REALISTIC WRITER RESOLUTIONS FOR 2017

MAKE TIME FOR YOUR WRITING ~ This tops the list for almost all writers. We resolve to make more time for writing every year, but it’s so easy for life to distract us. We rationalize we have other tasks and chores to do for our kids, our husband, friends, or family. If we wrote only 500 words at day, we would have 15,000 words in a month. One thousand words would net us 30,000, quite an admirable word goal. Don’t feel like writing? Research, writing exercises, outlining, reading for information, and editing also count as part of the writing process since these activities propel us forward.

READ, READ, READ ~ Not only do we need to read in our genre to stay on top of the latest trends and to study other writers’ styles, structure, plotting, voice and pacing, but also we need to read outside our comfort zone. We need to delve into a memoir, a nonfiction book, editorials, the newspaper, and anything we don’t normally read. This will give us a new perspective when we sit down to write again.

GET ORGANIZED ~ Organize your writing space. File that pile of papers you were going to take care of. Clean out your emails. Clean up your hard drive. Back up your data. Review and update your blog, website, Facebook page and Twitter account. Set a timetable for writing a certain project and determine how you’re planning to track your progress.

SET REALISTIC GOALS ~ Stop beating yourself up when you don’t accomplish what you planned. Stop comparing yourself to other writers. Set realistic goals. Maybe you will only accomplish one novel per year. However, you might want to try writing a seasonal short story, or an opinion or a blog piece as well.

EXERCISE ~ Good health is important. Get plenty of rest and find some activity where you can get exercise: swimming, walking, golfing, tennis, zuma, dancing or any other activity that takes you away from the keyboard and gets you moving.

                                    Have you made your New Year’s resolutions?
                 If so, share on of those in the comments below. Happy New Year!

Tartan Temptation (Real Men Wear Kilts) by Kayden Claremont

How did Kayden Claremont create her hero for the series "Real Men Wear Kilts"? How did TARTAN TEMPTATION come about? In the author's own words:

I love a man in a Kilt, I mean—who doesn’t.

When The Wild Rose Press asked for stories for their Real Men Wear Kilts series I was in heaven. I went through the usual list of placed you’d find a kilt-wearing hunk, but decided to have Brodie Murdock wear his kilt every day. After all, it would be such a pity to save all the scrumptiousness just for special occasions. 

Since I write paranormal erotic romance, I had to come up with his paranormal quality. I made Brodie Murdock a kilt-wearing, motorcycle-riding hottie with a secret he can only share with his destined mate.

Brodie took over the story so I had to make sure Cora Siegfried was he match in every way. She became a kick-ass heroine who wouldn’t back down from fighting for the man she loves.

With his throne on the line, Brodie Murdock needs to secure his kingdom by taking a bride. When the only woman he's ever wanted, Cora Siegfried, steps right into his path, he knows the legends are true. She is his destiny. But will she agree?

Buy link: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2deP5wS

 Blurb:  

Financial planner Cora Siegfried has returned to her hometown to settle her late father's estate. Get in, get out, that's the plan. When she's almost run over by a kilt-wearing hottie on a motorcycle, all her well-laid plans go up in smoke, and all she can think about is getting well laid by her childhood crush. But after what she hoped would be a one-night stand, leaving him might not be as easy. Talk about a tartan temptation.

With his throne on the line, Brodie Murdock needs to secure his kingdom by taking a bride. When the only woman he's ever wanted steps right into his path, he knows the legends are true. She is his destiny. The feisty female isn't hard to seduce into his bed for the night, but she's proving difficult to convince they are meant for forever. And then there's the secret that could destroy any chance of their future--a secret he's not ready to confess. Not until his stubborn soul mate admits she needs him for more than sex. 

Snippet:

     She rubbed her brow. That’s what she did when she was gathering her thoughts. “I can’t list the house without a stupid piece of paper from the lawyer, and he had to go away on a family emergency. What about my family emergency? My father died. Nobody cares about that.”
     Brodie turned the bike off, set it on its kickstand, and stood. He shouldn’t touch her, but he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. “I care.”
     Doubt filled her dark blue eyes. “Why? Why do you care about me?”
     Destiny. She’d think he was crazy, but it was the truth. He’d always understood it. “How could I not care about you?”
     Taking a step back, she shook her head. The startled expression on her face told him he’d gone too far.
     She hesitated then glared at him. “What do you want?”
     He glanced up at the stormy cloud, then back at her. He hadn’t fooled her at all. He was running out of time. He had to win her trust now. “Ice cream. I need ice cream. You need ice cream. We all need ice cream.” He smiled, hoping his charm worked this time.
     Disbelief shone in her eyes. “Now?”

 Kayden Claremont Bio:

     Kayden loves sexy, well-crafted stories of lust and love. Her sensuous style drives the characters in lustful romps. When she is not crafting erotic romantic stories, she can be found crocheting or making jewelry.
     Kayden is a member of Romance Writers of America, Toronto Romance Writers, and Writing Community of Durham Region.
     She hopes you enjoy her other books, HELL’S BOUNTY, TIMELESS PASSION, and RED HOT all published by The Wild Rose Press.

Kayden loves to hear from her readers.
Website: www.kaydenclaremont.com/
Blog: https://kaydenclaremont.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaydenclaremont
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/kayden.claremont/
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/9136748.Kayden_Claremont
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kaydenclaremont/

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG, "SILVER BELLS"

It's December--and the time when radio stations are belting out Christmas songs in an attempt to get people in the holiday and spending spirit. There are many wonderful old-fashioned songs that have survived the ages and are performed by various artists in a multitude of versions each year. My favorite of all the carols is Silver Bells. It regularly ranks in the top Christmas songs heard on the airwaves

The words, the melody, and the Christmas images it invokes are traditional and unforgettable. This Christmas classic was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop Kid. Livingston provided the melody, Evans the words. It was sung by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell; and the first recorded version was sung by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards with John Scott Trotter and his orchestra and was released by Decca Records. 

According the American Songwriter Magazine in its July/August issue, Livingston originally had the title of Tinkle Bell, referring to the tinkly bells you hear at Christmas from the Santa Clauses and the Salvation Army people. But once he took it home and played it for his wife, she informed him that the word had a bathroom connotation.

Livingston then went back to Ray Evans and told him they would have to throw the song out. However, as they continued to work on the Christmas song needed for The Lemon Drop Kid, they found themselves taking many of the lines and part of the melody from their "Tinkle Bell" song. In the end, they used the original song, except for substituting the word silver for tinkle, and the song became Silver Bells. 

The song, now timeless, has been sung by famous artists like Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Karen Carpenter, Michael Buble, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, to name a few. 

…Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day!

Judy's books can be found here!

What is your favorite Christmas carol? Is it a classic or a newly released one?

But no matter which one it might be, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

IMMORTAL WINTER by N.R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins

A princess locked away in an ice tower. 

A handsome kidnapper who insists her savior-queen is a liar. 

And a chance to break the curse that binds them all.

Jayla Storm woke up next to a dead body, with no memory of how it got there. Then Kip Stanton blew up her ice tower—the only home she’s ever known—and kidnapped her, insisting it was for her own good. 

 ow she's stuck with a group of rebels hell-bent on usurping the queen who saved Jayla's life. As her memories resurface, she's afraid to trust anyone, even while her feelings for Kip grow stronger. 

But wherever Jayla goes, the monstrous ravagers follow. If she's going to survive, and perhaps save Kip and the others, she'll have to learn to trust someone—maybe especially herself.

Immortal Winter, a stand-alone dystopian paranormal romance  

by New York Times bestselling authors N.R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins

Excerpt:

I woke in my ice tower, covered in a coating of sweat, lying next to a dead body.

With a gasp, I scrambled back against the headboard of my own bed. Other than the motionless figure beside me, nothing around me had changed, though it was tinted yellow from the flickering lanterns.

Arina’s dead body?

I’d never seen a corpse. Not a real one. I eyed the spike sticking out of her forehead and the odd snarl twisting her open mouth. My head swam and I swallowed convulsively.

I knew I needed to act, but all I could manage to do was let Arina continue to bleed out—onto the sheets and onto me. I should have been screaming. I should have been throwing myself off the bed and toward the window. But I didn’t, anchored in place by fire and sweat and blood.

I tried to connect the scene in front of me to some memory, something that swam barely out of reach. I stretched after it, catching a fragment: yesterday was Arina's day. The day I wouldn't be alone.

A pain day.

I looked forward to those. That much I knew.

Forcing myself to sit up, I scooted away from her still form, my jaw clenched with the memory of pain. I would have laughed at what lingered but there was a body to attend to. Stumbling out of bed, I stepped out of my clothes and limped toward my ivory dresser. On the way, my feet grazed against something rough. Some imperfection in the ice. Something that wasn’t there before.

I backed up and stared down at the message scratched into the ice, blood swiped across it to highlight the letters, like ink rubbed on a seal impression to darken the image.

She found me. She knows. Went to warn them. Don’t take the infusions. Watch out for Kip.

My body began to tremble, even before my mind caught up.

Yesterday.

***