Tim Tams in San Fran, never fear:) .

And to Pam (doglady) and Limecello, go the winning prize of Tim Tams and a signed copy of Scandal's Daughter.

Contact me through the contact page on my website with your snail mail details and some delicious chocolatey treats will be winging your way!

Glam-tastic

by Christine Wells

When I was eight, my best friend was Tabitha. She told wonderful--and extremely imaginative--stories about the things she did when she wasn't at school. Now, for all I know, she really did live as magical and eventful a life as her namesake from Bewitched. But for the most part, I devoured Tabitha's stories with a hefty pinch of salt. I was never sure whether she really expected to be believed.

Another friend used to say, Why do you hang around with that girl? She tells lies.

Not about things that mattered. Tabitha never lied to get anyone into trouble or get herself out of punishment. So she embroidered, embellished and sometimes downright fabricated stories about talking to animals or the enchanted pottery fairies her mother sculpted and glazed. Tabitha made life more interesting. She was a good friend, and her stories seemed to give her that extra, sparkly shine.

But then I've always been a sucker for glamour.

I write historical romance. I love research. I love delving into the English Regency period, a time of social upheaval, war, extravagance, poverty, marvelous architecture...

...And great hats.

And psst, I hate to admit this, given I'm *serious* about research--getting details, atmosphere, attitudes and expressions as accurate as I can, given reader expectations--but the thing I love most about the Regency era is the glamour. I love reading about aristocrats and balls and house parties.

The wit, the intrigue, the social mores and rituals, the sense of honour and tradition, the wealth of art and architecture, gardens and landscapes those old families collected, built and preserved.

The glamour of the Regency era wasn't limited to aristocrats, though. Highwaymen (or women), smugglers, spies, war heroes--for me, all of these glitter with a special kind of story magic.

Ordinary, middle class people finding love in a cottage? Not so much.

But glamour isn't just about wealth and beauty. It's about story, too, making it bigger, deeper, more. It's about high stakes and wrenching emotion, thrilling adventure and momentous, life-altering events. I think there's a place for the mundane, the ordinary, the obscure--but it's not in Regency historicals. I want the excitement, the thrill. I want the glamour.

And great hats.

So now you know my guilty secret. And that, as we say in the lair, is in the vault.

If you're a reader, what attracts you to a particular setting or subgenre? And if you're a writer, pretend you're my friend Tabitha. How would you 'glam up' your story?

And if you care to win a signed copy of Scandal's Daughter, plus some good old Aussie TIM TAMS, pitch me your most glamorous Regency historical in twenty words or less. It can be as fantastic or as silly as you like.

Just don't--please don't--make it mundane.

Great Expectations, or, the Holiday from Hell

posted by Christine Wells
Hallooo everyone!!! I'm SO glad to be back in the lair, you have NO idea!

I missed all the banditas and honorary banditas like crazy, but that's not the only reason I'm glad to be back. Sorry to say that the last few weeks have been the holiday from hell. And no, it's not just because I was forced to leave my laptop behind.

Despite the week at the beach when it rained non-stop and the proposed holiday to an island off the coast of Australia (above, left) where our flight was delayed 6 times over 4 days due to gale force winds, my husband and I were moderately optimistic when we flew down to Victoria (a southern state of Australia), to travel the Great Ocean Road (right).

The sunshine was a good start, as was the lovely country town of Port Fairy (below left and right) and the wineries at Coonawarra (right).

A few dozen bottles of wine later...

We thought we'd left our troubles behind us, but the straw that broke the camel's back was yet to come. We'd booked (as we thought) a charming cottage in a semi-rural setting, where the boys could play outside and see cows and sheep and we could fossick around wineries and olive groves and sight-see at will. When we called the owner to ask about checking in, she said we had to stay at a different property from the one we'd booked.

It was after 7pm, we'd been on the road for around 9 hours and our boys were screaming tired. We thought it a bit strange to be told to go to a different location when we'd spoken to the owner only days before and confirmed the booking, but when she said someone else was already staying in the charming cottage, we had no choice but to drive to the address we'd been given.

Nothing rural or charming about this place. It was a suburban house near a bay but with no view of the water and the only garden it had was a gravel yard with a tin shed out the back.

When we complained, we were told the property had been given the same starred rating as the rural cottage we'd expected, so we shouldn't be upset about the change. But we were upset, and when we tried to explain why, we realized it was because we'd been expecting one thing--looking forward to it very much, in fact--and received something altogether different. Item for item, the facilities in these two places were the same, but the experience each would give us would be poles apart.

And it occurred to me today how similar our disappointment was to the disappointment some readers express about romance novels when an established author tries something different. Readers come to expect a particular experience from a particular author. If that author fails to deliver that experience each time, devoted fans might well end up feeling cheated, even if, judged objectively, the book is just as good as other books by that author. It's not that readers want the same story over and over, it's the similar feeling of triumph over adversity, or light, flippant entertainment or dark, angsty emotion that you want each time you pick up that author's books.

So what do we, the writers, do about that? In some ways, there's no escaping your own voice. If it's a strong one, it shows through no matter what you write and your readers might well follow you up hill and down dale just to get more of your unique voice. Jenny Crusie could probably write a computer manual and I'd read it. But on the whole, I'd say that kind of following is pretty rare. As authors, do we have a duty to write the same but different every time, or should we be free to wander where the muse (or the girls in the basement) takes us?

I'm not sure I know the answer to this question, but after our holiday, I can certainly see both points of view.

What do you think? If you're a reader, do you want your favorite authors to write similar (but different) books each time? If you're a writer, do you feel constrained by this perceived expectation? And anyone else, what's your worst holiday story? One reader will win a copy of SCANDAL'S DAUGHTER and a postcard from my ill-fated holiday!

When Worlds Collide...

by Christine Wells

It's a unique and wonderful place, Romanceland. We talk with other romance lovers about heroes and heroines, black moments, first meets, Big Mis-es to our hearts' content and without self-consciousness. Romanceland has its own language, its own code. We know the tropes, the stars, the classic stories that become our 'keepers'. We gossip about SEP, JAK, La Nora. We chortle at coversnark and club together in communities like the Bandits because Romanceland is just so darned fun.

We sometimes forget there's that other place out there--the Outer Darkness that is not Romanceland. And never has that been brought home to me more than now, when my friends and family, all Children of The Outer Darkness (COTOD) are reading my first novel.

When Scandal's Daughter was released I threw a launch party, which Foanna/Anna Campbell and Denise Rossetti and Downundergirl/Amy Andrews attended, among others. Besides fellow writers, the 'others' were friends, former work colleagues and family, COTODs to a man. And in that gorgeous, ultra-feminine romance bookshop, beneath the chandeliers, surrounded by cedar bookcases filled with romance novels of every description, it happened. My two very separate worlds collided. Romanceland in all its glittery glory crashed into The Outer Darkness with a shower of gold sparks.

And now my life will never be the same.

The comments filter back through to me via third parties, family members, friends. "Oh, I'll never be able to look at her the same way again!" or from a male friend "Feel as if I ought to have a cigarette now I've finished that book." One of my husband's friends phoned another on the night of the launch to chortle like a schoolboy over the 'naughty' bits. This was before they'd even reached the carpark. To me, it's strange that they focus on the 'naughty' bits because, living in Romanceland, I know there's much raunchier stuff out there. I don't really mind as it's all in good fun. But it's still weird and somehow...icky.

My work friends have always been supportive and seem to get a real kick out of 'Pristine Christine' writing romance. There was only one fly in the ointment at a work-related party, a woman I'd just met, who decided to patronize me. I was quite astonished, as I'm not used to being patronized *g*, but after trying in subtle ways to put down romance writing (she is working in the same job I was before I left the Firm) she looked at me pityingly and said, "Do you ever wonder what could have been if you hadn't given up?"

O...K...
I wish I'd thought of some witty quip to shoot back at her, but I just said, no, I was happy writing novels and looking after my children, thanks very much.
And you know, much as it would be nice to put the COTOD in their place now and again when they scoff and giggle about romance, it's enough that I know the truth--I'm having the time of my life, doing what I love. And that, my friends, is a dream come true.

So, now, over to you! Have you ever had that embarrassing, awkward or just plain surreal moment when two totally separate existences suddenly merge? How did you handle it? Have you been called on to defend your choices lately? How did you do it? I'm giving away a signed copy of Scandal's Daughter to one lucky commenter!

Recipe? I don't need no stinkin' recipe!

Thinking about Christmas favourites made me realize that most of my traditional preferences are stuck in a time-warp. You have one great Christmas dish as a kid and then you want it year in, year out, so my family recipes are all circa the Cordon Bleu Cookbook of 1981. But as my gift to all the harried, tired mothers of the world who never really get a break on Christmas Day, here is the easiest Christmas dessert ever, because your guests do most of the work. And I'm doing this from memory but I think it will be ok.

Prepare:

1 platter of seasonal fruit, bite-sized

a bunch of skewers soaked in water for a few hours

1 small bowl of white rum

1 small bowl of dark brown sugar

1 small bowl of whipped cream (the real stuff, please, not that fire extinguisher foam you get from a can--although on second thoughts, a fire extinguisher might come in handy:)

Methylated spirits

1 small fireproof container to burn methylated spirits in

Method:

Pour the methylated spirits into the fireproof bowl and light.

Skewer your fave fruit chunk, dip in rum, roll in sugar to coat, hold over flame to melt sugar.

Dip in cream as desired.

Warning--wait for the brown sugar to cool or you'll burn your tongue!

Bon apetite and merry Christmas to all!

Cover Me!

by Christine Wells

Hi all, I'm swinging by to fill in for our Bandita Kirsten who isn't well today.

My friend Denise Rossetti came over the other day, bubbling with excitement about her upcoming cover conference at Berkley for her Four-Sided Pentacle series. Incidentally, here is the cover for her Avon Red short story collection, A Red Hot New Year--isn't it HAWT?!

It got me thinking--hmm, won't be long until my cover for The Dangerous Duke comes up for discussion. Better avoid my WIP, er, I mean, do my duty, and find some images to suggest for my cover.

Now, it's a commonly held belief that authors get no say in their covers. That's true. Once the cover is done, you have to have the clout of someone like Stephanie Laurens to get it changed.

But when my editor asked for suggestions, I had a Word file of pictures I'd copied from the internet to show her and the art department my ideas, what Sebastian and Gemma looked like, the settings I'd used for each of their homes and some of the scenes in the book. I'd also spent hours going through covers until I found ones that captured the mood of Scandal's Daughter.

"Show, don't tell" is a good policy in this case. As writers, we deal in words, but it makes sense that an art department thinks in terms of images. It's so much better to show them the kind of cover or the kind of mood you're looking for, rather than tell them. They might come up with an entirely different vision from the one you intended just from a verbal description.

So here's what happened for my Scandal's Daughter cover. These are the first images I came up with:

I had in mind a romantic but not overly sexy clinch, perhaps the couple waltzing.

However, my editor saw Gemma on a horse, riding about the estate. So I found images of period riding habits as well as images of women riding side-saddle in habits very similar to those worn in the Regency.

I also found covers I liked that showed a heroine and a house. Look at the Almost Innocent cover and then look at mine. Do you think the art department paid attention to my suggestions?

They also got my heroine's hair colour right, which I think is SO important! I was delighted with the result!

I love my cover--it's so pretty! Can't wait to see what they do for The Dangerous Duke!

So, dear readers, what do you like to see on a cover? Any turn-offs? Have you ever bought a book purely because of its cover?

Redeeming the Dark Hero

by Christine Wells

Dark, tortured heroes--don't we love them? Heathcliff, Rochester, Jervaulx, Anna Campbell's Kylemore, any of Anne Stuart's bad, beautiful boys. The worse our hero is, the more we love it when a good woman brings him to his knees.

I've learned a lot from screenwriting experts lately. There was that lightbulb moment from Debra Williamson, who swung by the lair recently and talked about irony, among other things. And today, while listening to a lecture about character arc from Michael Hauge, all my vague ideas about redeeming the dark hero clicked into place.

Have you ever heard someone disparage a redemption story because 'people just don't change'? That attitude was one I struggled with when writing Scandal's Daughter. I had an irresponsible rake as a hero and I had to redeem him by the end. But I, also, believe that people don't change.

It got me thinking, if I believe people can't change, why, then, do redemption stories work for me? How do we, as writers, make them believable?

Michael Hauge talks about a character's identity, the mask he or she shows the world, as opposed to his essence, who he really is, or who he could be if he lived up to his potential. It's that essence which the heroine sees and it's that essence the author sets about exhuming, step by step, throughout the book. When he is redeemed at the end, the hero has not changed fundamentally. He has become the man he was always meant to be.

So, who is your favourite tortured hero? What made you like him, despite his bad boy attitude?

Treat 'em Mean...

by Christine Wells

When I was a poor university student, I took on a variety of casual jobs, including tutoring at my old school. It was an all girls' school and fairly cloistered from the outside world.

There were no school dances or other co-educational social interactions. Even in plays and musicals all the male roles were played by the girls. Which is why I was stunned, at age 19, to receive advice on boys from my 14 year old student when we should have been balancing equations.

She was a gorgeous little thing and she had the male sex all worked out. Her motto, which she kindly shared with a roguish twinkle, was 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen'. On my own account, I was doubtful such a strategy would succeed, but I could see it had worked like a dream for her.

The best way to hold the interest of the opposite sex is never to appear too eager, or so the conventional wisdom goes. Well, readers are a lot like a member of the opposite sex.

A reader doesn't like the entire story laid at her feet from the beginning of the novel. She likes to be teased, tantalized, led on and on. And then, at the aptly named climax, the pay-off must be worth the wait.

Anne Gracie, a wonderful writing teacher as well as a gifted writer, sadly never had the benefit of my student's advice. Instead, she often quotes Charles Dickens--make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait.

I've waited six years to see a book I've written in print. When I held Scandal's Daughter for the first time, when I saw all my friends around me celebrating its launch, when I received wonderful messages from all our readers and such brilliant support from the Banditas themselves, it was like the end to the most satisfying read of my life. The pay-off has been more than worth the wait.

And a new chapter is just beginning...

Thank you all for sharing this special occasion with me.

And now I have a question--what in your life has been eagerly anticipated and well worth waiting for? It could be the ending of your favourite book--Flowers from the Storm, anyone? Or an event in real life. If you're not sick of the sight of me by now, I'd love to know!
And the winner is...

For the Jessica Faust guest blog, Cathie!

And for the Leis Pederson guest blog, MsHellion!

Congratulations, ladies! Please send me your snail addies by email at christineATchristine-wellsDOTcom and your Scandal's Daughter packs will be winging over to you soon!

A Star Is Born!

I went to a marvellous party…
Apologies to Noel Coward (actually the lyrics to this song are a hoot if you’ve got time to look them up)!

Fabulous Bandita Christine Wells held a launch last Thursday night at Rosemary’s Romance Books in Brisbane. Christine’s wonderful, witty Regency romance Scandal’s Daughter has now been presented to the world in style.

Christine asked two of her writer friends to do the honors and make a speech. Denise Rossetti who writes sensual fantasy for Ellora’s Cave, Avon and Berkley gave us all a wonderful riff on the future good behavior of Christine’s muse. I said a few heartfelt words about what a wonderful writer she is and how this book deserves to sell its socks off! Not as elegant as Denise's sparkling toast to SD's future success but definitely sincere!















The very romantically decorated bookstore overflowed with friends and well wishers. In Regency terms, it would have been classed a huge success as it was definitely a crush! Our hostesses Rosemary and Glenda made everyone welcome. Hmm, and the copious wine that was flowing may have contributed to the atmosphere too. But of course, I wouldn't know about that. Cough. Cough.
















Guests included Amy Andrews who writes Medical romance for Mills & Boon, Andrea Lunt from The Courier-Mail, and well-known academic Glen Thomas who brought along all his Masters in Romance Fiction students. And why not? All of these talented writers aspire to achieve what Christine has with her major American release! We were also lucky to have a lot of the Brraddicts with us (Brisbane Romance Reading Addicts) who are always such fun.

Christine, the launch was a fabulous success and everyone had a great time sending your first book out into the world. Good luck! You're a huge talent and you deserve every scrap of your success!