Love Is the Key

Category: Writing Process (Page 1 of 2)

Three New Romances In the Month of November

Writing Romance–Fast

I tried something new and challenging in my Romance Writing life in November (Challenging myself is becoming a theme).

Photo by Abdul Gani M on Unsplash

You probably have never heard of Nanowrimo, but for the last few years, I’ve been wanting to try it. Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. This world-wide event is held every November–Yes, I’m sorry to say, it is in November.

When an author or aspiring author signs up for Nanowrimo, they accept the challenge to begin a new novel on November 1, and try to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. The idea is that by the end of the month, you will have finished a short novel. Think of it–a new romance novel in one month!

I want to tell you about my month long experience. First, let me say, I did not cheat. I planned start a brand new novel that has been percolating in the back of my mind for the last few months. The main character of this first in a new series is Angelica, or Angel as her family calls her, so I’ll use Angel as the working title for now.

Though I didn’t cheat, I also didn’t follow the rules exactly. I just could not begin Angel before I finished An Honorable Man. So, I spent the first 5-6 days finishing the last 11,000 words of this novel. I love it so much, I had a hard time moving on. I just wanted to go back and start editing so I can get it into your hands as soon as possible. But I held strong and kept writing.

So, even though I didn’t begin with the new work on November 1, I planned to write a whole new work in November. I would just start on the 6th. Then, the night before I started Angel, I had this idea for a romance novella. It came into my mind almost fully formed in terms of plotting and characters. I made a sudden departure from my plan and started writing a totally new romance novella.

This is Lady Evelyn’s story. It has some Cinderella elements and then turns into a forced marriage trope. The working title is Honeyed Moon. I worked through the bulk of the month telling the story of Evie and Cam (Lord Camden). I get chills when I think of this novella, which I do believe I will add to in editing. I think it needs to be a full length novel.

So, there I am on Thanksgiving day, surrounded by my family (all 37 of them). I’ve finished for former Work In Progress (An Honorable Man). I’ve finished the surprise Novella (Honeyed Moon). But I am still 5000 words shy of the 50,000 word mark.

So, after my family left, I went back to the original plan and began my new series with Angel and Ramsay’s story. I’m four chapters into that story.

Photo by Laura Kapfer on Unsplash

Three novels in various stages in one month. I’m astounded, and tired. Mostly, I am so excited to bring these romances to you. In a perfect world, you’ll have one in January, one in March, and one in May/June. Cross your fingers for me. I’m working furiously.

Coming Your Way

person holding white ceramci be happy painted mug
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

I’m in the middle of writing a new novel/novella to give to readers who sign up for my Love Notes. I realize that hose of you who already have subscribed have received my short story, One Stormy Day. Though technology isn’t my first language (or second or third), I will figure out a way to get this new free book to you. My plan is to have it ready to share in July, 2022!

Let me tell you about it. We could call this a teaser. The working title is An Honorable Man. (I’m trying to decide if that will change or not). Set in 1792, this is a prequel to Amelia’s book, The Lies We Tell. I tell the story of Amelia’s mother, Cecily and how she meets and falls in love with Mr. Hatton. It is also, and I don’t think this is a spoiler, a little bit of a reverse Pygmalion story. Who doesn’t love a makeover?

I also have another stand-along spin-off novella percolating in the back of my mind. I told myself I had the final novel, The Masks We Wear and this Prequel, and that would be the last of the Illusions Series, but in The Masks We Wear, I met Madeleine. She has a story. What happens to bring a young French woman to work with the British against Napoleon’s government?

I also have two or three more short stories (Mercy, Patience, Caroline) that want to be born. So watch for lots of free romance in the next few months. Because Love Is The Key.

Minor Characters Speak Up

Everyone has a story

One of the things about writing a novel, at least if you are a ‘pantser’ like I am, is that get to know unexpected characters. I have become quite fond of some of the minor characters in my novels.

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

After writing the first novel in the Illusions series, (The Secrets We Keep) I found that I really liked Liza’s best friend. So I decided to explore Maris Davies’ life. I planed to write a short story, one I could give away for free here on my site. To my surprise, Maris didn’t seem satisfied to be the main character in a short story. Her romance grew and grew until it became a novella–Smoke and Shadows, available on Amazon (only .99 Kindle download or free on Kindle Unlimited).

I finished Maris story, fell in love with Philip. Then I went back to writing The Lies We Tell, the second Illusions novel, (now available on Amazon). I really enjoyed writing Amelia and Mr. Michael Jones’ story. The writing just flowed. It felt good. (And once again I met some interesting minor characters).

To my surprise, one of those characters again demanded her own story. I just couldn’t leave Lady Helen disgraced and discouraged. So, another Illusions novella came to be. This is Veiled In Mist. Now available on Amazon.

Certainly now it was time for me to buckle down and finish the third and final (full length) novel in the Illusions series, The Masks We Wear (planned May 2022 release.). This is the story of Sidonie and Lieutenant Alexander James. I’m loving her personality and her adventures. I can’t wait to share them with you.

Except we can’t forget Susan, Liza’s faithful and resourceful maid from the first book. Liza couldn’t have found her answers and her happily ever after without Susan’s help. she sat at the back of my mind begging for some respect, time, and a little romance. Surely servants deserve a some romance. I know I’m not the only one who was charmed by Anna Smith and John Bates’ romance in Downton Abby? (Not Regency era, but still).

I thought about and wondered what would Regency England would look like for Susan. I had to write One Stormy Day, which is free when you subscribe.

Even though I’m editing like crazy this week, I couldn’t stop thinking about Joie and her meddling. She had a little role in getting Helen and Mr. David Jones together. I think she liked it. So, watch this week for a very short (experimental first time with flash fiction–1000 words or less) story where Joie creates another plot.

If you haven’t yet, sign up for my newsletter! I’ll be sending out a note this week to tell you where to get my experimental flash. This is also where you’ll receive notification of the release of my new books, appearances, and the free stories (some characters demand it), deleted scenes, cover art, or drawings.

Write What You Know

Photo by pine watt on Unsplash

Write what you know. You’ve heard it before. I think people say that hoping to de-mystify writing, to make it sound easier, doable for all of us.

I see three problems with this imperative.

One is that I only know so much. There is another saying that everyone has at least one book in them. I believe that. But if I only write what I know, I may only have one book in me. But I have a need to write more.

Two is the question of imagination, creation, and exploration. Where are those things if we stay in the lines of what we know? What about all those worlds out there that I don’t know yet? I want to explore those.

Three is perhaps the most difficult. What I do know, what seems most important for me to capture and express, are the most difficult things to capture and express. I have experienced kindness, and sacrifice, and selfless service. I know devotion, loyalty, romance, and love. I have seen beauty, friendship, joy. I also know sorrow, and loss, and regret. Reverence, and grace, and faith are very real to me. These I try to capture in words. And that is the biggest challenge. How do I put the reality of these emotions and experiences into words.

Write what you know. It does sound simple. But it is a quest, an adventure, and often a frustration and agony. Maybe that is one kind of writer’s block–being filled with a knowing that no words can capture and describe. I am compelled to keep trying.

Unfiltered

Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash

Recently, I had an opportunity to guest blog for RWSL. So for today, you get a little bit of writing technique advice. Don’t close down yet. It’s not an English class. This might help in your own writing or speaking or social posts. So here goes.

In my writing group, we’ve been talking about filters. It’s made me hyper-sensitive to words and phrases that separate my readers from my action. Editing these filters has strengthened my writing. So let’s talk about filtering here.

The phrase ‘filtering’ comes from Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway. She writes, “you step back and ask readers to step back and observe the observer—to look at [the character] rather than through the character—you start to tell-not-show and rip us briefly out of the scene.” Filters are words that come between our readers and our character’s point of view or their experience. They pull the reader out of the action.

Once you’ve become aware, you’ll begin to notice filters everywhere, and I guarantee that you’ll want to banish them as much as possible from your writing. Here is an example (filters in bold). First draft and edited excerpt from The Lies We Tell by Gigi Lynn:

The rocking of the carriage and the bumps in the road kept me holding onto my seat. I thought miserably about the day. I looked down at the boy’s clothes I wore, now much worse for the drying mud. I asked myself what did I have to show for my unladylike defiance and descent into immodesty?

I found a maid I no longer wanted but lost a dog I did. I had no papers, and I had no more information about what Hugh was doing. I asked myself, what did all of this have to do with me? I had never been involved in Hugh’s vices. I told myself shouldn’t feel responsible. I knew I wasn’t equipped to expose smugglers or fight women who ran brothels. I had been taught to be a lady. I realized that I had no other skills. What a muddle I had made of things I thought in discouragement.

The rocking of the carriage and the bumps in the road kept me holding onto my seat. What a miserable day. My boy’s clothes stuck to me, more disreputable for the mud. And what did I have to show for my unladylike defiance and descent into immodesty?

I found a maid I no longer wanted but lost a dog I did. I had no papers and no more information about what Hugh was doing. What did all of this have to do with me? I had never been involved in Hugh’s vices. I wasn’t responsible. I wasn’t equipped to expose smugglers or fight women who ran brothels. I was taught to be a lady. I had no other skills. What a muddle I had made of things.

When we take out the words that come before the action, our readers will experience the action and emotions more immediately. They will be in the story, living what happens along with the character.

Now that you’ve seen what a difference filtering makes, you’ll start noticing phrases like:

I watched as— She realized that— He noticed— He saw that— I felt like— She knew— I decided right then that— It seemed— He wondered— She thought— She heard— It sounded like— There are others, but you get the idea.

It’s our goal to have readers enter our stories. We want them to feel what our characters feel. We want them to experience the action with our character, not through our character. If we remove most of the filters from our writing, our readers will more vividly experience every action and emotion in our stories. so let’s write unfiltered!

“Gigi Lynn grew up in Las Vegas, devouring romance novels like they were candy. She studied and later taught English literature and writing—and continued to read romance novels voraciously. She raised seven children and read to them every day—and often read romance novels for fun or escape. She always said she would write one day. One day is now! She recently published two regency romance novels and a novella. Another novella will go live mid-October 2021.

What topics do you research?

Spying: Part One of a Three Part Series

Research is the one avoidance behavior I don’t feel too guilty about. I find the most interesting information while researching for my books. While my time spent delving into Regency England informs my writing, I can’t put everything I find in the stories. For fun, I want to take a few weeks and share some stories I’ve found about spying during the Napoleonic war.

Both England and France collected information, discredited their enemy’s diplomats, and even planned assassinations. I hope you enjoy reading about a few Napoleonic era spies.

This week, meet Karl (Charles) Ludwig Schulmeister, Austrian double agent for France.

Karl Ludwig Schulmeister  Unknown artist – www.servimg.com

Charles was one of Napoleon’s most successful secret agents. His father was at various times a metalworker, grocer, shopkeeper, smuggler, and a Lutheran minister in Baden. Charles was raised as a shepherd, 3 but later became a smuggler in Strasbourg. One of the things he traded was information. 2

Charles gathered contacts among the French. One of his contacts, General Anne-Jean-Marie-Rene Savary, was aide-de-camp to Napoleon and recruited him to work for Napoleon. He was sent to Vienna to find out the plans of General Mack, the commander of the Austrian Army.4

Once in Austria, he claimed he was a Hungarian noble who had been exiled from France. He began to move in aristocratic circles and soon met General Baron Karl Mack von Leiberich. 4 He persuaded Mack that he represented royalist opposition to Napoleon and gave him secret data about the French army (Given to him by under Napoleon’s orders).

Now trusted by General Mack, Schulmeister was made chief of intelligence in Mack’s army.

Taking information from Schulmeister, Napoleon printed false newspapers and letters reporting unrest in the French army. Mack believed that the British were landing a force and that France was close to an uprising and were retreating. When Mack pursued the French, he was surrounded by their “retreating army.” He had no choice but to surrender. Napoleon won one of his most famous victories at the battle of Austerlitz. He captured Vienna and Schulmeister became chief of police. 1

At various times during the war, Schulmeister acted as a General in Napoleon’s army, was active in espionage in England and Ireland, and was director of the French Secret Service. 2

Schulmeister set up an effective cluster of spies from Napoleon’s enemies in the East. After Napoleon’s success at Austerlitz, he told his officers “Gentlemen, all respect to Charles, who I estimate highly, because he was worth an army corps of 40,000 men to me.”3  Schulmeister wanted to be awarded the Legion of Honor, but Napoleon later said that “gold is the only suitable reward for spies.” 1

After Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and exiled, Schulmeister was arrested. He bought his freedom with his fortune. Nearly penniless, he received a a tobacco stand from an old friend in Strasbourg. He was able to earn a small income until he died of heart failure. 3

I thought it interesting that Napoleon used Schulmeister for his information but didn’t trust him or respect him. His death in poverty seems a just end.

Sources:

  1.  https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/napoleonic-wars-espionage-during
  2.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Schulmeister
  3. https://www.frenchempire.net/biographies/schulmeister/
  4. http://www.historynaked.com/karl-schulmeister-napoleons-dog/

Late night Insight: the tale of the French door, or what kind of writer are you?

I may have mentioned that friends of ours offered to sell us their cabin. If I were to use an euphemism, I’d call it a fixer-upper. And that is what we have spent a lot of time doing this summer–fixing up our cabin.

Photo by Gayelynn Watson on October 30, 2020. Image may contain: sky, house and outdoor.
We are in process of building/replacing the decks.

It’s a sweet little cabin in a fabulously beautiful area. I love it.

But it is a lot, I repeat, a lot of work. When we got it, there were no footings or foundation under half the cabin. Our friend had decided to dig out under the cabin and create a basement space, and the cabin was sitting on screw jacks (think stilts). That was our first order of business–to get the building on a foundation and get it weather tight before winter. We bought in July and worked all summer/fall on it.

So this last weekend, we installed French doors in the now enclosed basement. And I had a sudden writing/personality insight. Sometimes that happens late at night. I thought I’d tell you what I learned.

Photo by Gayelynn Watson on November 01, 2020. Image may contain: outdoor.

Friday night after regular work, we changed into construction clothes and began to physically work. French doors are harder to install than a single door, and my Mister had to build a frame for the doorway. We measured and measured again, cut and nailed the frame together. We lifted it into place. Then we took it down and measured and cut again. Then when the doors were installed and level, we found they didn’t meet equally at the top and bottom. This was a longer process than we’d anticipated, and it was getting late, and it was getting cold. (The altitude at the cabin is 8500 feet. It can get really cold).

So, I was tired, freezing, and frustrated, and I thought, “There is a point of diminishing returns. We are just hitting our heads against a brick wall. We should stop now. We should go in and get warm and get a good night sleep. We could let this problem percolate, and the solution will come to us. We’ll begin again in the morning when we are fresh. Everything will go smoother.” That’s what I thought.

But Mister Watson can’t, literally can’t leave a project half finished. It’s that Idaho farm boy mentality. Once he begins something, he’s going to muscle through, no matter how difficult, how frustrating, how late, how cold. He may snarl and grip, but he will finish that work! Well as you can see, he did finish it. It was late, but he slept in peace.

Now one of us is much, much more productive in life. And one of us is much more relaxed and easy going. Guess which is which.

I will say that mostly I am content with my personality. I don’t experience much stress or anxiety. I am happy most of the time. But I think in my writing I should work a little more to follow my husband’s example. I often write myself into a little brick wall. I think, “I’ve been sitting here staring at this screen for long enough. This is hard, and I am tired. If I just quit today and let the problem percolate a little, maybe the solution will come to me. Sometimes “percolating” lasts longer than one day. And I end up writing in fits and starts.

But every writer knows, at least theoretically, that the first draft just needs to be written. I know I just need to push through and write something. It’s okay if it’s garbage. That’s why we edit–and you can’t edit a blank page (and a dozen other quotes). I know I need to set that daily writing goal and keep writing until I reach the finish line, even when I’m hitting my head against that brick wall. In writing I need to be an Idaho farm girl and just refuse to stop until the job (daily goal) is accomplished.

French doors and late night insights at the cabin.

Which are you? Do you take a break and come back fresh? or Do you muscle through and get it done? And if you do that, do you have any tips for those of us who are trying to change our writing personality?

Why A Romance Novel?

I have finished my first Regency romance novel!!!

focused photo of a red rose
image by Jamie Street @Jamie452

This is a huge accomplishment for me. I haven’t sold it yet; I’m working on the query letter and research about agents and such. But the novel is complete. Alpha and Beta readers have had their say. The editor is at work.

I just want to go back two paragraphs now. Me write a Regency romance novel? Yes, yes I have. The truth is I was raised on a steady diet (provided by my mom) of romance novels. Back in the day (unnamed years ago), most romance novels were what we, today, call Clean or Sweet. Read that as the writers didn’t include sex scenes. And my mom, my sister, and I read them voraciously.

Now, some people in some circles might look down on the humble romance novel (even though it is one of the highest selling genres). I have a degree in English and I’ve spent quite a bit of time in those circles. I even love those circles and a good discussion about the literature favored in those circles. But I also love a good romance. I love the “Love Conquers All” theme. I love the search for connection, for belonging, for intimacy (since we’re talking “sweet” here, I’m talking emotional intimacy in this post). I love the struggle and bumps along the way. I just love romance.

One of my favorite things to ask people that I’m just getting to know is, “how did you meet?” Everyone’s process of meeting and falling in love seems a miracle to me. I love to hear about people’s romances.

Even though I have written a fantasy novel, which is in need of a complete rewrite, it is as much a romance as a fantasy. I have also written three children’s books–not romances, and after seven children, I like that too. But I have found a real comfort and familiarity while writing my romance novel. And the second one in the series, which is half-way written feels the same. Finding “my voice” just didn’t seem as difficult.

Exploring trust and vulnerability, trying to capture the growth of a protagonist as she opens her heart to love, following two people who struggle, and make mistakes, and compromise is exilerating.

So for the next little while I will probably be writing about my writing–my romance writing–and about the value of a good romance novel.

So tell me, how did you meet your love?

Send Your Voice

I’m still trying to find my “blogging” voice. Also, now that I mention it, I’m still working on my writing voice. I like some of the things that I do, and cringe in embarrassment over some of the others. I have read other writer’s blogs, but I’m uncomfortable giving advice on how to write. Writing is such a personal, unique and individual process, and, though I’m finding what works for me, I’m not sure it would be helpful to anyone else, so I’m not sure writing about that is very interesting to anyone but me. So, for awhile I think I’m going to give myself a “weekly writing challenge.” I will try to record and share my outcomes. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe both “voices” will reveal themselves through the process.

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