My Rural Five

This is last weeks Rural Five. These are five lines from page 44 of my current WIP 'Deceive Me In Ireland'. It seems my Heroine, Cara, lives the life of the unco-ordinated.
Enjoy!

Cara tripped and made a grab for something to steady herself. Her hand latched onto Will’s arm.
‘Yer Ok, lass?’ he asked, a cheeky grin on his face. ‘Watch out for those nasty pockets of air. They can cause some damage if yer trip over them.’
Hot blood rushed to her cheeks.
Is there a big, dark hole around here? You know, the kind you bury your dignity in?

If you'd like to see some of the results of the weekly Rural Five by some of your favourite authors, head to the Rural Romance Writers and Readers facebook group. We have some awesome discussion and all the authors in the group post five lines weekly from their current WIP.

Happy reading,
W

Who is Whitney K-E?

Hi everyone!
I hope you're all having an enjoyable week and looking forward to the RWA conference. I sure am. :)
Anywho, as a newbie conference goer, I thought I might share the link to my bio on the Hotter Than Hades Blog.

You can find more about me at: http://hotauthors.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/who-is-whitney-k-e.html

Here's a picture of me and Mr Grumpy, my ex-racer, Chief:

 And now that you've seen me, please! Don't hesitate to grab hold of me and say 'hi'. I'm all for making new friends and can't wait to meet everyone at the conference.

Whit :)

So You Write Romance... Can You Write Anything Else?

I've been writing for three years now. And yet, it wasn't until halfway through last year that I started making it public. And if there is one question I find that gets under its; 'Oh. You write romance. Can you write anything else?'

To be honest, it's one of those questions you should never ask a writer. It's like asking J.K. Rowling to write the weather report. Writers write what they love to write. You force them into something else and you mess with their muse.

But in answer to this question, yes, I can write in other genres. But Romance is where my heart lies.

Currently, I am writing a philosophical collection of four narratives that address feminism and Romanticism. There is no romance in those, but if there is one this I am finding is that theses stories will remain short stories. I will most likely never turn them into novels. To be honest, I like them the way they are. My muse agrees with them to but as always my current romantic WIP is calling me back to the world of sexy Irishmen and Sassy Aussie women.

As a lover of fiction, I have dipped my pen into all types of fiction. In high school I was expected to write a number of short peices and that is where my push to write started. But the day I decided to write, I knew I wouldn't write Scifi or mainstream or philosophical. I was a writer of Romance and my love of rural life was there to push me into Rural Romance.

So, if there are any lessons to be learn from this post these are it:
- If you've going to ask a writer if they can write anything else, prepare yourself for a verbal shut down.
- And secondly, all you Romance writers out there, don't be affraid to write in the genre you love just because some people you know might consider it of 'lower quaility'. And if you find yourself needing some proof, hand them a pen. 'You, the fool who thinks they have a right to criticise me, take this pen and write a romance. You have 90 000 words and six months. And you have to get it published by the end of the year.'
See how many will step up to the challenge and fall.

You see, it doesn't matter what you write. It's how much you commit yourself to it. If you hate the genre, you're clearly not going to write in no matter how many people will buy it just because they love the genre. The genre will not sell you. You sell yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, who's going to believe you?

And here I jump into the art of pitching. You cannot convice an editor to request your novel if you yourself have nothing to love about it.

Now, I see I have broken the rule of short, punchy blog post, but I do hope most of you kept reading.
Always believe in what you love writers. And always keep working on achieving your aspirations.

Whit

Hotter Than Hades and The Rural Five

Well, this week, I've been showing off some of my work. And I'm not the only one.
At the great blog I joined, 'Hotter Than Hades', the girls and I are posting the results of our first writing challenge. We all were given a prompt, in this case we had to incorporate one woman, a man and a storm and turn it into something  entertaining for our readers. So pop on over and check them out. We'd love some feedback!

Another exciting activity I've been participating in is the 'Rural Five' on the Rural Romance Writers and Readers group on facebook. The group is continuing to grow and we've had some interestin discussions on colloquial terms and even how readers can best support their favourite writers. To give a little bit back to our readers, the authors and writers in our group will be posting five lines/sentences weekly from their current WIP's. So if you love teasers and want to keep up with your favourite author's next release, you might find a few snippets to make the waiting period a little more bearable.

We've had some great responses to this weeks 'Rural Five'. The hardest part is only post five line/sentences. And I'm sure our readers would agree.

This is what I posted from my current WIP 'Deceive Me In Ireland' this week:

‘Do you know how to perform CPR?’ she asked, not entirely in control of her tongue nor any other part of her anatomy.
For the first time since Cara had laid eyes on the husky-voiced Irishman, he actually looked shocked.
Patrick arched his brow at her. ‘C.P.R?’
‘Yeh huh.’ Cara nodded, her gaze shifting to her feet. Her fingernails dug embedding into the plush armrests at her sides.

Well, I've got to get back to writing. My current WIP, 'Deceive Me In Ireland' is cooming along well and I'm excited about pitching it at the conference.

Enjoy the weekend everybody!

Whitney

So, You Want To Be A Writer?

Just recently a friend of mine started writing. New to the life of a writer and completely oblivious to the 'symptoms' of becoming a writer, all week I've been recieving questions asking, 'Is this normal?'

So, I decided to blog about it, for you you beginners out there and for a giggle with those who understand.

And here's the list:

- Insomia:
You've spent the last six hours writing, your head is full of plotlines, characters and you're on a 'writing high'. Your eyes start to droope, the facial twitches set in, perhaps is time to go to bed?
You jump in, your electric blanket is on, you shut your eyes... And all you can think about is Conflict, Dialogue, what should I do next, Oh! that's a good idea.
You're up til 3am.
Which leads me to my next symtom...

- Caffine Addiction:
Not a big coffee drinker? Give it a few days and you'll soon be calling it your bestfriend. Coffee is 'Writer's fluid'. No coffee, no brain function.

- A Mild Case of Antisocial Personality Disorder:
Yep. You going to become an utter b*#&@.
Shoosh! I'm writing. I don't care about where the dog peed. Will you please leave me alone!
Sound familar?

- The Early Bird Gets The Worm...
Now, many writer's find that their muse is most active in the morning. What? Not a morning person? Well... you're about to join the early birds.

- I Hear Voices...
My characters are the kind that take shape in my mind. I can see them and I can hear them.
Yep, I sound like a crazy person. But guess what?

- A love for chocolate and Alcohol:
There's nothing like chocolate to ease the stink of that critique or rejection. And there's nothing like a glass of champagne or a JD to celebrate your first contract! So there you have it. Two more wonderful addictions that in excess, are bad for you.

- Paranoia
They're my friends, of course they are going to tell me this rubbish is amazing! Did it save? Did I send it properly? Why haven't they replied?
Consider yourself a cool cat? We shall see...

- Writer's Block
I know. You hate it already. You are on your first day off in two weeks, your computer is before you, you're ready to go... And it hits you. Yep, good old writer's block.

- Da Dum. Da dum. Da dum, da dum, da dum... (Yes, that was my attempt at the 'Jaws' theme)
You've submitted your first MS. You're happy, you're worried. They haven't emailed you it. It's been five minutes and they haven't emailed you  back yet. So you get onto facebook, twitter, you do a google search on the internet. What was that editor's name?
Yep, you've become not only a writer but a stalker. The editor is your celebrity and you're the paparazzi. You check you inbox 20 times every hour and you send yourself an email just to see if its broken. No not broken and still no email.
Sounds like a crazy person right? Nah, you're not cray cray. You're a writer. :)

- Crazy Hair:
Expect your hair to have a little more volume in it from now on. You'll be running you're fingers through it a little more than usual and it's going to take it's toll.

Well, there is my list. Yep, it sounds pretty awful. But think about it, all this for the abosolute joy of pointing to that good looking cover in Big W and being able to say, 'That's my book', 'I wrote that'. Sounds like a good deal to me. :)

Whitney :)

A Busy, Busy Week... And It's Only Thursday!

Hi everyone,
Well, I'm finally back into writing and working hard on both my WIP's one for I hope to get a contract for sometime soon and it's sequel to pitch at my first RWA conference. The week has been full on, I've been making some changes and I've even started up a new group on facebook.

When I first started taking my writing seriously I started looking for writers like me. What i discovered was that there was no Rural Romance groups to be found. So after talking with a few of my fellow writers, including the lovely women I've been interview over the last month, it was decided that today was the day.

So the Rural Romance Writers and Readers group was launched on facebook. It's a place where I welcome all reader and writers to join and  where you can  find out more about your favourite authors and perhaps even discover some new ones.

We'd all love it if you stopped by: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/110981399045776/

Maybe you can help me pick out a profile picture? We've been thinking Hugh  Jackman would look nice, but to pick one is a struggle. :)

What do you think? Does he make the cut? ;)

Last night was also a very exciting night. I won 19 ebooks from Crooked Cat Publishing. I can't wait to read them, though I fear with my future schedule, they might have to wait till after the RWA conference.

Well, it's been a busy start to the week and I think it's time I returned to editing. I'll have my fingers crossed for the next few weeks in the hopes that I recieve some good news soon and I'll continue you to type frantically.

Slán!

Whitney :)