Snowy March Day! And thoughts on plotting.

So I put up a new green, lush forest background for this blog.  And then yesterday?  Snow.  Yep.  In March.  It was kinda pretty, though.

Played back the first of my two taped plotting sessions from Plot Group.  Always interesting what great ideas I get from the group.  And then the way I see the story moving after I've played the tape back.  usually, we plot the heroes a little harsh.  I find more and more I like to dial them back a bit.  Make them more sympathetic.

Well, sometimes.  LOL  In this story--working title: Her Highness and the Bodyguard--the hero, Marcus and the heroine, Rhiannon (yes, a princess) have history.  We plotted it so that Rhia loved Marcus madly in the past and he walked away for duty's sake.  I think I'm going to say they BOTH walked away.  That she had things she wanted to do and marrying at the age of 18 (when they first hooked up) wasn't one of them.  But then they get trapped in a car in a Montana snowstorm.  What do you know?  Nature takes its course...  Mwahaha.

Montana?  you might be wondering.  A princess and her bodyguard in Montana?  Well, see, in the previous story (The manuscript of which I will be starting next week), the heroine, Belle, went to Montana to honor a friend's dying wish.  There she met horse rancher Preston McCade and...

Wait. You don't need to read all that.  Not now.  Later.  Like in December, when Belle's book will be on the stands.

It is a bit odd, talking about books that aren't even written yet.  Odd, but wonderful.  At least to me...

Travels to Vegas

Back from plot group.  That would be four days in Las Vegas with four other authors.  10 plotting sessions, 2 books each.  Lots of Starbucks and way too many tortilla chips on the two nights we ate Mexican.  I love salsa.  I also love guacamole.  We had both.  That's my excuse.  Mwahaha.

The picture to the left?  Yours truly, Teresa Southwick and Kate Carlisle, three of the five of our crew.  Missing from this photo?  Susan Mallery and Maureen Child.

Now I'm home, catching up madly.  I finished the edits that were waiting for me from my publisher.  And Monday?  On to the next proposal.  That will take up to a week.  I love writing proposals because I start by listening to the tape of the plotting session from plot group.  I love not only the great ideas I get from my plot mates, but also the jokes we are constantly cracking as the session progresses.

Once the proposal is outta here, I'll write the third in the Bravo Royales series.  Title: THE RANCHER'S CHRISTMAS PRINCESS.  You'll never guess.  It's a December release.

Here in Portland, the sun is out.  Loving that.  Hope it's sunny 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....