My Ten Books

by Maria Geraci

Ack! I hate to be a  copycat, but when I went to post this blog I saw that Bethany had done a similar post yesterday. Yet... I think this is one post that can be repeated. After all, we are writers and writers love nothing more than to read. So here I go.

You know all those annoying Facebook versions of chain letters? Where you get tagged by a friend and you're supposed to respond in some sort of fashion and tag others? I generally ignore that kind of thing mainly because it's too time consuming and eats into my precious writing time. But this was a request I couldn't ignore.

Rules: in your status post 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take more than a few minutes and don't think too hard. They don't have to be the "right" books or "great" books, just ones that have touched you. Tag friends and family and tag me so I can see your list!

Okay, this one I can work with.

Here goes (in no particular order):

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Little Women
3. Persuasion
4. The Stand
5. The Help
6. Frederica
7. These Old Shades
8. The Fault in our Stars
9. Anna and the French Kiss
10. The Count of Monte Cristo

Well, I can see a pattern. Sort of. I think it means I love romance (didn't need to do a list to figure that one out) and that Georgette Heyer was (and still is) a huge influence on romance writers. As for Stephen King's The Stand? Well, chalk that one up to great writing.

Take a second and make out your own list. It's fun!

Books That Stick

by Bethany Maines

A friend recently posted a list of books that have "stuck with him."  It was an interesting list featuring, among other things, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers. (For those who never read Encyclopedia Brown as a kid - you missed out.  Half Choose Your Own Adventure, half Sherlock Holmes each Encyclopedia Brown book required attentive reading so that the reader could solve the mystery along with the heroes.) But the list got me to thinking about books that have stayed with me. What makes a book stick? Maybe the right book has to arrive at the right time, or maybe a book has to articulate something that I was unable to express until the moment I saw the words on the page. Or in the case of some books... they just seem realer than real life.  So for what it's worth, here's my list of the top 5 books/book series that have stuck with me.

• Trixie Belden - This teenage sleuth was a tomboy with annoying siblings, and that sounded a lot more like pre-teen me than perfect Nancy Drew with her fancy car and friends.
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - My mother read us these books out loud (reading, it's what people do when they don't have a TV) when we were young.  I blame Eowyn for my life long desire to kick ass, take name, and defeat an Orc horde.
• The Ordinary Princess - A  little tale about a Princess who is blessed with the gift of being ordinary by her fairy godmother, what could be better than that?  Oh, how about the most adorable illustrations penciled by the author herself?  From the day I discovered this book, the author, M.M. Kaye, became my inspiration. I don't know if art and novel writing are a rare combination or if author's just aren't allowed to be something else, but what I know is that I want to do both and M.M. Kaye inspired me to reach for that dream.
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - Foisted on me as a birthday present, I didn't read it for years, mostly because the book jacket let me know that the hero's name was Hiro Protagonist.  I was put off.  I shouldn't have been.  Bouncing between religion, language, consumerism, cybernetics, and computer programming, the book honestly made me rethink some of my positions on those topics.
• Pyramids by Terry Pratchett - This was the first book I read in the Discworld series and it was the first "quirky" British style novel I'd ever read.  It was also the first time that I'd ever read something that sounded like the inside of my head, with parentheticals, footnotes, strange topic switches, and a loopy plot.  I didn't even know you could write like the inside of my head and get away with it.  I became a devoted follower of the Discworld and when I learned that Sir Pratchett had been stricken with an early onset Alzheimer's that was robbing of his ability to write, I was absolutely devastated.  The fact that he has carried on writing novels with the help of a tape recorder, a stenographer and some new drug treatment inspires me to get off my ass and write more as well.

That's my list.  What's on yours?


Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

So Long, Farewell... No, Don't Worry, I Won't Sing

By Laura Spinella

Today is my last Stiletto Gang post. Those who were with the blog a few years back graciously welcomed this then newbie author into the group. But as life and schedules and projects change, the time seems right for me to move on as well.  There are lots of new faces at the Stiletto Gang, and I look forward to popping in and reading your wonderful posts. I decided to stick with a pure "book blog" for my last post. This is about what drives my characters, the male ones in particular. It seems like an appropriate exit piece, as a love story will surely always be at the heart of my novels. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and thank you for letting me a part of the Stiletto Gang! 

                                                                     ***     

Years ago, I took an online romance writing class. The question came up: Within the genre, who makes for the best heroes?  Everyone was quick to agree that the standards were evident:  rich guy, bad boy, military hero, foreign entrepreneur, and various forms of cowboy/rancher. Each had something to bring to the table (read bed) in terms of romance. The one we all took a pass on was the blue-collar worker. For some reason, there seemed to be general agreement that the noble plumber or winsome mechanic would have trouble satisfying the role. Perhaps.  But I also believe a smokin’ hot construction worker, with the right skill set, could turn a head or two.

In my first novel, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, the hero was definitely my take on the bad boy persona.  Flynn is/was enigmatic, unpredictable and, well… smokin’ hot. Smokin’ hot if rough around the

edges and raw works for you.  Interestingly, at one book club gathering, a reader noted that Flynn might have benefited from a bath.  I shrugged. She didn’t get him, and that was okay with me.  To each her own… While I use four fast adjectives to describe BEAUTIFUL DISASTER’S protagonist, there was more to him than that. There was Flynn’s story and the way he felt about Mia.  Add to that his resiliency when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds and his deep-down noble character, which transcended circumstance. It was all these elements together that aided in winning readers for Team Flynn.

When I set out to write my next novel, which turned out to be PERFECT TIMING (newly released by Berkley), I found myself facing a curious challenge.  I needed another hero, but I had no desire to repeat a formula.  I had to think long and hard about who this guy would be and how his story differed.   In dreaming up Aidan Roycroft, I found that my muse insisted on certain opposites. Instead of edgy, I gave him confidence and talent.  Instead of the guy that made you glance twice because his looks were a dare, I gave Aidan golden-boy looks (but naturally I had to marr this by also branding him with a snake on his neck):   She opened the beer and guzzled it. Isabel’s eyes trailed over shaggy blond hair. The shade tended to fluctuate, framing a face that had hit the genetic lottery. There was no getting away from it. All of him was veiled in a satiny complexion, a blemish never the having the audacity to show up on Aidan Roycroft’s face. His eyes were more cornflower in September than sky in winter—Isabel Lang on Aidan Roycroft, Perfect Timing. Okay, so far so good.  Physically, I had a near perfect specimen.  Although, I should mention that in the very next line, Isabel goes on to list Aidan’s equally evident flaws—which, on occasion, included lazy, indulgent, and slightly self-centered—Isabel Lang, Perfect Timing.   

            I began to think about what all this might add up to in the “real world” and who a guy like that might

be.  After a bit of mental sketching and working with my then malleable subject, it occurred to me that I had all the makings of a rock star. I think in every woman’s mind there lives a rock star image that does it for her. Depending on your tastes in music, age, and socioeconomic background, that can range from a cleaner-cut John Mayer to Adam Levine to lead singer of the Muse, Matt Bellamy. And, of course, there are the classic rock star components that never fade—everyone from Mick Jagger to Jon Bon Jovi. Overall, an it factor drives the rock star, a presence that plays off but dominates over physical looks.  With these things in mind, I made it my business to make sure Aidan had all of these qualities and then some. Conversely, Aidan’s flaws, his story, the way he loves Isabel are what fills him in as a character and keeps him from the precipice of a cliché.  

Writing a book with a rock star at its epicenter was not on my to-do list. No one is more surprised than me to find Aidan Roycroft cast as the main character in a novel of mine. And before I go, let me tell you a little more truth. I signed up for that online romance writing class by accident—my love of romantic fiction coming from the click of a wrong key.  But years later, I’m wondering if that’s how it’s all supposed to work, discovering your passion—whether it’s a storyline, character or real romance—when you least expect it. Something to think about as we all continue on writing and living life.  

Laura Spinella is the author of the award-winning novel BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and the newly released PERFECT TIMING. Visit her at lauraspinella.net. 

A Life of Her Own

My husband came home after a run-in with someone at work who inherited wealth and who specializes in not doing the work she’s responsible for, creating discord and trouble for/with everyone who works with her, and then having loud, angry, public meltdowns to get her way. Husband’s the only one at work who will stand up to her, and once again he’d had to draw a line in the sand and tell her that her behavior was inappropriate. Our son asked how she can possibly expect to keep her job with such incompetence and unprofessional behavior. I told him she felt entitled because her inherited wealth had always cushioned her from consequences and quoted someone, as I often do. It could have been Helen Keller, Emerson, the Dalai Lama, Eleanor Roosevelt, but this time it wasn’t. I quoted from my newest book, Every Hidden Fear, which I’d just spent the day with as I pored over page proofs. “As Skeet says, ‘It’s amazing the crap people will put up with from someone with lots of money.’” 

My son looked at me with a little concern and said, “You do know Skeet’s not a real person, right? I mean, she’s not really alive. She didn’t really say that—you did.”

Of course, technically, he’s right. I write every word that comes out of Skeet’s mouth. But Skeet says and does things that surprise me all along. I can begin a book or chapter or scene expecting to write about Skeet doing this and saying this, only to find once it’s written that Skeet’s actually doing and saying something else entirely, something I never intended or planned or even wanted.

Skeet’s not the only character who’s become her own person. I have some others from the Skeet books and from other stories and books I’ve written or am writing who have come to life and move and speak in ways I don’t expect. It’s an extension of my lifelong reading, in which beloved characters come alive for me and continue their adventures in my head long after the book’s adventures are over. 

I just notice it in Skeet so much because I’ve written three books with her and am planning the fourth, planning that she will blithely disregard as soon as I allow her on the page again. So I quote Skeet and other characters and ask myself what they would do in certain situations that call for strengths they have that I don’t. And yes, I am aware that very little separates me from the bag lady with the shopping cart who walks down the street having arguments with the voices in her head. I just don’t do it in public—yet.

So, tell me, am I alone in my affliction, or do you also have these people in your head who insist on living lives of their own?

NOTE: I am still not able to reply to comments here, but I'll respond on The Stiletto Gang Facebook page, so visit us there at https://www.facebook.com/stilettogang.

* ˚Gifts ✰˚* ˚

by Sparkle Abbey

It’s that time of year, isn’t it? The time of year where we think about gift-giving. So, we thought it would be a great time to chat with you all about gifts. 

Storytelling could be considered a gift that writers give to readers. Our local writers’ group has an event every December to celebrate members achievements for the year, whether it’s been completing a book for the very first time (First Manuscript Slain), or making a bestseller list (Summit Award), or helping each other (Tender Heart).

Because the event is in December, we also exchange gifts. But to give things a different twist, we decided several years ago to do a “white elephant” gift exchange. No purchases are allowed. Instead, you must rummage through your house to find something to give as a gift. Maybe it’s a chance to re-gift a present from a previous holiday or even a chance to share an item you no longer need. We've received some wonderful “white elephants” such as cookbooks, candles, fuzzy socks, and a talking fish. Needless to say, we have a lot of fun!

“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” – Bill Keane

Most families and friends don’t give “white elephant” gifts, but instead shop for a present. And we all have our own shopping style, don’t we?. Some of us begin shopping very early, others are last minute shoppers. We may spend hours picking out just the right thing, or we may choose the simplicity of gift cards. Some talented folks make gifts for their friends and family.

Some of our favorite gifts are not necessarily the biggest or most expensive ones; they’re the gifts of the heart. A notebook of thoughts during time away from a husband, a box full of scraps of paper noting family memories from a son, an intricate origami from a grandchild, a picture made up of words that connect us from a friend.

We’d like to hear what you think. What is it that makes a gift special? What’s the best gift you've ever received? 

As our gift to you, we’ll be drawing a name from among everyone who leaves a comment today (don’t forget to leave your email address) and we will gift you with two Sparkle Abbey books. One for you, and one for you to give to a friend! 

The Oldest Web Mistress in Captivity!

By Kay Kendall

Once upon a time—let’s say 1994—I directed public relations for a science institute that developed the second website in all of the great state of Texas. The scientist who designed this strange bird was proud, knowing it was The Future. However, try as he might, he could not get the other scientists to understand how important it was, this new wave of communication.

Finally, at long last, a second scientist got with the program and complained in a Faculty Meeting, august body that it was, how sad this institute’s website was, how deplorable, how it needed so much work to become great. Yada yada yada. Ego being what it is, scientist #1 got furious, said, “Fine Then you run the danged thing. I quit.” And so he did.

Suddenly the scientists realized their website was indeed a precious commodity and needed tending…but who was to do it? Certainly they could not do the work. They were far too important for such a mundane chore. So the scientists looked around and found, lo and behold, the PR lady, beavering away in her office. She only wrote news releases and newsletters, such silly little things. Surely SHE had time to do a website, even though SHE was not at all technically inclined. (Yes, of course there was an IT department, but those folks also were far too busy and important to manage a website.)

And that is the tale of how I—a liberal arts person to the core with nary a technical bone in my body--got dragged kicking and screaming into the digital world. The journey was arduous and the climb to competence was steep, but eventually I learned to develop and maintain this website. I confess I knew all along in my non-technically-inclined bones that this endeavor would be good for me. What I never suspected, however, was that it would turn out to guarantee my job security.

Soon I began to joke about my web work. I called myself…The Oldest Web Mistress in Captivity. I often wondered how many other aging baby boomers were handling institutional websites circa 1995. Not many back in the day, I bet.

Recently I got to musing about my dalliance with all things digital as I fiddled with my author homepage, placed ads for my mystery DESOLATION ROW on my Facebook page, and Tweeted about an online interview I’d done. If I had not been forced into the digital world almost twenty years ago, how would I be doing today? Would I be like so many of my friends and age-mates, scared of All These New Things?

I am reminded of my mother and how she never learned how to operate the new hi-fi that my father brought home as a surprise for her one day in the 1950s. If she wanted to listen to a 33-rpm LP, then she had to ask him or me to do it for her. Now, she was not a stupid woman, far from it. Yet she would just throw up her hands, say “I can’t do things like that” and add “Please do it for me.” I believe some of that wariness towards all things technical rubbed off on me, made me scared. Alas, I’m sure I lost many decades of growing competence that way.

Now of course I thank my former scientific colleagues who insisted I do the institute’s web work. And thank heavens I’m comfortable in this digital new world order.

And my mother? Shortly before her death at age 91, she confided to me that it had all been an act, pretending not to understand how to use various machines. Grinning, she told me, “That way, I could always get someone to do it for me.” But, as for me...well, I’d rather do it myself! 

Kay Kendall is the author of Desolation Row--An Austin Starr Mystery. You can view the book's trailer on YouTube or catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook,and Goodreads. Kay blogs here with the Stiletto Gang every first and third Wednesdays of each month. 

Not a Good Start

Though Thanksgiving itself was wonderful, delicious food, lots of family members, that evening I came down with what turned out to be the flu. (And yes, I did have a flu shot.) I truly hoped I'd be well by today as I had a procedure scheduled--but though better, I'm too sick to have what was planned.

In the meanwhile, I got the contract and the first copy of the galley proof of my next Rocky Bluff P.D. novel. I was in no shape to even look at it. I've got it printed out now, and hopefully will feel like checking it soon.

So, until such time as I feel much better, I am going to tell you about the first novel I ever had published. And the reason I'm tell you is because it is now available with a new title--Indian Paintbrush--and only on Kindle.

 

When it was first published back in 1982 it was called Trail to Glory which had little to do with the actual story. Based on my mother's genealogy which my sister did, there were lot of questions to be answered. I did research to figure out why people did what they did, and what I discovered is that the women in the family often were left to make their own way during difficult times and situations.

 

I've always called it an historical family saga based on the lives of real people. It's a much longer book than I usually write, but I had a great time writing and rewriting it, learning much about my family along the way.

 

And what I learned included a big family secret--one that was kept until my sister dug into the family genealogy.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Paintbrush-Marilyn-Meredith-ebook/dp/B00FWAM76I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1386004386&sr=1-1&keywords=indian+paintbrush+by+marilyn+Meredith

 

or

 

http://tinyurl.com/l66ue7w

 

I've learned a lot about writing since I wrote this book, but I still think it's a good story filled with romance.

 

Marilyn

 



Holiday Blahs

Several days now have passed since Thanksgiving and I have to say, I'm blue. (Yes, even Santa couldn't make me smile. And I still make that face.)

I'm not sure if it's the post turkey coma, the pumpkin marble cheesecake that I've decided is a perfect breakfast food, or, the let down after the build up of the holiday.

The house is clean still. But today (I wrote this on Sunday) I'm in the middle of getting ready for a new week of the day job. Laundry, shopping, lunches, dishes, all chores that I thought I could put off.  Until Sunday. Now, the roosters have come home so to speak and it's time to clean out the leftovers in the fridge and get back to a more normal life.

At least for three weeks. Then Christmas will hit Casa Cahoon in full force.

So many decisions to make during the holidays. Do we put up a tree? (We don't have kids in the house so don't go feeling sorry for the tykes.) My in-laws are hosting Christmas dinner. When do I send gifts? Is my traveling child going to be here or should I send the boxes to him now? Do I make a quick trip from Illinois to Idaho to see family now or wait until spring when I can take a few more days? Do I assume the 50-inch television and new living room furniture we just purchased should be our Christmas or do I order the cowboy something from his favorite sports team?

I'm tired just writing that.

I didn't used to be this person. Years ago, by the time I finished my Black Friday shopping, my gifts were ready to wrap, our plans for the next few weeks in cement, and, all I had to do was start baking.

Now, my mind is filled with stories about murder and romance, trying to finish writing two more books by the end of the year, and being out there in the social media world.

What is your biggest concern for the holiday? Or are you like the pre-author Lynn and are ready working on Christmas 2014?

If you want some holiday romance, check out my story, Top Secret Santa in All I Want for Christmas is a Soul Mate.