Back to the Casting Couch

Casting your hero can be tricky. Is he right for the plot you have been mulling over for weeks? Will he like the heroine? Will she like him?

Over the next few months a number of writers have agreed to sit on my Casting Couch to discuss the different methods  they use in their search for the characters who populate their books. Whether they use magazine advertisements, astrology, or something else entirely, their techniques give a fascinating insight into the writing process and the writers themselves

Today author Sydell Voeller joins us on the Casting Couch to share the tricks of her trade.

Thank you for agreeing to sit on the Casting Couch Sydell. It's always a treat to talk to a multi-published author and discover how she casts her characters. Assuming that you are sitting comfortably, let's begin.

* * * * *

Which characters are the hardest for you to develop? Is it the hero, the heroine, the villain, or the secondary characters?

My secondary characters are usually the hardest to develop.  Each one must forward the plot in some manner and interact significantly with the heroine and hero.  In other words, if I can go through the script and eliminate a particular character or two and never miss them, then they didn’t belong in the story in the first place.  I’ve sometimes found myself losing my story’s focus by allowing secondary characters to be present extraneously—but thankfully, I always catch that problem before my final drafts.

When an idea strikes, do you work through the plot first and then cast the characters, or is it characters first? Or does it vary? Perhaps you develop the plot and the characters together.

For the most part, I develop the plot and characters together. I typically begin my plotting by deciding what inner and outer conflicts will stand between the hero and the heroine—the core problem that will keep them apart until the story’s resolution.  I try to dig deeply into their psyches to understand what makes them tick—their greatest dreams, their worst fears, their vulnerabilities, their goals and aspirations in life.

Can you give an example from a published story? 

Yes.  Take, for example, my latest re-released e-book Daisies Are Forever, published by Books We Love. The outer conflict was easy in this case. April Heatherton, my heroine, is not only interested in local history and teaches history at school, but she has a special interest in the ancient forests that define the North West.  Behind her home stands a tract of timber containing an unmarked pioneer woman’s grave.  Heather learns that this forested site will soon be going up for a logging auction.  Heather is fired up to stage a peaceful demonstration against the loggers in order to preserve the grave. The hero, Matt Spencer, is a hard-working logger—and in this day of increasing displaced loggers, he needs to keep working.

The inner conflict, on the other hand, is more personal, much deeper.  It portrays our characters’ drives, dreams, motivations, and emotional needs.  For years, the unmarked grave has provided a special place for April—a place of retreat and personal renewal, plus an indirect connection to her grandmother.  In her eyes, losing it would be akin to losing her soul. Matt’s inner conflict, on the other hand, smacks of family and commitment, continuing the tradition set down for him by his father and grandfather.  After all, logging is Matt’s legacy.

When deciding how your characters should look, do pictures inspire you or do you think of someone you know? Or perhaps you just rely on an active imagination or another method entirely.

In the earlier years of my writing career, especially when I was writing YA fiction, I often used pictures to draw inspiration for portraying my characters.  Later after I branched off into adult contemporary romances, I used a combination of both pictures and my own imagination.

Do you have a system for developing their character traits? I know some people use Tarot or Astrology. Others produce detailed life histories. There are also writers who allow their characters to develop as they write. What's your method?

I have tried using Astrology at one time, but I didn’t stick with that.  I guess I felt I had to squeeze my character into too tight a mold, or perhaps that method just didn’t resonate with me for other reasons.  But to answer your question more specifically, (and as I said earlier), I know my character’s basic traits by first determining his or her core conflicts.  I’m always delighted, though, when my character’s behavior takes new twists and turns.  Real people are contradictions and so should our characters portray contradictions as well.

All characters have goals. Can your characters’ goals usually be summed up in a word or two, or are they multi-layered?  Do they change as you write the book? Could you give some examples?  

Most of my characters’ goals can be summed up in a phrase or two, or maybe one sentence.  And yes, sometimes the goals change out of necessity.  For example, in Her Sister’s Keeper, published by Books We love, my heroine, Logan, is determined to care for and protect her little sister, Kim, who is wheel-chair bound. (Prior to the opening of the story, Kim was partially paralyzed due to the plane accident that not only caused her disability, but killed their mother as well.)  Since their father is no longer alive, Logan must now step up to the plate and assume full responsibility for her sister. Yet despite her good intentions, Logan’s goals are misconstrued and she becomes overly protective, thus indirectly sabotaging Kim’s chances for rehabilitation. By the end of the story, Logan must redefine her goals in order to give Kim her best chance for recovery—plus allow Logan her best chances for a romantic commitment to the handsome young Dr. Dellinger with whom she works.

Motives drive a character. How do you discover your characters’ specific motivations? Are they based on back-story or do other elements influence their motives?

I believe back story has everything to do with motive. In taking another look at Her Sister’s Keeper, the back-story about the plane crash motivates Logan to protect her sister against further traumas.  And on a broader scope, in most traditional romance stories, the core motivator that threatens to keep the heroine and hero apart stems from their individual back-stories. Perhaps their demons are divorce, the death of a spouse, a broken engagement, or having been stood up at the altar.  What better motivators to make our heroines and heroes turn and run!

And last but not least, do you like your characters? Are they people you would want to spend time with? Assuming they are not just a paper exercise, which of your characters would you most like to meet, and why?

Yes, I do indeed like my characters, and I strive to create characters my readers will like and care about as well.  In regards to which characters I’d like to meet, that’s a tough one.  I do know for sure, however, that I’d like to meet my heroine Lisa Prentice in Summer Magic, also published by Books We Love.  During her travels with the circus, she encounters so many fascinating adventures involving the performers-especially the dashing young aerialist Michael-and the circus animals, including Ebony, her favorite show horse.  Logan’s widespread travels with the circus also add to her appeal as a character.  I’m sure she could share with me many intriguing tales that reach far beyond the story itself!

My next favorite character is Vanessa Paris, my heroine in The Fisherman’s Daughter, another of my BWL titles.  I like her intelligence, spunk, flirtatiousness, strength of spirit, and especially her strong dedication to helping to find her father who is missing at sea.  Finally, since I love any kind of reunion romance, I like her push-pull attraction to the hero whom she had a crush on in high school, and her misgivings about falling for him again.  On the balance, I think she’d be a delightful character to hang out with!

Sydell Voeller writes contemporary romance and Young Adult fiction

You can check out her books on her website at sydellvoeller.com or at bookswelove.net

Soap Operas and Novels - Strange Bed Fellows

I'm  addicted to General Hospital...have been for years.  Watched it from the beginning have suffered the loss of the original cast and enjoyed the addition of new.  One thing that strikes me is the similarity between watching a continuing saga and reading one.  Ever consider how much the writing plays into whether or not you continue to tune in?

I know how difficult it is to write a novel, but I have no idea the stress TV writers must endure in order to keep the plot moving, the interest growing, and coming up with hooks that make you either record the next episode or put aside your daily duties to tune in. I want their secrets.  *laugh*

Each Friday's soap opera episode is a most critical time for a so-called 'cliffhanger'.  Watchers have two whole days to get distracted from the daily routine or mull over what the outcome will be. Soap writers want them to mull, but such is the chore of a author with their novels.  We are charged with having a beginning to our books that HOOK the interest of the reader and make them want to keep turning pages.

I can't count how many times I've heard readers express what they do with a book that bores them from the beginning, and I'm not talking about mine. *smile*  If you don't grab and hold a reader's interest, you've not enhanced the chances they'll even finish what they started.  If I've learned one thing in my years of turning out novels, it's to start each story with a scene that snags interest in the plot and main character(s).

Equally important, ending each chapter with enough intrigue that the reader who reads at night won't want to stop or can't wait to pick the book up the next morning.  Exactly what Soap Opera writer's want to happen.  For me, it's hard enough to decide where to end a chapter, let alone end with  a scene that's a page turner, but it's critical.  Imagine ending a chapter with your heroine being home alone and hearing the creaking of an opening door.  Will the reader stop there, or will he/she be tempted to read on and see what is going to happen?  My bet is that won't be a stopping place.

I'd like to share the opening scene from my "best seller," First Degree Innocence.  See if it hooks you:


“Okay, Lang, strip!” The guard’s bark made Carrie’s stomach roil. She cowered in the corner of the women’s processing area, shivering under the blast of cold air from the ceiling vent.

“I said strip! Don’t make me have to tell you again.” The pudgy, uniformed female slapped a baton against her palm in a constant rhythm. In the empty room, the sound bounced off the depressing gray cement walls and echoed in Carrie’s head. She forced herself to take a faltering step out of her shoes. Her frigid fingers fumbled with the buttons as she struggled to remove her favorite pink cotton blouse. She unfastened her jeans and let them drop to the floor, then gazed through bleary eyes at the other woman, praying she didn't require the removal of anything more.

If this stirred your interest, you can find out more about this novel at Books We Love.  Beginning this month, BWL has expanded availability from the Amazon KDP program to Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, the Reader's Store and All Romance Ebooks.

Let me know your thoughts.  Comments might just motivate me to finish my current WIP which has been sidelined by life issues. I already have a beautiful cover and have made great progress, just need to get myself back on the writer's road.  I'd love to interview a soap opera writer....if you know one, let me know.  *smile*   First thing I'd want to ask is why in the heck did they let Jason go!  I'm heartbroken.  :)

The Casting Couch

Is this how you cast your hero?

Visit my Casting Couch  to discover the different tricks  writers use to find the characters who populate their books. Whether they use magazine advertisements, astrology, or something else entirely, their techniques give a fascinating insight into the writing process and the writers themselves

Today, multi-published writer Janet Lane Walters tells us how she does it

How do writers cast their characters? Mine are usually inspired by a photograph. I see an interesting face and the writer in me begins to weave it into a story. It's very satisfactory because I can make complete strangers into just about anyone I want. Occasionally it isn't a photo but someone in the media although never, so far, anyone from the big screen. And even more occasionally, although I never admit to it, a real live person I meet. What I can't do, however, is start with a list of personality traits and build from there. My character has to have a face before I can begin to know them although I guess that deep down I am probably looking for a face that fits with who I want them to be. Realizing that my take on character development is idiosyncratic to say the least, I began to wonder how other writers find their characters so I decided to ask them to visit my Casting Couch to find out.

Janet Lane Walters is the first visitor to the Casting Couch, and with 35 published novels, 4 non fiction books, 2 ghostwritten non fiction books and ten novellas to say nothing of numerous short stories and poetry, who better to answer my questions.

Hi Janet and thanks for visiting the Casting Couch. Now, assuming you're sitting comfortably, which characters are the hardest for you to develop? Is it the hero, the heroine, the villain, or the secondary characters? 

I can usually nail the hero and heroine, though sometimes they give me trouble, and I have little problem with the villains. It's the secondary characters that sometimes give me fits. Unless I’m writing an ensemble piece where all the characters have a significant role in a story, my secondary characters try to take over, and that isn’t their role. When I was writing A Double Opposition, characters like the twins, Pop and Megan, wanted to take on a larger role. I spent a lot of time looking at their parts of the story and toning them down.

I’ve also read stories where the secondary characters seemed more important than the major ones. It always disappoints me to learn that the story isn’t theirs. That’s what I must keep reminding myself.

I really identify with that Janet,  and I know I've made that mistake in my own books too...but back to the casting couch. When an idea strikes, do you work through the plot first and then cast the characters, or is it characters first? Or does it vary? Perhaps you develop the plot and the characters together.

I admit to all of the above. When I began writing Code Blue the villain arrived full of himself and of his plans for revenge. The other characters changed as I wrote the book. Julie was to be the heroine but that didn’t make the story move along. Once the heroine changed to Susan, a perfect foil for the villain, the story took off. I guess in this case the characters came first and last.

Can you give examples from the stories you’ve written?

When I began the Affinity series, published under my alter ego, J. L. Walters, the characters came first. They remained essentially unchanged since they were based on my grandchildren at the time. The plot came later and turned from a single book to four.

The plot for The Temple of Fyre came before the characters. I told the entire story in my head with no names and no personalities except for good woman, bad woman, good man, as I outlined the plot. No names until I sat down and decided what kind of people would take on these roles and what their natures would be, and gave them their Astrological signs.

That is so interesting. I've heard of writers who use Tarot or Astrology but never met one before. 

Yes, I always use Astrology to cast my characters. I’ve been involved in it for years. I used to do charts for people and then interpret them, so using it to develop my characters seems a natural thing to do.

I don’t go as far as some people and cast an entire chart though, and I only do it for the major characters. What I do is look at the Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign. This gives me three facets of the character’s nature and it also provides me with clues as to their goals and the motives behind their desires. The Sun is their inner nature. It’s what they are inside. The Moon gives me their emotions and tells me how they react to situations. The Rising Sign gives me the face they show the world. Conflicts can arise in any of these areas of course, and so can their desires and the reasons for this.

So Astrology tells you who your characters are but surely you still have to discover how they look. Do you use magazine pictures, base them on someone you know, or do you just rely on an active imagination?

I rather envy writers who can look at movie stars or magazine pictures and say that’s just what their characters look like. I don’t even use my friends, neighbors or acquaintances when I am deciding how my hero or heroine looks. For me, it’s imagination and writing the words down, though I will say my heroes usually fit a type. Most of them are tall, with broad-shoulders and trim bodies. Hair and eye color will vary. My heroines can be different and unusual but they are always beautiful to the hero, even if they are plain.

All characters have goals. Can you sum up your characters' goals in a word or two or are they multi-layered? Do they change as you write the book? 

I usually have at least one goal for each of the main characters and also for some of the secondary ones, especially if their goal is in opposition to those of the main characters. Sometimes they will have the kind of goals that make them think if I gain this, then I’ll reach for this.

Can you give an example from one of your published books?

When I was writing A Double Opposition, my heroine’s goal was to find a way to remove her twin sons from the bad influences they had found in the city. Her second goal was to do a good job on a hospital unit where there was trouble. She wasn’t thinking about finding love or marriage. Her final goal comes after her sons go missing and the hero helps her find them. It is then that she realizes there is a chance for a second love and for a family.

Motives drive a character. How do you discover why your characters have specific goals? Is this all based on back story or do other elements influence their motives?

I often don’t know what my characters’ back stories are when I begin to write. That usually comes after a draft or two when suddenly I know what is happening. The book I am writing at the moment, Lines of Fire, begins with the hero at his father’s deathbed. The scene began before the story was plotted or the character developed. I didn’t even know the hero’s name but the deathbed scene gave me his motivations and these remained throughout the book, although with some slight changes as other characters impacted on his life. In this case the back story played an important part.

In other stories the ‘why’ doesn’t occur until I have at least a rough draft of the story. Then there’s an ‘aha’ moment as I learn what drives them toward a goal that may, or may not be, attainable.

Listening to how you cast your characters has been very interesting Janet, but there's still one more.  Do you like them? Are they people you would want to spend time with? And, as I'm assuming they are not just a paper exercise, which of your characters would you most like to meet, and why?

 Do I like my characters? Absolutely and while I write I live with them. They’re always in my head. As to which one I’d most like to meet, I have met some of them already. They’re my grandchildren but that’s not a fair answer to this question.

Right now I’d like to meet Alric who hasn’t seen print yet. Why? Several reasons. He’s a dueler and that reminds me of the days when I was fencing. He also sees the lines of fire and that fascinates me, even though I made it up. He’s handsome and brave too. But when I’m writing, I always want to meet my heroes and heroines. I’m rather fickle.

Thank you for spending time on the Casting Couch Janet. It's been great to talk to you.

If you would like to learn more about Janet Lane Walters visit her blog at http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.co.uk or read more about her on the Books We Love website

Senior Love??

I just finished a wonderful novel by Roseanne Dowell.  Geratric Rebels is what some of we older gals have been looking for.  Although it's nice to read about young love and sex, putting myself into the heroine's POV is difficult because the mirror reminds me every day that I'm past that time in my life.  It's about time someone put a little age and a few wrinkles on the main characters, and Ms. Dowell managed to add all the ingredients to keep me turning pages. I loved it!

Geratric Rebels put life in realistic perspective, showing the reader that a heroine and hero don't have to be young with perky boobs or a  muscular six pack to be still excited about life and one another.  When Mike Powell and Elsa Logan meet in a nursing home that has become their fate, they join forces to make lemonade out of lemons, and enjoy falling for one another while showing the world they're not ready to retire from life.  What can a couple of old fogies do, you ask?  You'll just have to read for yourself, and I'm sure you'll be glad you did.  Of course if you aren't over forty, you might just find it unbelievable.  *smile*  Like the old saying goes, there may be snow on the roof but that doesn't mean you can't stoke a fire in the chimney.

You can find this book on Amazon offered by Books We Love, Ltd.  Kudos to Roseanne Dowell who manages to make all of her books believable and entertaining.

Looking for a spooky Halloween Read? Try the Dark series by Gail Roughton

I'm a big fan of horror books and movies so when this series came out I was excited to delve into it. Before I could get book one, I found out it was being released as a set so of course I snagged the special edition and am I ever glad I did.

Already a Gail Roughton fan (The War N' Wit series is awesome romantic suspense) I figured I'd enjoy this series as much. But this one is a whole different ballgame. 

Spanning generations, the story begins with our black magic antagonist Cain's modern-day resurrection, then goes back to fill in the details as to how he got the way his is today. Powerful stuff, told with page-turning energy. As with her other books, I found it hard to turn off my Kindle when reading this Roughton horror/thriller. 

When I finished the first part I was SO glad I had book two at my fingertips because I just kept right on reading. A truly magical story, perfect to curl up with on a cold autumn evening, this series had just the right blend of spookiness and great storytelling to keep me hanging on every word. And while the author never claimed this was a romance, I found the various love stories within to be equally sweet and heart-wrenching. I rooted for the good guys (simply loved Paul!) and wanted to kick the bad guys in the kneecaps (for starters.) The ending was truly satisfying. It couldn't have wrapped up any other way and been so successful... and frightening! 

"The past, like evil, never dies. It just—waits."

*sigh* Loved it!

Highly recommend this Gail Roughton thriller. 5+ Stars and two thumbs up. Nab it now at Smashwords, B&N, ARe or Amazon. You can get both stories in this special edition for only $4.99. You won't regret it!

Sarah's Heart & Sarah's Passion - Must Reads!

I just finished reading Sarah’s Heart by incredible author, Ginger Simpson.  I love a good western and I love even more when the heroine, Sarah in this case, is saved by a half-breed Indian, Wolf, and they fall helplessly in love. I won’t give the ending away – but this book took me on a journey that stepped right out of the 1800s. It’s believable and very well written. I laughed and cried with Sarah. And Wolf – he’s my kind of hero, strong, honest, and more desirable than he has a right to be.  I loved the ending -  and it left me wanting more!

That’s when I read Sarah’s Passion, the novella following the wonderful Sarah’s Heart.  Ginger Simpson gave me a real surprise when I started reading – finding myself – not in the 1800s as I expected, but right here in today! What? Oh, I can’t say – I hate it when people give plots and endings away.  I love to be surprised – you must read both Sarah’s Heart and then Sarah’s Passion – they are fabulously written . . . and will make you turn those pages almost faster than you can read! Bravo Ginger Simpson – you’ve proven yourself to be one of my favorite authors. It’s a five-star, five coffee cup, five clover leafs, five alleluias if you must!  FABULOUS!

Way to go, Ginger!  Rita Karnopp

Reminiscence--How I Met The Doctor

 

I was living in England with my mother, going to school in Penzance as a day student. We lived in the end unit of a row house—stone houses, streets, little gardens—just as you might imagine a British working class neighborhood. We had just moved out of an artsy Mousehole hotel to less expensive Newlyn, to the last building on the top of the hill above the harbor. Behind us was a field with dairy cows and a stubby, well-worn stone circle, through which I walked every morning, taking the back way over the headland into Penzance and my school.

We rented our telly and paid license fees, like everyone else on the street, and I began watching my first regular doses of English entertainment. It was black and white in those days, the content different from what I’d been used to in the States.

 

 

William Hartnell

 

I only saw two shows containing the original Doctor. Although I remember enjoying the story, it was never completely clear to me what the heck was going on. I remember being thrilled to realize that this show was not only about history—and with costumes which were actually period correct  (astonishing in and of itself,  as this was the early sixties)—but also about the science fiction notion of time travel. The Doctor and his two companions eventually escaped from trouble inside a little blue box, the kind I’d seen standing, dusty and unused, on street corners here and there throughout British cities.

Well, wow! Stories about history and time travel all in one show!  The main character was not only mysterious, aged and professorial, but a little sinister, too, as if he was not entirely to be trusted. As someone who liked fantasy and science fiction but who had always loved reading about famous characters in history, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Unfortunately, no matter how much I waited for it, I never saw any more than those two shows. Soon Mom and I pulled up stakes again and headed for Barbados. (In those days, there was no TV in the West Indies.)

It was years later that The Doctor and I reconnected. My kids and I were sitting on the floor together watching PBS on our Zenith, also parked on the floor. (In those days furniture was something of a luxury.)  An odd British import began. Lo and behold--there was my time traveler and his blue box! Of course, the original doctor had gone. The new one was still domineering and mysterious, but far less of a stuffy old professor. Instead he now appeared to be in his forties, with a mod head of curly hair and clothes by way of Carnaby Street. He might have just stepped out of The Yellow Submarine.

 

 

John Pertwee, mortal enemy & friends

Okay, I thought, I’ll go with the flow. My brief, earlier acquaintance with that absent-minded elderly Doctor was still lingering in my cranial filing cabinet. This, I realized, would be a great show for the kids to watch while I made dinner. (In those days 30 Minute Meals was not a marketable idea, just the way everybody cooked, especially if Mom worked the day shift.)     

 

Doctor Who has always had rather tacky visuals. I was told by someone long ago that the Doctor’s eternal enemy, the Daleks, were actually tarted up shop vacs, hence their distinctive sloping can shape. (However, do remember that Twilight Zones weren’t all that much better. And what ‘60’s Trekkie can forget the embarrassing Gorn?) As a childhood watcher of s/f on TV—Captain Video, anyone?—I knew my imagination would do most of the work. if the concept was interesting, my brain would take it from there, just as it did when I read. Good actors and an involving story could carry off almost anything, because, as Hamlet says “the play’s the thing.” British actors, trained for the job, are, at least, skilled craftsmen, and adept at making theatrical magic happen with even the most minimal sets and effects.

After my boys became fans, almost immediately there came a change in Doctors, as reported to me by my oldest son. He  was about equally disturbed and intrigued that the hero in a series might abruptly become someone else, all while essentially playing (more or less) the same character. This new Doctor immediately caught my eye—perhaps because his clothes were no longer Victorian mod, but thrift store trippy.

 

Tom Baker

 The hat, the scarf, the manic manner, the comic timing, his diction, and his “silly walks”—Baker was a talking, Oxford-educated Harpo Marx . The kids, and their Mom too, adored Baker, and we watched the show faithfully during those years.   My youngest son begged his aunt to knit him a floor-sweeping Whovian scarf for Christmas, and we hunted used clothing stores for a cool old hat to go with it.

 Time passed for us, as it never quite does in the TARDIS. The kids got older and began to lose interest when the Doctor regenerated next. We never entirely warmed to the handsome, dapper Peter Davidson with his question marks and 1890s university cricketer’s garb. We drifted away.

Years went by. The kids grew up and had kids of their own. I went gray. One night, worn out by the local news, I looked for something else to watch at 5 o’clock and found BBC America.

 KA-ZAM! There he was, a brand new Doctor! This show clearly had a budget and  enjoyed the benefit of the CG revolution. Somewhere in the hiatus, our hoary old Doctor had become a “valuable BBC property.”

 

Christopher Eccelston & intrepid shopgirl, Rose

 

This new Doctor was different in a lot of ways, at first shockingly so. For one thing, he was an imposing guy with a buzz cut who wore black leather. Yikes! He also had a strong Northern working- class accent, far removed from the mad intellectual elitists of the past. I always wondered if this Doctor was working on his bike somewhere among the myriad rooms of the “bigger on the inside” TARDIS…

 Christopher Eccelston only gave the series 13 episodes, but I LOVED him. He was an excellent choice for the Doctor’s 21^st Century revival, the ninth reincarnation of the mystery man. This was a visceral, dangerous Doctor—as well as being unpredictable and wizard-wise.  The new scripting, too, was exciting, the best writing yet, while firmly grounded in the tradition of the series.

 
Romance for the Doctor and his companion was another innovation that was a GOOD THING, adding some spice to the character’s lonely Flying Dutchman persona. (The “Companions” have been shorted in this reminiscence, but they’ve always been an integral part of the Whovian equation.) Rose Tyler and The Doctor shared the series’ first kiss. It was an electric moment.

 David Tennant

 

 

All too soon, here came a new Doctor—and, I confess, my favorite. Bring on Doctor #10, the exciting David Tennant, an admitted “fan-boy” from childhood. Here we had a bi-polar Doctor, a veritable road runner on speed, wearing a duster, a shiny suit, and Converse sneakers.  This Doctor exhibited a ferocious brand of fey, peppered with world-weariness and pessimism, all of it wrapped up inside one skinny 900+ year old Time Lord. Gilbert & Sullivan couldn’t write better patter than Steven Moffat and Russell Davies, and their Doctor—and the rest of the fine ensemble--delivered the goods.

 Regeneration into #11, and new writers have sent the show on a Matrix-out-of-Stephen-King turn. I’m slow to warm to this new Doctor, Matt Smith. All I can say for now is that like Merlin, the character seems to be aging backwards. The bow-tie-tweed jacket bit, however, seems to be a retro turn intoThe Doctor’s “academic” past.  

 

Doctor Who is quirky, by turns scary or silly, and sometimes it's dark and intellectual. It’s also shamelessly self-referential, and full of puns plus literary, scientific and topical allusions which I adore. From Pratchett to Monty Python to comedies like "Doc Martin" & "Shaun of the Dead," from forms as low as Pantomime and high as Shakespeare, all that’s delightful, witty and wise--in British entertainment is woven together in

 

Doctor Who, Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

 

 

 http://www.julietwaldron.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/julietwaldron

 

 

Kindle Romance Novels: The Fisherman's Daughter by Sydell Voeller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWYTA4gu9AcKindle Romance Novels: The Fisherman's Daughter by Sydell Voeller

DIVE INTO MEDIEVAL TIMES - by Vijaya Schartz

What better opportunity to be introduced to a series than getting three novels in one set, for a very friendly price? Welcome to THE CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE. Now available as a special holiday package in kindle. Each novel is also available separately. Book Four is coming out later this year.

CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE SERIES

http://amzn.com/B0091HX7EE

From history shrouded in myths, emerges a family of immortal Celtic Ladies, who roam the medieval world in search of salvation from a curse. For centuries, imbued with hereditary gifts, they hide their deadly secret... but if the Church ever suspects what they really are, they will be hunted, tortured, and burned at the stake.

PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE:

http://amzn.com/B007K1EGAM

806 AD - Alba (Ancient Scotland) -

As the Vikings raid the coast of Alba, Pressine of Bretagne sets out to seduce King Elinas of Dumfries, chosen by the Goddess to unite the tribes against the foreign invader. Elinas, still mourning his departed queen, has no intention to remarry. Head-strong and independent, Pressine does not expect to fall for the very attractive, wise and noble ruler... Furthermore, her Pagan nature clashes with the religious fanaticism of the king’s Christian heir, who suspects her unholy ancestry and will stop at nothing to get rid of her.

Reviews:

"I really enjoyed Princess of Bretagne. Kind of reminded me of The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, with its subtle references to Arthurian legend (I'm a sucker for anything Arthurian). Like Mists, you captured the historical period while weaving in the mystical elements. Since I now have my new kindle, I've added Pagan Queen to my TBR list. After the one I'm reading now, I might just bump it up a notch or two." Kathy Fisher-Brown, author

PAGAN QUEEN:

http://amzn.com/B007Z8F7IA

810 AD - Alba (Ancient Scotland) - Queen at last, Pressine brings victory to her beloved Elinas and prosperity to their growing kingdom. But she has to contend with the intrigues of Charlemagne's bishops, spurred by her Christian stepson. While Elinas, on the battlefield, remains unaware of his son’s machinations, Pressine fends off repeated assaults against her life. She also fears the curse that could bring her downfall. For the love of Elinas, she will tempt fate and become with child. But when her indomitable passion challenges the wrath of the Goddess Herself... can she win that battle?

Reviews:

"Schartz is an accomplished writer, whose pacing, conflicts, and goals are always complex and whose good characters are always likeable, and whose villains are evil incarnate. You have to like her villains as much as the good guys! Mattacks is a magnificent example of this!" - 5 stars - Manic Readers

"...details of the period making that long ago era of history feel alive and vibrant. She’s able to weave in the mystical in a manner that appears natural... Mattacks and his diabolical plans play an important role... he’s a creepy guy... unexpected happenings totally caught me off guard... great plot ploy that I can only assume will pull the series forward... I want to know more..." - Romance Junkies - 4 ribbons

SEDUCING SIGEFROI:

http://amzn.com/B008LW18EG

Luxembourg - 963 AD - To offset the curse that makes her a serpent from the waist down one day each month, Melusine, exiled Princess of Strathclyde, must seduce and wed a mortal knight, the shrewd and ambitious Sigefroi of Ardennes.

Sigefroi, son of the Duke of Lorraine, suspects Melusine is not what she appears, but her beauty, her rich dowry, and her sharp political skills serve his ambitions. He never expected her to soften his stone-cold warrior heart.

So close to the Imperial court, dangers and intrigue threaten Melusine. War looms on the horizon, a Mermaid was sighted around Luxembourg, and Sigefroi’s bishop brother questions her ancestry. If anyone ever suspects Melusine’s true nature, she will burn at the stake...

Reviews:

"As always, Schartz spins a great story. It’s a bit bloody and bloodthirsty in places... But that's part of the drama, and Schartz certainly knows drama." Manic Readers 4.5 stars

SEDUCING SIGEFROI - EXCERPT:

"Is everything to your liking so far?"

Jarred by the deep male voice, Melusine snapped awake. Sigefroi stood in front of her, one soft boot nonchalantly propped on the edge of the wooden tub. The white of his tunic matched his teeth as he stared at her with a wolfish grin.

Melusine glanced around in panic for something to cover her nudity but her clothes lay too far away. She pulled up her legs in the bath water and laced her arms around her knees. "How dare you intrude? Can’t you see I’m taking a bath?"

Sigefroi’s bold gaze swept over her exposed body. "It’s not as if it were the first time. You seem to like bathing in hot tubs as well as in cold rivers."

Shocked at his effrontery, Melusine released one arm to point toward the door. "Get out of my chamber immediately!"

"Your chamber?" His grin widened. "This is the only private chamber in the villa, and it happens to be mine."

"Yours?" Melusine flushed in confusion. She knew the villa was small but hadn’t really thought about all the details.

"I’ll share it with you, unless you want to sleep on the hall floor with the servants." The scowl on his brow returned. "And as the lord of this place, I don’t take orders from my guests... or my wenches."

Wench? Her solitary life hadn’t prepared Melusine for such vulgarity. According to what she understood of men, however, she must not give herself too fast but rather let Sigefroi grow hungry for her body as long as possible. "I am no wench and demand to be treated with respect!"

He chuckled and effected a mock bow. "You certainly have mine, my lady."

Melusine managed a forced smile. "If you give me your word to behave honorably, I could sleep on a pallet behind a screen at the far side of your bedchamber."

He rolled his eyes. "Truly?"

Melusine hoped her inaccessible proximity would work in her favor. "There is enough space for the two of us."

"Nay." The candles flickered in his amber eyes. "You don’t understand, my lady." A slow smile spread on his sensual lips. "I intend to take you to my bed tonight. After all, we are to be wed."

"So soon?" Panic choked her voice. Impaired by Sigefroi’s close proximity, Melusine couldn’t think. He wanted to consummate their union tonight? She quickly regained her composure. "My lord, it’s not proper. We hardly know each other and are not yet betrothed."

He pulled up the sleeves of his tunic. "A detail easily remedied, my lady. Do you mind if I wash my hands before dinner?"

Before she could react, he dipped his hands in her bath, caressed her knee, brushed the skin of her thigh. Delicious heat coursed through her entire body. He seemed to enjoy her confusion as he swept the length of her folded arms with the back of one finger.

Lifting her chin with the crook of one finger, he bent and softly kissed her lips.

Melusine melted into the bath water, waves of heat swelled and washed over her. His smooth, soft lips teased hers. Her mouth relaxed and opened under his. She let him gently probe her mouth then claim it as his own. Dear Goddess, she was lost.

How could she manipulate this man when she yielded under his touch? She had seen shameless wenches offer themselves to strangers when it served their purpose, or even withhold their favors at will, but Melusine could never do that. She could not refuse this man. She was exposed, vulnerable, and in great danger.

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz

Swords, Blasters, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Darkness on the Edge of Town by Jenna Byrnes

I'm especially pleased for this collection to come to Books We Love. It's one of my favorite series (Originally titled Streets of Fire ~ if you're a Bruce Springsteen fan you might notice a theme, here...)

I love sexy cops and these three couldn't get any hotter IMHO. (I know, they're gay, so hands off! *grin*)

Michelle Lee made my day when she took the three models from the original ebooks and worked them all into the cover for this new trilogy. I LOVE the cover almost as much as I love my guys. If you enjoy gay romantic suspense, I hope you'll give this collection a try! ~ Jenna

Darkness on the Edge of Town

The Best Selling Series is now available in one novel-length ebook!

Dancing in the Dark

Detective Nick D'Amato has always been content with his lack-of-commitment love life. For a gay cop in the don't ask-don't tell N.Y.P.D., free and easy always seemed the least complicated route. William, the new man in his life, has Nick rethinking his priorities. Both men are stubborn, neither willing to compromise, until a serial slasher enters their lives. A growing stack of dead bodies has the police running in circles, sending Nick and Will into a nightmare that could change their lives forever. 

Born To Run 

Detective Sam Nielson has always been a casual, no strings type of guy. He loves New York City and the diversity of men it offers him. He also loves his job in South Bronx's forty-first precinct, affectionately nicknamed 'Fort Apache' for its violent history. Sam's caught off guard when handsome detective Bobby Rodriguez transfers to Fort Apache. The two are immediately thrown together on a high profile murder investigation. Their fast brewing passion makes concentrating on work difficult. But first they have to survive the murderer they're been tracking, who's now after them. 

Hungry Heart 

Captain Gil Gates is a proud member of the N.Y.P.D. and enjoys his position running a North Bronx precinct. When an incident with grave repercussions rocks the department and the whole community, Gil’s otherwise spotless record is suddenly in jeopardy. Brian Knight is Channel Nine’s star news reporter, following the most exciting story the Bronx has seen in quite some time. In his line of work as in Gil’s, being gay no big deal unless someone finds out about it. Brian offers something the department can’t—something that’s been missing from Gil’s life for too long. If only he can clear his name, and solve a double homicide while he’s at it.

(Note: Contains graphic M/M erotic romance and some mild BDSM)

"Ms. Byrnes builds the suspense in the story masterfully, and by the climax the tension is so tight that it might just snap. This reader was glued until the very end, which is most definitely a good thing." ~ Whitney, Fallen Angel Reviews 

"The talented Jenna Byrnes creates a story of romance and suspense that is both sensual and realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed this exciting dark tale." ~ Chocolate Minx, Literary Nymphs Reviews 

"The writing is very good, the plot is interesting and the sex is hot. The characters feel like real people, and the plot is nicely paced." ~ Ivy, Manic Readers Reviews 

"Jenna Byrnes gives us a well-crafted tale of friendship, suspense, and romance for three fortyish policemen. This is a well done, easily read tale of male bonding." ~ Dee, The Romance Studio 

~ Available here

Behind the Cover: Cover Elements

By Michelle Lee
BWL Art Director

I know it’s been a while since my last post, and for that all I can say is – GRAD SCHOOL.  What, you thought I was going to say I’m sorry?  LOL  Did we miss the last post – I am a Goddess.  Goddesses do not apologize.

Wait a minute.  The hubby is trying to get my attention.

* Five minutes later *

Ok, so I have been informed that while I am a Cover Goddess, and the love and adoration of my husband’s life, (yeah, I added that in, sue me), that I am still, in fact, a mere mortal. Whatever!   

As such, I guess I can apologize for taking so long to get to the next topic in my Behind the Cover series of posts.  I know there are some readers eagerly awaiting the X-Factor post that is quickly coming up.  I believe slacker it a term I have heard muttered under someone’s breath a time or two.  No, wait, that’s at my day job.  Never mind.

Anyways ...

Back to the topic at hand … just what else goes into creating a cover.

So … After I put the images together to see how different elements look together, I place the title and author name on the cover (often not in the color or font that I will ultimately use, but rather just a generic placeholder to start to formulate placement).  Then I start to play around with all the elements – the images, the font (style, placement, color, and effects), shifting them around until I get something that I am happy with. 

Part of an effective cover is making sure the font matches the theme.

Let’s look at Destiny’s Shadow by Rita Karnopp.  Here, the font is of a western style, which is appropriate for a historical set during the time of western expansion.  Now what about a story set in the orient?  The font needs to have an asian feel.

But what if it is a chilling story?  Something a little dark …  Then you have something like the font for Into A Dangerous Mind.  It kind of has a surreal quality to it, which fits the theme of the story.

After I get everything placed, I start in on effects of the font.

That could by anything from a beveling, back-shadowing, to another layer of the same text in a different color.  Whatever it takes to make the text stand out from the images.  Because you want readers to be able to read what the cover says – and not just in a massive size, but also the tiny sizes a lot of websites use.  It has to stand out.

Once I get everything laid out so that it looks good, I start adding in the extras – little things that just make the cover pop.

 What do I mean?

Well … in some cases, it could be a border.  You can see a hint of a border on Into A Dangerous Mind (above).  But it blends in, adding a subtle effect to the cover rather than standing out.  So how about some that stand out.

See how the pearls in Ann Cory’s cover make the pearls the ladies are wearing kind of pop?  How about the rope around the edge of Ginger Simpson’s cover?

In others cases, it might be elements from the story; for example the cover for Impulsive.  This is a collection of stories by Jamie Hill, and I wanted to bring something from each into the cover.  So there is a bottle for the genie, a trumpet for another story, and snow for yet another.  

 We can also see elements of the story in Lee’s Killough’s cover.  This story involves a wolf, and a gun in some form or another – that much is evident from the cover.

 Its little things like that that assists a reader in knowing a little more about the story at first glance.  Obviously, the book’s blurb is a major information source.  But a lot of the times, a reader will see a cover long before the blurb (especially if they are skimming websites for something to read), so I have to make sure that I assist the author any way I can in drawing the reader in.  They’ve worked hard on their story, put together a blurb, made sure the title fits the books and is something that will catch attention, and then it falls on me to wrap their hard work in a pretty package.

At the same time, I have to be true to the reader – creating a cover that actually fits the book.  I know I would be very disappointed if I picked up a book with a smoking hot embrace between a couple, only to find out that all the intimate scenes are ‘fade to black/closed door’.  I would feel like the cover did not depict the book in a true light.  However, something with a soft fully-clothed embrace in a park or something would fit.

Well, I guess that’s it for this issue of Behind the Cover.  I believe the next topic up will be series.  And after that, the X-factor.  So stay tuned.