Happy Holidays, Everyone....

...and a Joyous New Year to you all!

Right now, I have a Christmas book, The Rancher's Christmas Princess, in stores.  I hope you'll give it a look.  On Kindle, it's currently available for $1.99!

Also, as it happens, I'm writing a proposal for next year's December release.  this will be book 5 in the Bravo Royales series, Prince Damien's story.  Damien is the player of the family, who will finally meet his match in sweet Lucy Cordell, the long-sheltered little sister of Noah Cordell, who will find his true love in How to Marry a Princess, which will be out in November of 2013!

I have a general idea of the direction of Damien and Lucy's story.  It's kind of a Pygmalion story, a My Fair Lady story.  Lucy needs Damien to teach her to be smart and sophisticated so she can win the heart of another man who won't give her the time of day because she's such an innocent.  Damien may be a player.  But he has a soft spot for sweet Lucy and has proved in the previous book that he's willing to help her get whatever she needs.  Or desires.

But you know how it goes.  Writing is a layering process.  And I'm seeing that there's a layer missing in this story.  Another element that will really make it work.  I'm thinking it's a child.  Because, after all, there's nothing like a precious child.  Especially at Christmas.....

Back Cover Copy--and home stretch!

Got the back cover copy for Bowie's book:

WELL, TIMING NEVER HAD BEEN HIS STRONG SUIT...

And the fact that Bowie Bravo walked in the door, after seven years away, just when Glory Rossi was about to go  into labor with another man’s child certainly proved the point. Because the last time Glory had seen Bowie was when she was delivering his child—a little boy who’d never known his real father. But according to Bowie, that was about to change.

Bowie was now a respectable businessman, and he was more than ready to be a father—to both of Glory’s children. He was also ready to be a husband to the woman he’d never been able to live without. And when he saw that their feelings for each other still burned bright, he

didn’t see any reason why he’d have to….

                                         ***

And I'm in the home stretch on the writing of my July 2012 Montana Maverick book, THE LAST SINGLE MAVERICK. Such fun.  And I do love when everything comes together and I'm racing to the finish.  

My New Romantic Mystery is Available in Ebook Now!

So excited.

You can buy it here for Nook:  Never Kiss Me Again

And here for Kindle:  Never Kiss Me Again






And go to http://www.christinerimmer.com/excerpt_neverkiss.html to read the first chapter!

And in other news, I'm getting a slow start on my first book about the royal Bravos, Bravo Royale.  But I'm working on it.  It's always a bit slow at the start of a book for me, as I get to know the characters and get a feel for how they tick.

Hope all is well where you are and that you're getting a lot of summer reading time!

Proposal Done!

Had such fun writing it.  Working title is MARRIAGE BY DECEPTION.  A whole new branch of the Bravo family.  Spent a lot of time, as I always do with the first book, figuring out the names of the siblings who will be the heroes and heroines.  This time I'm writing four brothers and five sisters.

Starting the manuscript for THE RETURN OF BOWIE BRAVO tomorrow.  A lot of readers have waited a long time for that one.  Pleased to finally be getting it written.  Oh, and I turned in the manuscript for the Montana Mavericks e-read, which will be FREE on eHarlequin for eight chapters, one a week, starting June 13th.  It's called THE TEXAS TYCOON'S RUNAWAY BRIDE.

So...lots in the works and lots coming up.

I'm also going to try to fit in a proposal for a possible Women's Fiction story.  I need more hours in every day!  Can someone arrange that for me???

Cool and rainy and gorgeous here in the Northwest.  Hope it's beautiful where you are....

Transcribing...

Currently transcribing a recorded session from a previous plot group.  Once I transcribe the session, I'll create a synopsis.  From that, with my editor's approval, I'll start writing the book, which will be the first story in my new Bravo series, Bravo Royale.  This royal branch of the family consists of four princes and five princesses.  Or at least, that's how I see this group of books at this point.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself.  Right now: transcribing.

And you know, while I'm transcribing, it would be so nice to look like the pretty Victorian lady above.  However, I don't have long, dark hair.  Or skin like the inside of a delicate china teacup.  Or a cool lacy nightgown.  As a matter of fact, I make it a point never to work in my nightgown.  I don't even have a nightgown.  I'm more the pajama type.

Plus, well, the lady in the picture (who looks suspiciously like Ann Hathaway to me) is writing by hand.  I doubt she's listening to a plot group session.

Too bad for her.

So fun to listen to the voices of my plot buddies.  I get to share the laughter and the hard work all over again.  This session is about an hour in length and so far we are not down to the actual story.  We're kind of nipping around the edges of the thing, seeking the center.

When I listen to a brainstorming session from plot group, I always find myself wondering how I got along without plot group for so many years.  I always change a lot of things.  It never ends up the same as the session.  But I start so much farther ahead with a story this way than my old method of trying to make a story from scratch with just my own ideas to make it work.

Seriously.  Nothing like a few extra brilliant brains concentrated on your story to make it achieve liftoff in a swift and satisfying fashion.

Back to work....

That Amazing Moment...

...when I write the last line of my current Work in Progress.  It just happened.  About 21 minutes ago.
I got to the end.  And it was so good for me.  Better than chocolate, I promise you.  I feel really, really good about this book right now.

But then, I always do about now.  Tomorrow will probably be terrible, as I return to page one and start editing.  I will no doubt have moments of despair.  I will wonder what in the world ever gave me the idea that I could write for a living.  It's all so predictable, really.

But hey, it's the writing life and I love it.

Random News:  Got a nice review of EXPECTING THE BOSS'S BABY from Jane at Dear Author  You can check it out here.

And on the home front, I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year.  It could be just yours truly, the DH and younger son.  Or maybe more.  However many visitors we have, I'm looking forward to it.  Haven't done the bird in a while.

General Updates.....

Getting lots of lovely feedback on EXPECTING THE BOSS'S BABY.  And it's #5 on the Borders Bestseller list.  Yippee!

As to the current work in progress, a Thunder Canyon Montana Mavericks story that will come out next July, I'm on the last 50 pages.  Big Yay on that--and only slightly procrastinating by dropping in here to babble a bit. 

Here in the heartland, it's a cool fall day and there are crunchy leaves on my front porch welcome mat.  I'm not going to sweep them up right away because they make me think that Autumn is here--and the holidays are coming.

Happy almost-November, everyone!

At the Midpoint...

No going back and about halfway there.  As we say in my plot group, the midpoint is where we realize the problem is bigger than we thought.  That is definitely happening here, so I'm feeling pretty good--today, anyway. But that's the thing about writing.  One day you feel you can do anything.  The next day you know that everything is crap.  Hate the crap days.  Love the others.  Yeah, sort of a roller-coaster ride.  And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Got my Kindle.  Love it.  And have been reading all over the Web that ebook sales are soaring.  I have to admit, I can see why.  You can read a thousand-page doorstopper of a book and it takes up virtually no space.  You can enlarge the print for easy reading.  The Kindle always finds your place in any book you're reading--no dropping your bookmark and spending five minutes searching for where you stopped last time.  And did I mention if you want it, you got it, in seconds?  Just a couple of clicks and the book is yours.

I know I will still love my books on paper.  And for some types of books--nonfiction, with pictures and graphs and the like, and my research books--I think I'll prefer a physical copy.  But time will tell on that.

Help! Everything's Changing--and Not in a Good Way!

First off, I do have some good news:  I did get that proposal finished--the one I mentioned in my last post?  I not only got it finished.  The lovely editor on the project has already approved it.  I even started the book that will grow out of that proposal.

Started.  That's the operative word.  Because I can't seen to get all that far along, and the reason is that this book is part of what we call in the romance biz, a continuity.  A continuity book is one where the publishing house provides what we call a "bible."  That's the basic info about what the story will be like and who the characters are.  The author then takes the basic info and makes her own story from it.  A continuity is always a series of books.  As a rule, each of these books in the series is written by a different author.

Issue here: basic info.  It keeps changing.  There are many really good reasons that it does, because my hero is the brother of two other heroes from other books written in 2009 by two other authors.  Those authors changed their "bible" to make better stories.  They even agreed together on the changes they would make.  And then, as so often happens in life, agreements were either forgotten or math errors were made as to ages of characters and what happened when.  All this, I must tell you, was done in good faith by everyone.

Then we add in the fact that we're kind of pushing it scheduling-wise on this particular branch of the continuity.  The books are very successful and the publisher wants more so we're going ahead with another six books by another six authors before the past six books are all on the stands.  This creates no end of trouble for the editor writing the new "bible" and also for the first book in the new series--written by moi.

All that to say, the new "bible" is not ready yet, though my book is due way too soon.  I have trouble writing my book without stats and backstories to agree on.  I'm just funny that way.

Yes, I realize that this is my opportunity to relax and go with the flow instead of being such an anal control freak.  And I am relaxing.  I am.  I really, really, am...

What's that screaming sound? Do you hear screaming....??!!

Book Done. And Now I'm on to...

...figuring out the next series of Bravo books.  Not going to write anything about that here, yet.  I want to have a better idea what I'm doing first.  Now, it's like shooting alligators in a swamp.  Blindfolded.  Help!

Also, I just agreed  to launch another six-book Montana Mavericks series.  It will be a continuation of the Thunder Canyon Montana Mavericks.  My book will be out in July of 2011.  So I will be writing that book very soon...

Right after plot group in Las Vegas, which is coming up starting Saturday, August 21st.

Yep.  The days are just packed!

Forging on the the End...

I'm on the final pages of Elena's story.  This book flew by--well, there were a few bumps in the road writing-wise, but overall, it was a great writing experience.  Some books are like that.  Some...not so much.

We're in triple digits weather-wise around here.  But mostly, I'm here, in my office, writing away.  So it's all good.

Whew! That one's almost done....

Yep. That would be me. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Wait. Scratch that. I mean, IN the light at the end of the tunnel.

This one was a tough one. But I think it will be finished tomorrow. I'm brimming with glee at the prospect of zipping it off to New York.

A very tough one. The hero uses a wheelchair and it was so challenging for me--to try to get it right and still tell a good story. I hope I did okay.

In any case, I've done the best I can and now I will send it in. And move on to the next one.

I do love the writing process. No matter how challenging and tough a book might be, there's always that moment when I know it's as finished as it's gonna get right now. And it's time to send that baby on its way.

Holidays Over, Deadline Looming...

...Not that I'm stressed or anything.

Really, it's always like that. At the first of the year, I have to settle in and get those words on the page. Hope all is well with everyone and all your dreams for 2010 are busy coming true!

In the meantime, I think what I really needs is a hot rock massage. Oh, yeah!

Finished!

Just an hour ago. The latest is all clean and pretty and emailed off to the editor in charge. Yay! I do love technology. Once I had to print and mail. Took at least a couple of hours, total. I had to get it printed, write the cover letter, pack it up, schlepp to the P.O.--and hope the line at the counter wasn't too long.

Now I open an email, write a quick note, attach the manuscript--and hit send. Ta-Da!

And the old days of print and mail weren't half as bad as the very old days. For my first three books--way back before the dawn of time--I actually gave myself two weeks to retype the manuscript after it was finished and all crossed out and written on with my various rewrites. I would retype on my IBM Selectric. With a carbon.

Yes, I confess, I was a little late to computers. Everybody had one by the time I got my first. They used to mock me. Tell me that typing my book was like "plowing the south forty with a teaspoon." I finally got smart and took their advice.

How right they were!

I need to celebrate the joy of shipping yet another masterpiece off via email. Something yummy....

Ah, yes. Jon Hamm. Perfect. Even with his shirt on--or in this case, a cool suit. The guy looks amazing in a suit. And he was the image I had in mind for my hero in the book I just finished. A corporate shark. And such a sexy one!

Today I Reach The End...

...and not in a scary, ominous way. In a good way. Today I get to the end of my current work in progress.

I don't mind beginnings. I like getting to know my characters, writing that first scene where I do my best to make it pop.

I enjoy writing dialog. To me, a lot of the action is in what people say and how they say it.

I kind of hate middles. I do. That's the most dangerous place, where everything can lose focus--and if I'm not careful, I can lose my reader.

But I love endings. I love that final scene after I've put my hero and heroine through hell, after they've broken up and are sure they are not going to make it. But then, gathering the truths they've learned in the course of their story, unwilling to let their love die--they reunite.

Yeah. That. I love to write the reunited scene. And I'm going to that right now!

Bad Boys and Big Bikes....

Motorcycles, I mean. Harleys. Choppers, particularly.

The book I'm writing now is about the bad boy of the San Antonio Bravos, sixth-born Jericho. Jericho has had a rocky past. He is also a genius. He designs and builds custom choppers of great coolness and beauty. Like the one at left, built by Thunderstruck Custom Bikes and named Paranoid. Totally fitting name, IMO. And what, specifically, is a chopper? Well, according to the Motorcyle Biker's Dictionary, it's "A style of motorcycle that appears deceptively light, has a greater angle on the front end than usually seen, and radical styling." The term is derived from former GI's back right after WWII "chopping" factory bikes to make them faster, removing all "superfluous" parts.

I'm using Gerard Butler as my hero image. Kind of handsome and thuggish at once. But I also kind of imagine Jesse James of West Coast Chopper fame in the mix, also.

Heroine is Marnie Jones. If you've been reading my books for a while, you first met Marnie when she was a tough, angry nine-year-old who swore like a sailor in SweetBriar Summit. Since then, Marnie has been tamed. She needs to rediscover her wild side.

I think Jericho is the one to help her with that...

I haven't done a biker guy (literarilly speaking, of course!) since The Midnight Rider Takes a Bride. That came out back in 1997. So I'm thinking it's about time...

A Correction...

Well, the sex thing didn't work out--the blog on writing sex, I mean.

Instead, on Saturday, June 20 at the Prairie Chicks Write Romance blog, I'll be talking about plot group, about how it works and how great it is. Hope you'll drop in.

Come and Visit Me...

...on three other blogs this month.

Thursday, June 4: NovelThoughts. This is the lovely Fatin's blog, featuring author interviews and commentaries. The wonderful AztecLady is temporary host this month. Post a comment to my blog there to win a signed copy of The Bravo Bachelor.

Saturday, June 20: Prairie Chicks Write Romance. This is an excellent writers' blog. I'll be talking about sex--well, about writing sex, I mean.

Hope you'll drop by...to one or to both!

And also, as every month, you can catch me the first and fourth Tuesdays at my group blog, the Silhouette Special Edition Authors Blog.

Happy Blogging to all!

Finished...

I do love to finish. Especially a book. Finishing, for me, is so much more satisfying than, say, starting.

There are times I really hate starting. It's always like "Who are these people and why are they doing these things?" I just don't know them when I start. Even if they already appeared in another book, somehow, when they get their own book, I have to start all over again to know them.

But when I'm finished, well, I know them probably as well as I ever will. I don't have to worry I'll never figure out who the heck they really are, because if I finished, at some point, I did figure that out.

And there's just something about a finished book. A feeling of accomplishment, I guess. It's finished. It's done. And, you know-I did that! I wrote a(nother) whole book.

This time I'm just finishing a book that will come out in December. Yes, a Christmas book. Thus, you get an image of a singing Christmas cat. So festive! Plus the whole "Joy to the World!" attitude fits right in with the way I feel now. I started this book in January. I've written a bunch of Christmas books. Somehow, I never write them during the Christmas season. Doesn't bother me at all. I can get in the spirit in January. Hey, I just did!

So happy holidays, everyone!

Just finished. Ready to start all over again...