Posts from — July 2009

Death at a Funeral trailer. One of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a while. Alan Tudyk is brilliant. (He’s given “Valium” to calm his nerves, but it really isn’t Valium.) Hilarious! I need to get this movie on DVD.

I watched He’s Just Not That Into You this weekend. Eh… It definitely had its moments. Drew Barrymore should have been in it more. She was one of the characters I actually liked.

Look what I got in my email today–the cover for single title release for Warrior Lover. I had heard a rumor they were talking about releasing the novellas in Nectar of the Gods separately, but never received word from TEB about it. I guess this is my notification. I am glad they are breaking the anthology up, it was priced too high, especially in this economy.

Here’s the blurb TEB wrote for Warrior Lover:

June 6, 1944 – Belle is part of the French Resistance, fighting for freedom from the Nazis that have taken control of her country. She feels most comfortable with a rifle in hand, and earns the respect of the Allied Forces, always sure of her actions. That is until Lieutenant Colonel A. Riese appears on the French shores for the long awaited invasion.

Ares wants to take part in this war, and he wants to win. When he encounters Belle, he can’t resist this mortal woman with the face of a goddess and the heart of a warrior. Will the mighty Ares, Greek god of War, be defeated by love?

Some reviews about Warrior Lover:

“Ms. LaCroix delves right into war, love and the way the gods/goddesses play with mortals right off the bat. With the right amount of passion, adrenaline and purpose, she delivers a story that will keep you reading…I really enjoyed the way Belle went toe to toe with Ares over his highhandedness and the characters really come alive in Warrior Lover. Ms. LaCroix does a fabulous job capturing her characters and the way she made the setting of the story come alive made me feel like I was there beside them.” ~Love Romances & More

“Ms. LaCroix is telling a story about the phenomenon that love always finds a way even to times where all what people have is hope. Belle’s life has changed since the invasion of the Nazis in France. Since then she only knows death and violence. She has never experienced love at the hands of a man, just humiliation, force and rape. Ares is about to change that only to experience that he is about to be changed by love as well. It’s not easy to voice yourself while having events of WWII as background of a romance story, but Ms. LaCroix mastered it with the right amount of emotion and an excellent pacing of the story, that makes Warrior Lover a recommended read.” ~ Cupid’s Library Reviews

“Taking an actual historical event and using it as the backdrop for a work of fiction has been done many, many times. It takes a talented author to do this and make it work without doing disservice to those involved in said past events. Ms. LaCroix is undoubtedly among those with this talent. This novel remains true to the historic events of the story while incorporating paranormal aspects which make for a fascinating tale. Watching the centuries old God of War fall for a mortal, albeit an amazing and heroic one, was a delight. And as for Belle falling for Ares . . . you will wish you were in her shoes as he sweeps her away (literally) and gives in to his desires. This short tale is a well crafted and well told one which will linger in your thoughts long after ‘The End’” ~Novelspot

When I organized the Nectar of the Gods anthology, we subbed it to TEB because it would go to print. But before the book was released, the print program was put on the back burner. I see now they are doing print again, but the antho did not sell too well as an ebook. I don’t really expect it to go to print at this point. It is a real shame. I think it would have sold best as a print book. Oh well.

Still, in my mind, Ares is, and will always be, Brooks Johnson. Even my kids call Brooks “Ares”. LOL They had the Warrior Lover poster in their room only until a few months ago when I took it back. For the longest time, Brooks was up there with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Heh…Brooks was the only model who “got” the whole model sandwich concept while at RT in Pittsburgh. (Well, Brooks and thriller author Barry Eisler) Brooks literally cheered at the suggestion of being pressed between two women. LOL!

**Note: In looking for reviews for my book, I came across a pirate site “file sharing” several of my books. *sigh* Friggin’ pirates.

Today I had a surprise. Renee Rocco (or the “Devil Woman” from Devil Woman’s Lair) gave me a call just to shoot the breeze. I met Renee when I worked at Red Rose Publishing doing the store set up and cover art. (No, I never had a vested interest in RRP, much to the rumors I’ve heard. I was a paid employee.) Let me tell you, my cover making skills pale in comparison to her work. She’s since broke off to start her own company, Lyrical Press. The site is gorgeous and the cover art is past impressive.

It is nice to chat with someone you hit it off with right away. Gosh how long did we talk, an hour? Got to love those free minute weekends!

I haven’t been buying too many ebooks lately. I do buy from eHarlequin or at eBookwise simply because it is a one stop shop for my eBookwise reader. I use my Pocket PC to read PDF or Mobi. I definitely prefer my eBookwise. (I want to get a Sony reader, but they are just too pricy. Maybe when I go back to work I will.) Anyway, I went over to Lyrical and picked up the Tales from the Shadows anthology. Isn’t that cover gorgeous? Love it.

I definitely needed that hour time out. I finished a rewrite and I’m onto another right now. Polishing is never done.

I am totally in love with Nox Arcana. I love their music. It is perfect when writing paranormal. It is creepy, dark, gothic…perfect. I am slowly collecting their albums off iTunes. (I don’t buy CDs anymore.) So far I have Transylvania and Grimm Tales. I bought Phantoms of the High Seas this morning. It’s brilliant.

They have a new one this month called Blackthorn Asylum. All in good time, I want to enjoy Phantoms first. You all know how I love pirates and high seas adventure.

(Note: The Death card is one I pulled this morning. It is a good card despite the dark tone. It means transition, rebirth, starting anew. It almost never means an actual physical death.)

Yes, I listen to music while writing. To set the mood (and drown out my kids arguing over who is #1 Wii remote). I love Nox Arcana for the creepy scenes.

As for writing romance I listen to some movie soundtracks. I like Pride and Prejudice, but I mainly listen to the “booksoundtracks” put out a few years ago. You can’t even find them online anymore. I picked them up at a Romantic Times convention. (I even went out to dinner with the guys–along with a few other authors–to the Riverfront Restaurant, St. Louis’ only revolving restaurant.) I am sad the project didn’t take off. The CDs were wonderful.

I am sitting here typing away, fleshing out my heroine a bit so she comes off more three dimentional and as I write, I draw from my own life, my own feelings. How many writers do the same? I’d love to know. I mean, I write my own experiences for my heroines all the time. Alexia in Fated Passion was very, very close to me as the heroine. I wrote the novella based on a relationship I had with John (the filmmaker). (Oh please, he knows and loves to brag about it.) I remember using things we said to each other in the book. Of course, we went our separate ways in real life, the characters had a HEA. (As for John, we’ve been talking online for about 6 years now, and we still like to joke around. He’s quite the card. LOL)

I use not so emotional experiences in my books as well. I remember writing about a pet I had as a child in NJ, a pony named Peanuts. Here’s the snip of that from Descendants of Darkness. Jolie, a Tarot card reader, sits and reflects on her life (before the appearance of Alonso the vampire):

She believed in magic completely, which was why she took the trip to the cemetery. She made her livelihood reading Tarot and knew the cards never lied. Psychic gifts were a part of her life, ever since she could remember. Even as a child, her mother swore Jolie was special.

When she was about four, she had a pet pony. Jolie loved the pony like anyone would love a pet dog or cat. This pony, Peanuts, thought he was a dog—at least he acted like one. They were buddies and had played every day.

Then one night, Jolie had sensed something very wrong. She cried and screamed the night through, driving her mother to the verge of tears. The next morning, they found Peanuts dead, hit by a truck in the street. Apparently, he had gotten out of his pen during the night. Even as a child, Jolie had known it was the pony’s love for her that had driven him to seek her out. She had sensed the impending danger that caused her such turmoil that night.

Since then, Jolie had become more aware of her sixth sense. No, the dead didn’t talk to her, but she could sense things before they happened. Naturally, Tarot card reading came easily to her.

It is no surprise either that I, myself, read the Tarot. I do have a knack for it ever since college. In fact, my “talent” for my sorority was reading Tarot. I did readings and discovered people had more little secrets than they ever let on.

Right now my book’s heroine is evolving in my head. She looks nothing like me, but dang, the internal stuff is me in that situation. How many authors do the same?

My friend Shara Azod asked me about my character Sophia in the Beast in My Bed series. She was surprised when she found out I was a white woman and I could write a black woman so well. I don’t know how I did it, I just put myself in the role and Sophia reacted like I would. You hear a dude screaming bloody murder with fangs and hair bursting from his body, you don’t think. You run. In writing a AA heroine or hero, I don’t think skin color. I think, how would I react?

So, you writers who are coming here and reading (and not commenting), here’s your chance to comment. How much of yourself do you write into your characters? And what about the people you know or knew once-upon-a-time?

UPDATES @825p

Just had a talk with the husband, explaining my writing is hitting a little too close to home. He tells me (and I am paraphrasing here), “You can have your fantasies. Write them down. If you don’t live through your character, readers and your publisher will know.” There is more to it than living through a character here. I have several characters in the book based on people (er, okay MEN) I know, and it is freaking me out to the point I don’t want them to even read this once it is done because I am exposing a bit too much of me–my thoughts, my fantasies. (Yes, hubby knows the hero is based on a real guy.) It isn’t even the bedroom scenes either, its the internal dialogue, etc. My hubby just brushed it off and told me to not worry and just write from the heart. Isn’t that the coolest thing?

I still don’t want the guys to read this though. I don’t think I will be able to talk a coherent sentence to them without blushing anymore.

Seriously.

LOL

However, I do feel a whole lot better.

The Dark Pit. It’s what I call my place where nothing else matters other than the book I am writing. I mean NOTHING matters other than the book. I could be sitting at the table at dinner, but I am not REALLY there. I am thinking about a scene. Yes, writers work even if we don’t actually look like we are. I don’t really listen to anyone talking to me in the Dark Pit. Husband will come in my office and say something and I don’t even hear him. I think he doesn’t realize that if I am sitting back with my hands on my head that I am actually thinking…working. Once he does get my attention, I am brought out of the Pit, and I don’t like that. It does take me a while to get back in the zone once I’ve been disturbed. When writing Crossed Swords I actually had to go to the library every day just to escape. Now I am going to impliment the closed door policy. Don’t bother me if the door is closed. Period.

Anyway, above is a picture of my little haven. My new haven and it is already messy. I am not into cutsie or a lot of fluff. Not a stuffed animal in sight. (There’s a ton in the kids’ room if I need a fluffy friend. Although my dog usually takes care of that fluffy need. She lays on my feet under the desk. I do think she is glad I moved back into the office. The kids do chase her around sometimes and this gives her an escape. Not that she can’t handle herself–all 62 pounds of her. Yes, mommy’s baby–my writing buddy–is a big baby.)

You can see I have a little collection of books on my desk. This is only a small portion of my books. I have everything from The History of Pirates to Forensics: A Guide for Writers to The Elements of Style. I also have my tabletop standee for Pirate’s Mistress. Some people like that cover. I’m not too crazy about it. What is the chick doing, I have no idea. And as much as I love Captain Jack Sparrow, I didn’t want a knock off on my cover…but I had no input on that. On my wall I have pictures of character inspirations. Ryan from Crossed Swords is on the left with his long blond hair. I have a poster of Warrior Lover (pictured) because it has Brooks Johnson on there. (Brooks is on the cover of Men After Midnight. He is a great guy…and he gives THE BEST hugs ever. Damn…*fanning self*) I also have a pic of Gerard Butler on the wall along with Chris Howell (a super nice model we hung out with at RT 2008 in Pittsburgh.) And of course, some kiddie artwork. I have artwork everywhere. And the multiple thumb drives I save to.

The most used thing on my desk (aside from my laptop) is my phone. A weekday ain’t complete without a call or two with Annmarie. LOL I’m not much of a texter, I rather talk. In fact, I rather talk than email. I do tend to lose emails within a day. They get buried in the crap sent to me. Yeah, I will scan for the select few people I want to talk to, but if I can just pick up the phone, it is much better for me. I’m not much of a fan for IM either. I have a friend who won’t use the phone ever…she will only IM. It is okay though, she is one person I don’t mind bending over for if she has a question or needs a pep talk.

For more images of other romance writers’ desk areas, check out The Writer’s Caves at Paige Curraco’s site.