OMG I’m writing Stargate

Have you ever gotten one of those terrible, sinking feelings in your gut as you watch a TV show or movie? The OMG-I’m-writing-this-thing-right-now feeling? Ugh. Happened this weekend. I was just vegging after errands and the original Stargate (the awful film, not the awful cheesy TV mac-franchise–sorry, Cynnara) was about half over. I remember how cute and young what’s-his-name was, and watched for a bit. Then it hit me. OH NO! SciFi Egyptians. Sort of. With technology, sort of. Oh just freaking marvelous–the premise underneath my WIP. My meisterwerk, my “this one will finally get me somewhere” book.

I know there are only about 7 original plots (or am I confusing that with the Kevin Bacon game?), but crickey, I was really using Stargate as the backdrop of my new fantasy. Is it senility? Is it that stuff gets in the brain and rolls around for a while and becomes part of your own personal cultural backdrop until you forget you didn’t make it up?

Sooo, my monuments are going to get flatter and all my Egyptian names are going to become Babylonian or something. AAARGH. Has this happened to you? One reason I can’t really get into vampire books is because I read THE vampire book, ya know? (It’s a related thought, honestly.) Okay, gonna hear it about that one.

Give Me a Break

“What brought romance fiction to its present level of success is a collection of decades’ worth of one-man, one-woman relationships stories, in all their richness, variety, and power. RWA should be the first to endorse that, rather than attempting to placate fringe groups trying to impose their standards upon the rest of us. If anyone’s in danger of being “censored” here, it’s believers in “what comes naturally”: one-man, one-woman romance. We in RWA owe it to ourselves not to let that happen.”– Jan W. Butler

I came to this discussion a little late, but thanks to Lauren Dane (blog address at right) and others, I was made aware of this little gem, published (as a letter I understand) by RWA. Yes, your professional organization. I will defend Ms. Butler’s right to say what she likes, but only after I tie her up and let my gay friends scream at her for a few hours. Oh, wait, my fringe gay friends. Okay, I only have one of them. She’s a state trooper, and I haven’t seen her for a while. I’m out of touch with the others. Okay, so I’m a loner and don’t have many friends at all. As usual, I digress.

I wonder if Ms. Butler would like to crawl back into a time machine to the days in which TSTL heroines let asshole heroes treat them like dirt? That was romance publishing not so very long ago.

Look, I’m not a huge (non-romantic) erotica fan. But I don’t care if folks write it, read it, roll around in it. I don’t write M/M romances, but I have friends who do (Ally Blue, Jules Jones and others), and they’re damned good at it. I’ve enjoyed those books. They are romances, with deeper characterization than most of the crap on the shelves these days. Oy, I have nothing very original to say about this nonsense I suppose. But I wanted to post my picture (my hair is much, much better these days, believe me) simply to “stand behind” my fringe human sisters and brothers. They count. They vote. They buy books. And they probably don’t give a damn about RWA’s notion of what kind of relationships they should have. I’ve never had a “fringe” group try to impose anything on me. Give it up, lady.

Lords of Ch’i Earrings Second Chance!

Will this Elven warlord be conquered by lust? Cast out by an usurper to her clan’s throne, warrior Silver SanMartin throws herself at the mercy of her compelling enemy, Jet Atraud. The sexy warlord rules his Elven clan with an iron fist, but Silver finds she lords some power of her own. Jet can’t keep his eyes—or his hands—off his lovely captive. In a battle to gain self-control and maintain his ten-year oath of celibacy, Jet tries to focus on the task at hand—conquering the enemy clans. Despite his strong will and best intentions, Jet cannot ignore his growing love for Silver. But can a sworn enemy be trusted? (Warning, this book contains graphic sexual content and language.)

To enter the contest, just reply to this post and tell me why YOU should win these earrings! (Note–the winner will be picked at random on August 8; the answers are just for fun.) These were bought at www.thehungersite.com and my purchase donated 50 cups of food. It doesn’t cost anything to send one cup of food–just a half minute and a click of your mouse!
xoxo
Ciar

She’s Back! Madam Philomena Takes Your Questions

The final reading of the summer by my MIL, Madam Philomena. Phil is a little discouraged in her hit-or-miss record lately. So she’s willing to give it another try. Post your questions on writing or love, and if you like, include your birthdate (although I remind you, there are lots of good reasons to keep that private on the net). Remember–it’s all for fun! Do not quit your day job if Phil says you’re going to rock the world with your writing. ;o)

On Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Fame and Fortune

There’s no way I can write what I’d like here without coming off preachy. I know, how unuuuuusual, Terry. So I’ll just apologize upfront with a note that I aim this largely at myself.

So, fellow writers, show of hands–underneath all the “atta boys” and “nice jobs” and “you go, girls” how many times have you wanted to put your hands around a fellow writers’ neck and wring it until they let go of the Precious. The Precious being the contract, the contest win, the agent, the sales you can’t seem to achieve. Another show of hands–how often have you trashed said “successful” writer to your trusted good-friend (also a writer)? Come on, someone irks the hell out of you. Fame and fortune come sliding into their lives, unearned. They’re charmed! They don’t write better than you–they’ve turned to the Dark Side and been given special powers. Okay, I’m mixing my trilogies here.

This came up last night when my husband played the worst round of golf in his life (he’s a great golfer). His friend expressed a little glee at my husband’s misery (I witnessed it). His friend is not the golfer my husband is. So, a little hurt and a log of anger. Of course, they were both being babies. Isn’t it nice we writers don’t act this way? Ahem.

If you’ve gotten this far, perhaps I can share another tale I learned in martial arts. A frustrated student never practiced much, but always resorted to trickery to try to trip up a better competitor. He was very jealous of this fellow. His master instructor pulled him aside, and drew two lines in the sand, one half the length of the other. The longer line stood for the champion. “Grasshopper, without shortening your oponent’s line, how can you become his equal, even surpass him?” A shrug. The master extended the line of the jealous student to match the champion’s. “Only by improving your own skills. You cannot make him worse, you can only make yourself better.”

Note to self: let your jealousy motivate you to do better, not to trash others.

It’s So Personal

I’ve been reading a lot of interesting bits recently, of course about writing. My Samhain editor, Angie, has an interesting post about rejection (from an editor’s POV, obviously). And on Romance Divas, there was a discussion thread about “how hot to write to get better sales.” Got me thinking. What am I doing wrong? Am I doing anything wrong?

I feel like a square peg right now, and romance publishing is all round holes. (Excuse the suggestive metaphor; it actually fits the topic.) I’ve chatted with writer friends before along these lines: “You could heat it up and send it to…”; “You could put in a menage, and then it might be right for…”

My most recent shopping expedition (and the stats on romance sales) pretty much verified what we all know: sex sells. But I also had one of those “aha” moments as I read a novella chock full of sex scenes. BORING. The story lacked heart. Big time. I didn’t care how “hot” these two were for each other. It was like watching Paris Hilton pose for a camera–stick a pin in it, and it would pop into thin air.

I’ve been lost lately. Directionless. And I think I’ve figured out what put me here. I’ve been caught up in the “I should write hot stuff to get an agent, get published…” whirlwind. It works for everyone else, why shouldn’t it work for me? Because it’s not me. I lost touch with myself. I stopped falling in love with my heroes, too concerned about making them have hot sex. And in one case, I even became a little embarrassed about a submission, because it was outside my comfort zone. Didn’t want my name on it.

Shame on me! I know better. Motto for today: To thine own self be true.

Chatting with New Author Lyric James

Ciar: Welcome to Lyric James, Cobblestone Press author of erotic romances! My first interview on this blog. I was drawn to learning more about Lyric because 1) her name is so cool and 2) her website and blog are so gorgeous and 3) she seems like a relatively new writer. So, enough about me. Let me down slowly. Lyric James isn’t your real name, is it? How did you come up with it?

Lyric: No – LOL – Lyric is not my real name. I actually have a cousin named Lyrica and it crossed my mind one day. So, I just took the “a” off and voila! I wanted something that rolled off the tongue and Lyric James worked for me.

Ciar: And you aren’t married to that guy on your site, are you?
Lyric: Ummm. . .no. But, I am married to my own hero that I get to see in uniform every day. Henry and I have been married for 7 years and we have three children.

Ciar: You named these folks as your favorite writers: Catherine Coulter, Julia Quinn, Amanda Quick, Nora Roberts, Mia Zachary, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Jaci Burton, E. Lynn Harris, Dr. Suess, Barbara Park, Eoin Colfer, Jenny Nimmo, Lemony Snickett, J.K. Rowling, and John Grisham. I really like that list of writers. I’m an unapologetic Nora fan myself. You’re also a middle school librarian. How does this influence your writing? Have you considered doing young adult? I guess you don’t read your own work aloud to the adolescents–they’d arrest you.
Lyric: And you know what, I didn’t list them all either. There are so many more I could mention. Right now, being a middle school librarian doesn’t influence my writing at all since I write erotic. . .can’t share that with my kiddos. LOL. But yes, one day I would love to write a young adult and I actually have one brewing around in my head. . .so, we’ll see.

Ciar: Tell us about your (first is it?) release with Cobblestone. No, not your blurb, but what clutched at your heart and made you write this book.
Lyric: This book actually does have a long history. I wrote it about two years ago as a writing challenge with my critique group. We were all going to write a short story to submit to Arabella Magazine. Of course it didn’t get accepted by Arabella, but it left me with the background for something much more. . .which is now “A Thin Line.”

Ciar: Why Aruba?
Lyric: I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Aruba and I haven’t made it yet. But I will. Of course, I’ll have to bring my hero with me.

Ciar: Okay, now I have a bone to pick with you (or maybe it’s not with you). I once heard an African American writer complain that white writers describe non-whites as food-colored. A number of other writers chimed in, equally insensed! Milk-chocolate, etc. I crawled into a hole, basically, realizing that my favorite character in a fantasy of mine was described as caramel-colored. AHA! Read Lyric’s excerpt! Seriously, is there a difference between African-American romance writing besides the color of your skin and that of your characters? Who have been your role models in that regard? Are there stereotypes you work to avoid?
Lyric: ROFL You know, there are not that many ways you can describe “brown.” African Americans are so many different shades. And when I type brown right now and click my thesaurus . . .this is what shows up. . .chocolate, coffee, tan, russet, brunette, auburn, tanned, sunburned. I also get ginger, golden brown. And honestly, when I see some of these words, I think of a white person, i.e. tan, brunette, tanned. And let’s face it, chocolate is redeemed to be rich and decadent. But, I’ve recently brainstormed and come up with some “different” descriptives. So, we’ll see.

Ciar: What’s the best part about writing so far? The worst?
Lyric: The best part of writing so far was Cobblestone Press sending me a contract for my book. Selling a story is always the best part for me. And I’ve sold three so far, which makes me a very happy person.
The worst part is having so many story ideas in my head and not enough time or energy in the day to get them all on paper. I try to be a multi-tasker, but sometimes you can only concentrate on one at a time.

Ciar: Okay, the dreaded stranded-on-a-desert-island question: you get to take one man, one object, one food. Who/what are they?
Lyric: Man – my husband, Object – a computer with internet,
Food – chocolate

Ciar: Reality TV or drama? What’s your favorite movie?
Lyric: Drama. I can’t stand reality TV. Well, that’s not exactly true. I do watch America’s Next Top Model (my girls love it) but I won’t watch any of the others. I get enough reality in my own life. When I watch TV I want to watch fiction. It just like reading a book to me, I want an escape and reality TV just doesn’t do it for me. I don’t think I have a favorite movie. There are several movies that I can watch over and over and over again and not get bored (Sleepless in Seattle, anything Star Trek, The Brothers…

Ciar: Tell us anything you’d like about your website, WIPs, friends, writing, etc. Thanks very much for indulging my Passion! xoxo
Lyric: www.lyricjamesbooks.net
http://lyricjames.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/lyricjames
http://thenoveltygirls.blogspot.com

Mayan Nights Print Contest Winner!

It’s out! Mayan Nights is now available at Amazon in paper!

Kimberly S (Darque Dreamer) won a signed copy!

No Reason, Just Because

Finally got some photos scanned and just thought these were funny.

Great Kahuna Review

Thanks to Angel at Romance Junkies for this 4.5 rating and kind words! “Ciar Cullen has done an excellent job of bringing together fantasy and drama in a tale that is sure to go on the keeper shelf.”

For more on the book, visit Loose ID.
Read the full review at Romance Junkies.