by Laura K. Curtis | Apr 10, 2014 | Books, Writing |
I know, I have been neglecting the blog. Unfortunately, despite my very best efforts (well, not really) I am still sitting on a jury. We’re getting to the end, so I will be back with you shortly. In the meantime, a few things:
• I am gearing up for Lost‘s release on May 20. And then this summer (no exact date yet, sorry), my first contemporary romance: Toying with His Affection.
• I will be reading from Lost at Lady Jane’s Salon on Monday, May 5. Not sure who else is reading then, but it’s bound to be a good time because it always is!
• I’ve been putting together (literally: it’s assembly-required) my swag for RT and RWA this year. It’s going to be great fun! I hope I get to see you at at least one of them.
Also, don’t forget…even when I don’t have enough time to write a blog post, you can always find me on Facebook and Twitter.
by Laura K. Curtis | Mar 31, 2014 | Books, Crafts, Stuff! |
Every year, I bid on at least a couple of items in Brenda Novak’s annual auction the proceeds of which go to support diabetes research. Last year, I won my super-cool Lego trailer from Sarah M. Anderson and my website design from DreamForge Media.
This year, I am donating some of my own work to the auction. The auction software doesn’t allow for giant pictures, so I am uploading larger sizes of the two items here, so you can see them in detail. I’ll refresh your memory as the time draws nearer, I promise. These are just a teaser, and a reminder to go check out some of the amazing things available to bid on. Create an account and start your watchlist!
First up, the Sparkling Serenity necklace (link is to the auction page with more information):
And then is one of my all-time favorite pieces I’ve ever made: the Spring Garden bracelet.
by Laura K. Curtis | Feb 26, 2014 | Books, Romance, Writing |
A discussion over the last several days on Twitter, and a long and interesting post with a great discussion on Dear Author, on the topic of what kind of ending readers require in a romance–HEA (happily ever after) or HFN (happy for now), and indeed, what “happy for now” means to different readers–led me to examine my own feelings. But before I subject you to ruminations on fiction, I will give you this little piece of writing that sort of explains my feelings as fiction.
I almost miss him, eclipsed as he is by the stark white blouse and night-black pants of the hostess leading him across the room. He has turned gray, a mist that trails in her wake, a near void amidst the burgundy wine, white tablecloths, mahogany furnishings and bright, fresh food.
– That’s him? He’s not what I imagined.
I almost tell her I was wrong, that the slope-shouldered shell is not my former brown-haired, bright-eyed, laughing lover with the rough hands and soft kisses.
– He’s changed.
I have changed, too, and for a brief moment regret the twenty pounds I’ve put on, the fact that I’ve been gardening and my face is smudged with dirt.
– You’re glad, now, to have escaped, I bet. I can’t see you being happy with a man like him.
I look at her, the one he married, sitting across from him. As brown as he is gray, she wears tailored slacks, a cream shirt, a string of pearls. Not an extra ounce to soften her frame; all her unworn pounds weigh him down. They don’t speak to each other, menus held like shields between them.
– I wouldn’t have been with a man like him. He wouldn’t be that man if we’d stayed together.
I cried at our parting. Tear of loss, tears of self-pity. I resist the urge to cry again. Tears of sorrow, this time, tears of frustration at what might have been.
– He got what he deserved. He should have stuck with the one he loved, not left her for the one who made sense.
She is angry for me, and I appreciate it, but she does not understand. We are what we are and he made the only choice he could. I don’t hate him. I never have.
When we leave, I will kiss his stubbled cheek and clasp his softening body to my own and wonder if he ever mourns the long-gone pieces of his soul.
As you might guess, that’s loosely based on my own life. I was 39 years old when I got married. I’d been in love before. More than once. Those were HFNs, but they could have been HEAs. When we were together, I think we thought it was forever. If you’d read about us, you could have closed the book and imagined forever. But it didn’t work out that way, mostly because I was young and so were they. We weren’t ready. We weren’t able to make the kind of commitment to each other a true HEA requires.
For me, a romance novel needs, at the minimum, a HFN like that. A HFN where you can close the book and imagine a future for the couple. Not that they won’t have to work at it, but that they might, realistically, be able to have one. So it’s definitional…if the “FN” just means that the characters are gleefully enjoying a sexual affair, well, that’s not romance for me. I’m not saying it’s not a fine reading experience, it’s just not romance. For romance, I need the characters to feel love, even if they don’t say it.
My real life is hard. When I pick up a romance I want to know that at the end, regardless of the trials and tribulations the couple goes through, regardless of how many horrible things may happen to them, their friends, their families, even their pets, that in the end, they will have a future together. That their lives will be better because they have someone to share them with. In fact, the books that end up with low grades from me when I review them are very often those where, although the characters at the end profess their love for each other, I simply cannot believe that they will be happy, even if they do actually work at it.
I must admit, it’s the rare thriller I am happy with where the criminal gets away at the end, though, so I guess I am a traditionalist. I want books to be better than real life.
by Laura K. Curtis | Feb 17, 2014 | Books, Stuff! |
If only I could clone myself, the other me would, in her copious free time, create a clothing company called “Cranky Couture” so that we could all wear honest-to-goodness cranky pants when we feel like it.
If you’re part of the publishing world, I’ll just say that my current cranky mood is due to being slammed by a Howey’s report over and over everywhere I’ve looked. If you want to know what I think of that report, I will send you two places:
1) To Sunita’s excellent analysis on Dear Author, wherein she mentions all the things I knew, and several I didn’t, that made me distrust the report.
2) To my own post at Women of Mystery, wherein I talk about some of the things you should consider before making your own choice about how you want to publish your current project.
If you’re not in publishing, that won’t mean anything to you. Be happy. Or put on your cranky pants and let me know what makes you want to wear them!
by Laura K. Curtis | Feb 16, 2014 | Books, Recipes |
As many people know, a while back I developed an allergy to gluten. At first, it was ghastly. But time passed and I have found substitutes for almost everything. The two things I haven’t been really happy with are pizza dough and real bread. Sandwich bread is easy enough, and we’ve found that Jules GF pizza dough is delicious, but it takes a long time to make. (If you’re curious, I am working on a Pinterest board of GF pantry staples, things I’ve taste-tested and approved. If you have things I should add, I’d love to hear about that them!)
But real bread, despite all the things I tried, defeated me. Sure, I could get a pretty good one with eggs and milk and all kinds of things that, IMHO, don’t belong in bread. I could spend weeks or months (I kid you not, depending on what you see online) developing a starter from a minimum of five different types of flour. I love bread, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Then I bought Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: (Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More)
. Now, I haven’t made anything from it yet–I’ll let you know how that goes as I try it. It all looks DELICIOUS. But the recipes call for an ingredient I’ve read about before but never been able to find: Expandex Modified Tapioca Starch. I’ve skipped plenty of recipes in my search for gluten free food because I couldn’t find Expandex. The places that had it online wanted WAY too much in shipping and no one had it locally.
However, in the resource section to the book and on her blog, Nicole recommends Montana’s Gifts of Nature. Their website is fairly tragic, to be brutally honest, and to contact them you have to call them. It was about 5:15 on Sunday night my time when I got to the resource section of the book, but Nicole said that one could call and leave a message and they’d call you back. So I called. And Larry answered.
And let me tell you something…that was a super conversation. It wasn’t anything particular that I can put my finger on. But he discussed everything with me from shelf life to shipping costs so I could make the best decision about how much I wanted. When I hung up, despite having had to call, I was really happy with the decision to choose them rather than one of the other two places I saw online that had the product in stock.
It occurs to me that there are very few companies I can say that about. If I had the time, I’d build them a proper website so their products could get the attention they deserve. For now, I’ll just say that if you’re looking for Expandex, it’s definitely worth making the call. And if you’re selling something, take a lesson from Larry and be as friendly as can be!
by Laura K. Curtis | Feb 6, 2014 | Books, Crafts, Stuff! |
I love notebooks. Love pens. Love everything related to writing. And when my brain shuts down and I can’t write anymore, I like to crochet. Recently, the fabulous Deb Lacy from Mystery Playground asked me to come up with something crafty that was mystery- and book-related. So, since I’ve been on a Doctor Who glom lately, I decided to create a pattern for a pocket-style case for a notebook.
Deb has the pattern over on Mystery Playground so you can crochet your own if you’re so inclined, but you could also win this one! Just head on over and enter (be sure to click the Rafflecopter to enter, don’t just comment)!
