Updates and Other Stuff

I've written a newsletter for the past two Sundays, but I've decided to limit those to twice a month since I'm thinking once a week might be a bit much. If I'm wrong, definitely tell me. I can certainly do them every Sunday.

According to the magic counting thingy in the left sidebar, I am almost 80% finished with typing Destiny Renewed. This is the second time I promised myself to keep up with the typing instead of leaving it until I finished the book.  One should really learn from mistakes.  Well, I'm pledging that for the third book, which I'm toying with changing from Broken Destiny to some other title, I will keep current with the typing each week instead of procrastinating until the book is finished.  There. Now it's out in the universe. 

I'm also considering making this blog an adult blog, as in having the Content Warning page before people enter.  I personally don't think anyone should have to do that and I don't think my blog is incredibly racy, but the excerpts I put up can be considered adult material.  I just hate more clicking required to get to things. 

Other than those scintillating events, I'm reaching out to other authors of a variety of genres to swap blogs for a day or more in the hopes of reaching more people and helping my fellow writers with the same.  I have a few planned for June and August, and I hope to have more in the coming days, so if you know of anyone who is published or soon to be published (indie or otherwise), have them drop me an email.  I'd love to get together and see what we can do!

I also joined The Romance Studio as a featured member, so if you have a chance, stop on over there and take a look at the great things they have for romance lovers.  I plan to be blogging there in the future, and you can find me listed on the Authors@TRS page (clicking my name just takes you to my website for now).

Until next time...

Gabrielle

Finished

I finished writing Destiny Renewed earlier today and have to admit it was with mixed emotions that I ended the story.  When I introduced the character of Amon into Stolen Destiny, he was the bad guy.  But I loved his character so much, I wanted to take him further than I had in the first book, so despite planning to wait to write his as the third or fourth book, his story came out in the early ideas for Destiny Renewed and I ran with it.  Months later, the bad guy has gotten his story and since it's a romance, he's gotten his happily ever after.

The heroine I gave Amon is Thea, who is the closest I've ever gotten to writing a female virgin.  She wasn't a sexual virgin, but she hadn't anywhere as much experience, sexually or otherwise, as her hero.  However, they fit together well, allowed him to be more Alpha than he might have been with a more experienced partner, and I enjoyed writing her as much as him.

Also back in this second book is Amon's servant, Gethen, a dark Sidhe who gets a much fuller role in Destiny Renewed.  Writing Gethen's part in this book was far more emotionally draining than any other character I've ever written before as he doesn't make it through the book. 

I've enjoyed my time with these characters, just as I enjoyed my time with the hero and heroine from the first book, Varek and Callia.  I'll be spending more time with Destiny Renewed's  characters as I type the story, editing and adding along the way, but until then, it's time to take a little break and relax for a few days.

Gabrielle

Reading and Writing

The question with the 18 & Over Tag Along last Friday involved how many books each participant read each month.  I answered that it could be as many as 12, but when I'm writing, the number shrinks to as little as 3.  But I think it's important to continue to read as much as possible in one's genre, even while writing.  I can become too wrapped up in the world I'm creating, and when that happens, I turn to one of my favorite writers to refresh me. 

This weekend I turned to Charlotte Featherstone.  I just love her books.  Her writing is like silk that just drapes over the reader.  I didn't read too much, but just reading a few chapters of any of her books often refocuses me.  It takes me out of my world for even a few minutes, and when I return, I feel rejuvenated. 

I also read my book last night--the one I'm currently writing, Destiny Renewed.  At some point in everything I write, I have to sit back and read it from the beginning.  I imagine some writers do it far earlier than with just four chapters to go, but that's how I like to do it.  So last night, I sat down and read it from beginning to end. 

While there were some parts I re-edited as I read, overall, I was happy to read those earlier chapters again.  And at a few parts, I turned to my son, who had come upstairs to see how I was doing, and said, "I really like this part."  As he usually does, he smiled and said, "That's good, mom.  But shouldn't you like the whole book?"

I love the whole book, but there are parts where the interplay between the characters is just exactly how I wanted it to be.  The tenor of their words is how I intended and the description shows perfectly what I wanted the reader to see. 

So with a week off from work, I plan to stay home and finish Destiny Renewed.  Then when it's complete, I'll begin typing it and re-editing as I go along then too.  The goal is to have it submitted by late spring/early summer, so I feel very good about my progress. 

Gabrielle

Destiny Renewed Update

Another Saturday of writing, but this time I had to do a little research since I decided to provide a flashback to one of my hero's earlier lifetimes.  I have a lot to choose from since Amon's in his 47th lifetime, but I didn't want to go with anything common.  I've already showcased him either in the first book, Stolen Destiny, or his story, Destiny Renewed, in the late Roman Empire and late 18th century England, and made references to his lifetimes as a Viking warrior, Aztec leader, and Greek in the first century B.C.  But this time I chose to give him a lifetime in 16th century Ottoman Empire Turkey. 

The flashback is just a love scene actually, but I decided to put him in the town of Edirne in western Turkey right around the time of the reign of Suleiman the Great (mid 1500s).  So that meant some research into the time period, the area, and the basic goings on around Turkey in those years. 

I knew the time I chose meant the area was still part of the Ottoman Empire, but I had to make sure I had my ideas in order before I went ahead and wrote anything.  I find this type of research for stories to be a bunch of fun.  I've had an interest in this part of the world for a while, and as much as I'd like to write an entire story based on that area, particularly during Ottoman times, for now I'll settle for a flashback with some steamy sex. 

Hope your Saturday was as much fun as mine!

Gabrielle

Another Great Weekend

As I sit here late Saturday night, I'm finished with my writing for the weekend.  My goal was 24 pages, and I wrote about 30, so I feel very good.  Someone asked me the other day how I can write so much in a sitting.  I explained that I really don't have the opportunity to write each day because of work and life and everything else that requires my time, so I save up ideas (jotting them down in the margins of my notebooks) all week and then write on the weekend.  So while it seems like 30+ is a lot, for a week, I'm not writing as much as I'd like.  That's less than 5 pages a day for a 7 day week, but it's what I can do for now.  I'd prefer to write every day, but this semester is just a dog this year. 

I'm beginning Chapter 21 on Destiny Renewed and still am hovering on Chapter 14 of Broken Destiny.  Things are moving along nicely with Stolen Destiny going toward publication in June.  This week I got to complete information about what I see for the cover, which I have to admit, was so thrilling I was silly with happiness for a few days.  (I'm such a newbie!)  Just the thought that soon I'll be published is still sinking in. 

I've set a goal of the end of March to be finished with Destiny Renewed, which would put me at the end of April to get it typed (remember, I hand write everything first, so I have the second leg of the journey once I finish writing the book), edited, and out to my beta readers.  I hope to submit that book right around the time the first one is published.  (Fingers crossed!)

As for Broken Destiny, I'm aiming for a May 1 date to complete that, but that might be a bit ambitious. Still, that's my goal.  That would put me at the beginning of June with it typed, edited, and out to my beta readers.  A late summer submit would be success for this one. 

And for the last book, which is actually the first one I wrote in this series but put aside when Stolen Destiny invaded my mind one day in the shower, I'm looking forward to resurrecting it and moving ahead with that one after the previous two are edited to within an inch of their lives and submitted.  I don't have a name for this one yet, but it will be the last one in the Destined Ones Series, barring some major change that isn't on the horizon quite yet. 

Whew!  I think I need a beer and some R & R before the week begins again.  Here's to a wonderful week for us all!

Progress

Each weekend, I devote the vast majority of my time to writing.  This means little else gets done around my house, but that's ok with me and the people I live with, so it works.  I aim for 12-15 pages each weekend (around 3000-3750 words for those of you who think in those terms).  Usually I hit my goal, but this weekend, I had an extra day to write because school was called off due to winter returning with a vengeance, so I got much more done than I expected.

Between Friday night and last night, I finished 39 pages:  11 pages in Broken Destiny and 28 pages in Destiny Renewed.  To say I'm thrilled would be an understatement. 

As someone who hand writes everything first, those 39 pages are filled with self-editing that occurs along the way.  The margins of my pages are filled with ideas and notes about everything from research about a scene to the possibility of moving sections to other parts of the story. 

What this does mean is that I have a mountain of typing ahead of me as I only have the first 5 or so chapters typed in each story and I'm up to the late teens in both.  That brings a sense of dread to my creativity, though.  I love to imagine stories, and I love to write them.  Researching them is enjoyable too.  But typing is not.  Whereas when I write the story, I'm sitting comfortably somewhere (usually my bedroom) and there's music playing, when I'm typing I end up all hunched over and bleary eyed. 

I had someone once ask me what I would do if I ever became famous and my answer was immediate:  hire someone to type my work.  But on this wonderful, sunny day in February, I won't think any more about the drudgery of typing.  I'll just continue to enjoy my progress and the ideas I have percolating in my mind for when I get back to the written page (hopefully in a day or so).

Gabrielle

Is That An Historical, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

A few days back I mentioned to someone that I had written a romance, and their first response was, "Oh, is it something in history?"  I guess that's a natural response since I do have a master's in history, and I've been asked this question quite often.  My answer has always been that I have been pulled to paranormal romance instead of historical romance.  Well, I think an historical romance just began knocking on my brain's door.

Last Saturday, I spent the better part of the afternoon researching my hero's history in late 18th century England.  This was nothing new since I'd already written a little of his history in this time in the first book, but I had a great time doing the research and the chapter flowed beautifully onto the paper. (Yes, I am one of those people who write things about and then type them.  It's something about the feel of the pen and paper.)

Since then, ideas have been percolating in my mind about a single title historical.  I'm not sure it would be a Regency, although the romance readers of the world love that type of romance novel.  But ideas are there, so I won't be surprised if one day things begin to flow.  Now it's just a matter of when.

And on another front, the story I mentioned a few posts ago that I'd been mapping out has begun to take shape.  It involves Greek mythology in the form of Ares and Aphrodite, but it will be set in modern times.  I'm leaning toward it not being romance, but I'm still in the first chapter, so who knows where this one will lead.

Good Vibrations

I've been querying for a little over a month now while my critique partners have finished reading Stolen Destiny, and I've been getting really good feedback.  I think what I'm happiest about is that the readers who have spent time with my book are really liking it. 

I always knew that the idea of a race of people called Aeveren could appeal to readers, particularly paranormal romance readers, because while they're different in that they live 50 lives through reincarnation, often have powers above what humans possess, and have destined ones-mates they're drawn to across time and distance-they're characters that readers can relate to.  Paranormal romance fans love the idea of different, and Aeveren are definitely different than humans, but at the same time, they feel all the emotions and go through all the experiences human beings do. 

Stolen Destiny is mainly a romance about Varek and Callia, but as one of my readers keeps reminding me, it's also very much about the villain, Amon.  Varek is tall, dark, and strong and was easy to write because he's so wonderful a character.  He's a bad boy who has a sexy, soft spot to him.  I think some would say it doesn't matter if any of my characters convey appeal for the story to work because the love interests in my books are Aeveren, who have destined ones they're drawn to.  I never felt that as I was writing Varek's character because even though he and Callia are destined for one another, I always wanted the attraction to be far more than biological.  That may be what draws them to one another, but the heat comes from real attraction between two people.

Callia originally began quite sweetly, but very quickly I decided that she needed to be strong and have some romantic experience.  I'm not a fan of writing virgins, so while she's never had a destined one, unlike the men in the story, she certainly has had lifetimes of experience.  Beautiful and sexy, she's a great match for Varek.

Amon is simply the easiest character I've ever written.  As tall and masculine as Varek, he's fair with blond hair and leaner.  But it isn't in his physical being that Amon is appealing but in the way he exudes power.  The challenge was to make sure scenes with Varek and Amon didn't become testosterone contests, so I had to be very conscious of how I structured their scenes together.  More than once I'd write an entire scene and then go back and decide that this one had to be silent or that one had to facially show more than he was to allow each male to come through without overwhelming one another.  While Amon is certainly more powerful because he's been given extraordinary abilities neither Varek nor Callia possess (and 99% of their fellow Aeveren don't either), I didn't want him to be the focus of the book.  However, he gets his own story in one of the sequels, Destiny Renewed. 

So far, 2011 has been a wonderful year for my writing.  Readers are interested in my characters and the story of Stolen Destiny, and the sequels are coming along really well.  I hope to have Destiny Renewed finished before summer and the next book finished later this year.  In addition, I decided that the series will end with four books, so that will leave one more that I'm still firming up plans for in my head.  Finally, I've been mapping out some plans for a new book that may end up as straight fiction instead of romance.  That one is still in the earliest stage, but I'm eager to begin jotting down some real ideas to get that one going.

Researching The Hero's Past

I write paranormal romance, so usually that means I'm limited only by my imagination, but my characters all have pasts that span many years, so for those parts of my stories, usually found in flashbacks, I have to do research.  Sometimes I choose to either place my characters in time periods I know quite well (I am a history instructor, so my areas of specialty are easy choices for me) or I choose to place them in eras that are less historically important but geographically important.  I try to stay away from major events, such as wars, because I find they can become time drains and make the story go off the rails quite quickly.

Today I spent some good time researching late 18th century England for my lead male character in the book I'm currently writing. I had to decide where in England to place him and what to make him (duke, earl, etc. or landed gentry).  I chose landed gentry because I didn't want to get too heavily involved in the titles and everything else that comes along with peerage.  My knowledge of English history is fair, but I have to admit I'm a bit lacking in the details of the late 1700s in England.  In addition, I can usually say that my knowledge of any time period's culture is only fair, other than in my specialties, because I'm overall a political/military historian. 

So off to the books and internet I went, and I had a great time doing it!  The chapter flowed beautifully with the knowledge I gained, and I'm so pleased with my progress today.  I'll finish the chapter tomorrow, and then it's back to the present for my hero and me. 

Gabrielle

Paranormal Romance

There are many types of romance, but paranormal has become very popular recently.  I know I love a good vampire story, but I've also been enjoying stories about angels too. And a good shapeshifter is always welcome. 

I chose to create a new race of beings because I had an idea but didn't see how it fit with any established being.  However, this has made some people think my stories, Stolen Destiny and the two others I'm writing-Broken Destiny and Destiny Renewed-are fantasy or science fiction.  They definitely are not! 

Paranormal romance is focused on the romance and has elements of the fantastic included.  Fantasy is focused on what could happen in this world or any other world, while science fiction is focused on what can happen based on the available science and its applications.

There is no science in my books, but there is a lot of romance.  There are elements of the fantastic in some of my characters, particularly since one possesses the power to manipulate time and others have the powers of telepathy and teleportation.  But those powers are never the focus of the story.  They are simply part of the characterization.  In addition, my characters live numerous lives through reincarnation.  This allows me to create a history for each character that is limited only by where I want to take them.  So one lived a life in the Roman Empire and 18th century England, while another lived in 19th century revolutionary Mexico. While these experiences are shown only through their memories, it allows me to create layered heroes and heroines (along with villains!) who are so very interesting.

What's at the heart of my stories is the relationship between two people, who while they aren't human, are very similar to human beings.  They live their lives, searching for happiness, and dealing with the issues that all people deal with. Well, not just like the rest of us since this is romantic fiction. ;)

I find for now the paranormal sub genre of romance is where I like to write.  I enjoy being able to place my characters in situations that allow the use of the supernatural because while they are extraordinary, they are still very easy for readers to relate to.