Tag: Paranormalromance

Characters and where to start?

That sinking feeling when you realise that you committed to writing a story for an anthology and that means working out a pair of new characters, and a story although this anthology has a theme …

Of course, I don’t make things easy for myself, because I also run the risk of falling into the research black hole, one of the joys, for me, of being neurodivergent.

So, what does this process look like? Where do I start? There is a start, isn’t there? Of course, there is!

I am a very visual person when it comes to writing. I need to find the right sort of face which will act as inspiration for my new story. Also, I need to find the right creature that works with the anthology theme. The theme is that ‘even villains deserve love’. I could have made it easy for myself. Casimir, the main man of Cysgodion, definitely filled the role of a villain as far as the characters of “Beta” were concerned. But, by “Cysgodion” and “Merysekhmet”, he seems to have redeemed himself.

Not Casimir then.

The one creature I have yet to include in my stories is the vampire, hence the picture of a vampire bat. But … there is a similar problem to people assuming that all sexy romance must be like FSOG. There are series like The Originals. There are books and movies like Twilight. Then we have Hotel Transylvania and characters saying “Blah, blah blah!”. Vampires have been done to death. So the first thing I had to irk out was how did my vampires differ? Was I going to let someone else choose the definition?

Where would be the fun in that?

But first things first, I needed a face, or rather faces. It would be a M/F romance, as I don’t feel confident enough to diverge from that yet.

First the face, then the cover

My story, my rules. I may well have to include that as a note at the start of the story, because otherwise, I am sure readers might be a bit cross that I didn’t follow ‘official’ lore. I needed my characters to be out and about, so the traditional avoidance of sunlight wouldn’t work.

Lily turnout out to be a high school History teacher. My male character was law enforcement, but in the vampire parallel to the FBI. I haven’t found a face for him, so whilst I have an idea of his name and lineage, I really need that face.

So, as they used to say … “Stay tuned …”.

Bran Cadwgan is one of two Betas of the Cwn Annwn. He believed he would never be granted a Mate by the Goddess as penance for past mistakes, but discovers that he was wrong. Will he succeed in proving to both her family and his Mate that he is worthy of her sharing his life?

Alix Gosselin is the only daughter of the Gosselin Alpha and his mate. She was the “Gosselin Princess” growing up in an abusive home, until she fled first to attend boarding school and then for a career in law enforcement. Her parents had proven that the myth of a mate who would love and treasure you above all else was just that, a myth. Then, she encountered a biker whilst investigating a series of female disappearances in a suspected sex-trafficking ring. Her life would never be the same again. Alix wants to believe the story she is told by her biker, but she knows her father will not let her ‘throw herself away’ on a ‘mere biker’.

Bran and Alix, both have preconceptions to overcome. Both of them will be faced with challenges. Will the growing bond between them be sufficient? Based on the legend of the Welsh Cwn Annwn, and incorporating Jo’s love of myth and legend, Beta introduces a cast of Cwn Annwn, wolf shifter and human characters, weaving romance with the contemporary world. Dare you walk in our world?

https://books2read.com/u/mqN9D8

Time to reset: Discovering myself (Part 3)

This is the difficult bit. At the time of writing, I am yet to find a job. In fact, the last six months is the longest that I have been out of work since I was nineteen. With that, comes the reason why I decided to switch to using a pen name for my romance novels. As anyone who has tried applying for a role which involves an application via a company’s website, there is the question of whether the applicant is disabled or requires any adjustments.

My son taking part in a Run Archery event

The problem is that in declaring a non-visible disability, does it put the applicant at a disadvantage?

Let’s go back a couple or three decades when I was making my first forays into the world of employment. My parents thought that, since I had failed to achieve the grades needed to study Law and become a solicitor, the world of banking might be an alternative. I had an interview at one bank which will remain nameless where the bank manager stated that I would probably be marrying and having children before long. To say I was surprised was an understatement. Yes, I had a boyfriend, and chances were that we would marry at some point, but to have this total stranger assume I would have children, and therefore, leave my job?

Of course, now, employers can’t ask those sorts of questions. But I can’t help but feel that the disability question has taken its place. All employers claim that they adhere to the relevant rules, but do they? Or, do they look at an applicant with even a hidden disability and mentally shake their heads?

I have had one manager, who said she had worked with autistic people. She may well have, but not all autistic people are the same. Another manager, who had already admitted that she wanted rid of me, was also told I was autistic. Her attitude was that it didn’t matter, that I still had to pull my weight. And yes, there would come a point where I would slip up and she could be rid me as she wanted.

And that brings us to the issue of why would I choose to use a pen name. Simple enough. I write paranormal romance. Of all the sub-genres of romance, it is the one which almost guarantees ‘steam’. So, yes, I write sex scenes. Are you able to imagine how frustrating it is to be asked if my books are like FSOG? Or, do I give free copies to colleagues?

On that note, I shall leave you. As Mental Health Awareness month draws to a close, please look after yourselves. As a survivor, I discovered that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

A random chocolate brownie cake, coated in chocolate ganache and giant milk chocolate drops