Donnell Ann Bell: Just be professional... It's not that hard

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in my local sheriff's office citizens' academy. After sitting through six weeks of law enforcement demonstration and opinion, I believe the experience brought realism to my writing. Out of all the personnel I met during this time, there was one sergeant who impressed me above anyone else. Her words still resonate with me to this day.

Just be professional, it's not that hard.

Sadly, I can't remember her name, but I took note of her words. She was a beautiful Hispanic woman and when she stood before the class and explained that she worked in the jail -- unarmed -- among male inmates, I thought, Holy cow, this lady won't live long. Silly me. She'd worked among them for years. What's more, she was required to turn her back on this criminal element -- often.

For anyone who's been in a jail, you know there's intense security and surveillance, and the deputies can call upon immediate assistance. But knowing this didn't make me feel better. I kept thinking she could be injured or dead before help could arrive.

Turns out she hadn't made sergeant for nothing and understood the risks. What's more, she carried herself with amazing grace and an even more amazing sense of who she was. She didn't look tough on the outside, but as she called one six-foot naysayer to the front and brought him down with such ease, she filled me with a whole new appreciation and respect for who she was and what she did for a living.

After she dropped my classmate to his knees, she modestly helped him up and shook his hand. Then she turned to the class and said, "Just be professional, it's not that hard."

She also went on to explain that as a Hispanic female charged with watching over incarcerated inmates, it oftentimes presented problems. Particularly, when many of those inmates were Hispanic and grew up in households in which men did not take orders from women. So not only did the sergeant face an authority issue, she encountered a cultural barrier.
How did she handle it? By treating everyone with respect. "Those men don't know me," she said. "Their slurs and insults can't reach me. When my shift ends I go home to my family whose opinions do count."

So why do I tell you this story? Because today I'm seeing exactly what she talked about -- a reduction in professionalism. Worse, we are not inmates. I'm seeing dry wit replaced by so-called snarkiness (I have another term for it). What's more, this type of behavior is applauded. In an on-line society, where we are faceless individuals behind a computer screen, it's so easy to react and push send and forget there's a real live, flesh and blood human being on the other side.

I recently listened to a radio ad in which two actors portrayed school-aged girls, one of whom said the most horrible things to her peer. I sat back stunned, thinking what on earth? Then at the end of the message, the voice over said, "You wouldn't say it to their face, why would you say it on line?"

I don't know about you, but for anyone to even feel the need to air such a public service announcement made me incredibly sad. As for me, I think I'll follow the sergeant's example. I'll take her words to heart. I’ll strive for professionalism. I learned from the very best that it's not that hard.

Natalie Dunbar: Musings From An Edited Author

When a reader purchases an author's book, the credit or the blame for the quality of the reading experience usually goes to the author, whose name is on the book. Many readers do not understand that prior to the book getting on the shelf it goes through an editing process that the author usually participates in, but often has less than optimal control. As a multi-published author I have been edited many times. Sometimes the experience has been gratifying such as when an editor has shown me ways to make the work better as in ways of tightening a plot or character focus, removing or changing words I use too often, suggesting more effective words in some areas of the work, suggesting additional scenes to heighten the focus or impact.... The list can go on.

The relationship can be difficult, such as when you find yourself trying to reach a lofty goal of perfection that only the editor knows when it has been obtained, or when large portions of the work are summarily deleted to save paper or meet a specific word count, leaving a short and Spartan echo of the original, or new errors are somehow introduced in the editing process, or your editor is a repressed writer who really wants to write your book. In the non vanity publishing houses an editor makes the decision to buy an author's work and once it is purchased, that editor works with the author to make it the best it can be.

The relationship between an editor and the author of the work is really a partnership and when it is good, an author can flourish and grow, and when it is bad, it can stifle author creativity and turn away readers. What can an author do? Making sure that author approval is required for the final manuscript version by contract helps, but nobody introduces mistakes to a manuscript on purpose and I've seen and heard of this instance and previous manuscript versions ending up on the bookshelves in error. It should also be noted that when you are a new author you generally have little power to dictate what happens to your book. If you want your work to be published and you don't want to be self published, you don't usually get to choose your editor. They choose you by making the decision to buy your book.

This blog is not intended to bash editors. They're just doing their job. I've had some very good ones and some not so good ones. As the occasional recipient of sometimes pointy fan criticism for books with errors, books that were too short, or elements that were too much, I wanted to say that a writer can keep their work as it is for their personal use and enjoyment, but if they want to sell it and have it published, the work will most likely be edited and changed in some way, hopefully for the better and hopefully with author agreement.

What are your thoughts on the editing process? Have you been burned? Or is your editor a dream to work with?

Natalie Dunbar

Vegas Bites Three of A Kind, Parker Publishing

Jessica Andersen: OF MAYA MYTHS AND HOT MEN

As I talk to people about Dawnkeepers, one question that comes up repeatedly is one of inspiration, and how I came to take pieces of ancient Mayan mythology and bring them into a modern day paranormal romantic thriller. Given that I'm a scientist by training and have spent the last bunch of years writing medical romantic suspense, it might seem a little off-topic
for me to be writing about Maya mythology. But really it isn't. . . it goes back to being a little kid and visiting a big pyramid. This was back when Cancun was just starting to become Americanized. My parents and I stayed at small local hotels and took rattling bus tours to Mayan ruins across the Yucatan.

Ever since, I've been fascinated with the Maya. I can still close my eyes and feel the damp chill of the narrow stone stairway inside the great pyramid at Chichen Itza, or remember the squirrelly quiver at the pit of my stomach as I stood at the edge of the Cenote Sacrada. It's those images, those memories of history and grandeur and a deep sense of otherness, that came back to me, grabbed me by the throat and dragged me along for the ride then I stumbled over a reference to the endpoint of the ancient Mayan calendar, and how it aligns with scientific concerns about a stellar conjunction set to occur on that very day. . . December 21, 2012.

I mean, how cool is that?

So I started working on the concept for the Novels of the Final Prophecy. But the stories that I love to read and write aren't about a place, or a situation. . . they're about the people in those places and situations. In
Dawnkeepers, ex-lovers Nate and Alexis are forced to work together to recover seven lost Maya artifacts that are critical to the end-time war. In the process, they're forced to deal with their pasts and each other, and things heat up fast! But really, it all goes back to a rattling bus tour and a guide who'd never seen snow before (that really blew my kidlet brain).

. . and a bit of inspiration.

So tell me… what inspires you?

Jessica Andersen

Linda O. Johnston's Obsessions 2009!

This is the time of year we usually are obsessed with our New Year's resolutions. Did we make any? Can we keep them? If so, how long--all year?

My resolutions are combined with my obsessions, as usual. What obsessions are those? Well, I'm obsessed by writing, and I'm obsessed with animals--most especially my adorable two dogs, Lexie and Mystie, both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

I combine the two obsessions by writing as much as possible about animals. In fact, my three (or possibly four) books to be published this year, as well as my e-novella, all feature animals.

They all star some very interesting characters, too, who are all animal lovers. Some of them are animals as well as humans--shapeshifters. My characters tend to be very diverse. Part of the fun of the writing process is to take people and put them into different situations and see what they do. Do you think writers control their characters? Not always...

My first book this year, available now, is Alpha Wolf, a Silhouette Nocturne. My first Nocturne, in fact. It's about Alpha Force, a new super-secret military force I've created that will appear in other stories as well. Many of its members are shapeshifters.

In Alpha Wolf, the hero is a werewolf who's helped to develop an elixir that allows Alpha Force members to shapeshift at will, and also enhances their human cognitive abilities while in shifted form. The heroine is a veterinarian who helps him--while not, at first, believing werewolves exist. Conflict? Sure! It's a fun, romantic, dark and sexy story.

Also available in January is my Nocturne Bites Claws of the Lynx. It's an e-novella, and its heroine is a member of Alpha Force who shapeshifts into--what else?-- a lynx. Her mission is to retrieve something stolen by a shady journalist... and the guy assigned to help her is her lost love who couldn't accept that she is a shapeshifter. Conflict again!

With less (although some!) romantic conflict but more mystery is my next Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, Never Say Sty, an April release from Berkley Prime Crime. It involves potbellied pigs, dogs, and other kinds of animals, including some who participate in a TV reality show. There's a murder, of course. Kendra, to her chagrin, is a murder magnet. And her romantic interest also loves animals.

My next Silhouette Nocturne, Back to Life, will be a June 2009 release. It's not an Alpha Force story. Instead, the heroine has Valkyrie powers over life and death. She can bring back the dying in some circumstances... and those circumstances include saving the hero's life when he's closer to death than anyone else she has ever saved. Uh-oh. No animals here? Hah! My heroine is also a K-9 cop! And, yes, as a Nocturne, this is another dark but fun paranormal romance.

I'm also working on another Alpha Force sequel that will be published in late 2009 or early 2010. The hero's a werewolf whose cover is being a sled dog musher in Alaska, and the heroine is a nature writer.

Okay, as I said, my obsessions intertwine. They're also involved with my New Year's resolutions.

What are those resolutions? Write, write and write some more! And get organized. I expect to fulfill the first one. The second is more problematic, and I'll only take the time for it that won't eat into my ability to take excellent care of my pups, and to write, write and write. Oh, and yes, I'm still a lawyer, between jobs and projects right now, but I also hope to change that sometime soon.

Please come visit me anytime at my website. I also blog weekly at KillerHobbies.blogspot.com And what do I mostly blog about there? Pets (although I consider them family more than hobbies)! I'd love to hear about your New Year's resolutions and obsessions, and if they're in any way connected.

And have a wonderful, prosperous, healthy--and obsessive--New Year!

Linda O.

Abby Gaines: It’s not me, it’s my job

I realized today how much more I enjoy reading – and writing – a novel where the hero’s and/or heroine’s job is big part of the story. Not so big that it overshadows the characters or the romance, but big enough to provide some insight into the character (why did he choose this job, and how does it affect what kind of person he is?), and interesting enough that I’ll absorb some knowledge about a profession of which I might otherwise be ignorant.

This insight came to me partly because I’m reading Tessa Radley’s The Saxon Brides trilogy from Silhouette Desire (Pregnancy Proposal is a December 08 release). The trilogy is based around a winegrowing family, and Tessa Radley gets the level of work-related detail exactly right. Interesting, insightful, but not overpowering.

Earlier today, I was flicking through my January 2009 release from Superromance, The Groom Came Back. It’s a secret wedding story, and the hero is a neurosurgeon who married the heroine eight years ago when she was still a schoolgirl, to rescue her from a custody battle. Then he took off around the world doing important neurosurgeon stuff, and now he’s back wanting a divorce. Well, you can’t always get what you want...

My neurosurgeon hero is a dedicated doctor, but he keeps his distance from his family. That’s partly because of his job – it’s bad enough worrying about his patients, he doesn’t want to worry about family, too. The heroine is a florist – she gets involved in other people’s special occasions, but doesn’t have many of her own.

In the books I write for the Harlequin NASCAR series, the job – the NASCAR world – is an integral part of the story, and that’s what makes those stories fun to write.

I read somewhere a suggestion that readers prefer books where the heroine’s job is not too high-powered. Apparently, readers definitely want the heroine to be good at her job, whether she’s a florist, a homemaker, a teacher, a nurse or whatever. But if she’s too high-powered, she might be...I can’t remember the exact phrase – not likable enough? Too much of a Type A personality to have the softer qualities that readers like?

I’m not so sure about that. I’ve had heroines with the following professions: accountant, homemaker and aspiring novelist, pediatrician, scientist, PR agency owner, sport psychologist, vet, and now a florist. In the pipeline, I have a beauty queen, a counselor and a lawyer. I like to think they all have the mix of both strength and softness that, frankly, most real women have.

When it comes to heroes, I admit I’m partial to very successful businessman...and the occasional neurosurgeon. I’m not that big on cop or firefighter heroes, or military, though obviously lots of readers love them.

What do you think? Do you have any preferences for the kind of job your favorite heroes and heroines have?

Abby Gaines

The staff at NovelTalk wishes
you and yours the
happiest of holidays!

Keta Diablo: All is Calm...

Life is unpredictable . . .

Let's face it, never more than today do these words ring true. In 2008, the stock market crashed, the housing sector spiraled downward, unemployment skyrocketed and political corruption exploded. Our sense of security is a tenuous thing, never more so than today. That's why my message for 2009 to you is "All Is Calm." Our peace must come from within and efforts to improve the world we share must begin with each and every one of us.

Recently I had the great pleasure of viewing Peter Rothstein's play All Is Calm. If it comes to your city or town, I highly recommend you take the time to see it. The Christmas Truce of 1914 depicts events when almost a century ago Allied Forces and German soldiers on the Western Front laid down their arms for a Christmas Day Truce. Suddenly, a young German soldier stepped into the clearing and sang "Still Nacht" (Silent Night). What ensued was a night of music, brotherhood and peace. Among enemies no less.

For me, the play offered a message of hope and led me down a path of deep deliberation. What if the armies in every corner of our world surrendered their weapons and made a silent vow to seek peace and harmony? What if genocide and ethnic cleansing was eradicated? What if children in Darfur no longer went to bed hungry? The list of "what ifs" for me grew and grew.

Then shortly after I attended All Is Calm, Mumbai, India exploded from a terrorist attack. We had only to watch the scene unfold to see the suffering on the faces of the children and remember all over again our vulnerability. I couldn't help but think as I gazed upon this cherubic face that the only thing permanent in his life now is impermanence. And for that, my heart aches.

No, we can't control external events that threaten our safety and our security, but we can and should strive to bring a sense of All Is Calm to our own little worlds. Like the German soldier, we can, just for today, and maybe for tomorrow and the next day, put our fear and anger aside and choose love over hate, patience over intolerance, kindness over resentment.

That's my pledge for the New Year. I hope it will be yours too. Sending each and every one of you hearty blessings, wishes for success, and most of all peace.

May your mantra for 2009 be All Is Calm . . . .
Fondly, Keta Diablo

Keta writes erotica historical and fantasy. Visit her website to learn more.