Special Thank You and News!
Hi everyone,
As the subject heading indicates, I wanted to send a big shout out and thank you to Sheldon S. Higdon and Kate George. The were gracious in agreeing to be my first guest bloggers this past week.
Sheldon’s post, (if you scroll down you can still read it, as all posts remain and are archived monthly) was the first and it was all about why he likes to write Horror or Dark Fiction. An amazing talent, you’ll find Sheldon’s blog, The Obituary of Sheldon S. Higdon, among the blogroll along the left side of my blog page. He’s on Goodreads.com, Amazon.com’s author page, and Facebook. Take time out and read his blog, it’s really very good. And, while I know that Horror is the polar opposite of Romance, there are several things they have in common. Excellent authors and writing can be found in both genres, as well as dedicated writers who keep plugging away at their favorite genre, often including sub-genres. And, both work on emotion. While one is meant to touch the heart, (or keep it pounding with excitement if you’re cheering for the couple or reading a spicy scene and you can’t put it down even after everyone’s in bed), and the other is meant to evoke the emotion of ‘fear’, often leaving your heart racing or sleeping with the light on at night or not let you sleep at all.
So maybe they’re not so different after all? Either way, again, thank you Sheldon!
Kudos and thanks also go out to the fabulous Kate George. Her post on creativity was awesome, and I truly enjoyed reading the responses. By the way, I very much enjoy creating a character bio, which ultimately becomes a very basic outline/synopsis, but I also find photos of actors or models that become my ‘inspiration’ for what a character looks like. Long ago, right after Dances With Wolves came out on the big screen, I had a huge crush on Rodney Grant, who portrayed Winds in His Hair. There was something about that character/role and his acting that made me believe he was Sioux. Whether he really is/was, I can’t say but he inspired me enough to write a book that featured a hero like that. Now, I admit that the manuscript remains in my files, perhaps someday I’ll pull it out, dust it off, and rewrite it for today’s market.
Before that I need to concentrate on my fourth book, recently contracted with Ellora’s Cave Publishing for the Ellora’s Cave imprint, which means it is a very hot Contemporary Romance featuring an older heroine (she’s 40) and younger hero (he’s 30), titled Quarterback Blitz! And yes, the book does feature a legendary quarterback Kyran Black who’d been injured at 27 and almost lost his whole career. On a comeback as a mentor and back up, he meets the team mascot, Anna James. To learn what happens next, stay tuned!
Happy Monday everyone,
Frances Stockton
