Anne Rice gives advice on writing

This video discussion by the well-known author might inspire someone who is wanting to write but hasn't started yet. Lots of great advice! There are some authors who really do try to encourage others. I have a couple videos like this, by successful authors, who do their part to help others with the things they have learned. One of the things about writers that I've seen-- they encourage each other and a dog eat dog world of competition is not how it is.

Charlene Raddon and Marrying Jenna

I am happy today to have as my guest, romance author and a friend, Charlene Raddon as she discusses her story that will be an anthology of short stories due out March 15.

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            I’m very grateful for the opportunity to talk about the western anthology Rain and I are participating in, Rawhide n’ Roses. We have some truly great authors joining in on this project, and making our anthology not only one of a kind, but a super good read. I, for one, can’t wait to get the book and read what all the others wrote.

            Writing short stories is my forte, but I have to admit I found writing this one a surprising amount of fun. Of course it helped to take a book already written and simply create a short sequel to it. I’m talking about my western romance, Taming Jenna. My short story is titled Marrying Jenna, which seems to pretty much say it all, except Branch and Jenna’s wedding day doesn’t at all go the way they planned.

            Branch is dressing for the ceremony and looking forward to having Jenna as his wife when he looks out the window and sees her galloping out of town in her wedding dress, with a gun belt around her waist and a Stetson on her head. The church lies in the opposite direction so Branch is pretty sure that’s not her destination. So, what is? And why on earth is she riding off outfitted for a gun battle on this particular day?

            You’ll have to buy the book to find out. Here’s a brief excerpt:

            People froze in place. Wagons halted. Not even a dog barked. Everyone gaped after Jenna as she sped past.

            Where in damnation was she going? The church was in the opposite direction.

            Chuckles and exclamations of amazement drifted up to the window as people recovered from their shock. Dogs came alive and raced, barking, after the galloping horse.

            Cursing, Branch rushed out of his room and down the outer stairs. He leaped into his saddle and tore after his head-strong fiancé. Blasted woman! More obstinate than a mule mired in mud. But, confound it, she was also giving and loving, with a mind as clever as a fox. Whatever she was up to, he’d find out, and soon.

            Then he’d bring her back, paddle her behind—certainly not for the first time—and drag her to the church. Come hell or high water, they would be man and wife by dark.

            Once he spied her fleeing figure he let up on the reins, preferring to keep her unaware of his presence until the right time to reveal himself. She headed toward the town of Heber, then veered off into hills dense with quaking aspen. Mumbling more imprecations, Branch followed.

            Finally, she slowed. Through the trees, he saw her dismount and edge through the brush. Branch halted his horse beside hers, jumped down and followed. An old cabin soon became visible in the distance.

            Before he could catch up with her, Jenna shouted at the shack, “I’m here, you low-down, stinking skunks. Send the marshal out before I set fire to that hovel you’re hiding in.”

            Marshal? Branch frowned. He was the marshal.

      

            If you enjoyed my excerpt, be sure to look for the book on March 15 at Amazon.com. Rawhide n’ Roses will fulfill all your western dreams, historical and contemporary.

 

BIO:

            Charlene Raddon’s first serious attempt at writing fiction came in 1980 when a vivid dream drove her to drag out a typewriter and begin writing. Because of her love of romance novels and the Wild West, her primary genre is historical romance. Kensington Books originally published five of her novels which are now available through Tirgearr Publishing.

Find her at:

http://www.charleneraddon.com

http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/charleneraddon

http://www.amazon.com/Charlene-Raddon/e/B000APG1P8

Finding inspiration

When a writer is looking for inspiration, where is it to be found? I read an interesting article on one aspect of this in a magazine I get every month--the Romance Writers Report. It’s a professional magazine for writers who regard what they are doing as a career, a profession, and important in their life. It delved into another aspect of where we find inspiration and what focus means for the creative person.

Written by Erin Quinn and Kris Kennedy, the article was titled, “That’s my book she wrote!” and deals with how often great ideas for books come at the same time. They do that because the writer is out paying attention to the world and suddenly they see a story. I’ve had it happen. Most writers have likewise. Then… the article said, you look at someone else’s recently published book and realize a lot of the elements are in your own. Could be title, characters, setting.  This isn’t copying the other writer. It happens at the same time— simultaneous.

From the article: “In the scientific world, they know all about it. It’s called the theory of multiple discovery, and it’s the notion that many scientific discoveries and inventions are made independently and almost simultaneously by multiple scientists and/or inventors…” 

I hadn't thought of this happening with books but had heard of it happening a lot from my inventor, consultant, innovator husband. It is why in his world, there is often a rush to get a patent and why they consider lab notebooks critical to proving their work wasn’t copied.

This issue of potentially being influenced is a lot of why I almost never read romances-- even though I would enjoy them sometimes. The advice in the article was-- read a lot of them before you begin writing your own. I did that. Then-- quit reading them at all while writing. That subtle influence, where you don’t know from where it came, is why some consider it best not to read in the genre in which they write. 

I suppose some writers are not easily influenced. I don’t know if I would be. I do know that these days, when I am not writing or researching, I stick to non-fiction—a lot of it. It is what interests me as that's from where new ideas will come. I am writing romances and don't want ideas from others who are also writing them. 

When I hear of an interesting romance by someone else, I buy it but store it for the future. Who knows I might change genre—or come to a time I write less. For now I concentrate on my own plots, characters and settings helped along by non-fiction and what’s been going on in the world—or happened next door.  Yep, nobody who knows a writer should consider themselves surprised if they find some aspect of their life in the next book… But if the writer is ethical, it won’t be clearly obvious who it was by name. Save that for non-fiction.