When Authors Do Too Much

Something my fellow Fierce Romance author Natasha Moore said to me over the summer sparked this blog. She told me she felt guilty about not writing while she was on vacation. It’s a comment that was backed up recently by author (and ex-agent) Nathan Bransford in a blog he titled: When It Feels Like You’re Never Doing Enough.

Writers are the only people I know of who feel guilty about taking a day off. Most people love time away from their job, but for us writers, there’s always a nagging feeling lurking in the back of our minds that “I could be writing right now,” or worse, “I should be writing right now.”

There have been weekends when I’ve sent my husband off to the movies by himself just so I could spend those two hours working on my current WIP.  There are nights when I skip sitting beside him on the couch watching Hawaii 5-0 and instead sit in front of the computer (and believe me, it’s damned difficult to give up an hour looking at gorgeous Alex O’Loughlin)!

So how much is too much? How do you find balance between a writer’s life and real life? 

I suppose it would be easier if writers could sit at their computer and just turn on a switch to fire up their Muse. If I could work a solid eight hours and get lots of pages written, I wouldn’t feel so guilty about quitting at six o’clock, just like I do at my day job. Maybe it’s because I’m a pantser rather than a plotter that being consistently productive is so uncertain for me. But really, I believe the Muse is a fickle friend. She can’t be told what to do (or when). So when a writer is ‘in the zone,’ it’s a beautiful thing and she is not to be disturbed!

Trouble is, that zone could come at any time, so we have to be ready for it 24/7. Which means family sometimes takes a back seat. Which can make for guilt all around. Guilt that you’re neglecting your most important personal relationships if you write, or guilt that you’re neglecting the creative force that drives us to write if you don’t.

So… How do YOU handle the demands of being a writer?

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

Off To England!

My fellow Fierce Romance blogger Leigh Court and I are off to England for a fun-filled (er, I mean research-focused) ten-day trip.

Leigh will probably have pictures for you by her next blog post on July 26.  Since Leigh writes historical romance, she’s insisting we take archery lessons and learn the finer points of falconry while we’re there. We'll probably be visiting ruins of old castles as well. On the other hand, she’s letting me drag her to a Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park in London! This is why we get along so well J

Who knows? If we get really lucky, we may be in England when Duchess Kate gives birth! I’d love to be part of the country-wide celebrations.

So ‘cheerio’ until next month!

Cheers,
Jenna
www.jennaives.com

 

Memorable Opening Lines

How important are opening lines to a book’s success? Editors tell writers that opening lines are essential to grab their (and a reader’s) attention, but honestly, how many opening lines can YOU remember? Even of famous books?

As an erotic romance author, I’ve tried to follow this sacred Rule Number One, and hook a reader from the very beginning of a story. Here’s a sampling…

“Isabella Tallin was handcuffed and blindfolded. What the hell was going on?”  (from my case-of-mistaken-identity contemporary erotic romance The Initiation of Isabella)

“Today was Saturday. That meant sex with Doc tonight.” (from my contemporary erotica amnesia story Snow White And Her Seven Lovers)

“Agent Turner, I’m sending you undercover as a Beautiful Dolls sex robot.”  (from my futuristic police erotic romance Programmed For Pleasure.)

What do you think? Would those opening lines tempt you to want to read more about the story? Are they enough of a hook for you as a reader?

Let’s compare those opening lines to some classic romances.

From Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell… “Scarlet O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.”

From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald… “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”

From Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte… “I’ve just returned from a visit to my landlord – the solitary neighbor I shall be troubled with.”

Well? Would these classic opening lines be enough of a hook to make you buy the book? Or is it the story as a whole that makes it a classic? As an author or a reader, what do you think of the importance of opening lines?

Jenna Ives

www.jennaives.com

Starting A Novel

For me as an author, the hardest part about writing a novel is… starting. Where exactly do you begin? An introduction of your characters seems like the obvious place, but it risks boring a reader with details. Starting out with action is probably better, but then a reader might not know what the heck is going on or who these characters are.

See? Writing is hard.

Writing a sequel is even more intimidating.  Feedback from fans about my futuristic erotic romance Programmed For Pleasure has been wonderful, and more than one reader has asked for a sequel – specifically for Tau Cetus police agent Leith Wyatt, my Programmed For Pleasure heroine Jai Turner’s yummy male partner.

So that’s what I’m working on right now. Leith’s story will be called Programmed To Protect.

But I can’t figure out how to start the story with characters that some readers already know well. Do I recap Programmed For Pleasure through dialogue in the first chapter so new readers know the past history, or is that too much of an info dump?  Do I jump right into the action and then feed in teaser bits of the previous story so readers realize there was a Book One?

GAK! Writing is hard.

My gut tells me to start with the action, so that’s where I’m leaning. I plan to have Leith Wyatt fill the reader in on past events as he thinks about them throughout the book, which will serve two purposes: it’ll refresh the memory of readers who enjoyed the first story, and let new readers know the background of what went on before now in these characters’ lives.

Makes sense, right? But I’ll be darned if I can follow my own advice. I’ve already started Chapter One three times.

I’m tearing my hair out.

As a compromise, I’ve abandoned Chapter One for now, and jumped right into the action for Wyatt. By Chapter Two, he’s already had a confrontation with his antagonist and slept with his heroine. (Hey, I write erotic romance. The sex has to happen right away J)  To make things easier on myself, I’ve left the stress and angst of starting the book until later, maybe even until after I’ve finished the book.  It’s certainly given me free rein to immerse myself in the fun stuff – the story of how Wyatt will save the planet.

And who knows? Maybe Chapter Two will become Chapter One, and I won’t have to worry about it at all.

Or maybe not. Maybe the story needs to be grounded somehow at the beginning…

Jeez...writing is hard.

What about you? Ever have trouble with the beginning of a story? Tell me! Misery loves company!!

Jenna Ives

www.jennaives.com

Words With Friends

I’m obsessed with words. Have been ever since I was around age nine. While other kids were reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books, I was busy reading Roget’s Thesaurus, fascinated with how many ways there were to say ‘concise’ – terse, pithy, epigrammatic, curt, succinct, abrupt, need I go on? It made me feel special when I could confound my elementary school friends using sophisticated-sounding words.

Is it any wonder I became an author?

I believe words have great power. They can rouse a crowd to action, they can bring you to tears, they can live forever in your memory. I mean, who doesn’t remember Renee Zellweger's line to Tom Cruise, “You had me at hello” from the movie Jerry Maguire?

So it’s probably no surprise that, as an author, I’m currently obsessed with the game Words With Friends. (My fellow Fierce Romance blogger Natasha Moore can attest to this, LOL). Remember the news report of actor Alex Baldwin being thrown off an airplane waiting to take off because he refused to turn off his cell phone in the middle of an exciting game of Words? I’m almost as bad.

Currently, I have something like 22 games going with 6 different people.  Whenever one of us wins or loses and I want a rematch, I often get that dreaded message, “OOPS! You have too many active games” to start another one.

Playing with my aunt is the worst (or the best, considering your perspective). She taught English in college, and we get into some fast-and-furious, exhilarating games. When I play with her I need at least an hour free, because no matter what time of day I send her a word, she’ll answer me within 15-seconds. I think she must have her iPad Velcro-ed to her hip or something. The highest score she ever had against me was 102-points for the word ‘cistern.’ Yep, she landed on a triple letter and triple word for that one!

Although… I must admit the game sometimes has a tendency to go too far. My frustrated brother quit playing with me after I posted the word ‘vert’ to win a game. I got a text back from him saying ‘What the heck does ‘vert’ mean?’ To which I replied, ‘I don’t know…I think it’s the opposite of ‘revert.’ I haven’t spoken to him in a week.

In defense of my obsession, I will say that I HAVE learned several new words (something this wordsmith never thought possible). I don’t know where I’d ever use these, but degum, gink, dree, copal, volant, quern and djin are now part of my vocabulary. Those jewels are courtesy of my sister-in-law, although personally I think she uses Scrabble Cheat to come up with them.  I mean, degum? Really? Is that a word a person uses in everyday conversation? On the other hand, she IS a mother of two active boys, so maybe she’s had to de-gum their clothes from time to time… At least I *think* that’s what degum means.

I hope whoever invented Words With Friends is now a gazillion-aire. He/she definitely deserves it. The game is addicting, mesmerizing, enslaving, habit-forming, darn it there I go again! See? I’m obsessed with words. Thank goodness I picked the right career for it.

 

What about you? As a writer, author or reader, do you love words? Do you play Words With Friends?

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

The Romance Reviews 2nd Anniversary bash

The Romance Reviews (www.theromancereviews.com) is celebrating its 2^nd Anniversary March 1 – 31 with a blowout bash, and you’re all invited!

I will be participating in the event on March 22, giving away a fee e-copy of my futuristic erotic romance Programmed For Pleasure.  More than 200 authors and publishers are part of the month-long event.

All you have to do to be eligible to win a copy of my book on March 22 is to answer this question: what’s the color of  Tau Cetus undercover police agent Jai Turner’s eyes?  (Hint: read an excerpt on my website at: http://www.jennaives.com.)

You can also play games during the event, win prizes, and meet and chat with your favorite authors!

So stop by The Romance Reviews anytime during March and help celebrate their 2^nd Anniversary! More information at:  http://www.theromancereviews.com/event.php

Hope to see you there!
Jenna
www.jennaives.com