SquawkRadio

Last week, I put up a poll asking what you thought was wrong with romance novels. I knew this was a subject near and dear to our hearts, but I had no idea there would be over 1100 votes on the poll http://www.squawkradio.com/index.php/sblog/christina_dodd_asks_you_to_fill_in_the_poll and 121 comments on the blog. http://www.squawkradio.com/index.php/sblog/christina_dodd_asks_what_is_wrong_with_romance_novels_today I’m pretty sure all of us Squawkers read every comment, and we sent the results of the poll to our editors. What you said was without malice and so thoughtful and insightful, and the poll itself revealed so much, I’ve decided to try and interpret the votes and reply to a few of the comments. Please don’t yell at me, I can’t help it — I’m a numbers junkie and fascinated by anything I think will help me understand what makes romance work as the most popular genre in publishing.

So — the main thing that interested me in the poll was that opinions were so evenly distributed. NOTHING was a huge stand-out, and some of the virtual ties made me giggle —
Tied with 3% of the vote:
Heroine is a virgin (23)
Heroine is too experienced sexually (24)
I think we can safely say that some readers really care and some people really don’t, but most readers are willing to read either kind of heroine.

Another one that had me going was the wimpy hero vs. the alpha hero. At about 500 votes, that was tied, too, but around 800 votes, wimpy pulled away to win 35 to 19. So okay, alpha heroes may irritate, but not nearly as much as wimps.

The cover art one surprised me a lot (From the poll: cover art doesn’t portray novel correctly). I flung that one in at the last moment because I thought we needed something involving a concrete item rather than everything being conceptual, and the fact it was one of the top three things readers voted on amazed me.

Also, in the comments under the poll, Rene said...”One of the things that drive me nuts about a book is reading the back cover and getting an idea in my head how the book is going to be and then WHAM! Totally different book - hasn’t happened too often but often enough to tick me off!” Good point, Rene, and one I forgot to include that I’ll bet would have gotten a lot of votes!

Heymommy said, “One thing that was not included in the poll that really does make me throw the book against the wall is lack of editing/bad editing/no editing. What happened to proofreading? Big name publishers that used to produce quality work are now releasing books with typos, misspelled words, wrong gender pronouns, etc. and I can’t fully express just how distracting it is to me. One main reason I read as often as I do is to escape from my everyday life into the story. When I have to stop and mentally correct something in the book and think “oh, that should be ‘her’ not ‘him’ then I am no longer immersed in the story and I strongly resent that. When I purchase a new book, I feel I am paying not only for the author’s created story but also the printing, the cover art, the editing, proofreading, paper quality, ink, etc.” Okay, heymommy, that was another one I forgot, and I suspect it would have been a big vote-getter.

Lisa R spoke to one of my great fears as a writer when she said...”I hate rushed endings.  There are some books I’ve read where it seems obvious the writer was hurried because of a deadline.  The last couple of chapters didn’t have the same flavor as the rest of the book and everything was wrapped up too quickly and neatly.” She got some high-fives for that one!

Overall, as I looked at the preponderance of votes and tried to tie them together in some coherent direction, it seems the Big Complaint was that the books aren’t romantic enough. IrishEyes said...”What I don’t like in my romances and what I’m finding more and more is that the relationship is relegated to second place among all the intrigue and world building!  I’d like for the relationship to be first. … If I want reality I’ll watch the nightly news.”

Look at the poll results:
Not enough romance — I don’t feel the couple fall in love (87) 8%
Not enough sexual tension — couple falls too quickly into bed (104) 9%
Not enough time spent getting to know hero and heroine as fully rounded characters (114) 10%
Issues faced by the hero and heroine aren’t big enough to make me care whether they overcome them (50) 5%
No sense that this hero and this heroine are destined for and can only love each other (60) 5%
Sex scenes have no emotion, just a recitation of physical acts (74) 7%

“>We certainly had some other triggers points — the cover art, the series question, and the lack of variety in setting and genre. But I can’t do anything about the cover art, or the lack of variety in setting or genre, and I like writing books in a series (although Teresa has completely different ideas there.) But story I can control, so as I finished my copy edit for TOUCH OF DARKNESS, I focused on the relationship between the hero and heroine, on upping the sexual tension and that sense that the hero and heroine were meant for each other. I made sure the sex was both hot and meaningful, and added details that would bring their characters into sharper focus.

Did I improve the editing? Oh, God, I hope so.

Do you think I interpreted the poll correctly? Do you see another trend in the results? I’m listening to anything you say, so speak now because I’ve writing a new romantic suspense and I need all the input I can get!

Then check back this afternoon when I unveil the bookshelves and storage in my office. Be prepared to drool …

Dear Friends,

In the back of every month’s issue Vanity Fair, there is a list of questions answered by some guest celebrity. Proust himself once answered them, as a popular party game. The questions are always the same, but the answers are often remarkably different . . . and quite revealing!

Here is a mini version of the Proust questionnaire, which I thought it might be fun for all of us to fill out!

1. What do you regard as the lowest depths of misery?
2. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
3. What are the qualities you most admire in a person?
4. What is your favorite leisure activity?
5. What is your motto?

Here are my answers:

1. Misery: Any time I have to get on an airplane
2. Happiness: Being cozy with my family in a clean house
3. Admire: kindness, self-discipline, intellectual curiostiy
4. Leisure activity: Reading a wonderful book
5. Motto: Just keep swimming

If you get a chance, please answer the mini-Proust questionnaire—we would love to read your answers!

The most common question asked an author has got to be, “What is your process? How do you *work*?” Every time I’ve been asked this question I’ve come up with a different answer because I don’t have a process. And ugly as I know it to be, sometimes I just say stuff ‘cause it sounds good. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not this way by choice.

I go to workshops by famous authors, I listen, I nod, I agree and I leave convinced that if I were to just follow the pearl strewn path to success the famous author has kindly dropped to lead me and others like me to the promised land of authorial efficiency, I would be a happier and, more importantly, more productive. Everything makes sense in a workshop or an interview or, hopefully, a blog. There’s a beginning, middle and end. There’s a problem and a solution, there’s a question and an answer. But writing isn’t like that. At least not for me. It’s a mess. An ugly Petri dish experiment run amuck where a damp and fetid imagination (mine) is seeded with a few kernels of inspiration (sometimes mine) which I then spend months attempting to colonize into a good Roquefort blue. See what I mean? Even simple analogies run away screaming.

I have friends who actually do have a process. They do not understand me and I do not understand them. They have been known to call me up and when apprised of how I have spent my day, hang up in disgust. You know who you are. I think this is unfair. Do you think I want to be process-less? Do you think I want a Petri dish imagination? Do you think it’s pleasant to anticipate Roquefort and end up with penicillin? It’s not. It’s frustrating, inefficient and downright embarrassing. But it’s also the truth and in the future if you should ever hear me expound upon my process in an interview or article, be advised that that I am without a doubt a> talking about the process that worked for that single book b> talking about someone else’s process that sounded really good c> outright lying d> expressing a hope because I, Connie Brockway, have no reliable, recognizable, habitual process (but neither does, Terri, so there! And Christina had one but she packed it up when she moved and hasn’t unloaded yet. And Liz’s process is on hiatus and Eloisa’s process is Italian and hasn’t learned to speak English yet and Lisa’s is still catching up on its sleep after being on tour.)

How about the rest of you? Whether in writing or some other area of your life, do you have a fall back stance? Do you have a routine you can count on to get you from point a to b? Tell me what it is, or isn’t.

So who else is watching “Dancing with the Stars” this go-round? I confess I’ve been a ballroom dance geek since I was a kid (my mom and dad used to go dancing at the American Legion Post twice a month), and for those of us who have always considered it hip and happenin’, it’s nice to see the art form becoming more appreciated by the mainstream.  This season is looking to be nicely competitive, with a handful of couples already showing enormous talent. (Laila Ali, anyone? Apolo Ohno?)

But as I was watching it last night, I realized there are a number of things we writers can learn from watching ballroom dancers:

1) Technique isn’t enough. Even if you master the steps perfectly (and even if you master writing mechanics perfectly), you still have to put passion and personality into your performance.  Watching technically perfect but passionless dancing is like watching traffic go by.

2) Passion and personality aren’t enough. On the other hand, even if you have a lot of enthusiasm for what you’re doing, and even if you’re adorable, if you can’t learn the basic steps, your performance is going to make people wince.

3) Dancing is HARD WORK. So is writing. And both take a lot of out of you, often to the point where you’re exhausted. The trick is to make it look easy and effortless, even when you’re in pain from trying to perfect your performance.

4) You have to have fun, or else what’s the point? The best dancers last night were the ones who smiled and laughed as they were dancing, the ones who were obviously enjoying themselves. If you love what you’re doing, the aforementioned passion and enthusiasm come naturally. Not to mention, it balances the hard work nicely.

5) A lot can be overcome by looking good. And by that, I don’t mean you have to be thin and tan, with calves like a goddess and breasts that defy gravity. What I mean is, looking and acting polished and professional might make the difference between your score and the score of a competitor.

Like dancing, writing is an art form, and it ain’t easy. Some have a natural gift, while others have to work harder to achieve the same results. And some, unfortunately, will just never get it. But those who love it, and work for it, can often achieve MAGIC. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a mambo...I mean, manuscript..that I need to work on.

Who else is loving “Dancing with the Stars?” Who are your favorite couples? What do you think it’s worth working hard for to achieve?

Click here to see Lisa in a clip of her book tour!
Dear Friends,

I had the most exhilarating book tour, but oh, I’m glad to be home! It seems the older I get, the more particular I become . . . I like my own coffee machine, my favorite pillow, the fluffy robe I couldn’t pack because there was no room in the suitcase. Since internet access is so uncertain when you’re traveling, I missed squawking with my friends. And of course, I rather missed Greg and the children too!

But it was all more than worth it, because of the pleasure of meeting and talking with readers. To me, each booksigning was a joyful event, especially as I got to talk all I wanted and no one asked me to be quiet. Heh heh.  Usually I got to speak with a microphone (I love microphones!), while sitting at a table in front of a gathering of readers. I would speak about how I got started writing and describe various twists and turns of my career, and also relate a few personal stories. Then I read a few pages from Sugar Daddy in my full-on Texas accent, and then the best part was Q&A. Oh, you should have heard some of those exchanges—we held nothing back!

Sometimes the crowd was large and boisterous, which of course was great fun . . .but I really enjoyed it when the crowd was smaller because it allowed for a conversational “book club” atmosphere in which we could laugh and share and tell stories.

I was asked quite a lot about Derek Craven and St. Vincent, and most of all Cam Rohan (whose book, “Mine Till Midnight will be out Oct.2) I was also asked a few questions about my Squawker friends (don’t worry, dears, I didn’t divulge anything incriminating! Except, er . . . well, never mind) and most of all, we shared our love of reading and favorite authors. EVERYONE mentioned J.R. Ward and Stephanie Laurens, both of whom had just gone on “the circuit” before me, and are much adored. As I know from experience, both ladies are just that . . . ladies . . . very kind and polished and witty.

To my absolute delight, I met some of our own group, among them Elsie, Santa, J Perry Stone, Andrea, Jodie, and some self-confessed lurkers, and forgive me because I know I’m forgetting a few people, but I don’t have access to all my brain cells this morning! So thanks to them for making my book tour such a special experience, and to everyone who came to visit me. Those few minutes of our lives intersecting were very precious to me.

Now having finished my own book tour, I want to go to some other authors’ booksignings. If you could go to anyone’s book signing, who would it be and why?

AND CELEBRATE SOME HAPPY SQUAWKERS....

The RITA Award Finalists were announced today, and among the finalists are:

Christina Dodd, BAREFOOT PRINCESS
Eloisa James, TAMING OF THE DUKE
Lisa Kleypas, DEVIL IN WINTER and SCANDAL IN SPRING

HUZZAH!!!

LIZ is away from the computer tonight but TERESA and CONNIE wanted to post a pic from their joyful celebration as they discovered Eloisa, Christina, and Lisa were RITA finalists…

Oh wait!  Here comes Liz now with her joyous well wishes!

I was going to blog on The Jayhawks last Sunday, but I was still recovering from a writing workshop I did the week before and was just too beat (read: I’d talked so much, I was temporarily out of words). It was just as well, however. That was the same day the Kansas Jayhawks knocked the Kentucky Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament, and had I said anything positive about any Jayhawks that day, Terri would have likely driven all the way to Louisville to hit me with a brick.

But I did want to blog about the Jayhawks. As I said, I recently did a week-long writing workshop at a local university, which meant making the drive downtown and back seven times along one of my favorite driving routes--River Road. It is just what it suggests, a winding two-lane canopied by trees that follows the Ohio River on one side, and lovely, grand old neighborhoods like Glenview and the Lime Kiln Lane area on the other. It’s the kind of drive you want to make with mellow, melodic, beautiful music, especially when you’re making it in the dark.

Enter the Jayhawks with “Rainy Day Music” (which could have just as easily been titled “Night Driving Music”).  It’s one of my husband’s CDs that I picked up especially because I wanted something new to listen to for the thirty-minute one-way trip. I actually picked up about six CDs for that week, but I ended up listening to this one almost exclusively. It’s just that wonderful.

There are elements of folk here, more of country, maybe a little rock.  Roots music, perhaps, would be a good description. Though there were places where I coulda sworn I was listening to something slow by John Lennon. There were more places, however, where I could hear shades of Crosby, Stills and Nash. (Strange, since I was never a big CSN fan. Or Y, for that matter, back when that letter/guy was part of the band.) There are melodies and harmonies that are just gorgeous, and lead singer/songwriter Gary Louris has a voice that’s heartbreakingly melancholy. 

Which I suppose is appropriate for a collection that includes titles like “Stumbling through the Dark,” “Tailspin,” “Save It for a Rainy Day,” “One Man’s Problem,” and “Will I See You in Heaven.” Even the more upbeat music of “Come to the River” includes lyrics like, “My harp is tuned to the mourning wind/My flute to the voice that weeps within.” It’s not exactly a happy album. But it’s one of the most beautiful I’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to.

The Jayhawks have been around since the mid-eighties, but this CD, released in 2003 was only their seventh--and looks to be the last, since they’ve reportedly split up. The band seems to have seen a steady stream of musicians coming and going over the years (though Louris and bass player Marc Perlman were founding members). It’s a shame, if this CD is an indication of their gift and talent.  I was hoping to find a long backlist for them, and anticipating another rich collection in the future.

All the more reason, then, to cherish “Rainy Day Music.” It truly is a musical gem.