regency kick

Upon finishing After The Kiss by Suzanne Enoch, my mind began racing with an idea I've had before, concerning a series that would most likely fall into the category of historical romance set in the Regency Era. I know these books wouldn't be Regencies, because honestly, I like my love scenes...

And I like em' intense!

Regencies tend to leave out those more detailed scenes and end with an embrace or kiss.
So...like I normally do when bludgeoned by an idea, I start reading everything in my power revolving around it.

After the Kiss was very well-written and a great story, but something about it just didn't excite me like I know some novels can. The plot was realistic and not over the top like some historicals can be, it had plenty of love scenes, developed characters.. I really can't put my finger on any one thing that made reading it anything but enjoyable. It just lacked...something.

But, it did remind me of the idea I mentioned above and made me dig in my notebooks to find it and jot down more notes.

In my TBR pile, I had a Georgette Heyer novel, and though I was supposed to start New Moon as soon as I finished After the Kiss (sorry Ariana), I couldn't help picking up A Lady of Quality and dive in. Three days later, I am reminded how amazing Georgette Heyer is as a writer and storyteller.

Her dialogue is masterful, especially with all the slang, terms and grammar of the Regency period. Her wit is unparallel, her characters fierce and her plots traditional, yet timeless. The only complaint I had was the tendency to head-hop, making the writing lose pace. Other than that, I remember why it can be important to research if you plan to write a novel. It makes it sooo much better!

And there was only kissing and embracing. I didn't really miss it, since I knew what I was getting into, but personally I wouldn't be able to write a novel without more....

Now, I'm almost done with Valerie King's A Country Flirtation, which I wasn't quite sure I would like because it started out pretty cheesy. Now, I'm really enjoying it and will probably finish it tonight.

I posted a couple requests for recommendations on the romance message boards and checked out the authors given. I was a little disappointed with the plots of a lot of them. I'm not a fan of the woman seducing the man, or of the rake who seduces a woman for her fortune then falls in love. Overdone! I'm looking for something original, but then, that's why I'm writing my own series, right? Still, I was able to find a couple that looked good, from author's like Elizabeth Boyle, Liz Carlyle, and Barbara Metzger.

Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions. Shae, you are the queen of Regency and historical romance, help me out here!

Otherwise, I finished notes for "Plot & Structure" by Bell and will provide them for anyone who would like them. Now onto the next...

Quote of the Day: Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable. ~Francis Bacon

knee deep in NANOness

I apologize to the three, possible four people that follow my blog. The end of October and the beginning of November have been massive months for everything, including a conglomeration of projects.

Halloween marked a scary day. I began the initial read through of the first draft of my novel. It was tough to let it sit for about a month without looking at it and changing bits and pieces. I thought about my story a lot though, and kept an "After Notes" document open for things that popped into my head that I wanted to add, take away, or research. After I finished my NANO words for the day on 10/31 (because I knew Nov. 1 I would be working all day for EOM) I printed out my newly formatted manuscript, all 390 pages of it, and snapped open a fresh red pen. And so it began.. I'm only about 60 pages into it and let's just say there is probably more red on the page than black. Needless to say, I made copious notes, and lines and comments and questions and stars and underlines. It's actually kind of fun. I feel like a teacher, giving the student tons of feedback. It's overwhelming to know what I will come back to once the first read-through is complete, but I'm just trying to take it one step at a time.

I bought two books, From First Draft to Finished Novel, by Karen Wiesner, a sequel to her first book, First Draft in 30 Days, and Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. Karen's books are wonderful. I even have a novel outlined with her program, ready to be written, but I held off on that one because it's a time-travel and I wanted to begin with a more contemporary romantic suspense for my debut. See, I've got this all planned out! ;-P Anyway, I know Karen, with her more anal style and organization techniques, will get me to a final product. And Mr. Bell, I loved his book on Plot & Structure, so I could only assume anything he did for the Write Great Fiction series would be top notch.

Other than that, I'm about 11,000 words into my NANOWRIMO project. For those of you who've never heard of such a thing, it's National Novel Writing Month. Which happens to be November. Chris Baty began this thing a while back in San Francisco, where people get together and write like crazy to say they have written a 50,000 word novel. I'm sure there's a lot more to it. You can check it out a the website and maybe participate next year! I had heard of it before, but it seems to be gaining more and more popularity. I say power to everyone who is willing to try! And for those who succeed, you are one step ahead of many people who call themselves writers! Keep it going!

I'm working on my mechanic/financial analyst category romance and it's coming along nicely. I already had the plot set to go, but NANO really helps get your characters and creative license moving. It'll be tough in a couple weeks when Thanksgiving comes around and then EOM AGAIN for me. But I'm gonna try my darndest to make that 50,000 mark. Shae is already calling for a write-a-thon. I'm always game.

So let's do this!

Quote of the Day: A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960