Kendra Leigh Castle

Archive for the ‘writing’ Category

Manuscripts, I mean, not the Stephen King story (though that was pretty good).  Any writer will tell you that manuscripts do NOT stay gone, no matter how many times you try to send them off in the mail, by email, anything.  There’s always something.  And even once you get them on the shelf, chances are you’ll have a look out of morbid curiosity and discover, much to your chagrin, that you missed something anyway.  That said, I now have, parked upon my messy desk, the line edits for RENEGADE ANGEL which are fairly pressing in nature (as in, I have a couple of weeks and they’re due…quick turnaround, which is fine).  After flipping through, I’m comfortable that there’s nothing earth-shattering that must be messed with at this point, but there are a number of items I need to address with my Red Pen of Doom.  SO, I will be absent from blogging this week while I get this stuff done.  I very much like my editor and her assistant, and I’d like to make ‘em happy

Hope you all had a good weekend…my baby girl had a wonderful swim meet, making me a very proud mom (really, I stand amazed…she does things I could never do and makes them look effortless, plus she’s just a really great kid), and I’ve enjoyed having my mom in town.  I managed to watch Sleepless in Seattle yesterday with her, and only half listened to my husband’s mutterings about “chick movies” when he occasionally wandered through.  Man, I love that movie.  It’s one of my fave romantic films ever.  He’s right, though, it’s a total chick movie

Have a great week, ladies!  And for fun, what are some of YOUR favorite chick movies?

Morning, ladies!  Shockingly, I have a topic today: bad boy heroes.  See, I’m about half done with Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Night Pleasures, and am enjoying Kyrian, the leather-wearing bad boy hero who still, despite his styling himself as kind of a badass, comes off to me as the exiled prince he is.  Beautiful and decadent.  Anyway, I’m loving him, and then all of a sudden another bad boy roars up on his motorcycle and he’s even MORE badass than Kyrian!  So of course, as with all shiny objects, I am immediately distracted by his wonderfulness.  This would be Talon, who I’ll get to read about next, apparently.

This is definitely a trend in paranormal romance: the leather-clad bad boy hero.  Now, I write them myself (I mean, what else am I going to do with a demon?  Dress him in flannel?) but I do wonder sometimes if they’ll stay as popular as they are right now.  They are, IMO, the modern day equivalent of the Regency rogue, and God knows people still read those.  But I’m curious about what you all think.  Do you get tired of the big bad boys in leather?  Or are you happy to keep eating them up?  For me, I think as long as there are interesting  variations on the theme, I’m there, though I do have occasional hankerings for the straight-up knight in shining armor.  I always thought of the MacInnes brothers as more brave and noble knights than anything…being able to give them fur and claws just added that element of darkness that I love.  Only slightly off-topic, I’ve been dying for a good medieval lately, speaking of.  Suggestions are welcome!

Anyway, what do you think, ladies?  What sort of hero gets your motor running these days?  Wicked, good, or just wicked good?

Couple of things for Wednesday.  Firstly, hat tip to Donna for letting us know about the Glambert performance on Ellen yesterday!  I have video to share, because I love this song, Strut.  Not a big fan of Whataya Want From Me, the last single, but I like almost everything else on the album, so YAY!  He’s so pretty…and inspiring too, actually.  He was apparently quite heavy in high school and got picked on all the time.  The guy certainly turned into a swan after the fact!  But I would guess that his previous struggles are one of the reasons he seems so sweet.  I’m sad that he’s gay only because it’s such a loss for women everywhere!  I suppose, with my love of guyliner-wearing men who fall somwehere in the Goth/Glam Rock part of the spectrum, I am doomed to drool over a lot of gay men.  Oh well
Lemmee see, I found another thing that was entertaining as well.  I’m totally dating myself, but I still love Pee Wee Herman.  I miss his show (and if you’ve never seen the HBO special that started it all, you are missing out…it was NOT a kids’ show, just adult humor disguised as one, and OMG it was hysterical).  And color me thrilled that the guy seems to be making a comeback!  So I laughed my butt off when he appeared on Conan’s final show to explain the NBC mess.  The guy still has it!
Hope you all enjoy your day!  My mom’s coming to visit for a few, which is awesome, and yesterday I FINALLY got the dragon proposal to leave my desk for good.  It kept returning to me with just a few small tweaks needed…sort of got to be The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave.  BUT, it left, and is now on my editor’s desk, sooo…I will recommence finger crossing!!  Now I can get back to my Dark Hunter book   Happy Wednesday!

Okay, I haven’t watched the new PR yet…it’s on my DVR, so don’t give anything big away, but…does it at least look like it might be a decent season?  God I hope so.  I worked my tail off on the synopsis yesterday…not done yet, but I wrote a LOT.  I have mentioned before how utterly mind-numbing it is to recap an entire book, right?  In present tense.  It took forever just to get through what I’ve already written of the book because of having to explain the setup.  And now I’m into the place where the things I haven’t written yet will go, and this is even more painful right now, because while I know the heroines secrets and the hero’s impending issues with that, and while I have a sense of how it will end…I really don’t know all the twists and turns the story will take, nor do I want to!  But I’m going to have to come up with something.  I have some of it.  Will figure out more.  And then with probably run into the yard and do some kind of insane victory dance around a fire, possibly shaking my sword at the sky.  Well, or something like that:-)

Anyway, they released a second trailer for one of my “I Want” movies of the coming year, and I spent a couple of minutes in bliss as I watched it.  It’s for Clash of the Titans, and it looks so up my alley it isn’t even funny.  Must.  Have. Sam. Worthington. In. Leather. Armor.  That man is going to get the crown and sash one day soon.  Bet on it.  Check the freaking Kraken at the end.  Not everything makes me bounce around in my seat with joy and go “Oh DAMN!”  but that did.  And I mean, Neeson as Zeus?  Genius.  The glimpse of Medusa, who I both looked forward to and dreaded seeing in the original every time I watched it, makes her look super freaky in an excellent way.  And did I mention Sam Worthington in leather armor?  Okay.  Just checking.  The song for the trailer is one I have and love, “The Bird and the Worm” by The Used.  It’s a great song.  Dripping with black guyliner:-)

Anyway, here it is, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

My life is pretty boring at the moment, and I have to write a synopsis today, which is something that it is not possible to psych myself up for.  I do not like writing them.  Period.  SO, as a diversion, today is totally random question day on ye olde blog.

What’s your favorite fairytale, and why?

I have a few that I love, of course.  What kind of paranormal romance writer would I be if I didn’t inherently love fairytales?  But my favorite would have to be the classic Beauty and the Beast, and in looking at my work, that’s a theme I return to again and again.  You could probably say that I write Beauty and the Beast stories, a thing which has (lucky for me) endless variations.  Of course, sometimes the heroine is both beauty and beast!  That’s also fun.  And my hero is always, in his way, a beast.  I suppose I love this story because there’s a lot of raw passion in its undercurrents…the hero can barely contain his animal nature, and I will admit, I always sort of wished they’d gotten to it even before he managed to turn himself back into a prince.  It’s a romantic, emotional story, and you have to figure that Beauty must be a pretty strong woman to deal with all of what comes her way.  So, this one’s my favorite.  Cinderella comes in second, but you know, her prince isn’t nearly as interesting:-)

So let’s hear it.  Tell me your favorite fairytale, and help me not lose my mind while writing this stupid synopsis!

No, not together….though that would be interesting.  I suppose you could do something like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies did, but with enormous winged serpents.

These are just the two things in my head this morning.  Have to make a few modifications to the chapters, which have otherwise gotten a big smiley thumbs up from my lovely agent…these mainly involve having my heroine be even more incredulous and freaked out by her rescue at the hands of a guy who can apparently turn into something enormous that could eat her.  She’s very concerned about the being eaten part.  Of course, we all know that ain’t gonna happen:-)  Bane isn’t a white dragon, but I thought the picture was cool anyway.  Especially because this one actually looks happy while watching the sun set.  You don’t get a lot of happy with dragon pictures!

As for Jane Austen, I continued to slog my way through Persuasion last night at the pool.  I’d heard some really lovely things about this book, but I’m just having a rough time getting into it.  I can see who she’s going to hook the heroine up with in the end, but so far, they have zero chemistry, she has like two other guys chasing her, he’s in some sort of love with this annoying giggly chick who has managed, through her own idiocy, to get a concussion, and besides all that, Anne (the heroine) is awfully weak-willed for my taste.  Give me Lizzy Bennett any day!!  I’m doing a lot of skimming, and I hate it when that happens.  It’s going to be one of those times when I get to the finish only out of mild curiosity about how things are wrapped up.  Have any of you read this or seen it?  I wish I could love it.  I certainly wanted to.  But ugh.

Happy Hump Day, everyone!  We’re working our way through January, one of my least favorite months, and I’m glad the other side of it is approaching!  Got a seedling catalog yesterday, and am debating about whether to doom a few poor plants by having them sent here.  Though I have to say, the Northern Spy apple tree I got from these people last year probably doubled in size and was gorgeous by the time it went to sleep.  I, erm, killed the rest of what I bought there, but I have a sneaking suspicion that’s on me.  Just hoping everything wakes up healthy in the spring.  I miss being warm outside!

Stupidity, thy name is Kendra.

I’m a little tired today (okay, a lot) because, as a celebration of my triumph in completing 39 pages of brand spankin’ new story and sending them off to my agent to read, I stayed up until 1:30 this morning parked on my butt in front of the PS3.  The glory of all the darkspawn I slayed has not really retained its glow in the morning’s harsh light.  I did have a lot of fun, but I look like something the cat has been chewing on.  Thoughtfully.  Thoroughly.  For an extended period of time.  And I feel about as special.

The good news is that I don’t have to get out of the car this morning for drop-offs, because it’s an off day for Jack, so there is every chance that I’ll be slinking off to school in my flannel pants.  I still have too much shame to wear them when I have to get out, but I’ve gotten a lot more lenient with myself this year otherwise.  After that, I’m going to curl up with the heating pad on my back, because (I had forgotten this, or tried to, because usually the words don’t come out so fast as they have with this new story) I get involved in my work and slowly curl into the Writer’s Hunch, which inevitably leads to back and shoulder ouchies.  I don’t think it should be possible to get injuries from butt sitting.  Seriously.  How is this fair?

Oh well, at least I’ve gotten Bane and Lyra off to a good start.  Yep, those are their names.  He is, as you might guess, not from around here.  And he has markings on his skin that look like tattoos.  And he’s a dragon.  *drool*  She has Fae blood and doesn’t know it.  Working title is A Fire in the Blood.  I’m going to just keep writing on it and hope it sells, because I’m a little in love with it right now!  Of course, I need to start the dreaded synopsis today.  ::headdesk::

Before too long I think I’ll have a cover for RENEGADE ANGEL to show you all!  Spoke to my editor yesterday, and she seemed to think there was going to be a cover meeting on the book in the next week or so.  She seemed to think it might end up being one of the covers where it’s just the supernaturally gorgeous guy staring out, looking hawt.  I would definitely like that!

No other writing-related news today.  The vamp proposal I did, which I envisioned as part of a series called Vampire Dynasties, is definitely still in the pipeline and very much alive.   And this new thing is going off ASAP, because my editor, as it turns out, is going on maternity leave quite soon!  Seems like I plod along, then scramble furiously, then go back to plodding.  Ah, writing:-)  

So I’m going to go drag myself upstairs now and do something about the hair.  And I know I’m probably going to play some today too, because I built a rogue, and as it happens, she’s a lot more fun than my warrior chick.  Picks locks, backstabs (literally), quick on her feet.  Totally different style of fighting and playing.  And I love that it’s a story you have to actively participate in!  But then, I had a vast collection of Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, so I’m not surprised this is appealing.  I like to have breaks from making my own stories and just messing around in someone else’s sometimes.

Anyway, I will leave you with a song I’ve been playing a lot since I found it, because it’s really beautiful and I love the words.  Yeah, I hit iTunes yesterday and bought a bunch of random songs…my shopping cart was full of everything from Lady Gaga to Florence + the Machine.  I had Bad Romance stuck in my head for 24 hours straight.  BUT, this song is by One Republic, who I love because Ryan Tedder, the singer, is incredibly talented.  He’s been writing hit songs for other people for quite a while now (still does), but I love when he sings his own stuff.  Such a pretty voice, and he likes arrangements with strings, something I also love.  This song, Secrets, is about how difficult it is to keep writing good songs, and the soul baring required to make that connection.  And it’s gorgeous!  Enjoy the song, and your day.

Okay, I know I sort of cheated and had Matt on Friday as well, but seriously, it was FRIDAY, and we all needed a naked cowboy to be here on Friday!  He just happened to be available.  However, since it is now officially Mantastic Monday, we can put the crown on him instead of the cowboy hat and enjoy the wonder that is Matt Schiermeier in all his not-really-wearing-much glory.  I do have to say, he’s a little TOO hardbodied for me personally, but man do I love those tattoos.  I’m playing with a new story, and the hero has all kinds of tattoos…except they’re not really tattoos, they’re a part of him, because he’s…well, you know what?  I’m going to let it be a surprise.  You’ll see:-)

In other news, I now have auburn hair.  I always wanted to be a redhead, but my genes prevented it.  There is a whole branch of my family that’s redheaded Irish, but of course I managed to take after the mousy brown part.  No, really, my natural hair color is about the most nondescript ash brown you’ll ever see.  Doesn’t even go with my skin tone.  Very annoying.  Anyway, for the next little while, I’m red.  It’s a fun switch.  Can’t do flame red, because I’d look silly, but the auburn is nice.  I think it helped me write the 7400 words I wrote this weekend!  I was on a roll!

Okay, I’m much more boring than Mr. Mantastic, so I’ll sign off and just let him be pretty.  Hope you all had a great weekend, and Happy Freaking Monday!:-D

Because what the hell, everyone can use a naked cowboy once in a while.  HAPPY FRIDAY, everyone!  And in case you missed the update on yesterday’s post, Sinfully Yours is now officially RENEGADE ANGEL, which I think is pretty kickass   Giddyup!

Yep, we have a release date…the first fallen angel book will be out this September, and I’m SO excited!  I’m really proud of what I’ve created with this book, and I can’t wait to have you all read it.  The only bad thing is that now I have to come up with some new titles for it.  I’ve already got the Art Fact Sheet done (this is what Harlequin has you do for every book…they have a database of questions, and you’re asked to describe all sorts of things, including scenes that might be used for the cover), and the covers they do for Nocturnes are so beautiful I’m sure I’ll end up with something amazing.

So today is a day for happy dancing!  And apart from that, I was asked to come up with yet another proposal for a paranormal (this is the story of my life lately), so I believe I’m going to write a dragon hero, because damn it, I like those.  We’ll see where it goes, but I did some brainstorming work yesterday (the fun part) and woke up full of ideas.  I already have a ton of notes.  Starting something new is always a wonderful adventure.

Have a great Thursday, ladies!  And hey, if you have any great title ideas for a demon love story, fire away.  I am utterly open to suggestion, and I have to make a list.

UPDATE: SINFULLY YOURS is now re-titled RENEGADE ANGEL!  I absolutely love it!!