10/26/10
by Angi Morgan
Well, it’s almost Halloween and I have been a fan of the suspense/adventure/spooky combination from my childhood. I love the mystery…and I’ve loved the spooky or supernatural elements that make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I won’t start naming names of authors. If you’re a fan, you’ve read them too. I laugh through the gore movies where the girls are literally too-stupid-to-stay-in-the-cabin-and-live types. But give me a great ghost story any day. You don’t have to show me a ghost…just a ball bouncing down a stairwell of a house that hasn’t been occupied in fifty years and whoa my eyes tear, my throat tightens, it’s hard to swallow and then my back hurts because I’ve tensed every muscle I have.
I’ve written a lot of romance, trying my hand wherever the muse took me: space, pirates, historicals, and more often than anything else Harlequin Intrigues. And in every story I add just a bit of humor and lots of suspense. I could never get away from a mystery–something that the reader had to discover on their own.
My favorite Scaredy-cat Great Dane
The other day there was an all day SCOOBY DOO fest. I was a good girl, didn’t watch it or even let it run in the background to distract me. I wrote. But two weeks ago, I DVR’d the Scooby Movie…okay, and the second one too. I’m a pushover for the big scaredy-cat Great Dane (and Shaggy). Scooby Doo Where Are You is my ring tone. I have Scooby collectibles, a package of Scooby Snacks, a Scooby thumb drive, even a game.
09/28/10
by Angi Morgan
Sunrise in West Texas
Does that sunrise inspire you? And what about the Stormy beach of Oahu?
Stormy Beach of Oahu
Want to read a book about either place? If the picture was on the cover…would you pick it up?
Thorns and Raindrops
THORNS & RAINDROPS (taken by my husband in our backyard) makes me want to write poetry every time I look at it. Poetry because there isn’t too much description like this in my Harlequin Intrigues. But I’m thinking that this picture needs to make it into a book.
Which brings me to my topic: Location Location Location.
I write about actual locations in my books because that’s what I prefer to read. There are definitely stories that deserve a fictional backdrop and I completely understand when that happens. But I love actual settings, feeling like someone is taking me through a place to the point I feel like I visited it on an adventure.
Description isn’t my strongest writing ability. I admit that most of the time, it’s a critique partner who reminds me to set the scene, to give them a picture of where my characters are in a room. The most difficult thing for me is to turn a place where my character should just be waltzing through without any additional thoughts into a scene they need to describe.
LOCATION can make or break a book for me (don’t even get me started on movies which are centered in Texas but shot in California–oh my goodness). So you’d think I’d try harder to include it in my own work. Just the opposite. I try to avoid it. But once I have the picture in my head how something looks or where it’s located…it’s very difficult to change.
So what about you? Real or Fictional? Lots of description? Or as little as possible? Do you want the author to paint a complete picture for you, or use your own imagination?
~~Angi
AngiMorgan.com — Check out Angi’s website for details regarding her HOLD UP THE COVER contest. Drawings for prizes.
09/14/10
by Angi Morgan
I went on vacation. Yep. Me. A relaxed writer sitting poolside in San Antonio, Texas. Right smack dab on the River Walk in downtown. Napping. Tanning. Staying cool. I read, worked through some lessons for my weight loss, made new friends… and plotted a murder.
Okay, the mini-vacation was mainly about research. I’ve gone to San Antonio several times, but I needed additional information. My current work-in-progress begins in the city and I needed just a bit more actual-hands-on-time to see what would work. You see, my muse works best on location.
08/24/10
A Hitchhiker on the Social Networking Highway
by Angi Morgan
I have to admit that the more I learn about the social networking highway, the less I want to get behind my own wheel.
Yes, this is me with my thumb in the wind, hitchhiking my way through the promotion of my first book. There are definite advantages to selling a book and waiting two years before it hits bookshelves. My time line was less than ten months (and a second sale four months later).
Whoa, that isn’t a complaint, just simply too much to learn in too little time. (THIS IS ME JUMPING UP AND DOWN WITH EXCITEMENT over my career taking off at a fast-pace.) There is just sooo much to learn on a daily basis and hopping onto the Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Blogging, Website interchange is definitely like driving to a new destination without directions (and definitely without a GPS).
So I’m asking for advice today. YOU are in the drivers seat. I’m at a crossroads and need a ride. Which way first? How long do you spend? And what kind of car are you driving?
~~Angi
HILL COUNTRY HOLDUP, Harlequin Intrigue, September 14th
AngiMorgan.com
07/13/10
by Angi Morgan
Many years ago at one of the first regional conferences I attended, an editor stated: It’s not the first or last chapter that sells a book, it’s chapter 4. She (I wish I could remember who) went on to talk about how many authors concentrated on rewriting chapter 1 so much that they forgot about the rest of the book. And many RWA® Golden Heart® finalists rush around to polish and revise the last two thirds of their book before submitting.
