Featured on The Authors Studio

In the world today, leading countries are so obsessed with mastering the latest technological advances that we tend to overlook something even more fundamental: literacy. Or should I say illiteracy? According to PROLiteracy Worldwide, in 2005 an estimated 30 million American adults had below average literacy skills. While many of these people proved to be high school dropouts, many more had high school diplomas. Even more alarming is last year’s statistic that two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women.

At the age of eight, my family moved to the Gulf Coast. I took a test to gauge my placement among the students in my new school. I passed every level—all except for reading skills. I was placed in a low-level reading course with a handful of other students. This separation from other classmates—many of whom had advanced to the Accelerated Reading course already—created an insecurity that culminated from the days I struggled to learn to read. To this day, I vividly recall throwing a book across the room because no matter how many times I read the same story, my parents still had to sound out the word where.

This insecurity followed me through middle school and though I desperately tried to overcome it, it lurked in my high school classrooms as well. It hindered test scores, especially when taking the state examinations and ACT which I needed to more than pass to get into my targeted university. (I got in but just barely. My reading score was higher than my science and math scores but nowhere near my high marks in English and history.) Even in college, I couldn’t shake the fear that everyone was reading faster than me during those long study periods. And I liked reading. I’d already fallen in love with Nora Roberts novels and read Vogue and Newsweek cover-to-cover religiously. Even more puzzling, I have no learning disabilities…other than an undiagnosed incomprehension of mathematical figures, which thousands of writers share.

What saved me from giving up completely on reading? My love of the romance genre. I gobbled Nora’s latest releases and backlist week by week. Probably because I read these novels at my leisure and enjoyed them thoroughly, not once was I met with the frustration that walked hand-in-hand with reading for me until that point. It was romance that motivated me to write, that encouraged my love of English, language arts, and even literature. In fact, my college major was English/Language Arts.

The impact of romance on the literacy movement can not only be seen in my life, but in these statistics as well. According to Romance Writers of America, 64.6 million Americans read at least one romance novel in the past year. And with the current economic climate, more and more people are reaching for those Harlequin titles and their happily-ever-afters. On top of that, check out these numbers:

        42% of romance readers have a bachelor's degree or higher

27% have college degrees

15% have post-graduate work or degrees

7% have associate degrees

17% have attended a trade school or have some college

23% have high school diplomas

Impressive, huh? The Today Show did a special segment on last year’s RWA National Conference in San Francisco and noted that romance fans are “voracious readers” who buy an average of six books a month. Already RWA is preparing for its next National Conference in July and more than 400 authors have already committed to the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing in which all proceeds are donated to literacy charities. As stated in the May 2009 Romance Writers Report, “Since this partnership began, RWA and its authors have raised more than half a million dollars to fight illiteracy.” Wow. Now that’s impressive!

So when you pick up that next Harlequin or Avon or Nora Roberts title, maybe you’ll recall that by supporting the romance genre and buying those six books a month, you’re supporting the all-too-important cause of literacy. Trust me, it’s a nice silver lining when ruing over your latest auto/impulse-buy and breaking this month’s budget J

Happy reading!

Featured on The Bradford Bunch 

This week I was called off my register at Books-A-Million with a spring in my step to restock the romance section. There I was alone amongst all those steamy covers, each of them crooking their tempting fingers at me. I greeted friends’ names with a warm smile in passing and had to pause to fawn over the hallowed sectors of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Nora Roberts, J.R. Ward… As the lazy morning minutes drifted by—I admit, I was moving at a purposely studied pace—boy, was I awed by the diversity of our genre. And not for the first time.  

            No wonder romance is the biggest genre of fiction, a billion-dollar industry. I could feel the talent wafting down that long, elaborate aisle—heck, I could almost smell and taste it! (Chocolate-covered strawberries came to mind....) And according to the sales figures and The Today Show’s special on RWA’s National Conference in San Francisco, romance isn’t going anywhere. It’s been on a steady climb since it blasted onto the scene over a decade ago. Today it’s the perfect escape from the dismal reality of a falling economy and foreign unrest, “a silver lining” in Today’s words. No matter the snarky critics who continue to turn their backs; romance has come to command respect and embody excellence.  

            My walk down Everything Romance Lane put my own diversity into question. My debut novel Fox & Hound, released February 2008 from Red Rose Publishing, is a romantic adventure about a pair of vengeful jewel thieves who form an unlikely alliance to prove their worth against the mentor who betrayed them. My second, Denied Origin—launched by The Wild Rose Press on August 1

And there’s more—seventeen completed manuscripts and a whole smorgasbord of future possibilities including a light-hearted chick-lit, a CIA assassin trilogy, another historical dating back to Ancient Greece, and a heavier concept about relief workers in the heat of Africa. Recently, I’ve even given serious consideration to crossing into erotica and YA with new pen names. 

Back behind my till as I rang up a copy of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s A Rose in Winter, I wondered if my chronic genre-jumping was a sign of a restless imagination—highlighted by the fact that I can’t seem to stand more than three months on a first draft—or the natural progression of romance across the genres. Love stories are so transcendent that they can be translated into any era, any character, any circumstance. Any time. Any place. Anywhere. Big press. Small press. E or print.  

I realized that my need to write a romance in any time or place of interest is simply an ingrained desire to prove that love goes far beyond sub-genre…though so many before me have already done just that—in spades. The way things are looking for our society, that reminder has never been more important. By the looks of those astounding numbers, romance is reaching out farther than ever. And I’ve never been prouder to call myself a reader and writer of the genre.

Makes a quiet bookstore cashier want to raise her head up high and grin J

Appeared on The Authors Studio  

Ever figure where we as authors would be without our colorful settings? Just think: where would Gone With the Wind be without sweltering Georgia? Breakfast at Tiffany’s without ’50’s-era New York City? Northanger Abbey without…well, creepy Northanger Abbey?  

Let’s try movies. Think Back to the Future without Hill Valley, Batman without Gotham City, or Slumdog Millionaire without India.  

Some plots are driven by the story’s setting. For example, Hogwarts in the Harry Potter collection. Our favorite boy wizard finds the Sorcerer’s Stone hidden within Hogwarts. Tom Riddle lures Harry to the Chamber of Secrets buried deep underneath Hogwarts. The Prisoner of Azkaban uses a network of secret passageways in and out of Hogwarts to get to Harry. The Goblet of Fire transports Harry and ill-fated Cedric from the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts to the pivotal graveyard scene. When the Ministry of Magic takes over Hogwarts, Harry and Co. form a secret society (hidden by one of the schools quirky rooms) to aid the Order of the Phoenix. In class at Hogwarts, Harry finds the mysterious and oddly familiar Half-Blood Prince’s textbook who attended Hogwarts decades ago. And, finally, the last battle of the war between good and evil takes place at Hogwarts, and Harry finds the last of the Deathly Hallows at…hm, you guessed it, Hogwarts.  

Readers may not realize how crucial a book’s setting can be, but I think it’s safe to say J.K. Rowling and the rest of us do. For my World War II historical based in Veneto, Italy, I researched for years to fine-tune my 1944-1945 timeline. I spent hours staring at pictures of the Italian countryside and studying up on vineyard life. I even taught myself a bit of Italian. Una sola lingua non è mai abbastanza. Though Villa Renaldi—the estate where my American fighter pilot crash lands and is hidden from the Germans and nursed back to health by the lovely vineyard heiress—exists only in my mind and on the page, I worked long and hard to make it real. My characters’ handheld stroll through the rows in springtime is made real by the scent of the damp earth beneath their shoes and the golden light that is quintessentially Italian, not to mention the vista of rolling hills that spreads for miles around them, the vineyard all but embracing them in their tender moment. What I was determined to achieve with Villa Renaldi was to bring to life the most ideal place imaginable to fall in love but at the same time create a realistic domain no one would doubt dwells in the hills of Veneto, Italy.  

The time period is also a part of the setting. World War II created a smorgasbord of conflict for my characters. Some might not put one hundred percent into developing a vivid setting, but can a marketable plot exist without conflict? No. In fact, the definition of plot is conflict. Thinking about writing a story in the Victorian era? Be prepared to dig deeper into the archives to get an accurate grasp of your setting.  

Paranormal authors have an advantage. Most create their setting, or “worlds” as they are called, from scratch. Larissa Ione’s Demonica series was inspired by one question: where do demons go for medical care? Alas, Underworld General Hospital was born along with those sexy, unforgettable demon doctors Eidolon (Pleasure Unbound), Shade (Pleasure Unchained), and Wraith (Pleasure Unleashed). In urban fantasy novels like Cynthia Eden’s Hotter After Midnight and Midnight Sins, the city of Atlanta is given a little something extra with the average John and Jane Does walking unbeknownst amongst shifters, incubi, and other dark and intriguing demons. 

Going back to plots driven by setting, my second publication Denied Origin was one such story. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about select exotic locales.
“How to?” I said to my muse. “Why not,” she replied, “put a wanted woman under the protection of a trained bodyguard on a scavenger hunt across the globe to discover the truth of her identity?” Denied Origin’s plot was completely mapped out by Rio de Janeiro, the Sistine Chapel, the city of Cairo, the Taj Mahal, and the ancient city of Intramuros. So far, it’s the only story I felt completely comfortable pantsing. The pins in the world map on my office wall marked each of my major plot points and gave the story its overall structure. Each location also inspired a different mood. The spicy air of India sauced things up for Mark and Valentina while a graveyard in Cairo created an element of suspense. In Intramuros, the many twists and turns of the old fortress raised my characters’ sense of heart-pounding urgency and an island castle proved to be the perfect place for a sweeping climax.

Setting can both guide and enhance our work. Ever read a book you lost yourself in because the setting was so real? Ever had to pry yourself out of your story because you’re so engulfed in the world opening up under the stroke of your keys? Ever wondered what it is about setting that can make or break your plot? Where has setting taken you lately?

GETTING THE SKINNY ON POV

by AMBER LEIGH WILLIAMS
Issued in May 2008 Silken Sands Newsletter 

Bring up POV (writer’s lingo for “point of view”) and the same discussion always crops up: single POV or

multiple POV? “POV is one of the first issues us writers deal with, I think, when we start learning our

craft,” says Donna Marie Rogers whose first print book, Welcome To Redemption, earned a four-and-a-half

 star review from Romantic Times. Jordanne Ford, winner of the 2007 First Kiss Contest and finalist in

Karin Tabke's 2006 First Line Contest, adds, “POV is such a great topic… One of the biggest problems

 I’ve faced.” Should a writer stay in one person’s head or switch from one character to another within a 

scene? There are some who believe firmly that single POV is the way to go and others more naturally 

inclined to multiple POV. There are many who are on the fence, undecided. “Reading and writing are both

 horribly subjective,” in the words of Amy Atwell, a multi-contest finalist who runs a writing goals group 

for PROs and up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingGIAMx2/. “Everyone has their own style, their

 own opinion, their own likes and dislikes.” 

For someone who grew up reading Nora Roberts (who writes very smooth multiple POV), it was natural

 for me to switch from one head to another when necessary while writing a scene in which more than one 

character played a part. As a reader, it’s important to know what everyone is thinking and feeling. Amy 

Atwell goes on to say, “I enjoy books that allow the author to narrate—we are, after all, storytellers. I like 

getting into multiple POVs. I enjoy writing that way, and I enjoy books that are well-written that way.” 

Admittedly, multiple POV is not for everyone. Author of Dragonfly Dreams, If Tombstones Could Talk, and co-author of Welcome to Redemption, Stacey Joy Netzel (

How often should you switch within one scene? In other words, how much is too much? Is there a limit to how many characters’ heads you can jump into in one scene? Not a written one, no. But it should only be done when it’s absolutely necessary. Sandy Marshall just went to contract with Forbidden Publications for her novel Addiction and recently signed another for The Catalyst. She says, “I can't stand to read a story that every few lines change POV. I always go 'huh?' and have to go back to re-read it, which draws me totally out of the story.” Chiron O’Keefe is a writer and performer of sketch comedies who has published multiple non-fiction articles and hosts the challenge forum in the RWAOnline chapter. She also provides inspiration for writers with a weekly motivational essay on her blog, The Write Soul (

For the most part, sticking to the hero and heroine seems to be the common practice. If one of them is absent and the other is conversing with a secondary character, the author might jump in for a quick insight from their standpoint. It’s also important to note that switching should not occur in every paragraph or even on every page. For Wendi Darlin, an erotic romance author published through Siren Publishing and BookStrand (

What about single POV? What are its pros and cons? It allows the writer to get deeper into their character—to gain a better understanding of who he/she is and subsequently strengthen that person’s storyline. But it also limits the writer’s emotional range with other characters within the scene. The only way a single POV user can explain how another character is thinking/feeling is to use imagery—gestures, expressions, and tone for dialogue. “You can show so much in the other person other than thoughts,” Sandy Marshall explains. “The reader doesn't need to be told everything.” Kris Kennedy, who writes historical romance and is represented by the Irene Goodman Agency, adds, “For me, I find actions and particularly the sub-text of dialogue to be really helpful in communicating the depth of a character when I’m not in his or her POV.” 

Why does all this matter? POV choice is an element of style. When readers open a Nora Roberts novel, they expect multiple POV because it’s a part of Nora’s style. When readers open a J.R. Ward novel, they expect single POV because it’s a part of J.R.’s style. Both use their POV choice with ease and to their plot’s advantage. In the words of Kris Kennedy, “I used to hop all over. I think the 'rule' of one POV/scene really helped improve my writing, and so now I feel I've 'earned' the right to sometimes flip about, although hopefully very smoothly.” When readers open your novel, they expect something. It’s what makes them come back for more: your individual voice and style. The best way to choose between single and multiple POV is to practice writing both. Pick the one that makes your writing stronger and more natural.  

On a personal note, I was very comfortable with multiple POV until I began working with my editor for Denied Origin. During edits for Fox & Hound, the editor didn’t mention a thing about the numerous POV shifts. When I got the edits for Denied Origin, it was a whole different story. Though we agreed that I could include shifts without a break in the page, I had to limit myself to one shift per scene. I approached the revision with dread and doubt. Switching to single POV was like trying to walk in oversized shoes. Then I picked up the rhythm and technique and it began to flow. When the revision was finished, I realized the story was stronger and tighter. If a writer stands on one side of the POV argument and refuses to cross over and explore the other, they risk missing out on an essential growth opportunity.

The choice between multiple POV and single POV is a vital one. It may not be something the reader thinks about, but for a writer it’s a fundamental choice. Try both out. Pick the one that suits you. Always be on the look-out for ways to grow with it. The decision isn’t everything. Like all else in life, there’s always room for growth with POV. Once you decide on your POV path, stay consistent for your readers. In the end, it’s your audience that matters most!

MY SPACE

by Amber Leigh Williams 

Issued in June 2007 Silken Sands Newsletter

   I have a problem with sharing. Everyone I have ever known can vouch for this. When I was thirteen, I had to share a bed with my nine-year-old sister when we were living in a rental house in Florida. We both agree it was the most challenging phase of our sisterhood. I have found it to be much easier to share a bed with my husband…and our three full-grown labs (thank you good, sweet Lord for the creation of the king-size mattress). We unfortunately have to share a bathroom, however. I say this is unfortunate because we are both mirror-hogs. We have given up trying to shower together to save time: for me, the water temperature must be at least scalding hot; for the freak I fell in love with, it must be ice cold. Early in our relationship, he bought a two-seater kayak and we drove each other crazy for hours negotiating—or, more accurately, arguing—over who should be in charge of steering.

   Fortunately, the freak—I call him Jacob or honey, depending on what I want—soon discovered after I moved in with him that I would have to have my own space to work. He immediately went to work carving out a section of our humble abode (where, alas, space is limited) just for me. This space has just enough room for my filing cabinet, a small desk, a cushy, rolling chair, and a large bookcase my forever-helpful honey built.

   I share my space with a stackable washer/dryer. There is no door to separate it from the rest of the house so there is no way to shut out noise when we have visitors. And visitors are many when you live right next door to your in-laws and your spouse is the second youngest of six—my God, the nieces and nephews are endless! Thankfully, all I have to do to tune out the noise is fire up the washer/dryer and pretend to ignore everyone. As an added bonus, I get the laundry done while I’m at it! It just never gets folded and put away where it belongs.

   In my space, I have created my own little personal world. My collection of Nora Roberts and Nicholas Sparks books is close by if I need a distraction. In my space, John Mayer is always there in my Windows Media Player when I need him to serenade me. In my space, there is a window that overlooks a flowerbed where my four rose bushes grow—in spring and summer months, my honey brings me blooms so the fragrance is always there for me to enjoy. In my space, motivational quotes and pictures of loved ones surround me. In my space, there is most often a sweet, trusty dog—or two…or three—sleeping at my feet and keeping them warm.

   In my space, there is a printer that has become the bane of my existence. In my space, a feud breaks out between me and technology whenever this particular piece of machinery decides to have an attitude. In my space, I spend hours spilling my imagination into the pages of Microsoft Word documents. In my space, I worship the small area of my desk where my laptop computer hums productively every day, rain or shine, ready to work.

   I feel I must tell you about this personal, miniscule corner of the world because, if not for my honey’s reverential foresight in making it for me, I think I would have mentally cracked by now. I have nothing against the man I call my husband or the family members that continuously march in and out of our home as they please. But I must cite the great Ms. Roberts to help me explain: “Writers, at least this writer, can be moody, self-absorbed, absentminded, and inexplicably cranky.” There are times I must be separated from the people I love not just for the sake of my own sanity but for their personal safety as well. Without this tiny space for me to go to be these ugly things—and, yes, sometimes it does get ugly—I would have become the fanatical lunatic I fear everyone already thinks I am.

   Thus, I—and, for all the doubtful spouses out there, my husband—highly recommend a personal space—even a wee one—for every writer to go for those times we feel we must simply get away.

   My space is the greatest gift the man I love has ever given me.

From The Mobile Register 8/2007 (Mobile, Ala.)

ROMANCE ON THE COAST
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By ROBERT McCLENDON
Staff Reporter

Fabio is on the dust jacket, puffy shirt ripped open to reveal rippling pecs. Sometimes a buxom heroine is draped over him, but she's optional. Usually they are posed standing in front of a castle.

That's the image many folks conjure up when asked to picture a romance novel, but that stereotype is out of date. Romantic fiction is now a booming business with myriad subgenres -- many of which have nothing to do with pirates, highwaymen or rogues of any kind.

The largest genre in fiction, annual sales for romance novels totaled about $1.4 billion in 2005.

And there are lots of romance writers, too. Many of them right here on the Gulf Coast, which boasts its own chapter of the national organization Romance Writers of America.

The work of Cynthia Eden, a young writer from Mobile, is an example of the romance genre's diversity. Instead of brash pirates and temporarily chaste maidens, her novels are populated by lusty vampires and shape-shifting private detectives. Her latest work, "Hotter After Midnight," features a psychologist who must track down a serial killer with supernatural powers. It's due for release in 2008 by New York -based Kensington Publishing Corp.

As a writer of paranormal romance and erotic romance, Eden's work has no shortage of saucy bits -- detailed love scenes -- but there are plenty of writers in the romance world who keep it PG.

In fact, there are really only two rules in romance writing, at least as far as RWA is concerned: There must by a love connection between two main characters and they've got to get together in the end, no maudlin it-wasn't-meant-to-be endings allowed. After that, anything goes.

Sheri Cobb South, who has had a number of books distributed by various publishing houses, is one of those whose writing isn't meant to steam your windows but does aim to get your pulse racing. She writes mystery romance now, but she used to write Regency novels, books set in the England of Jane Austen in the early 1800s.

Cobb South, of Chunchula, swapped genres because every business has its trends, and romance is no different. Regency writing is about as out of style today as the high-waisted, lace-trimmed dresses that typified the period.

Said Cobb South, quoting another artist's advice to her: "Write what you love, but love a lot of things."

Another chapter member, Don McNair, of Foley and the group's only male writer, has apparently taken that motto to heart. While he does write romance, he recently published his first novel, "The Long Hunter," a book based in colonial America about a young man searching for his sister.

Though the Gulf Coast Chapter of RWA counts several published authors among its ranks, many of the writers in the group are working on their first novel and have yet to find a home for their work. For information, you can visit their Web site at www.gccrwa.com. The group meets on the first Saturday of each month.

The group also hosts a conference each year and invites agents and editors from major publishing houses speak on panels and meet new writers.