Are you writing a Steampunk?

Just wondering, cause there are a lot of tweets and whatnots going around. Evidently a few RWAers chatted amongst themselves about Steampunk being the next big thing, and I have heard that Meljean Brook has a contracted series coming soon.

So raise your hand, if you dare! Are you writing a steampunk romance? What’s it about? Is it hard steampunk, as I’ll call the sort that is immersed in the details of alternative technologies? Or Softsteam, as I’ll dub the book I just wrote (and am reworking for my very, very patient editor)–meaning that it’s not heavy on technology but does have a Victorian alternate universe?

I’d love to start a group of like-minded struggling pulling our freaking hair out this is so freaking hard but exciting to write authors. What do you think? You in? You giving up? Or do you lay awake deciding what your cover will look like?

WINNER! Ciar Recommends: Beauty Tempts the Beast by Leslie Dicken WIN THIS BOOK

Congrats to Leslie, who wins this book!

To win this book, just leave a comment and I’ll draw a name at random on Friday.

I’m terrible at plot summaries, so I’m letting Leslie Dicken describe her book in her own words:
Is the enemy of her enemy a friend…or a beast?

Lord Ashworth is scarred by a night of terror years ago that left his face in ruins and his life in shreds. He hides in Silverstone Manor, using rumors that paint him as a horrible, murdering monster to keep visitors at bay. Yet he can’t shake the feeling that the rumors might be true. He tells himself it’s better this way. If his memories ever resurface, at least he will be the only one hurt by them.

The woman on his doorstep, however, simply refuses to fear him. That’s not only an oddity, it’s a threat to his secret…and his heart.

Vivian Suttley has seen the face of evil more than once in her young life. She’s on the run from the latest, a cruel man determined to force her to marry him. Whatever the whispers about the reclusive Ashworth, surely it’s nothing compared to the bleak, violent future she leaves behind.

Ashworth saved her once before, and he’s her last hope for refuge. Yet she wonders if she’s truly safer at Silverstone—or if she has just made the biggest mistake of her life.

I bet Ms. Dicken (aka Jordanna Kay) spent many a youthful hour reading the same post-Victorian gothic romances I did, notably Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. A dash of Heathcliffe, a sprinkling of more modern eroticism (the book is graphic, but not overly so–hmnn, that’s not so descriptive), a villian, a (someone or something) hidden behind closed doors, and you have a modern Gothic. This was a fun read that moved quickly for me. Dicken’s hero is delicious, of course, with the requisite scar on his face and on his soul. The heroine is plucky yet melts in the hero’s embrace. The villain is heinous, and the ending is happy.

I thought this book was written with great care, lots of feeling, lots of longing, and good description. At times it became a trifle repetitious (maybe a few less “I’m a monster” moments), but all in all, I think any fan of classic gothic romances who wants a bit more heat will love Beauty Tempts the Beast. Want to win a copy? Just comment below!

A stroll

I’ve started and erased so many posts recently. Only a few friends land here, and I find myself collecting dragon’s eggs (a silly thing I picked up at Romance Divas) and avoiding talk of a conference I can’t afford to attend. Hmnn, pretty sure if I went back a year, I’d find a post similar to this.

I’ve been running, and doing edits, and collecting bits of summer that this year, probably with the passing of my mom, don’t feel so freeing. I can’t make myself pick up a seashell, because of the eulogy I wrote about her doing that very thing.

In any case, I’m brainstorming with my editor, trying to rescue a book I can’t let go of. Going through final line edits, flitting about various sites, landing on nothing. My crit partner suggested I take a break until September, but I’m afraid I have this writing bug. So I feel the pull to write, but not the fortitude to do so well. This will pass, always does.

Right now, it’s good enough that I have an amazing new cover for a book releasing in September. ) A feast for the senses. Samhain simply doesn’t disappoint when it comes to covers.

Oh, and Michael Jackson. Still the songs are popping up in my brain. And the thoughts that some express, others won’t. Do I forget the accusations? Did he really father those blonde children? Do I care? Of course not. And aren’t there more important issues in the world. Of course. Uh, Billie Jean currently playing in the neural background.

Writing as an Endurance Sport

I’ve probably picked up running ten times over the last few decades. I started in my thirties when I was an aerobics instructor (no, I didn’t wear those leg warmers), in my forties to get in shape for my black belt test, and again now, to try to stave off a few of the ailments of middle age. Of course, it hurts more now. The little aches and pains you have to ignore. I just signed up for my first half-marathon (go ahead, you real runners, laugh it up). I have the 12-week training plan posted over my computer. It gets ugly at about week 4.

For now, it’s good enough that I can run continuously for about 3 miles. That’s what I’ve been doing for a while. For now, it’s good enough that I write about 1000 words at each sitting. I don’t see how I’ll ever have the time to do much more than that. But I need to make those 1000 words better. Immer besser. Because just like in running, it doesn’t move you forward to do the same thing and expect better results. In fact, your body gets used to the same excersize, and it takes more. And guess what? The market is getting less forgiving of the same ol’ half-baked erotic novellas and urban fantasies. In my humble opinion, as they say.

So how do you get better? How do you crank up creativity, your writing chops, your marketing saavy, with the same resources–time, money, whatever? Cause it’s no fun to be “stuck.” I think you need a training program. You can’t google one like I did for a half-marathon. I think you have to create your own, and call on all your writing world friends to help you construct a plan to move forward.

Some seminal psychological writings tell us that doing the same thing each time and expecting a different result is, well, nuts.

So tell me how you are trying to move forward in your writing, or if you’re a reader, in some other aspect of your life? On a wing and a prayer, or with real intent?

You need to read my book.

I got a cute review today from “You Gotta Read Reviews.” Now I didn’t get the “you gotta read” rating, but the next best one, “you need to read.” The rating system is kinda cute. Anyway, thanks Laura: “The reader is led along a merry path of adventure that is never boring or distracting. Ms. Cullen has created a world that seems full of promise for future stories which I intend to indulge in.”