Christmas Craziness!

I love this time of year. All the festivities in life and in virtual life. There are always so many promotional events, parties, baking, blogging and of course the regular writing tweeting working and eating we do. Its insane and fun, takes my mind off the dreaded winter and snow that is also a part of this time of year.

Added to all that is a new release I had out on Dec 1st! Which was preceded by a total crash and rebuilding of my website...and Oh my how my head has been spinning. I think I am coping well...I don't know if my family would say the same thing however...

I will be so happy when things are a little smoother, although not too smooth. I love being busy, I love interacting with readers and other authors and I absolutely love love Christmas with my family and all the craziness that it implies.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful season, celebrating with those you love and giving to everyone as much as they give to you. I am sending out virtual hugs and love and if you are interested in some of the other craziness I have been up to this month please check out my brand new revamped website, which also includes a free short story I wrote just for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

www.courtneybreazile.com

Two Releases and I'm exhausted!

I have two releases out this month! I am super excited, DOUBLY excited really! I am also exhausted! Oh my its a lot of work to have just one, but two is, I swear, three times as much stress and work. I have been so busy with life and so many releases over the last eight months, I don't think I have hardly written anything new in forever, and that adds stress to me as well.

I'm certainly not complaining about having lots of stuff coming out, I just wish I had more time to put into it all, like I know it deserves. I work too much lol and family and oh...it never ends and now I feel like a whiner ;)

So YAY ME and my two releases this month! Mating Call: Immortal Council series book #4 out at http://www.extasybooks.com/ now and Love Wanted out September 15th at http://www.devinedestinies.com/ I just hope this winter I get to settle in on the snowy days and bust out lots more delicious romance and erotica. I can feel it building up in my fingertips wanting out!

I'm determined to find those extra hours in my days...and if anyone has a few I can borrow I would be very grateful.

Sticking to your story...

How much should you be willing to change a story to fit a publisher's preferences?

I wrote a story a while back and had a certain vision and plan for it. I was happy with it, felt if was perfect and said what I wanted it to say. I found a publisher I liked and respected, and who was willing to take my story on...in part as I had envisioned it.

Their requests were not unreasonable and they were polite in saying, change this if you still want it published here.

I decided a little change was not a huge deal. I guess the more time that passed after writing the story, the less attached I was to it's idea. So I changed a little, and still felt okay about it. Then there was more to change, and more and suddenly the story is not what I had written. Still a good story, but not what I had envisioned for it.

I don't feel like I changed too much, since I am happy with the way it is now. I just wonder if I gave in a little too easily on my original idea of the story.

How much should one change a story to fit a publisher's ideal?

Out at Midnight!

My latest book is out at Midnight tonight! I am super excited and, of course, want to share that with all of you.

Wet Glamour: Immortal Council Series Book #3 will be released from http://www.extasybooks.com/ "The only thing worse than spending time with the animal elf who broke her heart, is having him find out she never stopped loving him."

This is the story of a sexy little mermaid, Marina, and the gorgeous animal elf, Lucas. When her mersister is kidnapped she is forced to consider his invitation to join The Council of Immortals. She would do anything to save her sister, she would also do anything to keep Lucas as far from her as possible.

How far will she go to keep her love a secret from him? How many mermaid rules will she bend?

To celebrate this release there is a contest going on at www.courtneybreazile.com/blog Go check that out and read an excerpt and watch the trailer at http://www.courtneybreazile.com/

Happy Reading!

Better late than never?

Hey, I haven't been on here in far too long. And so I decided I would post today, well decided that early this week. I did, however completely forget about it! I am so busy with life, sigh, as always and as with most everyone else I am sure. I love blogging here, and am determined to maintain a more regular schedule blogging here.

It should be easier since one of my other regular blogging places is going to no longer be open. I will try and just switch those days to here. Hope it works, fingers crossed.

So as to what I have been so busy with: I have been releasing books, YAY, and working too much, and remodeling my kitchen!

So a short but sweet post today and expect to see much more of me in the future. To see what I am doing on a more regular basis check me out at http://www.courtneybreazile.com/ and www.twitter.com/cbreazile and my facebook fanpage.

Hope you all are well!

Proofreading

I am in the process of proofreading my latest completed WIP. It is not my favorite thing to do. I wish I could get it so perfect the first time that I wouldn't have to do any kind of proofreading or editing at all, if only. But that's not the way it works for anyone and so I am forced to give it a run through before sending it off for my publisher to see.

It is hard for me to be motivated to proofread especially because my mind is always on to the next project when I finish my WIP. So I find my mind wandering on to that next story and not getting much done on the one I am staring at. I am more easily distracted by what is going on around me as well. The television, and the family all seem to be more captivating than the work I am supposed to be getting done.

So I am setting a goal of the end of the weekend to have my story proofread and ready to send out. I may have to get in my office and out of the living room to accomplish this, and plug my ears with music, but I will do what I have to do. As always I will get it done and move on to the next exciting WIP.

I do love writing and creating. It is the polishing I find a nuisance. So writers out there, what is the part of the process you most despise?

Mid-Day Madness

For some reason I can't seem to write in the middle of the day. It seems like I can sit and concentrate on my writing in the early morning, if I drag myself out of bed before I have to get the kidlets ready for school, or in the evening when hubby wants to cuddle, or talk or whatever. I get a burst of inspiration at night, a burst of writing energy and I feel great, staying up till the wee hours getting something done. But during the day, whether I am home alone or not, I just can't seem to keep my mind focused on my writing. It is really a pain, I want to set time aside during the day for writing, it would be convenient to do it when I am not having to cater to anyone else's needs. But for some reason I just can't seem to do it.

Perhaps I should start sleeping during the day, and stay up even later to get the writing done, LOL, yes my hubby would really like that (sarcasm). I am starting to wonder if I need to force my concentration better during the day, maybe that would work, but probably not. It seems to me that the more I try and force myself to write, the less I get done. It wouldn't seem so odd, i suppose if it wasn't a new sort of thing to happen. I don't think that I have been in this same rut, or maybe I was and just didn't notice it because I had less time during the day to write even if I wanted to. But now I am staying home, and I thought I would have so much opportunity to get stuff done I would be incredibly productive. Not so much.

Well one good thing that has come of this recent development is that my house is much cleaner! I am without else to do and so I clean, not fun, but rewarding.

What about you guys out there? When are you most productive? And do you like it, does it work for you or did you change to work for it?

My New Year's Resolution

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions but this year I am. I have such a bad habit at procrastinating, and I am determined to stop!

So this year I am resolving to stop procrastinating so much. I work well under pressure and I don't mind deadlines, but my family suffers when I am having to do ten things at once. I do it to myself, I schedule too much then I don't do enough ahead of time. I know this about myself.

I never saw it as too much of an issue until recently. I don't like having no time to spend with my hubby and girls, its just no fun for any of us then. The youngest one especially has a hard time understanding that I am working, even though I am at home. So for her it just doesn't seem fair that I am not able to spend that time with her.

Spreading the work out, and getting it done instead of getting distracted by time sucking websites, will be a good thing to try and work on this year. I want time for all I do, plus time to do what I love, spending quality hours with my family. They deserve to have more time with me not stressing over other things that need to be getting done.

I will check in with you all in a month or two and let you know if I am succesful at all, wish me luck!

This resolution is, of course, in addition to my hopes for a succesful 2010 and lots of inspiration for writing. I hope that for all my fellow authors here as well.

My Characters run the show

I know that for most authors who I have talked with it seems characters take on a life of their own. In the story once they are created they begin to dictate to the author what they want to do, and can sometimes make it difficult for the author to do anything but. I know it will sound crazy to those who have not experienced this but I believe it is overwhelmingly true for authors.

Characters run the show. They are created by the author to be real and alive within the story with emotions pasts fears and opinions. I imagine that if you are not an author and have never experienced this perhaps you can remember a time when you were reading a book and it seemed that the character did something that you felt was completely out of character.

This shows that the character is real enough to have its own, not only what the author is writing but its own life and ideals. It is a very interesting thing for me, something that makes the writing process even more enjoyable and a good book even more interesting. If I can't imagine that the character is real, then I don't feel it was written well. It needs that depth to catch the attention and belief of the reader, to draw them into the story firsthand.

Well one of my characters has taken this "life" a bit farther. She has jumped out of the book and into the world of the Internet. It is a fun experience for me to watch this character living a virtual life of her own and I hope that it is enjoyable for those she interacts with on her blog and twitter. For me its more than a role play persona because she won't do anything that is out of character for what i have given her in my soon to be released book "Blood Visions."

My character is Zyra, a Vampire who lives in Oregon with her Werewolf mate. She is part of my series that is coming, The Immortal Council series. She is a very fun and interesting girl. If you are interested in finding out more about her check her twitter account. ww.twitter.com/ZyraZyra

I would love to hear what others think about this subject.

87 and so Thankful

I was honored to spend Thanksgiving with a very energetic just turned 87 year old woman. She was so full of life and energy, so thankful it made me feel ashamed at how blase I had been feeling about the holiday. What right do I have to not be thankful for all the wonderful things I have in my life? Here is this woman who is 87-legally blind, widowed twice, child of the Holocaust, she moved to Seattle from Berlin in 1933 when she was 16 years old-she was more upbeat than me, more in tune with what this holiday is supposed to represent.

She is an amazing woman. She is tiny, maybe 95 pounds and she was bouncing around with my girls having a good time. She was nowhere near what I would expect. She is small and a bit frail looking but she doesn't present herself in a frail or inhibited manner at all. She is so capable, so much more capable than many who are years younger.

I don't know what her secret is, she certainly is in excellent health aside from her eyesight which has been bad all her life, quickly deteriorating to legally blind when she was a young adult. She is active though, and perhaps that is something that helps.

She was an actress as a young woman and now as a retired woman she performs a one woman show about her experiences growing up in Berlin and coming to the United States. She performs it in schools around Seattle as a part of Holocaust education. She doesn't rely on others to do everything for her in her day to day life either. She takes the bus, walks, shops and takes care of her apartment without the assistance of another, beyond the occasional assistance of reading fine print perhaps.

She could very easily sit back with every valid excuse to not do anything other than watch television and let others do everything for her. She could get away with having others doing all the things that are, most likely, the very things that keep her living such a high quality of life.

This year she is particularly thankful, we have made her a Great-grandmother. She is the mother of my stepfather and although we have been sort of related for quite a few years now this is the first time we have actually met. She is a wonderful addition to my and my children's lives, I am thankful for her and the enlightenment she has brought to my life.

Halloween Hooligans Recap

I have posted in three different blogs the answers to three different questions about how the Halloween Hooligans feel about different Halloween things. Since its almost here I am going to recap all the answers for you. So here are the Halloween Hooligan's answers to the three questions i posed to the group.

You can find all of our books at http://www.extasybooks.com/

Courtney Breazile: http://www.courtneybreazile.com/ Reincarnated Death Wish-To experience passion is to choose death. Out Now!

Favorite Pumpkin seed recipe: Roasted with cinnamon and nutmeg- Yumm!

Favorite Halloween Movie: Hocus Pocus, its great because its one my whole family can watch together.

Scariest thing in a Haunted House: Clowns, I hate clowns.

Angela Caperton: http://www.angelacaperton.com/ Green Flash-During the Halloween Bacchanal Fantasy Fest will Claire embrace her own desires and learn the true nature of the green flash. Available Oct. 31

Favorite Pumpkin seed recipe: I love pumpkin seeds but i am not very creative with using them. I just like eating them right out of the shell. I do make a pumpkin spice pudding that is pretty awesome! And I like pumpkin pie, yumm!

What is your favorite Halloween Movie: Ooh! I have LOTS, but probably the movie I tend to watch at Halloween is called "I Walked with a Zombie." Its an old black and white horror film produced by Val Lewton. My partner Drake wrote a review of it for a series of blog entries we did last year covering our favorite horror films over the century. You can read the review (and my review of another great horror film, "The Picture of Dorian Grey") at http://blog/angelacaperton.com/2008/09/20/a-century-of-dark-imagination-sophisticated-shadows-19401949.aspx

Scariest thing in a Haunted House: Hmm...Freaked out clowns. I can handle the chainsaw killers, the ghouls, and zombies, but scary clowns...no. I am not a fan of regular clowns, so scary ones I'll pass!

C.R. Moss: http://home.earthlink.net/~cr_moss/ In the Spirit- Can love heal death's soul? Out Now!

Favorite Pumpkin seed recipe: We normally just roast the seeds and sprinkle salt on them.

Favorite Halloween Movie: I am into the late 70's early 80's horror films...the original Halloween, the Omen...movies like that, but can't say that i have a favorite because there are too many I enjoy.

Scariest thing in a Haunted House: Eerie music, the buildup of suspense...nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens, then BOO!

Jambrea Jones: http://www.jambrea.com/ Unseen Path- The road not traveled reveals a destiny unfulfilled. Available Oct. 31

Favorite Pumpkin seed recipe: Hmmm...I'm not much for seeds or pumpkin.

Favorite Halloween Movie: Wow...this is hard, I'll have to say the Nightmare of Elm Street movies.

Scariest thing in a Haunted House: Things jumping out at me. You know that scene from Psycho in the shower? I have a fear of someone ripping open the shower curtain on me. My husband will do that to me and even though I KNOW he is in the room, I jump and my heart stops for a second. LOL

Laura Tolomei: http://www.lallagatta.com/ Bloody Passion- The druid, the hunter, the apprentice: sex, power, transformation. What else? Available Oct 31

Favorite Pumpkin seed recipe: Toasted pumpkin seeds, salted on the outside, they're a great snack. Called "bruscolilni" in Italian, they can even substitute popcorn when watching a movie.

Favorite Halloween Movie: Nightmare Before Christmas

Scariest thing in a Haunted House: Seeing my husband naked!

Favorite Halloween Movies?

My fellow Xrated Halloween authors and myself are sharing bits and pieces of ourselves on various blogs in honor of our spicy Halloween releases at Extasy Books. To see a video on all our releases go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0l13ROXuzw

On a previous blog I posted what we do with out pumpkin seeds, and on this blog I will be letting you all know about our Favorite Halloween Movies. Check out all our websites for more information on our Halloween themed blogs and our releases as well as chats where you can win some great prizes.

So here are our answers:

Courtney Breazile: Reincarnated Death Wish To Experience Passion is to Choose Death (out Oct. 15) http://www.courtneybreazile.com/

I love Hocus Pocus. And it's really great because my kids can watch it and enjoy it with me.

C.R. Moss: In the Spirit Can Love Heal Death's Soul? (out Oct. 15) http://home.earthlink.net/~cr_moss//

I’m into the late 70’s early 80’s horror films…the original Halloween, The Omen…movies like that, but can’t say that I have a favorite because there are too many I enjoy.

Jambrea Jones: Unseen Path The Road Not Traveled Reveals a Destiny Unfulfilled (out Oct. 31) http://www.jambrea.com/

Wow...this is hard, I'll have to say the Nightmare on Elm street movies.

Laura Tolomei: Bloody Passions The Druid, The Hunter, The Apprentice: Sex, Power, Transformation. What Else? (out Oct. 31) http://www.lallagatta.com/eng/index.html

Nightmare Before Christmas.

Angela Caperton: Green Flash During the Halloween Bacchanal Fantasy Fest will Claire Embrace her own Desires and Learn the True Nature of the Green Flash? (out Oct. 31) http://www.angelacaperton.com/

Ooh! I have LOTS, but probably the movie I tend to watch at Halloween is called "I Walked With a Zombie". It's an old black and white horror film produced by Val Lewton. My partner Drake wrote a review of it for a series of blog entries we did last year covering our favorite horror films over the century. You can read the review (and my review of another great horror film, "The Picture of Dorian Gray") at http://blog.angelacaperton.com/2008/09/20/a-century-of-dark-imagination-sophisticated-shadows-19401949.aspx

The Music of my Writing

When I sit down to write I almost always plug my ears with music. It helps to focus my mind on what I am doing, blocking out the rest of the house, and it puts me in the right mood for the scene I am writing or the story that I am creating.

I have my own office in the house, thanks to my hubby, but with two girls, two hamsters and one cat it is far from quiet. When I have time to sit down with my computer and write I have to focus myself and block out the house.

Music is my method.

I turn it up and I can ignore the squeals of my girlies as they run about and the rolling hamster balls that crash into my feet. Even the incessant meow of the cat who thinks she needs to be fed ten times a day, doesn't get through when I'm truly focused.

But music does more than just block out my life.

Music enhances the mood for my writing. If I am into a scene where my heroine is angry and, perhaps, looking for revenge, then I might listen to something like Pink or The Offspring to get me into that reved up mood. Not sexy but mad and energetic.

From Treasure of Flowers: ""How dare you speak of my father that way." Outrage bubbled inside of Violet at her father’s character being dragged through the mud again."

If I am writing something soft and sexy I like to listen to Micheal Buble or Journey. This brings me down to a happy place where I can write words of love and romantic desire.

From Treasure of Flowers: "As he drifted off to sleep, he breathed deep the scent of their lovemaking and pulled her soft form closer. Not only was this woman taking him to a treasure, she was turning out to be a treasure herself.

If I am writing something hard core and erotic I will plug in Finger Eleven or Seether to make me feel right for the scene.

From Dreamed Destiny: "His mouth ravaged hers in a desperately hungry kiss. His tongue forced her lips apart and mated roughly with hers. He was angry and he was rough, but she didn’t care. Her body went white hot and she wrapped her hands around the back of his head, encouraging him, asking him for more. She wasn’t ashamed, she didn’t care that she didn’t really know him."

I could write without music to focus me and set the mood, but it wouldn't be as much fun. For me music is a dimension that, unfortunately readers don't get when they read a book, unless they add it themselves.

Courtney Breazile - Setting

Let's Welcome Courtney Beazile as our guest blogger today. She's giving a litte insight into what she's learned about setting and how to apply it to her story. Thanks for joining us, Courtney.

I posed the question of what makes a good setting and how can a setting enhance a story. I got many opinions on what settings were preferable but less on how they enhance a story.

When I sit down to write a story the setting is one of the first things I think about. The setting is so important to the story it is probably second only to the two main characters. Setting will, when done right, act as a character in itself.

A great setting sets up opportunity for the characters and it can set up obstacles for the characters. The setting acts like a character in these ways, moving in and out of the main character’s lives and shaping the story that the characters must walk through. The characters don’t walk a smooth paved path through life, there is no story there. They walk through dark woods and rough waters and get thrown off track time and again. It is this journey through settings that make a story worth reading.

Setting also sets the mood and tone of the story. If characters are walking through dark woods at midnight you get a completely different feeling than if the same two characters are walking on a crowded New York street. They can be having the same conversation, the same conflict with eachother but it will be a completely different experience for the reader and character depending on the setting.

Setting is used by an author to create the perfect story. Without a clear picture of the setting the reader will not fully experience the story, it will be as if the reader is only getting half the story. The setting should, at every turn, add something to the story or the character. It is never just a thing, it is a tool that, when used well, can create an unforgettable image and story.

As an example of setting telling half the story here is an excerpt from my September 1st release Treasure of Flowers:

“Trevon’s walk led him to a burnt out lot. He stood in front of it staring at where should have been his childhood home. The smell of burning wood and stone still lingered in the air as if the fire had only recently been put out. The heat that had radiated off the huge flames was a tangible memory. There was nothing left of it, a burned out shell of a home once filled with laughter and love. The place that should have stood here before him held his best and worst memories. It was odd to see such destruction sitting in these beautiful surroundings. But it was Trevon’s land to do with what he saw fit and he saw fit to do nothing with it. It reflected his goal, complete destruction. His life had held only one meaning, revenge, but now there was Violet.”

You can head over to my website and tell me what you think of settings.

Thank you,

Courtney Breazile
http://www.courtneybreazile.com/