I just got back from our fabulous American Christian Fiction Writers conference where I got to see my peeps. Ami McConnell (on the right) taught an AMAZING class on loving your reader. It was a terrific reminder to respect and think about my reader and how she/he is affected by my books.
Erin Healy (on the left) along with my agent, Karen Solem, have taught me so much about building layers in a story. I know in a few weeks I'm going to get some great direction from both of them on Tidewater Inn. I can't wait! You all know how I love the editing process!
Good layers are often the key to making an editor sit up and take notice. So much of the time, stories that hit the editor’s desk are so similar. Romance especially can be tough to make fresh. But it’s all in the layers.
Here are the layers I work on with every story:
1. Setting is huge for me. A character who lives in Boston is very different from one who lives in the Outer Banks. The culture that shaped him/her is different too. Think about where your characters are. Read newspapers from that area and see if you can find a plot layer in what is going on currently there. Is there a culture group that’s strong there? In my Rock Harbor books, the Finnish culture had a huge role and was fun to layer in. The Lonestar series is set on a ranch in Texas that rescues abused horses and matches them with abused children. That idea gripped me by the throat, and that’s what you want your idea to do.
2. Character types. Take a look at character types and pit different types against one another to play off weaknesses and pet peeves. This can add a really great layer of conflict that’s ongoing. Maybe your female lead loves the wilderness and the hero’s idea of a great vacation is a cruise where everything is served to him. Maybe your heroine makes gourmet chocolates and the hero breaks out in hives from the aroma on her clothing. You get the picture!
3. Can you give your protagonist an obsession? That can really springboard you to plot ideas as she pursues it. This is often where to layer in your theme. In Lonestar Angel, due out in a few weeks, Eden and Clay are driven to find out if one of the five little girls at Bluebird Ranch is the daughter they thought drowned in a kidnapping gone wrong.
4. Interesting occupation. This leads me to story ideas all the time. I’ve written about a SAR dog team, a dolphin researcher, a smokejumper, an antique quilt expert, and an old time telephone operator at the turn of the century.
5. Think of plot layers that are problems for your main characters. Try to come up with at least three. For example, in Lonestar Angel, Eden is fighting off whoever lured them to the ranch, she's trying to figure out which child is Brianna, and she's dealing with her mother coming back into her life. Keep piling on the problems! Torture your poor character. The problem with many manuscripts I see is that there isn’t enough conflict and it isn’t varied enough. It’s not enough to have just ONE conflict.
Layers will life your book out of the rejected pile. They will add depth and interest to your characters and your plot. If you’ve already written the book, it’s still not too late to tear into it and make it something special. Don’t be afraid to start from scratch and add the things that need to be there.
Labels: Ami McConnell, Erin Healy, Lonestar Angel, story layers
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Before I talk about Lonestar Angel, I have to tell you what a great husband I have. He hates to paint. Now I don't understand this aversion because I think it's great fun to see a dramatic transformation. But he's good natured about it. In fact, I was going to help him paint the dining room on Saturday but he thought I needed a day off to go see Punky so he offered to do it by himself yesterday (I'm in deadline mode so working hard on Tidewater Inn.) He did it all by himself in this Lenox Tan color and it looks GREAT! What a guy!Silverware tinkled in the dimly lit dining room of Twenty, an upscale restaurant located inside a classy boutique hotel. Eden Larson smiled over the top of her glass of water at Kent Huston. So intelligent and kind. His blue eyes were filled with intent tonight, and she had known what he had planned from the moment he suggested this place for dinner.
The piano player’s voice rose above the music as he sang “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” Kent had spoken that very phrase to her often in the year they’d been dating.
“Warm enough?” he asked.
“It’s a perfect night.”
“In every way,” he agreed. “I want to—”
“Kent.” She reached across the linen tablecloth and took his hand. “I need to tell you something.”
Before he asked her to marry him, he needed to know what baggage she carried. She’d intended to tell him before now—long before. But every time she tried, the pain closed her throat. She wasn’t ready to talk about it then, and maybe she wasn’t ready now, but he deserved to know.
Kent smiled. “Are you finally going to tell me what brought you to town? I don’t really care, Eden. I’m just thankful you’re here. I love you.”
She wetted her lips. It didn’t matter that he said he didn’t care. She owed it to him to tell him about her past and the demons that had driven her here to Wabash, Indiana. “Kent . . .” The sense of a presence behind her made her pause.
“Eden,” a man said.
Her heart seized in her chest. She’d recognize the deep timbre anywhere. It haunted her dreams and its accusing tones punctuated her nightmares. The deep vibrancy of that voice impressed a woman before she ever saw him.
She turned slowly in her upholstered chair and stared up at Clay Larson, who stood under the crystal chandelier that was the centerpiece of the intimate dining room. “Clay.”
How could he be here? He hadn’t changed a bit. His hair was still just as black and curly. His dark blue eyes were just as arresting. And her pulse galloped the way it had the first time she’d set eyes on him.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, stepping toward her. “It’s important.”
Oh, she should have told Kent before now. This was the wrong way for him to discover her past. He was beginning to frown as he glanced from her to Clay, whose broad shoulders and vibrant presence loomed over their table. It was going to come out now. All of it. Her pretend life vanished into mist. What had made her think she could escape the past?
“Who are you?” Kent said. “And what right do you have to interrupt a private conversation?”
“The right of a husband,” Clay said, his gaze holding her.
“Ex-husband,” she managed to say past the tightness of her throat.
“No, Eden. Husband.” He held up a sheaf of papers in his right hand.
“What are those?”
“I never signed the divorce papers,” he said quietly, just to her. “You’re still married to me.”
She heard Kent gasp in the silence as the song in the background came to an end. “That’s impossible.” She stared at Clay, unable to take in what he’d said. “We were divorced over five years ago.”
“You sent the papers over five years ago,” he corrected. “I just never signed them.”
She stared at the blank signature line he showed her. Why had she never followed up? Because she’d been too busy running. “But why?”
He shook his head. “I had my reasons. Right now, there’s something more important to discuss.”
“What could be more important?” she asked. Fingers clutched her arm and she turned her head and stared into Kent’s face. “I . . . I’m so sorry, Kent. I was just about to tell you.”
“Tell me that you’re married?” Kent’s eyes held confusion and hurt. “I don’t understand.”
She shook her head. “I’m divorced. Or at least I thought I was. I haven’t seen Clay in five years.”
Kent’s frown smoothed out. “I think you’d better leave,” he said to Clay. He scooted back in his chair.
She laid a hand on his arm. “Let me handle this,” she said. Anger was beginning to replace her stupor and shock. “Why are you here, Clay?”
“Would you like to step outside so we can continue this in private?” Clay asked, glancing around the room.
Heat flamed in her cheeks when she saw the interested stares from the two nearby tables. “Just go away. We can talk tomorrow.”
His firm lips flattened but he stayed where he was. “I’ve found Brianna, Eden. She’s alive.”
She struggled to breathe. She searched his face for the hint of a lie but saw only implacable certainty. She shook her head. “That’s impossible. She’s dead.”
Beside her, Kent jerked, his eyes wide. She half rose.
“I never believed it,” Clay said. “Her body was never found so I kept looking. She’s alive, Eden.”
She wanted to believe him, but it was impossible. Had his grief made him delusional? Clay was the most logical, practical man she’d ever met. But what he was saying couldn’t be true. Their daughter couldn't be alive. Could she?
Labels: Lonestar Angel
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Not many of us get this dressed up. We girls only do it once a year at the ACFW Conference. But spring is here and it's time to look at summer clothes. Maybe some capris and cut tops.Labels: favorite outfit, Lonestar Angel, outward appearance
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Labels: brainstorming, Lonestar Angel, plotting
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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
