All the World's A Stage

For years I was always secretly a bit amused by actors who loudly proclaimed the great lengths they went to in researching and “becoming” their characters. Figuring out every little detail of their character’s life: how he or she would eat a peanut butter sandwich, what they’d say when answering the phone, what they’d wear, which team they’d root for…stuff that wasn’t in the script, wasn’t on the screen and only they would ever know. Why bother? So much easier to move my fictional people around on the mental stage and have them fall in and out of the adventures I wanted to have happen, willy nilly. The story was everything. Wasn’t it? Retroactive apologies to every actor I ever secretly smirked at – I’m sorry, I know better now!

You see, I was blessed with two daughters who are actors, among other creative endeavors. Their friends in high school and college were actors. I heard many a discussion about character and how to play the character believably on stage. I started to get it! Along with this understanding came a better handle on the necessity for stage business, setting and props – two talking heads on a bare stage will only be interesting to an audience if you’ve got the best actors in the world. Otherwise the play (or novel) reads as confusing—and boring.

If you hear me complaining that my characters won’t do what I want, or that the plot is going in a different direction than I expected, it’s because once I’ve really thought out who they are, what they care about, what life experiences they’ve had, then I can’t just make them cross the river, kiss the girl (or the hot guy), fight the dragon/snake/alien thing. Not unless that action fits into their framework as a person.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting my characters to walk into my kitchen in sunny California and help themselves to coffee. I know they’re fictional creations of my lively brain!

I recently wrote a short story in my ancient Egyptian paranormal universe where one character came from a novel I’ve got out on submission right now. I know all about him, his childhood, his dreams, how he feels about women…yup, even his favorite food (quail). He wasn’t the main character in this Tale of the Nile. But he took over the first draft, overshadowing the people whose story I was intending to tell. You see, because I knew him so well, I kept falling back to having him take the actions, speak the key pieces of dialogue, while the others, who I had not thought out in as much detail, hung back on the sidelines.

I’m glad he’s such a fully realized character—not complaining—but I realized I had to stop and think through the rest of the players in a lot more detail before tackling any future drafts. And now the story is – I hope – much stronger and not about him, although he has a role to play. He’s got his own novel to take center stage!

Carina Press 40% off this weekend!!!!!

Stop the presses, folks! To celebrate NY ComicCon this year, Carina Press is offering a 40% coupon at their site this weekend! Just type in the coupon code NYCOMICCON and get 40% off EVERYTHING you buy. This offer is good for this weekend only so don't miss it!

Gotta go make my list, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Prices so low, they're practically IN-S-A-A-A-NE

Great news! There's a huge sale at Carina Press this weekend. Everything's 40% off when you use the couponcode NYCOMICCON at checkout on the Carina Press site.

The sale runs October 14th through the 16th. So go forth(tomorrow), stock up and enjoy!

What Are You Afraid Of?

I remember the one and only Halloween haunted house I went into as a child. Not an actual haunted house, but one set up by people to scare those who walked through. I knew it was make believe the whole time, but it still scared the candy corn out of me. I don't even recall where the "haunted house" was. I only remember the darkness and how monsters leapt out at me… the fear and wanting to get out of there fast. I never had the urge to visit another one.

I have visited a few real places that were haunted and, strangely enough, they didn't make me run screaming the other way as much as the make believe haunted house did. I grew up listening to ghost stories--ones that are told as real paranormal experiences. I find the supernatural world fascinating. For a long time, I watched every episode of Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, and similar TV shows.

All of these stories, whether from real life or from TV, inspired me when I created the paranormal world in Blade of the Wolf, my erotic paranormal romance. Readers have told me the villain is truly scary. He is an incubus who can cross over from the Other Side and shift into many forms. Six- hundred years ago he was human, but he used sorcery to transform himself into an incubus so he could survive in limbo after death, waiting for an energy source to come along that he could tap into and resurrect himself. Syrena Ellis, a psychic medium and the heroine of my book, is that power source.

Imagine being stalked by an entity you can't see. He can go anywhere you can, whether you're tucked "safely" in your bed or shopping at the mall.

Luckily, Syrena has Ronan, an immortal Sgian Dubh Guardian, to protect her physically. But mentally and psychically, she must learn to protect herself. How can she, an untrained psychic, compete against an ancient evil?

In my erotic romance novella, Laird of Darkness, the hero is the paranormal entity everyone fears. Duncan is a half-Fae who can vanish at will and fly through the air. He may be a frightening legend in his own time, but the heroine sees past his facade to the man he is inside.

What are you afraid of? Haunted houses, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, Fae, bears, people, spiders?

Thanks!

Nicole

www.nicolenorth.com

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An Antho for Christmas

I was very lucky to have been chosen to contribute to Carina Press’s Steampunk Holiday Anthology – A Clockwork Christmas – with my novella FAR FROM BROKEN. I feel even luckier now that I’ve had the chance to read the three other stories to be included in the collection because they are SOOOOO awesome!

Christmas can't come fast enough, and as I await this special release day, I'm going to keep myself busy getting ready for the holidays at home. What am I doing that I have to get started now, even before Halloween has come and gone?

Well, I like to make ornaments out of stained glass. I love the way they glitter and shine with the lights shining behind them when they're hung on the tree. Since each one will take me at least an evening, and I tend to make a good couple dozen (to give to family and friends) I have to get an early start.

What do you do at home to get ready for the holiday? (Whichever holiday you might be celebrating at this time of year)

WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL by Jenny Schwartz

All suffragette Esme Smith wants is a man. A scoundrel to be precise. Someone who can be persuaded to represent her political views at men-only clubs. As the daughter of the richest man in Australia, Esme can afford to make it worth the right man’s while.

Fresh off the boat, American inventor Jed Reeve is intrigued by Esme’s proposal, but even more interested in the beauty herself. Amused that she takes him for a man who lives by his wits, he accepts the job—made easier by the fact that he already shares her ideals. Soon, he finds himself caught up in political intrigue, kidnapping and blackmail, and trying to convince his employer he’s more than just a scoundrel…


THIS WINTER HEART by PG Forte

Santa Fe, The Republic of New Texacali, 1870

Eight years ago, Ophelia Leonides's husband cast her off when he discovered she was not the woman he thought she was. Now destitute after the death of her father, Ophelia is forced to turn to Dario for help raising the child she never told him about.

Dario is furious that Ophelia has returned, and refuses to believe Arthur is his son—after all, he thought his wife was barren. But to avoid gossip, he agrees to let them spend the holidays at his villa. While he cannot resist the desire he still feels for Ophelia, Dario despises himself for being hopelessly in love with a woman who can never love him back.

But Dario is wrong: Ophelia's emotions are all too human, and she was brokenhearted when he rejected her. Unsure if she can trust the man she desperately loves, she fears for her life, her freedom and her son if anyone else learns of her true nature...


CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET by Stacy Gail

Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Faberge egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn't return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick's intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she's never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else…

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there's a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn't part of Roderick's plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

FAR FROM BROKEN by JK Coi

Soldier. Spymaster. Husband.

Colonel Jasper Carlisle was defined by his work until he met his wife. When the prima ballerina swept into his life with her affection, bright laughter and graceful movements, he knew that she was the reason for his existence, and that their love would be forever.

But their world is shattered when Callie is kidnapped and brutally tortured by the foes Jasper has been hunting. Mechanical parts have replaced her legs, her hand, her eye...and possibly her heart. Though she survived, her anger at Jasper consumes her, while Jasper's guilt drives him from the woman he loves. He longs for the chance to show her their love can withstand anything...including her new clockwork parts.

As the holiday season approaches, Jasper realizes he must fight not just for his wife's love and forgiveness...but also her life, as his enemy once again attempts to tear them apart.

Watch Out! Angry Frat-boy Archer on the Loose

Sometimes the book you start out to write isn't the one you turn in. When I started my little tale of the rock star and the principal, it was a straight contemporary for a contest. For better or worse though, the contest had a 7,000 word limit. I knew very quickly the story wouldn't fit in those confines, which gave me the opportunity to re-look at my hero and heroine.

Kira is a high school principal and very straight-laced, whereas one look at Jesse would make two words fly into the heads of women everywhere: bad boy. They definitely weren't people who would automatically gravitate toward each other, so I decided what they needed was a push in the right direction. Enter Eros (aka Cupid) and his arrows.

My initial reaction to the thought was abject horror. A little guy in a diaper flying around shooting people and making them fall in love? Plus, if Cupid was actually doing his damn job, would romance be in the sorry state we see these days? Of course not.

Which means he wasn't doing his job. And that opened up a world of possibilities, one I knew was far too big for me to handle on my own. Still, I had to get the ball rolling. I had to build an Olympus where this could happen.

Basically, where I ended up is with a college-like Olympus with Eros as frat-boy extraordinaire. And a very pissed off Dean of Students in Zeus who expels him until he shapes the hell up. Because really...what other kind of Cupid would look at Kira and Jesse and say, "Yeah. Those two need to be together" except one who thought succeeding in an unexpected match would earn him brownie points.

I'm really happy to say that other people have embraced my crazy vision as well. GunShy, the first book in the Cupid's Conquests series, is out now at Evernight Publishing. (Other authors have taken up the call and are penning stories for this series right now. Each one will follow Eros as he unites a couple--or more--in love.) For now, here's a little taste of Eros's magic...

As she staggered to a stop, the man peeled the card from his pants and held it out to her. “Lose something?” His deep, gravely voice sent a shiver all the way to her toes as she took in the six-foot- plus wall of muscle.

Kira wasn’t a small girl by any stretch, but in front of him, she felt tiny. “I... uh... dropped that.”

He read the card aloud. “Take a chance, huh?” Kira started, knowing those weren’t the words she’d read a moment before. With a shrug, he pressed it into her hand. “Better hold on tighter next time.”

When his fingers left hers, something pricked into her shoulder. She slapped her free hand against the pain and felt something. In her palm, she held a tiny golden arrow, but when she blinked, it was gone—replaced by a very dead wasp.

The guy in front of her, t-shirt straining against his chest as he moved, leaned close. His words belied the gruff tone of his voice. “That’s weird. Someone must have fucked with a nest. You aren’t allergic, are you?”

“N—n—no,” she stammered, staring at the arrow-wasp.

Gently, he gripped her wrist and tipped her hand until the insect fell to the ground. “Why don’t I take you to first aid anyway?” The words on the card drew her gaze: Take a chance. They’d

been different before; she was sure of it. Then Kira looked up at the man in front of her, his leather jacket and jeans such a stark contrast to Nolan’s polo and pressed khaki shorts, and the wasp sting burned. The strange, but not painful, heat traveled from her shoulder through her body to settle between her legs. She bit her lip, wondering where the feeling really came from. The guy in front of her wasn’t her usual type. Too big, too muscly, too rough around the edges right from his worn boots to the scruff along his strong square jaw.

In her mind, her teeth grazed that same jaw, and a shiver ran through her as she tore her gaze away. “Yeah. I think the pain is getting to me.”

Releasing her wrist, he rested his hand on the small of her back. The heat of his skin seared straight through Kira’s thin tank top. Her throat went dry within ten steps, and she had to swallow hard before she could speak again. “Thank you for your help, Mr....”He arched an eyebrow at her quizzically before answering. “Stanford. I prefer Jesse though. I killed the last guy who called me mister.”

Kira froze, fighting against the light pressure of his fingertips. “You what?” she squeaked.

He twisted his head and winked. “Kidding. Mister just makes me feel old. And you are...”

“Sorry. Kira Murphy.”

“Well, Kira Murphy, who needs to learn to take chances, consider yourself safely delivered to first aid.” He nodded toward the rickety trailer with the sloppily painted red cross on the side. “Have a good night.”

His hand fell from her back, and this time she shivered from the loss of his heat—heat she very much wanted back. But Jesse had already melted into the crowd. “So much for taking chances.”

With a sigh, she went inside to have the sting tended.

Kiss Me or Kill Me?

Because our children are still all 12 and under, and because we have good friends who could get us good deals (including letting us sleep on their Florida floor), Dr. Stevens and I are taking the boys to Walt Disney World next week. We have been telling EVERYBODY we know (and now, thanks to the interwebs, a few of you we don't know) all about it.

But we haven't told our sons.

That's right--we're planning to ride the entire cliche, including filming that "hop in the car, we're going to Disney" moment.

Actually, that's not true: I don't even plan to tell them then. I went to AAA and got myself an old-fashioned paper Triptik, and when they ask where we're going I'm going to rip out a page and say: To the bottom of this page. I have 16 hours of torment in the car coming my way and I figure I should get to perpetrate some of it.

I will be interested to see how they react when the news is finally revealed. My oldest is halfway to figuring it out. He's one of those people who wants  to be surprised, but doesn't want to look dumb. He'll nod sagely and tell me he knew it all along, surpressing his squeals of excitement. My middle child will bounce around like those colored plastic balls in the popcorn popper rolling toy. My kindergartner will put his hands over his mouth and his eyes will pop wide.

I know people, however, to whom I could never do this. They hate surprises. They'd burst into tears, regardless of whether the news I drop in their lap is good or bad. For them, the fight-or-flight is just too strong and they can't reinterpret the news quickly enough to channel their reaction.

What about you? If you were my baby boy (stay with me, here) would you want to kiss me or kill me?