Alison Kent

Being the Book Lady - this has to be one of my favorite Hurricane Ike stories!

A LONG, HARD RIDE at Amazon

A LONG, HARD RIDE at B&N

Strange to realize you can order a book I’m in the middle of revisions on, ergo, the lack of posts lately - and the continued lack of posts until it goes back out to my editor!

In today’s blog at “I Heart Harlequin Presents,” aspiring author Lynn Raye Harris (winner of the Instant Seduction Contest) describes the revision process and working with an editor to make a sale. Several of the points she makes follow:

• I shortchanged those emotional conflicts. They were there, part of the character motivations, but I got so worried about the plot making sense that I spent too much time on the details of the plot.
• I had to think very hard about deepening the character emotions and slicing away the plot details until only the essence remained. The reader needs to understand how and why something happens, but they don’t need every little point
• Emotions were harder. I thought the hero and heroine were emotional! How could they possibly emote any more? Oh, they could. Sometimes I think it’s easy to avoid going as deeply as you need on emotional conflicts because, if you’re like me, it’s uncomfortable and it hurts.
• I made the mistake (a tired brain will do this) of having the characters think too much about their conflicts instead of discussing it with each other. I had emoted, but I’d failed to build emotion. And then I brought in a supporting character to facilitate understanding. Another wrong choice.
• You want to peel the layers back slowly, show the characters growing together more, until at the end the reader absolutely understands WHY these two people are made for each other.

The reason I pulled these quotes is that I had a conversation yesterday with my editor, Brenda Chin, about A LONG, HARD RIDE. I sent the book Friday, and she called last night to discuss the revisions she wanted. I knew there would be revisions. As Brenda herself says, there are always revisions. But it struck me as I read Lynn’s post, that the things the editor she is working with wants from her, are the same things Brenda wants from me. (Funny how that works!) More emotion. More tension. More romance. You would think those things would be the obvious and the simple since what we’re writing is romance, but romance novels (contrary to a lot of uninformed opinion) actually do have other things going on. Unfortunately, I paid too much attention to the other things going on and shortchanged the development of the relationship between Cardin and Trey. It’s there, and it’s REALLY there in my head, but it’s not on the page as fully as it needs to be.

That’s what I’m getting ready to do now, what Lynn did, going back into the book and adding the layers that are missing, cutting back on what gets in the way of the relationship, enhancing where there is too little emotional development. Making things clearer. Being direct, rather than alluding. Thankfully, the plot and the structure are fine. I have one backstory element to ramp up, one story element to ramp down *g*, but this revision will be nothing like the rewrite I did with KISS & TELL. Now that I’ve been away from the book for five days, have devoured some good TV and involved myself in George Pelecanos’ THE NIGHT GARDENER, have slept, slept, and slept some more, I’m actually looking forward to seeing the story with fresh eyes, and making it even better.

It may still feel like it’s summer (at least here on the Texas Gulf Coast) but as of 10:44 CDT, fall, has indeed, fallen. This has always been my favorite time of year. Almost all our family birthdays hit during the next few months, and with all the holidays coming up, too, there will be laughter and good eats and cool weather and pressies and much fun for all.

If you follow my Twitter “tweets” on the sidebar, you’ll have read that I sent off A LONG, HARD RIDE on Friday, and described post book brain as feeling like taking Benadryl or NyQuil and having a drug induced hangover - only one that takes a few days to shake. All I did on Saturday was buy groceries (yay!) and watch five episodes of The Wire’s fifth season. Yesterday I watched the last two eps, then went back to the store for the onions and dishwashing soap I’d forgotten on Saturday. Hard to even find words to say what I’m wanting to say, much less remember what to buy!

I plan to use this week to wind down and catch up at the same time. I’ve got a lot of things to mail, emails to answer, household chores to do and business tasks to take care of. One of the first things I did, however, after getting the book sent off, was wash my sheets. (I use the same set all the time, though we have others of the same brand. These are olive green, and I love them!) A hot shower, clean hair, and fresh sheets are one thing I love to have waiting for me at the end of a writing binge. Not that I slept well. I’m still too wired to get more than a few hours at a time. #2, her b/f, and dogs all go home tonight as their power is now back on, so I’m hoping that tonight will mean a good solid 8 or 10 hours! We’ve loved having them here, but with #2 off work due to Ike damaging her building, and her b/f working nights / sleeping days, and four dogs rompin’ and stompin’ - and me trying to write through it all, it’s been a wild and crazy week!

The winner of Jennifer Estep’s JINX is: Ray at this link

The winner of Charlene Teglia’s WICKED HOT is: Stacie Mc at this link

You guys email me your mailing info and I’ll pass it along to the authors.

.She never wanted to be a superhero. Too much danger. Too much spandex …

During a gala fundraiser for the local art museum, Bella comes upon two things no Bigtime supergirl should be without: an ubervillain of her very own who plans to steal a priceless gem; and a dashing – if slightly shady – stranger named Debonair. He may have a reputation as a notorious playboy, but the real sparks are going to come from Bella, who’s finally going to learn just how well love and danger can go together …

Post a comment here if you’d like to be entered to win a copy of JINX from Jennifer Estep. Winner will be drawn, Sunday night, September 21, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.ish CDT. (Authors interested in having their books advertised, click here.)

#2 had been folding clothes while I was working on edits. When she got up, Takumi and Snickers dragged in leaves and a ball and decided the clean clothes made the perfect place to sleep. #2 found out on Thursday that she’ll be off work at least another week or week and a half. She was paid through Thursday, but will now have to work from home for her wages since the damage to their building is going to take awhile to repair. Her power is still off at home, though Casey, Taylor, and Sam had theirs come on Wednesday, finally. The husband and #2 made an emergency vet run on Thursday, sans dogs, for Frontline (all they had). None of our dogs have ever had fleas . . . until Ike blew through. I guess like cockroaches surviving nuclear blasts, fleas survive - and travel on - hurricanes.

Oh, there is a contest going on - this is the URL if the link doesn’t work: http://cuppacafe.com/kiss-and-tell-giveaway/2353/

Though you can’t see it here, the husband unrolled the rest of the chicken wire he used for his tomato cages and made a temporary fence so we didn’t have to watch the dogs every minute they were out. This is Tobi-Wan, Snickers’ brother. He could SO jump that fence if he wanted. It’s not even four feet. But he treats it like a barrier and gazes off across the next door yard toward the scampering squirrels. Note that the shed is no longer upside down there but is back in the yard behind the cobbled together fence. Tobi belongs to #2 who was told Tuesday night not to report to work until further notice. Her office building just northwest of downtown was damaged and there was no estimated date on when the power would be restored. She and her b/f and two dogs are staying with us as it will most likely be the middle of next week at least before power is back in their apartment. Same for Casey, Taylor & Sam who are staying with Taylor’s folks.

Wal-Mart’s produce aisle when the husband ventured out on MONDAY for milk.

If you saw my Twitter, Wal-Mart had a shipment of whole or 2% in gallons only. That was it. No cream, half & half, buttermilk, soy milk, etc. Back to the basics while we wait for life to return to normal. #2’s boyfriend went into work at UPS on Monday night from about 11:30 until 4:00 a.m. to process boxes by generator power. Driving across town to the warehouse, they said Houston downtown had lights, but the surrounding square miles were pitch black. Very eerie to have 93% of the customers in the 4th largest city in the US lose power. I’m writing this on Tuesday, and our newspaper says 66% remain out.

When the husband ventured out TUESDAY to see if he could find hamburger, this was Wal-Mart’s only “meat” product. (He brought home a Freschetta frozen pizza.)