The Pure Magical Fun of It

Ever just want to write something for the pure magical fun of it? And also, for the creative challenge?
To me that’s freedom, as I used to feel when I galloped on my horse with the wind.
No, not because you have to write it, or are expected to write it...but only because you’re feeling that compelling urge to pen. And so it’s been the past several days.
It began with a blog at ShapeShifter Romance by Teresa D’Amario, author of
SheWolf & Tigress by the Tail ~ Ten ways to know your lover is a shape shifter!
Well, the lightbulb went on in my brain, and I thought: how fun would it be to create that kind of tongue-in-cheek list for my upcoming novella, Black Cat Beauty? Okay, that naughty black cat girl inspired a much too risque top ten to post here. I’ll have to tame it down.
Then, I thought about how fiercely fond of disco dancing Volcano is, my hero in When a Good Angel Falls. In fact, all his cherubic kind adore Saturday Night Fever beneath the disco ball on Earth and at the Cloud Nine Club. Thus was born my Monday blog.
Okay, since I had a blog scheduled for today, I just couldn’t leave out my galactic world in Tangerine Carnal Dreams. Hmmm...how do you know when that sexy man who looks all too human is also a shapeshifter? Or, in this instance an equine shifter. Well, keep on reading to find out.

****
So, you’re relaxing, hanging out at the local bar and dance club near the Heroux spaceport, before you head out on the next passenger transport, and return to your home world. Your assignment has been a rough one, but the intel you’ve gathered will stop one of the galactic crime syndicates from corrupting your government.
Leaning on one hip against the bar, an immense sleek structure that gradually curves along the shape of the dome structure itself, you sip on a red scorpion ale...bitter, potent, yet spiced deliciously...while watching the local inhabitants gregariously interact and dance with an eclectic mixture of other races. Given this is a sea water planet-moon, the humanoids are evolved from squid and dolphin genes. Their indigo shades of skin are covered with pearlescent hues of every color.
You’ve seen similar scenes, at least, a hundred times before. Yet it never loses its appeal or its fascination to your eye. Besides, there’s always something to learn that could save your hide in the cosmic badlands, or wherever you’re on assignment.
It’s no surprise when a handsome, looking-for-a-ride man saunters toward you, the wicked gleam in his eyes shooting toward you like a pulse weapon. From the looks of him he could be from your home world, except for his taller height, and his thick long mane of hair. And well, if your gaze lowers...there’s that obvious size difference.
However, is he an equine shapeshifter? Notorious for chasing a woman through the gates of any hell to possess her...like the powerful stallion he is...

Here it is, the help you need: The top ten reasons he might be a stallion shapeshifter.

10. As he approaches, his gait subtly alters to a studly prance, as if you’re a filly he’s scented.

9. He flashes his gaze over you, then slowly turns the corners of his mouth up in a bold you-want-me flirtation. And strangely, he seems to arch his neck in a demonstration of prowess.

8. When you glare a fierce warning that you’re not in the least interested, he grins with confident charm, leans against the bar and arrogantly props himself up on one elbow, just out of reach of your kick, as if you had hooves.

7. After ordering an oat molasses brew, he tosses his mane of hair magnificently, then flares his nostril in your direction.

6. When you pointedly ignore him, yet keep a watch from the corner of your eye because he could be an assassin on your trail, or a slaver after you for the sex market, he idly quaffs his brew, and keeps his own protective watch. Not to mention his entire posture is a warning to every male ~ stay away, or risk a savage kick to the groin.

5. Irritation firing through your veins, you hiss a loud sigh, and partially face him, then scowl like a reptoid demoness. He takes that as an invitation to join you, his demeanor utterly virile as he moves beside you.

4. When you demand he leave in galactic vernacular, he merely leans closer and it suddenly feels like he’s snuffling your face. Gently.

3. As you reach for your side weapon, disguised as a tiny payment clip, he nuzzles along your neck, and involuntarily your fingers let go. Then while blushing wildly, you try to contain your silly heaving breaths.

2. In an effort to save yourself from his seduction you begin to shove away from the bar, but he nips your shoulder sending frissons of pleasure to your core.

1. When you protest in your own language, murmuring, No ... he nuzzles the rim of your ear passionately, and whispers, Want to take me for a ride?

While this is not an actual scene in my novella, Tangerine Carnal Dreams, it was certainly inspired by my stallion shapeshifting hero, and my kickassitude heroine.

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~ http://savannakougar.com ~
Tangerine Carnal Dreams...a fire-shooting fierce woman...a shapeshifting prince of a stallion...and the tangerine aphrodisiac winds on a world far away...Available from Aspen Mountain Press ~ http://aspenmountainpress.com ~

Never too late to learn?

If you could sign on for a class to study anything you liked, what would you pick?

Mai blogged last month about this time of the year being a place for reassessing goals and planning the future. Part of that might be adding to skills, or learning something new, just for fun.

It’s strange how studying gets a lot more attractive when it’s something you choose to do, not something you have to, like school.

Here in the UK September is the month for signing on for evening classes.

Within five minute’s walk of my home I can register to learn about computers, or for classes in Tai chi, or belly dancing. In the town as a whole there is everything from photography to languages to cookery, and when it comes to the courses offered by Cardiff University – well, don’t get me started. Ancient Egypt, Latin, Medieval Warfare, (If that’s too bloodthirsty how about Medieval Art and Architecture?) Mythology, James Bond, Greek Philosophy, Identifying Bats and Moths, Life Coaching … and every kind of creative writing course you can think of.

I’m like a kid in a toy shop, not knowing which to choose. And added to that, part time students get to use the University Library, an even bigger toy shop, as far as I’m concerned.


If I could afford it, I’d be out every night of the week and my brain would be spinning. Perhaps other things too, if I sign on for that belly dancing course.




Welcome to September on TM

Next week is a big one for Title Magic friends and family. Trish has her first book out – A Firefighter in the Family, and guest blogger Melinda Hammond has her first e-book release from Samhain - Moonshadows. She’ll be visiting again on 19 September to talk about the experience.

The Magic of Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever With a Carnal Cherub

My hero in WHEN A GOOD ANGEL FALLS is Zerr Dann Volcano. He is what is often called a carnal cherub, a unique breed of angel who can operate long term in the material realms, such as Earth. His nature and powers are divine, yet he also possesses human desires, especially potent sexual desires. All that light inside his being has to be focused somewhere. So he tells me.

Once material planet-worlds became abundant in the Universe, and some Archangels turned to the dark side, carnal cherubs were created to observe them and, if need be, battle these Dark Force Angels on their own hellfire turf.

However, while they are in training, carnal cherubs are sent on fun assignments. It’s well known in the celestial community that they adore dancing with women, and have a particular fondness for disco, ala Saturday Night Fever style. In fact, there are John Travolta cloud-dance contests in the heavenly realms, no wings allowed, and the instructional classes are always filled to capacity.

Another little heavenly secret, sshhhh ~ dancing on the clouds with Archangel Michael impersonating ‘Travolta’ is all the rage. Oh, and wings are allowed.

If you love disco dancing...okay, it might be your well-kept secret...and I won’t tell if you do. But consider the following twelve indicators ~

You might have been partnered with a carnal cherub if...

12. He intones the name of a Bee Gees’ disco tune, then boyishly grins with expectation, and the next thing you hear is ~ More than a woman...

11. If he’s wearing garb reminiscent of that garish anything-goes time. Yep, the white suit of Saturday Night Fever or a shiny polyester shirt and pants, only his clothes sparkle as if coated by stardust, most noticeable when he stands beneath the disco ball.

10. If his eyes bedazzle you, and you can’t resist his gentlemanly yet playful invitation to dance ~ even if you are dead on your feet and ready to go home. And hate all men because you just spied your ex-boyfriend in the corner creepily pawing your last babysitter.

9. When he whirls you through a series of dance steps you had no idea you could ever perform to Love to Love You, Baby ~ and you feel as if, yes, you really are dancing on the clouds. And soon, not to your surprise, ‘I could have danced all night’ is singing in your head, competing with the music.

8. You beam a smile up at him as he dips you like Patrick Swayze in a dirty dancing dream, and you have absolutely no fear he will drop you, or break you in any way.

7. As you dance pelvis to pelvis, defying the prowess of Elvis Presley to You’re a brickhouse, your head is still in the musical clouds of disco ~ not on wantonly shoving him against the nearest wall, and ravaging his ultra sexy body.

6. You lose one of your dangly 80's Cher earrings while Donna Summer’s Bad Girls is swivelling your hips, and he instantly discovers its location, flung beneath the chair of the hottest babe alive, who is now eyeing you like you’re her next bag of kitty litter. But you hardly notice because as he presents the earring in his palm, its sheer brightness causes you to lose your breath with astonishment.

5. When the thump-thump pound of the music slows to Last Dance, and you’re hugging bodies and dancing cheek-to-cheek, you feel as if you’re hovering over the dance floor, like he has wings or something.

4. As the music winds down and the neon lights fade, he heavenly kisses you until kingdom comes, and you swear your feet aren’t touching the floor and that surely you’ve just sprouted wings. Flapping shimmery wings.

3. After he walks you to your car, he presses a tender parting kiss on your lips. And you know you’ll never see him again. But somehow it’s okay. Somehow you know you’ve just been touched by heaven.

2. You hum the melody of I feel love, as he walks toward the slickest and sweetest motorcycle ride you’ve ever seen, then simply vanishes.

1. As you drive home, your head lost in the clouds, and your senses reeling, Willie Nelson sings angel flying too close to the ground, in your mind as if on a repeating loop. Then when you turn on the radio for the rest of the drive home, the first thing you hear is Johnny Angel, how I love you.

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~ http://savannakougar.com ~

When a Good Angel Falls ~ 2012 adventure fantasy romance ~ available from BookStrand ~http://www.bookstrand.com/authors/savannakougar/wagaf.asp ~ http://www.bookstrand.com/

Trish Milburn ~ A Firefighter in the Family

Hi everyone, since we don't have a guest blogger for this Friday. I thought I'd post the info and blurb for Title Magic's own Trish Milburn, her debut novel.

A Firefighter in the Family
Harlequin American, September 2008

Miranda "Randi" Cooke left her family and her hometown on the Gulf Coast of Florida behind when a mistake she made as a firefighter led to tragedy. Now her job with the state fire marshal’s office has brought her back to Horizon Beach. Not only will she have to hunt down an arsonist, but she’ll also face the estrangement from her family and have to decide if she wants to give her love for former firefighter Zac Parker a second chance.

For more info about all Trish is up to, including her attendance at Dragoncon check her website at ~ http://trishmilburn.com

And if anyone has Trish's 4 star review, please post. My latest RT is probably at my PO box.

Do you know you have paint in your hair?

It’s been a holiday weekend here in the UK and I’ve spent the time redecorating my kitchen and dining room, which is why I have paint in my hair and was using the washing machine as a breakfast table this morning. I’m childishly proud of the fact that I painted two ceilings – not well, but what the heck – it’s not the Sistine Chapel.

The house I’m living in now is over 100 years old. It was semi derelict when I bought it, but only five minutes away from the ocean – who could resist? While I had all the major work done by professionals, it has more of my blood, sweat and tears in it than any other place I’ve ever lived. Every wall in the house has been painted by me, and I’ve also tiled, gardened and put furniture together.

Poised at the top of a ladder, wondering what I was going to blog about, as well as musing on what we put into the places where we live, made me think about houses in books, and how often they have a pivotal role.

For Jane Austen property was a really big thing, the measure of a man’s worth and his value as husband material, as well as being the setting for the book, so much so that Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey are actually the book’s titles.

I would guess the most famous literary house is probably Manderly. Most people can quote the first line of that book, even if they have never read Rebecca.

I’ve just completed a manuscript for the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writer’s scheme – unpublished writers have to submit a typescript every year, which gets you a crique from a published writer who is an expert in their field. As Mai pointed out the other day, having something you need to work towards focuses the mind and makes you produce your book a year, even for the unpublished. That book, Never Coming Home is a new departure for me – it’s turned out very dark, straying into Lisa Gardner and PJ Tracy territory, so I am wondering what my reviewer will make of it. The first thing that Devlin, the hero, sees about Kaz, my heroine, is her house, a place that I invented in Chelsea, in London, and he uses it as a yardstick to assess what sort of a person she is.

We’ve had so many wonderful historical novelists blog with us recently that it has inspired me to do something totally frivolous (and I hope fast) for a complete change of pace. I’m researching for a gothic style romance set in late Victorian times. It’s set then, so that I have the chance to create a house in the style of Augustus Pugin, who worked on the Houses of Parliament and William Burges, who was responsible for much of the interior of Cardiff Castle, which is gothic fantasy of a high order. The Pre- Raphaelite painters will probably get in there somewhere too. I hope I manage to get away from the research long enough to write the actually book.

I’d be interested in hearing about other people’s favorite fictional houses or places they have set, or would like to set, a book. Have you got a dream house just dying to get built? Doing it on paper is really cheap, and you don’t even get paint in your hair.

The Magic of Discovery, or Not...

The magic of discovery, or not. Or, my place as an author on the totem pole of the best seller list.
Aaahh, where to start? Yeah, I know the old joke...at the beginning. Nah, I’m not going back that far! It would be tons o’ pages, and this is just a blog.
Okay, deep breath...let me dive in here, and hope I make sense, or I write clearly enough to be understood. While I luv things by the numbers, as in numerology, I’m not nearly so enamored about stats, the down and dirty numbers which supposedly evaluate performance.
Unless...and that’s a big unless...they’re in my favor. For example, if I was a NY Times best selling author, well, part of me would be *squeeing* with utter delight, and I’d probably be jumping up and down like Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch. Then again, another part of me would recognize the grim truth. My novel, or novels (dream on, right!) aren’t really better or that much better than lots of authors who might never have the opportunity to be on the NY Times best-selling list.
So, is that really something to celebrate?
Yep, I’m deeply conflicted over this one.
On the one hand I would be very proud of me and my baby novel. And I would know the blood, sweat, tears and persistence it took to gain that position...not to mention I’d be eternally grateful for every reader’s purchase. On the other hand, there’s that grim truth again. I’m certain the other authors put in tons of time and effort, too. But didn’t make that particular grade. This time around.
Okay, discovering your numbers as an author. Or your stats, and where you rank on the best seller totem pole. No, not me, baby! I'm not hanging around or dancing around that pole.
Of course, I want to know if they’re good numbers. I’m giddy as a kitty knowing that WHEN A GOOD ANGEL hit #3 and then #2 on BookStrand’s top sellers list, these past few days. And, yesterday, ‘angel’ ranked #17 out of 20 for the past fourteen days...yay! But I didn’t go check out the stats. I found out inadvertently from two Google Alerts and then from Lee Silver, BookStrand author of THE TWIST...if yer partial to suspense, erotic romance and the weird twists of life...check her book out...and it did hit the prized #1 spot.
Trouble is ‘Angel’ could reach #1 and I might never know it. Then again, I don’t have the emotional torture of being disappointed if ‘it’ doesn’t perform. And, best of all, I can keep penning away in a state of ignorance is bliss. Without an elephant’s worth of performance anxieties hitting me like poison pygmy darts.
The other thing I know about myself ~ being an Aries I can get into that hyper competitive mode. Great! If you’re playing tackle football like I did when I was a teenager. Not so great if you’re spending your time like an obsessed Cyber Gamer looking for all the stats, all the possible reviews, and tracking them down on the hour, every hour. All the while planning strategies ferociously, and staring at the screen without blinking...with your brain spinning like a quantum top as you consider ways to write that surefire bestseller...all for the possible rush of watching your novel’s meteoric rise to the top.
Nope, can’t go there.
Not if I want to keep writing, which I do.
Truth is, I love writing and being an author much more than I care about discovering the stats, or cat-clawing my way to the top just for the sake of being top dog. Make that a top selling female dog.
On the other paw, I will pay attention to what novels readers are buying. Because, I can use those numbers to write stories that fit those stats. Absolutely, yes, since it gives me the opportunity to write the novel of my heart and soul, while hopefully giving readers the romance books they yearn for. A win-win scenario.
So, each of us an individual would react and respond differently to discovering our performance or author’s stats. What’s your personal works-best-for-you approach for looking at the numbers in your life?
Yesterday, to continue the theme of discovery, I found this from Lindsay Townsend, our Friday guest blogger, in my e-mail. It’s also on the BookStrand blogspot ~ http://sirenbookstrand.blogspot.com ~
O happy is this author! Excuse me while I kiss the sky...I don’t think Jimi Hendrix will mind if I rip him off here.
Author Discovery: When A Good Angel Falls.
I read 'When a Good Angel Falls' by Savanna Kougar and was hooked from the very start, pulled instantly into a mesmerising, original story. The post apocalypse world of 2012, where books are illegal, corpses line the streets, and where even the stars are obscured by ash, is powerfully evoked. The beautiful, red-haired heroine Sedona is a healing, powerful heroine. The cherubic hero - who looks like Tom Cruise and who whimsically uses Old Spice - is wonderfully appealing.
With ultimate high stakes - the fate of the earth itself - Sedona is key to the planet's survival.
There is also powerful, erotic romance in "When a Good Angel Falls", eroticism as a life-giving, life-enhancing force that is vital to the story and the earth. The love-play between Sedona and her younger hero lover is highly charged from the very beginning and is both playful and deliciously sensual. The hero is to die for: considerate, playful, seductive and hot!
This is a fast-paced ride of an adventure, beautifully written, about an older woman who is an incarnated angel discovering her true powers. It is a marvellous, empowering read with a spine-tingling climax. And I love Aru, the sly musical references and the spirit animals, especially the wolves!
By Lindsay Townsend, author of FLAVIA’S SECRET ~ How far dare you trust your lover? Especially when your lover is also your master..... ~ available at BookStrand ~ http://bookstrand.com ~ & author of A KNIGHT’S VOW ~ available at Kensington Books

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~ http://savannakougar.com ~
When a Good Angel Falls ~ 2012 adventure fantasy romance ~ available from BookStrand ~
http://www.bookstrand.com/authors/savannakougar/wagaf.asp ~ http://www.bookstrand.com/

Guaranteed Way To Finish That Book!

When was the last time you finished a book? Do you find yourself struggling to get words onto the screen? Is the thought of writing a book a year daunting?

Well relax, it doesn’t have to be.

The expectations of readers for authors have changed drastically since the days of the first romance. Now, not only is it harder to get published and the market tighter to get into, reader expectation (combined with publisher expectation) almost always require that you write at least a book a year if you want to maintain readership and keep your name from fading with the dust. No writer worth their salt wants to be known as a one-book wonder. Or worse – a one book writer.

I’ve never been fond of math, but I’ve discovered there’s a secret formula for guaranteeing a book a year no matter how busy you are – and it has nothing to do with being prolific. It is “Dedication + Time Management = Book”.

The first part of the formula, “Dedication”:

This is the key variable. Decide how important it is for you to finish that book. Where is writing in your list of priorities? Is it in the top two of your priorities? Top three? Bottom three? Only you can answer this. Your decision will reflect your will to finish that book.

The second part of the formula, “Time Management”:

You hear it all the time: Less is More. In this instance, the saying is true. What some writers tend to do (myself included) is crash write. Yes, like crash dieting. It’s never safe and never good. You can achieve the desired outcome (page count) within a short period of time, but you wear yourself out fast. Those 55 pages last week turned into 0 pages this week and next week because you’re burned out. You’ve written yourself sick. Just like dieting, it’s a dangerous roller coaster ride.

What you need to do is learn to pace yourself. Work at a speed that is comfortable to you – and doable. Set small goals, such as one hour a day, or one page a day. A small goal is less daunting and easier to accomplish than a large, broad goal, like 50 pages for the week.

Take small steps. Think of it this way: There are roughly 365 days in a year. If you wrote just one page a day, you’ve written a book at the end of the year at 365 pages. Factor in more “Dedication” into the equation and resolve to write 2 pages day. That’s two books in a year!

What was that? You’re too busy? You can’t find time to write? Not even a page?

Let me ask you this. What’s playing tonight? What happened on the last episode of American Idol? Did you see the last Grey’s Anatomy? Who do you think will be next to go on Desperate Housewives or Lost?

If you can answer at least one of these questions, then you’re not too busy. If you can find time to watch TV, you definitely can find time to write. Again, it comes back to “Dedication”. How important is finishing this book to you? Instead of wasting that hour out of your busy life to watch TV, turn the TV off for the evening and put that hour to good use by writing. Time yourself. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in an hour knowing that you have only that hour and you have to make it count.

One hour a day. A page a day. A book a year. How daunting does it sound now?

You probably won’t be able to answer what happened on the last episode of your favorite TV show, but you finally have that book written and ready to be submitted. There’s no contest there. And just think, when that first sale comes around and your readers are demanding more books, you know you can keep up with their demands by giving them a book a year!

Not bad for someone who’s dislikes math, huh?