Around the web

by | Apr 17, 2007 | Uncategorized

Jordan has news! If you haven’t congratulated her already, swing by and cheer.

Pixel-stained Technopeasant Day is April 23. I’m participating, being the firmly entrenched pixel-stained technopeasant that I am. My story will go live here on the blog and I’ll post a link to the other participants. Look for lots of great reads! I’ve already read one participating story and I can only say all political negotiation should be so fun.

The Fangs, Fur and Fey hook critique is underway. Recommended reading, very educational. There is a no flame, no cruelty policy, the goal is to help the unpublished participants learn to write better hooks. And since writing a query, blurb or synopsis is often the most difficult step for authors, we can all learn something from the posted critiques. I’m finding it helpful myself. The ones that work really stand out, and the break-down as to why one worked and another didn’t is very helpful.

Wild Wild West has back cover copy!

by | Apr 16, 2007 | Uncategorized

Here it is, all official!

In one of the most searingly erotic Westerns ever penned, Charlene Teglia breaches uncharted territory. But reader beware: this tale is hotter than hell. The faint of heart should turn back now…
Three city girls from Seattle are enjoying a night out at a chic coffee house in downtown Missoula, Montana, the heart of the old West. When a gang of cowboys mosey in looking for trouble, they find trouble of the best kind… and these boys are primed and ready to ride. There’s Gabe, a hard-bodied rancher who’s discovered some imaginative new uses for rope. Chet, a rodeo cowboy who’s charmed the pants off more than a few country girls and vows to remain a bachelor for life. And Reuben, a former Army ranger with a taste for edgy sexual games. As the couples embark on a scorching night of passion and play, they experience the most exquisite pleasure—and discover kinky new thrills they never dared to imagine. Because when it comes to knocking boots, cowboys do it best…

Stakes

by | Apr 16, 2007 | Uncategorized

Kristen Nelson is talking about “big” ideas for single title at RTB today. Great topic and I love how she addresses it, because the difference between category and single title really does come down to stakes and scope, structure, not “voice”.

I’ve seen the “the voice is too category for single title” and my knee-jerk reaction is “garbage”. No, not to my stuff, but it’s a common thing you’ll come across in group discussions, blogs, etc. And that’s rotten, because authors come away from that thinking it’s hopeless because their voice is their voice. Not thinking that the scope, the stakes, the structure is where the problem is. In other words, it’s not you. It’s the story.

When I read On Writing by Stephen King and he talked about how every idea is collapsible, I realized that the reverse is true. You can take a story and make it bigger or smaller, by altering the scope, the stakes, the number of characters and subplots. Another great look at this can be found in Writing the Breakout Novel.

The book I’m working on now for St. Martin’s (Fallen, Aug. 08) was originally proposed as a novella. To turn it into single title, I took my core idea and built in higher stakes, gave it more scope, a bigger cast of characters. I have more space for subplots and complexity. It’s really nice to revel in the SPACE I have to work with as opposed to a novella which has to be so tight. And the characterization can only be so deep, the conflict to be resolved can’t be too great to believably resolve in the length. Etc.

I really think once you understand story structure, you can do anything. Any length, any type of story. You just have to understand how to build it and scale your story accordingly.

I think Nalini Singh is a great example of this, when you look at her Desires and then her single titles, starting with Slave to Sensation. You can see the difference in the stakes and the scope. It’s not just word count that’s different. It’s not contemporary to paranormal. It’s a bigger story in Slave to Senation. Which isn’t to say she tells less of a story in category. Her Desires are fully realized, but built to scale to fit in category. The shorter length means you can’t have as big a scope to the story. (I think short can be very satisfying, by the way. If you do it right, a short story or a novella or a novel will all be a satisfying read, each built to scale.)