Archives for “On Writing!”
Okay, so I don’t play with them, but I HAVE them. Is that weird? I like having little fake people around me. My former assistant used to be creeped out by dolls, however, and I know that a lot of people are. I must confess that for me it really depends on the doll (Chuckie [...]
89 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 3:10 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, Barbie, bestselling romance authors, blog for women, blogs by women, blogs for women, book video, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, contemporary romance, doll, dolls, funny blog, historical romance, humorous blog, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Austin, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, romance, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch, top romance authors, video, What the Duke Desires, women's fiction.
Here’s a deep, dark author secret: sometimes after I’ve written a certain book, I’ll have a lot (and I mean a LOT) of trouble beginning the next book. It’s not that the new book doesn’t appeal to me, or that I’m not excited about writing the new characters and their story – I am. I’m [...]
33 Comments. Posted by Karen Hawkins on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 9:18 am.
Filed under Karen Hawkins, On Writing!, Barbara O'Neal, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Welch, Eduardo Verastegui, How to pursue a princess, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Oxenburg, Prince Wulfkinski, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch.
Every now and then I do a blog on words that have suddenly become popular, but that I had rarely seen in print before. They are all good words, mind you. However, after decades, even centuries, of rarely being used in everyday speech or writing, they turn into “hot words” and seem to be everywhere. [...]
37 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 3:42 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!, alpha males, handsome guys, historical novels, historical romance, love stories, memes, trends, vocabulary, women's fiction, words, writing.
In the newspaper biz, when a reporter said “I’m on deadline,” it usually meant he/she had to get a story in by a certain time that night in order for it to appear in the newspaper the next morning. A deadline for a book writer is a slightly different animal. Technically, once I sign a [...]
66 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Monday, March 25, 2013 at 4:15 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, Barbara O'Neal, bestselling romance writer, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, deadline, Diet Coke, goddess blogs, historical romance, Hugh Jackman, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Oreos, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs, The Handbook to Handling His Lordship.
I just got back from a two week trip to Italy. It was mostly work (I brought some students over to study art during the first week) and partly vacation. Through all of it, however, the writer side of me was alive and asborbing and reflecting. For example, I visited a little known museum in [...]
54 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Monday, March 18, 2013 at 3:08 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!, Florence, Italy, middle ages, travel, travel safety, vacations, where writers get ideas, writer habits.
You would think with 10 goddesses, that every month we would have a new release, and no month would have an over-abundance. Can’t we just get organized and work it out that way? Um, no. And even if we did, with our different timings between books, eventually the month would come when things align in just [...]
82 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 2:26 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!.
Yes, my revised version of By Love Unveiled, which was first published in 1993 under the name of Deborah Martin, comes out tomorrow. Just so you’ll know, here’s what I did in revising it: Tightened up the writing (gee, I’ve learned a lot in 20 years; who knew?) Made some of the motivations more believable [...]
136 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Monday, February 25, 2013 at 2:01 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance authors, blog for women, blogs by women, blogs for women, By Love Unveiled, Christie Ridgway, Classics Comics, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, comic, contemporary romance, Deborah Martin, funny blog, happy endings, historical romance, hollywood, humorous blog, Jane Austen, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Knight and Day, Lori Austin, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, movies, Rachel Gibson, romance, Sabrina, Sabrina Jeffries, satisfying endings, Suzanne Enoch, top romance authors, Will and Jane, Will and Jane's Excellent Adventure, William Shakespeare, women's fiction.
I’m not a wogger. I do go out walking most mornings, but I’m not freakishly devoted to it, or to being in shape like some people (Julia London). I don’t have a gym membership, and in fact the last time I was at a gym was because a family friend’s retirement party was held there. [...]
90 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Friday, February 8, 2013 at 4:08 am.
Filed under My Life As A Plebe, On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, baking, Barbara O'Neal, blog for women, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, exercise, goddess blogs, Hugh Jackman, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Mount Doom, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch, video games.
I’ve been following William Shatner on Twitter. What I’ve discovered is that in addition to tirelessly insulting his fans when they get facts about his career wrong, ole Bill feels there is a huge divide between science fiction and science fantasy. And he seems to look down on science fantasy. Again according to Bill, Star [...]
61 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 4:22 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, Barbara O'Neal, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, Dobby, goddess blogs, Hobbit, house elf, Hugh Jackman, Hurst Amulet, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, magic, orc, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, Star Trek, Star Wars, Suzanne Enoch, Tantalus Club, the goddess blogs, William Shatner.
Yes, that’s a chemise on my cover. And yes, I had to raid my historical Barbie dolls to get a miniature stocking and drawers. The funny thing about it is–hanging stockings wasn’t a custom during the Regency. Not in England. Our image of English Christmases is based on Victorian England, not Regency England. The customs [...]
68 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 2:34 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance authors, blog for women, blogs by women, blogs for women, Christie Ridgway, christmas, Christmas stockings, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, comic, contemporary romance, funny blog, historical romance, humorous blog, Jane Austen, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, romance, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch, top romance authors, Will and Jane's Excellent Adventure, William Shakespeare, women's fiction.
I attended an event a couple of weeks ago. 35 women writers and a crowd of readers got together for an afternoon of talking about books. There was a book sale and also a series of workshops. We had a lot of fun and some good discussions. When I received the agenda a week before [...]
85 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Friday, November 16, 2012 at 3:57 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been getting boyfriends. Well, they’re trying, anyway. On Facebook. About two a week. The messages are all basically the same. In broken English, they say, “Hello, beautiful. I see your profile online, and you are like sunshine. I am looking for a lady to share with my life, [...]
57 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Monday, September 24, 2012 at 4:04 am.
Filed under My Life As A Plebe, On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, alpha males, Barbara O'Neal, blog for women, brides, Christie Ridgway, Claudia Dain, facebook, goddess blogs, historical romance, Hugh Jackman, humorous blog, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, pick-up lines, Rachel Gibson, Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke, Sabrina Jeffries, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs, weddings.
Some years ago I was watching an old movie—I forget the name of it— and there was a scene that remains very clear in my memory. A secondary character was in the frame with the stars. He had few lines. His character’s existence was important to the plot, but not directly involved in it. Anyway, in that [...]
54 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at 3:28 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!, alpha males, bad boys, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Characterization, chewing up the scenery, great guys, handsome guys, handsome men, hijacking the story, historical romance, Hugh Jackman, love stories, romance books, sexy men, vivid characters.
Magic Mike has a problem. The problem is that it’s a movie trying to appeal to two very different kinds of audiences: the rowdy I want to see some man candy crowd and the give me a compelling story crowd. These two different crowds choose a movie for different reasons. Magic Mike has been marketed [...]
38 Comments. Posted by Claudia Dain on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 5:54 am.
Filed under Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, On Writing!, alpha males, bad boys, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Channing Tatum, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, goddess blogs, handsome men, historical novels, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Magic Mike, movie review, Rachel Gibson, Rocky, romance books, romance fiction, romance writer, Sabrina Jeffries, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch.
It’s Traveling Day!! Well, not for me, but that’s because the annual Romance Writers of America Conference is being held about 7 miles from my house. But a great many romance writers are flying, driving, and boating (I don’t know that for certain, but it sounds romantic) in order to reach Anaheim, California. Officially [...]
35 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 3:55 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, alpha males, Barbara O'Neal, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, goddess blogs, Hugh Jackman, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs.
Yes, that is a real napkin from the real Cawdor Castle in Nairn, Scotland, where I was only a week and two days ago. Sigh. I miss it already. Those of you who’ve been following my Facebook page know that Hubby and I went on a 12 day trip to Liverpool, Inverness, Edinburgh, and York [...]
77 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Monday, June 18, 2012 at 2:02 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, goddess blogs, handsome guys, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, men in kilts, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, Scotland, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs, Will and Jane, Will and Jane's Excellent Adventure.
Oh, yes. I've done this. I was in college. I was with my girlfriends. And I laughed so hard I wet my pants. And that made me, and everyone else, laugh even harder. (Why do you think the girls on the cover are sitting with their legs crossed?) I was in good company because I [...]
48 Comments. Posted by Claudia Dain on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 5:20 am.
Filed under Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, On Writing!, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, goddess blogs, historical romance, humor, humorous blog, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, romance, romantic fiction, Sabrina Jeffries, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, writing.
On Facebook yesterday I asked whether readers preferred long or short hair on men. As I thought about it, I realized that every single hero I’ve written has longish hair. Not Legolas long, but brushing the collar long. Mostly slightly unkempt, in need of a barber. I don’t know why I do this, except that [...]
57 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Friday, June 8, 2012 at 11:01 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, When Goddesses Fall To Earth.
To be honest, and I'm always honest, when I began writing Sorority Sisters (get your copy now!), I was worried that Ms. Average Reader would have such a negative reaction to the very idea of sorority girls that she'd hate the book on sight. Thank goodness that no one on Mt. Olympus is Average, and [...]
68 Comments. Posted by Claudia Dain on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 5:47 am.
Filed under Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, On Writing!, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, college life, girlfriends, goddess blogs, historical romance, humorous blog, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, romance novels, romance writer, Sabrina Jeffries, sorority life, sorority sisters, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs, writing.
Don’t groan. I know people get Dickens crammed down their throats in school, and they aren’t keen on him as a result. But the Masterpiece Theater adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood captivated me, and not just because it was an interesting completion of his last, unfinished novel. The part I got sucked in on [...]
66 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 2:55 am.
Filed under Goddess Readers Speak Out, On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, A Christmas Carol, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, charles dickens, christmas, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, oliver twist, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs.
Got your attention, did I? Well, I’ve never played it (my parents were missionaries, remember?). I really wish I’d had a less staid upbringing, because I think Strip Poker would be fun (and don’t suggest doing it with Hubby, because he hates playing cards). In fact, the sexiest game I ever played was Spin the Bottle [...]
129 Comments. Posted by Sabrina Jeffries on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 3:45 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Sabrina Jeffries, After the Abduction, alpha males, bad boys, Barbara O'Neal, Barbara Samuel, bestselling romance writer, billiards, blog for women, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, free book, giveaway, goddess blogs, great guys, handsome guys, handsome men, historical novels, historical romance, hunks, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Rachel Gibson, Sabrina Jeffries, sexy games, strip poker, strip whist, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, the goddess blogs.
I spend a lot of time reading the first lines of books. It’s commonly believed that a writer has three paragraphs to either catch up a reader, to make them want to read the entire story, or to lose them forever. I think it’s less. I think a writer has one paragraph, or even only [...]
58 Comments. Posted by Suzanne Enoch on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 4:07 am.
Filed under On Writing!, Suzanne Enoch, "The Trouble with Valentine's Day", 1984, alpha males, Barbara O'Neal, bestselling romance writer, Claudia Dain, Farenheit 451, goddess blogs, Hugh Jackman, In the Shadow of Man, Jaws, Julia London, Karen Hawkins, Lord of the Flies, Lori Handeland, Madeline Hunter, Of Mice and Men, Pride and Prejudice, Rachel Gibson, Rainshadow Road, Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke, Sabrina Jeffries, susan mallery, Suzanne Enoch, Taming an Impossible Rogue, The Abduction of Julia, the Black Duke's Prize, The Dangerous Gentleman, the goddess blogs, The Hobbit, The Princess Bride, The War of the Worlds, To Kill a Mockingbird, true grit.
Long ago and far away, I taught 10th grade English. I was a busy, busy girl. I taught creative writing (one essay a week, every Wednesday, graded and returned by Friday), the 5 genres of literature (novel, short story, essay, poem, play), grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary (vocab test every Friday)—-they also had to do [...]
96 Comments. Posted by Claudia Dain on Friday, March 9, 2012 at 4:50 am.
Filed under Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, On Writing!, Claudia Dain, Claudia Welch, goddess blogs.
When I was young and single, it seemed to me that love happened when I was least looking for it, coming out of left field at unexpected moments and often with unexpected guys. My current release, The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne, has that kind of “least likely” situation between its characters. We all have our favorite [...]
69 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 3:04 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!, alpha males, bestselling romance writer, blog for women, great guys, handsome guys, handsome men, historical novels, historical romance, love story, romance novels.
Valentine’s Day is a day that we reconnect with our sweeties and think romantic thoughts. Now that it is over we can continue being lovey- dovey with our Significant Others, but being romance readers and writers, we also can go back to the other men in our lives. The Fantasy Others. Fantasy Others are one of the [...]
305 Comments. Posted by Madeline Hunter on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 2:20 am.
Filed under Madeline Hunter, On Writing!, alpha males, bad boys, bestselling romance writer, contest, fantasy men, handsome guys, historical novels, hunks, love stories, romance heroes, romance novels, writing romance novels.
