Alison Kent's Blah Blog

Been packaging up books this morning that will go in Monday’s mail. I still need to hear from Tara W, who won a copy of INFATUATION, Kim Cresswell, who won a copy of the CIG to WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE, and Natasha and Karin T, who each won an ARC of BEYOND A SHADOW. If any of you drop by, please send me your mailing address! If I don’t hear by the 5th, I’ll give these away to other readers!

First, another reminder of two contest I’m running for authors. One here. And a new one here.)

Now, if you get out at all, you’ll have seen the various discussions online about what makes a romance, political correctness in romance, and literalizing romance. In the last link, Laura Kinsale says:

I think many romance authors have been pummeled into line by the vocal complaints of politically incorrect heroes and “wimpy” heroines. I include myself because I certainly think twice about anything my characters do now, and hesitate and expect strong criticism.

The middle link will take you to the discussion at Smart Bitches sparked by Laura’s post (which needs to be read in full, so go and do). I’ve pulled out the following from the copious comments at SB.

“I’m willing to accept the HEA if I can only have some more ambiguity, thoughtfulness, provocative themes and characters and issues, complexity, moral contemplation, and subversion in my Romance.”

The reason why I’ve almost abandoned the romance genre is because everything is too safe, too plain, too linear, almost mechanical. Yes, I want a story where I know there’s going to be a HEA, and I want a story where the relationship between H/H is the main focus. But that doesn’t mean I want a tired repetition of the same plot devices and standard characters over and over again. (…) I believe that what I want should be found in romance, not in FICTION. If what I want is essentially a love story, why shouldn’t I expect it from the romance genre? Isn’t romance about love?

I agree.

And this takes me back to one of my favorite romances of all times, Penelope Williamson’s HEART OF THE WEST – a book that set such a high bar for me that my reading expectations changed forever. When I think back to reading HOTW, I realize that I’ve run across very few books where I honestly never thought the hero and heroine would get together.

Yes, it’s romance, and I know I’m going to get a happy ending because of the genre requirements, but what I want when I read is to think it will never happen. To really and truly doubt that these characters will ever overcome what’s thrown at them. And this is one of the main reasons I read so little romance these days, and read primarily suspense.

My romance is missing suspense.

I’m not talking about woman in jeopardy, serial killer of the week suspense. I’m talking about authors who can pull off convincing me that there is no way in hell these characters will get their HEA. Authors who give their characters depth, who take risks, who follow their muse and damn the market.

I don’t write those type of books. I want to read them, but I don’t know if I have the artistic skill to create them. My characters are rarely (if ever) facing issues they find impossible to overcome. Why not, you may ask, and I will have to answer, I don’t know – except to say I’m not sure I have that talent – or maybe I don’t have the chops to torture them so, and instead write about their journey, the steps they take to knock down those hurdles instead of writing about what seem to be insurmountable odds.

You know those black moments we’re supposed to have in our books? I rarely have those either – because I rarely believe the ones I read. Too often, they seem contrived, and easily solved with a simple conversation. And they almost never make me think the problems the characters are facing aren’t solvable. Is this because I can see the author behind the scenes and am reading too analytically? Or is this because the author truly hasn’t convinced me it’s so?

I want insurmountable. Whether internal or external. I want suspense.

In Laura Kinsale’s post, she talks about conflict, saying:

We want love, companionship and reassurance at the same time that we want erotic mystery. In a way, that’s what the romance genre HAS provided, in spades, over the years. The assurance of a happy ending, with the challenge and unpredictability of an erotic charge. Lately, however, that electricity is waning, and I believe it’s at least partially because of readers’ vocal fears and expressed distaste for the sort of conflict that is uncomfortable if it took place in reality. So now we have scads of safe Regency settings, while the erotic drive has been channeled over to vampire and fantasy books where realism is a non-issue. Readers who don’t care for either are left complaining about the dearth of good books.

When Laura talks about eroticism, she’s not talking about what we find in erotic romance, but about romance being “an erotic genre. (…) [one that] thrives on mystery, unpredictability and politically incorrect power games.”

I want eroticism in my romances. I want emotional suspense. I want to learn to WRITE it into my romances. I want to be able to write a book that makes readers sweat because they don’t see how these characters will ever bring home the chalice, or ever find their HEA.

Harlequin’s VP Isabel Swift interviews editor Patience Smith and my favorite exchange from the Q&A is this:

Can you finish the sentence: “If I read one more story with…. I will fall asleep.”

If I read one more story with the hero and heroine bickering for no reason, I’ll fall asleep. Same goes for the heroine stating at the beginning of the story that she doesn’t have time for a man and is too focused on other things.

Now it’s your turn. Finish the same sentence for me.

“If I read one more story with (fill in the blank), I will fall asleep.”

I’ll give 5 people who give me their answer in the comments here their choice of a copy of either INFATUATION, the CIG to WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE, or an arc of BEYOND A SHADOW. I’ll draw names on Sunday, October 1st, at 8:00 p.m.ish central time.

(Also, don’t forget you can win the tuition to my class on WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE.)

I’ve mentioned a few times that the secondary romance in my November Blaze, INFATUATION, is told only from the hero’s point of view. He works as a mechanic/body man in my main hero’s shop where vehicles are converted for a cable television show a la Monster Garage.

Here’s a short excerpt from Hector’s viewpoint, the first time he appears onscreen . . .

****************

Hector Prieto stood in the doorway of the shop office and watched Rennie drop back to the creeper and shove himself up beneath the panel van.

Whatever had happened between the boss and the stick chick couldn’t have gone down no good. Ren might as well have dragged a storm cloud back with him into the shop.

Gloom and doom. That’s what Hector was feeling. And that wasn’t no way to be working when they had so much to do.

His own team of mechanics was in pretty good shape, working to tear down Ren’s Studebaker for a show that would run toward the end of the season. But that didn’t mean anyone could slack off.

“Yo, Angie.”

Behind him, Angie Soon straightened from where she’d been digging through the invoices in Ren’s file cabinet. “I am busy here, Hector. I am not at your beck and call.”

Women. Cripes. Thirty years old, and he still didn’t understand them. Hector glanced at her over his shoulder. “I’m not becking or calling. I wanna know what went down with Ren and the woman who came to see him. Did they have a fight or something?”

“What did I just say, Hector? I’ve been working.” Angie straightened, gestured with both hands, her bright pink nails flashing. “That phone up front doesn’t stop ringing just because Rennie decides to get into it with some woman who drops in out of the blue.”

“Hmph.” Hector stepped back into the office. “They got into it, huh? What happened?”

Angie bent over to dig through the files again, inadvertently giving Hector an eyeful. Her blouse gaped open as she flipped through the folders, and he didn’t even think about looking away.

Her breasts were tight and small, covered by a plain pink bra, the skin of her stomach smooth and white beneath. He found his palms itching, and he curled his fingers into them, his mouth dry, his blood hot.

He’d never thought about Angie like that before . . .

Read the rest of this entry �

(Win the tuition to my class on WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE.)

From John Scalzi:

Dear Authors,

It has come to my attention that Amazon, the leading online bookseller, is now allowing comments on individual product reviews, including reviews of books (and therefore, your books). This means that now, finally, you can correct the views of all those poor unfortunates who gave your book less than the four or five stars it so richly deserved, and explain to them, in your enormously engaging way, why they were so very wrong about your book and should forever regret not understanding it sufficiently well to bask in its wisdom, and to give it more than three stars.

When the urge to correct an Amazon reviewer takes hold, and you find yourself reaching for the keyboard, here are some simple steps I suggest you do next:

1. Step away from the keyboard; go to the basement.

2. Turn on the bandsaw you have down there.

3. Run your hands through the bandsaw, at the wrists.

4. Turn off the bandsaw with your teeth. Safety first!

There! Thanks to the loss of your hands, you are no longer able to type your reply, and with the salutatory effect of massive blood loss, you are likely no longer in a frame of mind to respond anyway. Which is good, because not only are your readers entitled to their own wrong opinions, they’re also entitled to share them with others without the author turning up like a neurotic harpy to make a snarky retort.

He has more to say, lol, so click on the link and read the rest! And now, like Justine and Elizabeth have done:

I, Alison Kent, do solemnly swear never to comment on an Amazon customer review [for one of my own books]. If I ever succumb to said stupid temptation you have my permission to force-feed me a mixture of the five vilest substances known to humanity: liver, fennel, mint ice cream, tripe, and haggis.

I invite all published writers to join me in this vow.

And the winners of the copies of INFATUATION are:

Laure, Marie, Diana, Sylvia F, and Tara W.

If you all will send me your mailing addresses, I’ll get those out to you!

Yikes, sorry! Forgot to pull my winners last night. It was Friday night after all, time to do nothing – which is pretty much what I did! So . . . the winners are:

Julie Doe, Misty Simon, Mariann, Kim Cresswell, and April. If you all will email me with your mailing address, I’ll get those CIG copies sent out.

The husband found a really nice review for the book at Amazon. Other than the mention in RT, it’s the only review I’ve seen so far, beyond the fabulous blog mentions.

Absolute BEST reference book on Erotic Romance!! Well, okay, so it’s the only one on Erotic Romance. That changes nothing, however, for this book delivers. I bought it as soon as it released and am a little more than halfway through the book, but I can tell you from what I’ve read so far that it is a VERY good reference book. It has the most information I’ve come across for writing romance AND erotic romance. I’ve read books before on writing erotica and they just didn’t help me one iota in learning what I needed to know. If you write erotic romance or just plain romance, this is an invaluable tool to the published and unpublished alike. I am very exited about this book and believe me, I’ve read enough to know when one is good and not simply repeating what other books say. Buy this one, you won’t regret spending the money. Very good info for those needing to know how to combine romance and erotica, as well as how to write those steamy scenes!!

Nice, huh? I’m glad that so many are finding it useful. I’ll be using a lot of the same information in my “Writing Erotic Romance” class next month. Click the link for an overview of the class topics – and to see if you want to enter for a chance to win the class tuition.

Yes, that’s right, I’m giving one of my blog readers a free pass to the class. You can be anywhere in the world to participate as the class is conducted here on the Access Romance Classes Message Board. The description at the previous link outlines the class schedule. I’ll be posting lessons on those 6 days, and answering questions and leading discussions through the whole two weeks. It’s kind of a come when you can class! None of it is done live, so you don’t have to worry about time differences. More convenient that way.

To be eligible to win, post here with a one or two sentence reason why you want to take the class. This giveaway will run a bit longer. I’ll draw a name on October 5th, 8:00 p.m.ish central time.

From Sarah Monette [on learning]:

The thing about writing is, it’s learn by doing. (…) You can’t cheat, in other words, and other people can’t do your learning for you. There are no rules you can memorize so as to win every time. You can’t skip to the back of the book to look up the answers. You have to go through–and I do mean through–every obstacle on the course.

From M.J. Rose [on storytelling]:

I think that the human need for storytelling will never go away. And I think if we remind readers that’s what we are doing — storytelling — we’ll keep them coming back. (…) I’m commenting on the tone, the style, the sense that you are entering a big fictive world, that’s not part of our present (even when the book does take place in the present) – a world where you’re going to linger for a long time. In each of these authors is storytelling. In the most classic sense. (…) Sounds obvious when I put it that way. But for a long time it hasn’t been the way we’ve been selling fiction. Maybe selling storytelling will save storytelling.

From Elizabeth Bear [on writing as performing]:

Crotch-grabbing without an understanding of a relationship with your audience is masturbation, whether we’re talking about sex or art. And furthermore, it’s part of the contract with the reader.Which does not mean, as it is sometimes abused to mean, that the writer owes the reader something for the reader’s seven bucks.What it means is that the author (performer) has entered into a relationship with the reader (audience) and has the responsibility not to abandon that relationship. I don’t get to lie to my readers. I am expected to tell them a story. They don’t get to decide what story I’m telling them, though, or how I tell it. (…) That is part of the contract, too.

From Joe Konrath [on making time to write]:

Prioritize. Travel and appearances come first. Then making deadlines. Then booking appearances. Then doing interviews. Then writing. Then blogging. Then answering email. Then mailing stuff out. Then updating my website and blog.

Of course, my own list of priorities [solely writing related] would read thusly:

Writing. Making Deadlines. Blogging/Email/Mail-Outs/Site Updating/Interviews – in order of whatever I’m in the mood for and have time to do. Travel/Appearances.

Click on the links for the full posts on all of these. I’ve only grabbed very short teaser snippets to, well, tease you!

I determined this year to give up several shows I only watched out of boredom or that I watched because I was procrastinating on any number of things. Same with new shows. I’m only trying out a few to see what really grabs me. I also decided that I don’t have to watch the broadcast; I can record and watch when I really do have time. Tonight will be the first conflict, what with CSI and Shark up against Grey’s Anatomy and Six Degrees. So far, here’s what I’ve seen, excluding the new Survivor which I won’t get into for a few more weeks when the tribes are more interesting, leaders and floaters more obvious.

(Spoilers might follow; you have been warned!)

Sunday: Nada. Not a thing. Don’t plan to put Sunday on my watching or recording schedule at all. I can pick up Cold Case and Without a Trace in reruns if I get desperate for something to watch when the season is over, and I only followed The Amazing Race one or two years before it grew old. Desperate Housewives lost me early on.

Monday: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was interesting enough to watch again. I’m totally over Prison Break since they’re out of prison, and didn’t even get through one episode of Vanished. CSI: Miami has never been a must see, nor has Medium.

Tuesday: House, House, House. How can we not love House? Is Cuddy pregnant? Will Leighton Meester really seduce House? Loving the renewed tension between House and Cameron. Loving the is House better/is House not better deal with his leg. I’ve got NCIS and L&O SVU recorded. I did see a bit of Standoff, love Ron Livingstone and Gina Torres, but so far it’s nothing I can’t live without or must record. And I’ve yet to see any of The Unit, though I hear it’s great. That one I’ll have to eventually DVD.

Wednesday: Jericho. I am the biggest fan of apocalyptic movies, so this is right up my alley, plus it stars Skeet Ulrich, hello. It wasn’t bad, could’ve been more compelling, had a bit too much mayoral cheese, but I’ll watch it again. (Of course, I watched every episode of Surface last year, too!) Don’t watch Bones, think it’s contrived. Love Gary Sinise, but never have gotten into CSI: NY. Wanted to record Kidnapped, but forgot. Now, the conclusion to the Criminal Minds cliffhanger was worth waiting for, though I wouldn’t have cared if Elle had died. Weakest link on the show. In fact, looking at Criminal Minds, imo, is a great way to differentiate between plot driven and character driven stories. For example, the villain in the cliffhanger/premiere storyline was so intriguing – until he was revealed, then it was meh. I didn’t think he lived up to the intricate crime, didn’t think his motivation for personally involving the team was clear. But watching Gideon and Dr. Spencer Reed especially, keeps me glued to the screen – no matter how lame the crime/criminal/villainous motivation turns out to be. I’m there for the characters, not the plot.

Oh, and guess what I got yesterday? My author copies for INFATUATION. So . . . five to give away. Talk to me about TV. I’ll draw 5 names randomly on Sunday, 9/24, 8:00 p.m.ish central time.

The BEYOND A SHADOW ARC winners are:

jessiegirl, Natasha, Celise, Anna Black, and Karin.

If you all will email me your mailing addresses, I’ll get those sent out! More to come soon!