And then...

Most stories begin with a 'what if' idea. The author then proceeds in an orderly fashion to discover the answer to all the what ifs. Occasionally, something happens and the story wanders off (or heck, it even flees!) the track. Dragging a rebellious story back where is belongs isn't always worth the effort.

I think the rebel story is more interesting. I once had a notion to write a trilogy about three sisters who go to Camelot with their father in search of husbands. It was a valid idea. I chose names for the characters and began the story setup. By the end of the first page, I knew the story wasn't going to cooperate.

The characters blithely romped off in quest of adventure, new characters insisted on shoving their way onto the stage, and none of the sisters behaved like they were supposed to. One married the butler. Their father turned out to be a traitor. One of them ended up with Merlin as a father-in-law. There were dragons and trolls and unicorns.

Sigh.

Once I let it roll, I had a great deal of fun. Some of my most memorable characters strolled on the stage during the days of Flowers of Came-a-lot. Percival and Bart, the dragons. Robin Hood and his wife, Delphie. Peter and Dick, the firebird twins.

I sometimes wonder if we try too hard to fit in the acceptable mold instead of allowing ourselves to explore 'what if'? Maybe there's a reason the vast majority of books all sound alike. Why not see where the story goes when it runs away?

We might discover entirely new territory.

anny

Train Wreck

When a writer sets out to begin a story, they generally have some notion about plot and characters, if not exactly all the details. Of course, there are unexpected changes that crop up. But for the most part, the story proceeds along the original lines.

Until it doesn't.

Back in my early writing days, I planned a little trilogy. It wasn't anything exciting...three sisters who go to Camelot to find husbands among the Knights of the Round Table. On the whole, except for the historical aspects, the idea was pretty basic romance fluff.

I sat down at the computer to rough in the story with a little prologue. My thought was to use the prologue for each of the three stories to tie them together.

Uh-huh.

Well, that didn't work. The moment I set the characters on paper, they seized the story and ran with it. I never got that train back on the track despite my best efforts to wrestle it back in place. No...every time I thought I might have a way to regain control, a new character would pop up, seize a plot point and bat the entire story off in the woods or dunk it down to the dungeons.

Impossible.

Finally, I conceded. My simple idea turned into a wild romp through the halls of Camelot, peopled by offbeat characters and a cast of thousands. Dragons, fairies, firebirds, trolls...no oddity or weirdness was too much.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. The characters did it. In a cave. In the woods. In a pond. In the Abbey. Even in Sher Wood Forest. And so on.

Flowers of Camelot. Sexy strangeness galore. Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle, Daffodil, Magnolia and Larkspur. Or if you prefer print, Carnal Camelot and Lust in Camelot. Available on Wednesday.

anny

Details, details...

Details. There are only so many story tropes. It's the details that make it your story--or mine. Every writer has a working style. Some do elaborate outlines as they work out the story details in their mind. Some just sit down and write and work out the details as they go along. And then there are the hybrids--the writers like me who start writing what I call a jumpstart, and keep going until the details start popping up.

When they (the details) start intruding on the writing experience, it's time to stop and work on the synopsis/outline and research how the details will influence the story.

 The series I'm currently working on has been called "Fractured Faerytales at King Arthur's Court". The heroine in this book, Gardenia, has acquired a cloak (she was cold) and a staff (a handy weapon) and a pair of boots (we won't discuss what happened to her old ones.) One of the heroes has acquired a scarlet cap and two bronze wristlets.

Suddenly, I realized my characters had all this great stuff. Shouldn't it do something? Let's see. What could the boots do. Well, my character has already decided they are Merlin's magic boots. How do they work? What faerytale/familiar story would magic boots represent?

Ahhhh. Research time. So far, I've accounted for the boots, cloak, staff and hat. I haven't run across a story for the wristlets. I'll persevere.

In the meantime, each item will serve to move the story along. Did I plan it? No. But this is not the first time my brain has apparently been percolating along on its own, just waiting for me to have that ah-hah moment. With the synopsis/outline thingy more or less complete, I'll dive back into the writing.

I seldom stick to the plan--at least not closely. But it provides a springboard for other ideas. And with the Flowers of Camelot, that's pretty much the best I can ask for.

anny

Revisiting the Vault

I'm working on a new Flowers of Camelot book--Gardenia. In the interest of smooth continuity in the series, I'm rereading the other Flower books (Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle, Daffodil, Magnolia and Larkspur.) Like so many other authors, I rarely read my own work once it's published. It's hard enough keeping up with my to-be-read pile of other authors' books.

I'm rethinking that, though.

For months I've been in a funk, sinking in a morass of family emergencies, poor financial future prospects, and just plain discouragement about my writing. My fellow writers have been quick to support and encourage me, but that just didn't seem to provide the kickstart I needed.

Then I went to RomantiCon. For three days I wandered around, talking to fellow writers and editors. I won an award for one of my other series. I commiserated with other writers who are also sinking in their personal swamps of despair. I was both disheartened and encouraged when I realized I wasn't the only one struggling.

On the way home--an eight hour drive--I had plenty of time to mull things over. It was during that drive that the ideas came to me for two new Flower books (Gardenia and Azalea.) On Wednesday last week I started Gardenia. And immediately came to the conclusion I needed to reread the series as a refresher.

It's been an illuminating experience. There were many details I'd forgotten, of course. I have a note sheet full of scrawled bits and pieces I'll need to add to my new story.
But more importantly, I discovered something about myself.  

I can write.

Oh, there are things I would change if I was writing the stories now. Technical issues. I used the word that a lot. And in noticing the word, it occurred to me I've learned and changed in the five years since I wrote Chrysanthemum. But notwithstanding my growth, even back then I was a writer.

Due to some scheduling issues, Chrysanthemum was my first book published, though it was the fourth book I actually wrote. By the time Chrys came along, I was desperately in need of a mental break. And I was unwittingly wise enough to seize it when it came along.

Chrysanthemum and the other Flowers are pure insane fluff. That's what I needed at that time in my writing life. A while back I was critiquing a book for a fellow author. One of the things I noted was that the book seemed a little "light and fluffy" compared to her previous books. I believe I hurt her feelings though that was not my intent at all.

She wrote back that life was rough for her at that point (and it definitely was) and conceded she needed to write something light and fluffy. She needed that to help her get through the hard times she was dealing with.

I owe her an apology. I didn't realize until now just how much I need something light and fluffy. And I totally understand now that light and fluffy doesn't mean poorly written or shoddy workmanship. Actually, it's harder to write something light than write something deep and thoughtful--at least for me.

So I'm ready to plunge in to the adventures of Gardenia and her twin sister, Azalea. For those familiar with the Flowers series, they are Honeysuckle's daughters...with all that implies. And a certain zest has seized my writing spirit in anticipation.

anny

Expectations

In a little over six weeks I will gather with many of my fellow writers at the Romantic Times 25th Booklovers Convention. Most of us will be meeting for the first time. There is much anticipation and excited planning going on in the background. There are several special events that the authors are invited to attend and all of them require fancy dress.

Since my idea of fancy dress is an unpressed pair of grannie jeans and a t-shirt, there's been some heartburn at my house over the entire shopping and acquiring event. I'm not much for shopping in any case, but shopping for fancy stuff is way down on my list of favorite things to do. I misplaced my girly-girl genes a long time ago.

There will be a host of workshops and getting-to-know you events. I don't do well in huge crowds but I plan to give it my best shot because there are people I need to know and things I need to learn. It amazes me that some authors actually look forward to mingling with strangers.

Perhaps the events that both terrify me and excite me at the same time are the two book signing events. One is an e-book signing where I'll be signing cover flats for three of my books, Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle, and Cherished Destinies. I understand that the companies that market e-book readers will be there demonstrating their wares. The other event is a print book signing. I'll be signing my first print book, Dancer's Delight.

It's a scary prospect. What if no one comes to my table? What if no one wants one of my books? Will I sit alone at a table in a sea of tables crowded with eager readers? I'm a new writer. To paraphrase... "What if they gave a book signing and nobody came?"

I suspect that there are other new authors having similar thoughts to mine. At my age, there are so many new experiences that I seem to be facing every day. One side of me says, "Who cares?" And the other side admits that no one likes to suffer humiliation. There are echoes of those long ago school days when I just died because I was always chosen last. That's generally your fate when your always the new kid in class. By the time I made friends we were off, on the move again.

So I've decided to look on this as a once in a life time event--an unlooked for opportunity to meet men and women face-to-face that I've met via the Internet. We all have expectations about what the other ones will be like in person. I'm pretty sure that the others will be surprised when they meet me. To put it bluntly...I'm a grandma. People who are familiar with my work always look at me with this wounded look and moan, "But you're a grandmother!"

I know.

My pert and perky days are past. Now I'm in the rocker and chocolate chip cookie phase, seasoned with a liberal helping of support hose and Miss Clairol. I still suffer from a certain wistfulness for those younger, skinnier, whisker-free, more limber days of my youth, but they're long gone. So I'll just have to settle for not trying to scare the patrons away. And I'm reasonably secure in the hope that my fellow frogs won't notice that I'm a strange shade of blue.

Anny

Amarinda is off in the hinterlands of Australia, scouting out locations for her movies. Check out her blog anyway at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ And Kelly is contemplating her navel but we won't tell her that everyone has one at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ Blessings on your day!

On the Way to Camelot

What is it about Camelot and King Arthur that captures our imagination? Why is the legend in all of its incarnations so durable? Why do we dream of the pageantry and ideals of the legend of the Round Table?

I think it's because deep in our hearts we long for order and security. Though the time period that King Arthur would have lived was actually marred by constant warfare and invasions, lack of hygiene, little medical knowledge, and poverty, that's not the part of the legend we remember. What we remember is the shining Camelot where truth and justice prevailed because Arthur was King and Merlin stood by his side.

The legend of Arthur has everything--treachery, love, power, magic, betrayal, foolishness, idealism, and sacrifice. Centuries later we still mourn this King who maybe, just maybe existed in the dark, dark centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire. Scholars vehemently argue the case for and against his existence. But whether he lived or not, it takes nothing away from the bright ideals that show us the way to a better future.

Fifteen hundred years later writers are still adding new twists to the legend that has endured all this time. A few months ago, I wrote a very tongue-in-cheek story about a young lady named Chrysanthemum and her time at King Arthur's court. Oddly enough, I called the story Chrysanthemum. She had two sisters who accompanied her to Camelot--Honeysuckle and Daffodil. I called the series the Flowers of Camelot. Today, the second in the series will be released. Let's see now, what did I call it? Oh, yes. Honeysuckle. On March 28th, the third in the series will be released and yes, you guessed it! It's title is Daffodil.

Now, I admit that my take on Camelot, Arthur, and the rest of the legend is a bit different, but I invite you to check it out. There's no telling what you might find out about Arthur and his rowdy bunch of Knights. No telling...

Need more information? Stop by my website at http://www.annycook.com/ or at the Ellora's Cave website at http://www.ellorascave.com/ for excerpts or blurbs.

Yesterday in the Saga Amarinda left us in San Franscisco with Emmeline playing with her food...

“Sometimes you cannot choose you destiny,” Beryl responded mystically.

“And sometimes you can.” Emmeline upended that plate on the table, picked up a fork and smushed the potato around.

“That’s cheating!” Beryl stamped her foot in anger.

“Whinge, bitch moan,” Emmeline muttered. She saw the needle - nasty. What did the answer look like? “Oh it can’t be.” She picked the small item up on the fork and looked at it closely.

Of course, I had to decided what it was!

“Well?” Beryl stood impatiently tapping her foot.

Pursing her lips, Emmeline stood contemplating the small item on the fork while she considered her limited options. It should be safe to return. Rinalda and the twins are dead. Zoltan is off in Nebraska with Pete. Surely, it will be safe?

Just then the door slammed open with such force that the hinges bent. Dr Garth Flugelheimer-Watts and his assistant Miss Primrose Grimly stood in the doorway.

“Halt!” Dr. Garth pointed an imperious finger at Emmeline. “Give me the chalice!”

Prim hung her head in disgust. Even she could see that Emmeline wasn’t in possession of the chalice. Nitwit! She trotted over to Emmeline and studied the object on the fork for a brief moment before jumping back. “No!”

“Yes.” Emmeline nodded her head sagely. “It’s true.”

“What will you do?” Prim demanded harshly.

“I will return it to its home. It must be done. You know that, don’t you, Prim?”
Prim shuddered in fear. “How will you get there?”

“I believe that I will take your space ship. Dr. Flugelheimer-Watts won’t mind, I’m sure. Especially if you come along to navigate. We will be back, oh… say we’ll be back sometime this century. It’s not that far.”

Dr. Garth shook himself as though suddenly waking and shouted, “What? You’re taking my ship? No, no, no!”

Emmeline merely nodded. “Of course, you’ll know best. In that case, I’ll need to find a garden center and take care of this.”

Primrose rounded to face the doctor and declared, “You fool! Give her the ship!”

“Eh? Why would I do that?”

“Because she has a zucchini zuuker seed!”

Hmmm. I wonder what Kelly will do with this?

Don't forget to stop by Amarinda's Place for your daily dose of Aussie vocabulary at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com and then pop over to Kelly's Blog to find out what she's up to today at www.kkirch.blogspot.com Blessings on your day!

Oops! I almost forgot! Next week the Eternally Yours Contest begins!

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love

Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Yummy good reading!

Tuesday Bits and Pieces

The best thing I ever have in My Kitchen is a Friend that can cook. Help wanted!~~From a kitchen placque my friend gave me thirty five years ago. It's still true.

My friend Dorian gave me the placque during the period that she was teaching me to cook. I could burn boiled water. Yep, I could. Needless to say it was an uphill battle.

First we went grocery shopping. I was several months pregnant with baby number three. She had two, I had two, and she babysat for three more under four years of age. Grocery shopping was a true adventure as we also took her eighty year old grandmother with us. Looking back on it, obviously we were insane, but then we were so young we didn't know that.

Anyway, with the shopping done, I would pack all the stuff willy-nilly in the refrigerator or freezer and collapse. Then each morning, I called her up and asked what to take out of the freezer. Later in the day, with the phone tucked between my shoulder and my chin, I would follow her directions on how to cook that day's special. It must have worked as I haven't poisoned anyone so far. Of course, there's always tomorrow or next week, but that's another blog.



Tomorrow is the release day for Honeysuckle, book two of the Flowers of Camelot. The fine handsome fellows on the cover are Dick and Peter Hieney, superspies for King Arthur and Camelot. They work for Nathan the Sneak, head of King Arthur's security forces. There is mischief afoot in Camelot.

Enter Honeysuckle. She has their number. Yes, she does. Stay tuned to see who comes out on top...

There are a few other assorted villians and heroes--Prince Daz, the unicorn prince, Robin Hood, Morgana the sorceress and Vivian, the queen. So get in line to buy your copy and find out just who wins the battle of sexes. My money is on Nanny Anny... or Merlin.

If you were here yesterday, you know that we have a plethora of contests. (I always wanted to use that word.) Amarinda has a contest--see http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ for the details. Prize? A free copy of her first Vampire romance, Shades of Gray. *delicious shiver*

And Kelly has a wonderful contest--see http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ for the details on how to win a beautiful silver and garnet necklace. Ummm. I always love garnets and silver. And it would match my ring...

On Friday, I will have all the details for a month long scavenger hunt on my newly refurbished webpage. No, no, no--it's not finished yet, but on Friday, all will be ready. Until then you'll just have to be patient. Prize will be announced then also. Until then, it's a deeeeeep, darrrrrk secret.

Now you would think that would be enough contests, but NO! We want you to win, win, win! So we have the Eternally Yours Contest! Fabulous prizes if you are the lucky winners!

Yes, that's correct. There will be three lucky winners.

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

And the authors? Moi, of course, Kelly Kirch, Amarinda Jones, N.J. Walters, Mona Risk, Cindy Spencer Pape, Sandra Cox, Bronwyn Green, Jacqueline Roth, and Brynn Paulin. How is that for a fabulous line up? As one of them said, "I would like to win these books!"

Other bits and pieces--On February the 4th, we will be kicking off the contest with an Eternally Yours chat at Love Romances Cafe from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Please stop by, meet the ladies, and sample some delicious excerpts.

Tomorrow on January 30th, Cindy Spencer Pape will be hosting a list mom chat at the Ellora's Cave chat loop to celebrate her new release and those of her friends. Plan to spend the afternoon with us while we chat and post excerpts for your pleasure.

Blessings on your day!

Anny

What's In a Title?

I spent some time yesterday offering title options to a friend. Actually, I know several different fellow authors who profess to suck at titles. I on the other hand find it difficult to write a book without first settling on the title. Strange, that.

Most authors I know start with the story and decide on a title as they go along--or even when they're finished. For me the title defines the action in the book (at least in my mind) so I need the title first. I won't say that I've never changed a title. Cherished Destinies was a title that I settled on halfway through that book as I saw that the book was changing shape mid-stream.

Recently a friend of mine was pilloried in a blog because of the title of her book. It was a cutesy/frank take off on a popular phrase and quite appropriate for the target audience. What amazed me was the sheer intolerance of the comments. Why are we still not past that point? And why are we still dealing with the title/cover/content police?

How much can you really tell from a title? I like titles that tell me something about the story or at least allude to something in the story. And since I'm a straight-arrow kind of person, I would prefer not to have to puzzle it out because it's an obscure reference to a dead poet. If you're gonna use a poet reference at least put that reference on the dedication page so I know what we're talking about.

One of my friends believes that my books Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle, and Daffodil would sell better if they were named something like Tie Me Down, Two Men for Honey, and Spanking Daffodil. Maybe. But I was thinking this is a trilogy about three sisters named Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle and Daffodil. So that's what I named the books. After all when Melville wrote his whale book, he didn't call it Killing a Whale--he called it Moby Dick. I was going for classy--Oliver Twist, Jude the Obscure (believe me, he was), and Tom Sawyer. Sigh.

Maybe classy was too much to expect. Maybe the titles just weren't up front enough. Maybe. I'm still kicking around a title for Bishop's book. I think it's going to be something like Finally, Love or something like that. I haven't quite found the right words, but when I do, then that will settle the book for me. That's how I work.

A title should intrigue the reader, capture their interest and make them want to find out what the book is about. If it makes a promise--My Dragon Lover--by golly, there better be a dragon in the book and he better be the main hero. I once read a book about a dragon...read the entire book, waiting for the dragon to appear...only to discover that the title was one of those weird dead poet references. There was no dragon! The manager at the bookstore tried to argue with me when I asked for my money back, but seven bucks for a story with no dragon in it--nope, I wasn't going for it. Eventually, she reluctantly forked over my money. I probably would have kept the book, crummy though it was, if the author had at least conjured up one measly dragon to cover the title.

I think I read somewhere that some publishers don't let the author choose the title. I don't think I could do that. Covers I can deal with the publisher deciding on. But a title? No, I think I would have a difficult time coping with that. A title is kind of personal. It says something about the person that wrote the book. While doing research, I once worked with a set of books titled "The History of the Descendents of Edward Bosworth who came to America in 1632". Well. At least you know what that book is about. And I can hazard a guess or two about the author. Can't you?

Anny

Drop by Amarinda's blog to check out the latest on the Blogga Saga at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ and then pop over to Kelly's blog at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ for her latest entry.