RWA Workshop 3: Set In Emotion

Next on the list of helpful workshops at the RWA conference this year is Set In Emotion by Erin Quin.

This interative workshop shows how to layer in emotion to your scenes by using description - especially how describing things from the viewpoint character's persepctive can flavour the scene and add atmosphere. Erin suggests identifying the overall mood or emotion of your scene and then finding 'word families' that reflect that to use in description.

I definitely use this technique already in my writing, but it was great to hear it from a fresh persepctive.In fact, I think I came at the subject from the other direction in my talk on emotion at the RNA conference, when I mentioned how by using the wrong description writers can sometimes dilute the emotion of a scene.

Click here for the download, if you're interested.

RWA Workshop 2: Hips Don't Lie

My second RWA workshop recommendation is Hips Don't Lie by Gina Ardito - an helpful, amusing and informative journey through the world of male and female body language.

This fun, hands-on workshop will detail the subtle and not-so-subtle signals our bodies send out in the pursuit of romance, so authors can rejuvenate their prose with more than just shrugs and winks.

Great for helping keep those physical mannerisms fresh and true! And if you want to know why men can't tell the difference between bums and boobs, this one is for you!  Here's the link if you're interested getting the audio download, or you can try here if you'd like to see the workshop hand out.

RWA workshop 1: Creating 3D characters

Creating Three-Dimensional Characters
 
This workshop was given by NYT bestselling author Cherry Adair and was an absolute hoot, as well as being thought-provoking and educational.  I had to stop and scribble things down while I was listening, which was a bit tricky, because I was on a train.  I also embarrassed myself in front of the other passengers on the 10:35 to London Victoria by laughing out loud a couple of times.

I've never read one of Cherry's books, but after hearing her speak I am off to order one.  I mean, how could I not? This woman loves colour-coding just as much as I do!

My fave bits:

• Know what your character is afraid of. (Now, does this sound familiar to anyone who was reading my New Voices workshop notes?  Good!)
• Know what your character is proud of.
• Know what your character's superpower is! (Their unique, particular talent)
• Know what your character's kryptonite is!  (And then expose them to it! Also, sounding familiar? Good!)

If you want to hear it for yourself, you can find it here. (And I promise no one is paying me to talk about these workshops - I just like sharing good nuggets of writing wisdom!)

RWA workshops

My DVD of the audio sessions from the RWA conference in New York have arrived!  I'm very excited, as I only got to attend a couple of sessions, and there were so many interesting-sounding workshops on the schedule.  

I've ordered the conference audio sessions after each time I've been to an RWA conference, and I download them all onto my iPod and listen to them when I'm walking or in the gym or driving the car.  And I try and listen to them in order, even sessions that don't necessarily grab me by the title.  I've had some of the best writing tips ever from workshops I've listened to that I would never have picked from their desciption!

Anyway, I thought I would blog about the sessions that I found especially interesting or helpful. Individual sessions can be downloaded from the conference recording website for a moderate fee. (Well worth it, in my mind! After I'd finished listening to the CDs from Dallas in 2007 I soaked up so much knowledge, and I'm sure it made me better writer.)

Before I start reviewing other people's sessions, I have to plug the workshop I did with Harlequin/Mills & Boon Editor Bryony Green and fellow author Donna Alward.  We talked about How To Write Sizzle Without Sex and Emotion Without Tragedy. The link, should you be interesting in listening (for the princely sum of $8), is here.

Adventures in New York - part 2

On Sunday morning I met up with Love Inspired authors Camy Tang and Danica Favorite for a trip to church. We set off from our hotel in Times Square for Greenwich Village. As is always the way on the first day in a new city, we got lost. Thank goodness for Google Maps, Camy's iPhone and Danica's sense of direction!

However, one of the plus points of getting lost is all the wandering you do trying to find your way. We walked past the tea shop called Tea & Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue. Being British, I'm always in need of a good cup of tea, and it seemed I was in the company of two fellow tea-aholics who couldn't resist going back there after the service.

Now, I should have remembered the subtle culture shock a Brit gets from visiting America. We think, because we see American locations on the television all the time that it somewhere familiar, somewhere like home. In some ways it is, but in other ways it is totally different. It's a bit like arriving somewhere and not knowing the rules. For example, for the first couple of days I had a hard time finding the road signs. They weren't were expected them to be. And don't get me started on toilet stalls... Anyway, I'd forgotten that lots of these minor differences (plus the jet lag) add up and give me a vague sense of disorientation for the first day or so that I'm Stateside. However, the moment I stepped into Tea & Sympathy the world turned itself right way up again.

We'd stumbled onto an English teashop, full of union Jack bunting, floral teapots and pictures of the Queen. I could knowledgeably inform my fellow tourists what "bangers" and "clotted cream" were. And I could get a good cup of tea. Heaven. (I am also now busting to write a story set in New York with an English teashop-owning heroine.) Unfortunately, my stomach was to jet lagged to want anything more than a cup of tea, but we had a great time chatting over a very late breakfast.

Then it was time to get back to the hotel and meet my roomie, Donna Alward, who was flying in from Canada that afternoon!

Back from my travels: RWA - part one

Well, I've been a busy little bunny, travelling here and there for the last few weeks, and then I got home to find a family that needed some of my time and proofs for the next book to be checked, and a million and one other things on my to-do list. Anyway, I thought I'd belatedly blog about my travels and intersperse those blogs with the 'behind the scenes' info for Swept Off Her Stilettos'.

So here we go - RWA part one:

Heading into New York city for the first time was a surreal experience. I must see a shot of it nearly every day on the television on some show or advert, but I'd never been there in person before. As I sat in the airport shuttle on the way to my hotel, I was feeling a little punch-drunk from the flight, and it was really my bedtime, even though the sun was hours away from setting. Suddenly, the van rose up over a ridge and there was Manhattan in front of me. I could only see the outlines of the buildings in the pollution haze. No details, just layer upon layer of slightly magnified shapes in varying shades of beige. It looked slightly unreal, yet familiar at the same time. There was the Empire State Building - and over there the Chrysler Building. I wish I'd taken a photo.

Had a rather jet-lagged dinner (think I had a burger?) with fellow Brit Kate Johnson and her friend, and then fell into bed, leaving my luggage unpacked and in the bathroom, cos I was having a moment of paranoia about bed bugs.

The next morning I got up and explored Times Sqaure. It was the emptiest I saw it all week, because by mid-morning it's packed and it stays that way until late into the night. And then I found somehwere to have breakfast. Ended up at Junior's, which was right across from the hotel, with a great menu.

It's become a tradition of mine to eat proper American pancakes for my first breakfast when I visit the States (after the 'whipped butter' incident of 07). Junior's didn't disappoint me, with the softest fluffiest pancakes I've ever had, served with a delicious little bowl of stewed apples and raisins with cinnamon. Heaven.

Two conferences and a total collapse

After doing the RWA conference in New York and then heading off to the RNA conference in Wales within a few days, I am officially wilting. And I've got two weeks worth of admin to catch up on too!

Will hopefully get around to posting about both of these events shortly, but in the meantime I have uploaded my photos to my Facebook page:

RWA pics here.

RNA pics here.

I Heart New York

Well, after months of planning and anticpation, I've finally arrived in New York. Woke up this morning feeling a little less jet lagged and went for a wee walk before breakfast:


And then I ate a hearty New York breakfast. (Not sure the waistline could take this every day, though!)



Anyway, I'm going to be posting my photos on my Facebook Page as often as I can this week, so pop by and have a look!

Help! Wardrobe dilemma.

Normally my life as an author involves clothing choices. Will I wear the black jogging bottoms today or the grey? Split-second decision and move on.

However, I now have a wardrobe-related quandry and I need some help. (Husband is no help. He thinks I look nice in everything.) For this kind of thing you need girl advice.
Anyway, here’s the skinny…

I had my outfit all planned out for Harlequin’s party in New York during the RWA conference in a couple of weeks, and then when the invite arrived I discovered it was a black and white ball. Very swish. But then I realised I might need something a little more dressy than I’d been planning.

Here are the options, 1-4:
(Click the picture if you want to see it larger)

I’d been planning to wear no.1. Black, yes, but also cream animal print. Could I get away with it, and is animal print too much?

My other option was no.2. Black and white, certainly, but maybe not dressy enough? (It's not a full ball-gown affair, more cocktail dresses etc.)

Option no.3 is black, looks fairly elegant, but it’s actually a bargain buy in cotton jersey. Can be dressed up with nice accessories, though. But don't want to feel downmarket...

Option no.4: something I found in the wardrobe when I was looking for something else and forgot I'd had (hence the sandals that don't work - I shoved it on and did another photo right before I left the house to go shopping). Fits the bill, but I wore it to the HQ party in 07.

Any ideas, anyone? Anyone? Bueller…?