When the high and mighty trip up (or even when the low and obnoxious do)

It's been a weekend of Must-See TV for me.

I couldn't resist staying up much too late to watch
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets --again.

My favorite scene, perhaps of all the Harry Potter movies so far,
is the demonstration duel, where Gilderoy
is so busy posing that he gets legally zapped by Severus.

At least, I'm pretty sure Severus Snape is simply quick on
the spell-casting draw, in neat dramatic contrast to Draco Malfoy,
who cheats.

Why do I like that scene?

I find it immensely gratifying when a poser gets their come-uppance!
Don't we all? One of the most enduring themes in literature is hubris:
the dramatic downfall of someone who gets too big for their boots.

There are dozens of similar scenes in other movies -- fights, where
the dramatically well-armed or well-equipped bad guy makes a lot
of flashy moves, and sooner or later the good guy throws a simple punch,
or kick, and disables his opponent.


"Your High-and-Mightiness, you are in deep shit!" is something I imagine
many of us would love to be in a position to say
to a boss or world leader.

(One of my characters says it with great glee --and lives--
in my next book, Insufficient Mating Material.)

In real life, we wouldn't dare. History has shown that it isn't healthy
to be the bearer of bad news... as was demonstrated on a documentary
on Sunday morning about Great Intelligence Blunders.

At least, I think it was on Sunday.

The other program that stands out in my mind was Nigel Marvin's
documentary about the swings and roundabouts of a lion's sex life.
Actually that is my very loose, personal interpretation of what I got
from the program.

The up-side of being a lion with a big, dark mane is that the lionesses
like you (and you have fewer parasites). The down-side is that you
have a lower sperm count.

I haven't figured out how I can work that quirk of nature into one of
my alien djinn romances, but --trust me-- I will.

I wish you all an interesting week.

Rowena

Alien Royal Wedding Dress

Sword angles, chiggers in unmentionables

I apologize in advance for my Subject line

Swords, secret underwear, and biting insects seem more in keeping
with my sense of humor than, for instance "Behind the Scenes," or
"What I wrote last week!"

I've just finished self-editing INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL,
with a little help from my friend Karen Babcock
(who is a brilliant freelance editor).

The Publishing House Editor-directed edit comes at the beginning
of August, but there are some typos I'd rather find--and correct--myself.

When my editor first saw the manuscript in July of 2005,
she felt very strongly that there wasn't enough sexual tension in
INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL.

(Since IMM is a sequel, it has to match or exceed its predecessor.)

So, in the Fall and Winter of 2005, I rewrote the first fifty pages,
then the first hundred pages, then the first two hundred pages ....
by which time there was enough sexiness for the first 200 pages,
and the title had become a bit of an in-joke.

INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL is actually a Google-searchable
chess term for an unwinnable situation.

As my deadline approached for submitting the completed, four-hundred page
manuscript, I thought that adding a nickname for the heroine,
and fitting in SURVIVORMAN, Les Stroud's advice about water,
wilderness condoms and incontinence wear could wait until the editor's edit,
but I did not realize that the official editing would be in August,
with galleyproofs to be checked in September.

I decided I'd better tie up a few loose ends on my own and make sure no
swordsman was sitting at the same time that he was bowing with a flourish
with his sword protruding at an angle.

Someone did sit down --on the arm of a chair-- before he bowed.
My choice was to delete the act of sitting, or add a stage direction
for him to stand again.

Also I had to check that no one's ancestors' eyes changed color between
this book and the prequel.

(That was an intellectual challenge, because eye color was a story point.
Yes, I found a cool solution.)

To be honest, I do not have any incontinent characters in my novel.
Well...if I am going to be pedantic about it, there is a god-Emperor who
has a problem with escape velocity, but he does not leave the dignity of his Palace.

However, if a woman is unexpectedly marooned on a desert island
without a month's supply of toiletries, she might wonder how she'd improvise.
SURVIVORMAN suggested that my heroine consider the most absorbent
material available (cut from an ejector seat, or from clothing) plus Spagnum type
moss.

I hear from a female survivalist that red bugs can live in moss -- so one must
be sure to boil the moss. What a useful thing to know!

Short stories

Is this the stuff of blogs? Maybe not....

but when I was trying to sell MATING NET,
I would have loved to see a posting like this forwarded
to the loops I was on.

The prequel to FORCED MATE, my short, dark and mildly dirty story
MATING NET was only around 10,000 words when I
started seriously thinking about selling it as a stand-alone
short story.

Later, I added 3,000 words.

Owing to its length, or lack thereof, it seemed like I was out
of luck unless I wanted to sell to a magazine... which I did not do!

Now, New Concepts Publishing has opened up several new lines
and is actively seeking short, short stories:

Here's editor Andrea DePasture's call for submissions:

New opportunities for authors (Permission to post)

We have many new projects we're working on throughout this year
and the next, and we're very excited about these themes.
These lines/series are open to all authors, so please spread the word
to any writing groups you're on or to your writing friends.

Also, please be sure to include the series title in the Subject header
of your submission.

Kinetic Series—Releasing November 2006

The theme for this series is psychic powers.
Examples include, but are not limited to psychokinesis, pyrokinesis,
hydrokinesis, and other superhuman powers.
Let your imagination run wild!

Stories should be between 10,000 and 35,000 words,
but longer novels will be considered.
Genres can be historical, fantasy, futuristic, or paranormal/contemporary
and can be in any locale or setting. Spicy or erotic sensuality is preferred.

Non-NCP authors must submit full manuscript.
Stories should be turned in for consideration no later than the end of July 2006.
Send to submissions@ newconceptspublishing.com (no space)

Harmony™ Line—Ongoing release dates

We are actively acquiring high quality, original interracial
and multiracial romances for this line. T
his line is widely advertised in print media and heavily promoted
wherever opportunities arise.
Romance genres we are most interested in are paranormal, futuristic,
fantasy, and historical—spicy or erotic are preferred.
Straight contemporary romances are rarely accepted for this line.

Novels should be at least 70,000 words but novellas will be considered for anthologies.

Non-NCP authors must submit full manuscript.
More information about this line can be found on our website: www.newconceptspublishing.com/submissionguidelines.htm
(We've had requests for more Domination/Captive themes for this line,
but are not limited to this theme alone.)
Send to submissions@ newconceptspublishing.com (no space)

The Brood—Releasing February 2007

The theme for this series is animal shifter clans,
either of earthly origin or of the fantasy variety.
(Please, no bestiality themes)
Examples include, but are not limited to wolf, lion, bear, dragon, griffin, swan, etc.
Stories should be between 10,000 and 35,000 words,
but longer novels will be considered.

Romance genres can be historical, fantasy, futuristic,
or paranormal/contemporary, in any locale or setting and use any plot device,
as long as shifting is used within the story.
Spicy or erotic sensuality is preferred.

Non-NCP authors must submit full manuscript.
Completed stories should be turned in for consideration no later than
the end of October 2006.
Send to submissions@ newconceptspublishing.com (no space)

Enchanted—Releasing May 2007

The theme for this series is magical enchantments and curses.
Examples include but are not limited to retellings of fairytales
like Beauty and the Beast, Rose Red, Sleeping Beauty, etc.
Stories should be between 10,000 and 35,000 words,
but longer novels will be considered.

Romance genres can be historical, fantasy, futuristic, paranormal,
or contemporary, in any locale or setting and use any plot device,
as long as the theme is used within the story.
Spicy or erotic sensuality is preferred.

Non-NCP authors must submit full manuscript.
Completed stories should be turned in for consideration
no later than the end of December 2006.

Send to submissions@ newconceptspublishing.com (no space)

Inferno—Releasing August 2007

Theme is summer and heat.
These stories should be VERY SEXY
and should include high sexual tension.

Stories should be between 10,000 and 35,000 words.

Romance genres can be historical, fantasy, futuristic,
paranormal, contemporary, in any locale or setting.
Spicy or erotic sensuality is preferred.

Non-NCP authors must submit full manuscript.
Completed stories should be turned in for consideration
no later than the end of April 2007.
Send to submissions@ newconceptspublishing.com (no space)
Sincerely,Andrea DePasture
New Concepts Publishing
www.newconceptspublishing.com

------------------------------------------------------------------
Good luck!

Rowena Cherry

The Faery Court

Here are the faeries who sponsored the recent Faery Ball at the
Romantic Times BOOKClub Convention in Daytona Beach.

What a colorful group we were! Are!!!

Best wishes,
Rowena Cherry

Romance and research

Q: Why is research like an iceberg?

A: Because only about 10 percent of it shows.

In my books I try to leave about 90 percent
of my background research to loom below the surface.
With luck, my readers will never notice that it's there,
apart from enjoying my worldbuilding. :-)

After all, for every cool, alien-seeming flower or fruit
I might learn about --I prefer not to completely make them up--
there are lots of equally exotic plants that aren't useful
for the purposes of my story.

In INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL, which I recently sold
to Alicia Condon of DORCHESTER PUBLISHING, my furious
hero is maroioned on a deserted island with an unwilling heroine
who won't take off her fancy (but wet) clothes to save her life ....
which she should!

According to the Science Channel's SURVIVORMAN, Les Stroud,
the best way to avoid hypothermia is to doff the wet duds and share
body heat.

So, my frustrated hero decides that life will be more tolerable
if he can construct a distillery and a guitar --or a flute, with a view
to getting drunk and singing raunchy songs about his plight.

It doesn't much further the story if my hero then plans exactly how
he will go about fabricating his moonshine still or his instrument,
but the author needs to know, and a true detail here or there gives
the hero something to do in coming scenes.

Research is on my mind partly because my "Research" for a desert
island survival romance was the topic of a radio interview I was
given yesterday.

Also, because I have suggested to the organizers of next year's
Romantic Times Convention that I'd like to put together a
workshop on "Research".

And finally, because I am about ready to get into the Research
phase of writing my next book. Thank goodness for the internet!
Imagine walking into a public library, and asking the librarian
to point me to the stacks dealing with unauthorized exhumations,
for example.

I'll leave you with that thought, pretty much, except to say that I
intend to blog a little more predictably.... Maybe on Sundays.

Best wishes,
Rowena