Category Archives: Romance Books

End of the year wrap-up and a look ahead to 2016

At the beginning of every year I write out a bunch of goals I want to accomplish during the year. The perpetual ones are lose 50 pounds ( or at least 5!), re-read all my favorite books, exercise 5 times per week, drink more water, drink less soda.

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Usually, I get 2-3 going good for a few months and then fall by the wayside.

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2015 had a different set of goals. I knew I was retiring, so goal number 1 was to write every day. I fulfilled that goal. Number 2 was to get a novel published by a traditional publisher. That goal got met in spades: I had 3 books go live in 2015. Yippie for me. Number 3 was to write at least twice a week on this blog. Again, met in spades since I average 3-4 times per week for the year. Yippie, squared!

 

Looking ahead to 2016 I have some new goals to go along with the old standards. Here’s my list:

  1. Lose 50 pounds (I’d be happy with 10)
  2. Drink more water, less soda
  3. exercise 6 days per week
  4. Have 3-4 books published traditionally
  5. get an agent ( this one should be number 1 but I really need to lose weight!)
  6. say “yes” more than “no”, no matter what is being asked of me ( this will be a toughy, but I plan on doing it!)
  7. find new authors to read and promote them through social media
  8. meditate ( you do not know how badly I need to do this one.weightloss4

We’ll see how well I do!

weightloss2

 

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Post Holiday thoughts…

I’ve been silent on my multiple social media sites since Christmas Eve because I was traveling to spend time with family for the holiday. I got home today to over 600 emails, 300 Twitter feeds I had to view, and too many Facebook announcements to cover. To say I was in a bit of Social Media withdrawal is the understatement of the season.

I recently read…somewhere, I forget exactly where…that people really do have addictions to their social media, or more accurately, their smartphones, which basically rule their lives. I can so, so believe this is true. NOMOPHOBIA is an actual psychiatric term given to the fear of being without your cell phone. I found a cool article that explains the condition, and you can click on it here.  To summarize, people fear being away from their phones to shower; they sleep with the phones under their pillows; and they experience high states and levels of measurable anxiety when they can’t readily locate their phones.

I will tell you honestly, I feel I suffer from this. Before my first book was published, I checked my sites on my phone maybe once a day. Since SKATER’S WALTZ hit the market I have increased that checking behavior to almost every half hour. It has gotten worse with each subsequent book release. I feel a constant need to be in touch with what is going on on my sites: facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest the most. Honestly, I think I need to go to a support group and say, “hi. My name is Peggy and I’m addicted to my smartphone.” I have a recurrent nightmare as soon as I say that, all the other addicts in the room will whip out their own phones and start “searching” me.

Ridiculous.

So, after I spent a total of 6 hours going through everything, every site, every announcement, tweet and email, I was ready to do some serious writing work.

And then my phone beeped with incoming messages.

Speaking of social media sites, here’s a treat ( like that segway?!) Here’s a trailer for all the Candy Hearts books coming for Valentine’s Day, with the dates of their releases. Keep an eye on the 2/8/16 segment and you’ll see my cover, 3 Wishes. Click here:

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New Year’s Coming Soon…

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You will be seeing the above banner every Monday and Wednesday on my blog beginning in January and going ’til February. I will be  highlighting each of the 40 CANDY HEARTS SERIES books that the Wild Rose Press is issuing, including their purchase links, author bios, book covers, blurbs and excerpts.

This is a huge undertaking not only for WRP but me  as well, since there are so many books and variety of authors. I will have a range of Sweet romance authors all the way up to hot and spicy. All excerpts, tho, will be no hotter than PG-13.

My addition doesn’t release until 2/8/16, but that’s close to Valentine’s day for me, and the book is all about the V-day love. Here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to whet your reading appetites:

3 Wishesperf5.000x8.000.indd

Blurb:

Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Excerpt:

At about five minutes of ten I was almost ready to turn the Closed sign on the door when it opened. I heard Janie’s breath hitch and turned from where I was sweeping up. Staying open late is always a risk, with the thought thieves will invade at the end of the day.

If the guy standing at the door glancing around the shop was a thief, then Dio mio, I wanted to be robbed.

About six foot, his hair was the color of a deer’s pelt, with autumnal golds and browns shot together in a glorious patchwork that grazed the collar of his jacket and curled a little at the ends. He wore a faded brown bomber jacket over a shirt I couldn’t see, but he had shoulders almost as wide as my doorway. A pair of well-worn jeans covered his mile long legs, and the fabric on the stress points at his knees was practically white.

“We’re about to close,” I heard myself say. “Can I help you?”

It was at that moment he looked over at me.

His face could have been sculpted by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. A broad, smooth, forehead housed naturally arched eyebrows I knew some of my gay guy friends would have paid a fortune to have on their own faces. His cheeks were carved from marble, high, smooth and deep. And his mouth, mother-of-God, his mouth. Full, thick beautiful lips sat perfectly over a chin with a dent you could shove a button into and have it stay put.

“Sorry,” he said, those fabulous lips pulling up a little shyly at the corners. “I got stuck at work and couldn’t get here until now. I’ll be quick. Promise.”

So here’s the thing: the guy was gorgeous. But even if he’d looked like a frog with raw antipasto smothering his face, I would have dropped to my knees when he opened his mouth. Warm honey, a shot of raw whiskey, and a little hot puff of smoke wafted from his mouth like a fine and rare brandy being decanted.

Buy links” Coming soon ( like next week!! for pre-order. Yippie)

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Why we love Christmas romance books.

I was in Target the other day doing a little Christmas shopping and I found myself – surprise surprise – in the  Book department. There were no fewer than 15 brand-new Christmas romance  novels from 15 different authors.  Was I surprised? Not really.  We all know romance sells… And a Christmas romance sells even better.

This got me to thinking: Why is it that romance readers love a Christmas romance?

In the purest sense,  Christmas is a joyous time. We all want to be happy, in love, be loved, and give love.  The basic Christmas romance novel uses that universal desire for love and amplifies it. How you ask? Well, I’m going to tell you.

Typically, a romance novel set during the Christmas season will involve a heroine who is just not feeling the love. The love of the season,  or the love of a good man.  Enter our hero. He, too, may not be feeling the love of the season. He isn’t looking for his soul-mate; doesn’t think Santa is going to hand deliver a  girl for him down the chimney and leave her under the tree. BUT. It’s Christmas after all. The time of miracles; the time of wishes being fulfilled.

When our hero and our heroine do meet, it may not be love at first sight, or even second. Possibly not third, either. Some intangible thing, though, will bring them together and when they do find their love ( usually on Christmas morning or under the mistletoe) then the story gets resolved, because Christmas is the time for love to wash away all the evil, all the hurt, all the pain of the year before it.

I will admit freely and unabashedly I am a total sap for a Christmas romance story. The Hallmark channel and Lifetime Movie Network were made especially for me ( or so I tell myself). Their 24 hour a day holiday movies and specials – all about some sort of love/romance as the theme surrounding the Christmas season are favorites with romance novel readers from every walk of life. Happily ever afters abound, and Santa comes on Christmas morning, bringing you exactly what you wanted and wished for (usually a hunky guy in Christmas boxers…but I digress and that’s for another blog post).

Yeah, I know it’s kinda sappy and syrupy and maybe even schmaltzy, but I don’t care. Neither  do the millions of others who support ( read: spend their money on!) this cottage holiday industry.

So, while I settle down  in front of my roaring fireplace where I’m all warm and comfy with new Nora Roberts’ CHRISTMAS WIH YOU book, after just finishing Jill Shalvis’  MERRY CHIRTSMAS BABY , I hope you can take an hour or two this week and read a new holiday romance or watch the Hallmark Channel and/or Lifetime Movie Network. After all, we deserve a break from shopping, wrapping, cooking and decorating, don’t we?

Yeah…we do!

Christmas is coming and so is VALENTINE’S DAY!!!! Comingperf5.000x8.000.indd soon:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story from the Wild Rose Press 2/8/16 release. Buy Links available soon!

Blurb: Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

 

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#MFRWBookHooks Valentine’s Day is just around the corner…

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This is the weekly #MFRWBookHooksBlogStop. Click on this link and visit other fabulous authors who are part of this worthwhile BlogHop. You just may find your next favorite author!

I know Christmas is still 3 weeks away and I’m already on to Valentine’s day, but I’ve got a new release dropping 2/8/16 called 3 Wishes and I can’t wait for you all to meet Chole San Valentino and her family.This family is as near and dear to me as my own! Enjoy a little sumthin’ sumthin’ from the book.

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Blurb: Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Excerpt:

As I slipped the broken lock open, an errant page fell out and drifted down to the tabletop. I grabbed it and saw the date: my fifteenth birthday. As I had for every birthday since my eighth, I’d written down three wishes. All of them had to do with a guy. My dream guy. I’d wished he’d have one blue eye and one green, just like I had so I wouldn’t be the only freak I knew, he’d be a healer (I was big on watching reruns of old television shows like Marcus Welby, M.D. and E.R. at this age) and he’d fall in love with me in an instant.

Hey, I was fifteen.

Buy Links: Coming soon! Check back – Often!!

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A picture is worth….?

What my characters look like is important to me. I’m one of the most visual people you will ever meet. Yes, I’m nosy, and will ask 1 million questions when I meet you, but…

I will also be looking you over from head to toe. Not blatantly; not rudely; but very, very  intensely. The color of your hair, eyes, the way you carry yourself, the clothes you wear, if you wear flats or high heels… all those things are important to me. And the reason they are is because when I think about you, the person, I get a mental picture of what you actually look like. One of the greatest things about smart phones is when you’re receiving a call from somebody now you can actually have their picture show up on the display  as the phone is ringing so you know exactly who it is  calling. Love that.

But I digress.

Whenever I start a new book and I get to meet my characters, I always look for pictures online or in magazines of people I think they will resemble. For instance, in my most recent novel, First Impressions, Clarissa Rogers in my mind was a young looking Julia Roberts. Think Steel Magnolias. Mid back length curly cinnamon colored hair, flashing chocolate colored eyes. Padrick  Cleary  is a dead ringer for Matt Bomer. A simply gorgeous, delicious man.

mattbomer julia_roberts

When I was writing the book and creating dialogue between the two I actually had their pictures on my desk so that I could refer to them while I was writing dialogue tags and visceral descriptions.  I do this with all my stories. I need to know what my people look like when they are smiling, frowning, crying, and  even eating. It shouldn’t surprise you to discover you can find pictures of just about anyone well known doing anything from sleeping to running, online. And yes I will admit, I feel a little voyeuristic when I do this, but for the creative processes of description and narration it really is beneficial for me to have an actual photograph of  what I think my character looks like.

We live in a very visual society. How we look to others is way more important than it should be, but is a very telling fact. When someone reads my  novels I really want them to get a feel for  what the characters look like. I do this when I read other people’s books. I have a picture in my mind based on the author’s description of the character and I try to liken it to someone well known to me, be it an actress, actor or even a personal friend.  This really gets me invested in the story. I simply love knowing what people look like, characters as well.  I’ve read some stories that will describe the character as, “a young Julie Andrews”  or “Marlon Brando –ish.”  That’s all well and good and it does bring a picture of what the character looks like to your mind. But for my purposes I would rather describe the young Julie Andrews, denoting her short cropped golden blonde hair and centered, angular chin to my reader than to let them fill in the blanks.  This may have something to do with my sense of wanting to be in control of what the reader thinks when they read my words. I’ll have to ponder on that and get back to you…

So, when you write your character descriptions, do you have someone in mind they resemble? Do you, like I do, go online or research through magazines looking for someone who can depict your character to perfection? And if you don’t, then how do you come up with a description? Does it come out of your head? Do you base it on someone you’ve seen on a corner? In the Mall? How does this person jump to life for you so  you can make the character jump to life for me?

You knew this was coming… Let’s discuss…

Coming soon:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story 2/8/16 from The Wild Rose Press. Buy Links available soon

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The little book that could…

It is no secret to anyone who knows me or has ever read an interview I’ve done, THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD is hands down my favorite book of all time. Even at the age I am now ( 21++++,etc) I still feel the message in that children’s book is the most empowering one I’ve ever read. The entire book screams with the treatise of self-motivation and dedication to a goal. That little engine thought he could get over that mountain, and because he had confidence in himself and self-will  and determination, he did.

littleengine

 

I’ve started writing a new series of books about another family ( of course!). My MacQuire Women series is almost complete, so when the idea for this new family burst in my brain, I went with it. The reason I’m telling you this is because the first thing I do after the idea pops up is to discover my characters and their motivations. Why a character acts the way she does, does the things she does, and says what she says is very important for me to know ahead of the writing. I’ve said before that using Deb Dixon’s book Goal, Motivation and Conflict (GMC) has been instrumental in helping me get inside the heads of my peeps and knowing what’s what with them. The book makes you dig deep into your characters to find out what their internal and external goals  are, what’s behind their motivations for each, and then asks you to detail the conflicts that will make attaining their goals difficult.

gmc

I usually devise one wipe board per book with my major characters on it, listing the GMC’s.  Here’s the current one for the new series. This is book one, as of yet untitled.  You can’t really tell from this shot, but I’ve got my heroine, hero  and the “villain” all plotted out here. What they want, how they can get it and what will keep them from achieving their goals.

This keeps me focused – something I have real trouble with – and will hopefully eliminate plot holes along the way. Sometimes I do discover something about the character I didn’t know in the beginning and it will be added to this board, with the concurrent problems and motivations added.

Character Motivation is important when writing, especially in writing romances because if we didn’t give our characters fully formed goals and obstacles, there wouldn’ be anything interesting to write about. It would simply be boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. The End.

Boring, no?

COMING SOON:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story…check back soon for buy links! 2/8/16 release from The Wild Rose Press

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#MFRWBookHooks Wednesday

If it’s Wednesday, it’s MFRWBook Hooks day! Click on this link  to discover your next favorite author and take a blog tour through their listed websites. You’ll be glad you did!

mfrwlogo

Starting in January 2016, my publisher, The Wild Rose Press, is beginning a two-month series titled CANDY HEARTS to celebrate Valentine’s Day, the lover in all of us, and those little delicious candies we never can seem to eat enough of.

My Candy Hearts title is 3 Wishes, releases on 2/8/16, and here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ about it.

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Blurb:
Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.

Excerpt:

At about five minutes of ten I was almost ready to turn the Closed sign on the door when it opened. I heard Janie’s breath hitch and turned from where I was sweeping up. Staying open late is always a risk, with the thought thieves will invade at the end of the day.

If the guy standing at the door glancing around the shop was a thief, then Dio mio, I wanted to be robbed.

About six foot, his hair was the color of a deer’s pelt, with autumnal golds and browns shot together in a glorious patchwork that grazed the collar of his jacket and curled a little at the ends. He wore a faded brown bomber jacket over a shirt I couldn’t see, but he had shoulders almost as wide as my doorway. A pair of well-worn jeans covered his mile long legs, and the fabric on the stress points at his knees was practically white.

“We’re about to close,” I heard myself say. “Can I help you?”

It was at that moment he looked over at me.

His face could have been sculpted by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. A broad, smooth, forehead housed naturally arched eyebrows I knew some of my gay guy friends would have paid a fortune to have on their own faces. His cheeks were carved from marble, high, smooth and deep. And his mouth, mother-of-God, his mouth. Full, thick beautiful lips sat perfectly over a chin with a dent you could shove a button into and have it stay put.

“Sorry,” he said, those fabulous lips pulling up a little shyly at the corners. “I got stuck at work and couldn’t get here until now. I’ll be quick. Promise.”

So here’s the thing: the guy was gorgeous. But even if he’d looked like a frog with raw antipasto smothering his face, I would have dropped to my knees when he opened his mouth. Warm honey, a shot of raw whiskey, and a little hot puff of smoke wafted from his mouth like a fine and rare brandy being decanted.

Buylinks: Coming soon! Check back OFTEN!!

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Speak and they will listen..

Since I’ve been on the topic of mannerisms of late, how about we discuss how your characters speak and the idiosyncratic styles they each have? This is a fun topic for me any time of day or night.
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I’ve said before that I was born in Brooklyn, NY and lived in NYC for the first 27 years of my life. When I open my mouth and start to speak, you automatically can hear where I’m from. I have a tendency to drop the letter R at the ends of words ( which is why I refer to girls as sistahs), my “Th” sounds come out sounding like the letter “d”, so you’ll hear me say Dat for That. I speak as quickly as a lightning flash and use my hands expressively a great deal. All these verbal tags and mannerisms tell you I’m probably a New York kind of girl.

talkingmeme3

Last year I was in San Antoni for the RWA conference. Most of the people who originate from that region and the ones I came in contact with at the hotel and in the city said “y’all” and “rightly so” a bunch of times in their adorable Texas twang.

Two weeks ago I was Las Vegas. Many of the employees in the hotel I was staying in were from the Philippines and addressed every person every time they came in contact with them as Ma’am or Sir. In their country this a severe sign of respect for the individual they are addressing.

talkingmeme2

So, having shared this, some of the ways you can make your characters jump off the page to the reader and make them come alive, is to know how they speak.  Can you hear each character in your books speaking in their own style, or does every character sound the same to you? I read my dialogue out loud all the time just so I can be sure one person doesn’t sound exactly like another. Do your characters all use the same words and phrases when they speak? Again, this can get boring and confusing for the reader. For instance, doctors are highly educated people and use a certain vocabulary the average person doesn’t. You wouldn’t want your immigrant, unable-to-read-and-write character who is a patient be able to understand what a doctor is telling him. That just doesn’t ring true. Nor would a scientist and a four year be able to communicate on the same level. Unless of course the kid was a prodigy.talkingmeme

One of my favorite characters that I am currently writing is a ninety-two-year-old Irish immigrant grandmother who continually speaks in malapropisms. It gets her into some funny and outrageous situations, but it rings true when she speaks the words incorrectly, because she thinks they are correct.talkingmeme6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, if your character is smart, does she speak like she’s educated?  Did your hero come from the South, because if he did, he’d be polite in his conversations with people, saying “please”, Ma-am, and so forth. Got a Canadian in-law? Make sure you round those vowels.

All these special little touches will make your characters more attractive, honest, appealing, and most importantly to your readers, Real.

So…you know what’s coming. How do you make your characters sound all like individuals and not robots….Let’s discuss.

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NaNoWriMo-done-o! 11/30

It’s official: another November has come and gone and along with it NaNoWriMo.

 

nanowrimo

By midnight tonite  hundreds of thousands of writers around the globe who have been participating in what is charmingly called “NaNo Word Wars” will stop typing, lay down their pens, surrender their pencils and hit Save, then Submit  and verify into the NaNo site to confirm they have at least written 50,000 words of a work in progress.

So, if you participated where did you wind up today? 50,000 words? More? Less? Were you able to write every day, at least a few words, or did you fall into plot holes, POV problems, or just plain writing inertia somewhere along the way? Or did your everyday life and the responsibilities and obligations that go along with it get in the way of your writing? Don’t be upset if you didn’t make the mark for whatever reason. The fact you tried and got something down makes you a winner in my book.

50,000 words is a lot. A. Lot. Figuring that most romance novels fall between 65,000 and 90,000, 50 K could be considered almost done with your next novel.  And novellas can top off between 25 and 35,000.

I made my goal during the third week because I was on a role and have no other life but writing. No kids home to disturb me, and a husband who works 90+ hours per week, leaves me with a great deal of time to do this. And luckily, the book I was working on is the fifth in a series so I knew my characters and where I wanted to take them fairly well. Plus, I’m a plotter. Enough said.

Congratulations on the effort, the success, and the blood, sweat and tears for this year’s challenge. Onward to 2016. It’s only 365 days away!

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