Plot Monkeys

Since Valentine’s Day is next week — the most romantic day of the year — I thought it would be interesting to see what some of you out there think is romantic. What do you expect from your significant other on this special day? Roses? Candy? Jewelry? And if it’s something tangible you’re seeking, what makes that gesture so romantic?

I know there are plenty of women out there who expect elaborate gestures from their significant other on Valentines Day (and birthdays, anniversaries, etc) — and if they don’t receive candy, flowers, or something “romantic” they’re devastated (and more than a little pissed, LOL!). It made me wonder – are we truly expecting too much from our significant others? And what, truly, is the definition of romance and being romantic?

As a rule, most men are NOT romantic (Okay, Leslie’s husband is the exception). They are practical, straight-thinking creatures, as is my husband. However, I’ve learned over the years to see certain things in our relationship as romantic, though those romantic gestures are rarely in the traditional sense of the word. I’ve learned that I don’t need candy, roses, or even a five dollar Hallmark card to know that he loves me. It’s not about candlelight, a cute or expensive trinket, or drawing me a bubble bath with rose petals (as if, LOL!). For me, it’s the little things that he does for me on a regular basis that count the most. And those are the things that are “romantic” in our relationship.

Romance, for me, is the way that he shows me that he cares. It’s the thoughtful, little things that make a difference to me. Like him making dinner when I’m too tired to do it. Or him bringing a hot cup of coffee to me in the morning while I’m working in my office. It’s the way he kisses me each morning before he leaves for work and tells me that he loves me. It’s the way he takes care of me by making sure the oil is changed in my car (because if not for him, I’d never remember!), and the way he’s learned to accept that the house is a disaster most of the time because I’m always on deadline – instead of nagging me to clean it up. He’s kind and considerate and has a big heart, and THOSE are the things that make me love him. And flowers, jewelry, or candy aren’t going to make me love him any more than I already do.

Now, that’s not to say that my husband hasn’t gone the traditional route before and surprised the heck out of me with flowers, a piece of jewelry, or something else he knows I’ve been wanting. But overall, and especially when it comes to Valentine’s Day, our anniversary, or my birthday, I don’t put those outlandish expectations on him. He doesn’t need the pressure and stress and I don’t need those grand gestures. I only have to look into his eyes to know that he loves me and would do anything in the world for me. Cheesy, but true.

I recently found a quote that sums up what romance is to me: Romance is a state of being. It’s about taking actions on your feelings. It’s a recognition that Love in the abstract has no real meaning at all. Romance/love in action is a daily, living, growing activity.

So, what are you expecting from your significant other this Valentine’s Day? Hearts & flowers kind of romance or practical romance?

Carly and I must have been on the same wavelength when we decided what our blog topics were going to be about, though I have to admit my focus is a little different. But it’s still talking about sexy men…so hey, we’re all in, right?

Thing is…I want to talk about sexy men who AREN’T necessarily gorgeous.

It’s a strange, but wonderful phenomena, I think–men who can turn you on in a way that is unexpected and even unexplainable. There’s just something about these guys that oozes sexuality. Not all women swoon for these guys, either, which gives them a special quality that universally worshipped heart-throbs like Brad Pitt and George Clooney simply do not have.

I’ve always been one to fall for the sexier-than-sin, non-traditional guy. I remember seeing the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time and thinking, wow, that Tim Curry guy is hot–and he’s playing a transvestite! Imagine what he’d be like playing it straight. Luckily for me, I got to find out, because at the birth of MTV, they played videos for Mr. Curry singing and swiveling his hips to such sensual anthems as “I Do The Rock” and “Paradise Garage.”

Mercy!

And as he’s aged, he’s only gotten sexier. Even as he’s gained weight, the man has a voice that can melt steel and eyes that reflect so much decadence, they should be made of chocolate.

::sigh::

And then there’s Michael Keaton. I remember, also, seeing him in the original Batman movie and falling deeply and desperately in love. I kept telling myself–this is MICHAEL KEATON. This is Beetlejuice, for Pete’s sake. Didn’t matter. In my opinion, he set the standard. He captured the essence of Bruce Wayne–the sensual, tortured soul–and projected it on the screen in ways that had me entertaining sexy daydreams for months. If not longer.

And of course, the king of all sexy-men-who-aren’t-classically-goodlooking…the incomparable Alan Rickman. Cause here’s the deal, ladies…if Alan Rickman had not been cast as Severus Snape, NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would think this character has a streak of goodness in him that will come out in the last Harry Potter book. Jo Rowling has said over and over that Snape is BAD, but her legions of fans refuse to believe her. It’s because of Alan Rickman, I’m convinced. The Alan Rickman Effect. We even cheered his nasty Sheriff of Nottingham because, hell, he’s Alan Rickman. And as my good friend Diana is wont to say–everything is better with Alan Rickman.

A while back, I participated in a discussion about this topic on an email list I’m on (if any Sucias are out there–I will be back soon!) and they came up with a delicious list of men who while not classically handsome, could really turn on the heat. Now it’s your turn…

There’s a question people like to ask: Did you always want to be a writer? And my answer: No, I had no idea – This is true however when I look back at my life, there were signs that I was meant to be not just a writer but a romance writer. I can trace the first sign to MY WALL. I had a twin size bed and a dresser beside it where I kept my alarm clock. But the side of the dresser was my personal secret wall. I’d put pictures of hot guys on my wall. Was this normal? I assume it was. What probably wasn’t typical of everyone was that when I’d lay in bed and try to fall asleep, I’d put myself in the most ridiculous, convoluted situations with these hot guys. They’d save me from the jungle (OK so I wasn’t up on being the kickass heroine yet, but I got there eventually) and I’d add and remove guys from the wall depending on my mood and who I was in love with at the time. Now before you send out the guys with the white jackets to come for me, bear in mind this was really no different than my locker in high school: plastered with pictures of Robert Scorpio from General Hospital or Rick Springfield. Who knew they’d come back? Who knew I’d NOW fall for Rick Springfield’s TV son Patrick Jason Thomspon . . . but I digress. Back to THE WALL. Years later, I became a romance writer and posted up hot guys for inspiration.

For awhile, I stopped posting pictures but I’ve started again and what do you know? My story is flowing. Coincidence? I think not.

Sitting in my recliner, laptop on my lap, this is the current view of THE WALL. (Yes, married and mother of two and all, I still post pics of my hot guys for inspiration. It doesn’t mean that these are the heroes in my current story, it means that they are MY current heroes. And none of these will surprise you if you’re a plotmonkey visitor who knows my weaknesses.)

Drumroll please . . .

(Can you see who my guys are?)
Anyway, this got me wondering: 1. did you have a wall? (a wall of hotties?); 2. did you make up stories with your guys? and 3. do you all think I’ve lost my mind with this blog?

Warning: I’m getting serious today (which you all know I don’t do very often!) Don’t worry, it’s not anything earth-shattering, I’m just going to discuss something that I feel is important and often isn’t talked about.

When we started Plotmonkeys, the four of us vowed to keep this site fun and light and lively…we don’t want any flame wars here, and have managed to get through nearly a year without any. So I don’t intend to start one now. I just want to get something off my chest. Here it is:

Professional Jealousy Sucks.

There. I said it.

Sometimes we romance writers are portrayed as this loving sorority who all like each other, get along, and would do absolutely anything for anybody. And for the most part, that’s been my experience. It most certainly has been with the three amazing friends here with me on this site.

But…every one of us has also been nipped in the tail by that ugly jealousy/spite thing.

Carly has probably had it the worst. When she was fortunate enough to have her first single title book, The Bachelor, chosen by the Reading With Ripa book club, we all knew what it would mean for her…and were absolutely thrilled about it!

Some other people…weren’t so thrilled. She suffered slings and arrows that were cruel and unfair, from offensively-worded interviews and to-her-face slights, to back-stabbing by way of whisper campaigns. As her friends, it hurt to watch her go through it. Being the fighters Janelle and I are–and Julie being 10x us!– it was hard to sit back and let it go. But we did, mainly by keeping our sense of humor and forming a tight circle around her when any hateful, jealous beeyotches got too close.

(BTW: What slayed me was that people acted as though her success was their loss–as if it had cost them something. Or they merely acted as though she didn’t deserve it. Ahem: She got on the New York Times bestseller list the first time because of that book club. She’s hit it again and again since then by having the goods to back it up and delivering damn fine books!)

But it isn’t just the people at Carly’s level who get the knife between the ribs sometimes. I’ve felt it. Julie has. Janelle has. It can come in many different ways. I know of authors who’ve had other authors write crappy anonymous reviews of their books. Who’ve used them for personal gain, then dumped them once they get what they needed. Who’ve raved about their books to their face while panning them to everyone else within earshot. Who’ve lost to someone in a contest and turned around and called them a “nobody” to their face. Or simply those who play this bizarre game, being so sweet in person or in an email to someone…then laughing about the other author to their “real” friends. (I personally don’t believe people with so much negative energy and spite in their souls have any real friends!)

Sounds so ugly, I know, and I hate to expose this underbelly to you readers who’d maybe prefer not to know it exists. But if we’re going to talk about the reality of our lives as working romance writers, this subject simply has to come up. I don’t know anybody in this profession who hasn’t been touched by it in one way or another. (And I’m sure many other professions experience it, too!)

There are only two ways to get past the ugliness. The first is by having true friends who you know you can trust, no matter what..

Like the Plotmonkeys.

Believe me, when I found out about something awful that another writer–someone I’d never even met–said about me to of to a bunch of people at a conference once, I was horrified. Julie however, (once she peeled me off the ceiling) totally had my back. So did my amazing editor, who had handled the whole ugly thing long before I ever even heard about it.

Which brings me to the second thing that helps you deal with this nastiness:

Karma Exists.

I firmly believe it. If you are shitty and hateful to other people, if you make snide public accusations, if you smile to someone’s face and say nasty things behind their back, not only will it make you look bad, but it will often come right around and bite you in the ass.

More times than not, you will get caught. People talk. A lot. And those things have a way of getting around. Sometimes they get back to the people you were talking about. Sometimes they get back to that person’s friends. Sometimes they even get back to that person’s editor…who you might want to sell to one day.

Karma, baby. I am all for it.

I am not a Pollyanna. There are people I don’t like, and I am sure there have been times I’ve griped about them to my friends. BUT I am not predisposed to disliking anybody and I’ve sure never chosen to hate someone because they: got a better cover/have more readers/get better sales/signed a great contract/hit a list/beat me in a contest/got in a hot anthology/got a great review…blah blah blah.

And I most certainly don’t waste my time and energy on being deliberately hurtful to anyone.

My husband and I have raised our girls under one never-ending principle that is not determined by religion or race or nationality. It’s simply the golden rule, in our own unique lingo: “Don’t do anything to anybody else that you wouldn’t want them to do to you.”

Period.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It covers a multitude of sins (has certainly covered anything that’s arisen in our family) and yet also applies to the business world. Even the romance writing one.

If only more people would remember it.

How about you? Any green-eyed monster problems in your work lives?

The winner of Carly’s Go Red For Women For Women Friday Contest is:
#57 - Diane
Congratulations! Email me at: carlyphillips@mac.com with your full name and address to mail your prize! Oh! You should also let me know which book from my backlist you’d like signed. Also, anyone I (Carly) owes a prize to, it’s coming, I promise!

And now for the funny …
This one is for everyone who…

a) has kids,
b) had kids,
c) was a kid,
d) knows a kid
e) or is going to have kids.

DADDY’S GONNA EAT YOUR FINGERS …

I was packing for my business trip and my three year old daughter was having a wonderful time playing on the bed. At one point she said, “Daddy, look at this,” and stuck out two of her fingers. Trying to keep her entertained, I reached out and stuck her tiny fingers in my mouth and said, “Daddy’s gonna eat your fingers,” pretending to eat them. I went back to packing, looked up again and my daughter was standing on the bed staring at her fingers with a devastated look on her face.

I said, “What’s wrong, honey?”

She replied, “What happened to my booger?”

HAPPY SUNDAY!
Whether you’re a Bears fan or a Colt’s fan, HAVE FUN TODAY!

Inspired by Stephanie’s comment to Lori’s guest blog this week, the Plotmonkeys decided to take the next four Saturdays to tell you our first call stories! Thanks, Stephanie, for the fine idea!

I’m starting out…but before I get to the call, I think you need to know all the background.

I’ve been writing since…well, forever. Actually, I’ve been storytelling forever in my head, but can distinctly remember writing down my first tome in the 6th grade, a book I shared writing duties with two friends, Denise Espinola and Sharon Valenti. It was based very loosely on the Hardy Boys, but starring, of course, three girl detectives who were in turn, very loosely based on the three of us. But with cute boys in our lives.

Over the years, I fiddled with all sorts of stories, but didn’t get serious until college when I declared a Creative Writing major at the University of South Florida in addition to my major in Speech Communication. I wrote mainly science fiction during those years even though I read romance nearly exclusively. I read some sci-fi, but I felt it needed romance. Around this time, Johanna Lindsay’s Warrior’s Woman came out and the marriage of sci-fi and romance struck me. I kept working, but didn’t make any real progress until after graduation.

It was then…in November of 1987, that a good friend and I went out for drinks to celebrate her birthday when she suggested we write a romance novel together. Charlene had gotten me hooked on romance novels she’s swiped from her older sister when we were students at the same Catholic high school. We went to college together, joined the same sorority, and remain friends to this day.

Drunk as we were on copious amounts of White Zinfandel, we decided to co-author a book and we plotted it on the tablecloth. No, we weren’t THAT drunk…the tablecloth was paper. When we sobered up the next morning, we replotted and starting researching, as this book was going to be a historical romance.

We did write that book and a second while we were both in graduate school. We joined RWA, queried agents and editors and while we were praised for originality and enthusiasm, we never sold. (Honestly, the writing wasn’t very good…but we were learning.) In July of 1991, Charlene decided she’d had enough of the business and stopped writing. We remain friends to this day and I remember this time very fondly. I wonder if I would have had the guts to do all that I did then alone.

After that, I switched genres from historicals to paranormal romances and also started teaching full time. I completed a manuscript, which I submitted to Silhouette Shadows. I wrote a lot of other proposals…too many to count. I remember receiving a 13 page single-spaced revision letter from Paige Wheeler at Silhouette (she’s now an agent) in 1992 or 1993. I don’t remember the year…mainly because even though I slaved over the revisions and did every single thing she asked, convinced I was close to selling…I got a form rejection. Come to find out, Harlequin had cancelled the line…but I didn’t know that at the time and of all the rejections I’d received to that date–this one nearly tore me inside out.

To say I was devastated was an understatement. I also learned my husband had a great job offer that would take us out of Florida. He moved ahead of me, so I was alone, teaching a lot by this time (that year, 1994, I had 6 classes with 4 different curriculum requirements…two of which were electives I’d never taught before…the creative writing class and the yearbook) so you can imagine that I didn’t write much. Well, not book-length fiction at least.

After that school year, we moved to Georgia and with nothing better to do while I was alone in a strange state, I started writing again, this time sexy contemporary romance.

You see, I’d come home from Georgia shortly after our move to attend a workshop lead by Brenda Chin of Harlequin Temptation. I liked what she had to say. I liked her and wanted desperately to write for her. I had this short story that I’d started writing the summer before on a whim for my good friend Alexandra Kendall, the publisher of Red Sage (Secrets.) I decided after about 25 pages that I couldn’t make it a novella, so I set it aside…but Brenda’s speech made me wonder if I couldn’t resurrect that story for the new Temptation Blaze imprint. I dashed into the ladies room with my critique partner, Susan Kearney, and we literally wrote a pitch on a cocktail napkin. I had a five minute appointment with Brenda and I pitched the story. She loved it and invited me to submit.

So over the next two years, I wrote, revised, wrote more, revised more, revised more, revised more until I finally had a manuscript Brenda could buy…but since she was only an editorial assistant at the time (actually, by the time I finished my book and all the revisions she’d requested, she was an assistant editor, which is slightly higher up the food chain) she had to get permission to offer a contract.

So I had to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

But I didn’t really care…I’d already waited nearly nine years. I had enough rejections letter to wallpaper the White House. Never once had I thought about quitting…even when I took that long sabbatical prior to our Georgia move and after that devastating rejection, I never thought I’d stop writing. I was just taking a break.

In the meantime, we moved back to Florida. I decided to retire from teaching since honestly, the profession drained me of my creative energry and I needed it to write. I went to work for my family’s business as my father’s secretary and my brother’s assistant. (Awesome job, by the way.)

I knew that a call…either positive or negative…would be coming in from Brenda at some point. I had little post-it notes on everyone’s phone that basically threatened death to any employee who did not get me to a phone in ten seconds flat if Brenda Chin called.

On March 14, 1997, the call came in.

I ran into a conference room to take the call in private (my desk was in an open area).

Ten seconds later, my entire family (father, mother, and three brothers who all work there) followed me inside. Somewhere amid giggling and screaming, Brenda offered me a contract. It was loud and crazy and exciting beyond words. I called my husband. I called my critique partner, Sue. Parties ensued.

And it’s pretty much been a party ever since.

About a month and a half later, I learned I was pregnant. So when my daughter was born, I became a full-time novelist. A dream come true.

I was no overnight success, but I can tell you I wouldn’t trade one rejection or disappointment for anything in the world. Those knocks made me who I am–savvy about the business, determined to succeed and unafraid of people who tell me no. It’s now nearly twenty years since that drink with Charlene, over twenty-five published books with three different publishers and I can’t help but think the best is still yet to come.

So for all you aspiring writers out there…perserverance is the key. Talent is a valuable commodity, but if you give up, then what good does talent do you?

That’s my call story…thanks for listening! Oh, the first book was SEDUCING SULLIVAN, which was reprinted last year.

You’re probably thinking I’ll go with a HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY theme, right? Wrong! Today is National WEAR RED DAY in honor of the American Heart Association’s fight to educate women about heart disease.

As you know from Tuesday’s post, this is a cause that is extremely important to me. So besides encouraging you all to wear red today, I am giving away prizes that support the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Campaign.

A vintage style brooch made of red/garnet colored rhinestones; a Love Your Heart Recipe Book with over 40 heart healthy recipes and tips and your choice of a book from my backlist! (subject to availability).
You all know the drill. Post today and check back Sunday for the winner and weekend chuckle!
Wear Red and Be Healthy!
Happy Friday.

Every time the mailman delivers a box from Amazon to my doorstep, I have to admit that I get all excited inside. More books! I love books. Adore them. Knowing that there is an irresistible story waiting for me between the covers of a book is enough to make me feel giddy with anticipation. This past week, as another box arrived and I took my shiny new books to their shelf in my office, it occurred to me that I’ve become more of a collector of books, rather than the voracious reader I used to be. All these wonderful stories that I’ve bought over the past year, but haven’t so much as cracked open the spine to read the story inside. As a result, my TBR (To Be Read) pile is huge. Overwhelmingly so. So many books, and so little time to read them all!

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I got lost in a book – other than my own that I’m currently writing, and that doesn’t count! When was the last time I took a few hours for myself alone and let myself enjoy someone else’s hand-crafted story? When did I give up the one thing I love the most – reading? Over the years, as I’ve become a full-time writer, somehow, someway, my reading has gone by the wayside. And I really truly miss it!

So, one of my “resolutions” for this year is to get back into reading books for the sheer pleasure and joy of it. With that in mind, I took a look at my TBR pile and decided that I needed to choose five books that I want to read over the next few months. That in itself was a huge task, considering that I have at least 100 (no joke!) unread books on my bookshelf! But I did manage to whittle it down to five, and these are the books I chose to read, and the reasons why:

1) TO THE BRINK, by Cindy Gerard. This is the third book in her “Bodyguard” series, and I loved the first two, so this one is a must read. Actually, anything that Cindy writes is a must-read for me. I love her writing style. I love her heroes. I love her conflicts and the sexual tension between her characters. Cindy is an author that I was reading before I became a published author myself. She started out with the now defunct “Loveswept” series line, then wrote for Silhouette Desire (actually, she still does). But recently, she ventured into single title suspense, and she’s done an amazing job creating “bigger than life” kind of stories. Cindy Gerard has been a favorite author of mine ever since I read her first book, MAVERICK (which I still have!) over fifteen years ago, and she still is a favorite. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s a wonderful, gracious person, as well.

2) MASTER OF THE NIGHT, by Angela Knight. I’ve been reading Angela since her days as a writer for the Secret’s anthologies. I’m not a huge paranormal fan, but I love Angela’s paranormal stories mainly because of her heroes. This one is a vampire story, and it’s certain to be hot and sexy and erotic. She writes incredible alpha males – in a way that I can’t help but envy because she makes it all seem so effortless. They’re dominant, arrogant, and sexy as hell!

3) KILL ME TWICE, by Roxanne St. Claire. I’ve enjoyed Roxanne’s other single titles, and this one is the first in a new series called “Bullet Catchers”. I have both of the stories in this series that have been published to date, so it’s time that I read the first one and get started before I get too far behind. The third is slated for an April 2007 release, TAKE ME TONIGHT, and the premise sounds absolutely intriguing. Check out her website, which has all kinds of fun information on the Bullet Catchers!

4) MATCH ME IF YOU CAN, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This author writes some of the best books out there. Sexy, funny, with alpha heroes who always meet their match in the heroine. Susan’s books are like “comfort reads” to me, the kind I can curl up with and read for hours and hours. They are always entertaining and fun, with great characterization. I know by the time I read the last page of one of her books, I’m going to be thoroughly satisfied by the story as a whole.

5) TAKE ME, by Bella Andre. This is a new author to me, and this book is her first one that’s been published (to my knowledge). The cover originally caught my attention, then I read the back cover copy and it sounded like something I would enjoy. I’ve had the book for a while now, so I figure it’s time to give Bella Andre a try!

So, what top 5 books are in your TO BE READ pile?