Sisters of the Moon - My Critique Groups

Yesterday Theresa talked about writing friends. We writers know that some of our best writing friends are our critique partners. I'm lucky to have TWO wonderful critique groups, my Sisters of the Moon and my "Writers Group"

My Writers Group includes my first writing friends. Julie and I met in 1995 in a Creative Writing class at our local community college. After the class ended we formed a small group, not even knowing enough to call it a critique group. Helen joined shortly after. I'd known Helen before because our husbands are coworkers. Everyone else quit and later Helen, Julie, and I added Virginia, another of my husband's coworkers. Together we all joined RWA and Washington Romance Writers. Gradually I became the only one writing regularly (although Julie is writing now and Helen plans to start again) so all the focus was on me! These ladies are skilled writers and widely-read readers. Helen is a professional editor; Virginia, a librarian. They are great editors, very good with words, very good at knowing what in a story works for them and what doesn't, and are good with history. I treasure them.

We are friends who do other things together sometimes, like attend craft fairs, attend the same parties, go to the movies. Every Christmas we wear hats and go out to lunch, as we're pictured here, left to right: Virginia, me, Helen, Julie

Much as I loved my Writers Group, I felt I needed help to push me from unpublished to published. The more I learned about the romance publishing business, the more I understood it was a business. I decided I needed a critique group with a specific focus on being published. I eventually found the perfect group of two published, one unpublished, writers, all writing series romance, which I was targeting at the time. I was invited into the critique group of (left to right in the photo below) Darlene Gardner, (me), Karen Anders, and Lisa Dyson.

One of the original members named the group Sisters of the Moon because of the quote:
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.

I joined the group around 1999. Darlene and Karen had both been published by Intimate Moments but were having difficulty selling again. So together, we were all trying to figure out how to break in. And we were all very serious about it. It didn't take long for Darlene to sell again and to find a home at Superromance. Karen broke back into Blaze. I decided to switch to Regency Historicals and sold to Mills & Boon. Lisa has come very close. First to Duets, but the line folded, then to Everlasting, but the line folded. She's sooooo close! Darlene is very smart about what makes a good romance, the elements of story and the business of romance writing. Lisa is a master at discovering inconsistencies or illogical elements. Karen taught me tons about sexual tension and the crafting of a love scene. (see her blog on the subject)

Two years ago, Karen moved to North Carolina and another friend, Elizabeth Holcombe, joined us before her craft business took off like hot cakes. So now it is just Darlene, Lisa, and me, but we are very proud of our skills and know we make each other's work better.

Both my Sisters of the Moon and my Writers Group have helped me hone my writing skills, learn what makes a good story, learn what makes a marketable story, and learn how to sell it. I credit them all with my writing success. They were there for the manuscript that won the Golden Heart and became my first book, and for the one that won the RITA. Most of all, they are there to support me; to celebrate my successes and lament my disappointments.

Each of my critique groups meets about every other week and each read before the meeting. We email our work ahead of time.

Do you have a critique group? How does yours work?
Do they help you land among the stars?
How does yours work?

Labels: critique groups, Darlene Gardner, Diane Gaston, Karen Anders

posted by Diane Gaston @ 12:13 AM 7 comments

Three Tips for a Sizzling Love Scene by Karen Anders

We're delighted to have Blaze author Karen Anders with us today. Karen and I were long-time critique partners (still are, sometimes) and I vouch for the fact that she can make a Love Scene Sizzle! Karen's TENTH Blaze will be on book shelves March 1. Up Close and Dangerously Sexy receives a Harlequin Series Spotlight for March, in honor of Harlequin's Diamond Anniversary. Listen to this lady. She knows what she's talking about! Diane

Use the five senses
Storytelling involves description and it’s an integral part. If we do it well, the reader can place themselves right there in the story: “The surging waves warred with the blackness of the ruby-smudged twilight.” Or simply, “fire-engine red.” But descriptions are only part of the story. Immerse your reader into the story by using the five senses (touch, sound, taste, smell, as well as sight) in your fiction, your story will come alive for the reader.


Don’t Make it About Body Parts
Sex is a physical act, but people with emotions, moods, and thoughts are involved. Where he puts his hand and where she puts her lips are important as it gives the reader an intimate view into the couple’s life. But, when writing love scenes, try to keep the emphasis on the relationship and the characters. The characters should go into the love scene in a vulnerable state. They’re risking their heart here and it should be emotional. They may think it’s only sex, but we as authors and readers know that it’s so much more. Use the conflict that you’ve built to generate doubts so that your characters have a richer love scene. Your characters will seem more human if they worry about taking that step or if they take that step too lightly. Show how they feel without just relying on the obvious physical signs, because it's not just their bodies that are involved.

Sex is Part of the Plot
Even thought your characters get together because all romance characters get together, you need to use that scene to further your plot. Something can be discovered during it. The scene can show a character something that’s important to the story. Make it meaningful and not gratuitous because that’s part of the genre formula. Before writing a love scene, ask yourself what changes in the story that’s crucial to the plot.

I’d like to thank the fabulous Diane Gaston and the rest of the posse for having me.

Now it's your turn. What do you think makes a love scene sizzle? What POV do you like better in a love scene--hero or heroine?
Up Close and Dangerously Sexy, Book #1, Undercover Lovers Miniseries, Blaze, 3/09
"Surf's Up" in the Endless Summer Anthology w/ Julie Kenner & Jill Monroe, Blaze, 7/09
Dangerous Curves, Blaze, Book #2, Undercover Lovers Miniseries, 10/09
Wanted (wt), Blaze, Book #3, Undercover Lovers Miniseries, 4/10
www.karenanders.com (New Launch Now!)

Labels: Blaze, Karen Anders, love scenes

posted by Diane Gaston @ 12:05 AM 16 comments

This Week on the Wet Noodle Posse

Labels: Diane Gaston, Dr. Debra Holland, Karen Anders, Theresa Ragan, writing romance

posted by Mo H @ 7:02 PM 0 comments

Inspiration - Grab it when you can by Diane Gaston

My friend Karen Anders (here with me at the 2001 RWA conference) is a fountain of story ideas. They come pouring out of her-good ideas, often complete with character names and settings-too many to possibly write. Me, I’m lucky if I have one idea at a time, and I always live in fear of my idea fountain running completely dry.

I'll never have those grand, full-blown ideas like Karen has, but what I've discovered is, all I need is a glimmer of an idea.

The Mysterious Miss M started with a glimmer of an idea. I was entering lots of contests for unpublished writers at the time and I had this notion that I needed a very strong and memorable first scene, because contests typically involve the first pages of a ms. I wanted something to make those editor or agent final judges sit up and take notice. So I hit on the idea of a sex scene in Chapter One. I asked myself, “What sort of Regency lady would have sex in Chapter One?” That’s how my idea grew.

Mostly for me the glimmer is a character. My Harlequin Historicals have all been connected so there is always a character in one book who becomes the hero or heroine of the next book. Then I ask, “Who would this character fall in love with? What is the worst thing that could happen to the character?” I build the story from there. For example, for Emily, the heroine of The Wagering Widow, the worst person for her to fall in love with was a gambler, and what if she married him? Cyprian Sloane of A Reputable Rake was a sort of bad guy in Wagering Widow. For his story, I thought, what if he wanted to become reputable? What sort of woman would ruin his chances?


Sometimes an idea comes from unexpected places. One day I found a book on the Barnes & Noble sales rack, Buried Alive: The Terrifying History Of Our Most Primal Fear by Jan Bondeson. I got it in my head that it would be a cool idea to have my hero buried alive. That was the genesis of my Diane Perkins book, The Marriage Bargain.

Sometimes an idea comes late, but when you find it, you know you have your story idea at last. The idea for my October 2008 book, Scandalizing the Ton, initially came from characters, Adrian Pomroy from Innocence and Impropriety and Lydia from The Vanishing Viscountess.
I built a whole story around them, proposed it to my editor who accepted it, but said, “Diane, do you realize you have ended three other books with an abduction?” Doh! I could not do that again. My friend Julie came upon the idea of making use of the scandal and newspapers and gossip, a minor element in my original story. I knew instantly that this was the key. I have been fascinated by the phenomenon of celebrity and the paparazzi. All I had to do was bring that into my Regency.

My point is, you don’t have to have a full-blown idea, just a glimmer of one that excites you. Then build upon it.

And you really only need one idea at a time.

Have you ever built a story on only a glimmer of an idea? Where do your glimmers come from?

Read an excerpt from Scandalizing the Ton on my website. Enter my contest. Scandalizing the Ton will be available in bookstores October 2008.

Labels: Diane Gaston, Karen Anders

posted by Diane Gaston @ 12:15 AM 13 comments