ENTITLED

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Names, as I have commented before, are extremely important to writers.  Names of characters are keys to their characters.  Even more so are the names or titles of our books.

Many authors find it easier to create 75, 80, or 100k word works than to come up with the 1 to 6 words necessary for a great title.  And for our books to sell, yes indeed, that title has to be great.  Research shows that unless you are a “name” author, the title (and cover art) are what grab the reader, pull them to the bookshelf in Walmart, or Barnes & Noble, make them take the book off the shelf and read the blurb on the back.  If you’re really lucky, they’ll take a peek inside.

So the naming of books, as T.S. Elliot says of the naming of cats, is a difficult matter.  Some writers agonize over the decision and still are not satisfied with the result.  I have had various experiences with my own attempts at titling.

My current WIP started out as “The Marquess Makes a Mistake.”  I suppose it has something going for it in that it has alliteration and it certainly gives you the basic conflict in the book–the Marquess makes a mistake and has to work to overcome the problems that ensue from that mistake.  But even my 14 yr old said, “I think you can do better.”

So I spent an entire afternoon brainstorming title ideas.  I wanted to give an idea of what the book (a Historical Romance) was about, so I was throwing out things like “The Marquess Must Marry,” and felt I was really close with “To Marry a Marquess,” but they didn’t give a hint of the underlying scandal that threatened throughout the novel.  Plus I wanted one of those titles that could be used for a series, like Mary Balogh’s Simply and Slightly series.

I went back to “The Marquess Makes a Mistake.”  And thought the second book could be called “The Marchioness Makes a Marriage.”  That would work, kind of.  But the plot of the third one didn’t work.  I was stuck. 

So I went back to the idea of the scandal that threatens the H/H during the book.  It took scandal to bring them together.  And an idea popped.  Only Scandal Will Do.  That felt right.  Not too long, gives a hint of what’s going on in the book, the word scandal should be eye-catching.  It worked alone, and it would work with the other books.  I loved it.

Unfortunately, I may have to give it up.  According to Judi McCoy, author of fourteen romance novels and currently writer of the DogWalker Mystery series, editors/publishers quite often insist on changing the name of your novel.  Bummer.  All that work for nothing!

Not exactly.  By making the title the absolute best it can be, it will hopefully catch the eye of the agent or editor.  And that’s a big step toward getting the work noticed. 

Keep working, brainstorming, trying different ideas and combinations.  Persistence works.  It just takes one spark to create the perfect title that will speak to straight to the heart of the reader.  We writers have that spark within us.  Light it up, ladies.

These links lead to great articles regarding the creation of titles in general:

http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/titles.shtml

and of romance novels in particular:

http://www.writing-world.com/romance/title.shtml

Have you had problems creating the perfect title for your novel?  Please share a comment.

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

SEVEN

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

Seven is considered a lucky number by most.  According to numerology that is because it is the paring of the numbers 3 (representing the holy Trinity) and 4 (which is the number of the earth) creating the perfect number 7 and harmony between the two realms.

For writers, however, seven may be unlucky–or at least confining.  Seven is the reputed number of plots we all have to work with when crafting our work.  Seven.  How can anything new ever be written?

Aristotle tells us that plot–at least in dramatic literature–is the most important element.  Plot is the specific sequence of events that moves the reader from the beginning of the work, where the status quo has not been changed, to the resolution where some change has usually occurred.  Without plot we have a character study, which can be entertaining, grant you, but still, most people want a little action.  Especially in a romance novel.

Follow this link to a listing of the seven plots in literature:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=210539

and this link is a commentary on Christopher Booker’s different take on the seven plots:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/05/AR2005050501385_2.html

Whether or not you prefer one list over the other, the point I keep coming back to is the number 7.  According to most people that’s all the different plots we have to work with.  How can that ever be enough? 

Surprizingly, it is enough because the writer brings with her the one thing that explodes that 7 into an infinite number of possibilities:  imagination.  Plot, when it all boils down, is a guideline, a blueprint for what happens in the story.  And story is very, very different from plot.  Story is what happens, who it happens to, and how it happens in the work.  Combinations of these elements, fired by our imagination, are what has created the millions of works of fiction throughout the ages. 

And what is even more encouraging is that because each writer is an individual with individual experiences to bring to the table, individual wisdom to be imparted, individual likes and dislikes to be emphasised or hidden, the writer suddenly has an almost infinite number of stories at her fingertips to pluck and set down, limited now only by her talent to compose and the time it takes her to do so.

My favorite example these days of one plot treated different ways is the ultimate romance plot:  boy meets girl and they fall in love.  They have problems, they come up with a solution to the problems.  This is the plot of  Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  This is also the plot for Twilight.  The first time I described Twilight as “Romeo and Juliet with vampires” I got stared at quite a lot and not in a good way!  But it’s true.  Same plot, different imagination  at work.  I have described my first ms is “Romeo and Juliet with the bubonic plague and a happy ending.” 

I believe it likely that all romance writers have a Romeo & Juliet, a Holy Grail , a Jaws, a Castaway in their repertoire, just waiting to be given the chance to spring to life. 

Play God.  Take one of those seven plots as your bones, sculpt the flesh with your circumstances and complications, and breathe life into it through your diverse characters.  All of a sudden, you have a work as different from all the others as you are from other writers.

Seven plots?  Do I really need so many choices?

What has been your favorite plot to work with?  To read?  Do you have a preference for a quest? For man or woman against society?  Have I left out your favorite?  Let me know!

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The New Love of My Life

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

When I told my husband what was at the top of my Christmas list for 2010 there was dead silence on the phone, followed by “Oh, my God!  You said you’d never want that!” 

No, not a divorce.  And not another man in my life.

A Kindle.

(This is my Kindle in the video!)

Yep, I broke bad this Christmas and threw tradition to the four winds.  I did not ask for a single book (usually the most wanted things on my list) only a Kindle.  And yes, I had scoffed at them right after they came out.  A friend of ours was showing one off and I looked at it politely, but said to my husband, sotto voce, “I will never want one of those.  I love the feel of a book in my hands.”

The latter sentiment still holds true, but the former is gone with the wind.  I LOVE my new Kindle. (It’s sitting beside me right now on the computer desk, a picture of Charlotte Bronte as the current screen saver, just waiting for me to take it to bed.)  My husband may, in fact, find it to be his biggest rival.

I had never considered getting one before because I had been sadly behind the times in learning about the ebook market.  I didn’t realize how many really wonderful writers are available only through ebooks and how easy it is to get those books if you have a Kindle (or Nook or other electronic reader). 

The advantages to Kindle ownership have simply overwhelmed me.  I can’t stop thinking about them.

#1 – You are NEVER without a book.  I was floored to discover that I only have to hit a button and Amazon.com is at my fingertips, ready and eager to sell me as many novels as I wish for, IMMEDIATELY.  No more “Oh, I finished that one.  Now I have nothing to read.”

#2 – It’s green!  Not the body of the Kindle, which is grey, but the medium itself.  No more trees need be sacrificed to feed my voracious appetite for books.

#3 – It hold thousands of books (I think).  Or at least a whole lot.  Which means I will never have to buy another bookshelf.  They currently line the walls of my home like wallpaper, but I can start a campaign to buy a lot of the books I have as ebooks and then I can donate my paperbacks and hardbacks (well some at least) to the thrift stores.  I wonder what color my walls really are?  Perhaps I’ll have a clue by next year.

#4 – It represents a whole new market for my novels.  If I cannot get an agent, I can query epublishers who don’t require one.  And articles are springing up regarding the use of Kindle & such devices spurring on sales in romance and erotica because the anonymity is attractive to many people.

For a link to one of these articles click here:

http://www.onpublicspeaking.com/kindle-romance-fastest-growing-segment-in-e-books/4603/

My Kindle will make my reading experience this coming year more pure pleasure than ever before.  And first thing tomorrow I am going to throw away my tiny little purses and invest in one that is big enough to carry my Kindle with me wherever I go.  One simply must get one’ s priorities straight!

Do you have an electronic reader (or was I the only clown without one?) and if so how has it affected you as a reader?

Posted in On Reading | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

“I Solemnly Resolve…”

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Jenna Jaxon

New Year’s Day is, of course, the day we make our New Year’s Resolutions.  As most of you have found, I’m sure, the fewer resolutions, the greater the chance of keeping at least one of them.  Therefore, this year I’m limiting myself to three, and they are completely different than any other resolutions I have made before.  No more “I will lose weight.”  If I do, I do.  A resolution on it has not helped in the past.  No more “I will eat healthier.”  This one I sort of do anyway (except for an addiction to butter and chocolate, but they’re supposed to be good for you in moderation, right?).

This year my resolutions revolve around my writing, which is the passion of my life right now.  And, as romance readers and writers already know, passions usually produce problems.  So my New Year’s Resolutions are designed to address and conquer the problems brought about by my incessent penchant for writing.

Resolution #1:  By the end of 2011 I will have received either 100 rejections (includes letters, emails, or no response) or a contract from an agent or publisher.

I am serious about getting my worked published and this is the year I will do it.  That’s a nice bold statement, full of confidence and committment.  Will it happen?  Truth is no one knows.  That’s why I’ve given myself an alternative.  If I am not published, but I have garnered 100 rejections  I will know that I have done everything possible to get the work out there.  And if 100 agents or publishers have passed on it (and it really won’t take that many for me to get the message) then there is something wrong with what I’m putting out there.  Back to the drawing/crit board and find out where the hell I went wrong.  But I will be proactive about my writing. 

If that means attending more workshops, joining more writing groups, going to more conferences, then I will be there.  This is the year I will make it happen.

Resolution #2:  I will read outside my genre.

For the past two years I have almost literally read nothing but historical romance.  I love historical romance with a deep abiding passion.  It transports me to times and places I will never see and lets me experience (albeit vicariously) things I will never be able to do.  But as much as I have loved being immersed in it, I believe it is time to expand a little more again and see what else is available in the wide world of reading.  When I posted my reading list the other day, I was saddened to see that I had not read a Stephen King novel all year.  I used to LIVE for the publication of a Stephen King novel.  I was afraid that I would actually die before his Dark Tower series was finished and I wouldn’t be able to know what happened to Roland, Eddie, Suzannah, and Jake.  So I am determined to take the blinders off this year.  I will probably start with King’s Under the Dome, which as sat gathering dust since I got it for Christmas last year.  Right after I finish the HR I’m currently loving (Glee) on my new Kindle (also loving).  If anyone has suggestions for my 2011 list of books to read, please comment and tell me below!

Resolution #3:  Try to better balance writing time with family time.

This may be the toughest of my three resolutions.  I’m sure all you writers out there have struggled with this delimma.  I am so one-track-minded about writing I would rather deny my family than my muse.  And I have come to see that this is not working in my household.  My two teenaged girls need Mom more than ever, if not to go out and have fun with, at least to listen to them with their frivolous and serious issues.  Hubby is more understanding, except when he’s not.  He’s proud of what I’m doing–he tells all his friends about my historical novels and that I’m trying to get published.  But when I’ve let the house go (and I mean really Let It Go) because I just had to a) finish this chapter; b) crit another chapter; c) answer this email; d) research this particular phrase, he gets Annoyed and lets me know it.  So Resolution #3 is the one I’m going to try hardest to keep, to be there more for my real family than I am for my created family.  Wish me luck with that one.

So 2011 is going to be filled with challenges for me.  What is going to challenge you this year?  How will you resolve to change your life for the better?  Please leave a comment and let Jenna know!

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

New Year’s In the Past

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Jenna Jaxon

We all know about how to celebrate New Year’s Eve, right?  Parties, Times Square, watching the ball drop, drinking champagne, dancing until the wee hours.  But did they celebrate the same way in 18th century England?

This question came up when I was writing the second book in my House of Pleasure series called Only Marriage Will Do and it quickly became a thorny problem.  There’s not a lot of information on New Year’s celebrations for that time period, and I needed some kind of celebration for the final scene of the novel.  So what’s a writer to do?  Be creative and make it up?  Change the need for it in the book?

I am always leery of making up stuff that someone somewhere is going to read and say “That’s not right!  They didn’t do ____.  They should be doing _____.”  Even though I might never know I was totally wrong, I would always have that suspicion.  And the timeline for the novel really needed this scene to take place on New Year’s Eve. 

So this writer buckled down, worked the internet, went to libraries and came up with a lot of information on the history of New Years.  And for New Year’s Eve 2010, I thought I’d share.

The traditions of New Year’s celebrations go back at least to the ancient Romans.  Their celebration, which took place during a festival called the Saturnalia, was a time of partying and drinking to pay homage to Saturn, the god of agriculture and time.  Our tradition of partying probably originates with this celebration.

For a cool link on the Saturnalia go to http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html

But 1700 or so years later, what were they doing on New Year’s Eve  in London specifically?  I seemed to find information on almost any place but London.  In the colonies there was no formal type of celebration, but according to a Colonial Williamsburg site there was a good bit of rowdy behavior, violence, and vandalism.  Happy New Year indeed!

At least by 1761 Londoners were celebrating in December-January.  Until 1752 Britain had celebrated the New Year according to the Julian calendar, when it was held on March 25, about the time of the vernal equinox.

I finally broke down and consulted Wikipedia, my least favorite source, but there was a reference that I could work with that had a named source.  In the late 17th century Christmas was celebrated with lavish dinners, merry-making, masquerades, and parties.  Because 18th century London loved masquerades, I decided that would be an appropriate celebration for my New Year’s scene and indeed it worked out very well in the novel.  And I learned a lot about New Year through the ages.

My New Year’s Eve will be spent at home, with my husband and some much needed together time.  Private celebrations are sometimes the best (wicked smile).

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

How will you ring in 2011?

Posted in On History | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

What I Read in 2010

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Jenna Jaxon

Taking the suggestion of another blog I follow (see below), today’s post gives you and idea of what I read in 2010.  And until I started pulling books off the shelves (yes, sadly until this Christmas all my books have been paper or hardback) I didn’t realize how much I had read in 2010. 

Granted, a lot are re-reads.  I enjoy re-visiting my favorite characters, becoming immersed in their trials and tribulations once more.  And often I learn more about writing when I read the second time around, because the first time I’m so caught up in the story I just want to know what happens and so do not look at the craft that has me turning pages at a furious rate.

Listing my reads will give you not only an idea of how much I read throughout the year (most are read during three periods–summer, Christmas break, and Spring break) but what my tastes are,  in historical romance at least.  That is all I read last year and it must be the first time in twenty years that I did not read a Stephen King book.  One New Year’s resolution is going to be to widen my reading list, but I’ll leave that for another post.

What I read in 2010: (* denotes particular favorites)

Jo Beverly

Lord Wraybourne’s Bride, The Stanforth Secrets, Chalice of Roses (Anthology of Jo Beverly, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Harbaugh, Barbara Samuel), The Secret Duke

Re-Reads

A Lady’s Secret, The Secret Wedding*, St. Raven, The Rogue’s Return, Lady Beware, Winter Fire, An Most Unsuitable Man, To Rescue A Rogue, Hazard, Forbidden, Devilish*, The Demon’s Mistress, The Dragon’s Bride, The Devil’s Heiress*, Dangerous Joy, The Determined Bride* (Novella)

Mary Balogh

New Reads

Slightly Scandalous, Lisghtly Tempted, Slightly Sinful, Slightly Dangerous, Truly, A Precious Jewel, Dark Angel, Lord Carew’s Bride, The Heart of Christmas (Anthology with Nicola Cornick, Courtney Milan), It Happened One Night (Anthology with Stephanie Larens, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Candice Hern)

Re-Reads

At Last Comes Love, Seducing An Angel

Kathleen Woodiwiss (all re-reads)

The Flame and the Flower, Three Weddings and A Kiss (Anthology with Catherine Anderson, Loretta Chase*, Lisa Kleypas*), Married at Midnight (Anthology with Jo Beverly*, Tabya Anne Crosby, Samantha James*) * denotes favorite novellas by these authors that actually made me read their full works

Samantha James – Scandal’s Bride* (Novella)

 Joanna Lindsey

New Reads

A Rogue of My Own, Love Me Forever, A Pirates Love, Captive Bride (absolutely hated this book–her first book I think and the writing is not what it eventually became)

Re-reads

Say You Love Me, No Choice But Seduction, Love Only Once, Gentle Rogue, Tender Rebel, Marriage Most Scandalous

Lisa Kleypas

New Reads

Suddenly You, Lady Sophia’s Lover, Dreaming of You, Worth Any Price,, Married by Morning*, Love in the Afternoon

Re-Reads

Secrets of a Summer Night*, It Happened One Autumn, The Devil In Winter*, Scandal in Spring, Seduce Me at Sunrise, Tempt Me at Twilight, Promises* (Novella)

All the rest of my list are new reads where I was trying out new authors.

Mary Jo Putney (great find)

The Wild Child, Loving a Lost Lord, Never Less Than A Lady, One Perfect Rose***(Winner of the Kept-Me-Up-All-Night-Had-To-Finish Award)

Loretta Chase – Lord of Scoundrels, The Mad Earl’s Bride* (Novella)

Kat Martin – The Bride’s Necklace, The Devil’s Necklace, The Handmaid’s Necklace

Madeline Hunter – The ROmantic, By Arrangement, Secrets of Surrender

Victoria Alexander – Desires of a Perfect Lady

Eloisa James – Desperate Duchesses

Alexandra Hawkins – All Night with a Rogue

Stephanie Laurens – Impetuous Innocent, The Untamed Bride, The Elusive Bride, The Brazen Bride (about 3/4 thru but losing interest)

That’s my list and I’m sticking to it!  So, what did YOU read in 2010?

Check-out what others read:

http://ajandcharli.blogspot.com/

www.MartzBookz.blogspot.com

Posted in On Reading | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

What’s In A Name?

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Jenna Jaxon

Names facinate us. 

From Romeo & Juliet’s famous “What’s in a name?  A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,”  to In the Heat of the Night‘s “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” to Cats’ “The naming of cats is a difficult matter/ It isn’t just one of your holiday games/You may think at first I am mad as a hatter/When I tell you a cat must have three different names.”

Does a person’s (or cat’s) or character’s name matter?  I believe most people, writers in particular, would answer with an unqualified “Yes!”  Where would we be  if Rhett Butler had been named Hiram Muddle?  If Elizabeth Bennett had been called Maude Staples?  If Heathcliff had been just Sam?

Names are so personal, so intrinsic a part of a person or character, that the writer must take care to select the one name that will crystallize that character in the reader’s mind.

Not that writers always have a choice.  At least I don’t.  Although most of my characters seem satisfied with the names I give them, there is a Tommy who tried to be an Andrew, but he’s pretty much given that up.  However, in one story outline there is a woman who I wanted to name Celinda but who is adamant that she will be called Pamela.  I have finally conceded to her demands, and given Celinda to a younger, more maleable character in a short story.

I am always interested in other author’s penchant for odd names.  Jo Beverly’s medieval names in her Malloren series, Kathleen Woodiwis’ Aislinn, Synnovea, Cerynise, Wulfgar and a host of others, have delighted me and spurred me on to collect interesting names (or interesting spellings of names) for my own characters.  Many names come from people I have met (Celinda is one, Jauric another) and some I have created on a whim or taken from an unlikely source (Cyntessa, Sistine).

What names to you like?  Do you have a favorite name for a character?  How do you come up with names for your characters?

Stop by and let me know what YOU think is in a name.

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Hello world!

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Jenna’s Journal! 

I am Jenna Jaxon, an aspiring author of historical romance who is forging ahead with my dream of being published.  I am getting ready to query my second book, Only Scandal Will Do, set in London, 1761 and want to use this blog as a journal of my journey towards publication.  I plan to detail my process, with all of its attendant hopes and heartaches, plus write about the business of writing–romance in particular–as it unfolds for me. 

I will have questions along the way, and I’ll put them out there for anyone to answer or comment.  And if you have questions I will do my best to answer or comment in return. 

In addition to writing on writing, I hope to address a wide variety of topics–I have studied widely, traveled in the US and Europe, and taught for a number of years, so sometimes expect the unexpected.  I have also found that nearly everything can be connected to writing or connected to something connected to writing–we don’t need six degrees of separation to get there.

So Welcome to Jenna’s Journal.  I hope you’ll visit often and comment on my posts to let me know how I’m doing.  This is a wonderful new world for me and in the words of Little Orphan Annie, “I think I’m gonna like it here!”

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