The Magic Wakes Blog Tour & Mini Blog Hop

With love in the air this week, magic surrounds us and it is with great

pleasure I welcome author Charity Bradford to Thoughts today as she pulls double duty with her The Magic Wakes blog tour and a Mini Blog Hop.

The Mini Blog Hop for The Magic Wakes blog tour came about from a discussion the author had with a group of teen writers. The blog chain starts HERE.

Charity joins us to talked about number 4 of The Top 5 Things I Wished I Knew Before I Started Writing. 

Beta Readers and Critique Partners (What are they and why do I need them?)

Beta readers and critique partners are two different groups of people in my mind. Both of them are critical to your success. Let’s walk through the process and who you need when. 

A. You have a finished draft that you sort of like. You think it might be worth revising, editing, and querying. At this point you are looking for encouragement and a general pointing in the right direction.

You need a beta reader. You need someone to read it and tell you if it’s crap or worth holding onto. This is when I pick a friend that I know can be honest with me.  However, a lot of us don’t have friends like this, so you may need to find a similar writer/blogger to work with. 

It’s scary the first time you swap chapters with someone, but you never know where it will lead you. At the least you will get a feel for how others receive your story, and at the best you may find a critique partner.

B. You’ve revised your story several times, combing through for plot holes etc. Now you need someone to help with the final polish before querying agents. You need real honesty. Someone to comment on what works and what doesn’t. Someone you can enter into a real dialogue about your story and the various plot lines. A detail person. This partner(s) will be part of your team. 

Here’s the big question. How do you learn to accept criticism and use it to become a better writer? 

The first time I received a REAL critique of my novel was hard. I sat there and felt like crying because it wasn't this perfect masterpiece I dreamed it was. However, I also learned that having someone show me the realistic position I was in would make me a better writer. 

After that I craved critiques. It became a disease really. The problem arose when I tried to make everyone happy. I wasted a lot of time (see number 1 from my list) and drained my story of all life by trying to "fix" everything people mentioned.

YOU WILL NEVER MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY.

That is reality. I had to learn to notice the things that multiple readers mentioned. Those were the things I needed to consider changing. In the end, I had to realize that this was MY story. I could accept or reject suggestions as I saw fit. Even now that I'm working with an editor.

My editor is wonderful. She's made some suggestions on how to make Talia more endearing to the reader earlier. She's sort of a loner and it's hard to get to know her. I didn't like the suggestion she made for one section, but it sparked my own idea for something that felt more like my character. By working together we found a solution that we both loved. 

Working with beta readers, critique partners, and editors can and should be a wonderful process. So take the plunge and enjoy it.

Q4U: So what’s keeping you from working with crit partners? Up next is Platform Building.
 

Charity, I’m delighted to be a part of your blog tour and this mini blog hop. Thanks for giving us a look at why both beta readers and crit partners are needed. That first hard look at your work from someone else can be a mix of emotions.

Here’s a brief blurb of Charity’s first novel, The Magic Wakes:
    Talia has a secret, one that will save her world and yet rip it apart. Only she can decide if the price is worth it.
    Scientist Talia Zaryn has always had visions of an alien invasion and of her own death. She’s kept it a secret, hoping they are nothing more than childish nightmares. But when her face in the mirror matches that of her dreams, she fears the dreams are prophetic. Talia must prove that life exists beyond their planet, Sendek; perhaps then people will prepare to fight.
    Talia’s work at the Space Exploration Foundation leaves no time for personal relationships, but Major Landry Sutton isn’t looking for a friend. He’s looking for a traitor. His ability to sense emotions convinces him Talia is that traitor until a touch sizzles between them. In an instant their minds are connected and they can communicate telepathically. Just as the two begin to trust each other, the invading force arrives.
    Talia and Landry must uncover the secrets of Sendek’s past if they hope to defeat these terrifying creatures. And Talia is the key—if only she can learn to trust the magic coursing through her veins.

Now for a look at Charity. She has been a voracious reader ever since her 5th grade teacher introduced her to the world of books with Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys. She’s the mother of four kids that keep her on her toes, constantly reminding her that imagination still makes the world go round. She lives in Arkansas with her hubby and children, and firmly believes that a smile can solve most problems. 

For more on Charity and her writing, visit her website and blog; and find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. In addition, you can read the first chapter of her book here. The Magic Wakes can be found at Amazon.

Here’s a book trailer of The Magic Wakes for your viewing pleasure:

Thanks for stopping by today and being a part of this double post. Remember Charity’s question - So what’s keeping you from working with crit partners? If your reader, have you ever considered being a critique partner or beta reader for someone?

5 Things I Wish I Knew About Writing Before I Started Mini Blog Hop

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/" --Intro to Blog Hop

http://callyjackson.com/2013/02/15/charity-bradford-guest-post/" --Time

http://writerelizabethpoole.blogspot.com/2013/02/guest-post-top-5-things-i-wished-i-knew.html" --Publishing Options

http://kayfroebel.com/" --The Process

http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com/" --Critique Partners

http://katysozaeva.blogspot.com/2013/02/welcome-to-number-5-of-top-5-things-i.html" --Platform Building

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day to all celebrating what is labeled the most romantic day of the year.

Photo by leonexis

I give to you a yellow rose of friendship and wish you much happiness on this day and throughout the coming year. May you also receive your share of delicious, yummy chocolate. :)

 

It’s Game Time Somewhere (& A Giveaway)

  
Sports plays a big part of our lives so it’s my pleasure to welcome author Tim Forbes here today as he stops on his It's Game Time Somewhere blog tour with Tribute Books.

Thanks to Tim and the great folks at Tribute Books, I have one eBook copy of It’s Game Time Somewhere to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for the guidelines.

Here’s a summary of It's Game Time Somewhere:
    Tim Forbes was like many Americans: painfully unsatisfied in his corporate job but making too much money to walk away. But then, one momentous day, he and his wife struck the Deal, leading to a career in the one field he loved more than anything: sports.
    Years later, having carved out his place in the sports business, he was surprised when a friend asked, "Do you still love sports?"...And stunned when he didn't know how to reply. Of course he still loved sports! Didn't he? Was it possible that walking away from a perk-filled Corporate American life had all been for nothing?
    His year-long quest to find that answer started with a single game. But what he discovered there soon led to an unlikely coast-to-coast “sports walkabout” involving 100 more games and 50 different sports—from major-market events to the smallest of the small. Poignant, irreverent, and ultimately inspiring, It’s Game Time Somewhere chronicles one man’s search for the love of the game.

Alternately blessed and cursed by the notion that everyone should do what they love for a living, Tim creates and writes about the games that people play. He joins us today to talk about ‘Cards on the table – yours truly is not quite right.’

How else could you explain the fact that I spent a year of my life attending and writing about 100 uniquely different sporting events involving 50 separate sports? But that’s what I did, and literally thousands of readers helped me keep score. And when it was done, we all knew more about sports in America than it was thought to be humanly possible. Or at least I did, anyway.

“But why?” you ask. Well here’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

As Bill Cosby once said, I started out as a child. A child inexorably drawn to sports – the organized kind and especially the disorganized kind favored by my circle of friends. Consequently I grew up chasing a ball. It didn’t matter what size or shape, I chased them all. I was fortunate enough to have come of age in a time when kids themselves scheduled their own games and “officiated” them via the kid’s code of sports ethics – an arcane collection of arguments, declarations, and insults that inevitably led to the Do Over. Or somebody taking their ball and going home.

On those occasions when a quorum wasn’t available for even the most streamlined of games, I played them solo. Some might call it “practicing”, but I knew it as “having fun”. And as is the case with many things one repeats endlessly, I managed to develop some level of skill. So it came to be that I went to college on a basketball scholarship.

Annoyingly enough, they don’t let you just major in Basketball – well, not in 1977 anyway, and not in any conference that, like mine, did not start with the word “Big”. So I chose to pursue a degree in Psychology. Don’t ask me why. And when my undergraduate days ended, I decided to obtain an MBA, because, well…because.

The ironic thing was that neither Psychology nor Business Administration would have even been in the race had Sports Management been an academic option. Ubiquitous now, at the time that I entered college there was no such degree program. And so, a career match made in heaven went by the boards…for the time being, anyway.

In my mid-30’s, having acquired over a decade of experience in Corporate America, I became vaguely aware of the fact that people were getting paid to work in sports! Having thus discovered the existence of what was rightfully MY chosen field of work, I spent the next several years alternating between a state of agitation over having been born a decade too early, and thoughtful rumination on how I could still pull off a second half rally and transition to my natural calling.

At the age of 40, the confluence of a certain set of circumstances, not the least of which is the most understanding wife in the cosmos, enabled me to take the plunge. I enrolled in an accredited four semester program that rewarded me upon completion with an Associate’s Degree in Professional Golf Management. I was on my way – a little late out of the gate, but with a full head of steam and ready to use my transferrable skills to claw my way to the top of the sports business.

Nearly a decade later, having come to know quite well the good, the bad and the ugly about pursuing a second career within the sports industry, I was innocently confronted one day with the following question:  ”After working in the industry for ten years, do you still love sports?”

Hmmmm…great question. One I honestly didn’t have an answer for. As you can imagine though, it became critically important for me to find one. And thus began germinating the idea of a “sports walkabout” – an effort to reconnect with my ball-chasing, sports-loving roots.

I went to a game. And then another. And another. Big games, little games. Tournaments, matches, meets and bouts. Men’s games, women’s games. Professional. Amateur. High School. College. Games that I was intimately familiar with. Games that I didn’t have the faintest idea as to their rules.

To those that virtually accompanied me I offered to share everything that I found – both positive and…not so positive. I promised to keep it light-hearted, and they in turn agreed to laugh, learn and share the link with others. This blog, this portrait of Americans at play, became a love letter to sports, warts and all. My friends at Google Analytics tell me that it has been read by thousands of people all over the world.

I hope it brings a smile of pleasure and recognition to your face as well. Because it’s always game time somewhere.

To read more of my stories, please visit: http://itsgametimesomewhere.com/the-igts-tour/the-stories/


Tim, thanks for joining us and giving us a look at your year following the sports. I was surprised at the 50 different sports.

Tim grew up in the farmlands of northern Connecticut, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College—where he played Division III basketball in front of literally tens of people. He received an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an Associate’s Degree at the Professional Golfers Career College in Temecula, CA. Yes, in that order.

After 15 years spent meandering about in Corporate America, Tim went on to work for three professional golf tours: the Symetra Futures Tour, the LPGA Tour, and the PGA Tour. He also served as general manager for golf clubs in Nashville, Tennessee and Orlando, Florida. In 2009, he founded Outside the Mode, a sports marketing and production company based in his adopted home of Los Angeles.

Tim lives in Redondo Beach, California with a perennially underachieving fish named Halo, a cat, and a wife he fondly calls Bird.

For more on Tim and his writing, you can visit the blog tour’s official site; Tim’s website; Tim’s blog; find him on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Goodreads; as well as, It’s Game Time Somewhere on Goodreads and on Facebook. 

It’s Game Time Somewhere (ISBN: 978-1938008122, paperback, 304 pages) is published by Bascom Hill and can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and MyBookOrders.com.

Here’s a book trailer for It’s Game Time Somewhere for your enjoyment: 

 

Now for the giveaway guidelines. To enter, just send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win It‘s Game Time Somewhere.” Your message should include your name and the email address you’d like the eBook sent to. And, just so you know, I don’t share any of this information with anyone other than the publisher/tour promoter nor use it for any other purpose. The deadline to enter this giveaway for an e-copy of It’s Game Time Somewhere is 8 p.m. (EST) on Friday, Feb. 22.

Thanks for stopping by today. Do you enjoy sports? Would others call you an obsessed fan? I leave you with an interview with Tim from YouTube.

Author Jessica Lemmon On Romance & Gift Ideas

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching I’m delighted to welcome author Jessica Lemmon to Thoughts to talk about her debut novel, Tempting The Billionaire, and writing romance.  

Here’s a brief look at Tempting the Billionaire:
    Crickitt Day needs a job . . . any job. After her husband walks out on her, she's determined to re-build her life and establish a new career. When swoon-worthy billionaire Shane August hires her as his assistant, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Despite her growing attraction to her boss, she vows to keep things strictly professional. No flirting. No kissing. Definitely no falling in love.
    Shane August is all business, all the time. He's a self-made man who's poured his heart and soul into his company, and he'd never allow himself to get involved with an employee. Then he hires sweet, sexy Crickitt-and he can't keep his mind or his hands off her. But no matter how much he wants Crickitt, Shane fears that painful secrets from his past will always come between them. With fate working against them, can these two lonely hearts learn that sometimes mixing business with pleasure is the perfect merger? 
 
Jessica, a contemporary romance author, has graciously answered some questions for me.

Mason - How do you develop your characters? Do you start with a name and build on that or a description and find a name?

Jessica - I start with a conversation. Dialog will come out of nowhere and it’s my job to figure out who these two people are and what their history is with one another.

Mason – Tempting The Billionaire deals with a most unusual job for Crickitt Day. What is the most unusual or fun job you've had?

Jessica - Like Crickitt, I spent nearly six years in the direct sales (home party) circuit. I had hostesses, set up home décor and candles in their living room, and wrote up receipts. It was a blast!

Mason - As a romance writer, what gift ideas would you recommend guys buy for their favorite Valentine, as well as suggestions for the ladies?

Jessica - Guys: you can’t go wrong with the gift of TIME. Any outing involving you giving your lady your undivided attention. Dinner out is my favorite (somewhere WITHOUT televisions hanging from the ceiling).

Ladies: we only think guys are hard to buy for. They only want you to buy some new lingerie. ;-) Okay, okay, you want a real tip? Know your guy’s passion – mine loves to golf, so I buy him a round, or golf balls, or his favorite: a gift certificate to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Mason - What's the most difficult part of writing romance novels?

Jessica - Making sure the conflict gets resolved in a believable way. In romance, the “black moment” happens at *almost* the end of the book. That means you have a very short time to wrap it up and give your characters a happily ever after.

Mason - What can readers look forward to next from you?

Jessica - I’m so glad you asked! Next up is Hard to Handle, book #2 in the Love in the Balance series. The story follows Aiden and Sadie on their journey at happily every after…and boy, do they deserve it! I’m also working on a book about a bad-boy mansion owner who returns home to find his first love right where he left her…..more on that later. :-)

Jessica, thanks for joining us today and answering my questions. I like your gift suggestions for both men and women.

Jessica is a former meat-eater, artist, dreamer, wife, and den mother to two dogs. She currently resides in Ohio with her family. You can visit Jessica’s characters at her Pinterest board: www.pinterest.com/lemmony
 
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Do you have a hard time buying a Valentine’s Day gift for that special someone in your life? What is the craziest gift you’ve ever received on Valentine’s Day?

Collateral Damage & Seeking Short Stories

Welcome to Thoughts. Today’s post is two-fold. First, I have a review of the latest Stuart Woods’ novel to share. Second, author Margot Kinberg is seeking assistance from authors and readers for a wonderful crime fiction project she is undertaking in memory of fellow blogger Maxine Clarke, who passed away in December 2012.

Collateral Damage by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington is back and teamed with his friend and sometimes lover Holly Barker, assistant director of the CIA.

An explosion at the U.S. Embassy in London finds Stone and Holly on the trial of a terrorist out for revenge. The terroristic attacks move to New York and the threats escalate. The closer they get to finding the terrorist, the closer they come to being the next target.

Narrator Tony Roberts does an excellent job bringing the characters to life. His vocalization gives distinct voices to Stone, Holly, Dino, and the others. I can’t image Stone sounding any other way.

Author Stuart Woods has developed Stone Barrington into an intrigue protagonist over the years. He doubles the fun when he adds his protagonist from another series, Holly Barker, to the mix. The two protagonists make a fun couple to follow with a mix of romance, suspense, and excitement.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE begins a bit slow, but steady. There are references to a prior story, but enough background is given so new readers/listeners aren’t lost. As the story continues, the excitement and adrenaline begins to build. By the end Woods has readers holding their breath waiting to see who will be standing when the dust settles after the last explosion. 

A good addition to the Stone Barrington and Holly Barker collection.

Author Stuart Woods’ website is www.stuartwoods.com
  
Collateral Damage by Stuart Woods, A Stone Barrington Novel (#25), Read by Tony Roberts, Penguin Audio, @2012, ISBN: 978-1611761405, Unabridged, 6 Discs, Listening Time: 7 Hours

FTC Full Disclosure - This audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
 
Calling on Authors, Readers…

Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...header

Margot, who blogs at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist…, is putting together a crime fiction short story anthology. She is doing this in tribute to the late Maxine Clarke, an avid reader and strong supporter of crime fiction and crime writers. 

Maxine had encouraged Margot to have your protagonist, Joel Williams, solve the murder of a publisher, editor or reviewer. In keeping with this idea, Margot plans to have the short story collection focus on the world of writing, publishing and editing.

Margot noted that “any proceeds from this collection will be donated to the Princess Alice Hospice, which was so supportive of Maxine and her family during her last days and weeks.”

Here’s what Margot is seeking from fellow authors: 

    If you’re an author, please consider contributing a story for this collection. Maxine supported us all, so let’s return the favour. Here are a few things I have in mind to help you decide whether you’d like to be a part of this:
     1. The stories will all focus on crime in the world of editing, publishing, writing and/or reviewing. Feel free to explore that theme in your own way. Stories about fiction writing, non-fiction writing, research or academic writing are all fair game.
    2. Please, no stories with excessive gore or violence against children or animals.
    3. I’m hoping that the anthology would be ready by the end of this year for e-publication. So if you’re interested I’d ask that you’d be prepared to contribute your story by the first week of August.
    4. If you already have a story that hasn’t been published elsewhere, feel free to contribute that. 
 
If you are a reader and would like to participate, Margot suggests the following: 

    Not an author but still think this project is a good idea? Thanks :-)  Please help me spread the word about it and let potential contributors know about the project. We all have connections, and I’d appreciate your using yours. You can talk to authors you know, spread the word on your blog and other social network sites and, well, you know the drill.
  
Anyone having questions about this project can contact Margot by email at margotkinberg(at)gmail(dot)com. Also be sure to check out her wonderful blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist..., for additional information on this project and the lovely Maxine, whose passing leaves a vast void in the crime fiction world.

On a personal note…if you don’t already follow Margot’s blog, I would highly recommend it. Her posts are both insightful and entertaining. She provides unique looks at the world of crime fiction. She presents thought-provoking posts that will have you considering new possibilities for days. 

Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope I’ve caught your interest with the latest Stone Barrington novel. In addition, I hope you’ll drop by Margot’s and participate in her enduring tribute to Maxine.

BTW, author P.J. Parrish was scheduled to visit with us today but was unable to do so. Hopefully we’ll be able to reschedule the visit for a later date.

Sunday Salon: Penelope by Anya Wylde (& Giveaway)

Residents in the Northeast continue to deal with the aftermath of a super snow storm, while residents in other parts of the U.S. prepare for rain and flooding. 

Sunday Salon is the perfect way to turn thoughts from the weather to good books. In fact, the terrible weather conditions makes it a great time to relax and enjoy a day of reading.

I’m thrilled to announce the release of author Anya Wylde’s second book, Penelope, a humorous regency romance.

Here’s a short description of it:
      Leaving behind the rural charms of Finnshire, Miss Penelope Fairweather arrives in London with hope in her heart and a dream in her eye. The dowager, no less, has invited her for a season in London, where she will attempt to catch a husband.
         Thus begins our heroine's tale as she attempts to tackle the London season with all her rustic finesse. Unfortunately, her rustic finesse turns out to be as delicate as a fat bear trying to rip apart a honeycomb infested with buzzing bees.
    What follows is a series of misadventures, love affairs, moonlit balls, fancy clothes, fake moustaches, highwaymen, sneering beauties, pickpockets, and the wrath of a devilishly handsome duke. 
 
To tempt you a bit more, Anya is sharing an excerpt from her book and is offering two copies of Penelope to two lucky visitors. Please see the end of the post for the guidelines.

First the excerpt…..
    The dowager cast a worried glance at the door while Lady Radclyff stared at the grandfather clock willing its giant needles to move.
    “She is late, Mamma.”
    “She will be here soon enough.”
    “Do you think she is dead?”
    “Annie, she is not that late!”
    “Yes, but she is coming all the way from that … that Finny village. It has been raining all day and she refused our offer of a carriage. The post-chaise could have lodged itself in a pothole and overturned. I suppose she is lying in some gully, blood pooling underneath her awkwardly twisted body and not a soul in sight.”
    “It’s Finnshire not Finny, and she has her maid with her.”
    “Well, then the maid is dead too. The weight of the carriage finished her off well before her mistress. Poor Miss Fairweather twitched and trembled for eons fighting for that last breath.”
    “I will seriously contemplate your very vivid scenario if Miss Fairweather does not arrive in the next five hours. Until then can we converse like gently bred women? If your brother heard you speaking like this, he would have you sent to the country for the next three seasons.”    “I am bored. I can’t go to the shops, go riding or feel excited about the season. Do you know that I attended a hundred and five balls last year alone, and that does not count the dinners and tea parties?”
    “Miss Fairweather would have loved to attend a hundred and five balls last year. You have had the pleasure of three seasons, while the poor dear has never been to anything but the village dance.”
    “What do you think she is like? Have you ever met her?”
    “I have not met her, but her mother and I attended the same ladies academy. Her mother Grace was bright, full of life and laughter, and if her daughter is anything like her… ”
    “Was?”
    “She died giving birth to Miss Penelope Fairweather. Mr. Thomas Fairweather, Penelope’s father, married the vicar’s daughter, Gertrude, within a year of Grace’s funeral. Gertrude went on to have five more children. I initiated a correspondence with Gertrude to ensure that Grace’s daughter was being well looked after—”
    “You couldn’t have the stepmother drowning the child,” Lady Radclyff interrupted.
    “Anne, Miss Fairweather is not an unwanted kitten. Where was I? Oh yes, Gertrude writes to me often. Her letters are full of her children’s antics. I feel as if I know them,” the dowager said dreamily. “I have imagined them growing up. They used to wail all night and then they were falling off apple trees ….”
    “You are rambling again, Mamma. I don’t care about Miss Fairweather’s siblings. I want to know about her.”
    “Why? You have never shown this much interest in any of my other guests before.”    Lady Radclyff sucked on a lemon drop, her mouth pursing in thought.
    “The other guests were all the same. They say the same things, they are brought up the same way, and they all wear the same clothes. It is as if a single London lady and a London gentleman have been put into different moulds by God and recreated again and again. I can predict what the replies to my questions will be. No one is original. While Miss Fairweather sounds original.”
    “Original?”
    “I have never met a country bumpkin before.”
    “Annie!”
    “Well, it is true isn't it? How in the world are you going to introduce her to polite society?”

Wondering what Miss Fairweather is really going to be like? Then enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of two copies of Penelope. 

To enter, just send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win Penelope.” Your message should include your name. 

The deadline to enter this giveaway for a copy of Penelope is 8 p.m. (EST) on Monday, Feb. 18. Winners will be awarded a Smashwords coupon to redeem their copy of Penelope.

For more on Anya and her writing, visit her website at www.anyawylde.com. 

Thanks so much for visiting today. Hope everyone is handling their weather without too much trouble. Do you have a favorite regency romance novel that you’d like to share with us? Don't you just love the cover of Penelope? It does grab your attention.

Dolls Behaving Badly On Tour (& Giveaway)

I’d delighted to be a part of a blog tour for Dolls Behaving Badly, a unique and fun read from Alaska debut writer Cinthia Ritchie.

With quirky sensibility and belly-laugh inducing prose, Dolls Behaving Badly (Grand Central Publishing; Paperback Original; On-Sale: February 5, 2013; ISBN: 978-0-446-56813-5; 352 pages; $13.99) tells the story of sardonic 30-something single mom Carla Richards and a cast of loveably eccentric people living in a small Alaska town.
    Carla is a lot of things: a divorcée who’s slept with nineteen and a half men; a waitress for the most popular Mexican joint in Anchorage, Mexico in an Igloo; and a single mom to a precocious eight-year-old boy named Jay-Jay whom she’s supporting along with her pregnant sister, Laurel, and her live-in, teenaged babysitter, Stephanie. Carla is also an aspiring artist who makes erotic dolls for extra income, and an avid Oprah devotee.
    She’s just one delinquent utility bill away from having collections kick down her door when inspiration knocks instead.

Cinthia says she wants readers to understand that it’s okay to be alone, that having a man in your life is a gift, but so are so many things: sisters and sons, neighborhood babysitters, and even dead grandmothers bearing sugar-laced recipes. Dolls Behaving Badly is utterly charming and sassy.

Cinthia is joining us today to answer some questions about her writing. In addition, thanks to Cinthia and the charming Marissa at Grand Central Publishing, I have two copies of Dolls Behaving Badly to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for the guidelines. 

Mason - Why did you select Alaska for your setting in Dolls Behaving Badly?

Cinthia - I couldn’t not choose Alaska. I had the characters outlined and a loose idea of the plot, and when I sat down to write Anchorage naturally appeared as the landscape. I soon realized that there was no way my characters could live anywhere else.

Once I began writing, though, I specifically worked to keep Alaska in the background. Many novels incorporate Alaska as a theme, yet it’s often as a tough-guy or tough-woman type. I wanted to change that. I wanted a book that centered on women characters that just happened to live in Alaska, not characters that lived in Alaska as their agenda.

Yet I also wanted my main characters to mirror the moods of Alaska: Unpredictable and unknowing one moment, and expansive and welcoming the next. This gave me the freedom to deviate from the norm. Alaska is less pretentious than most places. That guy sitting beside you with the dirty fingernails and smelly Carhartts could be a janitor or an oil executive just back from fishing. You just never know.

I laughingly told a friend that Dolls Behaving Badly is a cross between Sex and the City and Northern Exposure, and I think that pretty much sums it up: Quirky characters that are vulnerable yet stubbornly resilient, pretty much the way I feel about Alaska. 
 
Mason - How did you come to give your protagonist such an unusual way to make extra income (by making erotic dolls).

Cinthia - One of the art galleries in town hosted a Barbie doll art show and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I bought a few dolls and began hacking them to pieces. I stayed up one whole night doing this; I think I was a bit crazy.

I transferred that craziness over to my protagonist, Carla. I wanted her to be an artist and I wanted her to be eccentric, so I chose Barbie doll art as her medium. Yet the scenes felt flat and forced. It was almost as if she were saying, “I don’t want to do that.”

One night I was out walking the dog and found a naked Barbie doll torso in the middle of the road. It was raining that night and the doll was muddy; I think someone had run over it too, because it was squished and mangled, except for the breasts, which thrust out as perky and unnatural as ever.

I swear I felt chills when I picked it up. It was a defining moment. I didn’t consciously know then that I would include erotic doll art in my book but I think the writer part of my mind had already decided.
 
Once I wrote the first erotic doll scene, I felt foolish. I was afraid people would snicker. Once I read it over, however, I knew instinctively that this is what Carla would do.

After that, the book took off. There was no stopping it.
  
Mason - Everyone is going to wonder, are your characters based on real people you know, completely created from your imagination or a combination of both?

Cinthia - I’d like to say that my characters are completely imagined, but of course that would be a lie. They’re composites of people I knew or people I used to know or people I worked with—you get the picture. Or at least they were in initially. After I began writing, they became purely themselves. It reminds me of raising a child, how you can see yourself in them yet they are uniquely who they are.

Two of the characters I love the most (I love all my characters of course, love them with the doomed, hopeless longing of imagination), were intended as minor characters. Barry, Carla’s ex-husband, was originally written as an unredeemable bad guy. But he refused to play this role and opened up and  showed himself as this fumbling yet vulnerable man. It took my breath away, it was such a surprise. That’s when I realized that he was a catalyst not only for Carla but himself and, in a sense, the arch of the whole book.

Stephanie, the teenaged babysitter, also grew on her own accord, from an intended fill-in to a lovable and wise young woman with big heart and good-natured attitude. She was another surprise. Sometimes, when I drive past the trailer park I used as a setting (disguised, of course, though very, very loosely), I search for Stephanie. I know she’s there somewhere, sitting inside one of those metal boxes and writing poetry or painting her toenails. And I feel such a longing to meet her, to sit with her and hold her hand that it fills my chest until I can hardly breathe. 

Mason - If you had to write this book over, would you do anything differently - content in the book, your writing schedule, the way you researched it, etc.?

Cinthia - I would do almost everything differently. I made so many mistakes. When you write a book, you go in blind and dumb. You grope and stutter and flail. It’s much like bringing a newborn baby home and screaming: Wait! I don’t know what to do next.

One big mistake I made was worrying about what others would think. Dolls Behaving Badly is classified as women’s mainstream fiction and I intended for it to be that way. I wanted a book accessible to all, not only those versed in literary techniques. I wanted it to be well-written, yes, but more importantly I wanted all women, from those who work in restaurants and as supermarket checkers to doctors and lawyers, to open the cover and immediately feel engaged. I didn’t want a buffer of class systems or education, and this was a vital point because, even though I have an M.F.A., I grew up in a farming community and I’ve worked as a waitress. I know these women. I love these women.

Yet as I wrote I often imagined voices from my graduate workshops sneering, “You’re writing that?” And I’d feel shame, I don’t know why. Because I hadn’t produced a literary masterpiece. Because I’d rather write to real women than a literary magazine audience.

Those voices had nothing to do with my graduate classes, of course, but were simply my own insecurity, the dualism inside me, the push and pull of who I am versus who I think I should be.   
 
Mason - Did anything unusual, scary and/or funny happen during the course of your writing this book?

Cinthia - Well, this is odd but after I established the tone of the book and felt comfortable with my characters, situations I wrote about began happening in real life. It was almost scary. I wrote a scene (that was later cut due to length), where Carla’s ex-husband colors his hair blond. I worried: Does this sound fake? Do grown men really dye their hair with Nice and Easy hair color? A few weeks later I drove out to visit an old friend and couldn’t believe it: He had colored his hair with Nice and Easy! It looked horrible, too, and was the same dry, reddish-blond as in my book.

One of the love interests of a main character was initially 17 years older, a skier and father. Soon after I wrote that scene a friend excitedly told me that she had met a man who was 17 years older, a skier and a father. What are the chances?

I had to rewrite scenes so that people wouldn’t accuse me of using their lives in my writing when, in actuality, scenes from my writing were appearing in their lives.
I worried that I had been inflicted with a super power, like a Twilight Zone episode, and everything I wrote would sooner or later come true. It was unnerving. It still bothers me.

Mason - What can readers look forward to next from you?

Cinthia - I’m almost finished with my second novel, as yet unnamed; I have such difficulties with titles. It also takes place in Alaska and centers on a Sasha Dewey, woman who writes the obituaries for an Anchorage newspaper and hides from the death of her stillborn daughter and her subsequent miscarriages. It’s a heavy subject and more serious than Dolls Behaving Badly, yet it’s also laced with humor. I’m not sure if a book about death can be funny but my view is that since death will happen to us all, why not laugh about it?

I’ve also began a scary novel. Ever since I read Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot years ago, I’ve wanted to write a horror book, nothing bloody or violent but psychologically scary, like the ghost stories many of us grew up with.

The oddest thing happened to me when I lived down in Seward, a small coastal community at the end of the road system. A friend and I hiked out to the Derby Cove cabin for the night. This is a cabin on Resurrection Bay, and once the tide rolls in it’s cut off by land.
 
We were preparing for sleep and my camera suddenly went off, twice. At the exact same moment, the candle blew out. It was creepy. The camera wasn’t near me at the time and wasn’t set on automatic timer, either. Lying in my sleeping bag and listening to the wind and the waves, I suddenly understood how isolated we were. That’s when a story began inside my head, an Alaska ghost story. I have about fifteen pages finished plus all the character sketches. I can’t wait to work on it. It’s so lovely to be scared, isn’t it?
 
Cinthia, thanks so much for stopping by and giving us a behind the scenes look at Dolls Behaving Badly. I would have to agree, you have had some odd things happen to you during the course of your writing. It’s like the old saying, fact is stranger than fiction.

Cinthia is a Pushcart Prize nominee for fiction and the recipient of the National PEN Women Creative Nonfiction Award. She is a former news editor at Alaska Newspapers. Cinthia spent eight years as a features writer and columnist at Anchorage Daily News and received her MFA from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She lives in Anchorage with her college-aged son. Dolls Behaving Badly is her debut novel.

Now for the giveaway guidelines. To enter, just send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win Dolls Behaving Badly.” The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only and no post office box addresses can be accepted. Your message should include your name and mailing address. And, just so you know, I don’t share any of this information with anyone other than the publisher/tour promoter nor use it for any other purpose. The deadline to enter this giveaway for a chance to win 1 of 2 copies of Dolls Behaving Badly is 8 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Do you enjoy reading stories set in Alaska? What is the most unusual occupation a protagonist has had that you’ve read about?

It Stings So Sweet by Stephanie Draven

They vibrated with incendiary Jazz. They teemed with sexual abandon. The Twenties were roaring and the women--young, open, rebellious, and willing--set the pace and pushed the limits with every man they met . . .

Now that’s an intro that should grab your attention. And rightly so as critically acclaimed, RITA-nominated author Stephanie Draven is kicking off 2013 with the February release of her historical erotic romance, It Stings So Sweet, which was recently named a top pick in RT Magazine. Just in time for Downton Abbey fans, Boardwalk Empire, and the forthcoming Great Gatsby movie, this collection takes historical romance readers into an exciting new era and brings the heat.

Bound by the thread of a single party, three very different women are about to discover just how far they’ll go for the men they love -- and just how dangerously those men will test them along the way. 

I’m delighted to join in the celebration of the daring journey these women take and the release of It Stings So Sweet by being a part of Stephanie’s blog tour.

It Stings So Sweet is out just in time for Valentine’s Day and what a way to celebrate. Here’s a synopsis:
    In the aftermath of a wild, liquor-soaked party, three women from very different social classes are about to live out their forbidden desires.
     Society girl, Nora Richardson’s passionate nature has always been a challenge to her ever-patient husband. Now he wants out of the marriage and she has just this one night to win him back. The catch? He wants to punish her for her bad behavior. Nora is offended by her husband’s increasingly depraved demands, but as the night unfolds, she discovers her own true nature and that the line between pain and pleasure is very thin indeed.
     Meanwhile, Clara Cartwright, sultry siren of the silent screen, is introduced to a mysterious WWI Flying Ace. If Clara, darling of the scandal sheets, knows anything, it’s men. And she’s known plenty. But none of them push her boundaries like the aviator, who lures her into a ménage with a stranger in a darkened cinema then steals her jaded heart.
     Working class girl Sophie O’Brien has more important things on her mind than pleasures of the flesh. But when her playboy boss, the wealthy heir to the Aster family fortune, confronts her with her diary of secret sex fantasies, she could die of shame. To her surprise, he doesn’t fire her; instead, he dares her to re-enact her boldest fantasies and Sophie is utterly seduced.
     One party serves as a catalyst of sexual awakening. And in an age when anything goes, three women discover that anything is possible...

Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories. 

She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to law school, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all!

A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.

For more on Stephanie and her writing, visit her website at http://www.stephaniedraven.com/

If the synopsis wasn’t enough to get you interested, Stephanie has graciously shared an excerpt from It Stings So Sweet:

    At home, from the safe height of my fancy penthouse apartment with its gilded furniture and velvet drapes, I find my stash in the sideboard and pour myself a shot of hooch. Downing it too quickly, I cough at the burn. Then I wipe my lips and hurriedly hide the evidence of my distress only moments before the doorman brings me the red roses and the note attached.
    The man who sent them is waiting downstairs.
      “Can’t you shoo him away, Charlie?”
      “He’s not the sort to be given the bum’s rush, madam,” the doorman replies.
     No, I don’t suppose he is. Leo Vanderberg has come at the worst time, but I find that I want to see him. Maybe the reckless aviator is just the tonic I need. “Alright, send him up. Wait fifteen minutes, then have the car brought around, won’t you?”
     The penthouse, the doorman, and the driver are all perks of being a kept woman. I can afford without Teddy Morgan’s generosity, of course. But like I said before, I never turn down a gift. The days when I was clawing for crumbs in a cold one-bedroom apartment are over, but I haven’t forgotten them and I’m never going back.
      When I hear the aviator’s footsteps in the hall, my pulse quickens. I can see his lean body in my mind’s eye, and those dark looks, hot and heavy. I still remember what he whispered in my ear, and it makes me a little shaky to think of it. I don’t have to guess what he wants.
    When he comes in, I don’t turn around right away. “Why, Mr. Vanderberg, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, much less bearing gifts,” I say, arranging the roses so that blooms are on fine display. I have to admit, their perfume lifts my spirits. “Are you falling in love with me?”
    “Of course not. That would ruin the whole arrangement.”
     I want to turn around and look him in the eye, but I don’t. “What arrangement would that be?”
     “The one where I’m planning to debauch you and you’re planning to let me.”
     My lips part in amusement. “I’m afraid I was thoroughly debauched long ago.”
    “I’d like to test that—” He catches his breath when I finally turn from the mirror. He has both hands in his pockets, a languid slope to his shoulders, a snappy hat shadowing his face, but he can’t hide his surprise.
    And his wide-eyed astonishment makes me laugh. “What’s the matter, Ace? Haven’t you ever seen a girl without powder on her nose before?”
    “I—I just . . . I just need a second to get used to it, is all.”
    “Is my skirt too long, my hat too wide, or don’t you recognize me without my war paint?”
    “You look younger . . .”
    “Like a farm-fresh freckled milkmaid? Like a sweet daisy ready to be plucked from a field?”
    He shrugs. “Something like that.”
    “Well, don’t let the baby face fool you. I only go out like this when I don’t want anyone to recognize me.”
    “You’re Clara Cartwright. Why the devil wouldn’t you want anyone to recognize you?”
    There is nothing I can do but lie. “Because, I’m going to a matinee at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. I can’t go there looking like myself. My handprints are in the concrete forecourt right next to Charlie Chaplin’s. I’d spend the whole afternoon signing autographs.”
    He smirks. “Must be hard to be you.”
    “Positively a trial.”
    He’s still smirking—and I see it’s his natural expression, as if he has the utmost contempt for the whole world. “If you’re going to the matinee, Clara, let me take you. My treat.”
    My voice is low and husky with regret. “I’m not interested, Mr. Vanderberg.”
    “Yes you are. And like I said before, you can call me Leo.”
    “I haven’t decided if I want to be on a first-name basis. At the party I got the impression you weren’t just another wet blanket . . . you seemed reckless. A little bit dangerous. But flowers and a movie? Rather conventional, wouldn’t you say?”
    “The courtship’s for your benefit, doll, not mine.” Then he leans in and everything turns deadly serious. “See, it’s like this. When you’re in bed with me, squirming in embarrassment for all the filthy things you’ve let me do to you, it should comfort you to remember that I did court you as a lady . . . even though I intend to treat you as anything but.”

It Stings So Sweet can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Do you find that excerpts draw you into the story a bit more than a synopsis does?