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Fantasy Romance

Romance Writer

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.

Writing Process: To Love a Prince

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I am a panster.

 

For those that haven’t heard this term before, it means I write books “by the seat of my pants” rather than plotting out my novels.

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This can be a real issue for a pantser

My prep work involves knowing who the characters are, a little bit about them, and the high-level issues they’re facing. Combined with a huge dose of “I really want to write about them”.

There’s a lot of debate about pantsing versus plotting. Plotting is where you spend a lot more time outlining what’s going to happen and when.

I’ve tried plotting.

Many times.

And I have 4 novels with 10k-20k words in them that I’ll probably never complete. I’m not sure why plotting doesn’t work for me.

Maybe I feel like the story has already been told when I plot. Maybe I get bored writing it. Maybe I rush forward to write all the plot points and ignore the characters.

I’m not sure, but I do know it doesn’t work. For me.

Writing To Love a Prince really taught me this. I started this story three times. I have one 60k work that is not salvageable where Prince Eli was supposed to be the hero. Yeah. 60k. But it was awful.

And it wasn’t Eli.

I couldn’t make him weak. I couldn’t make him indecisive.  He needed to be in control, and if he wasn’t, he was going to fight like an injured bear to get back into control.

He also didn’t care much what society said about him. He was a Prince. Let them fear him. Despise him. But they would respect him or face his wrath.

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The end result of listening.

Yeah. The first story I wrote with him being injured and nursed back to health failed spectacularly. The second story where he was stymied by social pressure made him raise a brow. He almost rolled his eyes at me, but he’s too dignified for that.

Sure, the stories were plotted, but they weren’t his story. So I let him tell his. I was very hesitant at how the story progressed, especially as it involved a slave and royal succession.

I also worried Auburn’s kindness would be perceived as weakness. I tried changing her, but it just didn’t work. She had to be who she was because Eli fell in love with her for that. In a world as conniving as the court he’d grown up in, Auburn was his beacon of light.

I tried plotting once or twice more after To Love a Prince, but those failed, too.

So now I write by the seat of my pants. Yes, it means a lot more revisions. But I love writing that first draft! Seeing the characters revealed, their love grow, and see them overcome whatever I throw at them..

That is why I write.

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.