Snow!

We’re supposed to get a few inches of the white and fluffy stuff today. I hope we do. It’ll be several more inches up in the higher elevations, but down here it should be just enough to look really pretty but not so much that we can’t get out of our driveway.

Other than that, writing writing writing. Almost done with The Book. And still contemplating “fabulous reality”, because that is what I try very hard to create in every book, in every scene. Fiction is not real, but the story should feel emotionally true, true from the character’s perspective, and should have its own reality that is grounded in believable detail. If the scene is fully realized, vividly imagined and carefully described, the reader can vividly imagine it, too. I’m not talking about pages of scenery description, but those grounding details that capture a moment and bring it to life.

Where’s the confetti?

Somebody’s due for a parade! HUGE congrats to Lori Armstrong aka Lorelei James, who is not only an awesome writer and cool chick in two genres, she’s got a big deal for her new mystery series! And a hilarious video.

Also, Michelle Pillow is a Brava Novella finalist. Woo!

Um, the only news here is that once again a herd of elk are blocking the Forks airstrip. Good thing other people have exciting news. 😆 Go congratulate these hardworking and genuinely nice women!

December books

I am going to have myself a massive book spree in the near future. There are a couple of December releases I’ve been looking forward to for some time: Jennie Lucas’ first Harlequin Presents is on sale at eHarlequin for 2.99! How can you pass up that stocking stuffer? Sam Hunter’s Talking In Your Sleep is out from Blaze! 3.99, oh how I love eHarlequin. And then there’s Sarah McCarty’s Spice debut, Caine’s Reckoning.

What else should I be tossing in my shopping cart? Got any great books on your list?

Why didn’t somebody remind me?

Turns out yesterday was Monday. I forgot. So, no Monday poetry. I’m in that stage of being so deep in a book that it’s hard to see out; my head is too full of this other reality. I tend to be mildly distracted that way as the norm, but in the Book Ate My Brain stage, it’s beyond distracted.

I actually like this stage, because I got into this gig to put my vivid imagination to work and I like to fully utilize it. I always got bored with my jobs because they didn’t require enough of my brain. Writing takes all of my brain, which can be really neat, but it does tend to cause Post Book Hangover, when it’s over and the characters move out and Elvis has left the building. Suddenly the intense experience of carrying around this alternate reality is just…gone.

Which is why there’s always another book to write. Anyway, happy Tuesday, world. I’d say more, but the book ate my brain.

On writing sex…

Elizabeth Bear nails it.
“Here’s an interesting thing. What do you suppose the purpose of a sex scene is, in literature? Well, unless you are writing erotica, it’s there to… develop plot, reveal character, create tension, worldbuild, and entertain. If you are writing erotica, it should do all those things, and be hot, also.”

Amen. Read the full article, she gets into the nuts and bolts of writing sex.

And I’m wrapping up the discussion at the Cherry Forums, so today’s your last day to ask me about writing the steamy stuff or discuss Wild Wild West! I’ll be checking in periodically.