It’s called Imagination…

BY SHERI LEWIS WOHL

I love books. I love writing them. I love reading them. I love holding them. I love talking about them. There pretty much isn’t anything I dislike about books. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a writer and the day I sold my first manuscript was huge. Did I get a big contract? A giant advance? A whirlwind release tour? Nope. Did it matter? Not in the least. My dream of becoming a writer came true and that single reward was the only thing that counted.

I still get just as much satisfaction out of writing books. I get better at it with each one. I become a little more successful with each one. The work is hard, long, and sometimes tedious. The satisfaction of having put in the work immense. But the biggest joy is talking with people who read my books. I love their enthusiasm, their comments, their willingness to talk with the shy writer who usually hangs out in the back of the room.

That said, there’s one question I get asked routinely that always has me scratching my head. Oh, I get the typical—where do you get your ideas? Why do you write about vampires? Who is your favorite character? All standard questions for a novelist and all easily answered. But there’s another question that pops up again and again:  Have you done all the sex you write about?

That one makes me smile. Why, you ask? Well, as I typically answer that particular question with a question: “At least one person dies in every single book I’ve written and no one ever asks me if I’ve killed someone so why do you think I’ve tried every sexual encounter I write about?” It boils down to one single thing regardless of what I’m writing about: imagination. It’s the guiding force in every book and every scene. It’s what makes writing and reading so very much fun.

Today, I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s true I haven’t tried everything I write about when it comes to sex in my books but it’s possible, just possible, I write from a combination of experience and imagination. I’ll let you decide which is which. Let your imagination soar.

Sheri Lewis Wohl’s latest release, Scarlet Revenge, is available now at www.BoldStrokesBooks.com

Learn more about Sheri at www.sherilewiswohl.com, www.sherilewiswohl.wordpress.com, www.sheri26.blogspot.com, and on Facebook and Twitter

Put a Ring On It

What’s more romantic than a proposal? And no, I’m not talking about a book proposal.

Editors All Day, Every Day

BY CATE CULPEPPER

Listen in on any gathering of Bold Strokes Books authors and you’ll hear them wax rhapsodic about their editors.

“That literary giant, Dr. Shelley Thrasher, is a genius!”

“That sainted Stacia Seaman taught me SO SO SO much!”

“Ruth Sternglantz breathes life into my prose!  LIFE, I tell you!”

I’ve worked with Cindy Cresap for six years.  She has edited every book I’ve ever written for BSB.

Cindy Cresap, that illiterate cow.

Heresy, yes.  Heresy most dire.  But I am the only writer at Bold Strokes Books, the only writer in the world, who finds the editing process difficult.

I admit, I might sometimes be a difficult writer to edit.  I was capable, in one of the earlier Tristaine books, of producing the following sentence:

She raised her single-shot rifle and fired twice into the morning sky.

I saw nothing wrong with this sentence.  Cindy Cresap, to her credit, refrained from sarcasm and simply inserted this:  (?)

But the point is, Cindy Cresap sometimes wants to change my work.  She wants to correct my grammar.  True, she tries to explain to me why these changes are necessary.  But when Cindy Cresap starts going on about “comma flatstops” and “modifier tintinnabulation” or what the fuck ever, her voice comes out “waah waah waah” like all the adult voices in the Peanuts TV shows.

I’m especially gratified whenever I reduce Cindy Cresap to inchoate sputtering, as when she took umbrage to a line I used in my latest novel, A Question of Ghosts:

 “A single tear trickled down Becca’s cheek.”

Oh my god! (Cindy Cresap wrote.) It’s the ‘single tear trickling down a cheek’  – second only to ‘releasing a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding’ as the biggest cliché in romance writing! Please kill it! At least remove the ‘single’ description. (Cindy Cresap added.)  A tear is the same as a single tear.

Cindy Cresap likes A Question of Ghosts, though.  She thinks it’s my best yet.

And Cindy gets it, that her approval can be as hard for me to accept as her criticism, and I’ll second-guess her all the way.  After these years and these books, she knows she’s working with an author who didn’t see print until her mid-forties, one both blessed by the freedom of writing fanfiction and mired in its conventions.

Cindy and I disagreed once on something in a story that felt important to me.  She finally had to say no, this doesn’t work in the book, and you need to drop it.   Complying with that was hard.  Authors joke about their books being the children they send out into the world, but that’s true in a sense.  Mine are surely the only progeny I plan to offer.  Cindy was telling me she knew my child better than I did, and I was sure she was wrong.

Cindy was telling me the truth about the world my child was trying to enter.

As Jeanne Kisacky said:  “A writer is in the forest, describing the trees; an editor is in a high vantage point, simultaneously seeing the dirt, the trees, the forest, the paths and patterns manifesting in the forest, and the relation of the forest to the surrounding landscape.”

If I want to bury my nose in the bark of a redwood, I have to trust what Cindy tells me about the forest.  I will continue to argue with her forever about the placement of certain greenery, but our collaboration is sound.  I’m happy Cindy and I are in accord on A Question of Ghosts. 

I’m going to tell a story about the book now, which Cindy would say is too abrupt because the theme of my blog seems to be my relationship with my editor, but this blog is my tree and Cindy should sit the merry hell down.

Anyway, my good friend Jay came out to Seattle last summer to take the photo that Sheri Dragon has conjured into the cover for Ghosts you see here.  The picture is of the Lady of the Rock, a statue that graces the Brawley family plot in Lake View Cemetery.  Both the statue and the cemetery feature prominently in my story.  I was afraid the family wouldn’t allow the use of this image—that they might be uncomfortable with a lesbian theme, or they’d want to charge a fee I couldn’t manage.

Lynn Brawley-Birkwist’s response:  “We’re just fine with it!  Can we have two copies of the book?”

I hope you like A Question of Ghosts. It’s recommended by no less than Cindy Cresap, that most erudite and brilliant of editors.

I saw an angel in the marble…

Sheri Lewis Wohl here and starting off 2012 with the promise of letting imagination rule. Starting with the angel in the marble and that probably has you saying…what??? Well, it’s part of a quote by Michelangelo and the whole quote goes like this:  “I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free.” When I first read that I thought to myself how completely Michelangelo captured the heart and soul of the creative spirit in just a few words. It doesn’t matter the medium, for him it was marble. For Picasso, paint. For writers, like me, words. For all of us, it begins and ends with imagination and the ability to carve until we set our angels free.

Now the whole imagination thing probably scares the crap out of the people who know me and readers who have picked up my work. After all, it’s not exactly angels I’m setting free in my novels. Vampires, yes. Werewolves, yes. An occasional ghost or witch, yes. Angels, not so much. No matter what I try to write, something strange always creeps in. Even when I begin a book with no preternatural beings involved at all, damned if one them doesn’t pop up when I least expect it. It’s just the way I roll.

My upcoming book is no exception. With my first BSB entry, Crimson Vengeance, I introduced you to one of my all-time favorite characters, Dr. Riah Preston, a 500-year-old vampire. Love her, love her, love her. The book ended and I didn’t want to let her go, but where to take her next? The idea came to me as I was riding my mountain bike through Riverside State Park here in eastern Washington State. It’s a gorgeous park with hills, forests, the river, and more beauty than you can imagine. Unless, you’re me. Oh yeah, I see and appreciate the glory of Riverside State Park, but it’s not all I see. As I rode my bike the 22 miles from my office to my home, it occurred to me that the park would make a great place to dump bodies. And what would be the logical one to dump the bodies? A werewolf of course. Again, I repeat: it’s just the way I roll. By the time I met my editor extraordinaire, Shelley Thrasher, Burgundy Betrayal in all its werewolf and vampire glory was born.

Life is great. It’s filled with interesting people and awesome adventure. But for me, one of life’s greatest gifts is that of imagination. As Edgar Allen Poe once said, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.” Let your imagination soar and embrace the dream. Find your own angel and carve until you set it free. Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year. Cheers and happy reading.

Spring Fling

Adorable and talented Bold Strokes Books author, Rebekah Weatherspoon dishes with me about vampires and her upcoming release, The Fling.

Shades of Paranormal

From Crimson Vengeance to Burgundy Betrayal, Bold Strokes Author Sheri Lewis Wohl offers a unique take on paranormal fiction.

Wilder than Wild

Tune in to hear what Bold Strokes Books author Meghan O’Brien is up to.

Vic of All Trades

Meet BSB editor and author, Victoria Oldham and hear how she juggles her multiple personalities:

Where Do My Characters Come From?

by Ali Vali

Attending events throughout the years that I’ve been writing is always something I look forward to since it’s an opportunity to not only meet most of you, but it’s a chance to place faces with those emails I get. One of the more frequently asked questions is where I get the idea for some of the characters I write, especially some of those secondary folks who add a little color to some of my books. Anyone remember the pilot in Carly’s Sound?

Well let me you about our date night we had recently. My partner and I have been together for twenty-six years and one the secrets to our happy union is date night. It might not always fall on a weekend, but at least once a week I ask her out, and up to now I’ve been pretty lucky in getting her to accept.

After going to the hardware store to buy myself a plunge router, I took my girl to an Italian restaurant we hadn’t been to in a while. Some time in our absence they added live music, and when I say live music I’m being kind. The entertainment was a really old guy with an electric guitar, and I’m guessing here, no formal training of any kind. Had I known not playing any actual chords was acceptable dining entertainment I would have tried years ago.

Anyway, the guy is up there randomly strumming, loudly I might add, and at the table next to us is a man dressed completely in denim, snazzy cowboy boots and a large belt buckle with the name ED on it. The cowpoke was in town for some veal I guess, and the music since he was really bobbing his head to Carlos Santana’s great grandpa if he’d been a white man with no musical talent. What set this guy apart though wasn’t the large belt buckle he must use as a form of identification, but the wig and sunglasses. It looked like there were rabid cows after this guy so he ran out of his house with his wife’s bright red, highly hair sprayed, wig and very large ladies sunglasses. Or perhaps he was trying to get in touch with his feminine side, I don’t really know that either, but that’s not what I found interesting.

I realize there’s probably someone reading this right now saying “what the hell is wrong with bad, red wigs and large bug like sunglasses? That’s what I’m wearing.” So don’t get the impression I go around poking fun at random people, but all during dinner he kept taking the wig off like it was a hat and wiping his head down with this napkin, which he had tucked into his collar. His extremely large sunglasses stayed put, but the wig was making him hot. So in a nutshell a secondary character is born.

Watching the world around me and the people who drift in and out of it has always been one of my hobbies as it were, and it’s the stuff that makes my imagination hum. When trying a new genre, all those experiences made the process much easier. Balance of Forces Tourjours Ici was something incredibly fun to write since it’s rather freeing when you don’t have to follow the rules of what really exists in the realm of the known. What would it be like to live when the pyramids still had that new stone smell? Or have to live off the blood of innocents?

When you walk through the French Quarter in New Orleans it’s not such a stretch to imagine the vampires and immortals living on the cusp of society waging battle on the rooftops. It’s a place filled with a history visible in every old brick that makes the city unique, and I can’t help but write about it. This time around it was fun to include some of the true history of New Orleans and blend it with modern day.

I might find inspiration in people having dinner around me, but Balance is also a romance, and for that I find all I have to do is stay closer to home. Kendal might be really old, but hasn’t lost that part of herself that craves someone in her life to share the treasures she’s learned and collected through the centuries. Coming back to a place where she lost so much, she might find just that, but will she?

Balance was my opportunity to feel like a ten year old again. There’s a lot of sword play, vampires, hot women and a wonderful setting. And you never know, there might be a guy named Ed in the next one. He always wears sunglasses at night to hide his true identity, but is foiled every time by his very large belt buckle and red wig that can be spotted three miles away.

Thank you all for the emails and support you’ve given me through the years. A city full of colorful characters is part of the formula, but the other thing that keeps me writing is you the readers’ encouragement. Your wanting more is what makes me type faster.

Take care and if you’re in Ptown next week, make sure to stop and say hi.

Going Evil: Keeping Romance Alive in Series Writing

By Nell Stark

Trinity Tam and I knew what would happen in Book 3 of the everafter series before we finished Book 1 (everafter) and began Book 2 (nevermore). It was always clear to us that in Book 3 (nightrise, released this month) Valentine the vampire would have to “go evil,” and her lover Alexa’s quest would focus on bringing her back from the metaphorical abyss.

Structurally, the loss of Val’s soul functions as a way to keep the romance story line alive in a series that begins, unorthodoxly, with the protagonists already together. Most romances start with the protagonists apart, and in many cases, they’ve not yet even met. But in the everafter series, Trin and I wanted to explore what happens when an established couple encounters life-altering circumstances. For the first two books, Val and Alexa fought to remain together despite the upheaval occurring both in their own lives and in the world around them. They endured every crucible in which they found themselves. In most romances, the main characters must overcome hurdle after hurdle in order to be together. In our romance, the heroines had to fight tooth and nail and claw to stay together.

But sometimes, life throws a curveball that can’t be dodged or hit out of the park. Sometimes, two people split up even when they’re perfect for each other. nightrise allows Valentine and Alexa to have a “traditional” romance—to find their way (back) to each other—even though they are paranormal characters in an urban fantasy setting.

If I’m being truly honest with myself, though, there’s another reason for why it was necessary for Val to “go evil.” Since the first chapter of everafter, Valentine has fought against her own nature. As the daughter of a wealthy Republican politician and as someone who was made a vampire against her will, she embraces neither her blood-family nor her blood-cravings. Instead of seeking to integrate all pieces of herself into a healthy whole, she repeatedly attempts to deny both her heritage and her intrinsic needs. When she “goes evil,” she finally stops fighting herself and becomes “free” in the purest sense of the word.

But in so doing, of course, she loses Alexa, the person who matters most in her life. So the question becomes: is there a future in which Valentine can acknowledge who she is and what she needs without being “evil?” And if so, what are the conditions necessary to make that future into a reality?

To learn more, we invite you to read the newly-released nightrise. If you do, please let us know what you think at nell.stark@gmail.com and 333tam@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook or Twitter. For more information about the everafter series, visit http://www.everafterseries.com/.

Thanks as always to Kathi Isserman and the exceptional cast at BSB (Radclyffe, Cindy Cresap, Sandy Lowe, Connie Ward, Lori Anderson, et al.) who do so much to make each Bold Strokes book a success!