A Stop at The Inn

 I always enjoy finding new writers to invite to visit My Writing Corner, and I'm even more pleased when I can discover a writer who lives in  the one place I would move to if given the opportunity. Gabbi Grey  is the guest this week and while she lives in British Columbia, her new story is set at a location far from there, but one that is another favorite place for me -- the Deerbourne Inn in Vermont. 

Gabbi lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black.

Let's get a look at her newest work, If Only for Today.

Jared Langford is a happy man. The desk clerk at the Deerbourne Inn knows everyone in his cozy town in Vermont. He is accepted and loved by the community, but he's missing someone special in his life.

Devastating news has brought journalist Xander Fortier to Willow Springs( for some much-needed rest. He's photographed every major conflict in the world for the last ten years, but being stateside has forced him to reassess the solitary life he's been living.

Something in Xander's gruff demeanor calls to Jared's caring nature. Soon the men are spending time together, but Jared's kisses might not be enough to keep Xander from leaving. Can the men find a happily ever after if they only have today? 

Want more?  Let's talk to these fascinating characters. We'll start with Jared.

What are you looking for in life?   

To make those around me happy.  I greet each new guest with a huge welcom

e and a genuine smile.  I love my job at Deerbourne Inn.  But that infectious cheeriness extends beyond my work.  I do my best to make my boss Nathan and my co-worker Liz smile.  I love hanging with my friends, often inviting them over to my place for movies and cooking for them.  I even adopted an older formerly feral cat and gave him a place to rest before he passed.  Mephistopheles was a tough nut to crack,:but by the end he was willing to let me pet him and comfort him.  I miss that companionship.  I think I need to adopt another animal.  Or I might even bring home a world-weary award-winning photojournalist with shadows in his eyes.

 What do you fear most?

 Losing someone I love to illness and death.  I suffered a great loss back in my early teens, and as much as I tell myself I’m over it, it still haunts me.  I still think about that person all the time.  I know she would want me to move on, but I’m so scared to lose another person.

Now let's talk to Xander:

What frightens you about Jared?     

His naïveté.  The guys I’ve been with before?  Rough like me.  World-weary like me.  Cynical like me.  Jared has this rosy view of the world – like everybody is redeemable and life is amazing.  But then…there are moments where I can see he’s suffered pain, and although he hides it from everyone, he can’t hide it from me.  But am I the man to help him finally acknowledge and cope with that pain?  I’m not sure. 

What do you want most in life?

For my work to matter.  I’ve been around the world, many times, shooting photographs of the aftermath of war.  The awards are nice, for sure, but it’s hearts and minds.  I want people to see my shots and decide to intervene.  Decide that enough is enough and the suffering has to end.  It’s happened a few times, but I’m afraid this sidelining may become permanent.

To make those around me happy.  I greet each new guest with a huge welcome and a genuine smile.  I love my job at Deerbourne Inn.  But that infectious cheeriness extends beyond my work.  I do my best to make my boss Nathan and my co-worker Liz smile.  I love hanging with my friends, often inviting them over to my place for movies and cooking for them.  I even adopted an older formerly feral cat and gave him a place to rest before he passed.  Mephistopheles was a tough nut to crack, but by the end he was willing to let me pet him and comfort him.  I miss that companionship.  I think I need to adopt another animal.  Or I might even bring home a world-weary award-winning photojournalist with shadows in his eyes.

What do you fear most?

Losing someone I love to illness and death.  I suffered a gross back in my early teens, and as much as I tell myself I’m over it, it still haunts me.  I still think about that person all the time.  I know she would want me to move on, but I’m so scared to lose another person.

Now let’s talk to Xander:

What frightens you about Jared?     

His naïveté.  The guys I’ve been with before?  Rough like me.  World-weary like me.  Cynical like me.  Jared has this rosy view of the world – like everybody is redeemable and life is amazing.  But then…there are moments where I can see he’s suffered pain, and although he hides it from everyone, he can’t hide it from me.  But am I the man to help him finally acknowledge and cope with that pain?  I’m not sure. 

What do you want most in life?

For my work to matter.  I’ve been around the world, many times, shooting photographs of the aftermath of war.  The awards are nice, for sure, but it’s hearts and minds.  I want people to see my shots and decide to intervene.  Decide that enough is enough and the suffering has to end.  It’s happened a few times, but I’m afraid this sidelining may become permanent.

Let's get an excerpt:

“You said something about photographs.” With his gaze, Jared indicated the collection.

“No big deal.”

“Are you kidding?” His voice rose in anticipation. “I get to see some of the unpublished photographs of the Xander Fortier, and you think I’m going to pass up that opportunity? Uh, no way. You promised.”

How could he refuse that enthusiasm? Ugh, he hated watching others scrutinize his work. Usually he was halfway across the globe when his boss decided which picture worked best with the story being told. Heck, if he was without good internet, he might not know until days later which shot had been selected. Or if one had been used at all. Despite the importance of the foreign beat, domestic issues would always take precedence.

Jared pointed to one. “I haven’t seen this one before.”

A black-and-white photo of a young girl, no more than five years old, clinging to her mother’s body.

“Shelling in Aleppo. I came across them after the dust had settled, so to speak. The mother, or at least I assumed she was the mother, had died and the daughter just sat there. She wasn’t crying, wasn’t moving. She saw me and pointed to her mother. I took a couple of pictures and went looking for someone to help. I later saw her being loaded on a bus heading to a refugee camp.

“I wound up there a few days later and I tried to find her, but the place was massive. Thousands of people. I often wonder what happened to her. I mean, did she find other family, or did she simply become a war orphan? Did someone care for her? Were her needs met? So few countries take refugees, there’s a good chance she’ll grow up in that camp.”

He shuffled through and found another photo. Three young children sitting outside a tent. “Their mother was inside giving birth. They sat patiently while listening to her scream.” He pressed a finger to one of the boy’s faces. “They didn’t even seem perturbed. It was like this was a normal everyday occurrence.”

Jared’s face was devoid of color. “I can’t even imagine.”

Want more?  Here's how you can get Gabbi's new  story:

 Amazon US:  https://amzn.to/3fOsviy

Amazon CA:  https://amzn.to/31LG1LP

KOBO:  https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/if-only-for-today

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-only-for-today-gabbi-grey/1138919955

iBooks:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/if-only-for-today/id1556170342

Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Grey_If_Only_for_Today?id=hEonEAAAQBAJ

Publisher:  https://www.thewildrosepress.com/book-post/if-only-for-today

Add it to Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57730616-if-only-for-today

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/If-Only-Today-Deerbourne-Inn-ebook/dp/B08XTNZ2K5

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/If-Only-Today-Deerbourne-Inn-ebook/dp/B08XTNZ2K5

 And if you would like more information on Gabbi and her work, here is how to get in touch with her: 

Website: https://gabbigrey.com/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey

Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/

Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/gabbigreyauthor/

Facebook (personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009821772591

Any questions for Gabbi?  Thank you for being my guest today

Setting the Proper Pace

Over the years as I’ve taught classes on writing, I’ve had writers ask me how to set the right pace in a book.  Pacing can be one of those elusive things we all want as writers, but it’s not something we necessarily consider as we write the book.  To me, the story needs to flow naturally. For writers who carefully plot, pacing might be easier because you’ve already set down the guidelines for the story. 

When you write organically or by the seat of you pants, the story just flows as you write, so you might not think about whether or not you are setting the right pace. But no matter what kind of a writer you might be, you will want your story to move in a steady rhythm that ebbs and flows. My writing style has evolved over the years, but for the most part, I have always written off the top of my head. All my outlines and plans go right out the window the minute the words start going onto the written pages.

First, you want to get your book off to a good start. Readers need to be pulled into the story
and want to continue reading or they are going to simply stop. For instance, in my book, Desert Blossom, I start off with my character hitting a jackpot in a Las Vegas casino. Her life will never be the same... or will it?  The winning jackpot i the catalysis that gets her story going. In my story The Problem, I started with a woman facing an old love  for the first time in years at a class reunion.

But the story can't stop there. You also want it to move along in a steady stream of action

elements though you also don’t want to wear out the reader immediately. You also want or need those slower, reflective and internal elements to keep it from making the reader feel out of breath.

Let’s look at some of the various things to consider as you read your finished product or that you can look over as you write your book and consider its pacing.

 Here are twelve steps to take during revision and editing to check your pacing.

--Have someone else read through your book and see if they find places where they think the pacing is slow. Why do they consider it slow? Is it a matter of too much exposition? Is it flabby construction with too much description or saying the same thing more than once? Watch for repetition as you edit. Are you saying the same thing either through your phrasing or raising a point too many times? Are you being repetitious in your dialogue? If you find yourself repeating something too often, or even using the same words over and over, look for ways to edit that part out or remove those repetitious words.

--Read passages aloud yourself. I started doing this as a newswriter years ago because I needed to know how my words would sound coming out of an anchorman or reporter’s mouth. I didn’t want them tripping over a sentence when they were live on the air. But as a book author, I still often find myself reading passages out loud I did it as I wrote this blog. For one thing, you can hear whether the dialogue works, but it can also help with pacing. Is a sentence too long when spoken? Does the sentence make sense? Reading also is also great at finding typos in the manuscript 

--Watch for those long periods of backstory. If you glance at your printed manuscript pages and you spot page after page of backstory or introspection, STOP! Go back and change things. Nothing slows down a story more than long paragraphs of something that happened in the past but that contains no current movement.

--Remember not to put too much backstory up high in your book. Pull your reader in first and then sprinkle backstory in throughout the book instead of lumping it all in one place as a big information dump.

 -- Watch for too many long paragraphs of introspection. Just like backstory you want to keep these at a minimum and sometimes while you are writing you forget you put them there. If you start going through the pages later you will spot those long paragraphs or you will notice several pages without dialogue and you can go back and fix things.

 --Go through your dialogue too--and for certain do at least that part out loud. Does it move the story along or is it a repetition of something you’ve already said in narration or description.

--L:ook at your tags, are they action filled? Do you vary them? Some writers swear by using only action tags rather than he/she said, but even too many of those action tags can grow cumbersome and wear you out. It’s better to intersperse them. At times your dialogue works better with action tags and in other instances you might want to just use he/she said. And at times you won’t want to use dialogue tags at all.

In a future blug, I’ll take a look deeper into the pacing process as we look at setting up scenes and the opening and closing pages designed to get the story started, keep it moving and then leave your reader wanting to buy more of your books!. 

A Journey to Another Time, Another Place

When I first  began reading romance novels many years ago, historical romances were my first choice. I enjoyed not only getting away from the real world into a realm filled with romance, but I also loved being placed in a different time in some many different settings. Today's guest in My Writing Corner is here to take us away to another world and another time.  

Author Kathy Otten is a book coach, and developmental editor. She lives in the rolling farmland of
Western New York. Her novels and short stories are filled with wounded heroes and feisty heroines. Her Civil War novel, A Place in Your Heart was a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner, and her historical western Lost Hearts, a Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist.

 She is an active member of Pennwriters, Inc., and leads an area critique group. Kathy also teaches

fiction writing at the local adult education center and presents workshops on-line as well as at conferences and author events. When she’s not writing, Kathy can be found walking her German Shepherd, Henry, through the woods and fields near her home, or curling up with her cat and a good book.

Her newest book is Heart of Ash, which is set during World War I. I asked Kathy about the special challenges of writing a story set in another time. To me, setting has always been very important. Here is her answer:

Though it is a short story, the amount of research was both daunting and incredibly fun. I watched hours of WWI reenactors, documentaries, old movie footage of planes, and pilot interviews.  I read tons of material on pilot training, uniforms, dog fighting techniques, and old planes. If you're going to write historicals, you really have to love the research.

Excellent point!  That is a valuable lesson for any fiction writer. To me, getting into the setting can make all the difference in the enjoyment of any story. 

Want to know more about the story itself?  I certainly do!  Let's get a blurb:

 In the skies over France during the Great War, the life expectancy of a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps is measured in days. Captain Elliot "Ash" Bainbridge is certain he'll be the next pilot sent spinning to earth in a ball of fire. Not because the Germans will shoot him down, but because God will punish him for daring to love another man. When Ash met Lieutenant Harry March, their attraction was instant. But Harry hates Ash's fatalistic attitude. He believes in capturing the moment. 

Can Ash set aside his fear of death and take a chance on love? Or should he try to keep his heart safe from hurt forever?

For anyone who enjoys historical  novels or books rich in character development, this book and these characters sound like a perfect combination that will have readers wanting to spend hours lost in the pages! 

Here's where you can get  Heart of Ash.

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Ash-Kathy-Otten-ebook/dp/B08P7VW9TM

Heart of Ash by Kathy Otten | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Heart of Ash eBook by Kathy Otten - 9781509234844 | Rakuten Kobo United States

And here is how you can get in touch with Kathy:

  https://www.kathyottenauthor.com or at kathy@kathyotten.com

Any comments or questions for Kathy?

The Plotting Dilemma

Writers are always asking me how do you write your books? Do you plot everything in advance or do you do it scene by scene, or do you come up with a whole detailed outline? One thing I have learned over the many years of writing fiction – writers have so many varieties of ways to plot that it all comes down to whatever works for a particular person.  However there are some basics you can learn that can help a writer get the story in order. 

Still another way to plot your book is to do it by using multiple scenes. 

Use one scene to an index card and line up the scenes in order. You can also do this on your computer by putting the scenes onto separate pages into a file that you can save in a folder

 in the computer.  This method is great for the writers who don't like to come up with a formal outline because each scene can be written individually and then shuffled around to come up with the desired plot.  Each scene can be moved back or forth until it is in the "right" place.

Writers who don't like to plot often prefer to write their books a scene at a time.  If they have an idea for a certain event or scene, writing that scene out of order can help the creative process.  Getting the scene down while it is still fresh in their mind can improve the book.. 

A scene shows what happens as the action or the emotional problems/reactions unfold minute by minute. A typical book of let's say 85 to 90,000 words has about 70 or so scenes, give or take a few depending on the length of each scene,  with each scene moving the story forward or giving the reader insight in the growth of the main protagonist.

 Each scene should have a small plot in it:

·         time and setting - however this is often understood by the reader and therefore not always necessary

·         because of the action of the scene, the character MUST react in some manner either to the previous scenes problem or to the plot's overall situratio

·         and also show an emotional change or reaction

·         the reader needs to know (the motivation behind the character's actions)  and understand the goal of the protagonist

·         the conflict can be in the action, or it can be in the emotional tension

·         and finally the protagonist or whoever has that scene's POV needs to make some sort of a decision         

 Scenes can be a variety of lengths, depending on what you choose to include.  Some action-filled scenes may run two to three pages, while a simple conversation may be only half a page...but, on the other hand, it could also be three or four pages.  It all depends on your style, genre and whose POV the scene is in.

Learn to be careful how you treat the setting of your story...pages and pages of description, while maybe interesting, should be broken up and used sparingly and scattered in various scenes.

The main things to remember is that the scene must propel the story forward.  Each scene needs a reason.  If a scene does not serve a purpose, then that scene should be deleted.

  Keep in mind as you begin to put the scenes in order that you will want a variety of action-packed scenes intermixed with slower scenes or reflective moments.  Too many fast-moving scenes coming one right after another can leave a reader breathless, while too many long, emotional scenes can lull a reader to sleep.

Mix the length of the scenes with a progression that makes sense in moving the story forward and that allows the reader time to think and react along with the characters.

Remember - Each scene needs to contain a reaction to what has just happened or to the dilemma with the choices to be decided upon.  A decision, which reveals the character's determination and the direction of the overall plot and some type of goal set up for the next scene should end the scene.  This is called the hook. 

In my mystery, Blues at 11, I worked hard to make certain each chapter contained some sort of hook to pull the readers into turning the pages. What would happen to Anchorwoman Kimberly delaGarza, and could she prove she was not guilty of killing her cheating ex-boyfriend? 

THE HOOK

Captain Hook in Peter Pan, although a villain, always caused Peter a great deal of trouble and his problems were almost always a surprise to both Peter and the reader. Writing hooks are like that.  We as authors use hooks to keep the readers turning the pages and to keep the interest in the plot. We don't want the reader to put down the book. We want them to know what will happen next. Hooks are usually used in two ways

             1 - At the end of a scene (or chapter) so the reader will keep turning the  pages

              2 - At the beginning of the scene to get the reader "hooked" into reading                                   all of the following pages.

          Let's see how the hooks work in the various scenes in the movie, Romancing the Stone

·         In one scene in the very beginning of the movie, the opening hook is where Joan returns home to her apartment and finds her place trashed. The closing hook is when her sister calls and Joan learns about the map that has been mailed to her. She then realizes that the bad guys have been looking for the map in her apartment.  This makes her mad and determined to do something about it.

·         The scene in the wrecked airplane, in which Joan and Jack get drunk and Jack finds the map, the opening hook is finding the plane as it is raining and they need a place to stay...finding an old plane in the middle of the jungle certainly is not expected and the ending hook is when Jack not only finds the map, but puts it back.  We, the reader, now know that Jack is up to no good and we wonder what will he do next?

All these elements play a vital element in the plot and that is what the writer needs to keep in mind what the end purpose is. Putting things together so that the viewer or reader can say at the end, "wow, I didn't see that coming," or "I missed that. I should have known."  Those are the type of statements that will have readers coming back for more. 

The Joy of the Writing Life

Writing has always been a driving force in my life. From the moment I took up a pencil and pile of notepaper, and later notebooks or tablets, I always found myself writing something –whether it was the random thoughts of my first diary (complete with lock to journaling in the park during college to banging away on my first manual typewriter on weekends, I was always writing something. People in my apartment building in Seattle called me “the typist” whenever they saw me come out of my apartment to catch the elevator. (The elevator was right next to my apartment door)

            What was I doing with all that typing”  Well, fictional stories, of course. I had enough of writing true life stories every day in day job in a TV newsroom. The murders I committed on the written page were easier to write than the true life murders or diseases and other problems I had to write about that actually happened to real people or affected those around me.

            At times though I had those real stories in mind as I wrote my fiction. At least in my stories, I made certain the women were not left waiting at the train station or searching for children they might never find. I got to decide the outcome of the story and that made them easier to write. At the same time, the emotion I saw in people deeply affected by traumatic incidents stayed with me and allowed me to put some of my frustration into the fiction I was writing. I got to decide if there was a happy ending for the woman who so badly wanted to find a loved one or bring down the roof on a bad actor who was hurting those around him. I got to make those decisions and give the reader a satisfying ending. 

            True life can spawn real stories and ideas gleaned from happenings every day around writers can be taken and spun into wonderful tales. I don’t know how many times I have heard writers asked where they get ideas for stories, and so often the answer is familiar or similar to one of my thoughts.  Those stories are all around us.  The idea for my first romance came from a simple phrase my mother told me when I was young. She was a teenager the first time she saw my father wrangling broncs at her uncle's ranch. Her first thought when she saw him -- "I'm going to marry that boy one one." And she did!  True it took her some growing up and a war that came between them for a while, but she eventually got her happy ending.  It took that comment and wrote "Home Fires Burning" around it.

          As fiction writers, all we really need is a snippet of an idea or a person with a problem. The best part about writing fiction is that we get to make up the story we want. We get to decide how the bad guy gets punished or if he or she doesn’t get punished and comes back to wreak further havoc.

         We get to make the decisions about how much misery we want our main characters to suffer and we get to decide which characteristics they have that will help them to overcome their problems.

            But there is more we as writers need to keep in mind as we weave those tales spun from ideas that might spring around us. We also want to teach lessons about humanity in our work – whether it is to show someone who is a really good guy or to show someone how that person might be able grow or learn about themselves. I was living in Las Vegas when I got the idea for a woman who lives for others, and never realizing her own value or worth from a friend's story. It grew into the story of a woman rediscovering herself -- becoming a Desert Blossom. 

            The joy of writing can also carry with it the responsibility of helping the world. As a newswriter, I always knew we were charged with doing our best to be fair as journalists, to get the facts right or to make certain both sides of a story got told.

            As  a fiction writer we can have bad guys win sometimes but we still have to be careful not to glorify certain things. The ability to write carries responsibility as well. Yes, some might have the power to spin an evil or false tale. A responsible write keeps that in mind. And, while good guys don’t always win, we need to show why or how much they tried to win.

            When I first began writing romance, I was told we always had to have an ending that is happy, and sometimes that can be a real challenge. Bringing the bad guy or gal to justice is also important, but sometimes that doesn’t always work in a story.  As writers we need to be able to decide which works best. Making the wrong choice can mean you’ll never sell another book. 

           At the same time, making a choice that makes you uncomfortable as a writer or is against your own wishes doesn’t work either. As writers we need to remember why we are writing and make the choices that work best for us and for our characters.

            The result won’t necessarily give you that happy ending as a writer, but it can make you a better writer in the end.  

Desert Blossom - Amazon.com

RebeccaGrace.com

A Winning Combination

 Books with a sports background have always been among my favorites to read or write. Sports stories were a staple when I visited the library or bookstores. My first attempt at fiction writing involved a romance between a young woman involved with a football star, and my first published book was about a baseball manager and a sports broadcaster. M  longtime career was as a journalist (though I started out wanting to be a sports reporter) Years later, my first published novel was about a female broadcaster and a baseball manager.

This week in My Writing Corner, I am pleased to feature authors Liz Crowe and Desiree Holt and their latest book -- a story involving the combination of my favorite subjects -- sports and romance.

USA Today best-selling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and contemporary on a variety of heat levels up to erotic, a genre in which she is the oldest living author. She has been referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times and numerous other national and international publications. 

Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville living in Central Illinois. She's spent her time as a three-continent expat trailing spouse, mom of three, real estate agent, brewery owner and bar manager, and is currently a social media consultant and humane society development director, in addition to being an award-winning author. With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, inside fictional television stations and successful real estate offices, and even in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are compelling and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, at times frustrate, and always linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.

Let's get more on their new book, Numbers Game:

Former pro football player and coach Duncan "Hatch" Hatcher fumbled his career and marriage. Now divorced and ready to tackle his future, he has an opportunity to redeem himself as coach of his college alma mater's football team. But how can he can turn the team's losing streak around and keep the secret of his downfall buried when the school agrees to a documentary that will allow a lovely journalist to dig her way into his past...and into his heart?

Olivia Grant's ex-husband almost wrecked her journalism career while he definitely did a number on her self-esteem. The documentary on Duncan Hatcher is the perfect way to rebuild both. As a freshman in college, she'd had a crush on the senior football hero, but he hadn't known she existed. She never expects the sparks that fly between them as they work on the project nor the struggles they must face if they both want to win.

Sounds like a great read! Let's dig into those characters, starting with Duncan:

What frightens you about having a journalist dig into your past?

Oh, pretty much everything. Just kidding. Actually, having a good relationship with the media is something I’ve always prided myself on. And it’s not always easy to be either a player or a coach and sustain good relations with people whose job it is to be a fly in the ointment, to ask tough questions, to force you to face your own failures with questions like “How does it feel to lose that game, coach?”

I’ll admit that when the AD asked me if I’d be willing to do this, I was reluctant. The public eye has not been kind to me the last few years, even though I’ll admit my own part in that. But Olivia has the best interest of the program in mind, and I trust her completely to do right  by it, and by me.

What draws you to her personally?

Her tenacity, her strength of character and spirit, her alma mater, her cooking skills, and her ass. (Can I say that? Oh well, I did. It’s very appealing.)

What is your strongest drive or appeal?

Me? Well, I’m told I’m a good coach, I like to think that I am. I worry sometimes about trying to lead young men who are all barely teenagers into adulthood. I know what a knuckle head I was at their age, and sometimes I’m afraid I won’t have the courage or patience to do it right. But ever since I pulled myself out the giant hole I made in my own life, I’ve been 100% focused on turning things around in my life. And you can ask anyone who’s ever coached me in anything: I do not like to lose and I’m loyal to a fault.

How do you want people to see you?

As the man who was lucky enough to meet, fall for, and convince Olivia to be with me forever.

Now let's talk to Olivia? 

What draws you personally to Duncan?

His strength as a person and as a coach, without being overbearing or demanding. His willingness to share with the media without being arrogant. I see the way he runs the team, fully in charge but at the same time aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each player. I think what impressed me the most in the beginning was not something on the field, but aa few minutes he spent with a handicapped child after a race we both ran. His sense of humanity is so incredible and shows the softer side of him.

What frightens you about him?

Not much, really. Maybe his total dedication to the game that can sometimes separate him from everyone and everything else. I’ve known men for whom their career was the absolute focus of their life and people came second. I don’t see it in Hatch but as his success with this program grows I worry…just a tiny bit…that it will eclipse everything else.

 How has being a woman in what is basically a man's world shaped you?

I learned to fight hard for my place without losing my femininity. I played soccer in college so I am tuned in to competitive sports, and I still run races when I have the chance. But I also know I have to be confident without being obnoxious and not let men who think sports is a man’s world knock me off the track. And also be a complete student of sports, so people know I’m knowledgeable and know my subject and the world of sports. I want to be very successful without being, a you know…

What are your hopes for the future?

I hope this video will be a huge, huge success and open a new path for me to do more of them. I am hoping for recognition and respect for me as a knowledgeable sports reporter. And I hope Hatch sees me as the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

These characters are great, and the book sounds like an off the field winner! 

Here are Liz and Desiree’s links for more information on their new book:

Desiree Holt:

www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor 

www.facebook.com/desiree01holt 

Twitter: @desireeholt


Pinterest desiree02holt


Google: https://g.co/kgs/6vgLUuwww.desireeholt.com www.desiremeonly.com 

Follow me  on BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/search?search=Desiree+Holt 

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Desiree- Holt/e/B003LD2Q3M/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1505488204&sr=1-2-ent 

Signup for my newsletter and receive a free book:
https://desireeholt.com/newsletter/

 Liz Crowe:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizCroweAuthor

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor

Book Bub Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-crowe

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4350864.Liz_Crowe

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Liz-Crowe/e/B00573TC7M

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etlizcrowe/

Website (new version coming soon!): http://www.lizcrowe.com

Sign up for newsletter/get a free book!: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2a2q5

Thank you both so much for bringing us your latest book! Any comments or questions?

A Look Back to Go Forward

 As we begin to come through the pandemic,  and we become more confident due to vaccines, our schedules may be returning more to normal -- especially as we move toward the warmer months. We will be able to be outside more, and even get back to visiting our extended families or attending the writing groups in person.  In other words, some of our lives will return to normal.

In preparation for that, this may be a good time to look around at what changes we might want to make in our writing lives. Do we want to go back to all the old bad habits or do we want to change and perhaps develop some new good writing habits.

One thing that has happened for me is the the loss of attending regular writing groups. Critique groups were no longer meeting in person and our weekly critiques turned into online critiques. Our regular writers' organization meetings were held virtually, which to me was actually a wonderful opportunity. I was able to partake more easily in the discussions from my comfortable writing chair as opposed to spending an hour or two driving to the meetings and looking for parking.

Perhaps what I missed most was the opportunity to check in with others on their writing during those breaks in the meetings or when we were waiting for the sessions to start. But the online sessions have also given me a chance to attend Zoom sessions with writing groups all across the country..  I've even attended one that was given by a group on Canada, which was very worthwhile since I am working on a book that is a sequel to one of my early books set in British Columbia. While I didn't get the chance to visit my favorite spot in Vancouver, I was able to learn about the court system given in a lesson aimed at helping writers get their facts straight.  

The pandemic and Zoom meetings have also given me the opportunity to connect online with other writers who are also stuck at home and looking for ways to keep their muses busy while so many things around us are unpredictable. Writing a book set in a dystopian world where half the popular has fallen victim to a pandemic no longer seems like a subject I would want to tackle in a book. 

At the same time, it also has given me time to go back and look over old projects and go back to work
on sequels I might have wanted to do -- hence that plan to bring back some of my old favorite characters and place them in a new setting or a new story.

As writers, we often live in our own little worlds, worlds we create and it's sometimes easier to retreat to those places to dwell among our characters. I was always stricken by a comment made by best selling mystery author Robert Crais at a writing convention years ago. The convention was held in Los Angeles where he lives and the scene of his popular Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels, and one of his comments to us was that he was a little late because he'd found it difficult to leave the world of Joe and Elvis.

 Sometimes I know exactly how we feels. As writers we need to take ourselves into those worlds and see and feel the world about which we are writing. I guess that's part of why I'm feeling bad about not being able to visit that world in Vancouver that I am creating on the written page. But I take myself into it to get the feel and that in the end, may give me a better story. By taking myself there visually and emotionally I will be better prepared to take my readers there. 

It's a lesson that we can all learn -- put yourself in that other world in your mind. It will make your story stronger. Use all the senses -- whether it's what you see, what you smell, what you feel about your location. Putting yourself there can help you to put your readers there. 

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy being able to get out more as spring comes and I'm going to soak up every part of what I feel so I can put it into my next story.