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Friday Free For All

Five From . . . You!

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QuestMark

Today I’m turning the tables and asking YOU five questions! Leave your answers in the comments or on my Facebook page. Yes, these will be used in a future post . . . you have been warned!

–What is your favorite genre right now?
–What book has stuck in your mind over the past three months?
–What aspect of a female lead is your favorite (i.e, snarky, smart, fearless, flawed . . . ?)
–What part of a male lead makes you swoon? (I mean characteristic, not body part!)
–How many books do you read each week?

Get ready for future Five From Friends Friday guests, including K.M. Scott, Stacy Darnell, CM Doporto, Jenna Barton, Arianne Richmonde, Ruth Cardello, Juli Valenti . . . and many more!

This Author's Life Thursday

#ToTheGirls

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strong womenSometimes life hands you exactly what you need. Sometimes. If you wait it out.

My This Author’s Life post is one of my favorite to write each week. It’s wide open, and I can talk to y’all about anything I want. But this week, inspiration was pretty scarce. I’ve been so deep in writing and in getting ready for events that I hardly had any life to write about.

And then this morning the awesome Cora Carmack posted about this fabulous #ToTheGirls campaign. And there was today’s post.

I’ve been a feminist forever. I was raised by strong women in the company of women, I have three strong daughters and I believe in the power and the uniqueness of womanhood. I don’t say we’re better, but I’ll be danged if we ain’t just as good (that was an Oklahoma! riff right there, in case you didn’t know it.)

If you haven’t read about this campaign, start here. Author Courtney Summers started this trend, saying on her blog, “Take the opportunity to tell the girls you know — and the ones you don’t — that they are seen, heard and loved. Share advice. Be encouraging. Tell us about or thank the girls in your life who have made a difference in yours.”

So what would my tweets be? Here are a few going out today.

#ToTheGirls Be fearless. You are stronger than the world says you are.

#ToTheGirls You can love and be loved without being the damsel in distress.

#ToTheGirls Never underestimate the power of your heart. The world needs it.

So go forth and tweet your best words. Tag me so I can see.

This one’s for the girls.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading Trouble by Samantha Towle and 10 Years Later by J. Sterling

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I knew it was going to happen, and this week I hit the wall: I ran out of reliable NA romances to keep me occupied between the time I stop writing at night and the time the Kindle hits me in the head as I fall asleep.

Sigh. #FirstWorldWriterProblems

So I tried out Trouble by Samantha Towle. It was decent. The story wasn’t easy to read; the main female character suffers abuse at the hands of her father and her first boyfriend, and as a result, she’s also bullemic. That’s not light-hearted fare; it’s a long way from ‘I’m tutoring the hot football/hockey star and even though I’m not popular, I think we’re in love.’ Still, the writing was good, and the male character was both lovable and flawed. Their slow dance toward each other was interesting and realistic, and I enjoyed it, as well as the twist I hadn’t expected. The supporting characters were also likable and well-drawn. I’d read more from this author.

Once I’d finished the first book, I decided to take a chance on one I’d seen in my suggested reading from the ‘zon for quite some time. The premise was promising: two people who clearly had some kind of high school history are about to reconnect at their ten-year reunion. The female lead has a cool career, working for a popular radio show in LA, and the male lead is an undercover cop. Lots of promise.

Unfortunately, the promise didn’t pay off. There was a lot of trite build-up, quite a few situations that could’ve led down intriguing paths but which the author never pursued. We eventually find out what went on between the two in the past, and the payoff was a little anti-climatic. Part of that could’ve been that the flashbacks were way too much telling and not enough showing. There wasn’t enough dialogue or action therein, and it didn’t make me care about the characters. Honestly, I was a little bored, which was really too bad, because again, the characters could have had so many dimensions. This book almost felt like a short building up to the real story.

So now I’m back in the same place, looking for the next read. Cora Carmack’s All Played Out releases in less than a month, but I’m not sure I can wait that long. I’m open to suggestions here.

Teaser Tuesday

The Only One Trailer

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This teaser #Tuesday is brought to you by the extraordinarily beautiful trailer for The Only One, made by Olivia Hardin. I am totally and completely in love with these piece. . .the music, the images, the words. . .it’s all perfect.

If you haven’t read The One Trilogy yet, you’re missing out on some smokin’ hot couples, some sweet love and some funny characters, all living in the small town of Burton, Georgia. And you don’t want to miss all that.

 

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Musical Muse

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Over the last few months, I’ve shared with you all the playlists for my books and why each one is the way it is. I hope you’ve gotten some insight into how music affects my process.

Promo1TawdraKandleBut how does a playlist come about? This is a question we discussed at Coastal Magic February at the panel on the same topic. I was fascinated that so many of us who write so differently come upon our musical muses in the same way.

For me, the type of music a character enjoys is part of his or her definition. In The King Series, Tasmyn enjoyed alt rock while Michael liked oldies. Rafe’s musical taste was closer to Tasmyn’s; it was one of many things the two had in common, which frustrated Rafe to no end. He felt that their similarities should’ve given him an edge over Michael. Sadly for him, he was wrong.

In The Posse, Jude adores her 80’s tunes. In The One Trilogy, Sam uses sweet country music to woo Meghan, who is decidedly not a fan before her time in Burton. In Just Desserts, Frank Sinatra is the theme of the day.

So that’s where the playlists begin. One character and one style of music. I usually start off a new book with a huge list of songs, and I listen to it almost constantly while writing–and even while not actively writing. I also try to tune in to stations on Spotify or iTunes radio that dovetail with the same genre, so that I can possibly find new songs that fit the storyline.

As the plot develops and refines, I’ll nix some songs and add others. And the ones that are particularly compelling or poignant end up on replay. A lot.

In this way, the music not only inspires me; it also gives me insight into characters and situation I might not be able to quite wrap my mind around until I hear a lyric or a stanza. And in the years that follow, hearing that lyric takes me right back to that story. . .and those characters.