Jan 29, 2007
For you careful MRMR blog readers out there, you know a few weeks ago we went to visit our youngest daughter in Boston. Forgive me for a minute for bragging about her (and eventually you’ll probably read a bit about her siblings, too, but I won’t overwhelm you today with the depth and breadth of my maternal pride. And yeah, this is going to sound like one of those insufferable Christmas newsletters. Feel free to give me a virtual smack.).
She was valedictorian of her high school class, captained the basketball and tennis teams, went to college tuition-free and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in anthropology and museum education. She’s tall, beautiful, artistic, has long, naturally curly hair, a stud in her nose and an Egyptian eye tattooed on the inside of her ankle (Nobody’s perfect.). She has the cutest studio apartment on earth for which she is paying more for rent than we do for our house. She’s juggling several interesting jobs and has her whole life ahead of her.
The visit got me thinking. What would I do if I could have a do-over on MY life? I have no complaints, mind you, and have had several interesting jobs myself since I got out of college. I believe most of you reading this would say you have ambition to be a published romance author. I know that’s what I’d like to add to my resume too, so let’s factor that out. I’m waving my magic wand. I’m the owner of a quirky antique/junk shop on a well-traveled street, with windows filled with sly, amusing and glittering treasures that stop people in their tracks. The store is called Magpie, of course. You can be anything. What would it be?
And…do we create our heroines to be who we aren’t? Will I one day be writing about my shop owner so I can live vicariously?
You will note an addition to the sidebar. I’ve added Maggie’s Manuscripts, where excerpts of my WIPs will be posted every now and then. Feel free to check them out and leave a comment. Or not.
Jan 22, 2007
What makes a great romance novel? No matter how carefully we examine, analyze and deconstruct it, it’s always ultimately a matter of opinion. I know it when I smile as I read, and the passage isn’t remotely funny…it’s just well-written and I am firmly in the author’s world. I’m reluctant to finish the book and leave that world. But what works for me might not work for you. And here is where I need your help.
I have two completed manuscripts, both sort of fairy-tale based. Currently they’re operating under the titles By Midnight and Waking Beauty (They used to be Bride by Midnight and Bride by Chance, but I kept thinking Bride of Chucky.). I’ve sent out half-a-dozen queries and was not surprised to see the self-addressed, stamped envelopes come back to my mailbox. One rejection letter had a nice hand-written note—I had been in the “maybe” pile for several months, but ultimately wasn’t loved enough.
I believe I may have done the unforgivable in BOTH books—my heroes are unfaithful to my heroines. For good reasons, so the devilish, dark-haired dummies think. Talk about a Big Misunderstanding and possibly a Big Mistake for the Author. I don’t know why my characters stumbled into the beds of women from their past—it just seemed right at the time to make them so wrong. I do so love a good grovel scene. And I wanted to give my characters something important to overcome, although I would personally eviscerate my own husband should he stray. I know he’s going to read this. Hi, honey.
So, what do you think? Have I broken the ultimate romance taboo? If (When. WHEN!) I finish Third-Rate Romance (in this corner, weighing in as of this morning at 70,230 words), should I go back and smarten up those bad boys and give them something else altogether to bring them to their knees? I’m willing to slice and dice!
Have you ever had to chuck a huge chunk of your book? Say something encouraging to me.
Jan 15, 2007
For the past two weeks I’ve been doing something shocking, some might even say evil.
No, I’m not talking about writing this blog.
I’ve been throwing away BOOKS.
I work in a high school library. I’m not a librarian, but I run the circulation desk, do all the displays, new book prep, and supervise the after school library program. My official title is Library Educational Technician III. It may sound fancy, but it absolves me of all the tough stuff: the purchase orders, painstaking cataloging and making the crucial decision each year as to which books get tossed. The teachers and library staff are offered the discards, but most of the books are outdated and/or in poor condition, fit only for the school dumpster.
This year we’re weeding the 900s. For those of you who don’t know the Dewey Decimal system, that’s geography and history. Out goes Life in the Soviet Union, a biography of the five Eisenhower brothers, Singapore 1983 and Hallam’s three volume Middle Ages history set….printed in 1864. No way could I throw the latter away. I’m not writing medievals, but you never know. They’re going on my bookshelf, joining Lucille from last year’s purge, written by Owen Meredith c.1880 (real name Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton and son of that dark-and-stormy-night guy).
Another great find: a month-by-month accounting in 1815, “the most dramatic, exciting and pivotal year in history,” according to its author John Fisher. From Wellington to Waterloo to Byron to Barbary pirates, I just might learn something about the era I write about. And it’s illustrated!
I weed my own collection, too, usually giving books to friends or donating them to the public library. Who’s on your permanent reserve (keeper) shelf? Do you discard? Don’t send any volumes my way; the dumpster’s pretty full.
And for future reference (another library allusion), I’m starting each week with a new post, so Mondays mean Maggie Robinson Means Romance!
Jan 10, 2007
I have in hand a copy of OK! Magazine. Now I could lie and tell you I bought it for my daughter, because I’m going to give it to her this weekend when we visit her in Boston…but you know that’s a lie, ’cause I just told you.
I confess. I read People. I read Us. And Vanity Fair and InStyle. And Time and Newsweek, too, but their gossip section is not their strong suit. Because I am someone who rarely watches TV, I must stay au courant somehow. Without watching one step, I know Emmitt Smith won “Dancing with the Stars.” And that Evangeline Lilly (what a gorgeous name) is now homeless because her house burned down in Hawaii. Have I ever seen “Lost?” Sadly, no
So I’ve indulged in a guilty reading pleasure, but there was a nugget of nutrition in this issue that I want to share with you. There are ten remarkably remarkable and easy steps to transform your life. Never let it be said that my shelling out $2.99 was in vain. Red is OK!’s wisdom, black is mine.
1. Team up. Friends, just say no to chocolate, yes to expanding your word count together.
2. Take a breather. That’s right. Just stop and breathe deeply and chant whatever you wish. You know what I’m chanting. 😉 Maggie Robinson Means Romance. I am a legend in my own mind. I am a legend in your own mind.
3. Drink up. That’s water, silly, and lots of it.
4. Add fruit. An apple a day, a pomegranate a day, whatever.
5.Be grateful. For big or small things. We’ve all got more positives than negatives.
6.Leave room. My grandmother always said a lady never finishes all that’s on her plate. My mother said children in China are starving, so eat up. Listen to Granny. Sorry, Mom.
7.Start with one. Each journey begins with a single step…a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a page, a chapter. Set bite-size goals and pretty soon you’ll have a book.
8. Get some rest. Did you know when you’re tired you “snack recklessly?” Now you do.
9. Think positive. Be the little engine that could.
10. Love yourself. And we’re not talking vibrator. Take care of yourself so you’ll be ready to take care of everybody else.
There. Now all our lives will be perfect in 2007. Can you think of a good #11?
Jan 7, 2007
“Damnation! You’re a little witch. You know how much I want you, have wanted you since I first saw you at the Chapel Royal all those years ago.”
Eleanor wrinkled her faintly freckled nose. “I’m not sure that’s acceptable. She might have to rethink that. There’s a taint of obsession to it, and it’s not entirely natural. You’re a good twelve years older than I am.”
“So, I was twenty and you were eight. What does it signify? I knew from the first we were fated to be together.” Lionel ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. If an ordinary man did such a thing, it would stick up every which way, but he only succeeded in making himself look even more handsome, if that were possible.
The above scene is from my WIP, Third-Rate Romance. As you can probably tell, it’s a spoof of some of our favorite romance clichés. The Regency protagonists, Lady Eleanor and Lionel, the Duke of Cleves (who doubles as the spy The Bluejay—and isn’t he beyond irritated that The Hawk and The Falcon are already taken) are conversing as they wait to be written into another ridiculous or anatomically incorrect position.
Their poor aspiring middle-aged author (Huh? What’s that you say about a roman a clef?) is in the middle of three different books. Her characters can’t wait for her to leave her computer so they can behave, or misbehave, as they wish. Just as she has influence over them, they decide to get her out of their hair and get themselves published.
The young virgin-older rake scenario remains ever popular, despite what happened to Diana and Charles. Much was made recently over the age difference between Josie and the Earl of Mayne in Eloisa James’ perfect, pleasure-inducing Pleasure for Pleasure. Ms. James made a convincing case that fresh, tart-tongued Josie cleansed Mayne’s jaded palate. But the innocent heroine-worldly hero trope of historical romance has driven some authors to write contemporaries. The lady can have a “past” and not suffer for it.
Are you tired of that feisty-yet-untouched girl who somehow manages to disarm Satan’s disciple? What’s your favorite pairing? I still love Avon and Leonie in Heyer’s These Old Shades.
