• Muse, Mind & Body

    What Did You Say? - Hearing Impairments by Barbara Bates 

        Published: April 4th, 2012  Views: 399 

    Silence may be golden, but King Midas will assure you, too much of anything, is not good. Deafness brings silence in differing degrees; from those who lose certain frequencies and/or decibel levels, to those who live in complete silence. Deafness, like blindness occurs either at birth or later in life -- due to disease or accident. And many older adults have their hearing degrade as they age. For some types of hearing loss, a hearing aid will bring the auditory signal up to a level where not much is lost. But there are those whose hearing is not helped by devices; who can only hear loud noises, only certain frequencies, or nothing at all.
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Research
    3. Muse, Mind & Body
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    If You Saw What I See - Visual Challenges by Barbara Bates 

        Published: March 7th, 2012  Views: 544 

    Introduction:
    Total Blackness. No light. The stuff of horror stories and nightmares. In most cases, turning on a light relieves this condition. For some, however, it's their life. Permanent vision problem or loss often begins as a person ages. While most are correctable by glasses or contact lenses, some aren't. These people are considered blind; ranging from legally blind to totally blind.

    Initiation of Blindness:
    Blindness can begin at either; birth, or later in life, due to accident or to a condition or disease affecting the eye.
    Born Blind. A person born blind has no conception of what color is.

    Blindness later in life. These people remember color, distant views, people's faces, and other items.

    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Research
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    The Virile Men of Romance by Dawn McClure 

        Published: January 30th, 2012  Views: 1282 
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    Things you’ll never read in a romance novel:

    “Aiden is thinning on top. I told him he should go to Bosley.”

    Ranulf took one look at his opponent and screamed like a little girl.

    “How was Alec in bed? Hmm, I couldn’t tell, since he only lasted about two minutes.”

    “He’s sexy as all get-out, but his voice sure is shrill, isn’t it?”

    “That harelip of Carl's is so sexy.”

    We’re always told to give our characters flaws, but let’s face it, there are some flaws we must stay away from. I’ve read a few romances where the hero was missing certain appendages – no, not THAT one. NEVER that one – and the hero was no less of a man. But seriously, think about it: you could give your hero brown hair and brown eyes, and you’ve pretty much incapacitated him right there. Am I right?

    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Muse, Mind & Body
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    Raise Your Voice by Dawn McClure 

        Published: May 9th, 2011  Views: 837 
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    I can define my voice with two words: Ghetto Punk. I write like I speak, and trust me, if you’ve ever met me in person you know I’m some kind of crazy. But that’s okay, as long as I stay true to my voice my books shouldn’t sound like anyone else’s.

    Voice is hard to teach. The best way to explain voice is this: write like you talk. I don’t use flowery words to describe settings, and my characters rarely over-contemplate any given situation. My heroine’s are snarky and have a short fuse (just like their mama). This used to worry me. Are all my female characters the same? That’s bad, isn’t it? Well, think of Kresley Cole. When you read her books you want a kick-ass heroine, and damned if that isn’t what you get.

    So what exactly is voice?
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Muse, Mind & Body
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    Keeping it Real by Dawn McClure 

        Published: April 25th, 2011  Views: 1381 
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    Have you ever read a great book, put it down, looked at your shit and thought…WTF. What’s the point? I’ll never be that good. Doesn’t matter that I get fan mail, doesn’t matter that my crit partner thinks my writing is the shit, I will never in a million years write a book as good as the one I just read.

    If you just said no, that’s never happened to you, I’ll call you out right now – liar liar, pants on fire! If you shouted out a Hells Yes! then this, my friend, is for you.
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Muse, Mind & Body
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    Social Networking – Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t by Dawn McClure 

        Published: April 18th, 2011  Views: 2203 
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    Once upon a time, Dawn McClure loved to write. Right after making her coffee in the morning, she’d shuffle to her computer and open her WIP. After a few minutes of yawning and stretching, she’d put the cursor where it belonged and let the words come.

    Let’s drop third person and fast forward a few years.

    I still get my coffee first thing in the morning, but now when I plop down at my desk I open Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Instant Messenger and check emails – in that order. I hit my favorite blogs and usually work on my own blog post. Oh, and sometimes I open my WIP.

    So how do you balance social networking and writing?

    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Industry
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    Character Baggage and Why You Need It by Dawn McClure 

        Published: April 4th, 2011  Views: 918 
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    Everyone has baggage. Wouldn’t we all love to go back in time and take back something we did. Me? I’d love to go back to RWA 2008 and stop myself from sauntering up to Kresley Cole at the hotel bar and gushing about how ‘real’ her sex scenes were. Jesus, I’d LOVE to take that back. Thanks a lot, vodka sours. I thought we were friends.

    Or worse, the time I yelled and hung up on a good friend because I couldn’t find the maturity (at age 33, mind you) to talk things out in a rational manner. We’ve spoken since then, but it’s never been the same, and it never will be. I’d trade my last contract to take that call back. Ain’t hindsight an unforgiving b!tch?


    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Muse, Mind & Body
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  • Member Spotlight

    Linda Williams
    Linda WilliamsWilla Blair is an award-winning author of Scottish Historical and Contemporary Paranormal romance who had to retire from her day job because she had too many hobbies to count. She is married to her own military hero golf fanatic and lives in the Texas Hill Country, north of San Antonio where she writes, feeds hummingbirds year-round, and cuddles her calico cat. Find Willa online at http://www.willablair.com