Setting and Sports Romances

So I am an unabashed baseball fan. A Yankees fan, even. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes.

I think in a lot of ways, baseball is an ideal sport for me. It’s polite and gentlemanly in its way, but it’s tense and exciting, too. It’s orderly and statistical, but it’s also unpredictable. Fans are smart and passionate. The whole history of the sport is riddled with triumph and heartbreak, with cheating and honesty, with colorful characters, villains, and heroes.

Sounds kind of like a romance novel, doesn’t it?

I think that my writing a baseball romance was an inevitability. Beyond the obvious intersection of my interests here, a sports romance has one other key element: setting. I love a vivid setting in a novel, one that lives and breathes as much as the characters do. I want to know what everything looks like, smells like, feels like. I love nitty-gritty details. That was something I was conscious of as I wrote. The novel takes place in New York City primarily—my two heroes are both players for the same fictional MLB team—but it also takes place in stadiums, on fields, in locker rooms.

As a writer, I like to have a clear picture of the setting, so I draw maps and diagrams. I knew which parts of the stadium were where: the distance from the locker room to the field, the locations of the executive offices, the parking lot. My fictional stadium is magically located roughly where Ebbets Field once stood, which I never say in the book, but I knew which roads the characters would have to drive on to get to Manhattan. I did a ton of research, too, to get the cadence of speech right—how do baseball players talk to each other? how do sportscasters talk about baseball—and to make sure all my terminology was right. I watched documentaries, I read several books, I listened to baseball podcasts, and, of course, I watched a ton of games. (Not a hardship, by the way!) Immersing myself in the world of baseball was really key to my creating what I thought was a convincing setting. And hopefully, it’s a setting in the same way New York is a setting, so that the reader sees it as color and detail and not as an overwhelming amount of information!

Kate McMurray is a NYC-based writer, editor, and baseball fanatic. She writes m/m romances and reads lots of books. She also likes crafts and plays the violin and lives in Brooklyn in an apartment over an ice cream parlor. Kate’s baseball novel, Out in the Field, is available now.

Website: www.katemcmurray.com
Twitter: @katemcmwriter

Expanding My Horizons

Last week, I gave my first ever solo program at my local RWA meeting. Have I lost you all yet? For those of you who aren’t familiar, RWA is the Romance Writers of America and it’s a professional organization for published and aspiring romance authors. It’s a great source of information on craft and the business of writing, and it has several local and online chapters.

I’m a member of two online chapters, as well as my local one, but it’s the local one where we have monthly meetings and have people come in to speak on a variety of topics. I’ve been a member of the RWA for years, and always belonged to a local chapter, but for the first time, I thought I was qualified to speak on an aspect of craft. So I put my name in to present a program, and I was granted the opportunity to do so at the last meeting.

I spoke for an hour about point of view and characterization, and how getting to know your characters will only strengthen your ability to write in their point of view, which in turn allows your readers to more fully identify with them. All well and good, but that’s not the point.

This was the first time I planned a somewhat educational program and presented it – by myself – to a roomful of people, some I knew, some I didn’t, without freaking out. Speaking in public is terrifying, and I never thought I could come up with a unique way to present a writing topic that others hadn’t done already and done ten times as well. But I think I managed. Or at the very least, I didn’t have a mass exodus once I started talking. That’s a good start.

And I do rather enjoy telling people what to do... I lecture people I know all the time! Once I got going, it was a lot of fun. Mind you, most of the questions I got at the end had more to do with the genre I write in rather than the topic I'd been speaking on, but I'm always happy to answer those questions, from anyone. The more good publicity for m/m romance, the better, in my opinion.

A couple of chapter members suggested that I *gulp* offer it up to conferences or other chapters. We’ll see. One neurotic hurdle at a time, please!

KC Burn

How Not to Write

I don’t get writers block very often. Usually it’s a brief (or a bit longer) pause of not knowing how to describe something. As someone who outlines, I usually know where I’m going with a story. Even if that story unfolds differently than I planned, the outline always gives me a goal to write toward for each scene.

When moments of being seriously blocked happen, I try to push on through and get some ideas down so I can move on to the next part of the story where I won’t be as blocked. I can always revise later (I revise like crazy anyway), but at least I’m moving forward.

However, there are times when my creativity is blocked so badly when I’m writing an outline or a first draft that I’m staring at the blank page in terror. In those moments, I find it’s important to have a plan.

Sloan’s 20 Steps to Dealing with Writer’s Block (Do not try this at home):

1) Grab some SUGAR! Nothing gets me hyper like sugar. Hyper Sloan can type faster. Even if the words make no sense, at least I feel a sense of accomplishment as my fingers fly over the keyboard.

2) When my fingers slow again, take a break and browse Tumblr. Some of my followers post the best stuff for inspiration. But that usually leads me to writing a sex scene and I’m not often blocked when writing sex. Time to get back to the scene I want to write.

3) Have more sugar.

4) Browse Twitter. Oh, look there’s a great picture of two guys driving down the road on motorcycles, both in tuxes.

5) Start brainstorming a new story about a couple of newlyweds.

6) Damn, this is not the time for a new story. Must focus on something else.

7) Look around the house at the 56 unfinished projects I never seem to find time to complete (like that envelope of photos that need to go into an album, that pile of clothes to sort through and take in for donation, and the huge stack of papers that need filed). Pick up one of the projects that looks most appealing.

8) Five minutes later, stop working on said project once I remember why I never finished it in the first place. Writing is more fun. Even if I’m blocked.

9) Okay, more sugar and back to the story.

10) Try interviewing my characters. “What’s on your mind? What are you feeling right now? What do you want to do? What do you wish I’d write about for you?”

11) Tell them to shut the hell up when all they answer with is SEX. This is not the right time for them to have sex. Or I probably wouldn’t be blocked. Sheesh.

12) Browse through my outline for an upcoming scene that will spark my creativity and get me excited to write this story again.

13) Throw the outline across the room when my inner critique tries to tell me I suck.

14) Open my email and read a couple of the lovely messages I've received from readers who’ve enjoyed my work. Remind myself: it’s not just me that I’m writing this story for. (THANK YOU, readers!!)

15) Open the document and stare at the blank page again. Talk about pressure!

16) More sugar.

17) Pet the cat. This calms me down after too much sugar.

18) Fall into a heavy sugar-induced sleep.

19) Wake up and start again.

20) Repeat as needed.

Thank God I have more “good” writing days than “bad” ones. The bad days are exhausting.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

My St. Patrick's Day Regret

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Now, I could always talk about Ireland, Irish traditions, my Irish heritage, being green… but instead, I’m going to tell you about my St. Patrick’s Day regret.

Once upon a time, back when I lived in Toronto, The Pogues were playing on St. Patrick’s Day. I couldn’t find anyone to go with me and I should have just gone on my own. The stars have yet to align to put me in the same place as them doing a show on St. Patrick’s Day, and boy, do I regret not going when I had the chance.

Now, in case you’re unfamiliar with The Pogues, their Irish-based folky, punky Celtic music is absolutely perfect for the season, and I can’t think of a better way I’d like to spend March 17… sometime!

The band name was inspired by the Gaelic term for “kiss my ass” (or so says Wikipedia) and their music, especially the earlier stuff that’s all Shane McGowan, has a great edge to it, lives up to that motto and is so damn catchy. There’s even a Subaru commercial that uses one of my favourite songs, and it makes me want to run right out and buy a Subaru, while listening to The Pogues.

They’ve got a *fantastic* Christmas song, Fairytale of New York, but that’s no good for St. Patrick’s Day. Take a listen to a couple of my favourites (some are NSFW) and see if you aren’t ready to go out and quaff a green beer or a Guinness, maybe dance a little jig…

The Haunting

The Wake of the Medusa

Hell's Ditch

If I Should Fall From Grace With God -- this is an early version, not the kick-ass one on the Subaru commercial :(

KC Burn

Flash fiction

One of my friends writes Flash Fiction -- check out Flash Fiction Online for awesome examples of what I'm talking about.

Agog at the brilliance of her mind, I declared I could never write that short. The shorter the piece, the more challenging for me. Seriously, my natural length is a multi-volume epic saga. After a bit of reflecting, I realized I do write flash fiction. I call it blogging. :)

Have you recently discovered any hereto unsuspected talents?

Time Again For...

In what is fast becoming my favorite ohmygodIhaveablogpostdue posts, I'm back again this month with yet another photo and another opportunity for you to win a free ebook from my backlist. Last month was pretty tough, even I admit that.

Oh! And our winner, Adnil, never claimed her selection from my e-backlist! Adnil, please feel free to choose a book. It's not too late.
This month is to give us the final line(s) at the end of the climactic middle chapter. So not the last line of the book, but the line of the chapter where all hell breaks loose.

(Heh. I can't wait to see what you came up with.)

Here's your photo:

A Hot Guy In Uniform + A Foodie With a Secret= Cooking With Sin

I think its a pretty known fact that women love a man in uniform, especially military men. According to a recent poll on Hub Pages, pollsters favored military uniforms by more than 40% than the twelve other examples.

Of course, I wasn't all that surprised by the survey's results because I also have a thing for men in uniform. So much so, the hero in my book, Cooking With Sin, is a non-commissioned officer and master diver in the U.S. Navy.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Cole Rodriguez is a man of action, who also looks good in a uniform. So good he has the heroine of my book, restaurateur Sinclair Fletcher eating out of his hand shortly after they meet.

Good thing Sinclair is the one doing the eating because the former food show host and restaurateur can’t cook. But that doesn’t stop her from turning her restaurant into the toast of Savannah, Georgia. Armed with her late Aunt Bernie’s Low Country recipes and a hundred-year old spell, Sinclair has cheated her way to the top.

Of course, all empires must fall. And Sinclair falls had when she crosses paths with Cole Rodriguez setting off a sequence of events that will change Sinclair’s and his life forever.

***

COOKING WITH SIN by Koko Brown
GENRE: PARANORMAL, MULTICULTURAL
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 13, 2012

Official Blurb:
From the moment Senior Chief Petty Officer Cole Rodriguez lays eyes on celebrity TV chef-turned- restaurateur Sinclair Fletcher, he realizes his celebrity crush is something more. But convincing the petite dynamo, who's harboring a secret that could ruin her career and reputation, into his bed proves more difficult than a six-hundred- meter dive for the Naval master diver.

Out of the frying pan into the fire. Sinclair Fletcher has rested her laurels on a hundred-year- old spell that makes everyone fall in love with her cooking. The only drawback? They fall in love with her as well. So it only makes sense she doesn't allow anyone to get close, not even
mouth-watering SCPO Cole Rodriguez. But when she gets one taste of the sexy sailor, things start to heat up, and he leaves her hungering for more.

Author's Note: This book also contains six mouth-watering recipes straight from Sinclair's menu that will whet your appetite!

To read an excerpt of Cooking With Sin, visit the book's official page.

***
COOKING WITH SIN GIVEAWAY

For the official release date of Cooking With Sin, I’m hosting a tie-in giveaway. One lucky winner will win a set of personalized 2GB USB Dog Tags with a free copy of Cooking With Sin already downloaded on the internal jump drive and a $12 gift certificate to have the tags engraved. To enter, all you have to do is click this link, which will redirect you to my website, and answer the question in the comment section!

Koko Brown
http://www.kokobrown.net/

Friend Me

They saw a swing set. I saw a dinosaur.

I watched this video the other day, and all I kept thinking was how interesting it was that I saw regular, everyday pushpins, but the artist saw something very different.

Here’s the video:



Or you can view here on YouTube

It got me thinking that perhaps that’s how non-writers must look at writers.

People who don’t spend their days writing fiction often ask me how I can create a story out of nothing. How I can take a blank document and come up with a 100,000-word story that makes sense and is engaging for readers (or so I hope). My answer is usually a quick comment about there being little else I’d rather spend my time doing. Which of course tells them nothing about the process of writing or how I come up with ideas, but there’s only so much you can get into standing in your aunt’s kitchen on Christmas Eve, balancing a glass and a paper plate filled with three crackers and some funky cheese spread you’re not sure you want to finish.

A longer response might include references to the vast amount of story ideas and “what if” scenarios running through my head, and that if I didn’t feel like I had an outlet for some of those, I might drive myself insane.

It might also include mention of my nutty color-coded index cards and post-it note system, but that just makes me look crazy organized to non-writers (and many writers).

 
Another, simpler answer might be that the desire to make up stories, to play in worlds of my own imagination is something I was born with. A part of me that made me different from the other kids in school who preferred sitting on the swings at recess rather than climbing to the top of the swing set and making up their own elaborate fictional words where ordinary playground equipment turned into dinosaurs that could be controlled as they roamed in search of defectors of the forest lands.

Yeah, I was that kid on the playground.

My imagination may have made me a bit different from the other kids, but I’m okay with that. In fact, I’m more than okay with that. I celebrate it every time I sit down at my computer to work on another story. 

What do you celebrate about yourself?

Bring on the Storm

Here's a not so secret bit of news. I enjoy writing BDSM. Not living it, absolutely not. But the emotional and physical components of the experience fascinate me. Hey, I took a lot of psychology classes in college and still want to know what makes people and characters tick.

Does any other sexual experience require more of those involved? What else takes people deeper into themselves and demands they learn everything they can about the other participant(s)?

So to state the obvious, I'm into writing about BDSM. At the same time I need to stretch myself creatively which is why recently I banged my head against walls trying to come up with a new venue for my characters. I wanted to shove them out of their comfort zones, to take them where they never knew they wanted to go.

In most BDSM the characters go into the experience with their eyes open. They know what they're getting. But what if they're slammed upside their heads and shoved into a world they didn't know existed? How could I possibly pull that off?

Enter the weather, specifically a fierce winter snowstorm. Add equal parts electrical energy and wind and let those things turn my characters' lives on end. The storm became a hypnotic force, powerful, inescapable, and exciting as hell!

To say I had a blast writing Stormlocked would be an understatement. I'd created my own world which meant I could make up the rules, or lack of. Inhibitions are stripped away as a man and a woman dive into the experience of their lives.

Now comes the nailbiting part--seeing if Loose readers 'get' what I tried to attempt with Stormlocked.

http://www.loose-id.com/Stormlocked.aspx

The Eldritch Legacy continues with...

A Forfeit Owed
M/F/M done Eldritch style!

As the daughter of a disowned noble, Korinne has few options. Forced to wait on her cousins hand and foot, she wishes fairy godmothers were more than the stuff of childhood tales.

When Korinne visits the royal palace, she finds herself wooed by not one but two handsome princes. As the battle for her hand leads to sensual encounters beyond her wildest dreams, Korinne discovers fairy tales can come true -- but at what price?

Born third in line to the throne, Prince Trystan struggles with a heritage he never asked for. Locked in an ongoing game of forfeits with his brother, Crown Prince Darius, Trystan is determined to one up his opponent in their battle of wit versus brawn.

When both brothers set eyes on the curvaceous beauty Korinne, they place a secret wager on her affections. Trystan will do whatever it takes to best Darius, even if it means sharing the prize short-term. But when Trystan truly falls for Korinne, the greatest loss at stake is his heart.

A Forfeit Owed is available today from Loose Id!

** Read an Excerpt:
http://www.loose-id.com/excerpt.aspx?ID=1546

** Buy the E-book:
http://www.loose-id.com/Eldritch-Legacy-A-Forfeit-Owed.aspx

More about the Eldritch Legacy series at:
http://www.loose-id.com/All-Books/By-Theme/Series/Eldritch-Legacy/