Timeless by Daisy Banks--a review

Let's face it. Today's cover is hot, hot, hot! It almost made me blush. But then again, romance is definitely the topic this month at All Things and since Valentine's Day was just yesterday, that cover captures the current mood of many people.

Or it conveys all too clearly what you didn't happen to you on Valentine's Day.

Regardless, today's book is a good belated Valentine to pass along to the special someone in your life.

 

 

 

Here is the publisher's blurb for Timeless:

 

Their love will be eternal, the legend says...if they survive.

Lonely and forced into a life of secrecy, 400-year-old Magnus finds Sian--the sexy music film producer who's working in his house-- tough to ignore. As she resists his alter ego when he invades her dreams to seduce her, her innate powers astound him, and his need only grows. In dreams or reality, he’s determined to make her his. She is meant for him alone.

Independent, hard-working Sian has hopes and plans for the future that include the stately house at Darnwell. Not its aloof owner. She's there to acquire the home for a video shoot, nothing more. By day, each layer she explores in Magnus's grand old home with him leads her deeper into love. But by night, he seduces her in her dreams, gives her ecstasy like she's never known. Then she learns his secret: Come the full moon, she is the only one who can control his wolf curse. First though, she has to survive it.

WARNING: Highly sensual with intense sexual encounters.

A Lyrical Press Paranormal Romance

 

Did you read that part about the WARNING? Ha! While I read just about anything, it's probably best that it's on there. I would hate for some sweet old lady to pick up this tale and get heart palpitations!

 

I found Timeless to be a lot of fun! I really enjoyed Magnus and thought he was a well developed character--physically, as well as, emotionally. He's got the older man wisdom mixed in with a charm that makes him oh-so-sexy. I did think at times he was a little suffocating for Sian, but that's also part of what creates some conflict between them.

 

 

Sian is also a vivid character. She makes some interesting fashion choices that only endear her to the boss man, a deviant character called Franklyn. I liked that she was an independent woman who didn't immediately fall into the main characters arms. She went through a lot of internal struggles that fit her character and helped build the tension.

 

I must admit that I'm not always a fan of dream sequences. They tend to be an overused tool for writers in the paranormal romance genre, but I thought Ms. Banks did an excellent job of keeping the action moving forward and making the dream stuff work.

 

When I read the blurb for this book originally, I missed the part where it mentions Magnus turning into wolf. So I was surprised when the book took that turn. However, I again felt that it didn't keep with the traditional werewolf rules and offered some nice twists to the story.

 

Let's talk about sex!

 

There's some good stuff in there if you are into erotic reading. On the other hand, if that kind of stuff is not your thing, skip those parts and read the rest. I'm always impressed when a writer can write a strong sex scene that doesn't come across as cheesy or unrealistic.

 

Overall, this book lit my fire. I hope it lights yours too! Click on the links below to get your copy today!

 

AMAZON LINK FOR TIMELESS BY DAISY BANKS

 

 

Daisy Banks is author of

Your Heart My Soul with Liquid Silver Books to be released 25^th March 2013

Timeless with Lyrical Press

Fiona’s Wish with Lyrical Press 2013 CAPA Nominee with The Romance Studio

A Matter of Some Scandal with Lyrical Press

Witch’s Mark with NCP

For more information about Daisy and her books visit http://daisybanksnovels.yolasite.com/

 



Bad language - le mot juste

No, sorry, I’m not discussing profanities today – I just want to concern myself with a discussion about the use (or misuse) of ‘foreign’ language in books. The driving force behind it is that I’ve encountered incorrect grammar, spelling, word usage and etiquette in a number of books that I’ve recently read.

I accept that I’m a bit more pernickety than most which may be because I’m a European, married to a former modern languages teacher (now also an author) or just plain fussy. If you’re going to sell books they need to be right – in every aspect.

Let me give you two examples (from different books). Both characters are supposed to be spouting fluent French:

"Vous perdu?" This is meaningless. It should be "Vous êtes perdues?" (are you lost?) and, before anyone argues, the 'e' is because the group being asked the question are all female.

"Viola". Viola is a stringed instrument - the author meant "Voilà" meaning 'there you are'.

But it’s not just dialogue that needs attention.

The English language contains a whole host of non-English words and expressions and, if we're going to use them, we need to do so correctly. The second example (above) can be dismissed as being plain sloppy but the first opens a whole can of worms.

For example, in German, French, Spanish and Italian, there are different ways of saying ‘you’. There’s ‘you’ informal (as you might say to a friend, lover, child, animal), 'you' formal (as you might use when talking to a superior, an official, a stranger, or over the phone) and ‘you’ plural.

I make this point because get it wrong and you will likely cause offence. Using an informal ‘you’ to an official will wind them up a treat as it suggests that they are inferior and insignificant or using the formal ‘you’ to a friend would call into question the depth of your friendship suggesting that they were a ‘distant contact’ rather than a mate.

We're used to English which is a good general purpose, easy-going language. We don't convey status (for example) in our use of the word ‘you’, we convey it in the surrounding language as in:

• "You must not do that again"
• "I'd respectfully ask that you desist from repeating this action"
• "Is it possible for you not to do that?"

Not only that, titles are very specific, too. For example, Madame, Mademoiselle, Frau, Fräulein (these must be in capitals) etc are all quite clear in their usage but offensive to the addressee if applied incorrectly.

This is just one aspect of the monumental mess you can land yourself in if you use a ‘foreign’ language and then make a fist of it.

The solution is actually quite simple - keep a list of all the phrases you want to use and the context (remember – the relative statuses of the individuals will probably be relevant). Put this up as a job for a native speaker on one of the commercial writing sites and you'll probably get the whole lot done for $25. It's money well-spent if it stops your book from having a whole load of badly-translated English.

I’m not being a prima donna about this. If you’re laissez-faire in the way you use another language in your magnus opus, you risk putting yourself in zugzwang (if you don't know it, look it up - it's one of my favorite words!). Now, maybe that's just a bit of schadenfreude on my behalf.

Clive West runs Any Subject Books which publishes a range of quality books from up-and-coming authors. They're always interested in new submissions which are welcomed via their writers wanted page. Clive's wife, Damaris, has written a number of books including an account of their life in Italy called A Postcard From Umbria.

Daisy Banks, Author of Timeless, Talks About "pantster" or "plotter" Ways of Writing!

Okay, it just has to be said: I love me some Daisy Banks! I will be reviewing her book, Timeless, on Friday. It made me want to buy a swooning couch so I could fan myself from all the fabulous romance in it! Daisy joins us today to share some info about her writing style.-- Mary Ann

I write romance, often with a paranormal or fantasy twist, and I try to give my historical stories the level of detail acceptable to those readers who enjoy the historical genre. Whatever I write I always try to offer readers the best read I can.

Like many new writers I have wondered; ‘have I got the writing process right?’ Sound familiar or bring back memories for those of you who have been writing for some time? I am sure readers will understand my wish to try to produce the best story I can.

In my efforts to develop my skills I’ve pored over many blogs and read other advice available both on the net and in print. All my searches to discover the magic alchemy needed to make my stories live and breathe have led me to accept this conclusion - there is not one right way to write a story.

I admit to being both surprised and a bit disappointed, but I was also entertained to find my way of writing, no matter how odd I thought it might be had a name. I am a pantster writer, a term that has nothing to do with underwear of any type. The name comes from the old idea of flying by the seat of your pants, winging it, heading out into the blue with the hope of a soft landing.

This discovery made me smile and along with images of raffish pilots, of stunningly beautiful wing-walkers in tissue light gowns and mythical creatures of the air, the term gifted me a kind of understanding. As I’d searched to find the right way to write I’d read of plotting and eager to take command of my writing I tried it. I made copious notes about the characters and their motivation, the setting, descriptions of where my characters started in the story and how they changed in response to the challenges they faced. The right stuff appeared in my notebook, and I only had one last step to complete, carefully put the lot together to make a story.

However, the plotting technique didn’t work for me. The characters I’d toiled over refused to follow the recipe I’d concocted. They threw non-adjustable spanners in the works, destroying my painstakingly built plot line or character profile with impunity.

Now, some of you who write may shake your head at these treasonous characters and say: ‘What is this girl talking about?’ That’s probably because you’re not a pantster writer. Nothing wrong with that at all, my best wishes and good luck to you and happy plotting on your next story. One of my closest friends and critique partners is a brilliant plotter. Those of you who nodded agreement at my wretched disobedient characters probably understand my difficulties and joys.

Being a pantster isn’t always easy, but I’ve discovered when it works, writing this way is for me a true delight. I am a stubborn creature. If I weren’t I’d have given up writing long ago. I didn’t stop writing when my efforts at plotting failed. I went back to how I’d first begun when the urge to write caught me in its grasp.  I let the pictures in my mind drive the story. Bliss, everyone behaved, apart from a few understandable changes that were character led, and when I wrote myself into a hole, the characters helped me out, because we were a team. The private cinema of images in my mind has taken me and my characters on happy romps through all kinds of situations and I’ve finished several stories flying by the seat of my pants. Those scenes in my head inspire me to follow their lead, make me question and before I know it, I have discovered a character, a situation, or a problem that leads me into a story. Sometimes the images appear with nothing more to prompt them than me gazing out at the view, other times they arrive in answer to perhaps a piece of music, a visit to a historic building, or a photograph. Some are gentle and I can chose to work with them or not, others are so strong it’s impossible to let them go. These usually become fully-fledged characters.

You might think writing a novel without lots of notes must be very hard work, but I don’t see it that way, not when I live so close with the characters as the story grows. Writing this way, there are times when I’m the heroine, or I’m my hero. I get to know them intimately, with their desires and foibles, their passions and fears, and so the process doesn’t feel like hard work. I don’t mind the effort I make on their behalf, even if I have to research something in depth to make sure it’s right for them, such as how the time for fashionable dining changed in eighteenth century London. I did this for A Matter of Some Scandal published by Lyrical Press. I knew my heroine Prudence would want her household run on the most modern schedule of the day and had to find out what that might be in the 1740’s, otherwise Pru’ would have been very disappointed and not the character I knew her to be.

I also find when I write male characters, and some readers have been kind enough to say they enjoy my male characters; there are times when the sheer power of those characters astonishes me. Magnus Johansson, who appears in Timeless, published by Lyrical Press is such a one. I have no idea how he got into my head, but once he appeared in the first pictures in my mind as he strode about the beautiful home he is restoring, I had to let him loose on the page.

One of the things about being a pantster writer and allowing the characters to lead the story is I’m not always sure of the ending. Being a romantic I like happy endings mostly, but in Fiona’s Wish, a 2013 CAPA nominee at The Romance Studio, and published by Lyrical Press, I found whichever way I tried to lead the characters they’d have none of it, and the ending followed the tradition of the Celtic legends that gave inspiration to the story.

My newest story, ‘Your Heart, My Soul’, out in March 2013 with Liquid Silver Books is my most romantic yet. This tale deals with love and heartbreak from the past reaching out to touch the life of two young lovers in the present. A ghostly tale with lots of emotion and I have to say the words flew onto the page as I wrote it.

Of course, not every story arrives with ease and sometimes the words prove nearly as stubborn as I am. When that happens I find it’s best to take a walk in the woods or down by the river, or work on something else while I wait for the next images to arrive.

I often have two or three stories to work on at the same time. Usually one takes precedence, but I have the others for the days or hours when I need an alternative. Some people might think there is a chance the characters and plots may become muddled up, but I don’t mix up members of my family in my thoughts, nor do most of us. I don’t forget the plot of my favourite movie when I watch another, and for me it’s like that with writing.

Once the plot of a story is in place on the page, the bones of the story are fleshed out, it’s then I can deal with the research I may need to do. The next part of the process can be painful. I edit as much as I can, I may rip out whole chunks to improve the pace, condense paragraphs down to single sentences if I think they need to go, and all this before my critique partners get to look at the chapters and offer me their comments. The process can take some time, but I think it’s worth the effort because the characters have become important to me, and I want readers to like them. 

The characters take on a life of their own through the whole of the critique and editing process, and if I’ve done my job as an author they live for the readers too. As a writer my hope is that the reader enjoys the story I’ve created, finds the characters entertaining and enjoys reading about them. If I manage to fulfil those goals I’m happy.

My current main project, To Eternity, the sequel to Timeless is close to completion and the final pictures to end this section of Sian and Magnus’s story are growing in clarity and power. The end scene is going to be a real thrill to write, the picture is one I’ve seen in my mind since before I began the story of Timeless and it’s very powerful. I should think it will leave readers eager for the last part of this trilogy.

Thanks to my hosts at All Things Writing for giving me the opportunity to blog about how I write.

Happy Reading.

Best wishes from

Daisy Banks.

February 2013

 Daisy Banks is author of

Your Heart My Soul with Liquid Silver Books to be released 25^th March 2013

Timeless with Lyrical Press

Fiona’s Wish with Lyrical Press 2013 CAPA Nominee with The Romance Studio

A Matter of Some Scandal with Lyrical Press

Witch’s Mark with NCP

For more information about Daisy and her books visit http://daisybanksnovels.yolasite.com/

5 Rules for Romance Writing

As you know, here at All Things Writing this month we are taking a look at the romance genre. Last week I did a review of Victoria Richard's book, The Banshee's Desire. This week we will be meeting a great guest blogger, Daisy Banks, who knows her way around the world of romance. Before her posts goes up tomorrow, I thought I'd take the opportunity to put out five rules that a romance novel generally follows.

Just because the couple in your story happens to fall in love doesn't necessarily mean you would find it in the romance section of the book store. In order for a reader to locate your book there, the romance has to be the driving force of the store! Everything that happens either furthers or hinders the romantic relationship.

Here's a few rules to follow if you are creating a romance or if you are trying to determine what your novel genre is.

1. If it is romance, then there must be a happy ending. No loose ends between the happy couple! Any doubts they had about their love are resolved by the time the author types The End.

2. It's acceptable for the man or the woman to act like an ass. They have to redeem themselves by the end though. We must like them enough to believe they'll have their happily ever after.

3. Nobody likes it in traditional romance if either hero or heroine is cheating on a spouse. A mistress--whatever. But spouses are right out. If they've been married before, then the spouse better be dead, drowned at sea, killed in a tragic carriage accident, or have some terrible character trait that makes us think our hero/heroine is better off without them.

4. There should be sex. What kind of sex depends on the romance genre. It could be as simple as the unbuttoning of a glove. Or it could be more explicit with the implied "fade to black." Some authors provide the down and dirty kind that is just two steps away from being labeled erotica. Regardless, readers like to live vicariously and the protagonist having sex is one way for them to do that.

5. Something must tear our lovers apart. At least temporarily. Some examples would be: the hero writes a letter that is misunderstood. An overheard conversation implies the wrong thing. The scent of the ex girlfriends perfume is on his collar. This by no means cancels out the happily ever after rule. The conflict must occur somewhere in the middle of the book. Make it look like they will get what they want and then take it away. Of course, all must be resolved in the end.

Are there more rules of romance? Absolutely! And don't forget the many subgenres in the romance section, too. They all use the above rules, but can manipulate them according to their needs in the genre.

I hope you enjoy the many guest bloggers we have coming up and learn a little something about romance writing!

Should you be afraid of ghosts?

Not that I've ever seen one but my understanding of ghosts is that they haunt people and places, lack any substance and, because of their actions, they can end up costing the haunted party dearly. This definition can easily apply to a typical ghost-writer.

Not that this has to be the case, of course.

What’s prompted me to write this blog post is that I've read a lot over the last month or so about how 'having a ghost-writer' is the way forward for a successful writer. Maybe it is, but I'd just like to temper that with some sobering thoughts of my own which are based on some pretty bitter experiences. It also explains why I don't and won't use such a service but, of course, you must make your own decision on the matter.

The advantage of using a ghost-writer is obvious and we’ve got plenty of ways of describing such a way of earning a living:

• Sit back and watch the money roll in
• Easy Street
• Money for nothing
• Let someone else do all the work
• Taking care of business

We've all these expressions for having someone do our grafting for us (and a load more, too) yet it can very easily degenerate into:

• A can of worms
• Double-handling
• Too many cooks
• More trouble than it’s worth
• Waste of time

I’ll come back to the rights and wrongs of using ghost-writers in future blogs but I just want to look at one aspect today – the legal side. This is often overlooked when dealing with ghost-writers and there are three basic temptations:

Firstly, there's the 'null' approach which I know an acquaintance of mine follows. It's the vague and rather forlorn hope that the simple act of paying for the services of a ghost-writer guarantees that copyright automatically passes to you.

That may well be the case but it's by no means a 'done deal'. Should it all go horribly wrong and the ghost-writer claim a percentage of your success, your first argument will be (no doubt) “Hey, I've paid you for this”, just like you might go into a shop and purchase some goods or eat a meal in a restaurant. Can you imagine, a week later the chef saying, "Hey, Mac, I made you that lasagna last week. I want it back now."?

This is fine and dandy for goods, but laws concerning subcontracts and the supply of labor are very different. Without a written agreement, it becomes a case (excuse pun) of "What's reasonable?". Not only is this not as clear-cut as might be thought, it's also potentially very expensive to fend off an all-out attack on one’s royalties.

An example of why copyright does not automatically pass to you is the existence of the numerous article depositories which showcase your work in return for back-links, writing business or the sale of the article itself. Obviously they will all have carefully drawn up agreements but, if you don't have anything in place, who's to say that you aren't offering some similar deal?

Of course, there's the other end of the spectrum where you shell out a fortune on a hot-shot lawyer who (no doubt) will draw up a wordy agreement full of legalese double-speak which will thoroughly flummox both you and your ghost-writer. You might even scare them off in the process!

Unfortunately (and as one who's had to fight the subsequent battles), getting a lawyer involved does not guarantee that everything's been taken care of. In my experience, it's commonplace for lawyers to shoe-horn clients into a one-size-fits-all contract which contain a lot of generalizations but bear little relevance to the specific situation. If you subsequently challenge the lawyer, you'll end up being blamed for not having told them something germane which you can't prove otherwise. At this point, you risk being at war with both your ghost-writer and your lawyer - an unenviable situation.

The best way to deal with the issue of ghost-writers laying future claim to your work is to spell out in very clear terms what you are agreeing to. Don't attempt legalese, don't try to be cute, clever or coy, just stick to the specifics. To help you on your way, here's a very rough structure plan for your agreement but you'll need to adapt it to suit.

Define:

• Precisely who you are and precisely who the ghost-writer is.
• Precisely what they are writing.
• The payment - how much, what stages and when.
• That full copyright and the right to withhold the ghost-writer’s name will pass to you on full payment of their fees.
• What happens if the work is not up to scratch (expand on that if you can).
• Both date and both sign

By all means THEN take this to a lawyer and ask them to incorporate ALL of your terms into a formal agreement but you quite probably don't need to as long as you've covered the key points.

This is a business arrangement so don't be shy or worry about hurting the feelings of the ghost-writer. Remember, if you've made it into the big league with your sales, you've created an 'it's worth a shot' situation for your ghost-writer to sue you. What have they got to lose? And, if you've nothing in writing, you're fair game for every shyster lawyer who fancies themselves at a spot of contract law.

After all, the whole point of hiring a ghost-writer is that you can exorcise them when they've finished haunting you. That’s the spirit!

Clive West runs Any Subject Books which publishes a range of quality books from up-and-coming authors. They're always interested in new submissions which are welcomed via their writers wanted page. Clive's wife, Damaris, has written a number of books including an account of their life in Italy called A Postcard From Umbria.