How a Romance Series is Born

Triplets. I've only completed three manuscripts in my life and they all turned out to be the same series. I didn't plan it that way --THEY planned it that way. The characters. They yell at you night and day until you tell their story. It's like Pirandello's play, Six Characters in Search of an Author. In my case, they didn't have to search far.

I had this idea for a book back in 2009 sometime. I'd always loved older woman/younger man stories, so i wanted to write one. Then i found male/male fiction and was captured. Okay, so now my older woman and younger man have another man in the mix. Voila, i'm a menage writer. And, of course, i love beautiful men, so this "other" man has to be be gorgeous. How about a supermodel? Bingo, Genetic Attraction was born.

When i finished Genetic Attraction, i started writing a science fantasy menage. I got maybe a third into it, but the characters from Genetic Attraction kept telling me i wasn't done. How did my two heroes meet? How did a scientist find a supermodel? Was it easy or hard for them to get together? Okay, okay. I put down the other book (sigh. It still sits in a computer drawer), and wrote The Scientist and the Supermodel , the prequel to Genetic Attraction. That manuscript has recently been submitted.

Time to break out. I had a conversation with a friend in London who is a ballet nut. Ah, i  decided to create a ballet dancer hero, and started writing Pas de Trois. But then came NaNo, and i needed to start a manuscript on Nov 1. I was already several thousand words into the ballet piece, so i put it aside. What other idea did i have ready to go? How about a sequel to Genetic Attraction that told the story of Jake's brother, Caleb, who was introduced in The Scientist and the Supermodel? It was a story that wanted to be told, and it popped right out --Androgynous Dreams.

So, now i have three books all in the same series. Are there more lurking in there? Well, there's a baby born in the latest book, but she won't grow up for years -- so i just might get to write a story about some other people. Ballet dancers anyone? How about blue aliens? Are your characters task masters, too?

I WON NaNo!!

On November 26 at 1:30 pacific time, i wrote word 50, 285 and put a The End on the first, very rough draft of Androgynous Dreams. After a lot of editing, this book will be the sequel to Genetic Attraction which come out January 4th. This book tells the story of Caleb Martin, brother of Jake, who is struggling with what he wants to do in his life. Though a rising soccer star, he feels compelled to serve the world.

While trying to make his decision, he meets a beautiful man who is as pretty as a woman, and an adorable tomboy who, though he thinks of himself as gay, he just can't resist. He doesn't know how complicated his life choices can get until he meets his androgynous dreams.

January will be editing month and i'll let you know how it's going. Meanwhile, i'll share the excitement about the release of Genetic Attraction. :  )

Guyliner for Scarlett

As a special treat for my friend Scarlett Parrish and fans of beautiful boys everywhere, here is a holiday gallery of some guyliner classics.

Funny Gay Banned Ads First Class Flight

This is a very funny ad. Just wait through the commercial and stick with it. Way to go Virgin Atlantic. : )

Plotting & Pantsing Under the Whip -- NANO

I'm slightly more than halfway through the first NaNo i've ever done and have reached over 60,000 word on the sequel to Genetic Attraction (coming out Jan 4) called Androgynous Dreams. I'd say "can i hear an Amen?" except there's still a long way to go, though i do feel a teeny bit confident i'll make it. I even like the book -- i think. You see, normally when i write, i go back and read quite a lot. That doesn't work for NaNo. For one thing, it takes too much time, for another, too much editing is kind of against the rules.So, i think the book is working but i'm not sure and won't be until December (or whenever i finish 50K words, whichever comes first).

I've learned something really important to my future life as a writer. I can comfortably fit 2000 words into a day, even when i'm pretty darned busy. Not everyday, but a lot of them. And those are days that still include sleep, food and maybe even exercise -- as well as the day job. A cool discovery.

Here's what i think is working for me, NaNo-wise. I thought about the plot a fair amount before NaNo began. Then, on a veteran NaNoers advice, i actually wrote down a list of scenes. I haven't looked at it since, i must confess, but i have a good memory and that semi-outline is helping me stay on track. Thats the plotting part.

The pantsing is most of the writing, but as i go i solve problems. For example i realized two key issues -- i had one too many coincidences in the plot and, as usual, i didn't have enough conflict. I solved these problems in the walking around staring time of day. You know, when people are talking to you and you're not answering? Or when you're supposed to be sleeping. I solved the problem i think successfully by combining the two issues. I got rid of the coincidence and made the event (one hero showing up at the home of another) a deep manipulation by a villainous person. Bingo! I had conflict. Now my second hero is a tool of a bad guy and we have to see how he gets himself out of it.

So if you've never done NaNo, i'd suggest giving it a try some year. I have friends who say their life is NaNo and they don't need the push. For me, who loves challenges and rises to occasions, it's been a blessing so far. Even in the face of having my release date on Genetic Attraction moved up to Jan 4, having to do all the edits in a few days rather than weeks, having one of the busiest work schedules ever, and needing to plan all the promotion for my book release, NaNo has kept me writing. So far, so good. What's your NaNo experience so far? (BTW, the photo is for inspiration)  :  )

Androgyny to the Max

You really have to love androgynous men to get Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel. Adam loves him.  Me too.  :  )

Happy New Year -- Early

I just got notice that the release date for my m/m/f menage, Genetic Attraction, has been moved up to January 4 as part of Loose Id's New Year New Author promotion. I'm thrilled (even if i will be editing all weekend). I'll keep you up to date. :  )

Sticking and Correcting

This is so charming i had to share. Where did they find the girls who look like Botticelli angels? : )

How to be Creative

Have you ever tried to solve a problem, write something, paint something, you think and think, but nothing comes? Then you take a shower or go for a walk and suddenly, flash, there's a great idea in your mind? You try to get it down before it goes away and partly succeed? You have had an experience of your higher mind, what yogis call the Buddhi, and it is the place that inspiration comes from. In the Buddhi, ideas are whole, complete, but then they must be filtered through the lower mind which is the place of words so the ideas get chopped up into pieces.

We all have a higher mind and access it all the time whether we know it or not. The trick is being able to call on it at will, to get the idea when you need it. There are ways and, as a practitioner and former teacher of yoga for many decades, i'd like to share a few simple steps to creativity:

1. Get all the data you need for whatever you want to create. When i write magazine articles, this may be pages of technical data. For a novel, i do my research and outline my characters. The idea here is to have the higher mind flow by giving it the tools it needs to build the idea.

2. Do something else. Stop thinking about your project to the extent possible. The ideas may float through your mind. Let them, but go for a walk, take in a movie, have a nap, something. Showers are good, so is driving. Your lower mind will be somewhat involved and get out of the way of the higher mind. As you get better at this technique, the break may be shorter  -- a trip to the kitchen for a glass of water.

3. With no real expectations, sit in front of your work site -- computer, note pad, easel. Gaze at the screen or canvas and watch. Something will flash or float into your mind. It may be words, a way to start the article. It may be dialogue for a book. It may be colors or a motif for a painting. Go with it. It will take you forward.

I have worked with this technique for so long that, once i'm firmly on the right track for a magazine article, i don't have to do much rewriting. Fiction, of course, is more layered. You come back in waves and add richness and detail.

But try this simple technique and see if it works for you. Let me know.Do you have other techniques for being creative on demand? Share.  :  )

Living in Book World

For the last year, i've been editing two novels. These were the first two works of fiction i ever wrote. When i submitted them the first time, the publisher gave me great encouragement but said there were problems with the books i needed to fix. If i fixed them, they would look again. Now, that's HUGE motivation. Trouble was, i didn't have the novel writing skills to fully understand what changes they wanted. So i took myself back to school (online) and submerged myself in craft workshops. I'm a quick study, so it became clear pretty fast what i needed to change -- and it was a lot! So i did. Deep point-of-view, improved conflict. On scene after scene i went back to the drawing (uh, writing) board and rethought, rewrote. That, plus a sidetrack for some serious health problems, took a year.

So when i started the NaNo challenge this past Monday, i was actually doing the first from-scratch, original writing i'd done in some time. Wow! I forgot. Writing new material is so different from editing, even when the editing is extensive. Editing is serious work while new writing has a definite element of play, and like all good games, it sucks you in. I am now living in book world, that seductive other planet where writers go when they're creating stories. I took a walk this morning and i couldn't even listen to my iPod because music has its own story and i wanted to stay in mine. Every word the characters say takes me somewhere. I had decided long ago that my heroine would be working as a midwife in Africa. That's all i knew. But i've been to Africa, and all of a sudden my heroine is talking about the people and the culture. How tall the men are, how they cook.

I've written over 8,000 words as of this morning and i'm through the initial part of the book where i was pretty clear what would happen. I had to get my two heroes on stage and then my heroine. I knew how i wanted to do that so the scenes flew along. But now i'm approaching the creamy center, that part of a book where everything gets a little mushy. I know where the high points are -- yes, they will have sex soon, but how do i want to get them there? Last night my heroine told me she wanted to go to the gay bar with the hero. Bingo! There's a fun scene -- straight girl who looks like a boy goes to gay bar with gay boy who is oddly attracted to this girl. That's a fun way to get them to bed. But as i'm doing this, i'm walking around with my eyes glazed in book world. When people talk to me i have to pull myself out of a deep well in order to pay attention.

Book world is soooo fun. Who needs drugs when you're a writer?

The Gospel - According to Whom?

You may have read this many times, but it gets me every time. Hope it does you too. :  )


In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant
> > > > Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus
> > > > 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following
> > > > response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident,
> > > > which was posted on the Internet.
> > >
> > > > Dear Dr. Laura:
> > > >
> > > > Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I
> > > > have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that
> > > > knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend
> > > > the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that
> > > > Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of
> > > > debate.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other
> > > > elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and
> > > > female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend
> > > > of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can
> > > > you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
> > > >
> > > > 2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in
> > > > Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair
> > > > price for her?
> > > >
> > > > 3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in
> > > > her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is
> > > > how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
> > > >
> > > > 4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates
> > > > a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my
> > > > neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I
> > > > smite them?
> > > >
> > > > 5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.
> > > > Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally
> > > > obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
> > > >
> > > > 6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
> > > > abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality.
> > > > I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees'
> > > > of abomination?
> > > >
> > > > 7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I
> > > > have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading
> > > > glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room
> > > > here?
> > > >
> > > > 8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair
> > > > around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.
> > > > 19:27. How should they die?
> > > >
> > > > 9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes
> > > > me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
> > > >
> > > > 10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two
> > > > different crops in the same field, as does his wife by
> > > > wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread
> > > > (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.
> > > > Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the
> > > > whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn
> > > > them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who
> > > > sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
> > > >
> > > > I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy
> > > > considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.
> > > >
> > > > Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal
> > > > and unchanging.
> > > >
> > > > Your adoring fan,
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
> > > > Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education University
> > > > of Virginia
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > (It would be a damn shame if we couldn't own a Canadian :)
> > >

First Love Scene -- Chills!

Yahoo. I'm at 4230 NaNo words and just completed the first sex scene between Caleb and his one-night-stand lover, Elijah. Writing it was sooo fun. :  )

Great First NaNo Day!

I managed to crank over 2300 words by dinnertime my first day, mostly before work and at lunchtime. I'm excited since 1667 or so will do the job each day. I want to get ahead for those days i can't meet the goal. 

I've gotten our two heroes to meet in the Blue Flamingo gay bar and they're now on their way to a motel and --- ah, fade to black. Until tomorrow anyway.BTW, one hero is a soccer player.      : )