Elizabeth Drakes's Site

Fantasy Romance

Romance Novel

Seducing the Ice Queen is Live!

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Seducing the Ice Queen is live and available here.

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Ice queens can’t be hurt because they have no feelings. They also can’t fall in love…or so they tell themselves.

Having to pretend everything is fine after being jilted by the crown prince was bad enough, but now, Lady Daniella is being exiled to a distant castle ‘to recover.’ Except, her exile happens to include an order from the king to investigate the murder of the castle’s former owner, the old Duke of Westlake.

At least she’d never been in love with the old Duke of Westlake. Too bad she can’t say the same thing about his brother, the dashing heir apparent just returned from battle. But facing down an awkward childhood crush who is just as determined as she is to unravel the mystery is the least of Daniella’s worries.

Someone in the shadows is watching her. Someone who doesn’t want to her to solve this murder. Someone that’s already killed once to buy silence. Someone who will force Daniella to choose whether love will be what defeats her or the only thing that could save her…if only she will let it.

Progress!

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I have finished my current edit on Seducing the Ice Queen.

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*happy dance*

I am taking a short break from the story before starting my final line edit that focuses on things like comma usage, word variation, and not ending sentences with prepositions.

On day two of this break, a whole new idea smacked me. I started writing it, and after two days, I’m over 4,000 words into it and still going strong! If not for this pesky thing called a day job, I’d be much farther along.

The characters are really coming alive, and that’s the best part about writing for me.

Yes it’s a first draft, and I both love and fear this draft. I love it because anything is possible. Because as I write it, I get to know the characters. Their foibles, fallacies, and strengths. I am a pantser, so this first draft is where I learn what happens to the characters and how they get their happily-ever-after.

*squee*

However, I also fear it because I’m staring at a blank sheet. There is nothing there to rearrange, fix or correct. It’s empty, waiting for those first words that will spur the next eleven revisions. There is no wordsmithed beauty to it. It’s raw and dirty, this first draft.

And that’s okay.

I just have to get it on the page.

After the blow my writing took back in July, I am ecstatic that my muse came back to sit on my shoulder again.

Magic

I’ve missed her, and I’ve missed the joy of creating new worlds and the people in them.

It’s My Story. Thanks Anyway.

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I am not very good at listening.

So, as I told you here, my paid editor didn’t like the villain in my current romance novel. She thought the bad guy needed more than just a sense of greed and entitlement.

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Because no one, especially a great author, has ever used greed as motivator.

So, I added another character that was supposed to be the star-crossed villain, doing evil things out of love. I revamped the original villain to be more sympathetic. I did everything the editor said I should.

And it didn’t work.

Why?

Because now I like the characters, and the new “villain” developed their own character in the process. Becoming a person that wouldn’t actually commit murder.

*throws hands up*

I know. I hate it when characters stop listening to their author-god and go do their own thing.

But see, here’s the thing. People do bad stuff all the time. People are motivated by greed, and fear, and lust. Not everyone is altruistic.

I’m not even sure everyone is a hero in their own story.

Yeah, I know us writers are fed this a great deal. But I’m not sure it’s true.

Not everyone thinks they’re blameless. Some people know what they’re doing is wrong and do it anyway.

I want this thing, so I’m going to take it. Yeah, it’s wrong. So what? Yeah, it may hurt someone, but I’m going to take what I want.

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Don’t believe me?

How many con artists are scamming people out of their money and justifying it to themselves on some higher moral ground? Because there’s totally heroic reasons to call a grandmother pretending to be her granddaughter in a horrible car accident and beg for money in the form of non-traceable gift cards so the hospital will admit her. *that was sarcasm*

Or calling parents and telling them their child was kidnapped and demanding ransom money or they’re be killed.

So, maybe the villain in this story really is just in it for money. Maybe they’re willing to steal an old man’s retirement savings by pretending to be the love his life. Or maybe they’re willing to kill a scrupulous duke to keep gold flowing.

It’s my story. And while this villain may have had a traumatic childhood on the streets of Aerius, that’s not the story.

I don’t care why he values money over someone’s life. He does. And a flip through the news will show he’s not alone.

Short Story: To Catch a Dragon

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To Catch a Dragon

Ndrek sat behind the bar and studied his mid-afternoon customers. Some had started drinking early, others had rented a room for the night and were just starting their day. Nothing terribly interesting among the entire lot.

Boredom itched.

Perhaps it was a good time to start work on the new spell he’d discovered.

As he slid off his stool, the door to the bar opened and the man that entered stooped to get under the door frame. Sir Leopold’s shoulders matched his height, and the gold dragon on his breastplate seemed to glow in the dim light.

The archetype for the Knights of Valor.

Now was more definitely not a good time to work on the spell.

Sir Leopold grimaced and lifted his boot off the sticky floor.

“To what do I owe this…” Ndrek paused. “Honor?”

The Knight leaned against the bar, his back to the wall as his faded blue eyes surveyed the tap room. “Don’t believe for a minute you’ve settled down as a barkeeper.”

“That is not what brought a High-Knight to my humble establishment. Perhaps you came for a Fire and Brimstone? My establishment is said to make the very best.”

Leopold stared at the pristine glasses behind the counter. “At least those are clean.”

“Too much cleanliness would scare away my best customers.”

Leopold’s eyes narrowed. “Not what I came to see you about, though I probably should.”

“Your presence is not conducive to my business. What has brought you here so you can be on your way?”

The Knight ignored the jab, reached into his cloak, and withdrew a sheaf of papers imprinted with the wax seal of the dragon church.

“A writ?”

“Interested?”

Ndrek sucked in a breath as he studied the sealed documents. “You have an army of Knights blessed by Dracor Himself. Why would you have need of me?”

“We’ve been issuing more of them lately. Not enough Knights to oversee all of Tamryn and the eastern provinces.”

“Then you need more Knights.”

“That’s up to Dracor,” Leopold said.

Ndrek bit back his quip about fickle gods. Knights were notoriously touchy about such things.

“Figure you’re getting bored about now. This’ll keep you busy and out of trouble. Pay’s not bad either.”

Ndrek grinned and took the papers, but he frowned as he read them. “This is a goose chase, as you Tamarians say. Dragons have been extinct since before men walked these lands.”

“Locals of Kelleran don’t agree with that assessment.”

“A dragon.” Ndrek rocked back on his heels as he tried to wrap his brain around the idea. “Are you sure?”

“Nope, but that’s where you come in.”

“Would not the followers of the Dragon God Dracor wish to be first on the scene?”

“Already sent a contingent of Knights.”

“They did not return?”

“Of course they returned. They didn’t see any dragons, and they didn’t find any proof that there’d ever been any.”

“Then why send me?”

“Found a few things that made some folks worry there might’ve been a dragon. Knights couldn’t tell if it was real or a hoax.”

“Would not the Knights know this best?”

“Dracor might take the form of a dragon, but dragons are magical beasts. Or they were.”

“No wizard was with the team you sent?”

Sir Leopold shook his head.

“So you think I will be able to tell for sure.”

“That’s the reasoning, anyway.”

Ndrek stared at the bundle of papers, including the generous payout. Far more interesting than tending bar.

Sir Leopold pushed off the bar. “I’ll send Knight Kailis over. She was on the original expedition. And Priestess Vaiya.”

“Was she on the original expedition as well?’

“No, but I figure if you find a dragon, you’ll want the healing skills of Priestess of Thalia on your side.”

Ndrek frowned. “You think there might actually be a dragon.”

“Doesn’t much matter what I think. It’s what you find that counts. I’ll send Knight Kailis over in the morning.”

The High-Knight nodded to him and left the bar, leaving Ndrek with the writ in his hands.

If Sir Leopold thought it was a goose chase, he wouldn’t be sending Ndrek, a Knight, and a Priestess of Thalia to investigate.

Sir Leopold also hadn’t become a High-Knight by being wrong.

My Little Secret

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Okay, maybe not so secret. I’ve been struggling with this latest rewrite on my novel.

When I received my beta readers’ comments, I read through them, nodded vigorously, and spent the next ten days revising my WIP with these comments in mind. I think they added a lot to the story.

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Then I received the comments from my paid editor.

I read through them twice. I pondered them. I told myself over and over again that editors are usually correct and these are changes I need to make.

But actually making them?

That hasn’t really happened easily. After more than a month, I have completed less than 1/3 of what I did in ten days for beta reader comments.

But then I’m not terribly surprised.

I read the comments again, and one recommended that there was so little going on in the story that I should consider chopping it down to a novella. That surprised me as one of my beta readers liked how plot driven this novel was.

But then who wants to be told about a character’s emotional state more than once in a romance novel? Yes, that was sarcasm. Sorry.

Interestingly, one of my beta readers wanted more description of character emotion.

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Getting here is the story.

Another comment recommended using flashbacks to tell the back story rather than have so much of it come through dialogue. After all, who is Auburn and Eli? That told me the editor hadn’t done any research on me, or read the part where I told her this was the second book of a series. It also told me she didn’t read much in the romance genre as I can’t remember once, in over thirty years of reading romance novels, where an author used a flashback. I’ve also read a lot of writing advice about not using them as it rips the reader out of your world.

I’m not certain the editor was revising a romance novel with a mystery supporting it. I think she was revising a mystery with a romance in it. But that’s not what I wrote. Or what I wanted to write.

I’m now more than a month away from when I received the editor’s advice. I will take some of it. For example, I will try to give you more insight into the villain and why he was doing what he was doing. Make him appear less one-dimensional and motivated by more than greed and jealousy. I can do that. I can also try to throw in a few more red herrings.

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But honestly, I am starting to see how bad advice can be worse than no advice at all. Worse yet is bad advice mixed with a bit of good. Trying to sort through it and pick out the parts that work, without swallowing the bad parts, is tricky.

It’s extremely hard to put so much of yourself into something like a book, then hand it out to a stranger. A professional, but still a stranger, and pay for their help to make it better.

It’s harder still when you’re not sure they’re right.

3 Reasons We Procrastinate – According to Science

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As I’ve been working on this rewrite, I’ve been spending a lot of time doing everything BUT rewriting my latest romance novel.

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I am not a procrastinator by nature. As a matter-of-fact, I regularly complete projects at work early. Here may be why.

 

3 Reasons Science Says is Why I Procrastinate

You can take a look here and here if you’d like, but the gist of the articles is:

 

1. Avoidance Behavior

If you dread the task ahead of you, you may avoid doing it in the short-term. You know, procrastinate. This can cause a vicious cycle, but it does play into #3 below in that it gives a temporary feel-good emotion while you’re doing something other than what you dread.

 

2. Lack of Motivation

People are known to procrastinate when there’s very little motivation to do a hard task.  I need to think more about this. I was loving this book and on a roll with it until early July. Something derailed me.

 

3. Present Emotions vs Future Emotions

There’s a very real emotional punch you get when you accomplish something. And as humans, we tend to prioritize the moment over the future. And watching a funny cat video? Instant laugh.

 

I need to do some thinking on this. Something changed to make the task less desirable, triggering both my avoidance behavior and my lack of motivation.

How about you? Do you procrastinate? What do you procrastinate doing? What’s your fix for it?