The Romance Dish: Today's Special - - Lenora Bell

I'm blogging today at The Romance Dish about my Golden Heart journey, and the romance authors who inspire me. What a thrill to tell my story and maybe even inspire others to keep writing and follow their dreams! Also giving away a Bolivian gift basket to a randomly chosen commenter.

The Romance Dish: Today's Special - - Lenora Bell: PJ here.  Remember how I mentioned in a recent RWA blog about how you meet the nicest people in the hotel bar at romance conferences? Tod...

Bell de Journey

Where I live.

I'm writing again. Every day. Characters wake me up in the middle of the night to give me advice about what they want to do in the next chapter. When I'm at work, part of my brain is obsessing about carriage upholstery and Regency profanity. This is why I write. To be possessed by my characters. To eat and sleep and dream their lives. Charlene was raised in a bawdy house. That's what she told me last night. I had no idea. Liam learned how to play spanish guitar in Argentina. Strange but apparently true.

I took a long break from the internet because in the past I've spent too much time blog-hopping instead of writing. Also I disappeared because writing had become a chore instead of a passion.

While I was away, so many of the lovely ladies I met through FanLit have hit the big time. Tessa Dare is a superstar now. Of course. Courtney Milan keeps publishing brilliant stories. Both of them push the boundaries of romance. Tessa's writing is so achingly funny and passionate that we absolutely believe a tavern serving girl could marry a duke. And my friend Maire Claremont took us on a dark and drug-fevered journey into redemption. Can't wait for Lady in Red!

I'm living in Bolivia right now. No RWA chapters here. So I'm looking for new critique partners and I'm ready to finish a book and put myself out there again. RWA San Antonio 2014 here I come!

Sassy!

The lovely and talented Delilah Marvelle just won a prize for being sassy at the Romantic Times Faery Costume Ball. Isn't that just so perfect? She is sassy and so are her books. I cannot wait for her Scandal series to come out from HQN in January-March, 2011!

I'll post pictures of sassy Delilah in her gorgeous costume soon. Forgot my upload cord.

Congrats to Tessa Dare and Courtney Milan!

Courtney Milan's "This Wicked Gift" and Tessa Dare's Surrender of a Siren are finalists in the Romance Writers of America's RITA® contest! See all the finalists here.

Homeward Bound!

I'm going home to Alaska on Tuesday. The funny thing is that it's supposed to be 85 degrees the whole time I'm there! Those poor little polar bears. Here's a picture my sister snapped earlier this summer.




Congrats to Tessa! Goddess of the Hunt debuts on the 28th--the same day as Eloisa James's A Duke of Her Own. Exalted company indeed!

Yay Courtney!!!

Golden Heart Nominee for Breath of Honor Courtney Milan's PROOF BY SEDUCTION, about a rigidly logical marquis who uses the scientific method to save his heir from the clutches of a fraudulent fortune teller, only to fall for her and discover that the one hypothesis not susceptible to proof is love, to Ann Leslie Tuttle at HQN, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (World).

Once Upon a Bed...

I will be eating dinner tonight with my lovely writing friends Delilah and Moira...on a bed. Delilah is taking us to Supperclub where we will recline roman style and feast our eyes on a cabaret show.

The conference is going very well. I placed second in the Hearts Through History contest and I'm thrilled because my friend and critique partner, Courtney Milan, took first. Yay, Courtney! I've received quite a few requests for Filigree and Shadow from agents and editors and that's really the whole point of the conference so Lenora is a happy girl.

Tonight we're off to karaoke at The Mint (one of my old stomping grounds) with a bunch of ladies including the lovely vixens Lacey, Eden, and Shelli. Bliss!

I'll try to remember to bring my camera this time.

Hugs,

Lenora

I Spy a Masterpiece

Buy this book!



I missed my bus stop by about a mile today because I was so engrossed in Annique and Robert's story. I'm sure you've read it already, but if you haven't you should. Thank you, Meljean, for pulling my head out of the sand.

My only warning is that this book could prove hazardous to your ego. Bourne is just too damn talented.

New Friends

The conference was fabulous. If any of you get a chance to take a workshop from Debra Dixon you should. She is one of the best speakers I've ever seen. She was witty, fiercely intelligent, passionate about writing, and able to give concrete advice in a way that made sense and motivated me to run home and fix the mistakes in my WIP. I can't say enough good things about her.

I got to meet three of the amazingly talented and sweet Manuscript Mavens. Their storyboarding workshop was very helpful and well-presented and they looked fetching in their matching pink and white t-shirts.

I also met Delilah Marvelle whose upcoming School of Gallantry series for Kensington sounds scintillating and delicious. Check her out!

The best part about conferences is meeting so many other writers whose tales of perseverance and triumph inspire you to keep going. It's not going to be easy. But I'll never get published if I don't polish this manuscript and send it out. It's as simple as that.

I registered for the San Francisco National RWA conference today. Are you going?

nanowrimo newbie

I signed up for nanowrimo. I figure the very worst thing that could happen is that I drop out half way and then I've still produced more writing than I usually do.

I'll be working on my new WIP Heart of Shadow. It's historical romance noir set in mid-Victorian London, featuring a hero tortured by his wife's suicide and a heroine masquerading as a spirit medium. I'm going to tie-in a character from my previous unfinished WIP Heart of Ash, so it can be the second in the series.

To prepare I used a variation on Erica Ridley's story boarding technique (speaking of Erica Ridley, she is all over the contest winners section of RWA's latest Romance Writers Report--go Erica!).

I also tried a new technique for my historical research. Probably everyone else has already discovered this. I assembled all of my character and historical research into a PowerPoint presentation. That way, when I'm writing and need a historical detail, say about what brand of cigars my hero smokes, I don't have to go searching through all of my electronic notes, I simply open up my PP presentation and flip to the slide titled "Cigars." It's a great way to incorporate photos as well. I have slides for each house in the book with photos and layout diagrams. I really had difficulty keeping track of all my research before. I'm hoping this will keep it all in one place and easily accessible.

So is anyone else doing nanowrimo this year? If so, please buddy me here.

September Challenge--Day Two

I wrote a prologue and first chapter yesterday. They included murder, illegal boxing, and a seance. I wanted to start with a bang.

Historical Tidbit:

In the illegal boxing matches held in gambling dens in mid-Victorian England, the Prize Ring Rules stated:

That no person is to hit his Adversary when he is down, or seize him by the ham, the breeches, or any part below the waist. A man on his knees is to be reckoned down.

So that raises the question, what exactly is "the ham"?

Maybe tomorrow I'll post an excerpt. I'm hoping that public exposure will keep me honest.

Meljean Brook, author of dark and brilliant paranormals for Berkley, suggested I give myself a reward to look forward to. I've got that covered. My birthday is in the end of September, and the BF promised to take me away for a weekend on the Oregon coast. Writer Lynda Rucker has been extolling the virtues of the Sylvia Beach Hotel to me for years. Known as the definitive "hotel for book lovers," it has literary-themed rooms that range from the Colette to the Alice Walker. We'll be staying in the Edgar Allan Poe room, of course.

In other news, my friend and CP, Kerry Blaisdell, took first AND third in the inaugural Golden Claddagh contest. She also finaled in the Golden Gateway contest (along with Tessa, Courtney Milan, and India Carolina). Congratulations!!


TODAY'S GOAL:

Fill in the missing historical details in Chapter One. Start Chapter Two.

What are your goals for September?

September Challenge

It was exactly two years ago today that I started writing romance after reading an article about Eloisa James. The same afternoon, I went to the library and checked out Potent Pleasures, and I was hooked. Two years later, I'm writing Victorian noir smut, not frothy Regency, but my passion for reading and creating smart romance continues unabated.

I shudder to think of my first attempts, and my blithe "this will be easy" attitude. It's not easy for me. But the pain is worth it. I've seen my writing progress and become more saleable. But my biggest problem is establishing a consistent writing schedule. For now I've settled into a routine that seems to be working. I start around ten o'clock at night and write until the computer screen is just a blur. Then I get up late, do my yoga, and go to my graduate assistantship in the afternoon. But graduate classes start in a month, and then I'll be writing papers, instead of romance. So I want to make September as productive as possible. And I need some kind of accountability. Therefore, I'm pledging to update this blog almost every day for the next month in a desperate attempt to force myself to be productive. I hope it works!

In other news, I'm so thrilled for all my online writing friends who are achieving their dreams. The new releases, contest finals, and agent signings are too numerous to list (and I promise to do a better job of giving shout-outs as they happen), but they have shown me the tangible benefits of believing in yourself enough to send your work out into the world. Thanks for inspiring me, ladies.

TODAY'S GOAL:

Finish Chapter One of The Night Side.