Michelle Miles: Hello, 2019!

Another year has closed and the start of a new one is officially off the ground.

I, for one, am glad to see the old year go. The last six months were rife with breaking things--cars, oven, house heater, windshields. And also new things--fix cars and heater, new windshields, oven, new cookware. I treated myself on Cyber Monday with a set of Calphalon cookware and I can honestly say it's the best cookware I've ever had.

Aside from all that, the last year was a hard one for me, creatively. I let all the awful things happening in the industry stifle my writing (Cocky Gate, book stuffing). I think I just got caught up in the drama, which is something I try never to do but I had a hard time looking away from that Cocky Gate thing. I stopped writing for a good six months when I got depressed over sales and everything happening in the industry and had a very "why bother?" attitude.

Towards the end of the summer, though, I got off Twitter and started thinking, seriously, about my future writing.

For 2019, I’ve decided I want to focus on the writing and publishing my backlist as well as some new material. After 60+ rejections, it makes you re-evaluate your writing life and make decisions about the career. Even though I have a day job, I do consider this a second career, so it was time to move forward instead of standing still. I’m throwing myself into indie publishing and looking forward to getting those stories told and in the hands of readers. My focus is all on the writing and the books and not so much on the marketing, though I do understand that plays a role as well.

I don’t want to get hung up on the money aspect of it like I have in the past. It’s a soul-crushing feeling sometimes to look at sales and see nothing for weeks or sometimes months. And I know that’s mostly my fault. I haven’t been producing like I should or want to. I haven’t been talking to my 3000+ newsletter subscribers. I hope to change that for 2019.

I haven’t given up on the dream that someday my books will be on the bookshelves or they’ll be turned into movies. I have very specific ideas about who should play my lead characters. Heck, I’d even settle for an HBO series. *grin*

There are other non-writing things I want to accomplish, too. Declutting is always high on my list. Getting the kid graduated and into college is another. Overall, though, I’m proclaiming 2019 Year of the Books.

How about you? What are you plans for the new year?

Guest Princess Mary Morgan! #PlottingPrincesses #ParanormalRomance #TimeTravel #amwriting

Welcome to our guest Princess of the day, Mary Morgan!

Award-winning Scottish paranormal romance author, Mary Morgan resides in Northern California, with her own knight in shining armor. However, during her travels to Scotland, England, and Ireland, she left a part of her soul in one of these countries and vows to return. If you enjoy history, tortured heroes, and a wee bit of magic, then time-travel within the pages of her books.

Speed Round:

Favorite movie: Braveheart
Favorite book: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Last book read: The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo
Favorite color: Green

Yes, I'm Older, But I'm Not Dead Yet!!

This year when I attended the Romance Writers of America conference, I realized I have been attending these since 1991. Yes, for twenty six years I’ve been a member of RWA and attended their conference at least twenty times if not more in my lifetime.

But this time, when I looked at some of the same people who have attended year after year, I noticed how we are all aging. The only time I really feel old is when the body aches in a new joint or I’m short of breath or I can’t keep up. The rest of the time, I feel just like I did when I was sixteen. Hopefully a lot smarter than I was then, but the same age. 

That’s not to say that I don’t see the wrinkles around the eyes, the ones forming over my lip or that the girls don’t stand as high as they once were. But let’s face it, I’m not as young either. So that brings me to this month's post. 

Ten Things Not To Say to an Older Person

A Texas girl dishes on life in the Rockies - High Altitude Gardening by Karilyn Bentley

What I want my garden to look like

You know those perfect gardens and manicured lawns you see around big cities? They're pretty, aren't they? Unfortunately, those aren't available where I live. I guess if you wanted to hire a bunch of people to dig up rocks and plant flowers you might be able to make a go of a garden. Until the next herd of deer or elk come walking through it the next day, eating everything you planted.

When we first moved here, I wanted to continue having a garden like the one I had in Texas. Nothing much, just some veggies and a few flowering plants. I love growing my own vegetables, although the insects would always manage to eat them, sometimes before The Hubster and I could. I was super-excited to try out  my hand at gardening in the mountains where there aren't the same doggone leaf eating insects. So we went to the local gardening store and bought a flowering plant claiming to be able to live to -20 degrees Fahrenheit and a plant of chrysanthemums. I was determined to have them live and bloom. My front flowerbeds were going to look awesome! Then a lady walked up, chuckling, asked if we were new to town. When I said we were, she responded with a thought so, those plants should be advertised as deer food, only the new arrivals try to plant plants. I laughed, but was determined to get them to grow, to spread, to smell and look pretty. To prove that lady wrong.

What did I learn from a show about spies? @sloanebcollins #amwriting #amreading #plottingprincesses

What lesson did I learn from a spy show?

My husband & I started watching a 6 part spy series the other day, "The Night Manager" on AMC. It's good, and we like it, but we were about 40 minutes in to the first episode when something happened, and he said "Finally. Now the story is moving along."

I need to post that on my laptop so I always remember to keep the action going in the books I write. 

I don't have a lot of time to read, so it's usually on the train to/from work, or a few minutes on my lunch break. There are some books I've read lately that it's ok to read snatches here and there. I can pick it back up and continue on. A short book may take several days to finish. Last week I read "Falling Into Bed with a Duke" by Lorraine Heath. I read 387 pages in less than 2 days. It was so awesome and compelling I had a hard time putting it down, so I read every minute I could (and almost missed my stop twice!). 

That's how I want to write. To keep the action up so readers don't want to set my book down, they want to see how it turns out. And to fall in love with my characters. (Yes, I fell hard for Lorraine's duke...and the woman he wanted to be with desperately!)

Back to that mini-series we started watching.

@sloanebcollins RWA is like Christmas in July #PlottingPrincesses #rwa16 #MFRWorg #ChristmasinJuly #amwriting

We’ve all heard of Christmas in July.  Several channels are running holiday movies, some shows have craft and cooking segments showing you how to make holiday foods and gifts.  For me, it really is Christmas in July, my favorite time of the year for another reason: the annual Romance Writers of America conference.

I’ve just returned from this year’s conference in San Diego, and I got so many presents!  Here’s my top 10 list of “gifts”:

Tales from the Crate - Moving Adventures with #Crazydog by Karilyn Bentley

Hello wonderful Readers! It's been awhile since I've posted on here and longer since I've written about The Kraken, aka Crazydog. Here's why: we moved to a different state. Yep, we no longer live in Texas, we are now official residents of cool, colorful Colorado.

mountains seen on hike

And how's The Kraken liking her new digs? Well.... now that is the real adventure.

#Movie Ponderings - You #Tarzan, Me Wish I was #Jane

Fourth of July weekend was the first time I've 'officially' taken off in a year. And you know what? I had a hard time not writing. Not that, at the moment, I have anything huge hanging over my head. But, after going and going every single spare minute, I found my mind didn't want to turn off.

My last Harlequin Western is in and I'm waiting on my edits. I hit send on my latest MS, The Wolf's Son, and was waiting on confirmation that my editor received it... And man, it was super hard to say bon voyage to that cast of characters. Nothing like writing tension-fraught yummy werewolves to make you excited about your writing for the day :) Nevertheless, I went from always writing to a full-on stop.

And my brain wasn't cooperating.

What could I do? Why find some good stories to savor to recharge my noggin, of course.

Guest Princesses: Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi - The Setting Thesaurus Books Are Here! #PlottingPrincesses #RocktheVault #WritersHelpingWriters #SettingThesaurus #MFRWorg

It is a writer's job to draw readers into the fictional story so completely that they forget the real world. Our goal is to render them powerless, so despite the late hour, mountain of laundry, or workday ahead, they cannot give up the journey unfolding within the paper-crisp pages before them.

Strong, compelling writing comes down to the right words, in the right order. Sounds easy, but as all writers know, it is anything BUT. So how do we create this storytelling magic? How can we weave description in such a way that the fictional landscape becomes authentic and real—a mirror of the reader's world in all the ways that count most?

 Well, there's some good news on that front. Two new books have released this week that may change the description game for writers. The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces and The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Spaces look at the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds a character might experience within 225 different contemporary settings. And this is only the start of what these books offer writers.

 In fact, swing by and check out this hidden entry from the Urban Setting Thesaurus: Police Car.
 
And there's one more thing you might want to know more about....

Becca and Angela, authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, are celebrating their double release with a fun event going on from June 13-20th called ROCK THE VAULT.

At the heart of Writers Helping Writers is a tremendous vault, and these two ladies have been hoarding prizes of epic writerly proportions.

A safe full of prizes, ripe for the taking...if the writing community can work together to unlock it, of course.

Ready to do your part? Stop by Writers Helping Writers to find out more!  

@sloanebcollins Writer's Block is an Evil Thing #amwriting #PlottingPrincesses #MFRWorg #writinglife #SullivansofMontana

I’ve been really stuck lately on my current work in progress.  Like STUCK, stuck.  I hit over the halfway mark, and I didn’t know what needed to happen next.  So I worked on editing the first half.  Searched Pinterest for more inspiration.  Tried writing just whatever, scenes that weren’t interesting.  Tried plotting an outline.   I even created book covers for all five in the series, hoping it would get me going (it did give me plots for books three and four!).  Worked on character development worksheets.

Etc., etc., etc. (said with Yul Brynner’s accent in “The King & I”.)

I had taken a brief hiatus from my French book sequel, and the prequel, because I had a dream about five cowboy ranching brothers, and they were clamoring for me to start writing their stories.  I’d hoped to enter it in a contest last year, but didn’t finish in time.  So with my Sullivans of Montana cowboy story, I wrote and wrote until I reached the point where the hero and heroine finally get together (you know what I mean). 

Then I got stuck.  In lava.  Which hardened until I couldn't write.

@lsfabre A Trip Back in (#British) Time: #Oxford, #Egland #MFRWorg

In recent years, thanks to my husband’s job, I had several opportunities to visit England. While he attended meetings and slaved away on projects, I wandered about, sightseeing and eating. The first stop on one trip was Oxford, a great way to step back in time as well as indulge my huge fan-crush for all things Harry Potter.

Oxford began as a river crossing for oxen, and later, a military encampment. In 1066, Oxford Castle was built and included a monastic community with a chapel and living quarters. While the exact date for the founding of the educational institution is unknown, evidence indicates the religious order included teaching as early as 1096. Attendance exploded in 1167 when King Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. 

Currently, the University is composed of 38 different colleges, of which 35 offer undergraduate studies. While almost all colleges provide the same courses of study, they were founded at different times and tend to attract different types of students, and as such, have different “flavors.” One of the most notable is Christ Church, founded in 1524 by Cardinal Woolsey and re-founded and renamed by King Henry VIII after Woolsey’s fall from power.

Under the Princess Crown: Jennie Marts & her new book Romancing the Ranger #ContemporaryRomance #newbook #MFRWorg

USA TODAY Best-selling author Jennie Marts writes for Entangled Publishing and is addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends. Her books include the contemporary western romance Hearts of Montana series, the romantic comedy/cozy mysteries of The Page Turners series, the hunky hockey-playing men in the Bannister family in the Bannister Brothers Books, and the small town romantic comedies in the Cotton Creek Romances.  Visit her at www.jenniemarts.com and sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news and releases.

Speed Round:

Favorite movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Last book read: Girl On A Train
Favorite color: pink
Stilettos or flipflops: flip-flops
Coffee or tea: coffee
Ebook or paperback: paperback

Michelle Miles: Worldbuilding with Maps

I posted on Facebook a while back about how much I love maps. Not only are they great for research purposes, but I also love to stare at them for hours on end and imagine all the possibilities. I’ve been a map nerd pretty much all my life.

On a recent bookstore visit, I purchased a couple of maps for my current WIP, which is set in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. I find I’m particularly fond of Knopf Mapguides with the fold out maps because you get a really good bird’s eye view of the city itself. Plus they have it sectioned off by areas so it makes it super handy when working in a small grid like I am. AND it’s small enough to fit into my purse so I carry it everywhere.

The really cool thing about the Knopf Mapguides is it lists “best of” places from restaurants to hotels to entertainment, as well as transportation for the city. There’s even an index of streets, monuments and places to visit in the back.

Escaping the daily grind @sloanebcollins #PlottingPrincesses #Escapism #PearlsPerils #amreading #MFRWorg #scrapbooking #feedmysoul

I'm pretty much a loner, and need to escape the daily grind of a big city and a demanding day job. So when I'm taking a break from writing (or have the dreaded writer's block), I find other ways to feed my soul.  I don’t usually play a lot of games, and was never into video games, but lately I’ve been playing a game on my iPhone called Pearl’s Perils, a hidden objects game.  But it’s not like any iPhone game I’ve seen before. This is the official description from the Facebook page: “Get swept back to the romantic and sordid 1930’s along with our trailblazing heroine, Pearl Wallace, ace pilot and world explorer. Pearl’s glamorous social life grinds to a halt when her father mysteriously dies and she inherits a strange island filled with perilous secrets. Journey with Pearl and her deliciously sarcastic best friend, Iris Hillman, as they travel the world, uncover a global conspiracy, and navigate a chilling mystery you won’t soon forget!” 

The story line is fun, and the artists are truly talented. The scenery is lush and beautiful, and true to the time period of the 1930’s.  The story takes place on Artemis Island, and in Paris, New York, and Russia.  While following Pearl on her journey and trying to solve a mystery, you earn coins, cash, and energy, but you also get to build and design your own Artemis Island. That’s the most fun part to me.  As the story progresses, you earn, badges, coins, and cash to help you purchase decorations and buildings.  I usually play the game on the train commute to work, and before I go to sleep. It’s my chance to escape the daily world and go to a romantic era and location, and design a place I’d love to live. 

I used to do cross-stitch, then for many years I was hooked on scrapbooking.  I still have all my supplies, and keep all my photos and memorabilia so I can get back to it when I have spare time. I like to do a scrapbook for each vacation, so I've got stacks of boxes, one for each trip, ready to go.  So until I can actually work on those scrapbooks, I've been doing shadowboxes for each vacation.

This one from Hawaii is still a work in progress, but I'm almost done!

Books are my other choice of escapism.  Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, and Cozy Mysteries are my favorite genres.  In books, I can go anywhere I want.  I think part of why I love Cozy Mysteries so much is they take place in small towns, and have a cast of characters the reader gets to know and love.  And there’s usually a theme to each series: knitting, cooking, sewing, magic, crafting. 

I just realized as I was writing this post that I tend to lean toward small towns even in my choice of escapism: the small towns of Cozies, and the island in iPhone games.  I’ve always wanted to live in a small town.  Life seems so much simpler.  You don’t have a long commute, have to deal with strangers every day, there’s a slower pace, and a sense of community that is lacking in a sprawling big city. 

My husband and I prefer to vacation in places where we can get back to nature.  We might venture into a big city for a day, but we don’t stay very long, and would much rather be out among the mountains, forests, coastlines. 

So until we can build our cozy little cabin on the outskirts of a small town in the mountains, or a forest, or on the coast of Maine, I’ll keep reading my favorite genres, designing an island of my own, and remembering vacations in shadow boxes.

What ways do you escape the daily grind of life? Books? Movies? Games?  What are your favorites? 

Working through Writer's Block @sloanebcollins PlottingPrincesses #Nanowrimo #amwriting @OneStop4Writers #MFRWorg

Last month I wrote about doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, in which authors write a 50,000 novel. In a month. Thirty days. Yes, a whole book, or at least the start of a bigger novel.

All over the world, writers gathered up their notes, laptops, research, and set out on November 1 to begin their newest endeavors. And I was right alongside them. I had just attended a workshop on Scrivener the weekend before (if you haven’t heard of it, Scrivener is an AMAZING software program for writing. I’m hooked on it now!), so I was raring to go. I can set a target word count for the whole project – 50,000 words – and also a smaller target for sprinting (writing as much as you can in a timed interval).

Oops, got off on a side tangent. Back to NaNo. I did great writing for a week. I had a general idea of the scenes I wanted, who the characters are, what the goals, motivation, and conflict are for my hero and heroine.  Then this past weekend, I stalled. 

Every word was a struggle.

So I went back to the basics.  What’s my hero’s greatest fear?  I used the Characters Fears worksheet template on One Stop for Writers and dug deep into Nash, my hero.  And I came away with something golden.  A big fear he has, way down deep.   (Thank you, Angela, Becca, and Lee from OSFW!)

@sloanebcollins Tribal Units #familytribes #worktribes #amwriting #MFRWorg

I found myself thinking of tribes yesterday, and how I have been a part of several very different ones over the years. Tribes evolve over the years as your yourself grows and evolve. You leave one tribe, and become involved with another tribe. 

Your initial tribe starts with your immediate family. Once you hit school, you join another tribe. I think my first outer tribe was in 9th grade, with the three friends I was closest to. 

Then high school hit, and I had a few core friends. College brought a new tribe, both girls and boys (the brothers I had always wanted). I'm blessed to be back in touch with a few of those tribal mates now. 

Then my familial tribe expanded when I became engaged. Or I should say exploded, with 6 (SIX!) sisters. The first time I met them all was at Thanksgiving. I had my then-fiancé (now husband of 27 years) tell me about each of his sisters and their families. For two days I rehearsed the sisters' names: Dee, Kathy, Donna, Patti, Brenda, Melissa. Over and over again until it became a mantra: DeeKathyDonnaPattiBrendaMelissa. DeeKathyDonnaPattiBrendaMelissa. DeeKathyDonnaPattiBrendaMelissa. It was so interesting to become a part of this tribe - one totally different from the small family I had growing up. At family gatherings I like to sit back and watch them interacting with each other.  One of these days when I write about a big family, I’m sure I’ll use my experiences with this family as inspiration.  I love this tribe like they are my own sisters. 

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.

@sloanebcollins What Makes a Hero Tick? #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #AlphaHeroes #Supernatural #JensenAckles #JaredPadalecki #MFRWorg

I love reading books with Alpha heroes.  It’s much easier for me to write about female characters, and how they think, than to write male characters.  I’ve started watching TV shows more carefully in the hopes of figuring out how to best write men that SHOW what’s going on with them, what they are thinking, how they act, rather than TELL. 

I’ve come about 10 years late to the Supernatural phenomenon, and now I’m hooked (and I mean HOOKED).  Having loved Jared Padalecki's character on Gilmore Girls, Sammy immediately became my favorite.  But the more I’ve been watching the reruns, the more I see the internal angst that Dean (Jensen Ackles) has. I’m fascinated by their relationship on screen, and completely charmed that they are best friends in real life.

I started watching the reruns from 2009 a couple months ago, but am now watching the first season, and it's interesting to see how the characters have grown over the years.  So here's my take on it.

.@kellyleefiction Coincidence? Or subconscious mind tricks? #Murdering Eve #release #characternames #amwriting #myWANA

My first book, Murdering Eve, got a revamp & a facelift this year.  Newly edited with a shiny new cover, my new publisher asked me for a slew of information, including "interesting" anecdotes about either my writing process, or the book, to prepare for release promotional materials.

Immediately, I was stumped. What's an interesting anecdote? There are tons of un-interesting things I could say, like the fact that I write cross-legged, or guzzle diet cokes all day, or that I don't usually shower until I know husby is about to arrive home from work - and even then, it's hit or miss. None of that stuff, while true, is particularly interesting.

Then I got a random, out-of-the-blue email from an old boyfriend. And stared at his name in horror. The book I was about to release featured his first name as the name of my hero. Thrown into a frenzy of "holy crap", my brain buzzed with whether or not I'd done it "accidently on purpose".  Questions I didn't want the answer to ricocheted inside my skull, bouncing off one another.

- What if ex-boyfriend finds out I'm an author, reads the book, and assumes I'm still hung up on him?

- What would husby feel if he knew the hero in my first book shares the same name as the guy I dated before him? 

- Most importantly, why on earth did my brain pull such a nasty trick on me?

@SloaneBCollins Dreams: Is a cigar really just a cigar? #InspiringStories #SafeHaven #MFRWorg

I’m one of those people who dreams vividly and in color – I always have. It boggles my mind when my husband tells me he doesn’t dream, or that he doesn’t remember his dreams.  I usually remember most of my dreams, or at least flashes of them, on a daily basis.  And, depending on what’s going on in my life at that time, I tend to dream of certain things.  We used to have two cats, and when we lost them in the early 2000’s, it was as if we’d lost our children.  Actually, they were our kids.  I found when I was missing them the most, they would visit me in my dreams. 

Every so often, I dream about my dad, and the sister I lost in 1991.  I’ve analyzed those dreams, and they usually occur when I’m missing them the most, or when I have something exciting I wish I could share with them.  When something big is coming, I dream about it, and I think that’s my way of looking at every scenario that could happen. 

When I’m troubled, I dream about my grandmother’s house.