T. Lynn Ocean | Putting Your Subconscious Mind To Work For You

People often ask authors where they get their ideas. The answer for me is, I'm not sure. But I do know that I'd never have a writing career if it weren't for my subconscious mind (SM).

Everyone has this amazing tool at their disposal. Scientists still don't understand quite how it works, but they do know that we all have a duality of minds: your consciously thinking mind, and your subconscious mind. Whether you are creating a character that people will want to read, composing a song, or trying to solve a dilemma at the office, your SM can do the work for you. It's true!

Ever been with friends discussing a movie or a song, and you can't remember the name of the lead actor? "It's on the tip of my tongue!" you might say. Finally, you give up. The next morning it hits you. You remember the name. Well, folks, that is your SM at work. It's a very simple example, but proof that your mind can problem-solve while you are not consciously thinking about the problem.

There are two basic things to remember about your SM. First, it never sleeps. It's always working, regardless of what you are doing. Second, your SM has no filters or screens. It's like the mind of an innocent child and will soak up everything without prejudice.

So, how do you put your SM to work for you? Very easily. You must fuel, or feed it! For example, when I'm working on a new character, I will sketch out all the basics. A background, including family and career. Physical description. Accent and manner of speaking. Oddities or quirks, such as a man who always jingles the change in his pocket when he's nervous. Next, I'll think about the plot and how the character fits in. And then it's time to feed my SM. If my character were the owner of a bakery for example, I'd quiz some pastry chefs, subscribe to a trade magazine, and watch cooking shows. If my character was a sleazy landlord, I'd read some articles about fraud and scams, maybe interview a property manager or two, and check out the real estate market where the book takes place. Bottom line? Go on road trips. Talk to people. Read applicable magazines. Attend pertinent continuing education classes or seminars. Brainstorm with friends. AND THEN FORGET ABOUT IT! One of the best times to put your SM to work for you is just before bedtime. Forget Leno or Letterman and take fifteen minutes to review your notes or read that trade magazine. Go to sleep thinking about your project. You'll be amazed at what you come up with.

Once you begin to utilize the power of your SM, your characters will become multi-dimensional and real. They'll begin telling you what they would say or do in a given situation. Your plots will suddenly come together in a way that makes perfect sense. That song you've been trying to compose will vividly spring to life. And that problem at work? You'll suddenly have the solution, and in hindsight, you'll probably wonder why you didn't think of it sooner.

Oh yeah. One more thing. If you're going to tap into the power of your SM, there are a few rules. You must avoid negative people. You must keep an open, welcoming mind. And you must try to remain stress-free. Like everything else, your subconscious mind performs best when nurtured.

It's how I plan, plot, and write. SOUTHERN FATALITY has just been re-released in paperback, SOUTHERN POISON is now out in hardcover, and I just sent in the manuscript for the third in this mystery series. Jersey Barnes is such a fun character to write… I just love it when the characters start telling you what they're going to do next!

T. Lynn Ocean
www.tlynnocean.com/

Brenda Joyce | Masters of Time

Everyone fears the shadows of the night. No one likes walking down a deserted street after the sun goes down, not in 2008—and not in 1508. Of course, we think we’re being silly to start at every little sound we hear—when we know nothing is lying in wait for us out there in the dark. And violence and crime is on the upswing because our society has broken down—and not for any other reason….right?

Welcome to the world of the Masters of Time.

The Masters of Time are Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence through the ages. They do not choose their destiny—it is chosen for them. The Masters are medieval men to the core—savage in war, ruthless in outlook, totally sexist in nature, and impossibly powerful—after all, they are descended from the old Celtic gods. And one of their greatest powers is the power to leap through time…

And then along comes a very modern and independent woman…

The romantic conflict is instantaneous. Imagine turning your street corner and coming face to face with the medieval hunk of all time—a Highlander who has more power than any mortal, a mandate to save the world, the knowledge he’s a cut above-- and he wants you, big time! Passions arise, worlds collide, cultures and ideas clash! This is romance the way it should be!

Dark Embrace is the third book about the Masters of Time, following Dark Seduction and Dark Rival. Aidan of Awe has fallen. Once a Master, he is furious with the gods and he has forsaken his vows, abandoned the brotherhood, turning his back on everyone— family, friends, and mankind. He walks alone and wars alone, lusting for power and revenge. He is a Highlander without a clan, feared by all and trusted by none. And the evil that he is hunting, the evil that destroyed his son, is now trying to destroy him…

By day, Brianna Rose fights evil from the safety of her laptop on the basement of CDA, a government agency. But she is a Rose, and the Rose women have been fighting evil with their gifts for generations. By night, Brie wages the war on evil with her two cousins, Tabby and Sam, using her vision to defend and save the innocent. But Brie has a little secret. She met Aidan once briefly, when he was a Master, and has had a mad crush on him ever since. Which is fine with her—a crush is really safe. Because Brie is a computer geek with no interest in a real relationship—men never look at her and she doesn’t expect them to. Brie is also highly empathic. And then one night she wakes up consumed with Aidan’s pain, hearing his screams of anguish—in spite of the gulf of centuries which separate them. And she knows he is in danger.

Brie is instantly obsessed. She has to find him, help him, and when she does, she is unprepared for the near immortal facing her—a man so dark, so heartless, he doesn’t think twice about using her. And it doesn’t matter. Brie finds a courage she never knew she had, and she will do anything she has to in order to redeem him.

Dark Embrace is a story of fury, desperation, loss, and revenge—and love, and the redemption that can come from it. It is a story of faith—Brie never loses her faith in Aidan. It is also Book One of the Rose Trilogy, because every Rose woman has a destiny, and Sam and Tabby have their destinies, too, and their destiny is not exactly what either woman is expecting! Dark Victory is on sale in March 2009, followed by Sam’s story in September, Dark Lover.

Welcome to the Masters of Time!

Brenda Joyce
http://www.brendajoyce.com/

J. T. Ellison | Why Crime Fiction Matters To Me

I know that sounds a bit like "What I Did On My Summer Vacation," but bear with me.

I have always loved crime stories – real or imagined. I don't think I'm alone, either. Some of the most successful series on television now are crime oriented. My favorites are the original CSI, Criminal Minds and the gloriously creepy Dexter. I watch Forensic Files, all the true crime shows, eat up the drama and fear and terrible truths that exist in our world. So what is the fascination? Why am I drawn to murder and mayhem?

In a word – heroes. But let me come back to that.

I've tried to pinpoint the reason I decided to write crime fiction, and honestly can't put my finger on a single impetus. Was it because of my childhood friend who was being abused and committed suicide when we were f ourteen? Was it the disappearance of a friend from college – Dail Dinwidde – who went missing in 1992, quite literally without a trace? Was it an influence from the books I gobbled up – Patterson, at the beginning, Tami Hoag, Patricia Cornwell?

Or did I always have a mysterious bent? I've always been a writer – especially the terrible, should be burned pieces I did in college. I went back and looked at some of them, and was surprised to see a note from my thesis advisor. I'd written what I thought was a masterpiece of a story, and her comment was, "Reads too much like B-grade detective fiction." Hmm. And what, exactly, is wrong with B-grade detective fiction?

But a budding writer who is writing for academia needs to be literary. You must plan your world around where you'll be getting your MFA, and fifteen years ago, when I graduated, crime fiction was most certainly not on the menu for a writer hoping for a distinguished career in literature.

I've always found that amusing, because all of the best literary stories swirl around the commission of a crime. Crimes of the heart, crimes against nature, crimes against a woman or child, a brother or sister, a mother or fath er, a neighbor. Look at Alice Sebold's THE LOVELY BONES. It's a perfect example of a literary novel that centers around a crime.

I think the big difference between literary and crime fiction lies in the treatment. In literary books, you don't have the pulsing pace, a race against the clock to save humanity, a killer to get off the streets. Lit fic has a more sedate pace. It's often an examination of how a crime affects the characters rather than how to stop the crime from happening, or happening again. And sometimes, there is no conclusion. And that's just fine.

But in crime fiction, the battles of good and evil play themselves out on the page, ripe for the reader's imagination to overflow. There is an innate understanding that the white hats will stop the black hats. You know what you're getting – a breathless journey with a cast of characters who would lay down their life to save the innocent. The story drives the characters actions, and we see every foible, every flaw, and cheer when the character stands up for what's right.

In other words, crime fiction gives you a hero. A man or a woman who won't stop fighting until the bad guys are taken out. There's an element of justice meted out – the criminals are caught, the hero triumphs, the innocents are protected. It's heady stuff, I tell you.

Whatever my original influences, this is the real reason I choose to write crime fiction. I want to right the wrongs, give closure to a grieving family, make sure the victims are not forgotten. In my little make believe world, I can make sure justice is well and truly served. We don't always have that luxury in real life. Too often, trials are lost on technicalities, juries are forced to follow arcane laws, plea bargains are made, and criminals go free. In crime fiction, the hero gets to save the day, and the criminals get punished.

Taylor Jackson is a hero to me. She is a strong woman who commands the respect of her peers through her actions. She'd lay down her life to protect those she loves, and those she doesn't even know. She is the best of all of us, the one who runs into the burning building to save a child, who never asks for thanks, who protects and defends the city of Nashville even when it doesn't protect or defend her.

That's what a hero should be, and that's why crime fiction is such a joy for me to write.

J. T. Ellison

http://www.jtellison.com/

Laura Preble | Why Can't I Have My Own Robot?

I've been a geek since birth. I was raised on Star Trek (the original, styrofoam-rock, red-shirt-guy-killing Star Trek) and my parents took us to see both Barbarella and Planet of the Apes at the drive-in. So, when I was asked by an editor at Penguin to take a stab at writing in the genre of Chick Lit, I sort of balked. I mean, what do I have in common with those elegant Chick Lit writers? I associated them with cheerleaders, slutty high school girls (not the same thing, mind you), makeup, high heels, and the felonious application of Newton's Laws of Motion.

But then I had what I thought was a great idea: Chick Lit for geek girls like me. That led to the creation of The Queen Geek Social Club, and subsequently, Queen Geeks in Love and Prom Queen Geeks, which debuts this month. I had great fun writing the books; the main character, Shelby, was the person I would have been in high school if I'd had any confidence and a better sense of fashion.

But one thing in the books has had an interesting impact on readers: the inclusion of Euphoria, Shelby's humor-impaired robot, nanny, and tracking device. I'm not exactly sure where Euphoria came from, honestly; I started writing the first book at 3 a.m. and she just sort of appeared and started talking. I imagine her as a cross between the Jetson's robot, Rosie, and an intelligent Roomba. Created by Shelby's father, Euphoria is a pseudo-mom to Shelby, whose own mother has died even before the series begins. (And this is possibly because just before I came up with the idea for the books, my own mother died.) She attempts humor, has the ability to sense emotions from people, can make cookies, and can also aid and abet in semi-criminal activities, as she does in Prom Queen Geeks.

Anyway, readers are always writing to tell me that they absolutely love Euphoria, or, on rare occasions, that they love the books except for that one weird quirky thing that seems totally unreal and out of place. I guess that when I honestly examine why I inserted this quirky metallic meddler into my fiction, it's because I want a robot of my own. I want someone who never gets tired, who never wears down, who can read me like a book, who knows my favorite recipes, who cares about me when I don't care about myself. I guess, now that I think about it, I really wanted my own mom. So, when people ask me now why I put Euphoria in the story, I can answer: since my mom never got to see the books I finally wrote after all her years of encouragement, I simply wrote her into them so she'd always be there.

Laura Preble
www.laurapreble.com/

Sandi Shilhanek | DFW Tea Group

Recently I celebrated a birthday. How I wondered would this year be celebrated? The answer to that was really very simple. Go to the DFW Tea Group book dinner that is held monthly. Good food, good drinks (even if I don’t drink), wonderful conversation, and the highlight of the evening getting to chat via telephone with an author.

Many years ago, don’t ask how many because truth be told I really don’t know, I accidentally discovered the DFW Tea Group. My first event was interesting, but I was an unknown stepping into a world that was as well established as any writer who writes an ongoing series might have. As would be expected the members of the group had to scope me out, and at the same time I had to be both outgoing, and shy so as to ensure my spot at future events.

Now years later I’m a long established member of the group, and look forward to finding out what exciting events I’m going to learn about because of the DFW Tea Group. Do you want to learn about us? Go to www.dfwtea.com/ We really are a friendly group and always looking for new members.

Anyway I digress, the actual day of my birthday didn’t go quite according to plan. I didn’t get the time off work I was hoping for, I forgot the coffee I had promised to bring and had to run home to grab it. Lastly the store where I was sent to buy the wine didn’t have the wine I was told to bring!

Arriving at the home where the dinner was being held I got great doggie welcomes, followed by warm greetings from the hostesses. I was handed a copy of the book being discussed, Take Me If You Can by Karen Kendall, so I could finish reading it, as my copy was in another room. Didn’t quite make it to finishing before dinner was served.

Lovely chat with Karen, who even though she might have been being bombarded by rain(she lives in Florida) let her personality shine through while she talked with us. The only flaw to this point was I really like to know what the author of the month likes to read, and I nor any of my tablemates thought to ask that question before the end of the discussion. Next time!

The evening was topped off with chocolate birthday cake, coffee, and a wonderful present. So, while the day didn’t start out happy and celebratory as birthdays should, it certainly ended on a high note that I believe will be hard to duplicate!

So my day was almost perfection. Tell me what do you like to do to celebrate your special day? Does it include books, friends and/or drinks Inquiring minds want…no need to know!