Live to Love on the Edge Blog

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#WriteWed Writing Romance and Empowering Women

I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker at the 2016 Nielsen Romance Summit at the RWA Conference in San Diego. It was exciting to speak about my experiences with diversity in the publishing industry. But it was just as important for me to discuss what I called the nation’s largest woman-run and woman-centric industry: The Romance Novel Industry.

From authors to agents to editors and publishers, the romance novel industry is one that provides opportunities for countless women. But it isn’t just about that end of the business, it’s also about the readers and the messages that we deliver in our romance novels. It’s about showing that two people can be partners in a relationship and that the relationship can be loving and fulfilling.

It’s about showing heroines who control their lives whether they are stay-at-home moms, soldiers, astronauts, librarians, lawyers, doctors, police officers, firefighters. . . You get it. Women are everywhere in all walks of life now and romance reflects that. Romance helps spread the word that as a woman, you can be anything that you want to be.

So help a women-centric women-powered industry by reading a romance!
WhereLoveAlwaysWins

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#ManCandyMonday Man Buns, Bad Boy Bracelets & Thumb Rings

Sometimes there is a lot of the writer in the characters they create and I’m finding that’s the case with Connie, the heroine in #2 in the #AtTheShore series. In one scene, Connie admits that she doesn’t like “Man Buns, Bad Boy Bracelets & Thumb Rings”, but finds them amazingly attractive on the hero, Jonathan Pierce. Yep, she’s falling for the Bad Boy and it’s really interesting.

So why mention this today on Man Candy Monday? Because I find myself intrigued by Wil Willis from Forged in Fire who has Bad Boyness in spades in addition to a man bun, bracelets, and rings.

Wil is an actor and writer who is also ex-military and from a military family. Wil was an Army Ranger and then served as an Air Force Pararescueman. He’s the host of Forged in Fire and has also hosted a number of other shows related to the military and weaponry. The show is fascinating and Wil is as hot as the forges on the show!

Thanks to Wil’s Facebook Fan Page for this smoldering photo!

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#ThrowbackThursday Philly Flower Show

By this time of winter, my cabin fever has set in and I am so ready for spring! I love being outdoors. I love flowers and plants and the taste of sun warm tomatoes straight from my yard. Sigh. One of the things that keeps me going until then is the Philadelphia Flower Show! I can’t wait to go this year!

So today’s throwback is to the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show. I’ll have lots of photos for you the second week in March.
Flower Show

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#WriteWed The Power of Pets

I remember when I wrote THE LOST and one of the opening scenes including Spottie, the hero’s pet beagle. In the original version of the scene, it wasn’t quite clear whether the shapeshifting hero drained the dog of life and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, said “Don’t kill the dog!”

I had never meant for the hero to harm the dog and he didn’t, but I had to make sure that was obvious in the scene. Since it was a gflashback to the hero’s youth, that was the only appearance of Spottie. Here’s a photo of the real Spotty who was my husband’s childhood pet.
Spotty the Beagle

Now, while working on #2 in the AT THE SHORE contemporary romance series, I realize that I’ve never really had a book where a pet plays a real role in the story line until now.

Meet Dudley, Jonathan Pierce’s terrier that he rescued from the shelter.
dudley
You’ll first encounter Dudley in #1 in the series – ONE SUMMER NIGHT – but it’s in the second story that Dudley really seems to bring people together. There is just something about this cute, smart and obedient pup that breaks down barriers.

The power of pets to do that isn’t something new. There have been various articles that tout the marvelous benefits of pets in helping people to heal emotionally and physically. When you’re feeling down or alone, what’s better than the love freely given by your cat or dog? I confess I have a turtle also, but it’s not very easy to cuddle up to her (or him?)

I’d love to hear about your pets and how they make your life better!

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#TuesdayTip Letting the Characters Lead the Way

Sorry to miss Man Candy, but I had some family things to handle. In the meantime, I’ve been furiously working on #2 in the At the Shore Contemporary Romance Series which more and more is feeling like “A Goodbye Summer.” Or least that’s the title for now. LOL!

For a long time I was a pantser and never wrote an outline. That ended for me years ago when I started writing series and needed to have an outline of not only the first book, but the connected books in the series. But for me, even an outline has a lot of give because of the characters and what I want to get across in the story.

For example, I’ve just gotten to a pivotal point where the hero and heroine are about to take that leap and I could have approached it in various ways. In fact, I wrote a good chunk of the scene but decided that it just wasn’t the feeling I wanted to convey for two people who were once lovers, but haven’t been together in nearly a decade. Sure there’s physical attraction there and I found myself fighting it as much as the characters were fighting it.

Which led me to a different scene because the characters were telling me there needed to be more to have them make that leap to lovers once again. There needed to be a deep emotional connection to bring them together at that particular moment.

Sometimes the characters will lead the way and as a writer, you need to give them the space and experiment with what they’re telling you to do. If it doesn’t work, there’s always the delete key and a chance to let them lead you down a different path. You’ll know in your gut when you’re on the right road with them.

Caridad's Writing Outline

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#FunFriday A Reality Show about Kittens?

Yes, you read that right! And now thanks to Icelandic broadcaster Nutiminn and the Icelandic Cat Protection Society, you can watch the kittens in their dollhouse-like habitat. The habitat has hidden cameras to record the kitten antics and they are, in a word, adorable.

To see a live feed of the kittens at play, click here to visit Nutiminn’s live feed.

Just in case they’re asleep, and boy do cats sleep a lot, here’s a compilation of the best of the kittens! Click here if you cannot see the Nutiminn kitten video below.

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