Research anyone?

I've been pushing myself to write more lately, despite several life crises distracting me (can you say 3 men in 3 car wrecks in a 72 hour time frame??? I've subsequently taken the keys from dh & both teenaged sons! ;) ), because I really, really want to finish my next Medical Romance. The story is exciting and a new one for me. One I've had to do a lot of research on because the setting is so outside my safe little world--of course, I still have to sell the book.
Part of me is uncomfortable with writing something so far outside my own experience, relying soley on research and the experiences of others. I mean, what if they're wrong? Then what? I guess that makes me a control freak, which my husband would never deny, and actually, neither would I. I mean, I am a writer who has omnipotence over what happens in my stories--except for publishing requirements, of course. ;) But let's face it, there is something a little scary about writing something you know so little about. Or did know so little about prior to many, many hours spent online.

It's amazing what is at our fingertips via the internet. I can watch brain surgeries on Youtube or I can put out a call to interview an experienced mountain climber, and wa-lah! someone is there, responding to my questions. How reliable is the information though? I suppose, like most things in life, it depends upon the source. Where are your favorite places to do research? Whether it's for a book, a vacation, a new skill you're wanting to learn, a dish you're wanting to cook?

And back to my research issue--story setting--do you have a favorite story setting? Do you like books that shake things up and show you a world you know nothing about? Or do you prefer the tried and true?I'll give away a copy of one of my backlist to one lucky commentor!

Holiday Traditions by Molly Evans

Yes, I know it's early yet, but the holidays are coming up soon and it's one of my favorite times of the year. What sort of family traditions do you have? Do you create new ones every year or stick to the familiar ones? Since we're such a diverse community online, I'd love to hear about what it is that you do, or places you've been to, that are a little different than your own traditions.

When I was growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the holidays were a big deal with loads of community programs to attend or participate in. One of the events that my high school put on was a Christmas concert with the senior chorus performing The Hallelujah Chorus. People in the audience, and alumni who knew the music, were invited to come up on the stage to sing with the chorus. Though I'm long gone from high school and my niece and nephews have all graduated, my mom still attends this concert. It's part of her holiday tradition and just isn't the same if she doesn't go. That's continuity, that's community, and that's a tradition that's part of her life. I have to admit that if I lived closer (a lot closer) I'd be attending this event every year as well and singing with the chorus. (I'm an alto, and we get the fun harmony parts.) There are community events where I live now that hold similar functions, but it's not the same for me because it's not the tradition I grew up with. I suppose that I could start my own new tradition by attending The Messiah, but my heart wants to sing on stage with the altos.

That leads me to food traditions. (Not much of a segue there) One of my favorite parts of the holidays was the baking. My mother is a wonderful baker and I've learned a lot from her, except for the bread. I can make cookies and other pastries very well, but bread is a whole different skill set. I end up with lead-bread, the relative size, shape, and weight of a brick, while hers is fluffy, light, and heavenly. Eventually, I gave up and now use a bread making machine. Not the same as Mom's, but gets the job done and fills the house with wonderful scents that I couldn't accomplish otherwise. I'm including my favorite cookie recipe for Lumberjacks, which is a soft molasses, cinnamon, ginger cookie that I make every year. The holidays just aren't the same for me without these reminders of days past and the tradition of home.

So, now I've told you about my favorite traditions, how about sharing some of yours with me. I'm always looking for inspiration and little tidbits to put into my next book. You never know just what is going to spark the right idea as a writer. Books set around the holidays always seem like such fun and one day I hope to write one. If you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share, please include it. I'm always on the lookout for a new recipe to try.
Cheers to traditions, both old and new.

Lumberjack Cookies
1 C. white sugar

1 C. dark molasses

4 C flour

1 tsp. salt

1 C. veg. shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ginger

2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream shortening & sugar, add molasses & eggs, then dry ingredients. Have at hand a small bowl of white sugar. Dip fingers into sugar, pinch off a ball of dough the size of a walnut, roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the sugar. Arrange on greased cookie sheet.Bake 350 degrees 12-15 minutes. (until top is set)Yields 4 doz.

drum roll please...

thanks to everyone for their comments about what music inspires them and why. this week's winner, of Lucy Clark's newest romance title "Bride on the Children's Ward" is...

Hannah "Project Journal"!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo. Yay Hannah. Go Project Journal!

if you'd like to contact me at lucyclark@optusnet.com.au i'll organised to get a signed copy of the book sent your way.

Lucy

Be Bop A Do Dah - by Lucy Clark

Does music play a big part in your life? I'm hoping it does. Marcia Hines had a hit song in the seventies "My life is music" and a lot of the time, that's the way I feel. Whenever I need to do any housework, on goes the music. If someone turns the music off - the housework stops!

(yeah... this isn't my house)

I also listen to (loud) music when I write. Sometimes it takes a few different goes to get the right music for the right project but usually by chapter three, I am well on my way. For example, the last masterpiece I wrote was whilst listening to Avril Lavigne's "Let's Go"... over and over and over and over... until the book is done.

When I get into the car to go anywhere, I have it tuned to 6 different stations and usually flick between all of them, searching for the song where I can crank up the volume. Sometimes, I have to over-rule my children when a song such as "Isn't it Time" by the The Babys comes on and they want to listen to the latest Foo Fighters single. It's not that I don't like the Foo's, it's just that "Isn't it Time" isn't on all the time!

I also have my five top songs of all time list and whenever one of them comes on the car radio, there is NO changing the station. And yes, I am so going to bore you by telling you what they are:

1. Isn't it Time - The Babys (saw that one coming, didn't ya!)
2. Love Shack - The B52's
3. Beautiful People - Australian Crawl
4. Baby It's You - Promises
5. Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins

Of course there are loads of other songs I love and lots of new bands I adore, too. At the moment, I'm really liking Cassie Davis, Katy Perry, Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Greenday, Jamie Cullum, and many, many more. I also like classical but loud, my favourite is Strauss.

(guess which one is which!)

So what music inspires you? What makes you want to go forth and create? What helps you to get the housework done or just let your hair down and relax?

And of course, this wouldn't be a post from me without mentioning something to do with Joss Whedon. The soundtracks for Once More With Feeling (Buffy) and Dr Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog are staples in our house. How can you ever go wrong with lyrics such as:


"Stand back everyone, nothing here to see. Just imminent danger, in the middle of it - ME.
Yes, Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze. The day needs my saving expertise!"




Love,
Lucy

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”

Has anyone ever seen "Delirious?" It's a 1991 comedy starring John Candy who plays a soap opera screenwriter. After John's character suffers a bump to his head, he suddenly sees everything he writes happening in real life. The movie was entertaining and I never thought of it as more than just a neat product of the screenwriters' imaginations.

Until it began to happen to me.

Now, I'm certainly not going to say that events in my books all come to pass, because they don't. But every now and again, my heroes or heroines do something that is mirrored in "real" life! (Through no fault of my own... :-).

For example, in my latest release, HIS BABY BOMBSHELL, the heroine slices her golf ball and hits the hero's head. Well, after I'd written that story, my brother-in-law got beaned at the golf course by a stray ball. He, too, had to suffer through paramedics arriving on the course and being hauled to the hospital in an ambulance where he got a few stitches as a souvenir.

In another book, HIS LONG-AWAITED BRIDE, one of my secondary characters was comatose as a result of a motorcycle accident. Shortly after I'd submitted that manuscript, the brother of a friend of mine was in a motorcycle accident and suffered a brain injury. (He's not 100%, but he definitely has a happier ending than my character's)!

Then, just the other day, a writer friend emailed me a news article about a former nurses' aide who becomes a Ugandan king. What shocked her was how closely that scenario fit the plot of my other 2009 release, THE ROYAL DOCTOR'S BRIDE. (I'll let you read the book to see some similarities for yourself). Once again, real life had imitated art.

And my list goes on, but I won't bore you with all of my examples. In a way, it's a little spooky, ala Delirious, (maybe that writer had experienced what I had, which led to his movie idea. It makes me wonder if Stephen King has ever had the same experience - now that would be really spooky). But, as Oscar Wilde said in the quote above, 'Life imitates art'. In any case , I think my "coincidences" are simply because the passage in Ecclesiastes is true..."There's nothing new under the sun."

So tell me what you think. Have you seen any "coincidences" between the stories you've written or read, and real life? And while you're dropping by, let me know what you think about my North American cover for HIS BABY BOMBSHELL, which is available at eHarlequin.com. (Mind you, I'm not complaining because the artwork is slowly growing on me, but I'm personally calling it my 'ink blot cover' as you really have to study it for awhile to find the hero and heroine)!

North American cover

UK Hardback cover

So please drop by and I'll draw a lucky winner next Sunday for the UK Duo edition of HIS BABY BOMBSHELL - which will be a real treat because you'll get a Carol Marinelli book, too...unless, of course, you'd rather have the North American edition!

ANNOUNCING BOOK WINNERS!

Lucky me - I get to announce two lots of book winners! Fumbling with my envelopes.... clearing throat.... drumroll


The winner I drew out from my blog on Dancing is... Linda Henderson. Linda, could you please contact me on sharon @ sharon-archer . com (without the spaces)



And Venus (aka Amy Andrews) has drawn her winner and it is... Susan Wilson. Susan could you please contact Amy through her website?


And we'd just like to say thank you to everyone who popped into our blogs. It's been great fun to read all your comments.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching!

“Dance like nobody’s watching;

Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Sing like nobody’s listening;
Live like it’s heaven on earth.”
Mark Twain, 1835 - 1910

Don’t you think this is wonderful advice? A philosophy worth aspiring to.

• Live life to the fullest,
• enjoy simple pleasures whole-heartedly,
  
• don’t worry about what other people are thinking.

I’m working on Mr Twain’s first suggestion right now with my husband. We started dancing lessons. Waltz and slow rhythm.

I'd love to be able to say this is a picture of Glenn and I, but at the moment we're still shuffling our way around the polished floor with more enthusiasm than talent. This pic is from Dancesport Australia.

It’s not the first time I’ve done dancing lessons but it’s the first time I’ve really enjoyed them. A far cry from the lessons way back in high school as a pimply teen when I was beanpole tall and hopelessly shy. Dancing with a boy whose eye level was at breast height was agony.

And in those days, go-go dancing was all the rage so ballroom dancing lessons were completely uncool. Being “with it” meant energetic head tossing – preferably with really, really long straight hair – and gyrating wildly. I’m sure my cervical vertebrae have never fully recovered!

The sad thing is it was a very solitary sort of dancing -- we might as well have been alone on the dance floor.

So coming back to learn to dance properly after all these years has been a revelation. It’s very romantic to be held close, to synchronise movements with a partner. Dancing is a lesson in compromise and cooperation and concentration. We’re sharing a small space by learning to move together in harmony. We’re making a connection with each other and with the music. It’s demanding physically and mentally.

And it’s fun!

This pic is us! Of course, at the moment we’re a pair of left-footed clods but every now and then, there’s the satisfaction of knowing we got it just right, a glimpse of something that’s pure delight.

And the very biggest delight is Rock and Roll! Yep, we’re closet rockers… well, not so “closet” now I’ve announced it in this blog! My parents could rock and roll and to my untutored eyes, it looked like a magical thing, all that wonderful twirling and turning. I remember them trying to teach me but the coordination of it was beyond me. I always seemed to rock when I should have rolled. Well, now I know why – there are basic steps! It’s like being initiated into a secret! I have “the knowledge”! And far from destroying the mystic, it’s made it even better.

Dancing is wonderful, uplifting and good for mind, body and soul. I love it! I might be slower to live up to some other parts of Mark Twain’s advice but I’m a complete convert to the dancing part.

Do you enjoy dancing? I'd love to hear about your experiences. I'll give a copy of my latest Medical Romance to one lucky blogger - it's a duo so you'll get two stories in the one book!





Sharon