A Family for the Rancher by Allison B. Collins #CowboystoGrooms #AFamilyfortheRancher #PlottingPrincesses #MFRW @allisonbcollins

Hi, everyone! It’s been ages since I blogged with the Plotting Princesses. So much has happened, but I’ll try to keep it short.

Under my real name, Allison B. Collins, I have a three book deal with Harlequin for a new series, Cowboys to Grooms!  It’s been a dream of mine for years to be a Harlequin author.  I’ve been reading their series for more years than I care to admit, and to now be writing for them—it’s better than the richest of chocolates and the bubbliest of champagnes. It really hit home last summer when I was invited to the Harlequin party at the Romance Writers of America conference.  Strictly for Harlequin authors and employees, I really felt like part of the Harlequin family. (I might have to write about it after the next one, so stay tuned!)

The first book, A FAMILY FOR THE RANCHER, just launched, and I’m over the moon excited about it. This series started out as a dream I had a couple of years ago. As soon as I woke up that next morning, I knew I had to turn it into a series of books. There are five brothers, so five books.  Nash is the oldest brother, and definitely a wounded hero home from the war in Afghanistan. I was so into writing about him that it made me cry several times. Kelsey Summers is the physical therapist Nash’s father hired to help Nash get better.  Kelsey arrives at the ranch with her mother and young daughter in tow. 

Blurb:

Michelle Miles: What's your inspiration?

I don't really have a lot to blog about lately. I'm kind of in a funk. My day job is a stressful mess at the moment and when I have that sort of disruption, it really messes with my writing chi.

So I look for inspiration elsewhere. I'm fond of gardens. I have a Pinterest board devoted to them. I constantly find fun and new pictures to pin. I found this one this morning:

It fuels my imagination. And then of course, there's the art by Anne Stokes. She's amazing!

I just love her dragons.

My awesome husband is in the process of building a deck for the gazebo I had to have. I have big ideas for it. It includes a curved flagstone pathway leading up to with purple ground cover planted between the stones. I bought lights for around the top. In my wild imagination it looks like this:

I'm not sure if it will turn out like this, but I hope it does. :) Pinterest and I are good friends. Can you tell?

So what fuels your inspiration? What makes you happy and sooths the soul?

@SloaneBCollins What's in my Writer Toolbox for NaNo? #NaNoWriMo #amwriting @onestop4writers #MFRWorg

Authors everywhere are gearing up for NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – which takes place annually in November.  We are battening down the hatches, preparing meals ahead of time (unless you’re lucky enough to have a hubby like mine who does 99% of the cooking!), letting friends and family know we won’t be answering phones, and scheduling the DVR…all of this to get 50,000 words written in one month.  That’s right, a whole complete novel in one month!

For an author like me who is time-challenged with a crazy-busy day job, an editing job, and four cats, this is the month where I really push to spend every minute writing.  I’m a pantser by nature when it comes to writing – meaning I literally sit down in front of the computer and write by the seat of my pants.  It keeps the story fresh for me, instead of getting bogged down in research.

BUT…when it comes to NaNo, I need to have a pretty good idea of my characters, the plot, scenes I want to write, and that all important Goal, Motivation, and Conflict for my characters.  Now is when I use all the tools available to authors to get me prepped in time for November 1, so I can hit the ground running.

RWA 2015 Conference Memories @SloaneBCollins #RWA2015 #amwriting #MFRWorg #BFFs @sashawrites

Just a few short weeks ago I spent 5 days in New York City at the annual Romance Writers of

America annual conference.   I get just as excited about it as I do Christmas.  Every year I anxiously await the workshops to be posted, then I go through the list carefully deciding what sounds good.  Then, when the workshops are posted by day and time, I do it again.  Invariably and without fail, I end up with at least two for each time slot.  I make the final decision as to which to attend once I know whether it will be recorded or not.  Or, if the presenter is someone I want to hear in person. 

This is a time of fun, fellowship, friendship, motivation and inspiration.  I always come home rejuvenated and ready to write.  And this year was no different.

One of the best things at the conference this year: I met an author I’ve been a fan of for many years, one who hasn’t ever been at a conference that I’ve attended.  Jude Devereaux!  I met her at the

Literacy Signing on Wednesday night and was so excited to get my picture taken with her.  Then I attended the workshop she gave on Research on Thursday.  Would you believe she keeps a notebook for each book (as I do, actually) AND she writes in longhand!  The next day my BFF and I were waiting at the elevator on our floor, and who should walk up but Ms. Devereaux and her editor!  It’s the one time I was glad the elevators took a long time because we had her to ourselves.  So we chatted about various things, and it’s a memory I’ll always cherish.

Inspiration

I want to enter a short story in my publisher’s call for submissions for a Christmas anthology, and even though that desire is there, I was struggling to find an idea, one that could develop into a ten thousand word story, and that I could write quickly. 

So I went to my favorite place for inspiration, Pinterest, and looked through the board (okay, three boards) that I have for Christmas.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a picture I didn’t remember pinning.  All of a sudden I had a male character, his occupation, and why he was out in a snowy forest with his dog.  A few clicks later, and I had a female character that will bring him no end of trouble and exasperation. Et voilà, a story is born!

Authors find inspiration in so many places.  Just a kernel can spark an idea, which can set off firecrackers in our brains. 

For me, I’ve had characters spring to life, then I have to write the perfect story for them.  Well, one in which they go through all kinds of turmoil to get their happy ever after.  Other story ideas have come to life with a setting, a scene idea, even a phrase or a headline.  Two songs have sparked ideas for stories, so totally different they are worlds apart.  This picture of a frozen lighthouse is what sparked the idea for a story yet to be written.