For Your Amusement

Anybody who's browsed through a bookstore knows how important the first page - heck, the first paragrah - of a book can be. It can be the difference between a wrinkled nose of disgust, or an Oh-I-must-buy-this-now face of delight. I believe a beginning must give the tone of the book, engage the reader with your character, and give some idea of plot; however, knowing this and getting it done are two different things. All I've determined up to this point in my career is when I haven't done it.

If you don't know why a beginning is a big deal, hie on over to the BookEnds Literary Agency Blog where the brave Jessica Faust and Kim Lionetti are taking 100 word starts, divided by genre, and picking their favorites. Go into one of the categories - go on, I dare you - and sift through the hundred or so of the offered beginnings. Current is Contemperary Romance. I've been following for a couple of weeks now and I never realized how quickly something can go from Oh, look at this...to, ew, stinky. I'm amazed at what some of these writers are able to accomplish in 100 words, and I'm so glad BookEnds did this exercise, because it reminds me of what a good beginning is. Miles vary, of course, but I don't think it's description, or something that is just there for shock value.

Just because I can, and because I'll be out for a week or two with family stuff, I'm submitting two of my beginnings for your perusal. One is...uh...slow, and one is from "Hard to Guard." Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

Number 1

A wyrm is missing. Check your charges. For those AWOL, meeting at seventeen hundred hours.

Connor McKenna read the message displayed on the pager cupped in his callused palm, his fingers clenching momentarily around the plastic. The pavement under his feet reflected the heat of the May sun up his jean clad legs.

The mingling of car exhaust, pollen and blacktop almost eclipsed the aroma of roasted meat and yeast wafting from the hot dog cart parked beside him.

Suppressing a sigh, Connor shoved the beeper deep into his pocket. "Looks like we’re up."

Beside him, his best friend Cisco Martin scowled into his own little black box. "That’s just super."

Number 2

A discordant noise resonated through the air over the practice field. Startled, Eclestes jerked his head around in the direction of the library and its ancient clock tower. Was it ten o’clock already? Damnation!

With a muffled curse, he handed off the arrows to one of his men and strode quickly towards the castle. He was supposed to be standing in the throne room tucked safely away behind his father’s many advisors, not sweating in the archery field. He was late and there would be hell to pay.

“Eclestes!”

The hail came from the stables. He turned to see his older brother, Samiel, cutting through the yard, his hair lank with sweat and stable grime.

A word on pacing

I don't have much to say about pacing, except either I'm really good at it, or really terrible. But Hilary Sares has something to say at the Brava Authors website. Don't skip the comments, yo!

It's My Xmas Party, And I'll Cry If I Want To

We had a huge weekend planned - a birthday party, my RWA chapter's party, my husband's company Xmas party, and a family Xmas party that should count as a reunion because there's usually at least 50 people there. Honestly, I didn't know if I could stand that much partying. Even so, I did not want to be sidelined by a cold, one that had reached the coughing, hacking, laryngitis stage. Still, perfect reason to sit on the sofa with my laptop and football going on the TV. ;)

It seems that I can write through colds and flus, all kinds of stuff. But put an energetic child in the room and it's all over. I know my husband doesn't get it, but when I'm writing, my mind goes to a different place and I'm able to ignore a sniffly nose, or even a headache. If I can write, how come I can't vacuum? Well, probably because I like writing.

So everyone out there, just a reminder--it's cold season. Please be careful when you're doing this.

When in doubt, go deep

1 Starbucks - My hubby enabled my habit today. He took the kid to run errands and very considerately brought my favorite - and when I say considerate I mean it. He thinks Starbucks is a complete waste of money, akin to throwing it into the trash (I never said it wasn't.) I'm so glad I had my 4 year old memorize my order. You think I'm kidding.

Big shout out to my genius CP Celeste. She pointed out something that rolls like an eighteen wheeler across all my wips. What did she say? Get into some Deep POV, sistah! So simple I should have been able to see it, but I didn't. All I could do was wring my hands and say, "Something's not right!" Suddenly I know what to do in every single place I was having trouble. Thanks, Celeste. Now we're even for the tag line excision ;)

When writing to the market is a good thing

Check out my reading list. It's not very long because I'm on a mission this month to get my Golden Heart entry ready and to finish Cisco's story, which has been too long coming. So not a lot of reading on my own unless it's irresistible (and thankfully, I've resisted most.) Don't worry, Cisco's done, he's just in revision land and had to go on hiatus while I dealt with a contest final and The Book That Wouldn't Die. (A quick plug since it's my blog. Cisco is the sequel to Hard To Guard from Samhain Publishing.)

But what savvy readers will notice is that most of the entries are regarding M/M erotica. Shocking, isn't it? I know there's some of you are out there right now perplexed and wondering what on earth I see in the M/M erotica. My husband agrees with you. Well, I've been thinking about it and I've figured it out. Right now, I'm keeping that information to myself. But I love, love, love M/M, and I love the thread I've found that keeps me up to date on all the good M/M authors. Feel free to send me recommended reads--I'm voracious when I'm on a roll.

So when I get my plate cleared, I'm starting one. I've been told I write men better than women anyway. I may try to plot this one, since I've realized that revisions can be bugger-all if you have to replace half of the original draft because you weren't smart enough to envision the entire character arc. Wish me luck!