Thanks to Cynthia for the invitation to be part of her Deadly Days blog. I’m Becky Martinez but I’ve been writing for the past six years under the name of Rebecca Grace. After several years of writing romances I am now specializing in romantic suspense and mystery. My newest book, DEADLY MESSAGES, was released in February by The Wild Rose Press.

As I tell everyone when they ask why I moved from romance to suspense, well, the truth is I just had to do it. While I love writing and reading romances, dead bodies kept turning up in my newer stories so I just had to switch directions. I’ve always loved those older gothic suspense novels where the hero is some dark, mysterious guy who is harboring all sorts of secrets. And I’m not talking paranormal or vampires here, I’m talking about those brooding heroes—like Heathcliff or Maxim de Winter of REBECCA. But then again, I also love those straight, fearless but protective guys who believe in absolute justice and always want to do the right thing.

That second type of character is the sort I chose for DEADLY MESSAGES. Inspector Mitch Weldon is a buttoned-down guy who comes from a family of law enforcement officers and he thinks logically. He has to—in order to track down the bad guys. Then he gets a dose of Connie Romero, who is bound and determined to track down her sister’s killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger. That’s another favorite of mine from Gothics—the feisty heroine who is willing to do anything to get at the truth. I had a lot of fun coming up with these two characters and putting them into harm’s way—both romantically and physically.

People are always asking me how I keep a writing schedule, even during the dog days of summer when I would much rather be wandering around the Rocky Mountains, which are about a ten minute drive from my home against the foothills of Denver and very visible from my backyard. It can be tough, but I go back to some of the lessons I constantly keep learning from some of my favorite authors.

When I get in the doldrums and think of excuses not to write, I make myself think of prolific professionals and how they get through these tough periods. Probably one of my favorite calls back to duty comes from the great Nora Roberts. I recall her saying at a Romance Writers of America conference years ago, “If you are a writer, you write. It’s your job!”

Gee, I wouldn’t ignore my job just because I want to go play in the mountains. I might take a day off, and sometimes that is a good way to get myself re-energized. But I can’t use all the various excuses to keep from writing. This spring I heard best-selling author Stephen Cannell say much the same thing. Years ago he established himself as a TV screenplay writer with programs like “The Rockford Files” and “The A-Team.” He told us that as a result of those hectic days when he had to crank out script after script that he set a writing habit of writing for several hours every single morning. He still follows that rule all these years later, even when he’s on the road or there are other things he’d rather be doing.

Other professionals agree. If you want to write, you have to make it a regular habit or you’ll see the summer pass and have nothing to show but tan lines and perhaps a few pounds gained from all those barbeques.

One proven way to keep going that works for me is joining a Book in a Week group. Our local romance writers group does it every month and the idea is to write as much as you can, even if you know you won’t finish an entire book that week. We all keep each other motivated as we announce how many pages we get written or edited. By the end of the week those pages can really add up. The accountability (and not wanting to be the only person who didn’t write any new pages) pays off for me.

Author Candace Haven, who teaches classes on fast writing a first draft, recommends writing sprints of five to ten minutes. That works too because once I get going I find I can’t quit after five minutes and before long I’ve got a new page or two cranked out.

Best selling author Stuart Woods said at a recent booksigning that he only writes two to three hours a day, but he begins each day by going over his previous day’s pages. That works well too. It gets me back into the story and reminds me of where I want to head.

But finally when the call of getting away is too great, I follow the advice of suspense best seller Harlan Coben and mystery writer John Sandford. Get away from the desk and go out—but take a notebook with you! I heard Coben say in a recent NBC interview that he writes all his books in long hand while he wanders from Starbucks to Starbucks. Sandford told a group at his booksigning in Denver last month that when he runs into a scene that gives him trouble he goes to dinner and takes the pages with him and works it all out. I agree with both those ideas because I’ve found in the past that just sitting in a coffee shop might sound distracting but before long I’ve closed out all the sounds until my focus is on my computer or my notebook and I’m working hard at creating my next book.

That’s all good advice and that’s part of how I keep going too. Now it’s time to get back to the keyboard. I’m working on a sequel to DEADLY MESSAGES, again set in the Northwest, with one of my favorite brooding male characters and a heroine who finds herself left totally on her own. I love the Northwest and there’s another good way to get through the dog days of summer—mix writing and pleasure. There’s nothing quite like taking a trip—for research, of course.

If anyone has any other ideas on how to keep motivated and survive through the dog days of summer writing, I’d love to hear about it. I can always use another tip.

Becky
www.rebeccagrace.com

My author copies of DEADLY FEAR have arrived!!! Yes!! And I have 3 chances for you to win a signed copy today.  First, I’m giving away a copy over at Much Cheaper Than Therapy (I love that place!).  I’m also giving away a copy on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden). And…I’m giving away a copy on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cynthiaeden). Lots of chances to win!

And since the release date of DEADLY FEAR is coming ever closer (July 27th!), I thought I’d share a new excerpt with you today. This excerpt will introduce you to my hero, Luke Dante:

***

“Stop! FBI!” But, of course, the words didn’t make the perp slow down. No, they just made the punk in the black ski mask run faster—and Agent Luke Dante ground his back teeth as he pumped his legs and shoved through the crowd.

A woman screamed. Another one hit him with her purse.

Christ. So much for being the good guy.

He couldn’t aim a weapon in this crowd.  Too many people on the street.  Too many kids—

Luke jumped over a boy on a bike and swore when he caught his ankle on the handlebars.

Fuck. This was so not his day.

All he’d wanted was a cup of coffee before hitting the office.  Just-A-Cup-Of-Coffee.

He’d gotten an armed robbery instead.

The perp ran into traffic—they always did that.  Horns blared as brakes squealed.  Luke shook his head. Traffic was stopped now so he lunged after the guy.

Close, so close—he could hear the perp’s ragged breaths—

Luke launched forward, grabbed the idiot, and they slammed onto the street.

Asphalt ripped away the flesh on his arm. He felt the wet flow of blood slide across his skin. The robber bucked beneath him, twisting, kicking, swearing, then turning with a gun—

Luke snapped the perp’s wrist and heard the guy howl.  The gun hit the pavement.

“FBI,” he gritted. Drops of blood flew from Luke’s wound and stained his shirt. “Man, you chose the wrong damn convenience store.”

The scream of sirens reached his ears. Finally.  In this age of cell phones, he really would have expected one of the shouting folks he’d passed on the street to have punched 9-1-1 sooner.

“Fucking bastard asshole, you let me go, you let—”

Luke shifted and pinned the perp beneath him.  Glittering green eyes stared up at him from the slits in the ski mask.  “Was the fifty bucks worth it, genius?”  He ripped away the mask.

A kid stared back at him.

The perps just got younger every day.

Acne spotted the kid’s face—his perfectly smooth face.  Not even a hint of facial hair yet.  The punk’s blond hair was a dirty mop brushing against his round face.

Jesus, the kid still had baby fat. “What are you?  Fifteen?”

“I’ll fucking kill you!”  Veins bulged in the kid’s forehead.

Luke sighed. He knew that look. The glassy-eyed stare. The trembling body.  The kid was flying high—and wanted to keep flying—which explained the robbery.

The swirling police lights hit Luke’s eyes.  Doors slammed. Luke glanced up to see the cops charge at him.

“Stand up and step away!”  An order given over a drawn gun.

“Easy.”  No sense in anyone getting trigger happy. “I’m with the FBI.”

And this really was one bad morning.

Because Luke knew that before the questions were finished, he’d be late for his new assignment. Late the first day.

Hell of a way to make an impression on his new boss.

Have a great Friday!!

Cynthia, thank you so much for opening your blog this summer. I’m very pleased to be hanging out here today sharing some blog time with some very talented authors.

I started reading for pleasure *mumble* *grumble* years ago in middle school. It was about that time my English teacher handed me a science fiction story about some kids on a travel through time trying to save the world. No, I don’t remember the title or the author, but I remember the thrill of sharing the journey with the main characters. I was hooked.

I started reading my way through the school library eating up all things fantasy and science fiction. My two favorite series continue to be “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle and the “The Chronicles of Narnia” by CS Lewis.

I stuck with science fiction for a year or two until I snuck my mother’s copy of “The Thorn Birds” by Colleen McCullough *sigh* My eyes (and teenage GIRL heart) was open to the world of forbidden love. I abandoned everything futuristic and immersed myself in all things romance. Even my writing assignments centered around the world of happily-ever-afters. (Of course this probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was falling for my first serious boyfriend at the same time … but that’s another story.) For years I only picked up books by classic romance authors.

Until Sandra Brown. The first author who introduced me to romantic suspense. What’s not to love with mystery … a killing or two … complete with a ride into the proverbial sunset? Wow! I didn’t know all that could be wrapped up into an awesome story.

So it was no surprise when I decided to dip my pen into the world of writing that I went straight for the romantic suspense genre. I found my stride in the world of serial killers and the alphabet guys. But try as I might, I couldn’t find a publisher looking for another RS author. So I researched the genres that were really hawt (literally *g*) and found erotica. Hmmm I thought, I can write the same suspense story and instead of leaving the lovers to walk up the stairs … I could just keep the bedroom doors open. Voila! A published author was born.

And I found my original roots and tend to include either a paranormal or futuristic flavor to the stories. My newest release (if you include all the genres) is a futuristic erotic romantic suspense novel … whew, yep, quite a mouthful … titled “A Touch of Lilly”. I find it a challenge to strike a balance with all those elements. It’s like juggling balls and keeping them all in the air until the final scene. *rubs hands together* What could be more fun?

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter One:
Lilly D’Angelo could have been walking into any of the seedier establishments lining Forty-fifth and Wester on Chicago’s south side. Except for the clientele, the tavern’s owner had managed to replicate nearly every detail right down to the blue haze and the soft crooning of a jazz band on the corner stage. The acrid stench and gruff hum of a Friday night crowd tripped Lilly down memory lane-a place she had no desire to travel at the moment.

Lilly pushed the sour thoughts of home out of her mind and focused her energy on the patrons at the bar. Morphing her features into her sexiest vixen pout, she moved gracefully toward the long bar on the other side of the room. Her voluptuous breasts, spilling temptingly from her silk blouse, led the way. The eyes watching her ass sashay around the battered tables were clustered on various life forms-none of them human.
Yeah, definitely not Chicago. Shit, this wasn’t even Earth for chrissake.

“Regent’s ale, straight up, hold the brenic.” She spoke English, hoping the two-headed Xerick behind the bar had a cochlear translator in one of those eight holes that passed for ears. Satisfied when one head nodded, she settled on a stool, making sure her fur jacket and blouse parted enough to offer a seductive view of her cleavage. Lilly shifted just enough to let the black leather skirt ride up her thigh and expose a little more silky real estate. Surreptitiously checking her image in the mirrored glass behind the liquor bottles, she was pleased she looked every bit the part. She wasn’t trying to attract anyone in particular, perhaps something on the less offensive side that could offer her a bit of entertainment to help fritter away the next couple of hours.

Lilly wasn’t a xenophobic bigot by any stretch of the imagination. But six months in deep space, working these kinds of joints, wasn’t really long enough to become accustomed to the scenery. The Nebulae Galaxy’s spaceports overflowed with aliens of all sizes and genders. Only that wasn’t really a fair term here in deep space.

Alien inferred the life forms didn’t belong. On the contrary, it was humans who were invading their territory. The treaties of 2253, signed well over forty years ago, had guaranteed the safe travel of humans in deep space. After the snafu of ’34, which saw the first major space disaster since light travel had been discovered, humans had insisted on protection for their species. They’d formed some bullshit board of security, guaranteeing humans could run roughshod over the universe like everywhere else. Though most people referred to them as the QAL, Lilly nicknamed them the alphabet mafia. At one point she’d actually considered working for them until they’d discovered who she was-or more specifically what she was. It didn’t matter. They could all go fuck themselves if they didn’t appreciate her gifts. Lilly had found a way to use her talents and still bring down the bad guys.

Of course in deep space, bad was a relative term.

There was the kind of bad that got a person lost on the ice caps of Dallas Eight without a backup plan. Or the bad that forced someone to stow away in the engine room of a Drikspa alien tanker bound for unknown destinations, praying not to get caught. Or the bad that got a human female imprisoned as a sex slave on the mining colonies of Krystallos Three, hidden from even the long arm of the QAL. Lilly shivered at that one. Even her talents wouldn’t free her from that kind of torture.

She was just happy to be here on Garalon Five where bad meant nothing more than crossing paths with every brand of space pirate, ex-con or fugitive looking for a new start. As one of the more recent colonizations in the Nebulae Galaxy, the G-5 government turned their collective back on past offenses on other planets and allowed anyone to start a legitimate business. It’s what had brought her here.

 Nina Pierce lives in northern Maine with that first serious boyfriend of hers, three adult children, and a menagerie of pets. You can follow her crazy life on Twitter and Facebook. Please check out her website to read excerpts from all her books.

*UPDATE: Casey’s name was pulled from the hat, so she’s the winner of a book in the Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom. Congratulations, Casey!*

Thank you so much to Cynthia for inviting me to guest blog on her fabulous site. We ‘met’ online a couple of years ago and she’s one amazing lady. I’m looking forward to meeting her in person at the RWA National conference next month.

I’m a writer who recently signed a contract with Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books imprint for two manuscripts, for which I unfortunately don’t yet have covers. My debut historical thriller with strong romantic elements, ILLUMINATIONS, is due out in Spring 2011. The second novel with the same protagonists, BRILLIANCE, is due out that same Fall. While I was outlining my plot ideas for the third book in the series to my agent, she said something to the effect that if we think modern politics has a lot of intrigue, we have nothing on the Tudor court, where my books are set. It made me laugh, because that is precisely why writing these books is so much fun.

At the start, when I was choosing which real life characters to include, and which characters to make up, I was constantly amazed at the serendipity of my choices. I’d pick a specific courtier, then I’d suddenly find his wife was the perfect character for another role, with the side-benefit of strengthening the first story twist with her husband. These are all minor characters I’m talking about, but over and over again, there was an interconnectivity, a little ‘ah’ moment, where things click into place and you realize, oh, HER husband. Interesting.

Initially, I honestly wondered what the heck was going on. Perfect twist after perfect twist kept landing in my lap, until I realized, if you know the period well, and have a good memory (I fortunately do), then finding those connections is easy. Because they are everywhere. To survive, if you were at court, you made deals, stabbed backs and generally covered your behind, or you found yourself, literally and figuratively, out in the cold.

That’s why I love my main protagonists, John Parker and Susanna Horenbout. I have made them somehow able to step out of the pit to an extent. I have made Parker interesting and useful to King Henry, precisely because he WON’T kowtow and is deliberately not a yes man. That doesn’t mean he is exempt from punishment for treasonous acts or disloyalty, but it makes him a far stronger character than his peers. My heroine, Susanna, is an outsider (in fact, a foreigner), and is as such too late to the game. She simply isn’t part of the playing field, and this is part of her success. No one pays her enough attention, until it’s too late.

Keeping tension high, though, walks a tightrope between getting the reader to understand the issues without overwhelming them with too much information. This is entertainment, not a history lesson. At the same time, the stickler in me won’t permit me to deviate from the facts that stand. I make a lot of stuff up, that’s why my books will be shelved in the fiction section, but I won’t change the historical outcomes. So if someone died on day X, that’s when they’ll die in the book. No drawing out their life for the sake of plot.

I’ve kind of strayed from my original topic, that you’d have to be blind not to find plenty of intrigue in the Tudor court, and I’m not the only writer to use that. Philippa Gregory has obviously done extremely well with the period, and C.J. Sansom, with his fantastic Shardlake series, really brings the politics and sights and sounds of Tudor London to life, although both authors have chosen to set their books later into King Henry’s reign than I have. My work is all pre-Anne Boleyn and pre-Reformation.

There are plenty of other periods in history that are packed with juicy twists and turns, although for skullduggery and betrayal, I think you’d be hard pressed to beat the Renaissance period. Ancient Rome definitely had its fair share, and the Napoleonic Wars spring to mind, too.

But I’m interested, what historical period do you love reading about, especially when you’re reading an historical thriller, or is it a case of whatever period the writer uses, as long as you’re gripped, you’re happy?

Thanks again to Cynthia for inviting me! I’ll be giving away a copy of one of C.J. Sansom’s Shardlake series to one lucky commenter.

Michelle Diener

Update: The ARC winner is…Dorothy! Congrats, Dorothy!

Last night, my son and I watched one of his Christmas videos (Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas). What can I say? He was in the holiday mood, and now, so am I.

So let’s do a little Christmas in July fun!

Would you like to win an ARC of THE NAUGHTY LIST?  Cause I’ve got one to give away!   How do you win? Easy–just tell me about the best present you ever received.

(And I’ll be giving away more ARCs soon–stay tuned for more Christmas In July posts!).