Writing with friends

My co-author June Williams is writing about co-writing. You can stop by Helen Ginger's blog to read and have a chance to win an ebook. Happy blogging!

Straight From Hel: June Williams on Writing With Friends: Our guest today is June Williams. one of three authors of " Honor and Integrity: A Collection of Pride and Prejudice-Inspired Short Storie...

What are your core values?

I'm a bit stuck recently with my writing. I've several good story ideas but every time I sit down to write them, I don't seem to like what I've written.

I came across a wonderful book yesterday called Coach Yourself to Writing Success by Bekki Hill. She uses coaching technique to help writers. I've used coaching in my work life and I found it very successful. So with great anticipation, I started reading the book.

It's very interesting and refreshing. But there are a lot of exercises to complete. The first one Bekki mentioned is as a writer, we've to align our core values in life with our writing because if you truly value something, you will be able to write it with more enthusiasm.

It took me over 2 hours to narrow down my core values. I've a vague idea before. But some of the values I thought are more important to me in fact weren't. She suggested some interesting methods, like asking you to go from one room to another, and see what it reminds you of yourself. What do you like about the room and dislike about it? Note them down and ask a series of questions to arrive at the core values.

I came up with 20 core values but the top three, after very detail ranking, are: Optimism, Freedom and Fairness. Now, I've to link them to what I want to achieve in my writing life. I've finished reading the book but I will go back to do all the exercises now. Hopefully it will help me to write better.

Photo source: triathlontrainingisfun.com

What's a good number?

Another old post.

Kevin Costner is to become a father for the seventh time, his third child with German wife Christine Baumgartner, the US actor told German magazine Bunte.

"My wife is going to have a baby in June," the 55-year-old star of 1990s multiple Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves, which he also directed, told the magazine.

Costner and handbag designer and model Baumgartner already have two sons, one-year-old Hayes Logan and brother Cayden Wyatt, two, Bunte said.

- Sydney Morning Herald.

Well I always thought that four is a good number. The children will have a few siblings and there will be no middle child. Have you a good number in mind? In my stories, especially the historical romance, I tend to give my hero and heroine around seven children...

Love advice

I'm writing another story starting from Charles Bingley's point of view. Here is a post I've blogged about before. It seems suitable for Valentine's Day:


In Jane Austen Fan Fiction world, many readers do not like Charles Bingley at all. They think he's spineless for listening to his elder sisters, for taking the advice of Mr. Darcy and for believing Jane Bennet did not love him.

I actually do not find Bingley such a bad character. At least he's friendly, polite, sees the good in people and be humble enough to consider other's advice.

And what's love? In Pride and Prejudice, when Elizabeth asked Mr. Darcy to tell her when he started falling in love with her, he couldn't name the exact moment and that's what Lizzy said:

To be sure, you knew no actual good of me -- but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love.

Have you ever regretted asking for love advice? Happy Valentine's Day!

Photo: BBC

I've done it!

I've joined a writing challenge secretly in June. Yes, I didn't want to talk about it and jinx it.

It's organised by Roman Writers' Association of Australia. 50,000 words for 30 days. I completed the target with 1 day to spare.

But most importantly, I've completed Every Savage Can Reproduce and written up to Chapter 18 for Finding and Fighting.

I'll put my feet up for a few days before I do anything rush...

Course for Facebook and Twitter Virgin

My Blog Book Tour lecturer, Dani, is organising a short training for novices about how to comment on blogs, as well as work Facebook and Twitter for promotion purposes.

Dec. 28 - Commenting and promoting blogs (this is not about setting up a new blog)
Dec. 29 - Using Facebook
Dec. 30 - Using Twitter


It's free and press here to sign-up.

A threesome romantic hero

I haven't read Harlequin's sexy romance for a while, since I've been immersed in Pride and Prejudice fan fiction for the past two years. Yesterday I picked up one from an author I usually like. Guess what? The super rich hero (the boss) actually had sex with bimbo twins and the next day, he asked the heroine (the Personal Assistant) to take them out for shopping.

I switched off immediately. For the villains and others, multiple partners are ok. But I like my hero with...hero's character.

How to grab the plot bunnies?

When I go on Blog Book Tours to promote my books, blog hosts often like to ask how I get my inspiration.

As a rather new author, I often shy away from giving out tips. But now that I've three books under my belt and another one coming soon, I think I can share a bit of my writing journey here.

About plot bunnies, they are strange creature. They come and go quite suddenly. And some of them work like magic. Once I get hold of an idea, I can turn it into a story very quickly. But some other bunnies, they lead me round and round for quite some times. A few of them have been sitting in the hard drive of my netbook for over two years now.

Just take for an example, the idea of Apollo's Stone in My Darcy Mutates...came to me when I was researching about Hertfordshire. Wikipedia has an entry about the county where a major part of Pride and Prejudice was set in.

I clicked through the links here and there and came across a story that an assassination plot was to be carried out on one of the Kings in Hertfordshire. The assassins were supposed to block the King's carriage near a church and ambush him there.

I immediately thought of a similar plot to delay Mr. Darcy's carriage.

Since I don't like to write about murder that much so I changed it into a blackmail plot. Wickham delayed old Mr. George Darcy's carriage at the church, while the scoundrel tried to put young Fitzwilliam Darcy in a compromising situation with a lady. But a mistake occurred in Wickham's scheme and made young Darcy meet Elizaebth Bennet.

That's how the short story Apollo's Stone came about. It was written within the hours, from research, plot to first draft.

What is love?

I'm not very good at expressing love, especially the declaration of love. Sometimes I feel the words are too cheesy, other times too emotional. I guess as a new romantic writer, I should learn more about this art, of talking about love.

Here are a few from my books. How do you think I fare? Of course, you can see some of them are borrowed/inspired by Jane Austen's words.

She thought of his love with a deeper sentiment of gratitude than she had ever felt before; she remembered his gentlemanly ways, his warmth, and the caring manner that softened the stiff, reserved way in which he had expressed himself in times past.

She was thankful for the strength of his love, a love which defied his own will, persisting against his reason and perhaps even against his character. She was grateful to him, not merely for having once loved her, but for loving her still. - Bargain with the Devil

She and she alone made him feel complete. - Really Angelic

I don't wear Hush Puppy!

Get sick of my "leather" drabble? Here is another one for you.

***

“Are you addicted to Hush Puppy leather shoes suddenly?” Charles asked. "I thought you're a Bally man!"

It was William’s sixth pair. What could he do? He went to this shoe shop with Charles one day, criticising the decor and products, only to have this gorgeous sales lady Elizabeth overhearing him and staring at him disapprovingly.

When she helped him try on a pair of leather shoes (remember William did not wear Hush Puppy), she “accidentally” hit his heel with the shoehorn. He gritted his teeth to suppress the pain but couldn’t take his eyes off her.

How pathetic was he? To go back the next day, only to discover she was not there. He went there every day since, finally catching her on Friday. Since then, he had bought sixth pair of Hush Puppies leather shoes from her every Friday.

As he prepared to join Charles and his fiancée for dinner, William decided to ask Elizabeth out next Friday. It could be a disaster. She could be a silly girl but at least he could be sure she wasn’t after his money. If she did, she would have made a move on him when he made a point of showing up in his Mercedes sport car and a wallet full of cash the second Friday.

William's countenance looked like a puppy with love stuck eyes and mouth hung open when he discovered that Elizabeth was the sister of Charles fiancée.

***
Do you have a foot fetish adventure to share?

Leather saddle - NC17

The word "leather" seems to be quite inspirational. Here is another drabble for you. I've toned down the language a bit.

***

They were within twenty yards of each other inside Pemberley’s stables, and so abrupt was her appearance, that it was impossible to avoid her sight.

“You are back!”

“I am sorry to listen to Caroline’s lies.”

Mr. Darcy stepped forward and embraced his wife tightly. “You are home.”

Elizabeth basked in his warmth which she missed for the past six months. She started raining kisses on his face and lips. “Yes!”

Her fervent action stirred his dormant body.

He pushed her against the stall and sat her on one of the leather saddles.

Pushing the neckline of her day dress down, he lowered his head to bury himself in the sweet scent of her bosom. His hands moved to pull up the hem and rubbed her secret garden frantically.

Elizabeth responded. Pushing down his riding breeches with shaking hands, she palmed his member and worshipped it.

He raised his head in a loud howl, grabbed her hands away and thrust into her in one mighty push.

Like a wild stallion, he rode her with neck-breaking speed.

Their ecstatic cries could be heard hundred of yards away. Luckily all the servants had left the stables when they saw the mistress returned.

***

Do you have some steamy riding adventures to share?

Who are your readers?

Are any of you (authors) registered with Goodreads?

I'm registered as their authors. You can offer giveaways and invite people to events there. I find it really useful to spread the words about my books.

But one thing most interesting is you can check out who have listed your books as "to-read" or who have given your books a rating and reviews.

I found that for my first book In Quest of Theta Magic, a paranormal romance without any obvious relation to Pride and Prejudice, I received more higher stars rating from men, than from women.

Leather whip

Another drabble challenge. This time it's "leather".

Jane's Instruction

Click!

Click!

“What are you doing?” William yelled in the pitch-dark room.

Click!

Click!

“Finally!” Elizabeth said as she turned on the light. “Don’t struggle. I’m only doing what my sister told me.”

“Jane?”

“Yes, she said Charles and you shouldn’t be let off lightly. Charles for doubting her heart and you for inferring with their affairs. So that’s why she booked all four of us in this Hotel Agony for our engagement celebration.”

"Hotel Agony?"

William struggled against the handcuffs that spread his body wide open on the bed when she ripped open his shirt and unlaced the fly of his leather pants.

When he saw her take out a leather whip, his body trembled.

Elizabeth smiled and traced the numerous strands of the whip from his cheek, down his throat, chest to his pubic hair.

Then she used it to draw circles around his balls.

Panting hard, he saw her smile turned into a grin as she brushed the leather strands along his now aroused member on all sides.

He closed his eyes and thrust his hips up, savouring her ministration and yet the shivering would not stop.

“Should I give you a good whip?” Her voice turned husky.

***

What will happen next? It's your call...

Friday is Fry Day

A friend gave me the word "Friday" to write a drabble (200 words story). Here is my take

***
Friday was “fry day” at Chez Lizzy.

“Only deep fried food? What a crappy restaurant!” William said loudly.

Chef Lizzy overhead his remarks. She brought out four plates of deep fried fish balls, cheese balls, prawn balls, squid balls and slammed them in front him.

“Taste first before you criticise!”

As a world renowned food critic, William wouldn’t take such rude behaviour.

He opened his mouth to protest but she shoved a fish ball into his mouth.

Wow, the fish ball was fiery and zesty! Like its creator.

He immediately dug in the other three dishes.

All her creations were heavenly and divine, he thought.

Before he could apologise and commend the chef, she had turned and left. He was mesmerised by her fiery body and sparkling fine eyes. He had to talk to her so he followed her, until they reached the back of the restaurant.

“What do you want?”

“Your food is sensational. Where did you get your inspiration?”

“I love to play with balls on Friday,” She grabbed his with a light hand, “including yours.”

A few months afterwards, Fridays were no longer the same at Chez Lizzy as deep fried balls were taken off the menu. Chef Lizzy married celebrity food critic William and sold the restaurant.

***
What's your take?

Mental Grass

BF is my milking cow, figurative speaking (He said he'd rather be a bull).

I ask him for plot idea or when I'm stuck with a certain piece of writing.

Lately he's busy and can't help me much so you can see I'm a bit slow in my writing. He now suggests I feed him with mental grass.

What do you feed on to get life's inspiration?

Newspaper articles work for me so far. I read online newspapers every day and have plenty of mental stimulation afterwards.

So what's your mental grass?

Photo from dreamstime

Best selling author Marian Keyes battling depression

Best selling Irish author Marian Keyes has revealed she is battling "crippling depression" that has left her unable to write, read, sleep or even talk to people, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

In a January newsletter posted on her website, Keyes, 46, whose books include Watermelon and Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, said she was attempting to recover from the illness.

Keyes, a pioneer of the "chick-lit" genre, is known for her romantic comedies centred around a strong female character, but with dark themes including drug abuse, mental illness and domestic violence.

(Press here to read the article)

While I don't have a depression, I do have a writer's block with my two existing work in progress stories Finding and Fighting and Every Savage Can Reproduce.

Once work stops my writing momentum in a story, I often find it hard to start writing that story again and drift off to write others.

This is one battle I've to conquer.

Do you have some tips for me to tackle this particular problem?

Super heroine a flop?

Yesterday I talked about the most popular baby names in 2009 in New South Wales in Australia. I read another wrap up talking about some of the biggest flops in movies. The website said Catwoman by Halle Berry was one of the box office disasters.

It concluded rather harshly that movies with superheroines wouldn't sell.

I for one don't agree. I like to read stories with a strong heroine. And I have created stories with superheroine.

For example in my first novel In Quest of Theta Magic, Elana Bailey has eagle sight and can see many times farther than human.

In my latest novel Really Angelic, Elizabeth is a special kind of guardian angel.

But both of them manage to find their love in the novels. Perhaps Catwoman needs a happily ever after to make it works.

Photo from wikipedia

Three or Nine Inches?

Each day I received more than 20 or so junk mails. They are extremely annoying, wasting my time to delete them and costing me download time too.

But I've turned the nuisance into inspiration once. Here is an excerpt about 9 inches. No, the story is called:


Three Inches

She sighed again and decided to earn her keep and opened the letters that were just delivered by the postman: bill, junk mail, booking and more bills. Nothing could interest her until she came upon a pink envelop with a card inside, addressed to Mr. William Darcy and marked private.

Tomorrow would be Valentine’s Day. Could this be a Valentine’s card from his present girl friend? Did he have a lover now? Why was it sent here?

Elizabeth racked her brain and thought hard. She had been feasting on gossip magazines since she came here but she hadn’t seen any recent photos of him with any women.

“Private, but not personal. I’m the secretary here…” She murmured. Curiosity was killing her. After a few minutes of deliberation, she decided to open the card.

It was a cheap bland Valentine’s card with a red heart on the front. Inside, there was just a short few sentences of illegible writings with many blots:

My dear Darce,

I t’s time of the y ear. Get your 3 inches out and s hag some girls wit less.
Ig ore their comp ains and en joy yourself!

Your best friend
B


“Shit!” Elizabeth dropped the card and swore, “What did Bingley tell him to do?”

She picked up the card and read it again. “Get your 3 inches out and shag some girls witless? Ignore their complaints and enjoy yourself? What sort of best friend was he? Why would any girl want to complain if Darcy shags her? I sure wouldn’t complain. The man is scorching hot! But hang on! 3 inches! 3 inches? How many centimetres is that?”

Elizabeth scratched her head and wished she had done better in class with mathematics. She hated the imperial system. Luckily Google was right in front of her. She typed in “length converter” and clicked on the first website.

Three inches = 7.62 centimetres.

She looked at the ruler on her desk, right in front of her eyes. Surely that could not be! Such a hot guy could not be so badly endowed. He was tall, his hands and feet were big. His shoulders were broad and his biceps strong. She thought back at their tennis lessons. He usually wore loose sport trousers so there was no way she could tell. Anyway, she had not ogled him before. That’s not true. She might have ogled him a little bit, on the legs and the torso, but not there!

You've to go to Steamy Darcy to read the full story.

Where do you get your inspiration?

In the forum I frequent, they have monthly story challenge.

For example, May is for Merriment, June and July for Summer Lovin', August for Angst, September for Smooches, October for Fairy Tales and November for Meet-Cute.

Readers are free to post plot bunny and writers can grab them and post short stories.

I find these challenges very interesting and normally send my imagination haywire.

So where do you get your inspiration?

Love Reincarnation

On Halloween day I posted a short story.

I had a bit of difficulty writing it. The problem was deciding on the era and theme. I love sexy stories so adding a certain amount of spice was a must.

In the end I decided on a modern one but with reincarnation as the theme. It may not be acceptable to some religions but it sure works for me.

Have you read a sexy romantic ghost or scary story recently? Do you think horror and romance go together?