Blogchain: It’s All In Your Head

Margie starts off another blog chain round with this fabulous question:

“How do you get in the mindset of your genre? Do you research people or facts? Do you just reach into the recesses of your mind for events that would make a good story? Something else?”

I write paranormal and dark fantasy in both YA and adult. Listening to music is one of my favorite ways to get into the zone. But reading other books in my genre is my favorite way to get into the right mindset. Not only does it help me keep in touch with what’s out there, it helps me know if my ideas are new and if not, ways to tweak them so they are fresh. As far as research is concerned, I love finding pictures of my characters. For my completed manuscript EDGE OF TRUTH, I found having a pictures of the setting extremely helpful. The internet is a wonderful thing.

How do you get into your genre’s mindset?

Be sure to stop by lbdiamond’s blog to see how she answered this question.

Blog Chain – Love Scenes

I have two posts in one today, because I didn’t want to miss out on either of them.

Kat started the blog chain, which I picked up from Laura and am passing on to you. The question:

How do you feel about love scenes? As a reader, are you put off by the gratuitous? As a writer, do you shy away from spelling out the down-and-dirty? Or do you write until your computer lights a cigarette?

I love to read LA Banks, and let me tell you that woman knows how to write a love scene. Lara Adrian knows her way around one, too. I’ve learned a lot about building romantic tension between characters from reading their books.

A long time ago, my critique partner Dawn Allen told me I was a romance writer. I resisted for a while, but finally had to admit she was right. I write both YA and adult paranormal romance. In my YA, I don’t have any intimate love scenes, yet still manage to work in romantic tension which leads to the first kiss. My adult paranormal, on the other hand, goes beyond the first kiss and ends up somewhere between sweet and spicy romance.

How about you? How would you answer Kat’s questions?

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Thankful for Thursday

Thankful for Thursday is a meme hosted by Oasis for YA. The goal is to find things to be thankful about and share it with the Oasis for YA community.

Today, I’m thankful for my writing support group which includes my critique partners and my new blog friends. I’m not sure where I’d be in my writing career without their constant support and encouragement. I’m thankful for people who take time out of their day to visit my blog, and for those who leave comments. I came across a blog today about the blogging community and how we help one another. I’m thankful for unpublished and published writers who reach out and share what they’ve learned along the way.

What are you thankful for?