Readers life issue 3, Love/Unlove February 2016

Issue 3: Feb 13.

2016

Interview with Wilhelmina Stolen

“Falling in love on the page�

With Anna Campbell Stories by Jim Ringel

Interview with Carissa Ann Lynch

2: Editor’s Note 4-8: Interview with Carissa Ann Lynch 10-17: Falling in love on the page; with Anna Campbell 18-23: Interview with Wilhelmina Stolen 26-27: Dialouge by Jim Ringel 29: Writing Prompts

Cover art by Trisha Ratliff, Models Rex Badger and Abby Ingram.

Editor’s Note I am proud to present Reader’s Life Magazine issue 3: Love/Unlove.

Our theme this month was chosen in honor of Singles day and Valentine's day.

-Editor Trisha Ratliff

Interview with Carissa Ann Lynch

Carissa Ann Lynch is an Indiana Author. She published her first novel “This Is Not About Love� in 2014 and has since finished her Flockdale Flies series and is working on a new series for mature teens.

What was your inspiration for “This Is Not About Love”?

“This Is Not About Love” was my first book and honestly, it was a fluke. I’ve always loved to read and a couple weeks before I started writing it, a friend joked that I should be a writer because I spend so much time with my nose in a book. It was late Saturday morning at one AM. I couldn’t fall asleep and I’d just finished reading the last book in the Aurora Teagarden series. I didn’t have a kindle yet, so I searched my shelves, Looking for something to reread to put me to sleep.

Coming up empty,

I started making pancakes and that’s when it hit me: why not write my own short story tonight?

The very first line I wrote was on a napkin standing by the stove: “Making pancakes at one in the morning made Violet Cromwell feel like a single woman again.” The rest is history. I was hooked. As far as inspiration…This Is Not About Love is about three very different women who are all fighting for the same man.The story is less about the man and more about each woman’s individual journey. Each woman played a different role: troubled stripper, dutiful mother, confused wife…I think as women, we play so many different roles in our lives

and I wanted to show all of the different sides and how women can share commonalities despite their differences. Women inspire me. “ How long did it take to write it?

“Most of my books have been written pretty quickly, but my first book – This Is Not About Love – took the longest. I worked on it for a couple months and then I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I didn’t write at all while I was pregnant. My mind was preoccupied and I felt like it was a foolish hobby considering I had so much to do in preparation for the baby.

But then a week after I had my daughter, I started writing again. It took me several more months to finish.

3. Did you know when you began writing that it would be published? I never planned on trying to publish. I wanted to write it and accomplish something I could feel good about. Plus, I found that writing was sort of like reading, only I could control the direction and outcome of the book. I had no idea how to go about trying to get published, but once it was finished, my sister really pressed me to submit it to publishers. Receiving a contract offer was mind blowing, to say the least.”

4. Was it hard to transition from writing the romance in This Is Not About Love to writing the darkness in the Flocksdale Files.” Not at all. This Is Not About Love is less romance, and more women’s fiction.So, when I started my next book, “

I easily slipped into the female lead character, only this time I added more mystery and a thriller element. I felt more confident in my writing abilities, and I just let Wendi’s story flow. I immediately found that writing the dark stuff came more easily for me, and I enjoyed it even more. In fact, This Is Not About Love was initially intended to be scary too, but it’s the only book I’ve ever written that doesn’t have a horror or thriller element to it.”

5. In “Have you seen this girl” Wendi is troubled to say the least, she spends more time in rehab then in the real world. Why did you choose to write about such a troubled character?

“Wendi is very troubled. I don’t like to write about cookie cutter characters. I like characters who are flawed, experience

conflict, and persevere despite it all There are so many issues addressed in Have You Seen This Girl? and all of them are near and dear to my heart: human trafficking, sexual violence, drug addiction, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, and homelessness. I wanted to write something that could make an impact and leave the reader feeling disturbed, yet inspired, by the outcome. And most of all, I wanted the reader to feel Wendi’s pain and get a realistic interpretation of what someone like her is dealing with.”

6. Where is Flocksdale located?”

“I have—purposefully— never defined Flocksdale’s location. But since someone finally asked, Flocksdale is set in Indiana.”

I’m from Indiana so I found it easier to imagine it being in my own state. I like to get into character when I write, so if I can pick a place or scenario that’s familiar to me, I feel like it improves my ability to write the scene.”

7. What made you want to write a thriller?

“I enjoy reading all kinds of books, but books in the thriller/mystery/horror genres have always been my favorite. I enjoy scary or intense movies as well.

I tend to write stories that I myself would enjoy. My influences explain it all: I grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries, but transitioned into Stephen King and edgy authors like Chuck Palahniuk. So, although I love classic mysteries and straight horror, I like to add an edgy twist to both.”

8. Since you have finished the Flocksdale Files what is next for you?

“It’s been hard saying goodbye to Flocksdale, but I do have many new projects in the works. I recently completed an anthology project that I’m writing for charity with twelve other authors. It will release later in 2016.

My next series is called Horror High, and the first book in it releases April 5, 2016. The first book in the Horror High series is titled Cheerleading Can Be Murder. It can appeal to mature teens and adults. I’m super excited to share the new series with readers, and I have four books planned for it.”

Owned by Trisha Ratliff

recent full-length novel is A Scoundrel by Moonlight, released April 2015 from Grand Central Forever. She’s currently working on the Dashing Widows series of enovellas, with Tempting Mr. Townsend (book 2) out on 27th February. Anna lives on the beautiful east coast of Australia where

Bio: Anna Campbell has written ten multi award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins and her work is published in seventeen languages. Her most

she writes full-time. Her website is www. annacampbell.com You can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/AnnaCampbellFans/ ?pnref=lhc and on Twitter at @AnnaCampbellOz.

Falling in Love on the Page: Writing Convincing Romantic Relationships

by Anna Campbell Happy Valentine’s Day! As a full-time romance writer, I spend my life watching characters fall in love – it’s a fun way to make a living.

But how do you make those tumultuous romantic relationships believable to the reader? I’ m sure we’ve all picked up books where the hero and heroine come together at the end, and our principal is “huh?” or “they’ll be in a divorce court within a year.”

Not how you want people to feel when they reach

the last page of a book you’ve written – whether a romance or a story with romantic elements.

Here are a few thoughts on making those falling in love moments convincing – and irresistibly powerful.

Physical attraction is important in a romance.

That doesn’t mean that all your characters have to be model material with flawless faces and bodies.

In fact, often it’s more interesting if they are normal people. But there needs to be a spark.

Perhaps your hero notices your heroine’s beautiful eyes or saucy strut or lovely hair, or your heroine thinks the hero has a nice smile or broad shoulders.The attraction needs to be invincible and inescapable, because when your characters clash, this sexual link makes it impossible for them to break away from each other and seek an easier option.

How you write that physical attraction depends on your characters – and your story! Do you want an instant flare-up, or the slow build from interest to love? love? Or do you want a coup de foudre moment when your characters finally see what’s been under their noses for so long?

Do you want to write a transformation story – always a popular theme – where the ugly duckling hero/heroine gets some sort of makeover and suddenly appears in all their glory to dazzle their admirer?Whatever you do, there needs to be a chemical reaction between these two people. If you’re skilled at writing attraction, this chemical reaction will become incendiary, even in a sweet romance without hot and heavy love scenes. Given the other person is going to be the love of their life, your hero/heroine has to be constantly conscious of presence, appearance, responses, actions, words.

the other person is going to be the love of their life, your hero/heroine has to be constantly conscious of presence, appearance, responses, actions, words.

The other person needs to be special, unforgettable, and impossible to ignore.But we all know that lasting relationships – in most cases, there will be some commitment to each other by the end of the story – aren’t based on sexual attraction alone.

You need to establish that these people have a mental and/or spiritual affinity that will keep them together when the going gets tough, and will make them fight tooth and nail for their happy ending.

That means your characters should move beyond merely thinking their opposite number is hot, to admiring traits like courage or humor or intelligence or kindness.

It’s those inner qualities that will make your characters fall in love with each other – and your readers fall in love with your characters.

They also help your readers to believe that this relationship will last, even when the taut tummies have started to sag and those fine eyes have a few lines around them.One way to make this affinity clear is to create a special language for your hero and heroine

so they have private jokes or names for each other and they refer back to shared experiences. You want your readers to believe these two are born to be together. Dialogue establishes the relationship between your hero and heroine more vividly than anything else. It’s no accident that banter is a staple of the romantic comedy genre – that back and forth of smart talk is a precursor to more physical exchanges.

Dialogue as foreplay is a great way to establish rapport between your hero and heroine.To give you an example from a classic romance, in Pride and Prejudice, we know Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet

are destined to marry because they’re the two cleverest people in the room, and they get each other’s sense of humor. Nobody else in the story comes near to measuring up to them.

And when Elizabeth falls in love with Darcy, it’s not his fortune or his looks both of which she’s scorned previously – but his character that wins her heart.Another way to build affinity between your characters is to use mirroring techniques.

Even very young characters come onto the page with a world view and a personal history. You can create a powerful link between characters when that world view and personal history have something in

in common. Showing not telling can work particularly well here – it’ s a nice trick if the readers see the similarities while the characters are still trying to make sense of these bewildering new feelings.

These common threads between characters can be the identical or offer subtle echoes and variations. To give you an example from my first book, Claiming the Courtesan, on the surface the nobly born Duke of Kylemore and humble courtesan Verity Ashton have little in common.

But if you dig deeper, both are lone wolves who have had to make hard and often destructive decisions to

survive. When the book starts, both are hiding their true selves from a hostile world. The book charts their journey to intimacy and to a recognition that, whatever the barriers of class and fortune, they’re soul mates after all.In a romantic plot, love is an overwhelmingly powerful force. People need to emerge from the experience of falling in love profoundly changed. changed. If you want your readers to respond strongly to a love story, they have to believe that these characters have undergone a momentous and difficult emotional journey, even in a comedy.

If your story has a happy ending, your readers also need to believe that your characters are better, more complete people for the experience, like gold purified by fire.Obviously I’ve only scratched the surface of what is a massive and very complex topic. But research for this can be fun. Pay close attention to what people do when they fall in love. A wealth of resources surrounds you – books, films, TV, songs, and of course your friends and family, and your own romantic experience.

Readers adore participating in the giddy, heartbreaking, ecstatic dance of love, so don’t short change either your audience or your characters when it comes to the emotional heart of your story.

Owmed by Trisha Ratliff

Wilhelmina Stolen is a Kentucky romance writer.

She

1. How long have you been writing? I have been making up stories since I was a little girl. My imagination has always been an escape for me.

My parents divorced when I was seven and creating a safe, happy place became the norm for me. When the real world became more than I could handle, I zoned out, went into my stories and stayed until I was ready to come back to reality. As I grew older, I created characters, places and plots I could relate to and gave them happy endings.

Writing is my therapy, and without it I would go crazy.

2. Why did you decide to publish?publish? I didn’t have any ambitions towards publication. In fact, I kept my writing a secret from my family until a couple of years ago when my husband

found out. He read Sullivan’s Way and urged me to submit. I was totally against it, but agreed to do so if he would never bring it up again. I submitted to five publishers and expected five refusals. I was in shock when I received an email from 5 Prince Publishing saying they were interested in the manuscript. I stared at that email for at least a half an hour wondering how to respond. Again, my husband nudged me to take the contract and I did. After I signed it, I received three more emails expressing an interest in it. Who knew?

3. Why did you choose to write romance?It is a fantastic genre to write, and I think it is unique because the endings are always happy. No matter what the hero or heroine go through, as readers we know that ending is coming. For the span of

an hour or two, I can take you out of this world and let you live that story.

Break your heart, put you through hell and then have you crying with happiness by the last page.

4. How do you come up with your characters? The key ingredient to any good story are the characters.

Readers must be able to connect with them by emotion.Any emotion. I loathed the character Shane from AMC’s The Walking Dead. I wanted him to die so bad that I actually jumped to my feet and screamed,“Yes!” when he did. The emotion was hate, but I connected.My characters are based on the personalities of the people I know or have known.

Each one is unique and I spend a lot of time getting to know them before I start writing.I ask what are their faults, insecurities, hopes and dreams?What has happened in their life to make them the person they

today? This helps me write scenes based on their personalities and reactions. It creates a chemistry between the characters and really revs up the dialogue. In my current WIP, my heroine is terrified of marriage because her mother has been married three times.

Her fear helps set the stage for conflict when the hero hits her with an unexpected proposal.As an author, you may think you have control, but you don’t. I am always asking, “What would he/she do?”.

Characters drive the story and that’s the way it has to be. Otherwise, you have one dimensional characters wondering through the story chapter by grueling chapter

5. How did you come up with the "Way of Hearts Saga"?I love history and genealogy. When my children were small, I spent a lot of time combing through our family history and the history of the area we live in. My overactive imagination saw every letter or picture as a “what if”. It was the same way with Sullivan’s Way. It started with an old journal from a distant relative.

6. Do you have a writing process and what is it?it?

My writing process starts with the story. What is the troupe? When I know that, I limit my planning to two sheets of paper.The first sheet has the beginning (time period/ setting/ opening hook), climax and resolution.The second sheet helps me nail down external conflicts, secondary characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, links to other books in the series, and the internal conflicts and physical

descriptions of the hero and heroine. Once its complete, I start writing the first draft. I put it away for a couple of weeks, and don’t look at it, read it or think about it. I usually spend this time outlining the next book in the series. With fresh eyes, I read through it, do my re-writes and edits and send it off to my beta readers. When they send it back, I go over it again, make changes if I feel they are necessary and submit it to my editor.

7. How do you deal with writers block? When the words won’t flow, I turn off my computer and read. I take a break, go for a long walk and have lunch with my friends. I make myself forget about the story for a little while.

8. The "Way of Hearts Saga" is historical romance how do you do research for your novels?

There are all kinds of ways to research a topic. When I’ m working on a historical, I frequent the library and area historical society.

Through social media, I am connected with a network of experts, authors and history enthusiasts who are always more than happy to answer my questions and hear my ideas.

9. How do you feel the Sullivan family changed from book one to book two?The saga is about two families, the Sullivan’s and the Coldiron’s. They share a secret and the second book reveals parts of that secret. Sullivan’s Way centered around the Sullivan family while Love Finds Its Way takes Lucas, the adopted son to Texas in search of his past, and introduces the Coldiron family into the

saga. Callie Sullivan, the youngest daughter has matured into a strong young woman with aspirations and capabilities far beyond the average woman of 1870. She is instrumental in the day to day operations of the Sullivan Mining Company, the lifeblood of the newly established town of Honesty, Virginia.

10. With two books published in the series and two more to go before your saga is complete what can fans expect from the series?

I had planned on six books in the saga, but decided to cut it down to four. The last two contemporaries will bring the story started in 1865 to the present, and will wrap up questions about the secret they share. I’m also working on outlines for Sutton Mackenna and Walter Delaney.

Two of my favourite characters from Love Finds Its Way. Way to Redemption is the first contemporary and will be out in the fall. The blurb and an excerpt can be found on my website at www.wilhelminastolen. com It is a continuation of the Coldiron family and is by far my favorite of the three. It also gives readers a peek at Justice Rebel, the leading man in the second book in my Bad Boys of Rebel Road erotic series written under the pseudonym Edee Monroe.

Wanna keep Up with Miss Stolen? http://www. wilhelminastolen.com/ https://twitter. com/WStolen https://www.facebook. com/Wilhelmina-Stolen17

Owned by Trisha Ratliff

Love & Unlove: A Dialogue, by Jim Ringel Her: We’ve been together so long, I don’t know if it’s love or unlove between us.

Him: Did you ever love me?

Her: Yes. Him: And now?

Her: I don’t think so.

Him: Then it’s neither. Neither love nor unlove. It’s dislove.

Unlove would be you never loved me. Like unavowed and disavowed. Disavow is when you no longer acknowledge something. Unavow is when you keep it hidden. Never acknowledge it.

Her: Really? I wonder. What is love? Did I ever love you? I can’t tell anymore.

Him: But maybe…

Her: Maybe. Yes. Him: Then it’s dislove.

Her: Why not unlove. Maybe when I thought I loved you, it was really something else.

Him: You think the only way to experience love is to through unlove? Like we understand east because it is the opposite of west.

Her: Do you think you can only love someone if you unlove someone else?

Him: I suppose it helps.

There is no love without unlove. How would we know what to call it, if we didn’t know what it’s not?

Her: It’s not love.

Him: Once it was.

Her: I suppose.

Him: That’s dis-love.

Her: How can you be so sure? What about when you unlike someone? Doesn’t that mean you once liked them, and now don’t.

Dislike is like…you just don’t like them at all. Not ever.

Him: I think we have to agree to disagree on that one?

Her: We never agree? On anything.

Him: So then we unagree.

Her: What do you mean?

Him: That you never loved me.

Her: I don’t even know if I know you.

Him: Ever?

Her: Yes. Ever. Never. I have never known you. Not really.

Him: So I am unknown.

Wow. That hurts. Being disknown, that I could tolerate.

But unknown… What do you mean, not even a little?

Her: Not a lot.

Him: So a little.

Her: I suppose I’d say, I disknow a little about you, but I unknow so much more.

Him: What did you once know that you now dis-know.

Maybe we could build on that.

Her: I don’t know.

Him: So you unknow?

Her: It just feels like it’s over.

Like unlove. Like I’m starting to unknow things about were once dis-known.

His: That’s unpossible.

Her: You mean, impossible.

Him: What?

Her: There is no word unpossible.

Him: There is no word unlove either. It’s meaningless.

Her: Does that make love meaningful?

Him: I suppose not.

Her: Then let’s not discuss it anymore.

Him: I didn’t realize we were.

Jim Ringel is the author of the sales noir novel, WOLF, published by Curiosity Quills.

He is currently working on a Buddhist detective series.

Follow Jim at www.jimringel. com

Owned by Trisha Ratliff

Love/Unlove Writing Prompts Here are some writing propmts. Take ten minutes to write a story that goes with one of the themes, then take ten more to edit! Do it with friends and share your idea!

Valentine's day 1. Classic Valentine's day 2. Chaotic Valentine's Day

Singles Day 1. Single and happy 2. Independence

3. The Romantic date

3. Single on Valentines day

4. Dream valentine

4. The breakup

Owned

by Trisha Ratliff