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THE WRITER BEHIND THE COVERS

October 3, 2007 by in category Archives

By Lois Kleinsasser w/a Cait London

With the start of my psychic triplets trilogy for Avon, cover design suggestions and ideas are uppermost on my mind. While AT THE EDGE (Claire’s story) has a very sexy cover, not my usual “cover look,” it had an unexpected result: it drew new readers, (a good thing). The second book, A STRANGER’S TOUCH (Tempest’s story), an April 2008 release, has yet another look because the heroines’ gifts are very unique. (Watch for Leona’s untitled story 11/08.)

I was an artist in a former life, and regularly give input on my covers and titles now. (I’ve generated about 95% of my titles.) When I turn in a manuscript, I also usually turn in background research, a cover suggestion file, or ideas for titles. However, the title and the cover ideas are often requested in advance of the finished manuscript. My foreign covers are generally good without consultation. And the days of the “stepback” cover may be ending, because they are quite expensive, but I have had some gorgeous ones in my historical books.

Silhouette’s packaging of the TALLCHIEF 9-book series had much of my input. I not only developed the logo, but the genealogy chart, and look of the legends within the books. (Little did I know that in author-driven miniseries writers did not usually send in a composite of all packaging ideas, plus the storylines of all five books.) In one book I wrote about my own 3-stone garnet ring and it was used for the cover of TALLCHIEF CELEBRATION. The original cover of TALLCHIEF FOR KEEPS, a single title, was pale and very fairy tale-like, not representative of the Native American/Scottish heritage. Very seldom is the cover changed, but I made my statements, referring to the file I had sent with that manuscript. Pale-blended covers do not copy well in black and white, which is how they are often marketed in magazines. (Tip: Take a pale or very dark cover to a copy machine and study the results.) My editor worked very hard to change that pale cover into a smashing red one with a collage of a white feather, flower and locket. The locket does not resemble the one my father gave my mother when they were sweethearts, but the heart shape was perfect for the collage. Writers use their life experiences and they make handy elements for covers, too.

As for my covers at Avon, I am often consulted about the title, cover and the back blurb. The cover of THREE KISSES, an Avon release, has my neighbor’s western boots. (My neighbors have now grown used to odd requests.) I sent photos of the boots and was surprised when they were used without changes. “Seafoam” is my favorite color, and was used in FLASHBACK, set on the Oregon coast; I was consulted about the model’s face. HIDDEN SECRETS is set in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington state, where I spent college summer/winter breaks working as a waitress. The background of the cover is the pass at I-90. WITH HER LAST BREATH has a striking wraparound cover; SILENCE THE WHISPERS has an eerie look, and is perhaps one of my favorite stories.

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A USA Today bestseller and international author, Cait London‘s books have been featured alternates in Doubleday and Rhapsody book clubs, and featured selection in romantic suspense in Mystery Guild book club. Her awards include Holt, Laurel Wreath, RIO (Reviewers International Organization), Bookseller’s Best, WRWA Reader’s Award for Single Title, B.Dalton’s Bestseller Award, several RT nominations and awards, including Reviewer’s Choice Award

Read more of Cait’s comments on the cover approval “benchmark” in the October issue of the Orange Blossom, “The Writer Behind the Covers.” Visit http://caitlondon.com/ for news of Cait’s upcoming books, her writer’s tips section, and her blog, Daily or Not, for more insights into a career writer’s life and experiences.

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Writing Red Hot Erotic Romances

September 30, 2007 by in category Archives tagged as
Instructors:

Why erotica? Why now?

Sex isn’t the taboo it once was. HBO’s Sex in the City made it okay to pop a vibrator into your shopping bag along with a pair of stilettos. Women want that same freedom in choosing the books they read.

It all started with FANNY HILL. Considered to be the first erotic novel, the memoirs of this woman of pleasure by John Cleland published in 1749 was the subject of the 1966 landmark Supreme Court case that opened the door to publishing erotic fiction in the United States. Since then, men have had all the fun. Now it’s time for women to get in on the reading action.

What we read mirrors what’s going in our society. No surprise then that erotic fiction is so popular. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the number of sex scenes aired on TV has doubled in the last seven years. Seventy percent of shows on TV include some sexual content–double what the figure was in 1998.

Lesson 1: Overview: the history of erotic romance

Lesson 2: Subgenres of erotic romance: historical, contemporary, paranormal, fantasy and futuristic

Lesson 3: Erotic language — which words to use, not to use, etc.

Lesson 4: Coming up with an idea

Lesson 5: “A Hero’s/Heroine’s Erotic Journey”

Lesson 6: POV: 1st vs. 3rd; how to think like a man; head hopping vs. bed hopping

Lesson 7: Research

Lesson 8: Erotic romance is not –the difference and what publishers want

About the Instructors:
Jina Bacarr is the award winning author of Naughty Paris and The Blonde
Geisha from Spice Books. Lyndi Lamont writes erotic romance, including
male/male for Amber Heat, the erotic imprint of Amber Quill Press.

Enrollment Information:
Cost: OCC members $20 and Nonmembers $30
Enrollment deadline: October 13, 2007

For more infromation, see the website http://www.occrwa.com/classes_October.htm
or e-mail online class moderator Lori Pyne at luv2write@gmail.com

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Wisdom from Writers Rock

September 30, 2007 by in category Archives tagged as

by Barbara DeLong

Hey, are you new to OCC meetings? If not new, are you so used to the lonely life of a writer that you’ve lost what social skills you might have known in a prior life? Maybe you’re just shy, or intimidated by the many stars of romance who attend our meetings. You walk in, find a chair and sit. You’d love to be included in the many conversations going on around you, work the room, network. But you don’t. You just sit.

Let me tell you about my first experiences with OCC. It was Jann Audiss who told me about the chapter when we met at Maralys Wills novel writing class many years ago. She persuaded me to try out a meeting and join the organization. I met her at the Days Inn the following month. For many months we attended every meeting and for some reason we felt we were still on the fringes of the group, outsiders, kind of like two kids pressing their noses to the candy store window.

Then one meeting, Jann said, “You know what? We’re going to turn around and introduce ourselves to the next person who sits behind us.”

We did. That’s how we met Cathy Oliver. The three of us quickly became fast friends and formed a critique group. Ok. Now there were three of us pressing our noses to the candy store window. What to do. What to do.

Wham! It hit us like that great story idea that makes our hearts race at three in the morning and has us scrambling in the dark for a pen and pencil. Volunteer! How many times had we heard that volunteering is a great way to meet people, make friends and help the organization? Since that great epiphany, we’ve been everything from co-president, to secretary to ways and means, audio, Write for the Money, Orange Blossom Contest co-ordinator and assistants, first OCC conference co-ordinator, newsletter distributors – you get the picture. Now we have no problem working the room. We’re in the candy store.

So, when the call for volunteers goes out, step up. Grab some candy. Oh, and say hello to the person behind you. They just might become your next BFF!

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Bookseller’s Corner

September 29, 2007 by in category Archives tagged as

The Bob and I

I want to tell you about OCC’s October speaker, or rather his books. I was first introduced to Elvis Cole and Joe Pike in 1987. A friend of mine who is also a bookseller said he had just read a new author in paperback mysteries and his name was Robert Crais.

I ordered The Monkey’s Raincoat–Yeah, a funny title, but I almost didn’t read it because the main character’s name was Elvis. I don’t know why but that was too cute, but I took Jim’s advice and I am so glad I did. Here was a new voice in mystery fiction and he spoke to me in a way that I understood. I could hear his dialogue in my head. Elvis was young and very cool. He was sexy and funny and he liked women. Well, The Monkey’s Raincoat went on to win all sorts of awards and Robert “The Bob” Crais became a big time famous author and I wait for the drop date of every book he writes.

I have been “stalking” RC in the nicest sort of way since the early nineties and he has never disappointed. When Bobbie took over as Program Director and asked us for a wish list, Robert Crais was first on my list.

THANKS, BOBBIE!

Take my advice and read The Monkey’s Raincoat and all the rest of his books. I have handed his books to hundreds of people over the years and I can honestly say I’ve never had a complaint. I recommend that you read the Elvis/Joe books in order because Elvis and Joe grow as characters and Robert Crais grows as an author and he was great to begin with.

Happy Reading,
Michelle Thorne
OCC/RWA Bookseller
RWA Bookseller of the Year 1998
www.bearlyusedbooks.com

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A Fantasy Life

September 27, 2007 by in category Archives tagged as

By Janet Cornelow Quinn

When Michelle Thorne asked me to blog on the OCC site, I was thrilled. Then I get this email in the middle of the week saying I needed a title. No one said I had to have a title. I have a problem with titles. I have two short stories and two books that are in desperate need of titles. Not only did I need a title, but I needed one right then. In a state of panic, A Fantasy Life came to me.

After all, isn’t that what we do as writers? We “play god” and create characters, settings and problems to be solved. We create fantasy lives.

On the other side, I have moved into writing fantasy. My first fantasy novel comes out in February. It’s called THE ENCHANTED HAWK. I’ve written time travel novels, which are in the realm of fantasy, but with time travel I’m only breaking the rules of time and space as I move a character through them. I still have to adhere to the laws of physics and the realities of history. There is only so much leeway for breaking rules.

With real fantasy, I can create my own laws of physics and don’t have to pay any attention to history. I can create a medieval feeling without having to be totally accurate. In THE ENCHANTED HAWK, I have polymorphic beings (shape shifters). The heroine can become as small as a mouse or as large as a dragon – a very large ragon. I can ignore the law of conservation of mass.

In my world of Augeas, long-lived, magical beings exist beside humans. (Augeas is done in short stories.) They have various magical abilities, most of them to do with mind control. Mixed in are the humans who have only normal abilities. Rayna is a warrior, trained with sword, dagger and bow and arrows, to protect her lady. She has no special ability, but a great deal of loyalty and a thirst for revenge.

The thing with fantasy, however, is that whatever rules of physics I make up, I have to follow them. I can’t suddenly change them because I decide I want to do something else. This requires copious notes to make sure everything stays the same. My shape shifters can’t turn into a mouse one time, then not be able to the next time. Also, the color of the animal is tied to the color of the hair, so if Brylyn turns into a hawk, it’s always a red hawk. Every animal she turns into is red.

In Augeas, those who have magical powers can only use those magical powers that they possess. A character can’t read minds one moment and then three pages later not be able to do so. Unless the character faces another character who can block his power.

So enjoy your fantasy life.

Drawings by Jasmine Tanner, veildandy.deviantart.com

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Available now by Janet Quinn at her website: http://www.janet-quinn.com/

WHISKEY SHOTS Vol 7 from Whiskey Creek Press,
WILD HONEY

Available from Whiskey Creek Press
THE IRISH COUNTESS, THE LUCKY LADY and A MOMENT IN TIME

Available at Amber Quill Press
THE KILTED GOVERNESS, ARROW OF THE HEART and THE RIVER’S TREASURE

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