Old Cinder

I had to laugh the other day when my seventeen year old son broke the garden rake. He took the head off and was about to toss the handle on the burn pile when I confiscated it. “Why do you want that?”

“I just do.”

“It’s broken. You can’t use it for anything.”

“Yes you can,” I said.

He screwed up his face and walked off, sure I’d lost my mind or become one of those hoarders he’d watched on television.

Often I have people ask, where did I come up with this or that in my story? Yeah I know, my imagination is pretty wild, and I can dream up some doozies, but I do have an explanation.

Actually, I blame Old Cinder.

Who’s Old Cinder?

Well, when I was five years old, I lived on my grandfather’s ranch in the Nebraskan Sandhills. We didn’t have video games, cable or satellite television, nor did we have cell phones. During the summer and on the weekends, my mother kicked us outside when the sun came up, and didn’t we didn’t come in, other than to eat lunch, until that sun set. Every night she read to us. In fact, it didn’t stop when we were little. All through the years, from the time we were knee high until we were teenagers, sitting at the breakfast table listening to Lord of the Rings while we ate, she’d read to us. I have to say, it spawned a vivid imagination. One I’ve used to play, and later as an adult, to write and paint.

From these stories, fantasy worlds were spun and every day, I’d go outside and play in them. The world was my book.

Now as any good cowgirl’s daughter, I’ve been riding since I could walk, but at the age of five, I still needed a little assistance hefting my granddad’s heavy saddle up on the back of an old paint named Sundown, and then when I did get him saddled, I had to share with my siblings. So a lot of time, I was horseless and had to make do in other ways.

Where am I going with this…?

One of those ways was a broken handle from an old shovel. Perfect for galloping around the pastures and through the yard. That old handle and I rode miles and miles. We led the charge on forts, rode through the clouds and across alien worlds. We could fly. We could swim underwater. We were the best of friends, my stick pony and I.

Then one day I caught my grandfather with my pony, stirring a burn pile in the yard. His end was charred and he’d lost a good inch. I screamed and burst into tears. How could he? How could he burn my faithful steed?

“What’s the matter?” granddad asked.

“You’re burning my horse.”

He lifted the stick. “This?”

“Uh huh,” I nodded my head and brushed a tear and snot across my cheek.

“Why, he’s still good.” He ran the end under the garden hose and tapped the end on the heel of his cowboy boot. “We’ll just call him Old Cinder,” he said as he handed him back to me. The adventures continued for many more years and through the years, the stick transformed from a pony to a lance to slay dragons, to what you see in my books.

Well, I have to go. I have my granddaughter for the day and Old Cinder is waiting outside for us to conquer a few worlds.

Have a great Saturday.

D L Jackson

It's Friday

Finally, Friday! The days have been one big gray and wet blur here on the East coast. I hope everyone is safe from floods and mud slides. Instead of stocking up on water, I'm grabbing bleach to combat the mold. :( Nights have grown cool enough to force me to close the windows, so, I'm thinking, let's bring a little heat in here - and we can do without the water shots, right?

 OK, couldn't resist a couple with water!

Courtesy of Bentboy's Place

Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-© J. Hali Steele

Talking About Craft: Backlist

A lot of times, I see authors talk about promotion. It's something we have to do, whether or not we like it. The earlier you accept this, the better mindset you'll have. I see lists of ways authors can promo their new releases, or even themselves (branding). And almost everything I hear is spot on. But one thing I rarely hear, and what I feel is the most important thing, is backlist.

Best thing you can ever do for yourself as an author after your first book releases is...release another book. Let's face it, it's free promo for another book to release. All you had to do was write the book. You didn't have to send out anything to reviewers, you didn't have to pay any money to get your cover on a site or in a newsletter.

Why is another book release promo for an previous title? Say someone picks up your newest book. They love it. As in they cherish it because it was so well written, and kept them on the edge of their seat every single page. That reader is now apt to do a little search and see if you have any other books they can dig into...and love the same. *BAM* Sale of one of your older titles.

And you didn't do anything to promote that title.

So, I repeat (in bold): Best thing you can ever do for yourself as an author after your first book releases is...release another book.

Things I've Learned While Editing

Things I've learned while editing...

*Exclamation points should be smited at twenty paces. Show urgency through dialogue, action and description instead.

*Don't overuse names in dialogue. Think hard about how often you use someone's name in casual conversation. I'll willing to bet it's not often.

Good Ex: "Hey, Bob, can I ask you for a favor?"

Now you're engaged. Carry on your conversation as usual.

Bad Ex: "What I wanted, Bob, is your input on this paper I wrote." (That's not bad in and of itself. It's only bad when you compound the previous comments with something like this: "Thanks, Bob, for your help."

That's just too much Bob. Use names sparingly. You want your characters' conversations to read smoothly and naturally. Deleting names helps.

*This is another "use sparingly" tip. Dialogue tags are necessary, but keep an eye on them. Instead of a simple "he said", can you use an action tag instead?

Good Ex: "Don't touch me," she said. "Or you will regret it."

Better Ex: "Don't touch me." She slapped his hand aside. "Or you will regret it."

*Don't say "Her heart beat within her chest". It's her heart. Where else is it going to beat? ;)

*You can use "he shrugged" or "he rolled his shoulders", but it's repetitive to say "he shrugged, rolling his shoulders."

*Punctuation is one sticky wicket, but I've noticed others using punctuation similar to what I have used in the past. My editor corrected me. YMMV But I think it's worth mentioning.

Ex: "And I think,” her cheeks pinked, “Nesvia assumed you wouldn’t go without me.”


Corrected Ex: And I think…” her cheeks pinked, “…Nesvia assumed you wouldn’t go without me.”

Unless the phrase interrupting that bit of dialogue is an actual dialogue tag (asked, said, etc.) you have you use ellipsis or emdashes to punctuate the interruption. I'll show you a couple of variations to illustrate what she meant.

Ex with dialogue tag: "And I think," she said as her cheeks pinked, "Nesvia assumed you wouldn't go without me."

Ex with emdashes: "And I think--" her cheeks pinked, "--Nesvia assumed you wouldn't go without me."

Well, that's about all I can think of off the top of my head. These are all the points I've made sure to memorize, not only so that I turn in cleaner manuscripts, but so that I save my editor work I could be doing on my own. A happy editor is a...well, let's just say I want to keep my editor happy. 

How about y'all? Any tips you'd like to pass along?

Where In The World Have You Been Rebecca Royce?

Well, its been a while since I personally posted here because I have been so blessed to have so many incredible guest bloggers. To all of you who blogged for me, I thank you so much! We loved have all of you. And if anyone would like to guest blog in the future, please let me know.

So. An Update.

I have been very lucky. My Book Love Beyond Time released from Silver Publishing and I am in the midst of a blog tour for that. Please do stop by Gale Stanley's blog Walk on the Wild Side and say Hello!

Other than that, I spent some time at my parents' place in Florida. Had a wonderful time!! I've seen some movies--good and bad--and I've written the fourth book in The Outsider series. I'm hoping it will be accepted for publication.

How are all of you?

It's September...

and you know what that means.

Goals time.

The Northern hemisphere starts their year in January, I start mine in September when school starts. I do re-evaluate my goals on New Years but it's more of a 'where am I?' thing.

So, in the last year I've written and published Irresistible, Omegas in Love (the next Vanguards) is in edits, and I just finished book one of a new series that is in beta reads at the moment. That makes it one novel and two novellas, which seems to be my norm.

I'd love to write three novels this year but that would probably kill me, especially, since the evil day job keeps heaping more and more responsibilities on my shoulders. I'll have to be realistic.

I'm going to start The Sigma next week. (another Vanguards novella) That leaves me with a novel and a novella to pick. I have SOOOO many stories to tell. *sniff*  I'm going to write another Connie book, I've placed it on hold for too long, then I'll finally write The Prime. (Daedalus and Sugar's story)

Goals:

1. The Sigma 25k
2. Released 80k
3. The Prime 40k

This time next year we'll see if I made it. Thats about 20k more words than last year.

Please welcome JK Coi!

Leave a comment today and be entered to win a full set of JK Coi romance trading cards!

The hero of my latest release is a rock star, with all of the egocentricities and failings of many celebrities. But he comes by it honestly. After all, he has the devil’s soul within him and that would be enough to turn anyone into a bad boy of rock and roll…THE bad boy, in fact :)

Gabriel was finally on the right track though. A terrible tragedy opened his eyes to the train wreck his life of drugs, booze and cheap sex had become, and he wanted to change all that. That is, until he finds out about the path destiny had chosen for him.

So how does one fight fate when it starts hurtling out of your control? How do you deal with the idea that there’s nothing you can do to change things?

Those are the questions Gabriel struggles with in FALLING HARD, and sadly, the outcome of all that strife and conflict seemed pretty clear. But I wasn’t happy with what I was going to have to write until I realized that recognizing the truth and accepting who you are doesn’t necessarily mean giving in or giving up.

Yes, there are certain truths that can’t be changed or ignored, and Gabriel certainly had a fight on his hands, but I wanted the reader to see that the fight was still worth having, that even in the face of destiny, a valiant heart could make a difference. Sounds corny, especially for a hardened, jaded rock star, right? Well, not quite. Especially not when the one person standing on your side is a beautiful angel wielding a wicked sword ?


Excerpt from FALLING HARD, available from Carina Press

The blade slid into Gabriel’s midsection. All too easily. Agony flared as the length of steel scraped his rib before passing through. He cried out when the weapon was yanked back out again, impotent rage a thick sludge that pounded in his veins.

Falling to his knees, he pressed a fist into the wound, taking ragged breaths. Pain spiked in his side, a hundred times worse than any runner’s stitch. Deep red blood had already spilled over his hand and spread across his white shirt. He couldn’t stop it. It ran down into the waistband of his jeans. He could feel it, warm and wet and sticky.

He struggled to stay upright, to protect David. Black ink spots swam in front of his eyes, but he could still see the dark figure poised over him, ready to strike another, this time final, blow.
His life’s blood flowing between his fingers, Gabriel found it hard to imagine that less than five minutes ago he’d been teasing David and making plans to spend a lazy week hanging out with him and Lila before settling in to get started on the new album.

Oh God, David.

As Gabriel’s eyelids drooped a little more, he whispered an apology, one he feared his friend couldn’t hear.

Just then a rustling sounded from somewhere close, but he couldn’t tell whether it came from in front or behind. Gabriel forced his eyes back open in time to catch sight of another figure landing between him and his attacker, as if falling from directly above.

Warmth bathed his upturned face and it took him a moment to realize it wasn’t blood splashing across his skin. A woman stood with her back to him. Blond hair fell to her shoulders. While his vision was spotty and blurred, he couldn’t mistake the bright glow that surrounded her, a visible aura of white light extending outward and enfolding him in its sphere. Awestruck, he held his breath.

She looked over her shoulder, big blue eyes examining him with a taciturn expression.

Blue eyes. Blond hair.

Gabriel’s mouth opened and closed as he fought to call out a warning, but the words came as a harsh groan of pain. Struggling through the nausea and dizziness, he reached for her, trying to grab her and pull her back, but she shrugged off his hand as if he were a nuisance getting in her way.

The last of his strength bled away. Gabriel’s final image before consciousness deserted him was of a golden warrior goddess dressed in silver armor and bathed in light, brandishing a gleaming sword in his defense as great white wings spread out from her shoulder blades—

Angel wings.

But that was impossible…

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Where has D L Been?

First I want to extend a huge thanks to my guest bloggers from August, Ann and Ryssa, and announce the winner of Ryssa's novel.

And the winner is....

MSMJB65.

The author will be contacting you shortly, MJB, with your prize.

Where have I been? August has been a busy month for me. Between Marine homecomings, and a new release and two new contracted stories, I'm surprised I've found time to write. My stress has been on a rollar coaster ride--both good and bad. Sadly, I lost my grandfather two weeks ago and my focus hasn't been all there.

But I'm back now and writing up a storm. Working on three of my series and two which have been neglected for too long. The sequel to Slipping the Past, Nate Miller's story, is almost done. I've got 5, count them, 5 almost done for Blown Away, two which I'm editing, and I've been working on a sequel to Last Flight of the Ark. Good things are ahead. I'm particularly excited about Collateral Lives, story #4 in the Blown Away Series with my military convicts, in a suicide brigade, who are human bomb-disarming remotes.
Damn, that one was fun to write.

Anyway, I'll give you the news and move on. I've got 100 people coming over for a Marine homecoming party tomorrow and lots to do.

Here's the news.

Cinderella Wore Combat Boots is out. You can get it here:  Cinderella Wore Combat Boots
All of the profits I earn from the sale of this story will go to The Wounded Warrior Project. Please consider purchasing a copy and help me to help wounded vets. :)

And....


This Endris Night will be released the first week of December in print with the Christmas 1NS Anthology. Woot! It will also be available as a single in e-novel format. Oh yeah, that's a polar bear on the cover.

Here's the blurb: 

One night. One party of a lifetime. One secret a century old which could end it all.

Shiya, a Yupik supermodel, travels to Alaska in pretense of attending a party where she’ll find the man of her dreams. But her real intent is to lure the man of her nightmares to where she can finally end a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Gunnar is on Earth for one reason—to recover the wreckage of a Doppelganger crash that is scattered for miles, throughout an Alaskan resort and human settlements. In order to get closer to the ship’s debris, he agrees to a date and finds himself face to face with a Terran woman who doesn’t know her genetics are from his world, or that she’s being tracked by someone whose duty is to eliminate all threats to their secret. Shiya’s heritage has placed her at the top of the killer’s list.


Now the only way to save her, is to claim her, and Shiya isn’t about to make it easy.


Are you feeling patriotic?

Somebody's been a naughty, naughty girl. That's right, I'm talking menage. My latest contracted story for the 1NS series, Seducing Liberty, is a time travel back to 1776, with members of Washington's infamous Culper spy ring.

Stay tuned for the release date.

So, have a fantastic Saturday, and I'll see you next week.

D L

It's Friday

*Clears throat* I'm a good cook! Really, I am. This past week I couldn't prove that. I've got quite a few cookbooks and pulled one out to find an old, recipe for a chocolate cake I've been craving. First, let me say baking is not cooking - at least in my book. Second, I do not claim to be even a decent baker! So why try to bake a cake you may ask? Because I somehow manage to catch a cupcake show every morning around 3a.m. They make it look so easy, and so darn good.

Recipe in hand, mixing bowls everywhere, and oven heating up, I proceeded to cut the recipe in half as usual because a whole cake goes to waste in my house. I'm a chips and dip girl and sweets don't usually excite me and after a slice or two, I'm done with it. But I never got that far. To make a long story short, I forgot to cut the salt and baking soda in half and ended up with a chocolate volcano spilling onto the oven burners and the mess was... well, it was bad!

All of this made me think of men in the kitchen, so I thought I'd post a couple pictures of a few of the food world's sexy cooks. Yes, Gordon Ramsey tops my list, the other two, Curtis Stone and Michael Symon, are pretty damn scrumptious too - in my book.

Needless to say, I'm sticking with box mixes unless one of the guys above should pop in. :)

Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-© J. Hali Steele

Writing Fluidly

Every time I finish a story, I take a look at what I have sitting in the work-in-progress folders and see where to go next. Not surprisingly, my "plan" is pretty fluid. I've learned to roll with the punches and just follow along with where my brain takes me. Luckily, I'm not under any kind of deadlines, so letting my brain take me where it may is easy.

For example, last month, I told a few friends that my plan was to finish a contemporary erotic romance I was working on, then I would tackle a futuristic erotic romance short and go from there. Well...it didn't work out that way. I actually ended up finishing a paranormal erotic romance novella instead. Erm, yeah. Not sure where that came from.

So, back to the contemporary, right? Nope, on to the futuristic short instead. But I'm sure I'll fiddle off and on with the contemporary. In fact, I have three contemporaries that I want to get finished, all full length. But really, the important thing is if, you're the kind of writer who can go along with changes easily, follow where your brain is taking you.

Why?

I've yet to encounter a time where my brain failed me when it lead me somewhere I hadn't expected.