Plotting Princesses at Latte Lounge on Saturday

Plotting Princesses Day at the Latte Lounge!

The Plotting Princesses are a group of writers who first met at a local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapter meeting and began to brainstorm each other's story plots and provide support as they moved from idea to final book. The PP will be celebrating it's first anniversary in August 2012 and will be having some special events on our own blogsite (http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com/). On Saturday, the PP gals will be at Coffeetime's Latte Lounge to share our experiences as "Many roads, same destination--publishing romance today." 

Get to Know: Patti Yager Delagrange - Moon Over Alcatraz

A big Plotting Princess Kiss-Kiss to Patti!

Patti Yager Delagrange

How did you get from your day job to writing romance?  I love this question.  In 2009 my daughter came home from school and told me that her friend asked her why her mommy didn’t work.  I had been a stay-at-home mom since becoming pregnant with my son in 1993.  This incident made me pause and think about my life.  I had more free time since my two kids were older and a bit more independent, so I went to the Apple store, bought a MacBook and wrote my first novel.  

What are your three favorite books of all time? Bridges of Madison County, The Notebook, and The Horse Whisperer.

Morning, afternoon, or evening person? I love the evening when I can relax and be with the family, watch my favorite television programs and just chill.

Music--with or without? What kind? I love silence when I’m writing or reading.  I love silence period.  I listen to almost all my music when I’m riding my bike during “exercise time” every day and in the car.  I love Chris Brown, Chris Botti, Rob Thomas, Maroon Five, Justin Bieber.  I’m all over the map with music!

Blog: Lori Wilde: What SURVIVOR Taught Me About Publishing

Lori has offered a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card!

Be sure to include your email in your comments

And thanks, Lori!

And NOW, Congratulations to Lori for her Rita nomination!!!

What Survivor Taught Me About Publishing

Lori Wilde

            Plotting Princess, Vicki Batman and I have many things in common. We both drive Jeeps, although hers is an elegant white and mine is school-bus yellow. We’re in the same age group. But most of all, we share the same guilty pleasure. We’re both die-hard fans of the show Survivor.

            The three tenets of the show are—outwit, outlast, outplay. Not so very different from the small island that is publishing. If you’ve watched a few seasons of Survivor, you start to see a pattern emerge over who gets voted off and when.

            First to get voted off it’s either the folks with huge egos determined to take control, or is it’s the weakest link. Publishing has a similar trajectory. Come into this business as a know-it-all and you won’t last for long. I’ve been in publishing for over 20 years and have written more than 64 books and I feel as if I’ve just scratched the surface on what there is to know about writing.

ELIZABETH ESSEX NOMINATED FOR RITA FOR DANGER OF DESIRE!!!!

Share your Squees! Plotting Princess, Elizabeth Essex, and her book Danger of Desire has been nominated for the Rita.

Blog: Karilyn Bentley: TALES FROM THE CRATE

Do you have a pet? I know you do. I’ve seen them on Facebook, brown eyes shining at you as they silently beg you to stop writing and pay them attention, much in the same way the chocolate candy and coffee machine do.

Pull up a chair. This blog is for you.

Have you ever read my bio and wondered about my two partially psycho dogs? Let me introduce you to my two: Jaws, the oldest, a beautiful female mutt of indeterminate origin, probably German Shepherd mix, and Hell Hound who is two years younger, a black Lab/Bloodhound mix.

Newbie's Guide to Writing: Finish the Damn Book

by Michelle Miles

I want to be a writer.

For as long as you can remember, these are the words that have followed you. Whether you were scribbling stories in crayon or doodling them in the back of Algebra class, you’ve always known this. You have dreams of publication and seeing your name on the cover of a book, landing that agent, getting the big deal. Going on book tours. Having adoring fans.

We won’t talk about the harsh reality. Not yet. Instead, you need to pull your head out of the clouds and focus. Writing is not about the fans, the money, landing the sweet deal. I have a little piece of advice for you.

If you want to write, you do it because you love it. You have to pay your dues. Most of all you have to finish the damn book. Oh, sure, you walk around telling people you want to write, you join numerous writing organizations and chapters, you throw yourself into volunteering to learn how things work. But are you writing? Are you actually sitting down at the computer or with pen and paper and getting the words down? Are you finishing that manuscript? Are you?

If you’re not, then you have to look at why you’re not. Are you in love with the idea and not the work? If you are, then writing isn’t for you. If you’re not, then why aren’t you writing?

Blog: Liz Lipperman, Which One of You B***s is my Mother?

WHICH ONE OF YOU BITCHES IS MY MOTHER?

Wow! Is that a great line or what? It’s the first line of the Prologue for LACE by Shirley Conran. It’s been almost thirty years since I read the book, and it still has me in awe. My God! Who could stop reading after that? Here’s the blurb from Amazon.

Four elegant, successful, and sophisticated women in their forties are called to New York's Pierre Hotel to meet Lili -- a beautiful, young, and notoriously temperamental Hollywood movie star. None of the women knows exactly why she is there; each has a reason to hate Lili and each of them is astonished to see the others. They are old friends who share a guilty secret and who have for years been doing their best to keep that secret quiet. Their lives are changed forever, however, when Lili suddenly confronts them. When the women refuse to answer her, Lili proceeds to travel around the world through the playgrounds of the rich and famous, seeking to answer the question that has obsessed and almost destroyed her.

From Paris to London, from the boardroom to the bedroom, Lace takes the reader into the rarified world of five unforgettable women who are as beautiful, as complex and as strong as...lace.

I remember staying up half the night to find out the answer, but Ms. Conran didn’t make it easy. Chapter One began with the story of one of the women and moved on to each one as I hurried through the pages trying to find out which one had mothered this young woman. I wanted so desperately to cheat and skip ahead to the end, but I didn’t want to spoil it. The answer didn’t come until the last chapter. The book was made into a two-part miniseries in 1984, but it didn’t do it justice. The paperback is going for $29.42 right now on Amazon. Although Ms. Conran wrote several more good books, none of them even came close to her genius in LACE, IMHO.

Why am I bringing up a thirty year old book, you ask?

Blog: Vicki Batman, What's Outside Your Window?

The World Outside

I am fortunate to have a big window that overlooks my front yard and the street beyond. I've seen all kinds of things out there. Interesting people walk by. A variety of cars and trucks--some speeders. Car crashes. Cops stopping speeders. The greening of my yard. The yard men mowing. The live oak trees leafing. Flitting cardinals. Scavenging squirrels.

My flowering quince blooming in February: 

Flowering Quince

Get to Know: Kate Willoughby & All In

Kate Willoughby!

Thanks so much for inviting me to visit the Plotting Princesses. It's always exciting to visit other places, even in cyberspace. Today, I'm really thrilled to announce that Ellora's Cave will be allowing the first book in my Be-Wished series, All In, to be downloaded free through March 18. My hope is that people will have such a great time reading about Mariah and Tucker that they'll want to read the whole series. That's the evil plan, at least. LOL Usually, I hold a drawing for a free copy of one of my books, but today there's no need. Everyone can get their own free copy!

GET TO KNOW: CAROLE FOWKES

Hi, Carole and welcome to the PP.

How did you get from your day job to writing romance?  Actually, I still have a day job.  I write training programs for healthcare professionals.  I’m fortunate enough to work part-time, though and so I believe I have the best of both worlds.  I’d written feature articles about food and restaurants for several newspapers and had stories published in a number of Chicken Soup for the Soul books.  I still write some non-fiction, but I’ve always loved telling stories, and with fiction, I can let my imagination run wild.

What are your three favorite books of all time?  The first is an easy one.  It’s Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  The other two are Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen, and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. 

First Romance Novel

What was the first romance novel you ever read? I grew up reading, Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, Jo's Boys and Nancy Drew. In high school, I went to the library and became hooked on Victoria Holt and loved gothic's. Then after high school, my first romance was The Wolf and The Dove by Kathleen Woodweiss. Then I read the Flame and the Flower and I was hooked forever.

I look back at these books and wonder what about them drew me in. I realize for me, I like the way both the hero and heroine, didn't want to fall in love, yet were so attracted to one another they couldn't resist. It was a fight to almost the last page as to whether or not they would be together forever.

At that time, Kathleen Woodweiss was my favorite author, and when a book of hers came out, I couldn't get it fast enough. Other authors I read were Rosemary Rogers, Danielle Steel, Lavyrle Spencer and Johanna Lindsey.

I HEART BOOKS by Kathy Ivan

I was very fortunate. My lovely sister gave me Amazon.com gift cards for my birthday, so I could load up my Kindle Fire. Wasn't that sweet of her? Anyway, I ordered a few books I'd wanted to buy, from authors I know and have read in the past, which is always fun. But I want to try something or somebody different. So, in the spirit of finding new authors, I'm going to open up today's blog for your suggestions and recommendations.

If you are a reader, I want your inside scoop. Who are you currently reading? Is it a print book or are you into E-books?

If you are an author, you can list information about one (and unfortunately only 1) of your releases. We have to keep the space limited—if you post more than one book the additional ones will be deleted. To keep everything consistent and to keep my head from exploding from too much information, please follow the format below. (Hint: I'll list mine here, so you get an idea of what I'm talking about.)

TITLE: Desperate Choices
AUTHOR: Kathy Ivan
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
GENRE: Romantic suspense with paranormal elements
FORMAT: E-Book only
AVAILABLE AT: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Carina Press website, and wherever E-books are sold.