A big Hola to Mis Southern Fried Chicas!

I am so honored that you chose to have lil’ ol’ me drop by to spill some behind the scenes secrets about my upcoming book, FURY CALLS (Nocturne March 2009).  FURY CALLS is part of THE CALLING vampire novels and I can tell you that it’s going to be sexy and full of surprises!  The hero and heroine are characters I first introduced in 2005 in TEMPTATION CALLS.  You also may have read about sexy antihero Blake in DESIRE CALLS which is a free novella at eharlequin.  You can check it out at this link:  http://www.eharlequin.com/article.html?articleId=1262

Yes, 2005 and for the last three years they have been screaming and demanding that I finally write their story!  The nerve of these secondary characters who don’t want to stay in the background!  LOL!

Seriously, sometimes that does happen when you’re writing.  Someone who is the sidekick or even starts as a throwaway characters becomes something more.  That definitely happened with Blake and by the end of FURY CALLS you may find there’s another character or two that emerge as totally needing their own story.  When you’re writing a series, you’re always thinking of ways to add to the special world of your series and the characters who inhabit it.

Much of the action in FURY CALLS happens at a new location I created – OTRO MUNDO.  OTRO MUNDO (which means ANOTHER WORLD) is an upscale restaurant in Soho which caters to a very hip and wealthy crowd as well as a lot of vampires who wanna-be more human.  I based OTRO MUNDO on the New York City restaurants that I’ve been lucky enough to visit, either on special occasions or business dinners.  New York is amazing in how many different restaurants there are in all the different neighborhoods and I’m lucky to be able to check them out myself.  That always helps add authenticity to the scenes when I’m writing.

To get a little bit more on the flavor of OTRO MUNDO you can visit click here

I also love to cook (and eat! VBG) so making the heroine, Meghan Thomas, a chef was a no-brainer.  This is actually the fifth book I’ve done where the heroine (or a friend) is a chef! I never get tired of having my chefs create wonderfully exotic and exciting meals as part of the stories.  Food is so sensual.

Since I like to cook, I sometimes share some of my recipes on my blog and website and you can check them out here

I’ve always thought that if I wasn’t an attorney and writer, I’d love to be a chef and writer (notice how I can’t lose the writer part!)  I could even imagine owning a small inn where I could write, give classes on writing and cook up a storm for all my guests.  Sounds heavenly doesn’t it?

Blake and Meghan get to enjoy OTRO MUNDO in FURY CALLS as well as Blake’s interesting “apartment” which overlooks Gramercy Park.  If you haven’t been in the Gramercy Park area, take a moment to POP by, but don’t count on getting into the park unless you’re a resident with a key.  It’s not a public park!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes look at FURY CALLS which will be out in March 2009 from Silhouette Nocturne!

Leave a comment and Caridad will be giving away a copy of TEMPTATION CALLS–one of her favorites! 

      Are there ever times when you hear something and it’s off limits to writing? To me, pretty much everything is imagination fodder. For example, the other day someone said something to me and I immediately wondered how to work it into a book. But then I got thinking, should it be off limits. First, they’re a writer, too but have never used it. Second, it might be too personal for them. Because, again, they haven’t used it.

      But think about TV. Shows like CSI or Law and Order take ideas right out of the newspaper and tweak and twist it to make it fictionalized enough to prevent lawsuit, but you KNOW what they’re referring to.Of course, when you (or rather I) use something overheard or whatnot, it’s probably not that well known. Many a time I have used familial faux pas or annoyances to “enhance” stories. Don’t most writers get their inspiration from reality?

      So when are things off limit? When does a juicy tidbit that all but falls into your lap go onto the “if only” shelf because you can’t get rid of it, but you aren’t sure to use it?

I know I know I have a lot of favorite authors who are kind enough to come and play with us at SFC…including Wednesday’s guest blogger, Caridad Pineiro! I first met Cari in a chat for fellow author Shelli Stevens and we both had the best time getting to know her AND picking her brains about writing for Silhouette Nocturne. heeeeh! Not only does she write for Silhouette, she’ll be doing some romantic suspense for Grand Central in 2010 AND she writes in one of my fave sub-genres–Latina lit!

You can check out her blog here. And check out her books here and here and um here *ggg* (If nothing else, just go enjoy drooling over her website).

See ya Wednesday!

Those of us who write know very well how our muses often take us in different directions than we’d planned.
We also know our characters often seem to have minds of their own—and frequently know what would make a better story than we do.

What I’ve found most interesting lately is my attraction to the “Second Bananas” in both my reading and writing.

I noticed it first in my own work.
An incidental female werewolf, unloved and broken-hearted, who became nearly as appealing to me as the heroine of the story.

The captain of the ship who helped rescue the hero and heroine in another piece, “a man who moved with the fluid motion of the sea he embraced,” almost made me want to desert the story I was writing in favor of one for him.

Two supporting characters who worked at the company managed by the protagonists in another novella nearly stole the show.  She was earthy and ambitious at any cost, he was geeky, sexually repressed, and afraid of life outside of his lab.  They were supposed to take up two or three paragraphs.  They wound up owning nearly half the book.  I think, in the end, I actually preferred them to my hero and heroine.

And now I’m seeing it in my personal reading.  I’m in the middle of a novel with a big, Texas oil-hero and a wispy heroine with a backbone of steel.  The sexual tension is high, the people are beautiful, the relationship complex.
But my favorite parts so far have been the shy, homely sister of the hero becoming involved with a rough-edged, homespun ex-con.

I know we love our flawed little second bananas—but do you sometimes discover that they’re more attractive than the dashing Master Race main characters?
Do you find them taking over the stories you read and write?
Do you know why?

Last week I asked for favorite movie/TV kissing scenes. This week, after watching the latest installment of So You Think You Can Dance I thought I’d venture into favorite dance scenes/performances on TV and/or film. I have dozens but for brevity’s sake, I picked five out of a hat. Can you name one that stands out for you? Here are mine in no particular order:
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RIPPLE EFFECT

Hello, Southern Fried Chicas! Or should I say, Hola! Como esta? Bien. Yo soy Rachel Caine, y ….

Wait, I guess I’d better do this in English.

Hello, my name is Rachel Caine, and I’m a writer of many, many things, including the Weather Warden series and the Morganville Vampires series. (Now for the obligatory advertisement: the new Morganville Vampires book, FEAST OF FOOLS, is available now in bookstores, and the new Weather Warden novel, GALE FORCE, will be out on August 5!)

I’m also a big-time FAN of many, many things, and one of them is Harry Potter. In fact, I’m a big enough fan that back in 2005, I got myself invited to attend a great Potter-themed conference held in Salem, Massachusetts, and I had such an amazing time that I attended another one in New Orleans, called PHOENIX RISING, in 2007. I’d been to New Orleans in 2000, and the drive in was sobering. Two years out from Hurricane Katrina, the town was still devastated — condemned buildings, entire blocks of businesses shut down and boarded up. Our conference was in the French Quarter, which still showed scars of the devastating economic downturn, if not the actual flood waters.

Prior to the conference, I was named a Head of House. Now, this is largely a ceremonial duty, but important, in that you get to roam around in really fancy wizard robes and grant (or take) points away from the houses to which attendees have been assigned. I decided to focus on a worthwhile cause for my particular house, and contacted the New Orleans Public Library. What I found really moved me — frequently to tears. The before and after shots of the devastation to the libraries were merciless, and like all other institutions in the city, the libraries were struggling to recover.

I gave a presentation at Portus on the NOPL challenges, and declared fund-raising efforts for them. The attendees responded brilliantly, and we were able to hand over a sizable check to the library representatives before the end of the weekend.

I continued to promote the cause, but I didn’t realize that others were going to take it up, too. Two of the Phoenix Rising attendees, N. Apythia Morges and Tamela J. Ritter, were just as moved as I was by the plight of the NOPL, and they had an amazing amount of energy and vision. Next thing I knew, Apythia sent me a link to a new website they’d created. They were putting together a non-profit anthology of poetry, short fiction, and art to benefit NOPL’s Rebuild program.

Even cooler, they involved the librarians of New Orleans … they asked the librarians for story ideas and prompts, and got over 50 back in response.

About a year later, I’m looking at the book, and it’s amazing. The outpouring of creative effort was overwhelming, and the book itself is beautiful. What it represents is even more beautiful, because all of the proceeds from the sales are going to the NOPL Rebuild program.

The book is called RIPPLE EFFECT, and I think you’ll agree, there couldn’t be a better title — it perfectly describes what happened to bring this project about. I dropped a pebble in the pond at Phoenix Rising, and now it’s involved dozens of people, and soon, thousands of buyers and readers.

That’s pretty damn cool, and I had very little to do with it. I can’t praise Tamela and Apythia enough for all the work they’ve put into this — and they’re not stopping here. They’re taking on other charitable anthologies for the future.

I’ll be contributing and buying as often as I possibly can.

I hope you’ll join me.
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You’d think, hey it’s summer, I should be able to get more down. Well I’m here to tell you, not so much. One thing after another comes up (like the A/C breaking for the THIRD FREAKING TIME IN A MONTH OF 100 degree days) and thanks to the kiddos being off school, you have to deal with them because pretty much they stand next to your ear saying, “mom, mom, mom…” until you respond some way or another.

I really thought I’d have so much more done by this point. I even bet Lynn as much (but the month ain’t over, I still have time!)

I don’t know if it’s a heat thing. Or a kids home thing or just a combo of both, but summer time sucks. Who knows, maybe it’s the hard wire from childhood when you had summer off and didn’t have to do a thing and so now your brain knows it’s summer it shuts off!

Mine seems to be less and less useful……

Because sometimes we all need one (sorry to those of you for whom this is a repeat).

The Six Biggest Mistakes Even  Bestselling Writers Make

So, how was your weekend?

The photos you are about to witness are real.

Only the participants

in the unfortunate relationships

have been damaged

in the making of these…

DIVORCE CAKES

 Yes, gentle reader…this is what happens when the Happily Ever After turns out not to be so happy after all.
And I must add that, sad to say, I think I’ve seen more of the above in my circle of acquaintances than evidence of what I would consider “True Romance”.

The question, then?

Do you have to believe in True Romance to read/write it?

Or do you have to believe in the idea of True Romance to read/write it?

Or can you read/write it while believing it’s a crock, but not care because it’s fiction anyway?

I’ve been a bad girl this week. My Felicity DVD set finally arrived on Monday (Seasons 1-4), and I’ve been hip-deep in the series, which means (you guessed it) no writing. Do I feel guilty? Um … maybe just a little, but I’ll get over it.

So what’s the point of this post?

Well, yesterday I got to this fabulous kissing scene and it got me thinking about other memorable TV and Movie kissing scenes I loved. You know, the ones you can never forget because of their emotional impact on the characters and plot in general. Can you name some of yours?

MOVIES: I have two

Somewhere In Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour

Troy with Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne. (love how she drops that knife )

TV: Just one, for now

Felicity with Scott Speedman and Keri Russell (anyone familiar with this series knows how pivotal this first kiss was)