In what may seem like a shameless burst of self-promotion, I’d like to mention that in the June/July issue of Mary Englebreit’s Home Companion, there is a very, very, brief article about the Romantic Times Convention, in which voila! There is a bad picture of me in my bright orange leather suit, as well as a cover shot of THE RED HEART OF JADE. I’ll be at the RT Con next week, and I’m one of the panelists on Friday morning’s Paranormal lecture—along with MaryJanice Davidson, Cindy Cruciger, and Diedre Knight. Cheyenne McCray is our moderator. I think we’re supposed to be discussing what makes a good paranormal romance, and I can tell you now that I have no clue. And yes, I write paranormal romance, but…I write them. I don’t think about what I do or how I do it. I just sit my backside on a chair and stare and drool and drink water and eat and go to the bathroom (I do leave the desk to do that, thank you very much) until appropriately satisfying words come into my head and exit through my fingers. It’s a mystery—but there, my process.
For the purpose of giving advice, though, I guess you should try not to be a cliche (although that’s really difficult), and you should put in lots of action. Definitely treat your story as “realistic,” even if you are scribbling about shape-shifters and demons and men who talk to toilets (long story, no time here). And never, ever, underestimate the intelligence of your reader. Bad, bad! The minute you do that, you’re screwed.
Overcast today. Writing fast and furious. Channeling my own version of PBW’s Cheetah (and by the way, she has a fantastic post on what authors would write if they were the ones penning rejection letters).
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