How To Make Your Villains Scary

I’m very pleased to welcome master craftswoman Rayne Hall back to my blog. Today she shares some tips on creating excellent villains. She’s also offering a free mini-seminar this weekend on creating suspense and her Scary Scenes workshop starts in October. Details on these must-attend events available after the article.

Special Guest: Rayne Hall on Making Your Villains Scary

Most novels and short stories have an antagonist (someone who opposes the protagonist), and this person or creature is often dangerous and perhaps evil. Here are ten professional techniques for making them truly scary.

1. The villain thinks of himself as a good guy who will do anything for what he believes is a noble cause.
2. He has a genuinely good side – perhaps he is a loving son who cares for his ageing parents, or he goes out of his way to protect children from harm.
3. During the first encounter, he seems pleasant and likeable.
4. Describe his voice. (“His voice sounded like a ….”)
5. He smiles rarely – but when he does, describe the smile in detail, comparing the shape of his mouth to something dangerous.
6. Describe his hands, the way they move, the texture of the skin, the shape of the nails.
7. Describe his eyes by comparing their colour to something unpleasant or dangerous.
8. Describe the way he moves. To increase the suspense, give him slow, deliberate movements.
9. What does the villain smell of? Innocuous smells, such as mothballs and peppermint toothpaste can work well.
10. Avoid clichés such as maniacal laughter and hot stinking breath.

Although this article uses the word “he” for the villain, your antagonist can of course be a devious female!

Free Suspense Mini Seminar
Rayne Hall will teach a free mini-seminar “Creating Suspense” on September 29-30, 2012. You need to have an account with Coffee Time Romance to join; creating an account is free.

Book Cover “Writing Scary Scenes” – Online Class
Are your frightening scenes scary enough? Learn practical tricks to turn up the suspense. Make your readers’ hearts hammer with suspense, their breaths quicken with excitement, and their skins tingle with goose bumps of delicious fright. Whether you’re working on a ghost story, a thriller, a paranormal romance, an urban fantasy or a romantic suspense, this workshop is perfect for planning or revising your scary scenes. One month, twelve lessons, twelve assignments, individual feedback. If you wish, you may submit a scene for critique at the end of the class.
This class requires that students have mastered basic fiction writing techniques. It is not suitable for beginners.
October 2012, $20: Hearts Through History

“Writing Scary Scenes” – Ebook
This book contains professional techniques for creating suspense and fear in all kinds of situations: from escapes and chases to encounters with devious villains. The book contains more material than the class and is suitable for reference or self-study.
Available on: Amazon.com | Kobo | Barnes&Noble | iTunes | Smashwords

Rayne Hall Wizard Portrait by Leah Skerry About Rayne Hall
Rayne Hall has published more than thirty books under different pen names with different publishers in different genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Recent books include Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel), Six Historical Tales Vol 1, Six Scary Tales Vol 1, 2 and 3 (mild horror stories), Six Historical Tales (short stories), Six Quirky Tales (humorous fantasy stories), Writing Fight Scenes and Writing Scary Scenes (instructions for authors).

She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft and more.

Her short online classes for writers are intense with plenty of personal feedback. Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing about Magic and Magicians, The Word Loss Diet and more.

For more information about Rayne Hall visit her website.

Image Credit:
Wizard portrait of Rayne Hall by Leah Skerry. Used with permission of Rayne Hall.

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Must-Read Romance Book Review: Hearts In Darkness

Laura Kaye = Writer on Fire

Hearts In Darkness Book Cover Sweet, heartwarming moments, sensual, sexy scenes…Laura Kaye’s novella Hearts In Darkness has it all. And most of it takes place in an elevator. In the dark.

As plot devices go, this is a clever one but also one that could easily backfire were it not in the hands of a master storyteller such as Laura Kaye. Without the use of sight, the hero and heroine – Caden and Makenna – must rely on their other senses to get to know each other. The author does a fantastic job using scent, sound, and touch to draw us into their budding romance.

Their conversation toggles between amusing, light banter and poignant confessions, while pierced-and-tattooed, nice-guy, alpha male Caden struggles with his fear of enclosed spaces. Only Makenna’s voice (and eventually her touch) keeps him from losing it. Caden’s flaw and his tortured past make him all the more endearing to the reader, so one can’t help but root for a happily-ever-after for the couple when the power comes back on.

Bottom line: Hearts In Darkness is a real gem, one you’ll love to read again and again.

Book Cover Design / Image Credit:
By Rae Monet, Inc. Design, all rights reserved.

More Excellent Reads by Laura Kaye

Connect with Laura Kaye
To learn more about this best-selling author, visit her Web site and follow her on Twitter.

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Contest: Launching A Star 2012

Submit First Fifteen Pages of Your Romance

flower

Spacecoast Authors of Romance, Chapter 187 of Romance Writers of America, is holding a writing contest. I entered a manuscript in this contest in 2011 and received excellent, useful feedback from their judges.

Categories:
Historical, General Paranormal, Series Contemporary, Single Title (Contemporaries, Women’s Fiction, Romantic Element, Erotic, etc.), Futuristic/Fantasy (urban fantasy, time/dimensional travel, sci fi), Young Adult, Romantic Suspense(ST), Inspirational(ST).

Important Dates:

  • September 15, 2012 – Submission deadline
  • November 12, 2012 – Notification for 1st-round finalists
  • Mid-December – Winners notified

For more information, including rules and submission guidelines, visit the Spacecoast Authors of Romance web site.

Image:
“Star” Photo – Copyright 2012 Elinor Mills, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

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FF&P News: 2012 “On The Far Side” Finalists Announced

FF&P, aka the fantasy, futuristic and paranormal special interest, subchapter of the RWA, announces the finalists for its 2012 “On the Far Side” Unpublished Fiction Contest.

Congrats to all of the finalists! Winners to be announced October 2012.

Paranormal

Romantic Elements

  • “Fragile Hearts” Renee Henry*
  • “Shadowdemon” Amanda Byrne
  • “Red Tide” Paula Leonard Huffman* (chapter one available on Web site)

Time Travel/Steampunk/Historical

Sci-Fi/Futuristic

Young Adult

Urban Fantasy

  • “Catalyst” Laura Welling*
  • “Evition Eyes” Cassandra L. Shaw*
  • “Violet Sees Red” Katt Lloyd*

( * = FF&P Chapter Member )

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Book Review: Writing Scary Scenes

Must-Have Reference for Genre Writers

Book Cover Writing Scary Scenes is another excellent offering from author, teacher, and master craftswoman Rayne Hall. Recommended for writers of many genres (romance, mystery, suspense, horror), this concise reference book covers every possible aspect for creating skin crawling, heart racing moments in your story.

Numerous examples are included to spark the writer’s imagination. Rayne also supplies an extensive list of euphonics – words for every mood or situation (fear, apprehension, fights, foreboding, etc.), useful when editing weak words from your manuscript.

Last but not least, Rayne offers up three of her own short stories, all great reads, and shining examples of her techniques at work. This reference is a must-have addition to the writer’s craft library.

Buy The Book
Writing Scary Scenes is available on Amazon and Smashwords

Also recommended: Rayne’s Writing Fight Scenes.

Rayne Hall caricature by Kuoke Rayne Hall is a professional writer and editor. She teaches online workshops for intermediate, advanced and professional level writers.

For an up-to-date list of classes with Rayne Hall visit: https://sites.google.com/site/writingworkshopswithraynehall/

Image Credit:
Author portrait (Woman in Blue) by Kuoke. Copyright Rayne Hall.

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In the Spotlight: Author January Bain

I’m delighted to welcome a special guest today, my fellow author at Champagne Book Group, January Bain. She’s here to tell us about her upcoming release Forever Woman, book two in her Forever Series. But first, let’s learn some fun facts about January.

author photo: January Bain

How long have you been writing?   I’d guess I’ve been preparing to write all my life from the time my mother read to me as a small child (a chapter a night), to the day I found a primer at the age of six on the roadside and taught myself to read, to writing reams of poetry as a teenager to penning my first attempt at a story at about the same time. I’m thoroughly addicted and not ashamed to admit it! Others have vices that damage themselves and others, but I just like to squirrel away words that create paragraphs, that create scenes that make a movie in my head. The fact that others want to share in the worlds I create is amazing to me and will always be.

What’s on your bookshelf and/or in your To Be Read pile?   Just finished Rita Bay’s gem of a novella, Into The Lyons’ Den and am currently reading Jude Johnson’s Dragon’s Legacy that has me spellbound.

Do you have a favorite author?   Growing up it was Stephen King. Loved his way of taking over in his novels. Now I have so many from having been an avid reader all my life that it would be unfair to mention any names because I’m sure to miss one!

If the Earth was about to be destroyed to make way for a Hyperspace Bypass (Hello, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and you have mere minutes to vacate, what book would you grab to take with you? In addition to your towel, of course.   My e-reader because I never go anywhere without it!!!

Favorite food:   I’m always on a diet losing and gaining the same darn five pounds! When I’m on the upswing it’s Lay’s potato chips but I still find I count each one and add up the carbs and calories in my head. I guess it’s a form of mind control because otherwise I’d eat the whole darn bag!

Favorite color:   Depends on my mood. Right now it’s blue/green as we’ve been painting our home that shade that seems to bring the world inside. We are lucky, my husband Don and I, we live on twenty acres of Jackpine with great neighbours!

Favorite music:   Music almost always makes me cry so I stay away from it most of the time.

Favorite supernatural creature?   That’s tossup between Angel-Fae and Dragons!

Favorite TV show?   I like TV way too much! It’s a dead heat between Deadwood, Justified, True Blood, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy and Dexter. I always re-watch the full Deadwood series at least once a year. Too bad they only made three seasons because it was so well done! Justified is probably my current favorite.

Milk chocolate or Dark chocolate?   Dark, dark, dark! (Sugar doesn’t agree with me that much and think if you live like a diabetic you might not become one.)

Vampires or werewolves?   Vampires!

Sexy demons or sexy angels?   Sexy Angels because I know them better!

Dragons or witches?   Let There Be Dragons…

Forever Woman book cover

Tell us about your novel.   Well, this summer I’ve been sharing my first release, Forever Man, but I’d really like to talk about Forever Woman, the next book in the Forever Series.

Writing Forever Woman was the kind of experience I can only wish all humans (and especially writers, of course!) could experience at some special time of their lives. I found my full writing voice on this magical journey, discovered the richness of an alternate world, and, I won’t hesitant to say, began to envy vampires! What’s not to like You can to stay young and beautiful forever if you get to be made young; you can acquire great wealth with the full gift of time, you can recover easily from wounds that would smite down a human, and maybe best of all, you get to live with the love of your life forever—that is if you can find them!

That has been Christopher St. John’s, the antagonist’s problem in the novel, as he has lost his mate to betrayal and looks to find another. Well, you can’t just take another man’s love! But he tries and all hell breaks loose. Aidan Hightower, our hero, has his hands full trying to save his love, Winter Kennedy from herself as she has invited Christopher, the head of the Pharaoh Clan to make her a vampire. She has a good reason, but she changes her mind, a woman’s prerogative which the alpha vampire does not take kindly to at all!

I’ll leave it at that! Forever Woman is due out October 1, from Champagne Books.

Book Cover Design / Image Credit:
Cover by artist Petra K, copyright Champagne Book Group, all rights reserved.

Connect with January
I love to hear from readers and writers alike!
Web site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

Buy Forever Man + Read an Excerpt
Champagne Books | Amazon | Book Strand | All Romance

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My Favorite Reads

The Booker Award

It’s all about the books.

The Booker Award iconThe fabulous author and blogger Sabrina Garie has nominated me for the Booker Award. The award targets literary and book-centered blogs. The rules are simple: post my top five books of all time, post the booker award icon, and nominate other bloggers to do the same.

Well…I’m going to break the rules. Or expand on them.

First, I asked my husband and daughter. The husband is a feisty rule-breaker, too; he gave me four, although his fourth pick spans many novels by the same awesome author. And here’s what the girls are reading at my daughter’s elementary school.

Celia’s Sexy-Brained Other Half Says…

  • Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
  • Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • Endurance by Alfred Lansing
  • All of Philip K. Dick

Kindle-wielding Daughter’s Picks…

  • Ally Finkle series by Meg Cabot
  • Just Grace series by Charise Mericle Harper
  • Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
  • Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

Celia Growing Up Liked…

I’ve been an avid reader forever. As a kid, I devoured the Little House on the Prairie and Nancy Drew series, and Asimov’s Hugo winners, to name a few. As a teen, Harlequins and anything by Stephen King ruled my bookshelves along with the classic reads we covered in school. I especially liked Shakespeare’s comedies.

French literature dominated my college reading time. My favorites: 19th century French poets Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Rimbaud, along with early 20th century writer Camus and poet Apollinaire. Read in the original French, bien sur; the only way to go with those trippy guys. I also devoured Anne Rice’s Vampire Lestat series and some Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Celia’s Current Top Five

Okay, now I’ll play by the rules. Sort of. Here are some of my current favs.

  • Agree with the husband-unit: Snow Crash, Hitchhiker’s Guide, All of P.K. Dick
  • Throwing in some graphic novels, especially Promethea series, Watchmen
  • No surprise here: vampire (and other paranormal) novels – J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark Series, Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series, etc. ad infinitum.
  • In romance-land (contemporary and paranormal): anything by Laura Kaye.

And The Booker Award Goes to…

  • Julie Chiron: Multimedia artist and writer of compelling short stories and powerful poetry.
  • M. Luke McDonell: Author of thought-provoking speculative fiction.
  • Angela Quarles: Romance writer of sassy steampunk, tempting time travel and more.
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Meet Author Leah Ridgewood

Blog Guest: Spicy n’ Sweet, Leah Ridgewood

Hello Dear Readers. Today, I’m delighted to welcome my special guest Leah Ridgewood. Leah writes sweet and sexy erotic fiction. Her stories are thoroughly engaging, with great settings, solid plots, and compelling characters. Read one and you’ll definitely want more. Here are some fun facts about this talented author.

How long have you been writing?
I always loved to write, even essays in school, but I’m pretty sure I became a storyteller through my fantasy life. I had this neurosis, beginning as a teenager, that I could not simply imagine making out with Brad Pitt—there had to be a plausible story about how I would meet him, and why we would hit it off before we could start making out. This dilemma still plagues me, but it inspires a lot of absurd, twisty, hilarious stories. And as my fantasies get more interesting, you can imagine the back-story requires more creativity.

What’s on your bookshelf and/or in your To Be Read pile?
My erotica shelf includes Cherise Sinclair’s Masters of the Shadowlands Series (thanks to Celia’s recommendation), Delilah Claire’s debut of the Sin Fair in A Lady Bound, Ava Myer’s smart and aptly named Red Hot Cops Series, and Mark Pritchard’s shockingly sexy short stories in Too Beautiful.

Do you have a favorite author?
I don’t have just one. But, I’ll mention Karen Marie Moning, because the eroticism of the final two books in her Fever Series inspired my path towards fiction writing. One day, I want to write a character as complicated and sexy as Jericho Barrons.

Favorite food: Is coffee a food?

Favorite color: Red

Favorite music:
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. Whenever my husband plays it, I know he’s trying to get on my good side.

Favorite supernatural creature?
I really like the Seminus Demons in Larissa Ione’s Demonica series.

Favorite TV show? True Blood.

Milk chocolate or Dark chocolate?
Dark all the way, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. I think Dove miniatures are really yummy.

Vampires or werewolves?
Uh. Vampires. Duh. Dogs are sweet, not sexy.

Sexy demons or sexy angels?
If there is an erotica author who dares to answer this question “angels,” she should have her license to write smut revoked.

Dragons or witches?
My paranormal alter ego says witches, but Leah will admit to a taste for dragons, thanks to a naughty little story called Larkspur by Anny Cook.

Tell us about your story.
My novelette, Threesome: Take Me, Too is free on Amazon on August 8th and 9th.

It’s a romantic M/F/M story about Aimee, who has had a crush on her gay best friend Dan for as long as she can remember. Dan and his boyfriend Luis are on the rocks, so Luis asks Aimee to play center stage in a steamy threesome, to help them restore their spark.

The premise is a little absurd, and it makes for all kinds of tension about who feels left out, and about who desires whom and why. Aimee, Dan and Luis are especially likable characters for a piece of short erotica, and I’d sure love for you to meet them.

Want more? Read an EXCERPT here. For Adults Only – 18+.

More Leah
Leah Ridgewood has a respectable day job, another pen name with which she signs her paranormal novels, two children and two cats. She lives in San Francisco with her adorable husband, who is equal parts vampire and werewolf.

Buy Take Me, Too at Amazon. P.S. It’s FREE August 8 – 9, 2012.

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A Look at Russian Folklore, with Larisa Walk

Special Guest: Larisa Walk

Larisa Walk, author of paranormal romance and historical fiction, joins us today with an article about the Fae of Russia and a peek at her historical fantasy novel, A Handful of Earth. Enjoy.

Russian Fairyland
by Larisa Walk

From ancient times and, in some cases, to this day, the Russians have believed that the world around them was populated by many spirits. Some of the spirits were similar to the creatures of the English and Irish fairyland; whereas many others were unique to Russia.

In English folklore, a brownie is a spirit that protects a person’s house and farm and even helps out with chores if the people who own the house please it. In Russia, on the other hand, there are several spirits that inhabit the homestead.

Domovoi – There is the domovoi whose domain is the house. He helps out with chores if he is happy, but woe to the people in the household if they upset the domovoi, because he will rattle pots and pans, howl in the walls and even strangle a person in her sleep.

Ovinnik – An ovinnik takes care of the threshing house where he looks after the proper handling and drying of the harvested wheat.

Dvorovoi – A dvorovoi rules over the yard and cares for the animals that live there.

Polevik – A polevik is in charge of the fields.

Bannik – Even the bathhouse has its spirit, the bannik.

There are also spirits of lakes, rivers, forests, swamps, and even a spirit of the midday sun.

There are many rules about keeping all these spirits happy and not causing mischief to the people. For example, if you want to please your domovoi, the house spirit, you set out a dish of milk or some bread and honey; you keep your house clean; and, if you are to move to another house, you invite the domovoi to come with you.

If someone in the household is about to die, the domovoi would appear to the inhabitants of the house looking like the person who would soon perish. The domovoi may also appear as a dog, a cat or another household animal, but his true form is that of an old man about 2 feet tall with a long beard and shaggy hair.

Russian fairy creatures are part of the legacy from pagan times when people believed in many gods and spirits. With the coming of Christianity the belief in spirits survived, though not without changes. It was thought that the nature and household spirits were once angels that had fallen from grace and were now stuck on Earth. They were considered to be “unclean powers”, though not necessarily demonic or completely evil.

About The Author
Larisa Walk is a writer of paranormal and historical fiction. Her historical fantasy novel, A Handful of Earth, includes some of the creatures from Russian fairyland described above.

Book cover: A Handful of Earth, by Larisa Walk
Yaroslava is a princess without a throne. Her small city-state in the south of Russia has fallen to the Mongol Horde. Many believe that God Himself opened the gates of Hell to unleash the Mongol demons to punish people for their sins.

She must endure her new life as a slave if she is to free her people and herself. In captivity she is surrounded by many enemies: a fellow slave with an old grudge; a water spirit that wants to imprison her soul in its river; a jealous concubine that can harm with an evil eye.

Yaroslava must find courage to save her people and defeat her enemies in a handful of earth that absorbed the blood of her dying father.

You can find A Handful of Earth, on Amazon.com, and read an excerpt on Larisa’s Web site.

More Larisa Walk
To learn more about the author, visit her blog and follow her on Twitter.

Book Cover Credit:
copyright Larisa Walk, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

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Golden Palm 2012

Writing Contest for Unpublished Romance Authors

Palm Trees photo by Elinor Mills

This contest is brought to you by the Florida Romance Writers, the Southeast Florida chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA).

Submit twenty-five double-spaced pages for consideration.

Final judges:

  • Contemporary Romance: Angela James, Executive Editor, Carina Press
  • Paranormal/Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Time Travel: Leslie Wainger, Editor at Large, Harlequin
  • Historical: Elaine Spencer, Agent, Knight Agency
  • Single Title: Micki Nuding, Sr. Editor, Pocket Books

Important Dates:

  • August 15, 2012 – Submission deadline
  • Approximately October 23, 2012 – Notification for 1st-round finalists
  • January 2013 – Winners announced on conference cruise.

For more information, including rules and submission guidelines, visit the Florida Romance Writers Web site.

Image:
Palm Trees Photo – Copyright 2012 Elinor Mills, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

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