Making your settings spectacular so setting becomes a character.

Hi  there!

I've been hooked on settings ever since I read the contraband Mills & Boon romances handed to my sister and I in a big cardboard box by a romance-struck aunt and stored under our bed for our reading pleasure. Being 12 years old, and already an avid reader, I devoured them for their exotic settings--truly! These little stories took me to the Greek Islands, the Isle of Capri, and Spanish haciendas--firing up my insatiable urge to travel which remains a strong motivation to jump on a plane any time I have a free few weeks.

Over at Write...Edit...Publish today I've posted about Spectacular Settings, our first prompt since Yolanda Renee and I jump started the bloghop. I'm hoping to fire up minds with the importance of settings in stories--of course we need all the other givens--plot, characters, conflict etc. My favourite stories are those where the setting is so well done it becomes a character...think Maycomb County for a start...more on Maycomb and To Kill a Mockingbird over at WEP.


Thanks for stopping  by. Click here to go to WEP. We'd love you to think about joining us on August 19! The sign up will be posted on August 1!!

• Is setting important to you when you write or read stories?
• Do you rock at setting, or do you struggle with it?

Helen Lacey welcomes us to Crystal Point, near the Great Barrier Reef - horses, beaches and her latest book.

Hello everyone!

It's no secret that I harbor a desire to be published by Harlequin. I know what hard work it is, so I marvel at multi-published Harlequin authors, and I marvel that I rub shoulders with several here in little ole Queensland. One such is Helen Lacey, who hails from a paradise very close to the Great Barrier Reef.  I've invited her here today to tell us about her latest Harlequin romance penned from her own little paradise.



Now I know this is a long post, so flip through and read what interests you...

Hello there Denise!

Welcome to Crystal Point!

Of course, Crystal Point doesn’t really exist.....but it is the main setting for the books I am currently writing for Harlequin Special Edition. It’s a small town with around eight hundred residents that sits at the southern most point of The Great Barrier Reef. It has a beautiful beach, a fabulous walking path that runs for a several kilometres along the shoreline and is surrounded by sugar cane, sweet potato and macadamia farms. You can see dolphins and turtles in the rocky shallows and every year whales frolic and breach a hundred metres from the shore.

It’s a little piece of paradise…and lucky for me I have lived there for seven years.

Of course, it’s not really called Crystal Point. But it does sit at the southern tip of The Great Barrier Reef. At it is surrounded by farmland and has an incredible constantly changing landscape. The cane farmers are harvesting at the moment and the sweet scent lingers in the air for days after a harvest. Strawberry season is just finishing and lychee season will be upon us soon. There are produce stalls spotted along the roadside and not too far away a flower market every Friday. There’s a kiosk and small general store and a caravan park that bulges at the seams during school holiday times.

We found this little town by accident – we were visiting a friend and fell in love with the place and a few months later a sea change ensued.  Regrets? Not one. I love that I can set my books in a place that is so special to me. Since moving here I’ve been able to pursue my passion for horses once more, cultivate a vegetable patch that actually thrives and sit out on my deck in the evenings and look out at the ocean. I still get a kick out of waiting at a crossing for a cane train, or having to round up the neighbours cattle when they escape into our horse paddock.

So perhaps I should say that Crystal Point does exist, I just changed the name. And like in my current release Once Upon A Bride, there is a strong sense of community and friendship in the small town. People say hello. Neighbours know each other’s names. It’s not for everyone, but for this romance author, it’s a place where ideas flow and where you can visit anytime in the pages of my books.

Thanks for sharing your paradise with us today, Helen. Here is a link from a 2013 interview I did with Helen where she shared very touching stories of her childhood travelling around Outback Queensland and how her father imbued in her a love of books. You can read her USA Today interview here. 

About the Author:
Helen Lacey grew up reading Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven years old, a story about a girl and her horse. Her parents’ love of travel meant she saw much of the world in those early years and she feels fortunate to have had a diverse and interesting education over several continents. She continued to write with the dream of one day being published, and becoming a Harlequin Special Edition author is the realization of that dream. She loves writing about tortured heroes—both cowboys and CEOs—and heroines with gumption who finally get their men.
From Welsh parents and a large family, Helen lives on the east coast of Australia in a small seaside town at the southernmost point of the Great Barrier Reef; she lives with her wonderfully supportive husband, many horses and three spoiled dogs.

Find Helen online:
Website
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Once Upon a Bride
Helen Lacey
Happily ever after…?

When Gabe Vitali escapes to a fresh start in Crystal Point, Australia, the former physician isn’t looking for a storybook ending. For the first time he’s living in the moment. His new five-year plan does not include serious relationships. But he doesn’t anticipate his unavoidable next-door neighbor…and an undeniable attraction.
Bridal consultant Lauren Jakowski wants marriage. She’s just sworn off love and sex! To avoid getting burned again, she’s looking for safe and forever-after. But they’re not Gabe’s to give–for reasons he can’t share with anyone, least of all this pretty complication.
Gabe and Lauren don’t figure on a fairy tale. But fate has other plans….
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IWSG post - Do you consider romance writers purveyors of 'Mummy Porn' or do you consider us serious writers?

Hello everyone! 

Where do the months go? Already time for the August IWSG and to take our writer's temperature. What are we secure/insecure about this month? What can we share with each other in the common goal of improving our writing experience?

Thanks to the many who joined the discussion re blogging. I've determined to aim for more interesting posts and to keep my writing craft posts to a minimum. And I'm posting more photos which Deniz Bevan reminded me about. Ironically, I've had several requests to participate in book launches since posting, and some I have agreed to, but I will be trying my hardest not to be posting generic information and making sure I've read/enjoyed the book the author is selling.

This is my own edited photo of arriving on the Fijian island

 I chose (and renamed) as a setting for my romance novel

Most of my writing for the past few months has been plugging away at an editor's suggested re-writes on my Fijian Princess novel to fit the Harlequin Desire category. I feel like I  have to justify my choice to write romance when the corner of the blogosphere I move in seems to be peopled with sci-fi, fantasy, YA and MG authors. 

I've never understood why it was acceptable to have the James Bond fantasy for the 'boys', but the mainly female authors of Harleqin Mills and Boon et al are often considered a pre-conceived stereotype. Well, they're laughing all the way to the bank. Attending a Romance Writer's Conference is a Happily Ever After experience! The BIGGIE is in Sydney this coming weekend. No, I'm not attending, but Nas Dean is, and afterwards she is coming to stay with me, as she's a presenter at the River City Writer's Conference here in Brisbane which I am helping with.


Some Interesting Facts About the Romance Genre:

• There are more romance novels sold than any other genre, even though there's a perception that it's not a genre for serious authors - there's Romance Writers Versus Everyone Else. 
• There were an estimated $1.35 billion in global sales last year.
• Over half of all books sold globally are romance.
• Modern romance novels embrace reality, fantasy, paranormal--everything that 'other' fiction does.
• This genre continually morphs to satisfy their huge readership. There are all sexual persuasions (authors choose what category they wish to write in), there are teen stories, there are all ethnicities, ages, economic backgrounds, issues. Every sub-genre you can think of is represented - rural, historical, suspense, medical, erotic,...you name it, Harlequin et al has it. Even sci-fi!! There you go!
• The heroine must be feisty, intelligent, no one's victim--a kick-ass heroine in other words. 
• The hero doesn't have to be a billionaire, but it helps, as long as he turns out to be a fabulous guy under that aura of entitlement.
• There must be a Happily-Ever-After (HEA), but the story doesn't have to end with marriage.

                                                                            

Sipping kava in Fiji in the interests of authenticity for the kava party in my novel. My reaction is the same as my hero's.




So what do you think? Do you consider romance writers purveyors of 'Mummy Porn'?, formulaic storylines, the boring HEA ending, or do you consider romance writers serious writers? 

If you're interested in this topic, my post was inspired by reading an article by Kate Belle, romance author. You can read it here. 

Click on the badge to access other IWSG posts.

Thank you Alex and this month's hosts.

Insecure Writers Support Group - Writing outside of your comfort zone...can you help me write FANTASY?

Hello all who come by today! I hope you're enjoying a wonderful holiday season! I'm back as promised!

As writers we all have our favourite genre, right? Some write sci-fi, some paranormal romance, some women's fiction...but a whole heap of writers just love writing and reading fantasy! I haven't been one of those writers. Sure, I like some fantasy novels -- The Magus by John Fowles would be one of my favourites, and I've definitely enjoyed reading some bloggers' fantasy novels (am currently being wowed by Make Believe, a wonderful fantasy anthology featuring our very own Lynda Young), but I usually prefer to sink my teeth into a good Pat Conroy, Anita Shreve or Jodi Picoult  along with my penchant for reading and writing romantic fiction (which some say is fantasy anyhow!). I also saw the LOTR trilogy and just went to The Hobbit yesterday and really loved Avatar. That's all got to help, right?

HOWEVER, and this is the rub, what do you do when your Writing Group decides on a whole-group project? These fans of fantasy of course have decided to write a fantasy epic -- going the whole hog -- creating our own particular world (one of our members is a scientist, so the progress on this has been a little slow as he likes to get the sun in the right place to cause the right climate, blah blah). We have to keep reminding him that this is fantasy -- we can create our own world -- but he is more of the sci-fi bent.) That said, I'm sure our fantasy will stand up to quite rigorous analysis.

But I digress -- what does a romantic fiction writer do when she has to write a fantasy chapter to seamlessly blend with other chapters/characters/worlds written by other group members? Well, this bunny did a crash course in Fantasy -- devoured the books, the movies, the dictionaries. I even wrote and won joint first prize for my first fantasy story at Kathy McKendry's Knights of Micro Fiction for a story I imagined of two knights entering a Dark City, called City of the Dark Gods.

For the Writing Group joint project I was given the character of the Princess who lives in the castle on the edge of the city. She has to hook up with a commoner (young man) and go on a quest. So I asked myself -- what do fantasy princesses do/look like/act like? I read a few books such as Tamora Pierce's Alannah series which I enjoyed, so I read a few more fantasy books featuring young girls. After that,  I went to THE TOUGH GUIDE TO FANTASY LAND by Diana Wynne Jones and found that:

Source

Princesses come in two main kinds:

1. Wimps
2. Spirited and wilful. A spirited Princess will be detectable by the scattering of freckles across the bridge of her somewhat tiptilted nose. Spirited Princesses often disguise themselves as boys and invariably marry commoners of sterling worth. With surprising frequency these commoners turn out to be long-lost heirs to Kingdoms. 

Well this is a good start. I can see where I can use some of this for my Princess. No question my Princess is going to be spirited, if spoilt, so has to bribe the young man to let her accompany him, but she is going to show her mettle on her quest.

You may be able to help me here as I have to write at least 1,000 words of my Princess chapter for homework and the deadline is looming.

• Do you have any hints/suggestions on writing fantasy?
• Do you have any particular suggestions for my fantasy Princess? Such as a name, description, personality? All suggestions welcome!!

Thank you for coming by. Click here to see more IWSG posts.

What is a Contract for Marriage? Join Barbara DeLeo today as she answers my questions about writing for Entangled Publishing.

Hello my friends. Today I am chatting with romance author Barbara DeLeo about her newest release, Contract for Marriage.

Denise: Barbara, lovely to meet you.  Thanks for stopping by here at L’Aussie Writing on your tour to let the world know that you have a new novel released. Contract for Marriage sounds a riveting read.

Barbara: Hi Denise! Thanks so much for hosting me on your blog today. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks since the release of my debut novel, Contract for Marriage, so it’s lovely to stop in for a chat. I’m a New Zealander so just across the pond from you, but am currently on a three month trip to Greece and Cyprus with my family. Today I’m in a tiny village on the west coast of Cyprus and it’s gorgeous.

Denise: I'm so jealous! I've not made it to Greece yet! But tell us a little about your writing journey thus far. How many books have you previously published or do you have in the works? Tell us about being picked up by Entangled Publishing.

Barbara: I’ve been writing seriously for the past seven years and in that time completed six manuscripts. I’ve always written romance but in the last few years targeted category length stories specifically.

I completed revisions on a number of manuscripts for different editors but my stories always seemed to be a little out of the box. When my agent suggested we submit my latest manuscript to Entangled Publishing, I was very interested. They’d only just started the Indulgence line and the titles were so fun and fresh that I was more than happy. When my agent called only a couple of weeks later with the offer for Contract for Marriage I was thrilled. I’ve since sold another book to the Indulgence line. “Last Chance Proposal” is out in January.

Denise: Why category romance? For readers who might not be familiar with these books, what do you think their appeal is?

Barbara: Category romance is generally defined as a romance between 40,000 and 80,000 words in which the primary focus is on the developing relationship between the hero and heroine. Someone once described category romance as a hit of rich dark chocolate while a Single Title romance was a three-course meal. I love a three-course meal as much as anyone but I also love my indulgent quick treats and that’s the way I like to think of my category romances. In terms of craft, they are an intense, tightly written story which needs to have full character development, a satisfying story and a happily ever after in one neat package, so they are an exciting challenge to write.

 Denise: I see you love to travel and also that you set your stories in exotic destinations. Did any of your travel experiences turn up in Contract for Marriage?

Barbara: My husband’s family is from Greece and Cyprus (hence the current trip with him, his parents and our four children now!) and we lived and travelled in Europe when we were in our twenties. I love different sights and sounds and smells, so try to layer these into my stories. Contract for Marriage is set in New Zealand but Christo has Greek heritage so I was able to weave in some of my experiences with the Greek culture. While I’m in Europe now I’m taking photos and notes for some settings in future books.

Denise: Both your hero and heroine, Christo and Ruby, sound like very strong characters. How did you find the balance with their strengths? How did you play one against the other?

Barbara: What a great question! I love strong characters, strong alpha males because they know exactly want they want and will do whatever it takes to get it —including moving any obstacle to get the woman they desire— but I believe a strong hero also needs a strong heroine. When each of the characters is challenged by the other we not only get lots of spark, but lots of passion and emotion too.

In Contract for Marriage, Christo and Ruby are not only strong in their belief that they each should have the house, they’re also very strong in their desire to fight for someone they love. For Christo, it’s getting the house for his mother who has lived there for forty years, for Ruby, it’s acquiring a legacy for her baby. I think the fact that both their goals are such honorable ones, readers are prepared to see some fire and conflict between the two. The fact that they’re required to share the house until they can sort their issues out leads to all sorts of interesting shenanigans!

Thanks so much for hosting me today, Denise.

You can find Barbara at:

Website  Facebook   Goodreads  Twitter 

Read Chapter One of Contract for Marriage free!

Buy from Barnes and Noble or Amazon

 Bio

Barbara DeLeo’s first book, co-written with her best friend, was a story about beauty queens in space. She was eleven, and the sole, handwritten copy was lost years ago much to everyone’s relief. It’s some small miracle that she kept the faith and now lives her dream of writing sparkling contemporary romance with unforgettable characters.

Degrees in English and Psychology, and a career as an English teacher, fuelled Barbara’s passion for people and stories, and a number of years living in Europe gave her a love for romantic settings.

Discovering she was having her second set of twins in two years, Barbara knew she must be paying penance for being disorganized in a previous life and was determined to get it right this time. It’s amazing what being housebound with four preschoolers will do for the imagination and she decided it was time to follow her writing dream. Funnily enough, those first manuscripts had not a single child in them.

Married to her winemaker hero, Barbara’s happiest when she’s getting to know her latest cast of characters. She still loves telling stories about finding love in all the wrong places, but now without a beauty queen or spaceship in sight.

• Barbara would love to gift a copy of Contract for Marriage to one lucky commenter, so please comment before leaving. You never know...

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