The Hardest Thing
Every writer has something that comes a little harder to them. For some, it may be descriptions, while others may hit a wall with the dialogue. Naming characters isn’t always a walk in the park either.
For me, the hardest thing to do isn’t naming characters. It’s coming up with their coffee orders.
You see, Pine Bend has a popular coffee shop named Candy’s. In each of my Pine Bend books, the characters swing by Candy’s at some point. But I can’t have them all drinking the same thing. For each character, I want their coffee order to be as unique as their names. In Closer Than You Know, Charlie prefers a dirty chai. Her best friend Amaya loves a soy hazelnut latte. Brian’s pick is an Americano, but his partner Joe splurges on caramel macchiatos.
It’s like that for each book. Each character has a very unique coffee order that provides some insight into who they are. Charlie craves a little spice with a kick of caffeine (she’s been craving something more in life for some time), while Amaya is a little more healthy (she’s Charlie’s voice of reason). Brian sticks with something more traditional (he’s been stuck in a rut for nearly a decade), while Joe is always splurging (in one scene, he brings an entire pizza to a team meeting—but he shares it, at least).
When I first started writing, I went with easy choices. In Last Breath, a book hiding in the depths of my cloud storage, Kath drinks a chai, while her husband Smith prefers mochas. Those drinks just happen to be what my husband and I prefer.
Help a writer out. Tell me, what’s your go-to coffee shop order?
This post isn’t really about coffee.
While I do find it hard to come up with unique coffee orders that fit each of my characters, I can usually find what I’m looking for in a few minutes. If I’m writing a Candy’s scene while I’m hanging out in a coffee shop, even better. In a pinch, I may pull in my husband to bounce a few ideas off. He spent a good portion of his twenties hanging out in coffee shops, so he’s a great help.
But as I said, this post isn’t really about coffee. It’s about what I struggle with most when it comes to my writing. And that, friends, is intimacy.
I write romance, so intimacy is huge. And not just intimacy. In novels, intimacy spans from closed door or “sweet” to open door “spicy.” And unless the author is writing erotica, the intimacy must serve a purpose. The difference between a spicy romance novel and erotica is whether the sex scenes propel the story forward or are simply just sex.
Back when I wrote my first intimate scene in Last Breath, which is a mystery involving a married couple, I had to choose where on the romance spectrum I wanted to land. My first draft was closed door, but as time went on, I wanted to highlight the fact that the only person Smith had ever let in was his wife, so I wrote the scenes.
And can I tell you, the first time I ever wrote a sex scene, I was purple with embarassment. I remember sitting on the floor of my living room, my husband in his chair to my right, playing a video game. And I was absolutely mortified, thinking that, even though his attention was on Grand Theft Auto V or Fallout 4, he just knew what I was doing. Reader, he did not.
But residual embarrassment was something I had to deal with, especially as I later moved from writing mysteries to romantic suspense. I had to remind myself that these were consenting adults dealing with awful situations that forced them together in such a way that they let down their guard and fell in love by the time the book ended. So long as I wrote my scenes in a way that felt good to me, I shouldn’t be embarrassed about how spicy my scenes were (although my mother-in-law has said repeatedly that she wants to read my book, and um….).
Over the years, I managed to get more comfortable writing unique intimate scenes for my characters. The scenes do take a little bit longer to write than any other scene, but that’s because I want to make sure that the tension is high, the scene balances both the acts themselves but also the emotions that go along with them. I’m actually at this point right now with A Secret to Die For, and I’ve taken about a week to just come up with an idea that felt right for my characters but was different from the earlier sex scene and built upon the intimacy I’d been building throughout the story. Now that I have my idea, it’ll probably take another week or so to put it on the page in a way I’m comfortable with. And I’ll tweak it here or there as I move toward the conclusion of the story.
But while I’m more comfortable, that doesn’t mean I don’t get embarrassed every now and then. I remember writing a sex scene while sitting in a Waffle House, waiting for my smothered, covered, and capped hash browns. My husband and I were at the counter, and my seat was right next to the cash register. Every time someone stopped to pay their bill, I’d turn a little to my left and angle my phone so that they couldn’t see what I was tapping into my Notes app. I’m certain no one knew what I was doing, but that didn’t stop my face from flushing bright red every time someone paid for their meal.
What I’m working on…
I am wrapping up my fourth round of edits, which are due to my editor on Monday. With this set, I am coming up on the halfway point of the novel. At the pace we’re going, I think the edits will be finished by summer. I’m definitely motivated to keep moving at this pace, because at that point, I’ll get my publication date, and I’ll be one step closer to holding a finished copy.
Once I get the publication date, I can also kick of my formal marketing plan for the book. I’ve been watching webinars and reading articles on marketing techniques and prepublication activities authors should do to catch the eye of readers. I’ll admit, I’m a little antsy to get started, but that’s because I’m just so excited to get Closer Than You Know into the hands of readers.
In the meantime, I’ll keep working on my edits. One task I’m focusing on in this round of edits is removing implied prepositional phrases. For example: In one scene, Charlie asks the Dean of Students, “Is there anything you can share with us?” with regard to her missing student, Holly. Because I’ve already mentioned that there are multiple people in the room, it’s not necessary to say “with us,” so I can cut that.
What I’m reading…
About a year ago, I stumbled upon the short story “Reduce! Reuse! Recycle” by TJ Klune. The story is a precursor to Klune’s novel In the Lives of Puppets. I absolutely fell in love with the story, despite its bittersweet ending. After that, I set out to read The House by the Cerulean Sea, which was in my TBR stack. It is one of the most heartwarming and lovely books. And it was then that I knew I would read every book TJ Klune ever wrote.
I recently returned to the house by the Cerulean Sea in the sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea. Honestly, I’m a little mad at myself for taking a year to come back to this world and these absolutely wonderful characters. I don’t know if these books are technically cozy fantasy since the characters do face hate for their magical abilities, but to me, they are so cozy. I could live in Marsyas with them all if that were ever possible.
And I loved it so much that I have Under the Whispering Door on standby once I finish the dark romance I’m currently reading.
One last thing…
My giveaway is still on. One lucky reader will receive my two comp books—Allison Brennan’s The Sorority Murder and Karen Rose’s Say You’re Sorry—a “Yes I really do need all these books” make-up bag, and four bookish stickers. To enter, tell me your coffee order. You can pick up extra entries if you share this post. When I hit 100 subscribers, I’ll pick one lucky winner. Good luck!
Usually a flat white. If the day already feels a little dangerous, an Americano.