Brenda Novak | Getting it Done...

Want to read more books, write more pages, lose weight, exercise daily or achieve some other goal? Do it by boosting your willpower!

Boost Your Willpower

Spring is on its way and with it warmer weather. When those layers come off, we’re faced with the pounds we’ve gained over the winter, which prompts many of us to attempt a “just in time for summer” diet. But chocolate cake is now and summer is later and far too often "now" wins over "later." Or…we’ve always dreamed of completing a manuscript, but instead of sitting at the computer and pushing through to “The End,” we allow an email addiction to thwart us. Or…we’ve heard about the health benefits of regular exercise but we procrastinate each day and never get around to engaging in it.


How do we conjure enough willpower to overcome these and other self-defeating behaviors?

I don’t have all the answers, but I did run across an interesting article on this subject written by Tara Parker Pope in The New York Times. Her tips, combined with my own experience, form the following five-step plan:

1. Eat several small meals a day.

Studies show that lower blood glucose levels coincide with less willpower. Keeping your blood glucose up helps you have more self-control. According to Pope, researchers have found that test subjects “who drink sugar-sweetened lemonade, which raises glucose levels quickly, perform better on self-control tests than those who drink artificially-sweetened beverages, which have no effect on glucose.”

Being the mother of a diabetic child, I’ve seen the glucose phenomenon work on an exaggerated scale. When my son goes “low,” he has much more trouble controlling his emotions. Although he’s a child who is normally very well-adjusted and happy, he will suddenly burst into tears for very little reason. Restore his blood glucose levels, and he’s fine, perfectly capable of restraining himself.

I’m not proposing we all drink more soda and get fat while trying to boost our self-control enough to diet. LOL Instead, as most dieticians suggest, we need to eat several small, healthy meals each day.

2. Keep long-term goals in mind.

The ability to delay gratification grows with maturity. I remember learning that in a psychology class, but even for adults delaying gratification can be difficult. How do you forgo the dessert you’re craving now for a reward (getting slimmer) that happens so gradually and over time? According to Kathleen Vohs, one expert quoted in Ms. Pope’s article, you “conjure up powerful memories of the things you value in life.” To me, this says that you look at the big picture. Ask yourself, “Do I want this piece of cake more than I want to look good this summer?”

Often putting it in perspective—picturing yourself looking slim and attractive in those summer months—will make the temptation less appealing.

3. Practice.

Use your willpower in order to strengthen it.

Working out every day is not an easy thing to do. If you don’t prioritize, other activities will invariably get in the way. Not only that, but after a few minutes of pushing yourself physically your body starts screaming, “Stop! I’m tired.”

After exercising religiously for 65 minutes a day, five times a week, for seventeen years, however, I can promise you exercise becomes routine, if not easy. It’s the practice of overcoming myself each day that has made it so much less of an ordeal. And flexing my willpower in this regard has boosted my self-control in other areas. It gives me a "reservoir of strength" to draw from.

4. Start small.

This was the part of Pope’s article I found especially interesting. She says, “A vow to stop swearing, to make the bed every day or to give up just one food may be a way to strengthen your self-control, giving you more willpower reserves for bigger challenges later.”

This is what I was saying about exercise. You can carry the willpower you develop in one area over to other areas, making it easier for you to hit your goals there, too.

5. Focus on one or two behaviors at a time.

Instead of trying to change a million different behaviors at once, which is a sure way to fail, at which point you get discouraged (hardly conducive to boosting your willpower), concentrate on the biggest thing you’d like to change in your life. Once you’ve modified your behavior, and turned that behavior into a habit, focus on another goal and then another. For instance, decide that you’re going to write for X number of hours a day. Do that until it’s a habit; then maintain it while shooting for a new goal.

I know, it’s easy to make suggestions and much harder to live by them. It’s not quite as simple as the above may sound. As long as you’re living and breathing, there will be things you wish you were doing that you’re not, but I do believe these tips help. If you have any others to add to the list, let me know!

Brenda Novak is the national bestselling author of 25 novels. Summer 2008 will see the release of her next three romantic suspense stories—TRUST ME, STOP ME, and WATCH ME, coming from Mira Books. Visit her Web site at http://www.brendanovak.com/ to learn more about her and her work, or to participate in her annual on-line auction for diabetes research which takes place May 1 – May 31s

Brenda Novak

Larissa Ione | Keeping It Real

"Write what you know." We’ve all heard it, and maybe we’ve even stayed true to that. But what happens when you need to write about something you don’t know?

Well, that’s where research comes in.

Now, I love research, and right now, I’m researching something I’ve always been interested in – modern and ancient Egypt. The problem? Trying to blend fact with not only fiction, but paranormal fiction, and strangely enough, while there is a ton of information about ancient Egypt, information on modern Egypt, outside of politics, is lacking.

See, I’m working on the third book in my Demonica series, which is set mainly in Egypt. The first two books, Pleasure Unbound (July 08,) and Shadow Lover (April 09) were largely set in New York City and in an underworld hospital. New York was easy enough to research, since there is oodles of information available (plus, I was constantly bugging Stephanie Tyler, my Sydney Croft writing partner, for details, since she lives there,) and the hospital was easy, because I made it up, using real hospitals and my depraved imagination (hey, it’s a hospital run by vampires, demons, and werewolves – it takes a little depravity to come up with the creepier details.)

But trying to work sketchy information about modern Egypt and Egyptian culture into a world where paranormal creatures and their human enemies collide both above ground and below? Well, that’s proving to be a challenge, especially because I’m a stickler for detail and getting it right.

I don’t have a problem manipulating gray areas into something that works for a fictional situation, but I absolutely hate getting details wrong – so much so that when Stephanie and I were writing the first three books in the Sydney Croft Storm series (Riding The Storm and Unleashing The Storm, both available now, and Seduced By The Storm, available September 08,) I contacted several meteorologist friends for information, even though I spent 15 years working in the weather field for the US Air Force and National Weather Service, and I know meteorology. But I wanted to make absolutely certain that our fictional weather machine could, theoretically, do what we needed it to do.

So what about you? As a reader, how important to you is technical detail (whether or not you know it’s accurate?) For example, I have NO idea if Tom Clancy’s incredible detail is accurate or not, but he writes with such authority that he could tell me the earth has two moons and I’d believe it. So does technical detail help pull you into a rich world, or does it bog down a story for you?

Larissa Ione (http://www.larissaione.com/)

Sydney Croft (http://www.sydneycroft.com/)

Cait London | The Aislings/Psychic Triplets

Since my lucky number is three for many reasons (including I have 3 daughters), a trilogy with three sisters was a natural choice. I understood the relationships, the family order, and the mother’s reaction. (Yes, their mother, a powerful psychic is included in all three books.)

A STRANGER’S TOUCH is the 2nd of the Aisling Psychic Triplets and features Tempest Storm, the middle-born. AT THE EDGE was the first and sets the trilogy in motion with Claire, the empath and gentle. FOR HER EYES ONLY 10/08 ends the trilogy with Leona, the precognitive and the most fierce. The trilogy is based on the contemporary descendents of an ancient Celtic seer and a Viking chieftain. The triplets have inherited the seer, Aisling’s gifts—and they don’t want them. They want to be like normal women.

That’s understandable, isn’t it? The very gifted, haunted by senses that are not reality, images and thoughts that aren’t their own suddenly flashing in their minds could be a little disturbing. Because these adult sisters are birth and psychically connected, they cannot live close to each other. This is especially true when a sexy hunk comes into the picture, such as when Marcus Greystone re-enters Tempest’s life. He’s the dark and brooding, steel-hard corporate man who really didn’t appreciate her leaving the morning-after without a good-bye. Of course, Tempest wasn’t looking for a relationship that night; she was only set to celebrate her successful showing, to top off the night in bed with a gorgeous man. She wore gloves to protect her psychic hands—she’s a psychometrist, who can tell the history of an object by holding it, or the person’s emotions/personality who held it.

In A STRANGER’S TOUCH Marcus hasn’t forgotten those gloves on his body, and he wants her naked hands on him. He also wants something else…

I understood Tempest, the restless, the creative, the sculptress on the run from her past, something so dark she didn’t want to share it with her sisters. Since I am an artist, and you can find my paintings at my website Studio, I understood how Tempest would visualize artistically.

She’s also a very athletic, physical woman who takes what she wants. She reveals her emotions more readily than her sisters. Tempest is a busy girl. She’s on the run from a dark and haunting past; she’s also hunting an ancient brooch which could save her family. (Claire has just been attacked and the clairvoyants are certain dark forces are at work.) Because the origins of the Aislings date back to that Celtic seer, I was influenced by my own interests and personal items. The earrings and the Runes are mine.

Marcus sets a trap and Tempest is caught. If she takes up his offer to seek clues to a cold-case murder, she’ll be basically living with him for the duration. But guess who has the ancient relic she seeks? Marcus.

Tempest must play ball with Marcus to get what she seeks. As writers, we tend to label stories. Tempest’s story would be “A Captured Bride.” But her ancestor seer was also a captured bride. However, Tempest’s traits are different from her sisters; she may lean more toward her Viking ancestor: ready to take challenges and restless. And Marcus looks like a real challenge. I love Vikings and researched brooches/swords, etc. heavily. This trilogy is heavily researched.

The name of Port Salem, the fictional town on Lake Michigan, should be enough to scare any psychic. (If I write about it, I’ve been there.) While Claire’s setting was rural Montana, without major bodies of water, Tempest is where she and her sisters should NOT be, near the universal portal of psychics, a major lake.

Danger is never far away and Marcus stays close. Tempest isn’t used to having a “Protector”, but that’s exactly what she has in Marcus. He’s determined to keep her safe. I was delighted with Marcus. He gradually transforms from a stone-cold man with a grudge (he’s had a hard childhood) to a man entranced with Tempest.

A murderer who doesn’t want Tempest’s psychic hands uncovering his identity is determined to kill her. Her touch reveals startling secrets about Marcus’s own dark past, but will he hate her, if she tells him?

Then someone from Tempest’s dark past is circling her, and danger prowls around her entire family. This girl moves fast, but does she move fast enough?

Tempest’s personality is different from her sisters, and her story is unique to her. And to me. I hope you’re enjoying this trilogy, and you can find more about the Aislings at my website and blog. I’m guest blogging heavily with A STRANGER’S TOUCH, and my schedule is posted at my website.

*Watch for FOR HER EYES ONLY, Leona’s story, set in Lexington, KY.

Cait

Sherry Thomas | Am I a paranormal reader? Sure I am!

A couple of weeks ago, I called a local romance-friendly bookseller to invite her to have lunch with the published authors of my RWA chapter. And she invited me, in return, to attend the monthly paranormal readers’ meeting, which would take place that evening at her store.

The kids were at Grandma’s for spring break. And though I did not read heavily in the paranormal genre, I thought it was a good opportunity to get out of the house and meet the bookseller in person.

Did I mention that I don’t read heavily in the paranormal genre? I was surprised when I got to the meeting to realize how many I have read. There was another author from my local chapter at the meeting. Other than the two of us, none of the other readers present had yet to try J. R. Ward. We practically shoved the Black Dagger Brotherhood books into their hands.

During the course of the evening we’d recommended Shana Abe, Nalini Singh, Lara Adrian, Meljean Brook and Marjorie M. Liu, among others. And right after I left the meeting, I smacked myself on the forehead. How could I have forgotten Kelley Armstrong?

It was, believe it or not, my first time interaction with other romance readers simply as a fellow romance reader. I joined RWA early on in my journey to publication, and over the years, all the other romance readers in my acquaintance have also been writers. It was different and great fun to discuss books—and not just romance, but urban fantasy, mysteries and general fiction—purely from the standpoint of enjoyability.

By the end of the meeting, I had in hand Jim Butcher’s name written down as an author to try, two new releases that I’d bought at a special 25% discount for attendees of the paranormal readers’ meeting, and the bookseller’s enthusiastic assurance to increase the store’s order for my debut book (Private Arrangements, which hit shelves today).

I will most definitely be joining this readers group again in the very near future.

—Sherry Thomas
writersherrythomas.com/

Ann DeFee | Wanderlust

Wanderlust – once you succumb it’s like a chocolate addiction, tantalizing and almost impossible to kick. Growing up in a small south Texas town my childhood was a comfortable cocoon of sameness. I went from learning my ABC’s to the angst of puberty with an identical group of kids. But even while I was cruising the streets with my carpool buddy’s I knew I was destined see the world. I just didn’t know how far reaching that would be.

Now let’s fast forward to my life as a nomadic Air Force wife. At times the travel and moving was frenetic and sometimes it could even be exasperating, but it was always an adventure (all 23 moves). I had an opportunity to meet new people, to see new places, and to create my niche in places all over the world.

I skied in New England and Bavaria, hiked in the Pacific Northwest, explored Roman ruins, stuck my toe in the North Sea, the north Atlantic, mid-Atlantic, south Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, got up close and personal with a lobster trap and watched the America’s Cup race from the deck of a Coast Guard ship.

What a great life it was, especially for a writer. It provided me with wonderful settings, eccentric characters and a wealth of stories that find their way into my books. We lived in quite a few states of the Deep South so I set many of my books in that wonderfully rich tapestry of history and family culture. Not only do Southerners revere their “people” and eat rice, they gussy up the nutty relatives and revel in their eccentricities. And that’s what makes a story fun.

So if you love my kind of wild and wacky world, head to the stores and look for my March book – Goin’ Down to Georgia (Harlequin American Romance). It’s currently on the shelves.

But back to the DeFee wanderlust - it’s not over yet. When we moved to the Pacific Northwest we thought we’d found the place. But those darned kids of ours settled on the east coast (and they took my grandkids with them – what’s with that?) So naturally we decided it was time to permanently set our clocks on Eastern Standard Time. The cross country airplane pilgrimages were a killer!

The problem was we didn’t have a clue where we wanted to go. So short of throwing a dart at a map we armed ourselves with a list of “must haves” and made a 3 state (Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina), 8 community (Easton, MD, Columbia, MD, Fredericksburg, VA, Virginia Beach, VA, Chapel Hill, NC, Pinehurst, NC, Raleigh, NC and Williamsburg, VA), 50 house odyssey. Whew! I’ve seen so many houses my eyes are crossed – hardwood, carpet, tile, resale, new construction, small lot, acreage, yada, yada, yada.

It was overwhelming, exhausting and too confusing for words but we finally decided on Williamsburg. VA. It was love at first sight. So all we have to do (LOL) is sell our house, buy another and make a transcontinental move with a Golden Retriever, two cars and a spoiled cat. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Yeah, I know – I have a warped sense of humor, but I am a Monty Python fan.

Wish us luck – especially in dealing with this real estate market, and please visit my website (ann-defee.com) to read an excerpt of Goin’ Down to Georgia. Oh yeah, while you’re there check out my other titles.

Ann DeFee

Ann was a double Rita finalist in 2006 for her debut novel, A Texas State of Mind.