Stage Fright

Stage Fright. It has been called an actor’s worst nightmare. But actors are not the only people who experience stage fright. And with the upcoming release of my second novel, Coming Home, it’s something I have to start thinking about – again. I spoke with the director of my local library, and she wants me to do a book signing/reading when Coming Home is released.
I’ve done it before, when In Sunshine or in Shadow, my first novel, came out. I thought nothing of it at first. Get up and read in front of an audience? Sure, I'd love to, I replied. And at that moment, an inner trembling seized my entire body. What have I gotten myself into?

And now I’m feeling those butterflies all over again.

I'm sure other authors have felt the same way in similar situations. Many writers shy away from the limelight. But I was luckier than most, because I was able to consult an expert. A friend of mine, who is also an actor, had been advising me about writing an actor hero, so it seemed natural to ask him about stage fright and what to do about it.

Here's what he told me:

There is no magical formula for dealing with stage fright. Anyone can suffer from it, from the actor stepping onstage for the first time, to the greatest actors. And if you forget a line, you try to improvise.

As far as my reading was concerned, my friend suggested I practice reading in front of family, people I know and trust. That was the key: imagining I was reading to one person I love and trust. He also advised me to take deep breaths, and to take my time.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with stage fright. I made sure I brought my lucky (stuffed) leprechaun, Seamus O’Reagan, to my signing that day, just for an extra confidence booster. But the tips worked. My reading went off without a hitch.

I also sold every book.

Here’s hoping my next signing will be as successful!

Nineteenth Century Medicine . . . and More

My love for the late nineteenth century has led me to collect an array of reference books. Today I would like to share with you some passages from DR. CHASE’S RECIPES OR INFORMATION FOR EVERYBODY. Quite a title, eh? That's only the short version. Inside the frontspiece says An Invaluable Collection of About Eight Hundred Recipes and he goes on. I make fun, but this is a helpful book published by Dr. A. W. Chase in 1866 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In it he covers everything from medicine to tanning hides. Dr. Chase has compiled a wealth of information on the times. I would think his book would have come in very handy for anyone in a remote area who had to be almost totally self-reliant.

Having had TB years ago, I was impressed and amazed at Dr. Chase’s advice on the disease. At a time when most TB patients were shut up in darkened rooms with no exercise or fresh air, Dr. Chase suggested a walk outside in a clear environment, beginning with a few yeards and working up to a half mile or so each day. He also suggested a diet which made total sense today. Let me share some other quotes with you:


Page 77 and 78 list several treatments for Ague. One is "Ague Medicine Without Quinine. Mrs. Wadsworth, a few miles south of this city, has been using the following Ague mixture over twenty years curing, she says, more than forty cases without a failure. She takes Mandrake root, fresh dug, and pounds it; then squeezes out the juice to obtain 1 ½ tablespoons, with which she mixes the same quantity of molasses, is divided into three equal doses of 1 tablespoon each to be given two hours apart, commencing so as to take all an hour before the chill."

I have no idea how you know the chill is coming an hour before it arrives.
Page 116 lists treatment for "Burns—Salve for Burns, Frost-bites, Cracked Nipples, Chapped Lips, etc. Equal parts of turpenine, sweet oil, and beeswax; melt the oil and wax together, and when a little cool, add the turpentine and stir until cold, which keeps them evenly mixed. Apply by spreading upon a thin cloth—linen is best."

Dr. Chase’s book contains food recipes, substitutions, calculating interest, tanning, dyes, training a horse, and building furniture. Some of his treatments sound worse than the disease. Others treat incurable diseases of the times, and I wonder if they merely offered hope to the hopeless. However, if one could only take one or two books on the trip West, I think this one would have been a good choice.

The ads on the inside cover interest me. I love reading old ads, though. Can't help myself. Imagine an all-night drugstore in 1866! And Walgreen's thought they'd come up with a new idea.

If any authors need a remedy from this book, just email me and I’ll check out what Dr. Chase says. My email is caroline@carolineclemmons.com and I'll be happy to explore for you.

How do You Celebrate July 4th?

July 4th was one day that we always closed the shop and took off from work in our family business. On this national holiday we have always had a family get-together. There's something about the 4th. There are so many great ways to celebrate. Some places have parades during the day. In other communities there are softball games, picnics at the park, music under the stars, to name a few activities, followed by fireworks displays.

When I was young we would have a family picnic out in the desert sand hills. Where I live that was a very big deal back then. My grandparents did the same when my mom was little. Some families still like to do that. We'd have a campfire and fix hamburgers. After dinner we'd use the hot coals to light a punk, and use the punk to light the fireworks. I vividly remember one time when my sister was holding a Roman Candle in her hands and it started to shoot balls of flame in all directions. My dad dove for the ground as one went right for him. If I remember correctly that was the end of holding Roman Candles in our family. A good thing. We always cleaned up the area so no trash was left behind, including those used sparklers.

Did you ever step on a spent sparkler in your bare feet? Not a good thing. These days, we watch the fireworks displays from my mom's house or the foothills on the church grounds. There's always a neighbor nearby shooting off small rockets. It makes for an exciting if noisy backyard party. We follow up by watching the celebrations on TV that are taking place in D.C. and Boston. It's amazing what they can do with music and fireworks.

The 4th always begins as a day of taking it easy and ends with rousing celebrations of our national heritage.

How do you celebrate the 4th? Leave your story in a comment. I'd love to read about it. And have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Jeanmarie Hamilton
www.JeanmarieHamilton.com

Places that Inspire – Isle of Skye

Today, I’m holding my latest anthology, Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies (which contains my novella Beast in a Kilt,) in my hands for the first time. Definitely a thrill! So I wanted to talk about the place that inspired one of the settings.

One of the most important parts of writing most fiction is bringing your setting to life for the reader. Even if you’ve never been to a place and you’re writing about it, you must find a way to bring in specific detail to transport the reader. You can do this through research, reading detailed travelogues of people who have visited the place and looking at photos. But the best way remains to visit the place.

In my historical paranormal erotic romance novella, Beast in a Kilt, the heroine lives on the west coast of the Scottish mainland, one of the most breathtaking places in Scotland (there are many, of course, but this is one of my favorites.)

My visit to Isle of Skye, especially the northwestern portion of the Trotternish Peninsula, is actually the inspiration for the heroine’s home. To show what it's like, I want to share photos and an excerpt from my novella. In this scene, the heroine is searching for her shape-shifting selkie older brother. (A selkie is a seal shape-shifter.)

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She threw on her fur-trimmed, black woolen cloak, slipped down the back servants’ stair and headed toward the rocky shore of the North Atlantic. She glanced back at the five-story tower house perched on a cliff above the sea, hoping no one saw her. The harsh sea wind yanked at her cloak and ankle-length, belted plaid arisaid. She tucked them tighter about her as she descended. Shivering, she inhaled the familiar scent of brine and fish. A touch of rain hissed through the air, wetting her face.

Gazing first north, then south along the jagged shoreline, she saw naught but gray boulders and seawater reflecting gray sky. Mist wreathed the mountains and islands in the distance. Nothing moved but the white-capping waves, thundering against the crags, and the screeching birds, darting this way and that. No seals to be found lounging on rocks.

“Brodie!” She picked her way among the large stones and called out again. Nothing. “Blast!” He was no doubt having a grand old time. And she was being bartered off to a barbaric beast. She stumbled along the narrow trail to the cave her brother sometimes used and stepped inside.

“Brodie?” Her voice echoed, but no response. Empty, dark and dank. Less appealing than the unfriendly weather. She returned outside. “Brodie, get your arse back here, damn you! And take responsibility for the clan. I need your help!” Wind tore at her clothing and chilled her to the bone. The rain fell harder, stinging her eyes. It was turning into a gale.
Nicole North - Beast in a Kilt, Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies

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What I tried to do here is put the reader into the setting (the landscape and weather) via the heroine. As the heroine experiences the setting, so does the reader. One of my favorite things about this setting is the islands in the distance, the Outer Hebrides, including Isle of Lewis, and the way the mist lurks about them. It is very enchanting and mystical.

What is one of your favorite settings that you've written about and how did you research it?

Beast in a Kilt: Scottish lady Catriona MacCain has loved Torr Blackburn, a fierce Highland warrior, since she was a young lass, but Torr only sees Catriona as his best friend’s little sister. When Catriona’s family promises her in marriage to a detestable chieftain, she desperately needs Torr to save her from a fate worse than death. But Torr is under the spell of a witch of the dark arts and is cursed to spend his nights as a kelpie water demon. He doesn’t believe himself worthy of the virginal Lady Catriona. However, she is determined to seduce Torr and claim him… body, heart and soul, if only they can banish the curse and defeat the enemies who have vowed to possess and enslave them both. (Release date July 25, 2010)

Nicole

http://www.nicolenorth.com/

Putting Conflict in your Writing

by Ann Lethbridge
Not so long ago, I attended a workshop given by Donald Maas, and among the many things I learned, I keep remembering one of them. No one ever complained that a story had too much conflict. I took this message too heart and each time I write a page I am asking myself-- enough conflict? How can I make it worse for my hero and heroine?
We only have to look at the newspapers to know that people love conflict. Journalists focus on the bad news, not the happy stuff, because it is conflict that sells newspapers. Remember the Volcano that had Europe closed down in May? I think we got to the point where everyone could say its name. But since it is not causing anyone any trouble at the moment, not a word can be found.
It is conflict that fascinates readers. The conflict our characters face. Characters they care about. Real conflicts that readers can relate to. Not misunderstandings e.g. the heroine seeing the hero with another woman, who happens to be his sister, though she doesn't know it. This is not conflict, at least not for more than a moment or two. It is a misunderstanding. But if the hero lies about who the woman is, perhaps because his sister is an undercover cop, that is conflict for both of them. He is conflicted because he will want to tell her the truth. She is conflicted because she wants to trust him, but now.....
Certainly a villain can create lots of conflict. But what fascinates us most is the conflict facing the protagonists. The choices have to be between a sucky choice and a suckier choice - this last is my critique partner Molly O'Keefe's favorite saying.
A character conflicted about their choices will keep a reader turning the page.
A heroine who has to choose between her beloved father's freedom and her own virtue is going to have conflict.
A man forced choose between helping his brother and helping a woman in danger and doing either will cause harm to the other, is going to have conflict. He is going to try to do both. But finally he is going have to choose.
Conflict on every page. It is one of the keys to making your manuscript a page turner.

Foxfire books and my blog tour

My blog day here happens to fall during my blog tour so I hope you don't mind if I tack on the details of my blog contest to the end of this post.

I think I've found the best books for learning how things were done in the 17 and 1800's. When I find a great resource I like to share. I've used these books to learn how to make brooms, beds, soap, preserve meat, and harvest wild plants for food.

If you don't have these books they are worth getting your hands on if you write American historical stories.

They are the Foxfire books. I have books 1,2,& 3. I bought them used and have found them invaluable. There's no author. They are articles that were first published in Foxfire magazine. I used information in book three to learn about making brooms for my current release Doctor in Petticoats.

Blurb for Doctor in Petticoats
After a life-altering accident and a failed relationship, Dr. Rachel Tarkiel gave up on love and settled for a life healing others as the physician at a School for the Blind. She's happy in her vocation--until handsome Clay Halsey shows up and inspires her to want more.

Blinded by a person he considered a friend, Clay curses his circumstances and his limitations. Intriguing Dr. Tarkiel shows him no pity, though. To her, he's as much a man as he ever was.

Can these two wounded souls conquer outside obstacles, as well as their own internal fears, and find love?

Excerpt
“I’m going to look in your other eye now.” She, again, placed a hand on his face and opened the eyelids, stilling her fluttering heart as she pressed close. His clean-shaven face had a couple small nicks on the edges of his angular cheeks. The spice of his shave soap lingered on his skin.

She resisted the urge to run her cheek against his. The heat of his face under her palm and his breath moving wisps of wayward hair caused her to close her eyes and pretend for a few seconds he could be her husband. A man who loved her and wouldn’t be threatened by her occupation or sickened by her hideous scar.

His breathing quickened. A hand settled on her waist, slid around to her back, and drew her forward. Her hand, holding the lens, dropped to his shoulder, and she opened her eyes. This behavior on both their parts was unconscionable, but her constricted throat wouldn’t allow her to utter the rebuke.

Clay sensed the moment the doctor slid from professional to aroused woman. The hand on his cheek caressed rather than held, her breathing quickened, and her scent invaded his senses like a warm summer rain.

Blog Tour Contest

This is my second day of my fifteen blog/twelve day tour. Leave a comment and follow me to all the blogs on my tour and you could win an autographed copy of my June release, Doctor in Petticoats, a B&N gift card, and a summer tote filled with goodies. To find out all the places I'll be go to my blog- http://www.patyjager.blogspot.com to find the list.

Website: http://www.patyjager.net
Blog: http://www.patyjager.blogspot.com

Women’s Work (Part 1)

The saying “A woman’s work is never done” definitely applied during medieval times. Whether the woman was a noble, a peasant on the land, or a city dweller, women worked hard. However, the work varied from class to class.

We often think of the nobility as living the life of luxury. While a princess or a duchess probably never had to pick up a broom or bake bread, the wives of those with smaller domains many times had to do their own chores. Though the lady spent much of her time giving orders to those under her husband’s rule, she also had to know how to do everything they did. A lady knew how to bake, brew, clean, make soap that was tough enough to get wine stains out of table cloths or delicate enough for a baby.

The noble lady was not just a housekeeper. Husbands who pledged allegiance to those above them could be gone for months or even years. In her husband’s absence, the lady had to be able to represent his interest in every aspect. As wife to the lord, she had to be capable of doing everything her husband had to do, except perhaps swing a sword on the battlefield. Though there are instances of women doing even that. The lady had to know what grain to plant, when to plant it, which field to use and which should lie fallow. Many times the lady was also the healer in the household. She had to know how to take care of the sick and wounded and what herbs to grow for cures. She had to be aware of what her husband owned and how to keep account of it.

When lords were away, their wives held court, made contracts and there were those who had no qualms about trying to wrest a title from the hands of the lady left behind. A wife had to be able to defend her husband’s land and people in his name. And when the lord got himself held captive, his lady wife was responsible for squeezing every possible penny from the estate to pay his ransom.

So not only did a noble woman have to be a homemaker, she was also an accountant, a lawyer, and a general as well.

In my first novel, Widow’s Peak, Amye Barnard, Lady Edensmouth, takes on all these tasks and more. When she takes in an injured traveler she finds herself forced to choose between her title and her heart. Just like many of us today she had to make a choice between career and love. Which would you choose?

Next Month:Part 2-Sex in the City