While enthusiasts spent the night tracking and wrestling gators on the still, blue waters of Lake Okeechobee, hubby and I snuggled in for an evening watching the Lake Placid movies. Might have been more realistic if the setting was Lake Placid, FLORIDA where there are real alligators and not up in the North East. And someone should have taken the time to at least google alligator behavior and habitats.

Another thing I notice was the confusion between alligator and crocodile. The two are not interchangeable. Like a rat and a squirrel. Both are rodents, but they aren’t the same rodent.

Loved Betty White in the original. John Schneider didn’t quite steal my heart in #2 the way he did in the Dukes of Hazzard (the original TV show, not the movie remake). Yancy Butler was the tough, go-getter cougar that I expected her to be in 3.

So, what did I learn about this monstrous trilogy?

It’s not enough to simply make something larger than life. You have to make it believable or it becomes farcical. Monsters, even supernatural ones, should come equipped with predictable behavior traits. Random chaos doesn’t apply, because if you want to get into the quantum matter of things, there is order even in chaos. But, that’s another topic.

Everything in the universe adheres to rules and patterns. When world building or monster making, that is an important fact to remember. It should be the foundation of your creation.

Without a core structure to support all the fantastical things that a writer can imagine, the creation falls apart. Think of the human body without a skeleton, a skyscraper without the steel supports,  a jellyfish without its fibrous membranes. Take out the internal structure and what’s left is a puddle of goo.

Plan your monsters carefully. Give them strengths and weaknesses and use those to their advantage and against them. The stakes for the hero/heroine should be high, but not unobtainable. They can’t be defeated at every turn and then suddenly defeat the monster in the last second using the same weapons, cunning, etc., that failed them time and time again. To do so is the result of lackluster writing and an underactive imagination. Trust me, if the writer isn’t interested in investing the time needed to carefully craft their monsters, the reader/viewer won’t be either.

Book Blurb:

Lady Katerina is the independent, headstrong heir to the Latharian throne; the one to fulfill the prophecy and defeat Black Magic. When betrayal and a violent Awakening transform her own magical Dragonstone Black, she vanquishes it, rendering her virtually powerless. Now, after a three-year sojourn, she returns to claim her crown and discovers sinister forces are working against her. Though able to handle a weapon as well as any man, Katerina reluctantly agrees to a peronal guard. Amongst the candidates, one man emerges; the handsome but infuriating knight, Sir Logan Shepherd. Can she trust him with her secrets?

Logan harbors secrets of his own. He needs to break through Katerina’s defenses and earn her trust. Katerina, however, is proving to be maddening, as well as captivating. Can he fulfill his duty and keep his heart?

Unless the prophecy is fulfilled, Latharia will be destroyed.
To fulfill the prophecy, the truth must be revealed.
Revealing the truth could destroy everything.

Welcome to Magick and Moonligh, Michelle!

Tell us about yourself:
In my ‘other life’ I work as a speech pathologist. Writing started out as a hobby and blossomed into something I never expected-a second career. I still work part time as an SLP, for now. Who knows what the future holds? I am blessed with an incredibly supportive family. My husband is beyond supportive and has helped write some scenes (yes, he allows people to assume he helped with “those” scenes), but in truth, he was really helpful in writing the battle/sword fighting scenes. He also is great to bounce story ideas off of. My kids are great too-although they are too young to read Dragonstone. I have told them they cannot read it until they are eighteen.

When/how did the story and characters for Dragonstone come to you?
It sounds corny to say I was inspired, but it is true. Some of the basics for the story and some of the scenes were in my mind for a long time. One day, I was simply compelled to write it down. And then I just kept writing. One scene just flowed into another. Not that it was perfect the first time around. After I wrote the story out, my husband and a friend read it. They offered suggestions on expanding, adding, etc. In fact, from the first draft to final product, the story doubled in length.

How long was Dragonstone in production before publication was realized? And what were the steps that took you there?

It took me a total of six months to write Dragonstone. Soon after it was completed, I met Rhonda Penders; one of the owners of The Wild Rose Press. I pitched my story to her and she told me to submit. After a bit more work on the manuscript, I submitted to the Senior Editor of the Faery Rose division of The Wild Rose Press, sending a query letter and synopsis. A few months later, a partial (first three chapters) was requested. Another two month wait (or so), my editor, Sarah, wrote and asked for the full manuscript. Another wait (I don’t remember how long), she offered me a contract. After 5 months of editing with Sarah, it was ready for publication. This was in May of 2008. The e-book release date was Nov. 15, 2008 and it was released in print Feb. 15, 2009.

What about this story grips your heart?

It is a story about survival, overcoming the past and learning to trust and love again. The characters are likeable, yet human; each having their own faults. Ultimately, it is a “love conquers all” story. The strong, self-reliant heroine learns that she does not have to face impossible tasks alone.

For me, personally, I have been blessed by the fact that I married my best friend. We live in the belief that, together, we can handle anything. Although that is not what was on my mind when I wrote Dragonstone, as I look back on it, that message is definitely at the heart of the story.

Why have you chosen the paranormal romance genre for your writing endeavors?
I love dragons, magic, fantasy, mythical creatures and creating new worlds. I am a sucker for handsome knights, bad-boy heroes, strong heroines and happy endings. Paranormal romance allows me to write about all of my favorite things

I also love writing in the medieval period, which is when Dragonstone is set. There is something very magical and romantic about that time period. But Dragonstone is more than a love story; it includes elements of a basic epic fantasy; mythical races (i.e.,elves, dragons), a quest, plot twists, good vs. evil, etc.

In one of the major battle scenes, the fight combines magic along with medieval warfare, which creates, I think, an incredible and exciting climax.

Do you belong to any writing or other professional organizations and how have they helped you along your career path?
I belong to the Romance Writers of America and as well as my local chapter (Central Florida Romance Writers). I can honestly say I would not have gotten published without the CFRW. I learned SO much about writing, publishing, etc. from the ladies in that group-I owe them a great debt.

What’s next for you?

The sequel to Dragonstone, entitled, “The Dragon’s Heart” has been contracted and will probably be released early 2011. It is the next generation, so to speak, with the heroine being the daughter of the couple in Dragonstone. It has some of the same characters as well as several new ones. Like Dragonstone, it is filled with unexpected plot twists and is far more than just a love story. The Dragon race is much more predominant in this story, with a few of the main characters being Dragons who can take human form.

“The Dragon’s Heart” took me longer to write (over a year),but I am very happy with the way the story turned out. It stays true to the medieval fantasy, with a splash of Greek Mythology thrown in.

Any inspiring words for aspiring authors?

Write the story that is in your head-or heart. Don’t stress about what will sell or what meets whose criteria. Write the story and the rest will follow. The important thing is to write if you enjoy writing. When it stops being fun, it is time for a break. If it is fun, then keep writing. If the words are not perfect the first time, that is really OK. To quote Nora Roberts: “You can’t fix a blank page.”

Thank you, Michelle, for visiting today. I’d like everyone to know that Michelle Young’s first novel, “DRAGONSTONE,” has received all 5-star reviews and won “Top Pick of the Year” (Readers and Writers of Distinctive Fiction). For more information or to read the reviews, visit  her website Michelle Young.org or become a fan on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Author-Michelle-Young/119120791436799

“Dragonstone” is available from The Wild Rose Press in paperback or e-book formats. It is available at Borders bookstores in Central Florida. It can be ordered at most bookstores (Borders, Barnes & Noble, locally owed stores), through online bookstores (i.e. Amazon) or directly from the publisher: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/dragonstone-paperback-p-3360.html

Coming Soon from Michelle Young:

Stay tuned for more information on a release date!

**Reposted with permission from Kaelee’s Korner

This week hubby and I watched 30 Days of Night with Josh Hartnett. It’s about a small town in Alaska that gets no sunlight for 30 days. Naturally, this set-up provides the perfect smorgasbord for vampires. I won’t go into the gory details of the fanged leeches run a muck. And I won’t give the details of the hero’s demise in the end. I’m a romance writer.  I want the happily ever after, not a Nicholas Sparks’s ending, no matter how poetic.

So, what caught my attention the most in this film?

Unnecessary characters.

Throughout the story, there are 5 maybe 6 vampires that are shown consistently. We never learn their names, but we see them often enough to identify them as the collective villain.  However in the climactic scene, suddenly there are about two dozen vampires. So, where did they all come from and why didn’t they show up before the end?

Also, a couple of characters emerged for very brief scenes and none of the “humans” knew who they were. Apparently, the vampires didn’t either.

Hello! If no one in the story can explain who the mystery characters are or why they are there, why bother having them pop in?

Unnecessary characters clutter the story and confuse the heck out of me.

I’m not talking about the nameless, faceless, cardboard stand-ins that are the innocent bystanders or persons in the check-out line at the grocery store or the pedestrian the heroine passes on the street who are needed for local color. I’m talking about the characters that suddenly appear, unannounced, un-introduced, and no one but the writer knows who they are or why they’re in the story. Then, poof! They’re gone.

Now, I’m annoyed. I spend more time trying to understand the intrusion and lose focus on the story.

In one such scene, a little girl vampire is devouring a nameless someone. Every known character on screen comments that no one knows who this child is or where she came from. Okay. I was a bit intrigued, expecting a plot twist because so far none of the vampires had children in tow. So, where did this pointy-toothed munchkin come from and why was she in the story?

I’m waiting for the big revelation and they promptly lop off her head.

Big disappointment.

Later, it’s revealed that she bit one of the humans that had banded together and he begins turning into a vampire. Hmmmm. Why not use a vampire character who we’d already seen rather than one that no one knew how to explain?

The little girl was a loose thread and if yanked, the plot wouldn’t unravel.  Wouldn’t have left even the tiniest whole in the fabric of the story.

Switching gears to writing…If a new character can be deleted, or replaced by another who the reader has already been introduced to, and still maintain the integrity of the story, you must snip that new character out of the manuscript immediately.  Failure to do so will cause little fuzz balls in your reader’s mind. The danger there is that little fuzz balls are worrisome and distracting. The reader may become irritated at those imperfections, lose interest in the story, put it down and never pick it up again.

Every character that you write into your story should be, in some way, integral to the plot. No one else should be able to act or react in they way that character does and his/her actions should push the plot forward, complicate the plot, or twist the plot in a fresh direction.  If the new character can be interchanged for another, you’re using the wrong the character or you have a weak plot point.  My advice, yank that string out and re-knit that scene.

I stopped to wonder.

Were faeries afoot? Was tonight the night to behold a Faery Raed, a Wild Hunt? Would the sounds of galloping horses and barking hounds reach my piqued and straining ears?

With baited breath I stood, watching, waiting for a sign of things to come. Yet, as the clouds passed over and beyond the wide-eyed moon, all was quiet and serene. No portent of calamity, no foreshadow of doom. I heaved a sigh of relief. And yet, a twinge of disappointment lingered.

Just once, I’d like to glimpse the Great Faery Host thundering through the black velvet sky. Fierce and glorious in pursuit of their prey. But, I wouldn’t want to get in their way. They have a fondness for whisking humans away.

It was apparent after a few minutes that the actors were not committed to their characters. They were going through the motions, and perhaps they were technically on cue, but there was no depth or emotions behind their efforts.  (Except for Emily Hunt. She did bring life to the scenes whenever she was on screen. So kudos to her for givin’ it her all.)

I did at least enjoy the flick. It seems a throw back to “The Wolf Man” with Lon Chaney, Jr., especially the wolf man costuming. When Benecio’s character, Lawrence Talbot, transformed…for a moment I thought I was watching the 1941 version. Not sure if that was the director’s intention in regards to the special effects, so I’ll leave it at that.

During the movie, I pondered the impact of  flat characters. That I was thinking about anything else while the story unfolded speaks volumes. If the characters aren’t committed to their tale, why should I?

I think to buy into a character’s story, we need to understand his/her motivation for being there and a strong emotion must be attached to it. I never got that in this film. Lawrence Talbot returns home to his estranged family after learning his brother has disappeared. It’s apparent that Lawrence doesn’t have an emotional attachment to his family so I kept wondering why is he there and why does he care. Neither question was fully answered, so I ended up with the conclusion that he had to return home for there to be a story. Yikes!

Big lesson learned there on a character’s internal motivation.

The external motivation may propel the plot, but the internal motivation fuels the drive to get there. Addressing only the surface issues results in flat characters because there are no layers to explore.

IMHO, a book, a film, a play, should be about the hero/heroine’s journey of self discovery and we come along because want to cheer them when they face obstacles,  sympathize or criticize  when they make mistakes, and give a pat on the back when they succeed. As observers, we want to feel and experience the emotion in a work of fiction. Without it, we might as well read an encyclopedia.

I’m pleased to have double

debut author, Nancy Lee Badger, here today to talk about her recent release, DRAGON’S CURSE.

Cursed by a vengeful witch to transform into a dragon at inopportune times, Draco MacDonald hides on this deserted island to live alone: until he plucks a servant girl from certain death. Fueled by jealousy, and tempered by fear for her safety, he succumbs to an unfamiliar desire to mate. Her kisses propel him to dare to make her his own.

Set in 1592 Scotland on the Scottish island of Staffa, the cursed hero battles a ghostly witch, a hunter set on rape, and his own growing desire for a young woman with premonitions of his death.

Hello Nancy!  Welcome to Magick and Moonlight.

Tell us a little about yourself. I am a mature, college educated, wife, mother, and all around modern woman who happens to like all things Scottish and loves to read regency historical novels. I started writing toward publication about three years ago. I signed my first contract for a contemporary romance then, just this past February, sold DRAGON’S CURSE. Both books were released in June and I am thrilled. I grew-up in Huntington, NY then moved to New Hampshire to attend college. I stayed many, many years. My husband and I moved to Raleigh, NC recently to be near family. I write full-time.

What inspired you to become a writer? I have always loved to read and one day my Scorpio-driven type ‘A’ personality said “I can do better than this.” I discovered it is NOT very easy to write a novel. It takes works, training, editing help, critique help, and lots and lots of rewrites. I am a voracious reader and have met some of my favorite authors in my writer groups. They keep me focused toward success.

What were your first steps toward publication? Writing the story came easy. My son arrived home from a tour in Iraq and it felt as if a damn broke open. Maybe the relief from a year of stress had melted away. Whatever happened, the story was finished in one month. After several rejections from agents, I received a request for the full manuscript from Harlequin. Even though they eventually rejected it, I kept going. I have completed six manuscripts to date and have sold three. I’m liking them odds!

What is one speed bump that you encountered along the way and how did you overcome it? I worked feverishly on a Scottish historical with a bit of time travel and a present day witch in order to be able to pitch it at the annual Romance Writers of America conference in July 2009. I waited patiently for my turn with one agent and one editor. Both requested I send them the first three chapters so I raced home, edited it to death, and proudly sent my ‘baby’ out into the world. Alas, the publisher said ‘no thanks’ and I NEVER heard from the agent. Ah, well. I have since worked on the manuscript, using information I learned over the last nine months to make my writing better. I will again pitch my book at the next RWA conference.

Who or what has been the biggest help to you in becoming a published author? If I named names we would be here all day so let me make a shout out to my chapter mates at Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. Besides them, I belong to several on-line groups which are where I realized e-publishing was one way to get published. Sort of a stepping stone, especially for a novella length story like DRAGON’S CURSE.

What sparked your heart to write Dragon’s Curse? I love Dragons (and horses, and unicorns, and mermaids….watch out!) but I love stories where Scotland is a prominent feature. My husband is of Scottish ancestry and we still volunteer each year at the New Hampshire Highland Games (www.nhscot.org.)  I decided to combine the two. I thought caves, then thought islands, and did a little research. Scotland has a plethora of beautiful islands and I discovered Fingal’s Cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa. It is the oddest looking place I have ever seen. The story flew and I came up with the tale.

Where do you go from here? I think the term ‘juggler’ might describe my life at this point. I have full-length contemporary romance also just out under my pen name, Nancy Lennea. Check it out at www.nancylennea-inlove.blogspot.com. I just sold a full-length romantic suspense which I hope will come out later this year. I am finishing up SPELLBOUND HIGHLANDER for the RWA conference and already have 1/3 complete on a story that takes off from that story. I just started another paranormal set in present day Raleigh, NC at the new Museum of Art. I am aggressively pursuing getting an agent because I would like to submit work to one of the large NY publishers.

Any words of wisdom for new authors with dreams of a publishing contract? Don’t try to do it alone as I did for the first year. Gain membership in at least one writers group. Writing is a solitary profession and the camaraderie is priceless. And just remember: Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Thank you Nancy, for chatting with us today. Congratulations on the release of  DRAGON’S CURSE.

Nancy Lee Badger writes full-time and lives with her husband in Raleigh, NC. She loves everything Scottish. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, Celtic Heart Romance Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She stays busy celebrating the release of her Scottish historical DRAGON’S CURSE available from Whispers Publishing at www.whispershome.com or click BUY NOW to get your copy today.

Visit Nancy’s websites: www.nancyleebadger.com and www.nancyleenea.com

Visit her blog www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com For excerpts and more information.

**Reposted with permission from Kaelee’s Korner.

Vampires and werewolves, dragons and wizards, faeries and trolls, angels and demons, ghosts and goblins, enchantments and curses.  The good, bad, and the hideously ridiculous. I can’t get enough.

Call me a paranormal groupie.

Yep, I’m the gal who’ll creep down the squeaky, rickety stairs with a dying flashlight in a blackout to investigate the specter haunting the basement. Oh, my heart would be tha-dumping against my ribcage, but it would be from excitement, not fear.

It’s no wonder that I chose the paranormal romance genre to launch my aspiring author’s career. It combines my love for writing with my love of the mystical, magickal, mayhem that thrives in the moonlight.  And, the romance part, well, it’s like the marshmallows in rocky road ice cream. It makes something good, scrumptilicious. What’s not to love about that?

~Kaelee