Ellie Macdonald
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The Writing Process Blog Hop

6/16/2014

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Today I was tagged by my good friend Codi Gary to talk about my writing process. If you haven't checked her out, do so! She writes contemporary romance set in small town America and the stories are fantastic and the characters are adorable. Having read her faithfully since her first release and getting to know her as a friend, I can only say that her books are worth the read! She has two upcoming releases, I Want Crazy (Book 2 of her Loco, Texas series) and Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Book 3 of her Rock Canyon, Idaho series).
OK, so down to business.

1. What am I working on now?
A few of things, actually. Last week I submitted my revised version of The Governess Club: Sara (Book 3 of The Governess Club series), so I am waiting on the copy edits. I am also waiting on the initial edits for The Governess Club: Louisa (Book 4). I know, that sounds like a lot of waiting, but I am not just sitting around doing nothing, I promise! I have started the first draft of Book 1 for a new series that I have proposed to my editor. I haven't heard back yet whether she wants to run with it, but that doesn't mean I can't start it.

Brief background on The Governess Club series. Set in the 1820s, four friends have banded together to pool their resources in order to open their own private school and achieve independence. Sara's story picks up a few months after Bonnie's story, which is Book 2. Louisa's story continues immediately after Sara's. These stories are full of children's antics, turmoil and lots of sexy love, of course. Sara and Louisa's stories release on September 2 and October 7, 2014, respectively.

I can't say much about the proposed series just yet, but I will give you a brief glimpse. Set again in the 1820s, it follows six friends who are struggling to recover from a massive murder cover up and the scandals involved. I will give more information when I hear back from my editor. Fingers crossed!

2. How does my work differ from others in the genre?
I find one of the most difficult things for an author to do is to think of a new concept within an established genre. I like to think authors like Tom Clancy also faced this - how many different ways can a spy novel be written, right? What I like to do is to take a popular trope (or theme) and add a twist on it, if I can. For instance, in The Governess Club: Claire, I have the governess fall in love with a lord. Now, this is an established, popular idea, one that I have read in several different books and haven't tired of yet. But my twist? The lord is hiding in plain view as the tutor and she has no idea.

With my proposed series, it's not often you encounter a group of people accused of a crime as heroes of their own romance novels. Once you find out their motivations, their worthiness becomes clear, more traditional, but it is still a unique lead in.

I also like my characters to be flawed. I hate perfection in stories because to me, it's not realistic. I hate it when things aren't realistic. Conversations are misunderstood, ulterior motives exist, past experiences taint the present, sex isn't always great; nothing is served up nicely on a silver platter. I like my characters to have to work at not only their relationships, but at themselves. None find perfection, but they do find love.

3. Why do I write what I do?
This is an easy one for me to answer: because I love it. I do enjoy contemporary romance and other types of literature, but historical romance is always my go-to read. It's the few hours of escape I am looking for. Contemporary is all well and good, but if I can relate to not having a cell signal to call CAA for a tow, or that the power has gone out, or sitting in a pub watching the hockey game, it's not enough of an escape. Writing in the Regency era provides that escape. It's at the cusp of the Age of Industrialism, so new thoughts are already occurring. The Napoleanic Wars have just ended, so we have a country filled with relief that they have survived the war and filled with grief for those who did not. We have wounded soldiers, both physically and mentally, who struggle to fit back into a society that doesn't understand their lingering scars; spies who will never be recognized for their involvement and likely can't bring themselves to speak of what they saw - and did; a Prince Regent who is bankrupting the nation because of his victorious joy. And all this is accompanied by horse drawn carriages and gentlemen kitted out superbly.


But why write when there are so many successful Historical Romance authors? Because I had just finished reading a novel - I can't even remember which one it was - and I started thinking about all the things I would like to see in a romance novel, but never do. Then I started imagining what a book that incorporated those things in various combinations would look like. It just spiraled from there and I realized that if I ever wanted to see a book like that, I would have to write it.

4. How does my writing process work?
Being Canadian, I am going to use a fitting simile here: my writing process is like making a snowball at the first real snowfall of the year, where the snow is still soft and sticky and things like leaves and sticks make their way into it.


I start with my plan. I survey the landscape. Where is the best snow? Where is the best place for me to hide in order to stealthily throw this snowball at someone? This is when I get my ideas.

When I first crouch down to gather the snow, I anticipate what it is going to be like. The perfect size to fit in my hand, the perfect circular shape to fly through the air; I even feel how cold my hand will get. This is my synopsis stage, writing down the sequence of events, character descriptions and motivations, etc.

That first grasp of snow in my hand, making the core of the ball, that is my first few sentences, paragraphs, even an entire chapter. It's where I start. It really gives me a feel of how the story will feel, how easily it may come.

But I don't write in a linear fashion. Often I do, but not always. And I am always editing. I always re-read what I wrote previously and edit it, improve upon it. This is me gathering more snow around the core, not only adding to the ball, but packing it in and making it stronger. With this, by the time I write "The End," it may seem like it's my first draft, but it's actually more like my third or fourth with all the changes and revisions I made on my own.


But the problem with making a snowball at this time of year is that things other than snow are in there: sticks, leaves, dirt, even the occasional rock - a huge amateur mistake. These things need to be picked out. This is when I sit down with my beta reader. We both get a copy of the manuscript printed and take about a week to read it, making notes all the time. We ask questions like: Is this necessary? Is this phrased well? Is this realistic? Is this consistent with the story? Is this believable? Does this make sense? We even do things like cut out adverbs. We usually aim to cut out about 10,000 words - that is generally how much unnecessary stuff in my draft. Sometimes it's easier to achieve this, others not.

My snowball is now at the point of being ready throw. But all of a sudden, I am not alone in my strategic hiding spot. It's not my beta reader with me though, it's my editor. Before I get a chance to throw it, she takes the snowball out of my hand and double checks for things like rocks and sticks and leaves. She helps me make a better snowball, a better manuscript. It's not always an easy process -it never is when something as personal as your creative output is being examined - but it is a necessary process and always results in a better product.

And after all this? I get to throw it. Who is my target? You, my readers. ;0)

So that's my writing process. I am now going to tag Shelly Bell. Head over to her Facebook page and find out how things work in her writing world.
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COVER REVEAL: Codi Gary

10/9/2013

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Meet my friend, Codi Gary.

She is awesome.

Seriously.

Think Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds and you have Codi.

On a slow day, we average about 5 emails a day - we met last July and I don't think our conversation has actually stopped yet.

Codi is the author of the popular Rock Canyon series and is gearing up for another series called Loco, Texas.

I had the privilege of reading the first three chapters of the first book in the series, Make Me Crazy, and I have to say it will be worth the money!

And this cover for it - cowboys never go out of style. Check it out!

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And here's the cover blurb:

Miranda “Rand” Coleman has seen the way love can wreck a person and wants absolutely no part of it. When her granddaddy dies suddenly, he leaves a clause in his will that has her married in three months or she loses her inheritance. Unwilling to give up the Double C Ranch, she starts to set her eyes towards the eligible men in town, with little luck in finding a man she can stand for a minute let alone a year. 

Until she sets eyes on the new veterinarian and enlists the help of her womanizing best friend, Jake, to help.

Jake Hansen is a single guy who likes his women pretty and uncomplicated, with no plans to settle down anytime soon. When he decides to help Rand hook her man, he has no idea the effect watching Rand change would have on him. Especially when she starts letting her gorgeous brown hair down and showing off a body he didn’t even know she had. Before too long, Jake isn’t just lusting after his best friend, he’s feeling downright possessive. But when it comes down to the wire, will he get over his issues and step up to the alter…or lose the only woman he was ever meant to love?

Make Me Crazy will be released on December 3, 2013.

But don't worry, you don't have to wait that long to read about what happens in Loco, Texas.

Codi has written a novella, One Crazy Night, to introduce the series and it will be published along with two others in the Hallowe'en themed anthology I Put A Spell On You, releasing on October 15, 2013.

And here's the cover for that:
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I said it before and I will say it again: Codi is awesome. I have read her stuff and look forward to reading more.

Both books will be published by Books With Benefits Publishing.

Author Bio:
An obsessive bookworm for twenty years, Codi Gary likes to write
sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family. Visit her website 
www.codigarysbooks.com for latest news, social media, or just to say hi!

Media Links:
Website        Facebook        Goodreads        Twitter: @codigary

And let's try the Rafflecopter today too...

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Guest Blogger - Cheryl Harper

9/21/2013

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Meet the Characters of Can’t Help Falling in Love


When I talk to my non-writer friends about characters in my books, they all look at me with the same question in their eyes: how do you know this person? I don’t. Really. I know they’re imaginary. Promise. I can’t point to someone and say “There he is!” But for me, every book starts with a scene and two characters. Then I have to figure out who they are, where they’ve been, and where they want to go. Sometimes that means I know more about them than could ever be included in a book. I had a lot of fun meeting the characters of Can’t Help Falling in Love. Please let me introduce them:

Randa Whitmore—Miss Congeniality

Physical description: Long legs, long blonde hair, sky-high heels, an ex-pageant contestant who never won but now celebrates life with good hamburgers, sweet tea, and the best spa treatments money can buy.

Employment: Hotel acquisitions and renovation for her father’s hotel
chain.

Strengths: smart, good with spreadsheets and negotiations…until now.

Weaknesses: floppy bloodhounds, cheap flip flops, new books, and six-pack
abs.

Words she lives by: Buy it.

What Tony thinks: 

He was probably going to spend too much time replaying her strut across the lobby in his mind. If there’d been a wind machine and Def Leppard playing in the background, she’d have been his every teenage fantasy come to life.
 
Tony Ortega—Mr. In-Control

Physical description: tall, dark, handsome in a tough-guy, do-not-waste-my-time kind of way, tattoo on his arm, wears his hotel uniform, the Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants, with pride and is satisfied to finally have a space all his own with all the books he can cram in it.

Employment: Hotel manager, occasional dogsitter.

Strengths: smart, suspicious, good judge of character…maybe.

Weaknesses: floppy bloodhounds, long-legged blondes, new books, and red
lips.

Words he lives by: Semper Fi.

What Randa thinks:

He watched her like he knew her, knew everything about her because he saw her. He didn’t give her the obvious leer that she’d seen and dismissed a million times. This guy, when he looked, saw more than most people. Randa had spent a lot of time blending in with the perfectly bland Whitmore woodwork. Being the subject of that much focus made her restless. She knew exactly how a fluffy bunny felt when it looked up to see a hungry mountain lion. Well, except the bunny would run away. She wasn’t sure which direction she’d run if he crooked his finger right this second.

And the rest of the gang:

The Rock’n’Rolla Hotel, a place built to honor Elvis in all things, it’s also the home some people were looking for.

Willodean Jackson, the hotel owner who has a knack for understanding people, matching them up, and never expecting anything less than the very
best.

Misty the bloodhound, the heart of the hotel, who is always perfectly
accessorized.

And here’s a little excerpt of Randa and Willodean meeting for the first time in the Viva Las Vegas, the hotel restaurant.

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“Now, then, Tony told me we might
have business to talk about. Care to share what that might be, Randa?” Her voice was molasses, slow and sticky sweet, but something about her face made Randa reconsider her position. The smile was gone. So was the twinkle. Now her eyes looked more like what Randa would expect to see in something higher up on the food chain. They were sharp, like some kind of predator that hadn’t quite decided whether to play with the food or scarf it
down.

Randa cleared her throat. “I have
no idea what you’re talking about.”

 Willodean pursed her lips. “The hard way, then. Okay.” She leaned back as Marcy set down tea and ginger ale on the table. “Whitmore. Seems like you might know a thing or two about hotels. What in the world are you doing in my little place? Tony thinks you might be planning a little stiff competition.” Willodean tilted her head to the side. “But you and I both know that your kind of hotels are not in the same class as my masterpiece. No, it’d be smarter business maybe to come after this actual hotel. My location’s excellent, my booking rates are solid, and you could be up and running pretty quick.”

Randa tried not to jerk in surprise. She wasn’t really shocked that Tony had done his research. Or even that he’d kept his suspicions to himself. What surprised her was that Willodean had jumped to exactly the right conclusion less than a day after she’d walked into the place.

Willodean Jackson was nobody’s little old lady. She wouldn’t be talked into selling with smooth patter and an offer that contained a lot of zeroes. She was shrewd. She knew exactly what she had with her prime location and established reputation. There was no way the Rock’n’Rolla Hotel would come at a bargain price. Randa thought about what it might look like to see Willodean and her father lock horns. Maybe the winner wasn’t as cut and dried as she thought.

And that was a lovely thought. She hadn’t met many people who even made her wonder if they could give her father a run for his money.

For a chance to win a copy of Stuck on You, the first full-length Rock’n’Rolla Hotel story about a very serious showgirl waitress and a very charming Hollywood star, leave a comment with your
favorite type of romance. And for more chances to win this book or
Can’t Help Falling in Love, visit
http://cherylharperbooks.com for a list of other blog giveaways and information on the final Rock’n’Rolla Hotel book, Santa, Bring My Baby Back, coming in
December.


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Hi, my name is Ellie and I write romance novels...

8/12/2013

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August is National Read-a-Romance Month in the U.S., but of course us international fans are following along as well. According to the website, the purpose is to create a place “where romance writers and readers could come together and celebrate this wonderful genre.”

 This blog post is inspired by the one 
Maya Rodale wrote today for the Read-a-Romance website in which she advocates for romance because in a world and societies that make being a woman derogatory, it provides an example of strong women who fight against the status quo and love themselves for doing it. “Romance novels can give a girl ideas,” Rodale writes, “and the idea that she gets to make decisions for herself is one she ought to have.”  You can read the full blog post here. I do recommend you follow the link in her post for the “one brilliant feminist” and to watch the video at the end.

I started reading romance novels when I was a young teenager, like many romance readers. My mother read them as well as my older sister, so it was normal in my household; later I found out the majority of my aunts (and I have a lot) read them too, as well as my grandmother. At first it was that secret pleasure of it – I was fourteen and reading about sex! Of course it was what I wanted; what fourteen-year-old isn’t curious about that sort of thing? And it was great! I was allowed to read about it but not really watch it in a movie or on TV. I felt so grown-up.

But others noticed. And teased me for it. Made me feel dirty and wrong for wanting to read it. Told me those books had no substance. That it was smut. Soft pornography. That I must be a sex addict and therefore an easy girl to get with.

So I stopped reading them. For little less than a decade, I read other stuff. Literature, fiction, histories, university assigned reading, etc. For that time, I felt superior to those who read romances. To my shame, I got after my sister for reading them, using the same reasons listed above.

But one day, I didn’t have any books in my TBR pile and was jonesing for something to read. I picked up one of the romance novels lying around the house and fell in love all over again.

It was still a source of shame, however. I didn’t hide it, but whenever someone asked me what I was reading, I would say the title in some cheesy way, making a joke out it. I told people I read them because they were an escape, that I didn’t have to think while reading them. And it was true, to an extent.

Then I began writing romance novels. And I kept it a secret. For five years, I quietly typed away and didn’t tell my family, barely told my friends, because I was afraid of the ridicule I would get. Even those I told, I waited and weighed the pros and cons of telling them. To those who questioned my choice, I would say, “I don’t feel I can write a serious piece of literature because I don’t think I have anything to say. One day maybe, but not right now.” Even in that answer, I was degrading the romance genre.

I finally revealed to my family what I was doing, but only after I was offered my first contract. What surprised me was the amount of support and congratulations I received; a little bit of teasing from those I expected it from the most, but mainly support.

I want to repeat what the purpose of Read-a-Romance month is: to create a place “where romance writers and readers could come together and celebrate this wonderful genre.”

And you know what? It is a wonderful genre.

 It just took me a long time to admit it.

I write romance novels because when the news reports kidnappings, rapes, murders, political corruption and all sorts of negativity, it gives a beacon of light and hope that there is a chance for happiness. How is that worthy of ridicule?

I write romance novels because where the media constantly gives unhealthy images of what a beautiful woman looks like, the heroines I read are flawed yet loved despite that. Rodale writes that “… romance novels give a girl permission to just be herself and trust that the love will follow.” How is being yourself and loving yourself wrong? How is it unhealthy?

I write romance novels because in a media world where the woman changes herself to meet the expectations of her partner, she thinks she has found true love. And this is what our young teenage girls are reading and watching, but it’s not a healthy perspective on relationships. Rodale writes “I think romance novels give us girls an idea of what to look for in a good man… It’s not about the money or the orgasms, but the fundamental desire to feel loved and cherished and to know someone else will help shoulder the burdens.” How is this wrong? How is this shameful?

I write romance novels because I do have something to say. I say that women have the right to believe they deserve more than what they have experienced so far. I say that women should have high standards for the person they choose to spend their life with and in return respect that person by holding themselves to the same high standards. I say that trust, honestly, fidelity and affection make up the foundation of strong, healthy relationships and that women are not wrong to expect these things from her partner.

I say that romance novels are important to me as a person and as a reader. “Because romance novels spread powerful ideas about love, personal choice, how a man ought to treat a woman, how good people treat all people and what really matters… It’s love, plain and simple.” Thank you, Ms. Rodale.

Hi, my name is Ellie and I write romance novels.

And I am proud of it.

~Ellie

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Hello!

7/28/2013

6 Comments

 
Welcome to my new site!

I just found out yesterday that my first two books are being released in September and are available for pre-order on Kindle and Nook sites. How exciting! I did a little dance, squealed a little squeal, and dragged my laptop to different family cottages and did the requisite celebration.

Well, that also put me into a bit of a panic. I wasn't expecting my work to be published until mid 2014, so am now rushing to get this website built and begin establishing a social media presence. This site is still under construction, so bear with me, but it does look a lot better than last night, when it didn't exist at all! ;0)

I will do my best to write weekly or bi-monthly blogs. If anyone has any questions they would like me to answer in blog detail, please don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks for reading!

Ellie.
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