Samhain Publishing

Sometimes its okay to just kick back and smile.

www.jcwilder.com

One of the best feelings in the world is when a new book is released. So many hours are spent hunched over your computer gently coaxing the best out of a messy pile of words that you lose sight of the goal.

Then suddenly it’s time. You have to step back and watch with your heart in your throat as your creation takes its first wobbly steps. Will it walk? Fall down? Spill fruit punch on the white carpeting of the publishing world?

Yes I do feel like Dr. Frankenstein every time!

Reinventing Jane Porter has hit the virtual shelves today and I couldn’t be more thrilled. This novella is the third installment in the Jane Porter series and it has a sexy menage, a cranky ex-lover and a surprise ending even I didn’t see coming. I hope you’ve enjoyed the Jane Porter series and I look forward to writing more stories with these wonderful characters.

In The Beginning…
By J.C. Wilder

For me, there is nothing more intimidating than a blank computer screen. If I could, I would pay someone to start my novels for me. Since that isn’t going to happen, I’d better start from the beginning – literally.

For many writers, the first thing that happens in the creative process is characters suddenly intrude into your daily life. Fully formed, walking and talking – you see and hear them as plain as day. Excited over their arrival, you listen to the story of their lives before sitting down to write and…nothing happens. Or what you end up writing is nothing like you’d imagined.

So why is that?

The universal truth among every writer on the planet is that there will ALWAYS be a gap between your imagination and what appears on your page. Imagine the story-writing process as an onion. With the addition of each layer (rewriting, editing, adding description) the onion, like your story, will be fuller and rounder. But, before we get to that point, we have to write the beginning.

In an ideal world, an editor would give your book the time and attention that you, the author, puts into it. Wouldn’t you love to know that an editor is going to curl up, undisturbed, in an armchair with a cup of cocoa and your enthralling manuscript? Not only will they love every word, but also they will buy it immediately and with no revisions necessary.

I’ve got news for you, it isn’t going to happen.

Chances are the editor will be interrupted at least a dozen times with phone calls, faxes and meetings. This means that you, as a writer, need to grab their attention and keep it from word one.

So let’s start with the very beginning, the hook.

What is a hook? A hook is the opening sentence(s) of your novel that will grab your reader’s attention and suck them into your work. The hook should give your reader someone or a situation to focus on. An example of a good hook is the opening line from Theresa Weir’s 1998 release, SOME KIND OF MAGIC:

There were certain inevitabilities in life.
Like the light at the end of the tunnel almost always being a train. Like the more you cared about people, the more likely you were to lose them.
Here was a new one.
The plane was going to crash.
Hmm, he thought. We’re going to crash.

How about the following passage from PROMISE ME TOMORROW, a 2000 release from Candace Camp:

The child lifted her head sleepily and looked at the man across from her in the carriage. She blinked, then scowled.
“You’re a bad man.”
The man glanced at her and sighed. “Hush. We’re almost there.”

So what do these hooks have in common?

On the surface, very little. In the first one, a man is about to go down in a plane crash while in the second we have a child in possible jeopardy.

Are the situations something you can relate to?

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane in bad turbulence, one of the first things that goes through your mind might be whether or not the plane will actually stay up in the air. As for the second one, who wouldn’t feel some protective instincts arise at the thought of a child in danger?

Was it interesting you enough to want to keep on reading? I know it was for me and I loved both books. I just had to keep reading to find out if the plane actually went down and if the child was rescued.

That is the point of a hook.

Now that you have hooked your reader – what are the basic elements you need to finish your first scene? Strong characterizations and a suitable conflict.

As I said earlier, the purpose of a hook is the give the reader someone or something to focus on. In the case of romance novels, this is usually the hero or heroine. Let’s take a look at the opening scene of PROMISE ME TOMORROW:

Marianne drew a deep breath as she surveyed the glittering crowd. She had never been to a party this large nor one filled with so many titled people. She wondered what they would think if they knew she was plain Mary Chilton from St. Anselm’s Orphanage, not the genteel widow Mrs. Marianna Cotterwood.
She smiled to herself. The thing she enjoyed the most about her pretense was the idea of pulling the wool over the eyes of the aristocracy, of conversing with some blue-blooded member of the ton – who would have been horrified if he had known that he was speaking to a former chambermaid as if to an equal.

What do we learn from this opening?

First, the character, Marianne has never been to a party quite as impressive as this one and she is uneasy about it. Two, she has arrived under an assumed name. Three, this is something she has done before. Four, she enjoys her pretense thus implying a cynical edge to her personality when it comes to the gentry.

Get the picture?

Now that you have the characterization, let’s talk about conflict. Conflict occurs when something is not going as expected and the reader should be aware of the impending conflict from early on. When dealing with a short story, the conflict should be indicated on the first page. In a novel, you have more time to develop it, however, you should give an indication of the conflict to come.

As an example, let’s examine the following passage from SOME KIND OF MAGIC:

Her scalp tingled.
“Anton?”
In one of her daydreams, before she found out that Anton had left her for the old broad, she’d imagined him returning to her, injured and helpless. She would nurse him back to health so they could once again make passionate love.
She was beginning to think that the sound behind her seat had been nothing more than the ringing of her own ears, when something cold and hard pressed against the back of her head.
Her heart stopped.
Claire had never had a gun pressed to her head, nor any other part of her body, but if she had, she was fairly certain it would feel like this. Exactly like this.
Cold.
Hard.

What is the conflict in this scene?

Claire has gotten into her car expecting to go home. Instead, she hears something in the backseat and it sets her nerves on edge. She’s dreamed about the day that her ex-boyfriend will return to her, needing her, instead she gets a gun to the back of her head.

Is that conflict?

You betcha.

Now that you have the basic building blocks to craft your beginning, you can now sit down and start that book! Better get moving as next time we’ll be talking about that all-important second scene.

J.C. Wilder lives in Central Ohio with three dogs and thousands of dust bunnies. Her thirty-something book, Winter’s Daughter, is available from Samhain Publishing.

Just yesterday Facebook announced that anything you post on your facebook page becomes their property to do with as they will. Today they have reversed that decision because they received a ton of complaints.

Can you say egg on your face?

In the United States, something you write is copyrighted the moment it comes out of your brain. Of course it has to be written – you can just have things floating around in the gray space and viola – accuse someone of stealing your work. Nice try though.

Back in the stone ages – writers would copyright their work by mailing a copy to themselves and the postage date would serve as the copyright.

It doesn’t work that way anymore. Now you have to file an official copyright (http://www.copyright.gov/register/performing.html) and pay 35.00 to receive a slip of paper in return. I consider this the cost of doing business. You wouldn’t drive your car without insurance so why would you take something you’ve slaved over for months and set it free without having some kind of protection?

Go forth and COPYRIGHT.

P.S. – Passing your ebooks to friends is also a copyright violation and it’s illegal. More and more publishers are beginning to take these people to court. So ask yourself, is a 5.00 ebook worth a possible fine of tens of thousands of dollars? I don’t think so…

Ah yes…it’s that time again. The first two Paradox titles are now available in paperback. Woot!

So what are they about?

I’m so pleased you asked. These books are the brainchild of Rosemary Laurey and myself. They are super sexy fantasy romances (think Conan the Barbarian) each with an interesting twist…and no I’m not tellin’! Here are the blurbs from each title:

Sacrifice – Book I
“Heart of the Raven” by J.C. Wilder
Sold into slavery to an Overseer of the Realm, Dani is determined to win her freedom and make sure her heart is possessed by no man.

For Haaken, time is running out. A family curse already condemns him to the form of the Raven and when he can find the one woman meant for him, only then will he be free.

Too bad for both of them that this woman is determined to belong to no one…

“Fly With A Dragon” by Rosemary Laurey
A virgin sacrifice, a not-so ravening dragon and a happy ever after.

Selected as the virgin sacrifice to the ravening dragon, Myfanwy awaits as Arragh, the fiery Dragon of Calder Bala, approaches across the sacred grove.

But Arragh comes not to destroy. Instead he carries Myfanwy off to his domain in the far mountains, and a fate far, far better than death.

Deep Waters, Book II

“Nova” by J.C. Wilder
In the sequel to Heart of a Raven (Paradox I), Nova is on the verge of seeing her life’s ambition come true when she wins a Merman in a card game. Now she’s on the run with her unwanted companion, and with her future in the balance, she finds that the pursuit of her goals could cost this man his life.

“Adriana” by Rosemary Laurey
A lifelong vow of revenge, magic and a love that transcends both.

Adriana has dedicated herself to the destruction of the invading Astrians who murdered her family and destroyed her village. But when she meets an honorable Astrian, she is torn between her lust for revenge and the unexpected love for her a avowed enemy.

I’m sure by now everyone has heard that the Writer’s Guild of America is on strike. Other than some of your favorite shows going on an early hiatus, what does this mean to you?

Say you’re a cake decorator and you’ve spent six months perfecting your recipe and your design. The bakery, who pays your check, compensates you for your time, then proceeds to sell your recipe, your design and pieces of your cake while they rake in the cash. They’re making money (and publicity) off your product while you receive nothing extra.

Messed up isn’t it?

In a simplified fashion, this is what is going on with the Hollywood Writers.

Ten years ago DVDs, internet streaming downloads, and internet purchase downloads didn’t exist. Now that the movie / tv studios are making money hand over fist with these new technologies while the writer is making nothing more than their standard pay.

A good example is the HBO show, The Sopranos. HBO took in 300 million on Sopranos DVD sales then took in another 200 million when they sold the series to the A&E channel. Yes, I said, 500 million dollars.

What did the writers receive?

Nothing. Not even a kiss on the cheek.

The very popular show, UGLY BETTY, can be viewed online for free and there are commercials embedded in the feed. Commercials that advertisers paid for. The studio claims it is promotional while the writers receive…nothing. Now, how can the studios pull in monies from advertising yet tell the writers that is promotional. Trust me, the IRS doesn’t recognize ‘promotional’ income any differently than income from straight sales.

The fiction / non-fiction writing market is also dealing with this issue. Fifteen years ago there were two basic markets, Audio and Print. Now that the electronic media has come into being, what some publishers are doing with regards to paying the authors for this new venue is a crime, IMHO.

A standard NY house pay scale is between 2 – 10% of a paperback sale price. So here comes the e-market which has quite a few advantages for the publisher:
– intangible asset, no warehousing required
– low overhead, the file is already 90% in line with the ebook format when its sent to the printer. At this point all it needs is a reformat to the standards and it’s a saleable product.
– no editing, paper, supplies etc – only space on a website

So how much (on average) are the authors receiving for this new, viable media?

4 – 6%.

Now, reread the paragaph above about the standard NY house pay scales, I’ll wait.

Do you see what I’m getting at? The house is still making the usual paperback rate for this new media (which is crazy IMO – but lets not go there) while the author gets the same or LESS than the rate for a paperback – a product with considerable overhead.

I think it’s safe to say the days of most companies looking out for their writers has gone the way of the dinosaurs. We are no longer artists, we’ve been forced into the role of content providers. What they do is special, magical, and they shouldn’t have to deal with their employers giving their work away for free. While I do not write for the television / movie industry, I support their strike wholeheartedly. It’s past time for writers to stand up and remind the industry of the value of their work.

Besides, when your favorite shows go into repeats, what would be better than supporting your favorite writers and picking up a book?

Recently a friend and I were having lunch and someone at the next table was reading an article about the band, Aerosmith. On the page was a large photo of Stephen Tyler, the band’s singer, showing every crack and wrinkle in his impossibly yummy face.

My friend, “Man, he hasn’t aged very well.”

Me. “Who are you kidding? He’s in his fifties, had sex with half the women on the planet, smoked more dope than Columbia can grow in a year and probably has a liver resembling swiss cheese.”

My friend. “Well, he’s really starting to look his age-”

Me. “Hell, I was looking my age at 17, that’s when my chin began to breed other chins so as to not be lonely any longer.”

We live in a shallow, superficial society that doesn’t want us to be happy with our bodies. The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion dollar money maker while diet pills / plans rake in another billion or so per year – they are making money by causing people to feel bad about themselves.

Who’s the sucker?

The moment we see a blemish or wrinkle, the word plastic surgery crosses our lips. We eat a healthy lunch then immediately want to drive to the surgeon’s office to he can lipsuction the lettuce leaves with no dressing from our butts.

WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??

I can’t help but think the lines on someone’s face tells the story of their lives. You see the women with the plastic surgery and their faces are a smooth expressionless mask. Is that how the feel on the inside? Empty? Blank? Shallow?

Then you meet the woman with the laugh lines (not crows feet for crying out loud – crows don’t have THAT many toes) and she’s the one who is quick to smile and her eyes dance with amusement. Is that how she feels inside?

In the movie STEEL MAGNOLIAS, Dolly Parton has a line something like, “time marches on then you realize it’s marching across your face.”

So true.

I embrace my wrinkles and my gray hair – it is the story of my life and I’ve earned every one of them. They are as familiar to me as my name and I have no desire to surgically change that either. When did it become a crime in this country to embrace the glorious creature you are with no modifications, no knives and stiches, just life?

As for Stephen Tyler, I don’t care if his face resembles a Shar Pei dog – that man is HOT, ladies. Just looking at his mouth has me reaching for the ice water.

I’m not a big advocate of plastic surgery but I do understand why people want it. Who wouldn’t like to look in the mirror and see someone who is fresh and smiling? Smooth skin along the jaw, perky nose, brows that arch for a change…

I’m pretty sure my mirror is kin to the Portait Of Dorian Grey. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go look it up, you’re too young to be reading this anyway! )

I took a few hours off from my bungie-jumping, tequila drinking, worm-eating life to lie on the bed and let the television watch me for a while. Imagine my shock when I woke up and it was one of those plastic surgery shows on Discovery Health.

In my stupor I watched them do a ‘mommy makeover’. In my mind a mommy makeover would consist of taking a long, hot shower and shaving the legs. Even though I don’t have kids I do know that once you have kids the days of quality time in the bathroom is over…

So anyway, on the show a mommy makeover consisted of a brow lift, live fill (where they take fat from you tummy and inject it in the creases around your nose and mouth) neck lift and neck liposuction.

EEWWWWWW!

I do understand the lure of cosmetic surgery and I admit I had some done about seven years ago. (Laser hair removal – its FABULOUS) But putting belly fat in your face?? What happens if they accidently suck your belly button into the needle? Do you have to spend the rest of your life with a belly button on your face?

Heaven forbid if they capture a stretch mark and move THAT to your face.

So I say here and now ladies – embrace your sagging brows and chicken necks. Take back your sagging breasts and belly pouch! You are beautiful, proud and you are WOMAN.

Now own it!

Can I get a holla??

When I was a child, my mother always told me that time would pass faster as I grew older. Of course I didn’t believe her, I mean, it took FOREVER to reach sixteen so I could get my license to drive. Then, the two years to reach eighteen so I could drink, Oy Veh, who knew those years would take eons to pass? And forget turning twenty-one, I would die of sheer boredom before I’d get there!

Now that I am 41-about-to-turn-42-in-five-months, I finally have to admit my mother was right.

Looking back over the years between sixteen and almost forty-two, it seems like they went by in a flash. One moment I was wearing slinky t-shirts with nothing underneath, now I have to shower in a bra or face tripping over my breasts. What gives??

On the morning of my fortieth birthday my breasts hit the floor before my feet did. How does that happen? I didn’t have children, I certainly didn’t breast feed – how did the twins become so long and pendulous? If I were to take up jogging (like THAT would ever happen) I’d have to use industrial strength tie-downs to keep the girls from blackening my eyes or breaking my knees.

Another little gem is the bags under my eyes. When I was younger I did have a slight shade there and I always thought it made me look Mata Hari mysterious. Now I just look like I’ve rolled out of bed with no sleep no matter what time of day it is. When I do actually get dressed up and make an attempt to wear makeup, I use concealer like spackle on a bad wall. It’s bad enough to trip over my breasts let along the bags under my eyes.

And what’s up with THE HAIR? I don’t get it. I turn forty and I can now grow a beard thicker than most men at twenty-two. I especially enjoy it when I find a six inch hair growing off my chin. Yeah, I really love those little gems. The ultimate pleasure is when my eyebrows declare anarchy by marching across my face to create a unified front. That’s when I have to divide and conquer by grabbing the grass trimmer and beat them into submission.

Then there is this sudden desire for GRANNY PANTIES? I used to adore lingerie and yes, I do know Victoria’s Secret and I ain’t telling. I remember going to the store with my mother and Grandmother as they picked up voluminous drawers for both of them to wear. I would turn up my pert little nose and head for the butt floss section, happy in the knowledge that never, ever would I wear bloomers.

Then comes that day you’re in the store and the long, legged drawers catch your attention and you think to yourself, “You know, if I wore these with my dress I wouldn’t have to wear a slip.”

You might as well hang it up at that point, you’ve already lost the war without being aware a battle was being waged.

I have a confession to make. I am 41-about-to-turn-42-in-five-months and yes, I wear the industrial undies. I only buy the kind that are long enough to cover my breasts (which isn’t hard since they’re down around my knees anyway) and my ever-widening backside. I lie to myself and say the butt floss doesn’t cut it anymore as I’d probably have to go to the GYN to have them fished out at this point so it is better that I wear something just a little roomier.

The reality is my panties have enough cloth to make a tent for a large family of refugees.

The best part of all is when you realize your pubic hair is now turning grey…but let’s save that for another day. Right now I need to go find Ms. Clairol, that wench has some serious work to do.

http://www.jcwilder.com