I'm A Naive Nellie....#MFRWauthors #13

Last week was greatest strength....this week it's weakness.

I think I'm too trusting....

Plus, I have a sincere weakness for sweets, in particular at the moment, blackberry pie/cobbler.

Peanut Butter Twix bars.

Reeses Cups.

Whatchamacallits (yes, it's a deeeeelicious candy bar!).

Singing.  I will break out in song when the mood hits, or someone around me reminds me of a song lyric.

Drives.  My kids.  CRAZY!  (Hey, just doin' m'job!)

That's all I got at the moment.  I've been spending this week out in the yard, cleaning up leaves and pine needles.  Older grandkids return home on Saturday.....Miss Drama Queen has matured into a lovely babysitter for the 4-y/o granddaughter, so gotten a LOT accomplished!

In the mood for some general fiction stories?  My alter-ego's had her 11th book released this past week (eep, she's catching up to me!  I need to write RiKar's story pdq, lol!), anther anthology she was invited to contribute to.  Go check it out here; it's also in print.

Her stories are Family Secrets and Confessions Over Cold Eggs (remember our Title Topic?  Yeah....figure out that second title, lmao!)

Click here for more posts.

Faith, Compassion, Forgiveness....#MFRWauthors #12

What's my greatest strength?

I'm about to break a sacred rule.

You see, I attend a Women's Conference at church every year, and we're not supposed to divulge secrets.  But since this one's about me, I'll share it anyway.

I was raised in a Christ-oriented family, and thanks to some childhood bullying and anxiety issues, I clung to my faith, since I'd been taught about a loving God.  I pictured Him with gray hair and wrinkles, and a very loving manner, much like my own grandpa.  I didn't feel accepted by kids at school, but I was close to several friends whom I only saw once or twice a week.  Plus, I had Father God whom I could talk to any time of day or night:)

So yes, I have a deep faith in a Higher Power.....which may seem strange to romance writers.  Stranger still, I have many friends who don't believe, or are of other faiths.

My childhood issues gave me a unique compassion for others, and I've also been told I'm way too forgiving at times.

But that's how I was raised....and since I was an 'ugly duckling' who has blossomed into some sort of swan, it allowed me to develop my imagination, since I was a voracious reader.

I am loyal to a fault; I can be your greatest fan if I love your books; I can champion the underdog.

Hope:  I've never given up hope that one day I'd be published.  This has allowed me to be flexible, since at 1st I wanted to be published by age 20 and be a guest on Love Boat, and have that shipboard romance with either Doc or Gopher, but alas, it went off the air when I was 13 or 14!  Nevertheless, when it didn't happen at 30, I was thrilled when it finally happened before I hit 40!  Even then, I struggled with marketing, but through trial and error I've attained some small successes:)  The worst thing anyone can say to me?

"Why don't you give up on that writing thing?  You're not making any money!  Go get a 'real job'."

Ummmm....Yeah, I don't make a huge sum of money, but I would much rather be doing something I love than spend a lot of time and energy doing something I despise.

If those aren't strengths, then apparently I've misunderstood the topic.

For more, or even better posts, go here.

Or here.   You might get all the links on this one; there was some confusion at the beginning of the week!

How My Brain Works....#MFRWauthors #11

Welcome back!  This week's topic is 'What is your writing process?'

Answer:  I really don't know.

I've written books in a month, involving several hours' worth of pounding the keyboard and snarling at any interruption.

I've written books which have taken years, yanking every word from my brain, much like a toddler in the throes of a colossal temper tantrum.

Then there was last Wednesday......

I was working on a new short story, and being under an intense deadline (long story short, I thought my original story was accepted, but discovered two weeks before publication, they were asking me to revise it!  Thankfully, publication has been delayed another week...okay, that wasn't so short,,,,are you getting ANY sense of my thought process yet?  LOL!), I was rather stressing out about the way the new story was going.  I sat down to watch Jeopardy, when one of the clues sparked an idea.  As soon as the commercial break began, I jumped up and went to the computer and wrote.....then back to watch more Jeopardy.

Then Survivor began.  I'm a die-hard lover of this show, so, you guessed it....every commercial break I was back at the computer, pounding out the words and relying on my mother to yell, "It's back on!"  This went on for the next two hours.

Let me stop a minute and mention the fact we'd ordered Chinese for dinner.  I had fully intended to get another plate of Mu-Shu Pork while watching the premier of this season's Survivor.  With the brainstorm, this didn't happen!

After Survivor, I went back to the computer and finally finished that damn story ninety minutes later.  Then returned to the kitchen to find my dear mother had carefully packed up my food and placed it into the refrigerator!  So at eleven-thirty at night, I finally finished my meal, and watched an old Perry Mason episode with my mommy.

Mom asked how the story was coming along, so I told her I'd finally finished it.  She smiled at me and said, "It's so amazing how your brain works!"

I'm interested in seeing if the other authors on this hop share this, or are there those who actually plot, outline, and write, as we were taught in school, or if we're all pantsers?  When I write longer books, I like to have a sense of where the story is taking me, but occasionally it's nice when the characters simply hijack your brain and all you can do is hang on for the ride!

Normally at this time, I'd provide a link to the others on this hop, but no such link appears to exist...so keep checking back HERE. 

EDITED:  There's a new post with links:  Go Here. 

Inquiring MInds Want To Know.... #MFRWauthors #10

My top seven guilty pleasures?  *ahem*  In no particular order......

1)  Big Brother.  I've tried to stay away from this show, I really have.

2)  Pedicures and dying my hair blue:  I never thought I'd enjoy having red/green/purple/pink toenails, or even having streaks of blue in my hair!

3)  Binge-watching Classic TV on DVD:  I found Laverne and Shirley, What's Happening, Hill Street Blues, and Gilligan's Island.  I also own a few seasons of Mary Tyler Moore!

4)  Potato skins, bagal bites, and stuffed mushrooms.  'Nuff said.....or even playing Trivia at BW3....

5)  Binge-watching Law and Order.

6)  Going on vacation or even having a staycation, when the family leaves ME at home by myself:)

7)  Unleashing my inner rock star at karaoke:)  There's just something relaxing about getting up and belting out a Bon Jovi hit....or having other singers request that you sing with them:)

Bonus:  I also love to go out to eat.  I don't mind cooking, when I'm in the mood to do so, but it's so nice to only have lunch or breakfast dishes in the sink!

What's YOUR guilty pleasure?  Want more?  Go here. 

Words I Detest #MFRWauthors

This may sound strange, coming from someone who writes erotic romance, but there are several words I don't like to use, and certainly would NOT have them come out of my mouth!

Words I've Written, But Sparingly:
-Cunt
-Pussy
-Tits
-basically anything with a derogatory context for race, women, private parts, or people in general.  I have written a few, but only if I end up with a character who uses them.

I'm also not a fan of certain euphemisms; I once saw a post full of weird ones that I can't even recall them now, unless it is meant to be funny, as in the case of Spinal Tap:

"My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo; I'd like to sink her with my pink torpedo..."

"My love gun's loaded and she's in my sight; big game's waiting there inside her tights...."

"Sex farm woman don't you see my silo risin' high...high....high..."

Words I Hope To Only Use Once Per Book:
-Smirk
-Murmur
This is only because of a Certain Book Which Shall Not Be Named, because they are in nearly every damn paragraph on every damn page!

Word I've Said In Anger, But Not All The Time:
-Fuck
Unless I'm seeing red from anger, this word usually does not come out of my mouth, even when it's in a song.  When She Hates Me by Puddle of Mud came out several years back, I realized I was singing every word, and even inserting it when the radio didn't!  Plus, it was creeping into every day language more and more, so I decided to purge it from my vocabulary.

Until I started reading and writing erotic romance.

Yes, there are some of my books where it is prolificly used....but I will say 'freaking' or even 'frickin' instead.

Unless, of course, you have me so mad I slip up!

What words make YOU cringe?  To find out more, go here.

What's In A Title? #MFRWauthors

Speaking of catchy titles, let me get this out of the way first:

My 10th book (tenth!  Can you believe it?), Kira's Slice of Pizza, released yesterday:)  So far, only the Kindle version is available, but the print format should be ready to go live soon.  I'm waiting on a cover, ha ha!

Blurb::
Leaving TriJupe to escape scandal after the death of her Bond Mate, KiRah exiles herself on Earth and takes refuge in an abandoned house to paint and mourn her loss. But when a stranger brings upheaval to her new life, will KiRah discover it’s possible to love again?

Duffy Switzer never thought he'd be interested in an artist. Kira's quiet demeaner proves refreshing after a string of self-centered women, and having someone who makes no demands leads him to believe he's found the perfect woman. But as he's drawn deeper into Kira's life, he learns she is no ordinary human. When the truth is revealed, will he turn his back on her?

Get your copy here!  

Okay.  Now that's out of the way, you may be wondering, Kenzie, what the hell is up with that title?

Great question.  Let me explain:)

Sometimes a title will come to me before I begin writing (Teacher's Pet, Class Reunion, Off The Clock).  Others I don't have a clue what to call the little bundle of joy I've just written (All She Ever Wanted, Wild At Heart).  It may be a phrase, it may simply be an idea.  It may even be a collaborative event.

The Great Title Search of 2014:
Heart's Last Chance began it's working title form as Star Crossed Lovers.  The book was in final edits and I was even about to have a cover when I realized I hated that title.  Okay, in all fairness, I googled that title and was appalled at how many other books popped up!  Yup....my new sci-fi baby was about to get stuck in oblivion.

So I rallied my editor, publisher, and trusted friends, and we spent four days tossing new titles out before we settled on Heart's Last Chance:)

But we wanna hear about KIRA'S TITLE!!!
Okay, okay.  You know when you go to a gathering of old friends who know what you do for a living, and alcohol is involved?  I discovered my BFF from high school had not only READ Class Reunion, he'd told a few of his buddies,  Who then chose to take me to task about 'Brian Vellinger'.  Yes, I combined my BFF's 1st name and his male BFF's (whom I'd had a MAJOR crush on as a sophomore!) last name.

It was supposed to strictly be a placeholder name, to be changed when publication loomed.  But I forgot to change it.

So the following exchange took place June 20, 2014:
MS (words a little slurred):  What's with the Brian Vellinger character?  How come you didn't use me or Duffy?

KM:  It was supposed to have been changed, but I forgot to.

MS:  I insist you put a character named Duffy Switzer into your next book, and call it Slice of Pizza!

(Collective group laughs)

Kenzie thinks, Oh boy....what am I going to do with this?

I chewed on that character and title all weekend.  Heart's Last Chance had been submitted, and I was in the process of writing NiKoh's story.  Two months later, after HLC's aforementioned Great Title Search, little KiRah, the youngest member of my alien family, decided to shove her older brother out of my head and came up with the perfect way to tie that weird title into her story.  

"And Kenzie, use my name, in order to give a hint."

Brilliant, Kira.  I love it!

So nope, not going to tell you how it all ties together.  You'll just have to read the book and let me know if you think it's as clever as I do:)

How do others come up with witty titles?  Go here and find out! 

******Contest Closed*****   Congrats to Melissa Keir! Oh, and if you'd like to win a free copy of Kira's Slice of Pizza, or if you've never read any of my work and want to start with #1, Heart's Last Chance, leave me a comment with your contact info:)  I'll draw a winner next week.

Bonus Question:  Can you name any of KiRah's siblings?  I mentioned one in this long-winded post, ha ha!

"Two Thousand Zero Zero Party Over-Oops, Out Of Time"....#MFRWauthors

I love music.  Always have, from the time I received my 1st record player at age 5, and 'bunny hopped' all over my room.  Carpenters, Sonny and Cher, Elton John, The Who, Tony DeFranco, Donny Osmond, Shaun Cassidy, Bay City Rollers, Bee Gees.....I've lost count of how many times my mom would tell me to 'shut off that music and do your homework.'

But I DID do my homework!  Just because I could belt out 'Stayin' Alive' and do my math homework at the same time.....or find and underline all verbs/adjectives/prepositional phrases......or even do my assigned reading didn't mean I wasn't studying!

When I first began writing (seriously), my kids were little.  I'd put them down for a nap, turn on Hooked On Classics (my hubby had an 8-track) or Enya's Oronico Flow tape and write for two solid hours until my son would come out and crawl into my lap.

Later, when the laundromat was my writing 'cave', I learned to write with whatever was on the juke box.  My favorites were AD/DC, Don Henley, Nirvana, and a few others.  I even plotted out an entire book once while in a bar, waiting for friends to show up!  (Hey, even this past Saturday, while waiting for my turn at karaoke, a fantastic idea popped into my head for #5 of The Chosen!  No, it has NOTHING to do with karaoke!)

I've written to Prince, Bon Jovi, and Back Street Boys.  One of my favorite stories to tell was the time I had an entire week to myself, and went through my (then) entire 8 CD library, and wasn't motivated.

Until I happened upon the Aqua CD I'd not yet unwrapped.  Remember 'Barbie Girl'?

I was on page 20 when I realized I'd forgotten to set my CD player to 'continuous play'.

Ever written a sex scene while hearing, "Bob the Builder, can we build it?  Bob the Builder, yes we can!" in the background?  Don't laugh....Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer also kept my little one happy during the first year I did NaNoWriMo!

What I'm trying to say is, I focus better with 'noise' in the room....unless I'm trying to have a conversation with someone.  If we're in the car, I'll probably shush you and turn up the radio!

Housework is even tolerable when Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy' is playing.  Yes, I've even played air guitar with a broom....I admit it!

Who are some of your favorite bands/singers?

To see if other authors share my love of music, or have to write in absolute silence, click here.