“A date with my character(s)” contest winners

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write and send me a contest entry telling me which of my characters you’d like to get to know better for a chance to win a signed ARC of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC. I had so much fun reading about your dates with various characters. I really, really wish I had enough ARCs to give to everyone since you all deserve it, but alas, I only have three for this contest.

The entries I’ve chosen as my winners (in no particular order) are as follows — and the authors have already been notified by email that they have won…..

 

Winner #1: Andrew L.

**SPOILER WARNING if you haven’t read SOMETHING WICKED**

While you have written some very hot female leads, if I could pick a character of yours to go out with I’d have to go with Lucas, from the living in eden series, because even though I’m a guy and straight as an arrow, I mean, come on it’s the beast, the fallen angel, the price of darkness, evil incarnate! He’d have some of the best stories ever and I’d be willing to bet he knows how to pick up chicks.

I could beat anyone in the world in a “I had diner with…” story. I could go to a big fancy party with fancy food and five types of dinner forks and they’d be saying stuff like “oh, I had dinner with the mayor” and “well, I had dinner with the governor.” And I’d be like “oh yeah? Well I had dinner and a movie with the prince of darkness.”

Since I live in LA, there are parts of the city I stay away from, but if I was with Lucas I think I’d be pretty safe, he is the lord of darkness after all, no one messes with the prince of darkness. Plus if I get on his good side and I end up going to hell I know I’ll be taken care of. but where would we go? Well I do know this amazing little BBQ place they make a burger that’s so good it’s a sin (pun defiantly intended) and i think we’d go to a movie maybe, or a show! Then again, I am with Lucifer, so I think I could do whatever the hell we want. As for how he’d act, i’d imagine he’d be pretty nice, unless his alter ego takes over, but provided that does not happen I think we’d have fun! Sometimes I worry about myself.

Michelle: I loved that someone picked Lucas. He is a big favorite of mine and I think he’d be a hell of a date. Literally. And he definitely plays an important part in THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC.

You don’t make it easy, giving us so many boys to choose from. But of them all, I think I’d have to pick Darrak.

He’s hot.
He’s got a sense of humour.
He knows how to have a good time.
And did I mention he’s hot?

As for the date itself, no ordinary dinner and a movie for Darrak. I’m thinking a moonlit picnic on a grassy riverbank (cause sand gets in uncomfortable places), followed by a stroll by the river. There’d have to be a shadowed forest, and he’d take my hand to help me over the uneven ground and forget to let go. All that romance would need a little leavening however, so after that, we’d do something wild to get the adrenaline racing. Something like a fast drive on a narrow ocean side road.

After all that, we’d need to wind down. I mean, how can you sleep with all that adrenaline jacking you up? I won’t go into details about how we’d relax but….

He’s got to be a demon in the sack.

Michelle: Agreed on all counts. Darrak’s the most fun character I’ve ever written. Hot and funny as hell. What more could a girl ask for? Also, Eden does agree with the last line however she says to “get your hands off her demon.”

 

Winner #3: Toni L.

**SPOILER WARNING if you haven’t read Stakes & Stilettos and/or Tall Dark & Fangsome**

Are you kidding? Thierry, of course. Why? Because he’s a hot, sexy, slightly (slightly????) introverted vampire that needs a good old fashioned gal to fire up his juices. What would we do? Well, first we’d attend the local DRACULA festival, where he could explain (in his cute French accent) the differences between breeds of vampires and why DRACULA is so NOT representative of the modern vampire. Then we’d go to a nearby French café where over coffee and some delightful pastry he could regale me with tales of life two centuries ago, and his adventures as the Red Devil. Last but not least, we’d dance the night away at a local dance club because, as George Hamilton said in LOVE AT FIRST BITE, ‘I like the nightlife, I like to boogie”. And Boogie we would, right back to my apartment, where my four cats would no doubt turn tail and run at first gander at him. But then, with the soft music playing in the background, we’d do seductive strip-teases for each other and let our fingers (and lips and teeth) do the walking…..

Michelle: Sarah would not be happy with this entry, but I enjoyed it. I adore Thierry. I know it took some readers a while to warm up to him given his…um…reserved nature. I can’t wait for BLOOD BATH & BEYOND to come out so readers see more from him now that he’s opened up a bit more. Although…he’s definitely still reserved and incapable of telling a decent knock-knock joke. Can’t teach an old vampire too many new tricks.

Again, THANK YOU to all the entrants and CONGRATS to my winners!!!

Win 1 of 3 signed ARCs of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

I have three advance reading copies of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC up for grabs! This is the final book in my Living in Eden trilogy — it officially comes out December 6th. I’m very happy with this book and I hope readers enjoy Darrak and Eden’s further adventures as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Want to get your hands on an ARC? Of course you do!!

Instead of doing a random giveaway this time, I wanted to do something more fun — more creative. Basically I want you to entertain me! (It’s been a slow month.)

To enter, please send me an email about which of MY characters (any character, any book) you’d like to go out on a date with — and why. What would you do? Where would you go? How would he/she act? Make it earnest or tongue-in-cheek, short or long (not too long — anywhere from a paragraph to a page, or so), serious or funny, platonic or romantic — and keep it clean, please. My three favorite entries will be posted on my blog next Monday for everyone to enjoy and the winning entrants will each win an ARC of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC. International entries are more than welcome! Please copy and paste your entry in the body of your email since I won’t open attachments.

Send your entry (or entries) to michelle@michellerowen.com by Friday, September 23rd at 10:00pm EST. I will choose the winners, post them here on my blog (first name, last initial only for privacy) and notify the winners by email by  Sunday, September 25th 10:00pm EST.

Have fun with it! I look forward to reading your entries!

Michelle xoxo

The Deadly Sins of Romance Writing

I wrote this article for my RWA chapter newsletter, but thought I’d share it here as well….

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I know I still have tons to learn about writing, and romance writing in particular, but I also feel as if I’ve managed to get a decent grasp over what editors and agents are looking for over the last six years. I have also judged quite a few RWA-related contests over the years and have observed the same issues over and over again in pre-published authors. Issues that I believe will prevent the writer from finding an agent or editor, which, of course, is the ultimate goal of entering these contests.

These are just my opinion, really…and your mileage may vary… if it helps, then groovy. If it doesn’t — it’s your book and you should write it however you think it should be written!

That said, let’s begin with some of the things that have made me dock points for the contest entries I’ve judged……

THE UNSYMPATHETIC HEROINE

She’s a shrew, a bitch, sometimes an actual unapologetic whore who exudes greed and deception. Um…why should I care about her, again? Oh, because she’s going to have an amazing character arc that leads her to see that her behavior and actions have been wrong in the past? No thanks. I won’t be reading that far unless you show me something about her from the very first page that I can connect with.

THE BORING HEROINE

My favorite type of heroine to write is what I call the “everygal.” She has a normal job and a normal life (at the beginning, anyway). The heroines I’m seeing in contest entries are very normal. But they’re not particularly witty, or have dreams, or flaws that set them apart from anyone else. They’re just there. Not terribly attractive. A bit plump. With a job they like. Friends they like. And it all leads me to a big fat…so what? I like that the everygal heroine will inevitably land the deliciously hot alpha hero, but it really isn’t all that believable unless you show me some sort of spark in that average-girl heroine that sets her apart from the pack.

THE INSTANT ATTRACTION

They’ve never met before but omg he’s so hot, she’s so hot, their loins are on fire before they’ve even uttered a word and they must have sex. Soon!! The sooner the better!!! OMG!!!!11!!!!1  No. Just no. Let’s delve a little deeper or have a bit more of a thought process when it comes to dealing with this “lust at first sight.” It’s definitely not enough to build an entire plot upon. This can work, and does work in romance writing, but there needs to be more to it than simple lust.

THE INSTANT ATTRACTION LEADING TO TSTL BEHAVIOR

An example: The heroine has gone down into a dark, scary basement and the hero, whom she’s never met before, is waiting there. With a knife. And he’s an accused serial killer and/or shapeshifting monster. But you know what? He’s really, really attractive. He’d never hurt her. He’s so handsome…I mean, his eyes are so dreamy, how could he be evil? Why is this particular writing error so prevalent? Because the author knows the hero isn’t evil, so that magically transfers to the heroine’s knowledge. Umm…. NO.

BORING BEGINNINGS

A book should start with some sort of hook, some sort of action, or dialogue, or really anything other than: 1) a character waking up and thinking about the day ahead of them, 2) a character driving and thinking about their life and problems, 3) a character alone and thinking. Because? That’s boring. It’s to make things easier for the author to do set up of the plot coming up. But by the time that plot actually starts, the reader has fallen asleep.

MIRROR, MIRROR

I’ve seen the “looking in a mirror and describing one’s looks” done two ways — the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way includes observations of eye color, height, hair, beauty-level. No. It’s not realistic. If you look in the mirror you don’t casually observe your looks. You might think that you’re having a bad hair day. Or, oh, look at that zit. The kind of person who looks in the mirror and thinks — wow, my ocean green eyes are truly as stunning as everyone says they are — is not someone I want to read about. For the most part, character description is overrated. With just a few casual mentions, the reader will fill in the blanks. Another no-no for character description is comparing them to a Hollywood actor, eg: “People had always told her she could be Angelina Jolie’s twin.” Or, “he was so good looking, he reminded her of Brad Pitt.” This is LAZY WRITING, pure and simple. Unless, of course, there’s a valid reason for the character to look like a known celebrity.

INAPPROPRIATE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE

This, quite possibly, is my biggest challenge in my own writing. I even coined a term for it with one of my friends. It’s the “La la la, I like cheese” syndrome. The world is ending, the heroine’s life is in dire jeopardy, fire could be literally raining from the sky, and her response is something like “Hey, I’m kinda hungry. I feel like some cheese.” Because we, as the writers, have never (or rarely) experienced true life or death situations, it’s difficult to imagine what it would be like. But let me tell you…we wouldn’t be thinking about our appetites.

THE PERFECT HERO

Well, he’s tall, gorgeous, and alpha, and uber-powerful, and uh…that’s about it. He’s a big, good-looking machine with no interesting flaws. Flaws rock. Flaws make the character interesting. He might be gorgeous, but he’s a control freak. Or he has daddy issues. Or…there are so many different ways to give your hero some layers that will make him more than just a chiseled hunk and have your the reader (or judge or agent or editor) wishing there were more sample pages available.

Okay, so that’s it for today. If I think of more I will certainly share them….

Happy writing!

Michelle

Celebrating milestones

***I didn’t forget to pick a winner last night! Really!! *blinks* Um, okay, I forgot. But I have now remembered — random.org has selected comment #31: “whateverfor” as my winner and she has been contacted by email to claim her prize. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who entered and don’t worry, I’ll have more giveaways coming up soon!***

Just lucky enough to hit 4000 followers on Twitter. About to hit 5000 awesome friends on Facebook (which is the official cap of friends you can have — I love you Facebook, but boo!). Got around 2500 “likes” on my Facebook book page. I think that’s worth celebrating! Instead of doing a random giveaway on any of those social networks, I did want to make sure this prize goes to someone who will appreciate it, so I thought I’d bring the party over here.

All you have to do is comment to this blog post (at original blog: www.michellerowen.com/blog, not a mirror) to be in the draw for a complete signed backlist of books by yours truly.

 

Included titles:

Bitten & Smitten
Fanged & Fabulous
Lady & the Vamp
Stakes & Stilettos
Tall, Dark & Fangsome
Countdown
Angel with Attitude
Hot Spell
Touch and Go
Inevitable
The Demon in Me
Something Wicked
Nightshade
Primal (Anthology)
Bloodlust
Demon Princess: Reign or Shine
Demon Princess: Reign Check

Whew! I’ve been busy!

It’s interesting to look at my backlist — there’s a little bit of everything there, from sweet to sexy to very sexy, light to dark, funny to…less funny. But they’re all paranormals or fantasy. I have seven more on the way to being published (eight if you include the not-a-novel Vamp Academy guide), and hopefully many more after that, so my bookshelf is going to be very full!

The contest is open internationally, so comment away! And thank you so much for following, liking, or friending me! I’ll choose a winner on Friday, September 9th at 9:00pm EST. Good luck!

P.S. If I get over a hundred comments, I will add a second prize. Not all my books, but a nice handful of them.

State of the Rowen

Inspired by Jill Myles’ list of works in progress, I thought I’d do the same….

ON DECK

Second draft of REIGN FALL (Demon Princess #3) is done and I’m happy with it. I think it’s my favorite DP book to date, but I usually feel that way when things are so fresh in my mind. It’s slowly on its way to my beta-readers and after that, to my proofreader and copy editor. I need to write back cover copy for this, but since I don’t plan to self-pub it till January, I’m in no huge rush.

Galleys of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC — need to proofread these by the 6th, then I’m all finished my Living in Eden series, which ended up turning into a trilogy. A bit bittersweet, since Darrak is so much fun to write.

Editorial revisions on DARK KISS (Nightwatchers #1). My first YA with Harlequin Teen, which I’m extremely excited about. It’s also my longest book to date and will likely hit 100K by the time I’m finished this round of revisions. Working on some worldbuilding stuff so everything makes sense going forward. Had a recent inspiration about the characters that will need to be tweaked in this book, but it makes me very happy that I thought of it.

VERY SOON

Will be writing WICKED KISS (Nightwatchers #2), which is due in a few months. I don’t usually talk much about new projects until I have cover art, etc., but I can’t wait to introduce this world and these characters to readers. Darker fantasy YA, but still with a humorous edge to the voice, romantic, thrilling…can’t wait!

Will be writing REIGN STORM (Demon Princess #4), the last book in the series that I will be self-publishing the first half of next year. Some people wonder why authors don’t just finish up any and all series that get dropped by their publishers. Well, I’ll tell you why. Because — hoo boy — it takes a lot of time and energy to write a whole book and there is absolutely no guarantee that anyone will really care when it comes out (sad but true, although the same could be said for regular publishing too). I’m writing these particular books because I want closure on this series for myself as a writer. It will be the icing on the cake if readers are excited about it too. It’s been a lot of fun to experiment with this, and REIGN FALL was a surprisingly pleasant breeze to write, so I hope the fun continues as I dive into the last book.

Will be writing BLED & BREAKFAST (A Sarah Dearly Vampire Mystery #2), but it won’t be for a few months while I focus on everything else. Looking forward to this one, since BLOOD BATH & BEYOND was a rare treat. Returning to Sarah’s POV was a lot of fun. And when work can be fun, it’s golden!

GLIMMER PROJECTS — ideas that might happen, but not any time soon

Middle grade fantasy — keeps twigging at me with a couple fun ideas, especially a fairy tale one that just lit up for me with renewed brightness after seeing “Tangled” the other day. I’m not sure that I want to try another genre, though, when I’m now busy in YA and will be newly published in mystery in 2012. I have a tendency to be easily distracted.

More paranormal romance — I’m taking a bit of a break from this genre after THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC comes out, but I still get tons of ideas for it. My ideas tend toward heroine-driven series with the same protagonist in each book, which doesn’t seem to connect perfectly in this genre with reader expectation at this time (the books that do best seem to be alpha-hero driven), so I’m trying to assess what is best for my career going forward and staying true to my voice.

Magical women’s fiction — since I’m most comfortable writing heroine-driven books with romantic subplots, I feel like this particular sub-genre is drawing me in like a Star Trek trajectory beam. I do have a proposal completed on something interesting here. We will see if anyone else thinks it’s interesting.

More YA — I have a full book (vampires) that has been shopping for a while now and if it doesn’t sell, I’ll probably self-publish it. Personally, I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, but sometimes the timing is just a little off to connect with an acquiring editor, especially in a genre already full to the brim with fangs and romance. Such is life.

Gotta say, after writing four books and a novella so far in 2011, I am feeling really drained. So I’ll probably be taking it a bit easy through to the end of the year. Don’t want to burn out. I should get some more hobbies, maybe. But I do love writing, it’s my first priority and on my mind nearly 24/7, and I’m still very happy to get the chance to have my books available to readers. I get to live my dream and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

Now, back to the page…