September is Last Rose of Summer month here at The Wild Rose Press. Over the years, I've taken some flak for the name of this line. Contrary to popular belief it is NOT the line for those that are in their last chapters of life; it is not the line for someone who is desperate and this is their last chance at love.
If you live anywhere that experiences seasonal changes, frost, snow, ice, etc. you might be familiar with this type of flower. The last rose of summer clings to the vine - blooming, even when the snow begins to fall and all around it other flowers shrivel up and die in the cold. The last rose of summer stays strong, stubbornly hanging on when all hope is lost. It is beautiful, and plucky and never something you take for granted.
That's what the heroines are in this line. They've seen life a bit - that's not to say they are old but they have experienced some of life's challenges and come out still blooming. They could be as young as 30 or in their 40's and 50's, as in life there is no "age" when life throws you a curveball. These gals might well be divorced or widowed young or they may have never married and suddenly find themselves truly in love for the first time. Maybe they've been caring for sick familly members and missed out on all the fun of being in love and are going to catch up now. There are any number of scenarios for these gals. Browse our selection in this plucky line and I"m sure you'll find a title or two that catches your eye because of course its going to take a pretty special hero to convince these heroines they need to be a part of their lives.
Last Rose of Summer - a thing of pure beauty and certainly never anyone to be pitied. Happy September!
Yesterday at the monthly meeting of my writers' group, several handouts were distributed. I made the time to sit this morning and read them over. Am I glad I took the time, because this one is excellent: from the July/August 2009a issue of Writer's Digest, Hook Readers With a Strong Beginning, by Les Edgerton.
With a crisp and witty writing style, Mr. Edgerton entertained me as well as reinforced things I've been encouraging for the past few years: where and what NOT to start a book with, ie a dream sequence, a ringing alarm clock or phone, too much or too little dialogue.
Just wanted to share this with you all. Peace, Kathy
That's an actual sunset on Lake Ontario taken last weekend, and it's a gentle reminder that summer across the country is drawing to a close. In some states, the kids have already begun to go back to school and those that haven't are busy shopping for new sneakers, backpacks and the various items that are requested by the teachers.
Does the end of summer excite you or make you sad? It seems as if there are two camps in this - those that eagerly anticipate the structure and scheduled days and nights of the school year and those that long to keep their toes buried in the sand for a bit longer. I have to admit to being a little bit of both - I love the summer sun, the heat, the long lazy days and nights that go on forever, but I also love it when the kids have to get up and out of the house and actually "do" something with their time. lol.
Whether you have kids in school still or not, September is a new year for most of us and with that new year hopefully some resolutions. We have a few months before the dreaded holiday season kicks off - use your time wisely, get that manuscript submitted or edited or even finished! Set a deadline for yourself and stick to it, even if its only to write for 30 mins every day. Whatever you have to do to get to the end do it. Remember if you write 1 page a day in a year you'll have a whole book.
Before we seriously head into fall though, don't forget that all this month we're celebrating the hottest line in the garden - Scarlet Rose. If you've never picked up one of these sizzling reads this is the time to do it. All our titles in the wilder garden are on sale. Just be careful, you may need more than a glass of lemonade to cool off after these hot reads.
Enjoy the rest of summer everyone and remember to take some time out for you - read, write and or simply close your eyes and let your mind brainstorm some wonderful story idea.
I posted this on the American and Vintage Rose shared blog the other day, but it bears repeating so I thought I'd post it here, as well.
Last night’s American Rose line celebration chat proved, once again, that while our numbers in AR are small, our hearts are mighty! Thank you to all the editors and authors who came out to celebrate with us.
AR editor Allison Byers took great delight in finally giving us the scoop on what she’s been teasing us about all month long—our American Heroes series. For those of you who missed it, here’s a recap:
American and Vintage Rose* are combining for a series entitled "American Heroes." The hero/heroine can be a person in the military or one can be an everyday person who inspires someone, changes his/her world for the better, or displays heroic qualities that a romance reader would embrace. Think of Rosie the Riveter, suffragettes, a southern belle who saved her home, northern ladies who had Antietam at their doorstep, nurses and doctor who fought under enemy fire, firefighters during the Chicago fire. There are so many historical figures in our lifetime, and we on the American Line want to capture that spirit and share it with our readers.
The stories can be 30,000 to 100,000 words. The time frame is anything from 1492 to 1992 (the end of the first Gulf War). Vintage stories can be set on foreign soil, but the hero/heroine must be an American. American Rose stories must be set on American soil.
What I found most interesting was when we began to discuss the many kinds of heroes there are out there. I was amazed at the ideas our authors threw out there. Canadian Mounties? Absolutely. A pilot on 9/11? You betcha. Gulf War heroes? Yep.
The bottom line, authors, is these are YOUR lines and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my three plus years at the helm of the historical department, it’s that no matter what direction I think a line may be heading... the authors usually have a different idea entirely! Which is why we are always open to suggestion.
In the next few weeks I will be working hand in hand with the VR and AR editing teams to revise the guidelines for both Vintage and American Rose, and I welcome your input. I am continually amazed by the enthusiasm and excitement you show for these lines, and if there’s a direction you’d like to see these lines take that they haven’t already, or have a question about whether we do/do not accept certain settings, feel free to email and tell me.
After all, the authors are in charge of things around here, I’m just along for the ride. *G*
*to clarify… Vintage Rose accepts both American and non-American settings post 1900. The American Rose line accepts settings from 1492 through the first decade of the 20th century but only deals with American settings. English Tea Rose accepts all non-American settings up to 1900 and Cactus Rose focuses on historicals set in the Old West.
When I write revision letters, I often tell my authors that I expect to see the three Rs in scenes. The three Rs encompass building character, which, as many of you know is my editorial Holy Grail.
When you plot a scene, you enrich the character’s life, bring it down, or plant them in a situation where the three Rs should happen, not only to fill the chapter, build word count and build character, but allow the reader to identify and create a bond with the hero or heroine.
So, in writing the three Rs, there are a few suggestions.
REACT: Most chapters start with a scenario of some type. The heroine is on a crashing plane, a raft in the ocean, her mother’s kitchen or in traffic dropping her child off at daycare. There are endless scenarios you can use, these are just a few.
At this point, the reader knows where the heroine happens to be. How does the heroine react to being there? Is she screaming and hanging on for dear life? Has she just yanked her hand out of the water before a shark cruises by? Did her Mom just make fluffy pancakes and bacon and the heroine is salivating? Or did a man in a sports car just cut her off in traffic? What did our heroine feel at this very point in time? Whatever she feels is a reaction. Build character here. Wring those feelings right out of our hapless heroine. Internal dialog and observations are good things! Conversation with another nearby can also build character.
RESPOND: Now that the plane has crashed, there’s a ship on the horizon, Mom has provided her with the pancakes and the man in the sports car screeches to a stop, jumps out and waves a bloody hand – our heroine has to respond. Her earlier thoughts are forgotten. Now she has to look for a way to survive in the jungle with pieces of plane all around, flag down the ship, decide to only eat half of Mom’s pancakes because she’s on a diet, and scrabble around under the driver’s seat to find that emergency fist aid kit she always keeps in the car. (Editorial intrusion – what do you mean you don’t keep a first aid kit in the car? Do so immediately. The editor has spoken!). Now she is poised to take action. Tools have been found, her former internal dialog is cut off and another crisis is staring her right in the face. She has to respond.
At this point, our heroine is coming to the aid of something or someone. She hasn’t actually done anything, but she is prepared or preparing to do so. Fill that page with her preparations. Dialog with the dog that survived the plane crash too, the kid who is in the raft with her, Mom’s discussion on her being too skinny, or the policeman running car to car looking for a first aid kit (see, I told you that a first aid kit is a necessary item in your car!), are excellent for showing the reader our heroine’s character. They get the sense that she will help, discuss, and even have a courageous sense of humor despite her surroundings or the people around her. These are heroine traits, and secretly our readers want to believe that they would respond exactly as our heroine is doing. Which leads us to Resolution.
RESOLUTION: The scene is now coming to a close. The heroine fashions a glider out of half a wing and parasails out of the jungle, thereby saving herself. Or she whips off her petticoats and flags down the ship. Mom realizes our heroine does need to drop a few pounds and takes back ½ pancake to eat herself. The heroine bandages the driver’s bloody hand, and he kisses her right there in traffic to the cheers of the stranded motorists. Our heroine had done something. She has taken action and resolved the plot issue that was introduced at the beginning of the scene. The responses portrayed and the preparations she took filled the chapter with character-building internal thoughts, open dialog and actions.
In closing this scene you can build character yet again by giving our heroine a sense of satisfaction at a job completed, a strength of purpose that uplifts her ego, and the knowledge that her actions, and hers alone, resolved the entire situation. If she did have help she needs to acknowledge it openly and not take all the credit. Giving credit where credit is due is also heroic.
So, in building character and plotting scenes remember the 3 Rs – React, Respond, Resolution.
Lately, I’ve been running across manuscripts wherein our illustrious heroine is placed so conveniently that she literally does nothing to further her own life or the storyline at all.
What am I talking about?
Let us set aside the passive heroine for the moment and concentrate on plot here. For those of you who hear me constantly preach about characterization, just hold on, I’m getting to it…or the lack thereof.
Plot is a tool to further the story. It is the action, the backdrop and the surroundings that our hero and heroine wade through as they discover their own feelings for each other.
I once determined that a good, 20 page chapter required four different scenes to act as a foil for the characters. These scenes had to comprise some form of action so our characters could act, react, compare notes, and resolve. So, the plot of a story would be something like…
The heroine’s diamonds are lost.
The characters look high and low aboard the ship, bumping into each other as they pat down the stern sheets, empty out lockers and check the beds in steerage.
The diamonds are found when a passenger bites down on his coq au vin and breaks a tooth.
It is discovered that the heroine had visited the deck where the seagulls landed on the railing for the scraps the cook threw out and one of them snatched the diamonds out of heroine’s handbag which she accidentally left on a deck chair…and the cook had run out of chicken for his dish, so he got the next best thing…
Basically, the plot above tells the actual story. There’s not one bit of characterization except in the distant sense – an idiotic heroine who brings her handbag up deck, and a cook who doesn’t want to disappoint the passengers about the meal.
The heroine, except mentioned in the first sentence, is unnecessary for the story.
Now, let us return to my first sentence. In a plot rich environment, the heroine is placed so that many things can be happening around or to her, but she comes through unscathed, not only in body, but without a thought of the uniqueness of the situation.
1. Our heroine is thumbing rides and although everyone else would be at the mercy of an axe murderer, our heroine remains completely safe and she even gets money from the trucker who picked her up.
2. Our heroine, without any knowledge at all, gets an executive position without any credentials and then does an outstanding job, better than all the college grads around her.
3.Our heroine escapes death in an avalanche because she wanted to explore a pretty little shanty in the woods. A shanty that has food, water and a heat source, so she could survive for two weeks until rescued.
Each of these plots are active. But our heroine is not. When too many outstanding coincidences such as the three above appear in one manuscript, it is a lack of control over characterization. The heroine didn’t actively participate in any of the above, they just “happened” to her. Heroines are supposed to be proactive in their lives. They also need to have emotions and feelings clearly defined when these extraordinary things are going on.
To conveniently place people on a stage to “act out” a role, without delving into what they’re thinking and feeling is simply a plot that doesn’t even need a heroine or hero.
Since romance needs both, The Convenience Of Everything won’t work.
Visit one of the participating author’s blogs, and then visit the rest. At every stop, leave a comment and be entered to win a prize from that author. 20 blogs and 20 Winners
The Cactus staff is looking to put together another Lawmen and Outlaws anthology. Only this time it will be Christmas themed stories to be released for Christmas 2010.
The stories need to be no longer than 25,000 words with either a lawman or outlaw as the hero.
Send a synopsis to paty@thewildrosepress.com with Christmas Anthology in the subject line by November 1, 2009. We'll pick four stories and contact those authors by November 15, 2009. The completed story must be turned in by February 1, 2010.
Stop and Smell the Roses Multi-Author Blog Bouquet.
All Day – Monday – June 22, 2009
A blog tour hosted by the authors of the Wild Rose Press.
Visit one of the participating author’s blogs, and then visit the rest. At every stop, leave a comment and be entered to win a prize from that author. 20 blogs and 20 Winners
Ok its not a cowboy picture but it is a Yellow Rose and this is Yellow Rose and Cactus Rose Month (sorry Cactus ladies, I can't find a Cactus Rose). This photo is actually straight out of my real garden at home. Its a Peace Rose and it was sent to me a couple years ago by one of our authors in the UK - Diyls Xavier. I had my doubts that it would thrive in our climate but it has and it blooms beautifully every year.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know, its Cowboy Month. I won't even pretend to not be partial to this month. I love it. I absolutely love it.
The Cactus Rose line has an awesome anthology that released last week entitled: "Lawmen and Outlaws", and at the end of the month, another of our WayBack, Texas tales will come out. This one is an anthology by three Yellow Rose authors - entitled "Finding Their WayBack". You won't want to miss reading either of these anthologies.
If you've never tried a Yellow Rose or Cactus Rose story let me gently encourage you to check them out. All titles are on sale this month and I don't think you'll be disappointed by any of them.
So Cowboy Up everyone; let's spend some time with cowboys and cowgirls form the old west or the contemporary ranches of today.
We talk about them all the time. We talk about their qualities, we talk about what they say, and of course, we write about their love life. So, exactly what constitutes a heroine and how is she clearly defined in her role? Why is this protagonist so universally loved that people will read an endless number of stories about her and her fellow heroines?
The meaning of the word, heroine, implies all the positive traits of humanity.
heroine – noun - 1 a: a mythological or legendary woman having the qualities of a hero b: a woman admired and emulated for her achievements and qualities 2 a: the principal female character in a literary or dramatic work b: the central female figure in an event or period. (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
She is quite literally, the central, lead character in a romance. When an author writes a story, the entire story revolves around this woman’s actions, challenges, reactions, thoughts and feelings.
Even when writing from the man’s point of view, we are given glimpses into the character of the heroine.
To write a heroine whom readers will love, an author must delve deeply into the psyche of humanity. A heroine can have negative feelings and thoughts, but they must always be tempered by the cause or motivation for those emotions. In addition, those feelings must be fleeting, or be negated by something positive in her heart.
Although there are a few heroines written who are gossipy, unkind, money-grubbing and self-centered (the movie character Scarlett O’Hara comes to mind) in most cases, a true heroine only displays these tendencies, without believing them. How she feels and thinks about these negative emotions is quite the contrary and it is delineated by her warmth, heart and caring.
Heroines, quite simply, are heroic. They may be scared, they may be angry, they may be upset, tearful, whiny, and cranky, but in the end, they understand that they must act, and by acting, they show their courage, control, compassion and worth to the reader.
Emma Lai (Cari Quinn was not eligible to win the grand prize)
You are our grand prize winner. You will receive a gorgeous tote bag full of books, a t-shirt, coffee mug, gift certificates and whatever else we can stuff in a tote bag or if you would rather, you can take a $30 gift certificate to the TWRP bookstore. (this can be any TWRP store, White Rose Publishing, the Wilder Roses or the main Wild Rose Press bookstore.)
email me at LisaDawn@thewildrosepress.com
thank you to everyone who participated today. The garden is truly an amazing place.
Thank you to everyone for sharing our third birthday. If you are one of the winners from the posts today, please email me at lisadawn@thewildrosepress.com. Today's winners will receive their choice of digital book from the line hosting the hour that their name was drawn from, except those that won on my lunch break post. Those 4 winners will be mailed their prize. The grand prize winner will be announced in a few minutes.
Here is the list of hourly winners: English Tea Rose – Silver James Scarlet Rose – Cyranowriter Cover Artists – Deborah Rittle Humming birds – Pam Thibodeau. Yellow Rose – Ann Campbell American Rose - Amber Leigh Williams Cactus Rose – Becky Vintage Rose - Marye Ulrich Champagne Rose - Lynda Lukow Last Rose of Summer – Shannon Donovan White Rose - Hywela Lyn Crimson Rose – Mary Rickson Faery Rose - Catherine Bybee Black Rose – danie88 Climbing Rose – Future Mrs. Ashley Rose Sweetheart Rose – Christine
Lunch break prize winners Susan Shay - book light Larena - book light Tarah Scott - book thong danie88 - book thong
Thank you for a wonderful three years and we'll celebrate again next year.
The last hour is always the sweetest. Thanks for stopping by. For our blog post, we'd like to open it up to pitches. Formal, informal--do you have a sweetheart of a read? We'd like to hear about it.
Enter your pitch in the comments. (and refresh to see new comments!) Give us the name of your story, the computer word count, the conflict (or what keeps your hero and heroine apart) and the resolution. Just remember--keep that bedroom door firmly closed. The Sweetheart lineis emotionally-driven.
Make us laugh, make us cry-make us feel something--and you're guaranteed a request.
Leanne Morgena, the senior editor of Sweetheart, says...
I’m sorry I can’t participate in “real time” but I’m involved with my RWA chapter-sponsored conference today and tomorrow. Recently, I was interviewed for a New Zealand newsletter and was asked what makes a great submission for the Sweetheart line.
This is what we look for:
A story that starts off by pitting two well-developed personalities against each other and then keeps them together, but at odds, for the majority of the rest of the page count. Something from their individual pasts makes them hesitant to view the other as a potential mate. Through the course of the story, events take place that cause them to look at each other in a new way. Experiencing these events together allows them to create a relationship that moves from attraction to respect to trust to love.
At the end of the story, we look for both main characters to make a choice that they couldn’t have made at the beginning. They do it because they are stronger people for having known the other or because they choose to put another’s interests above theirs. In a line that doesn’t contain other plot elements (paranormal, suspense, sensuality), character growth and emotional content are the keys that hold the story together and have to be its focus.
Her personal favorites are:
--reunion stories because when characters have a past, they have to get over whatever broke them apart andwhatever is keeping them apart now. I also like stories that involve competent people thrown into situations for which they have no training are also favorites. (big city girl on a farm, scientist put into the public eye, adult with no siblings taking care of friend’s small child, injured cop accepting help) Urban or rural, humorous or emotional, be sure to develop your setting so the reader has the tools to create mental images for your characters and where they live and work.
Vicky Reed says...
My personal faves are best friends who fall in love, realistic jobs and settings. It's fun to be rich or own a bed and breakfast--but retail clerks, unemployed mothers who find the love of their life and a job, fast-food workers and people putting in time at the food bank to help themselves and others, fall in love every day. I'd also like to see ethnic characters, African-American, Japanese-American, Filipino-American, whatever kind of (insert here)-American you are. I want to see Uncle Taki and Auntie Marival. Your granddaddy or uncles. Fly your colors. Whoever they are, make sure your hero and heroine are three dimensional and don't let the setting or secondary characters upstage the love story.
A special request for...
The Flower Basket--our Sweetheart Continuity
Do you have what it takes to be a part of The Flower Basket?
Sweetheart is currently seeking submissions to The Flower Basket series set in a small town called Almendra in central California. A free read titled Business is Blooming (available on our website) by Linda Carroll-Bradd launched the series, provides essential information about the town and introduces the three shop owners. Some element in your story has to include contact (in person, phone or email) with the shop or one of the three shop owners for a flower delivery.
The trick to plotting an appropriate story is to take an existing part of the town’s economic or social life and figure out a romantic story for two people who would live and/or work in this town (without duplicating what’s been contracted).Although the characters you create need to interact with The Flower Basket and the owners, your story can’t create any new storylines for Steffie, Grace or Donica, or some of the other characters.We hope that’s not too confusing.
A story chart detailing the existing characters, their roles/professions, and businesses mentioned in the contracted books is available on request from leanne@thewildrosepress.com. The chart also details which characters are reserved by the original author and which are available for others to use. The senior editor, Leanne Morgena, is also willing to review story outlines for works-in-progress.
Thanks for being here with us! We hope you had a wonderful time. The Sweetheart line will be available until 11p.m. EST. Pitch us! ....and you might win a prize. :)
September is Last Rose of Summer month here at The Wild Rose Press. Over the years, I've taken some flak for the name of this line. Contrary to popular belief it is NOT the line for those that are in their last chapters of life; it is not the line for someone who is desperate and this is their last chance at love. 
