Hoofing It: A FIREFIGHTER'S PROMISE by Patricia Johns

Post by Patricia Johns

I'm a full-time writer without a car.

Okay, gun to my head, we HAVE a car, but my husband takes it to work, so during my work hours I'm without it. That means that most of my research has to happen online, or be within walking distance of my home...

Luckily, our local fire hall is just down the street, so after dropping my son off at school one morning, I walked a little further and stopped in at the fire hall. One thing I didn't know was that security in fire halls is actually pretty tight! They don't let you just waltz in, but while I was explaining who I was and what I wanted (which never sounds believable for some reason! "Hi, I'm a Harlequin author, and..."), the Deputy Chief cleared his throat from a doorway and said,

"Can I help you out with something?"

 This meeting of our DC inspired the opening scene of A FIREFIGHTER'S PROMISE. It was just such a great set up, that I had to use it, and our DC's job allowed the perfect amount of flexibility for my plot, that my hero very quickly became a Deputy Fire Chief, too.

The DC was a wealth of information and the perfect gentleman. Meeting him made me proud of our little town and the brave men and women who protect it. 

This is how a book is born. This is also how I get my exercise. ;)  If I had a Fitbit, it would be proud.

 ***

 

When the baby he rescued seven years ago returns---with his widowed adoptive mom---Deputy Fire Chief Matt Bailey can't turn them away. Desperate to escape the reminders of his failure in the line of duty, Matt is close to leaving town. But one look at Rachel Carter and her son, Christopher, has him second-guessing his plans. Rachel is a mom in need of a hero for her son. But as much as she wants the two to bond, she's determined to keep her distance from Matt. After losing her husband on the job, she promised never to love another fireman. Yet somehow she finds herself drawn to the one man she should avoid.

Pick up your copy today! 

You can see more from Patricia Johns at her website or on Facebook.

Ask Elnora--About mean people??? Lenora Worth

Hello, beautiful people. Elnora is a bit perturbed today. I'm sure you all saw the news stories regarding the You Tube video that showed children on a school bus bullying an older lady named Karen who was the bus monitor person. This was painful to watch but this happens a lot all over the world. While bullying has been around since God created the earth, we now have access to such things all the time, thanks to modern technology. We see a lot of things that we probably aren't supposed to see so sometimes it feels as if there is a big eye onto the world. But some of the things we aren't supposed to see are the very things we need to see. Bullying a grandma ranks right up there with stepping on Santa's toes and kicking the Easter bunny. We shouldn't do that. That got Elnora to thinking about our stories. In our stories, our characters fight the good fight--against injustice, crime, wrongs that need to be right and yes, bullies. In our LIS books, we allow our characters to fight the bad guys who try to run the world through intimidation and threats. We show heroes who really are just good people trying to make their way in life. We show strong women who learn to defend themselves and the ones they love. (I recently read Margaret Daley's "Shattered Justice". Her heroine was such a woman. She stood up to bullies.)Even Scarlett in "Gone With the Wind" was willing to fight to protect her family from mean people. I'm sure we've all read books that make us cheer for the heroine and applaud the hero. It's kind of like "Dirty Harry" without being so dirty. Readers love strong characters who portray values and justice and doing what's right. We even try to give our villains some redeeming qualities, and while our characters shouldn't be perfect and squeaky clean, they always have a soul and a good heart. In the end, they try to make decisions that are thoughtful and redemptive. We don't demand super-heroes. We only need characters who want to make the world a better place. Why can't real life be so simple? When a father cries after hearing his son call an older woman names and taunt her, we know something has gone wrong in the world. This made me think--that must be how God feels when he sees one of His children being cruel to another human being. In a world where such things happen, it's a comfort to know our stories do make a difference. We can help people to heal with our words. We can show women that yes, they can be strong. We all have a choice in life. We can fight the good fight and be kind to others instead of being mean and cruel. I'm glad I have the ability to write books that show that choice over and over. So ... let's discuss--what can we do to overcome bullies in this world? It's a serious subject, but we can discuss it with our hearts open to the possibilities. Now, Elnora moves on to a more fun topic. We are having a mystery party with several of our writers involved. The fun starts Sunday, June 25th but I'm going to give you the link today. It's not active yet but will go live late Sunday night. I hope you enjoy traveling the web to find all of the clues. You'll make some interesting discoveries along the way, too: Link to Love Inspired Suspense Mystery Beach Party: http://community.harlequin.com/showthread.php/336-Love-Inspired-Suspense-Mystery-Beach-Party

How to Build Fictional Characters

As writers of fiction, it's so important to create characters that are believable. How do you do that when technically the characters don't exist?

Writer's use different strategies for creating believable characters. Over the years, I've played with a few strategies, running from some and embracing others. However, even the ones that I've run from are not without merit. They work for some writers. Just not me.

After playing with character charts are questionnaires, I've settled on my favorite way to create characters. I write a first person letter to me in my characters POV. At first, the letter is pretty basic and dry. I just give information like, "I was born in Boston Massachusetts right after they started working on The Big Dig." Quite honestly, the first few pages of my letter I suffer through. I just want to create a visual image of a generic person in my head so I can get to the good stuff. Once all the boring stuff is taken care of, i.e. high school attended, siblings, etc, I start to get to the good stuff. After I have my mannequin of a character, I can start dressing him/her.

From page 3 to however long it takes me, I start filling in details. Usually at this point I've flexed my muscles a little, I'm writing, and words just start pouring out of me and my character is taking shape. Not the basics. The good stuff. This is where I learn that my hero had a huge crush on his older sister's best friend when he was 14 because instead of going home when his sister got on the phone and started arguing with her boyfriend, she used to hang out on the porch with him and eat Cheese Puffs while they talked. Or that his first time out in the field as a cop he'd made a colossal rookie mistake that almost cost him his life. Or that he can't stand wearing shoes and will walk around in sandals or in his bare feet. You get the picture.

These details are details you can't get from a character chart or questionnaire. I can't look at question 35 and answer that my character has suffered from asthma since childhood unless I know a story that goes with it. The jewel in all this is that much of this back story not only helps round out the character and make them seem real, it helps me build scenes to use in my story.

How do you build fictional characters? What tools and strategies do you use?

Until next time,
Lisa

http://lisamondello.blogspot.com

CONTEST---WHO AM I? - March Madness!

Just in case you missed the announcement about our blog contest, page down to yesterday's post. This will be so much fun! See if you can guess who these Love Inspired authors are.  The contest will be going on ALL WEEK, so keep posting your ideas!  

And by the way, make sure you use the number of the author description when you post an idea, so we know who you mean.

The winner will receive a $16.00 Amazon gift card! We will tally the number of correct answers that were posted first by each participant, to determine the winner.  We won't reveal any of the correct answers until the end of the contest, so keep coming back, and keep guessing!

#1 I grew in the Denver where if you can see the mountains, you know what direction you're going and don't get lost. My parents moved to Texas when I was a teen. I met my husband in college and got my job first--deaf ed teacher. He followed. We're going to celebrate 40 years of marriage this year. (Remember I was a teen when I married.)

#2 I grew up in the Western United States, living in teensy towns with no clinics, movie theaters or restaurants within a 3-hour drive. My father was a forest ranger (which is the theme of my new book series coming out in May). I hate litter bugs, am an excellent seamstress and still bottle produce grown in my own gardens. I graduated with honors with a degree in History and love doing research. I had the distinct privilege of marrying the love of my life thirty years ago and have two wonderful adult children. That said, if I'd known early on how fun being a granny is, I might have just skipped the kids. :) I sold my first book by entering and winning the Golden Heart...a dream come true. Everything else since then has just been icing on my cake.

#3 I'm a Massachusetts girl, through and through. I started out in college in Mechanical Engineering but quickly caught the music bug, changed my major to Sound Recording Technology and started managing a Boston rock band! Our highlight was being interviewed on M-TV and opening for The Fixx after winning the legendary WBCN Rock-n-Roll Rumble. But love bit me hard when I met my husband at a gig and I left music to pursue writing--my other passion-- and finished my first novel the year we were married. That was 20 years and 12 published books ago!

#4 I was born and raised in Kentucky then headed to Georgia to attend graduate school at Emory University--where I met my pastor hubby. I worked as a microbiologist, then became a stay-at-home mom of three. While home with the kids, I started writing fiction. After over ten years of pursuing my dream, I finally made my first sale to Love Inspired!

#5 I was adopted at birth (by a wonderful family) and grew up (in Nebraska) to be both an English professor and author (21 books!). I have been married eight years (and now live in Arizona) have one son and my favorite book of all-time is All Things Great and Small. I sold my first book in 1999 and am now on book 21.

#6 I grew up a Kansas farm girl. I've been an archery champion and a neonatal nurse. I married a sailor, I enjoy traveling and I love, love, love my grandkids and my coffee.

#7 I'm six feet tall and am known as much for my knitting as my writing. I grew up on the East Coast and was a theater major in college. I have a spoiled Havanese dog and am never far from a cup of coffee. My books have taken me to Kentucky, San Francisco, and Cincinnati, among other places, and I laugh as much in my books as in real life.

#8 I literally grew up on a horse. I've always had at least one of them since I was six, and rode with my friends all over our part of the county even at that young age. It was a lot like giving a first grader a set of car keys! I also grew up with a menagerie of pets, and made sure that our kids had that opportunity also. Needless to say, animals have played a role in many of my books. Who am I?

#9 I'm from Georgia but live in Louisiana. My favorite books are "Gone With The Wind" and "Wuthering Heights." I love all kinds of music--from the blues and rock to gospel, classical and country. I'm a city girl with a country heart. I love shoes and chocolate. I get into trouble a lot. Really a lot.

#10 I was born in Nashville then eighteen years later returned to go to college where I met my husband. I love cookie dough ice cream, caramel and pecan pie. I've never been a coffee drinker but love tea. My favorite book is James Rollins' Amazonia.

#11 I have visited all fifty states and lived in ten of them. I met my husband while I lived in Ohio, and our two girls were born there. I lived in Georgia when I first decided to write something to send to a publisher. I won the Golden Heart in 2003 and made my first sale to Love Inspired in 2004.

#12 I was born and raised in Texas. I love eating dessert first, small town life and road trips, but most of all I love God, my family and writing books about all of the above! I was a hair stylist and salon owner for many years and wrote at night after my kids were in bed and dreamed of selling one of my books. It wasn't until I wrote a book about a wacky hairstylist on a mission for God in a tiny Texas town that I finally sold my first book. That was 6 years and nineteen books ago.

#13 I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountains. During college I pursued a modeling career, coached gymnastics and also met my husband. We've lived in Sacramento, NYC, Chicago before moving to Oregon where we started a family. I sold my first book to Steeple Hill in 2003 and have written twenty-two more since then.

#14 I love fruity desserts better than chocolate ones. I love to cook and bake and eat. I worked my way through college as a beautician and still cut my family's hair. I'm a Midwesterner though I was born in TX. I write about strong women. I'm posting my first manuscript on my blog scene by scene this year.

#15    I've lived in two foreign countries, France and South Africa, grew up in the Midwest and now live in a much warmer climate. I'm deathly afraid of spiders so the tarantullas are always out to get me. I work at a golf course but don't play golf. Who am I? :)

Who are we?

Best wishes to you all!
Roxanne Rustand

Oscar Winners and Craftie Ladies of Romance New Launch!

Like many of you, I stayed up late watching the Oscars last night. I haven't seen all the movies that were nominated, but I made sure to take note and add them to my Netflix queue. I have to admit Inception looks pretty cool. And the big winner of the night, The King's Speech, looks like it is really inspiring. If you've seen some of the Oscar movies, please let me know what YOU thought of them.

Now for a big announcement. You've already seen our new site design. Now get ready for our new site LAUNCH! Starting tomorrow, the Craftie Ladies of Romance will be launching our new and improved website where we're hoping to have a little bit of fun!

1. We're having a WHO AM I contest! The Craftie Ladies have all written a little blurb about themselves and we'll be looking to all of you to figure out who is who! It should be a fun way to learn something new about the Love Inspired authors who post here. The person who guesses the most right will receive a $16 Amazon gift card! Let's see how much you've learned about us over the past year.

2. You've already had a taste of one new change. ASK ELNORA! Lenora Worth is here with her pearls on every Friday to answer your questions. So make sure you stop by. It should be a fun way for us all to learn something new and have a few laughs!

3. The Craftie Ladies will be doing some themes throughout the month. If you have a particular theme you'd like us to discuss, please feel free to share that with us.

Make sure you tell all of your friends on Twitter, Facebook, eHarlequin,and Goodreads about our new launch. It's going to be fun around here and we want you all to be a part of it!

See you tomorrow!!

Lisa Mondello

http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com
http://www.ladiesofsuspense.blogspot.com

Revisions and New Cover!

As promised, I'm posting the cover to my 10/10 Love Inspired Romance book, Fresh-Start Family. From the back cover:

"Please, It's a Matter of Life and Death!"

Civilian life is a strain for war hero Tom Garrison, but he's an expert at emergencies. And he puts his training to good use helping his lovely neighbor, single mom Jenna Atkins, and her sick son, Brian. Tom thinks he can rescue the family and walk away, but he's in for a big surprise. Despite his efforts, Jenna and Brian capture his heart---just as he captures theirs. Both Jenna and Tom have reason to be wary of letting anyone close. Can they overcome the past to give this family a fresh start at love?

Mark your calendars for October 2010 for my first Love Inspired Romance release. I love Jenna and Tom's story and hope you do too.

As I'm typing this I'm taking a quick break from doing revisions on my 3/11 Love Inspired Romance called In a Doctor's Arms. I'm desperately trying to get everything done before I head off to Orlando at the end of the month for the Romance Writer's of America annual conference.

So until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello

Editor Blogs on Harlequin

Wow, Terri Reed here, my editor blogged on the Harlequin blog about the upcoming continuity series for Love Inspired. I wrote book two and will hit the shelves in August. This series is set in Alaska, with plenty of mystery running through all the books as well as tender love stories. This book was so much fun to write. And I have to say I love all the covers. They are so bright and vibrant. And you will recognize several names in the line of authors!

http://harlequinblog.com/