Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

If you’ve been writing for a while, you’ve probably heard this question: Where do you get your ideas?

I was thinking about it this morning while reading the msnbc.com news feed. Each post is one sentence long. Some examples from today:

· Two people who’d moved into a northern New Jersey townhouse a day earlier have died in a fire that started in their kitchen and spread upstairs.

· Thieves staged a Hollywood-style heist at a pharmaceutical warehouse over the weekend and made off with about $70 million in antidepressants and other prescription drugs, authorities said Tuesday.

· The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in a small town: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

I got to thinking—that sounds like a list of novel ideas.

Also, I’m sure you’re on Twitter, right? Each post is limited to 140 characters. Some tweets I’ve seen recently:

· Well how about that. My moon is in the seventh house. Wonder if Jupiter is aligning with Mars…
· I love my chicken salad! It’s pretty boring though compared to the stuff they sell around here.
· I didn’t have money either; my stipend & research grant went to my trip to Taiwan & a laptop

With a little imagination, there’s novel fodder there, too.

Ever notice signs? My third Nano novel was inspired by a small sign in my doctor’s office: Please Bring All of Your Medications With You.

Oh, and the headlines on msn’s homepage (I’m sure the same types of things are on yahoo and others’ homepages):

· Injured dog limps into emergency room
· Shakespeare meets Lebowski
· She invited folks to whip her
· Mom & daughter reunite after 50 years

Short and to the point—just the hook, ma’am. The one about the thieves and the pharmaceuticals sounded interesting, and I jotted down a note. I saw a tweet a couple of weeks ago I was absolutely convinced was novel material. I wrote the story, but it only ended up being short story material. Ah well. But the point is this: an idea will grab you—quick and dirty, that’s the ticket.

www.readmoore.com

This winter might be on its way out but...

This winter might be on its way out but the next one will b here before we know it. In order to ensure that next winter is steaming hot, I’ve put out a call for Samhain Publishing’s Red Hot Winter Anthology.

Help!!! Where Are All the Romances???

Hey all,

Today’s blog is a reprint of one I’ve done elsewhere, but the internet here in Singapore is iffy at best, so this is the best I could do this time. But it’s such an eyeopening subject (at least for me) I thought you all might be interested as well.

It’s about something that anyone who knows me at all will understand how very important it is. In fact, I think it’s one of the most important things on the planet. This is something we really take for granted over in the states. At least I do. So when I discovered the truth of it here, it kinda threw me for a loop. Curious yet?

Well, I’ve finally found something about Singapore I dislike. I wasn’t prepared for it. Hadn’t expected it in any way. And considering how important this certain thing is, I’m not sure I can live here any more. grin

Okay…no more teasing. Here’s the skinny.

Hazards of working from home

Repetitive Strain Injury.
Writer’s Bottom.
Feline-inflicted Injuries Due to Smacking Her When She Walks Across Keyboard.
Falling Asleep at Laptop and Accidentally Typing fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff For Six Hundred Lines.
Slowly Solidifying in Chair Due to Extreme Cold of Unheated House.

The alleviation of many of these conditions is a little tricky. I’m currently experimenting with a mix of pen and tablet, vertical mouse, mini keyboard, exercise DVD and water pistol.

I have, however, found what is, in my opinion, the Ultimate Cure for the last condition. I present it to you below.

Long Distance Letters

Once upon a time, when I was still in college, I met a boy. Well, he went to a different college than I did – we met at a summer party by a bonfire, and that was that. I know what you’re thinking, but no, we never dated. Instead, we began this very odd and interesting friendship based completely on letters. Interestingly enough, we’ve shared our lives with each other for the last twenty years almost entirely on paper.

New Release ~ Breaking Chance by Kim Knox

Breaking Chance came about as part of a challenge.
Set a story in space, give it a dark and dangerous hero, lots of naughtiness and a high body count. Really, how could I resist?

Blurb
What a girl wants and what a girl needs are sometimes two different things…

For Melissa “Lucky” Chance, another stretch in Ganymede’s ice prison is nothing new. The flash-freeze that’s supposed to destroy her will only leaves her with an insatiable desire for the first hot body she lays eyes on. Except this time, she faces a death sentence. Her only hope of escape lies with the man known as The Butcher.

John Ramius understands the logic behind his conviction as a criminally insane mass murderer. No man should have been able to slaughter over fifty men in as many minutes, but no one sees the underlying curse that compels him to sense—and fulfill—someone’s deepest need. Chance’s skill will free him to kill the Sun-King; he will find no rest until he does.

As they run from the forces of the Jovian colonies, Ramius finds himself temporarily sidetracked, not only by Chance’s relentless desire, but by her underlying, unspoken need. Ignoring it—or his own compulsion to do every wicked thing imaginable to her—is not an option.

Only after all their defenses are stripped away do they discover that their meeting wasn’t by chance. Someone is manipulating them both, and the only way out is the path to their destruction…

Product Warnings
This book contains explicit sex, thieves, murderers, a sentient ship and a hero who will give you exactly what you need. Not responsible for reader’s sudden compulsion to jump significant other’s bones.

There’s an excerpt here and a slightly naughtier one on my blog here
And you can buy it from MBaM here

New Release : Pride & Passion

I’m so excited that my release day is finally here! It’s been a while since I’ve had something new to celebrate!!
PRIDE AND PASSION
Jenna Bayley-Burke

He’ll let her have control…until he’s ready to make his move.

The only things Lily Harris inherits after her father’s untimely death are debt, scandal and loneliness. She doesn’t protest when her father’s business partner, Jake Tolliver, steps up to help with the mess she finds herself in—until Jake reveals the last promise he made to her father.

Jake may be as compelling to look at as a marble statue—and stir a frighteningly powerful desire within her—but no way will Lily agree to be his socially acceptable bride while he continues to bed his string of beautiful women—not without getting him to agree to a deal of her own first.

With a well-earned reputation as a feral hunter who goes after what he wants, Jake has his sights set on Lily, and her lack of options puts her right where he’s wanted her from the first moment he laid eyes on her.

Jake’s not above making Lily think she’s having it her way if that’s what it’ll take to have his way in the end. But once he grows tired of playing beast to her beauty, he’s not above changing the rules of the game until they’re both playing for the same prize.

Warning : This title contains a hero used to getting what he wants, a heroine determined not to give in to him, some indecent proposals, a fair amount of pride, and enough passion to burn up everyone’s control.”

Read an excerpt from Samhain

Read an excerpt from Books on Board

Exclusive Blog excerpt

Forgivable Flaws

Reading some of my old rejected pathetic manuscripts—did I mention pathetic?—has lead to me do some thinking about heroes in romances.

Cougar Falls

Cougar Falls, Montana is a magical place. The first time I wrote about it, I just knew I’d like to live there. A small town where folks take care of one another, where the sheriff upholds the law, the ice cream parlour has been up and running for decades, and seasonal town festivals celebrate goodwill. Except the only way to live in the town is to be born there. And to be born there, you need to be rather special. An Ac-taw—shapeshifter—or at least the descendant of one.

In Cougar Falls, there’s the catamount pride, the wolf clan, bear clan, raptor clan, and silver fox clan. And I’m sure there are a few other shifters who’ll show up from time to time. But if you’re not part of a clan or pride, you can’t live in Cougar Falls. The community’s safety comes first, and the town has been in place for hundreds of years because town folks subscribe to town law.

A Muse Me by Jenna Bayley-Burke

As the mother of three, one of whom is a twenty-month-old diva who doesn’t want to miss a minute on either side of midnight, I have plenty of time to daydream. Sometimes it’s about a self-cleaning house or a deserted stretch of beach with an ever-full margarita machine, but usually I ponder whatever story I’m trying to get on the page between naptime and after-school pick-up.

I take my characters with me to the gym, the grocery store, doctors’ offices, bakeries – heck I’ll even play with them while I’m stuck in traffic. It’s the everyday things that make characters real to me. It can also put them in some pretty interesting situations.

MSN.com had a headline about exploding toads and WHAM, they found their way into Par for the Course. Thank goodness there was a golf course with a few water hazards, or it might have been awkward. Good Morning America ran a piece about new exercise routines – aerobic striptease, couples yoga…and then The View had someone on talking about using Kama Sutra to reenergize your sex life. The two ideas blended together in my why-won’t-this-child-sleep-through-the-night haze and VOILA, Compromising Positions had a Sensational Sex yoga class — couples yoga to ease the more demanding postures from the Kama Sutra.

Characters drive the story, but having fun is what keeps me writing rather than giving in to the call of the afternoon nap! I looked forward every day to seeing how Ben would handle the toad carnage, how David would deal with Sophie’s advances. Just as I hope the stories keep a reader turning the pages, they kept me writing to see not what would happen next (I had that part plotted out) but how it would unfold.

My next story blossomed in much the same way. I was watching Beauty and the Beast with my boys while cleaning out old college files. I couldn’t seem to let go of any of my notes and papers on Jane Austen and her stories — Elizabeth Bennett and her preconceived notions, Emma Woodhouse and her sheltered devotion to her father. The Beast roared from the television and the boys demanded it be turned off, and so while they turned out attentions to Hot Wheels, my mind spun a story that combined Beauty & the Beast, Emma and Pride & Prejudice. Hey, it happens! It was such a joy to watch Lily’s vision of Jake change from a beastly ogre to a handsome reflection of love. Pride & Passion will be available next week.

Writing takes effort, don’t mistake my enjoyment for sheer entertainment. But even writers can glean entertainment from their work. You never know what might weave its way into a story…you’ve been warned. I can’t be held accountable for being inspired by anything you might say or do!

Jenna has a new ebook releasing next week. Pride & Passion comes complete with a hero used to getting what he wants, a heroine determined not to give in to him, some indecent proposals, a fair amount of pride, and enough passion to burn up everyone’s control.To find out what Jenna is up to …check out her website