KB Alan

Another Diva recommended read – I’m really looking forward to this one myself.

It’s Raining Men
Crystal Jordan

She loves them too much to change them. Until they turn the tables on her…

Every one of Candy’s werewolf instincts tells her that Michael is her mate. He’s a lawyer—smart, sophisticated, and handsome. The catch? He’s gay. There is no way she’s going to try to change who he is. Then she meets his lover Stephen, a seductive Fae-siren jazz singer, and she’s positive she’s got a screw loose somewhere. Mates with not one, but two gay men?

She’s definitely doomed to be single forever.

Michael and Stephen know that their unexpectedly flirtatious advances have thrown Candy for a loop. But there’s method to their madness—they’re both serious about her. And they plan to make sure she never spends another birthday alone.

Warning: Nekked men doing dirty, dirty things to each other and a very lucky woman, sexy biting of mates, seductive siren singing and a naughty masturbation in a public restroom. Hey, a girl has to do what a girl has to do!

Romance Diva Workshop

If you are into YA, which it seems a lot of writers are these days, join the Romance Divas for a Paranormal YA workshop.

Writing Paranormal Young Adult Fiction with Some of The Hottest Authors in the Genre

May 28th-30th at Romance Divas

Featuring:

Rachel Caine
Cassandra Clare
Lucienne Diver
Christopher Golden
Jeff Mariotte
Alyson Noel
Rosemary Clement-Moore

This workshop will take place at the Romance Diva Forum. All are welcome. To get access to the forum you will need to register.

I’ve noticed that some readers are more into descriptions than others. And that the same is true for writers. Apparently, I’m one who’s not too into them myself. I know this, because recently I had to fill out a form for my publisher called a Cover Art Request form. It’s simple enough, you fill in some basic info about the book, title, author name, whether or not it’s part of a series. That kind of thing. Then you describe your characters. Of course, you have to be careful that all the descriptions given are consistent with those in the book (duh).

Since the book this is for, Alpha Turned,is actually the first book I wrote, it’s been a while since I read it, let alone wrote it, and I needed help remembering everything. I first went to my OneNote notebook, where I have notes about characters, timelines, etc. I found descriptions of some of the secondary characters, descriptions of the hero and heroine’s wolves. Lots of other things, but no physical description of the two main characters. Oops.

So, I opened up the manuscript and carefully searched. Turns out, I’d never really described them at all. Oops, again. Of course, it’s easy enough to go back and add these things, and it’s actually a good way to get me back into the story in time to do my edits. But it got me thinking.

I’m much more used to being a reader than a writer, and I’ve noticed that I tend to not care much about descriptions when reading books. I’m not one of those people who likes to play the “name the best actor for this role” game with book characters because I never really give their looks too much thought. I don’t visualize them in that way. Turns out I’m pretty much the same with my own characters.

In my more recent manuscripts, I started out by doing some basic character descriptions on my notes page. Not because I wanted to be able to visualize, but so that I could make sure I stayed consistent. See, since I’m not really picturing my characters in my head, when it comes time to describe them for some specific reason, I’ve sort of forgotten what attributes I’ve already given them.

I’m sure that I probably had a point in mind when I started this, but it’s long gone now. I guess it comes down to this. Writers (and this means me, damn it) need to be able to do enough description to keep the readers who do like to visualize happy. But not so much that those who don’t, feel like they’re skimming through whole pages. (As I do when reading Tom Clancy. That’s more about technical stuff than descriptions, but the same theory applies.)

Of course, I’m sure some readers love two page descriptions of regency era drawing rooms, and that’s the other thing I need to remember. There are all types of readers, just as there are all types of writers. There’s no way I’m going to please all the readers, all the time. What one enjoys will irritate another, and so on, and so forth. Somebody please remind me of this when I get a bad review.

Because if there’s one thing I love almost as much as reading, it’s recommending the reads!

More Diva books released. Try these out, and let me know what you think:

Twice the Pleasure
Portia Da Costa

In high school, Caitlyn once got the chance to make out with her crush Drew Hartley in the gym storeroom…until they were interrupted by Drew’s friend, Steve.

Three Alarm Tenant
Charlotte McClain

Katherine lost one hero in the line of duty — can she risk loving another?

Katherine Pelham’s fiancé was a police officer, shot and killed during a robbery. Left with a house she can’t afford, she must rent out the first floor to solve her money woes. Before she can finishing putting up the For Rent sign, along comes a man who seems interested in more than just the apartment.

Fireman Jack Connelly is in a bind: he’s rescued a dog, and his lease doesn’t allow pets. The new apartment would be great. The new landlady, even better…