My special guest today is New Zealander N. D. Hansen-Hill who also writes romances under the name Melody Knight. N.D. is the author of thirty-one novels and three novellas. I remember her giving us a workshop about writing a book in a month at a Romance Writers of New Zealand meeting and being amazed at her productivity. I went home and thought, “I can’t do that!” but her sheer enthusiasm won me over and after applying some of what she said, I learned I could write quickly if I set my mind to it.
Today N.D. is talking about writing and perceptions and there’s mention of raisins.
ErRatic is N. D. Hansen-Hill’s next release from Five Star, in fact it’s out on the 20th of this month. One lucky person will have a chance to win a download of ErRatic. All you need to do is email N.D. with the word ErRatic in the subject line and she’ll pick a winner on 16th February. Her email is LiteraryPromotions @gmail.com (no spaces)
Treading the Amoral High Ground…otherwise known as, it’s all a product of perception
If you had asked me a dozen years ago whether I would ever write erotica, I would have responded with an adamant, “No!”. After all, I was a parent, with young children at home. Write erotic novels? Heavens, no. We were talking serious would-be-published author, dedicated to her craft. By that time, I had already written several fantasy novels, and was beginning the first of my science fiction books. Erotica was the furthest thing from my mind.
Then the Non-Distingué Dark Days came, and I was trapped in the battle between true literary genius, and my Non-Literary Tripe. Oh, that literary genius wasn’t me—it was everyone who wrote anything semi-serious. As long as it was dark enough, and self-destructive enough, it could quickly woo a place in the hearts of literary readers everywhere, who would purchase The Book and place it carefully on a coffee table or a bookshelf to attest to their selectivity.
I was aghast! My stuff was dark, and certainly destructive (at least where my monsters and mutants were concerned), yet I didn’t see my tomes lining coffee tables and bookshelves in popular residences. Alas, and woe is me…
Things grew darker quickly (she says ominously). I became a horror writer, intent on paranormal freakouts of the most devastating kind. I received phone calls in the middle of the night from locals who were reading first drafts, exclaiming they were now afraid to walk down the hall at night.
Oh, joy! I had arrived!
Until the day came when the father wouldn’t allow his daughter to play with my young one, because the only person in situ was a horror writer. Shades of Stephen King! I’m not evil, I wanted to say. Only my characters are!
Romance writing began unnaturally, of course. I tossed a book at a lovely publisher, who saw glimmers of romantic energy zinging through the pages. To put it more accurately, she read it, thought it could be re-written as a romance, and if I wanted to do just that, she’d point me in the right direction.
Well, being a grown woman, I thought I already knew my directions, or at the very least, what went where. That said, The Romance, which I started from scratch instead of modifying an existing draft, was the most difficult book I’ve ever written. I had to learn how to shift characterization until I thought it would kill me, and the brief wouldn’t permit me to toss in a ghost or a mutant. Good Lord! It was like squeezing juice out of a raisin!
I have to admit I had the backing and support of a lovely group of writers in the Romance Writers of New Zealand, and the envy for their assorted accomplishments helped enormously to spur me on my romantic way. I would never be literary, and Stephen King had hidden my horror thunder somewhere in the trunk of his car Christine, but perhaps I could become just a wee bit popular if I were to toss my characters between the sheets instead of off a cliff.
The erotic angle came as more of a challenge—one of those you-never-think-you-can-accomplish-it-but-gosh-it’s-only 12,000-words-and-it’s certainly-worth-the-learning-curve things. With the help of an erotic glossary, and a loosening of my non-existent stays, I pulled the bobby pins out of my hair and let it down.
Which goes to show you never really know what you can do until you try! And if you let local poetic license, literary snobbery, or snubbery weigh you down, your creative centers may well turn into the literary raisins you’re attempting to squeeze. I now write across the genres, and am finding great pleasure in doing so. Diversity in approaches and word counts, plus a variety of readers not wanting to know what your other hand is doing…ahhhh!
It’s all a product of perception.
You can visit N.D. Hansen-Hill at her:
website
at Melody Knight’s website
at MySpace
and at YouTube to see a montage of her covers.
Wow,what a journey. Thank for sharing. Horrors scare me, but every once in a while i’ll pick one up and end up sleeping with the TV on for a few days.
by danette February 13th, 2008 at 12:36 amI love how our journey as writers can take us places we never thought possible. I’d never considered erotic romance before either. In fact, I really wanted to be a serious science fiction writer. I still love sci-fi, but I now know they’re not mutually exclusive.
by Christine d'Abo February 13th, 2008 at 7:33 amGreat interview!
I can relate parts of her journey as a writer.
by Tempest Knight February 13th, 2008 at 9:38 amHow wonderful to awaken this morning on the underbelly of the Earth and discover comments from Danette and Christine! Thank you -
I really am a firm believer you can do anything, provided you have the proper tools! It just takes commitment, and daily effort - chipping away at that big block of granite a quartz inclusion at a time.
It HAS been a journey, Danette, with kids and work and all that side-tracking that goes on in life. No torturous artistic soul here, though , merely someone who has learned to vent angst by putting it into her writing.
I desperately wanted to succeed as a One Genre Wonder, Christine, and I really, really tried with fantasy, then sci-fi, then horror. But the truth is, I get bored easily, so I think some Divine Power must have guessed I’d be happier as a Jacqueline of All Trades. I have much more fun this way!
Best wishes to you both!
Cheers,
by ND|Melody February 13th, 2008 at 9:41 amND|Melody
Hi ND,
Thanks for being my guest blogger today. I love the story of your journey.
I have a couple of questions for you:
Your upcoming release, ErRatic has an intriguing title and cover. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What genre is your story and how did you come up with the title?
And the seond question: - I know you’re a big fan of Book in a Month. You’re also a very productive writer. Can you give us some tips that will help us to become more productive? What do you think the secret is to productivity?
Thanks!
by Shelley Munro February 13th, 2008 at 1:19 pmI love that life always holds out little surprises for us. You just never know what comes next…or what you’ll write next.
by Gwen Hayes February 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pmFirstly: Shelley, thanks for asking! I feel honoured to be here.
Regarding ErRatic ~
I think ErRatic was one of those books which helped on my way to being a romance writer. I suppose it would best fit into the paranormal category, because even though it features a romance, it also is quite scary in places, and has a full cast of quite active/reactive secondary characters. The woman in it, Emma, has terrible paranormal problems. When she is not luring in psychotic ghosts, she is summoning in masses of rats. For years she has managed to maintain a life and friends, despite these “drawbacks”, but now things are spinning out of control. Harley, a policeman, is drawn in by the barks of Emma’s dead dog, the appearance of a deceased murderer on her lawn, and threats by Emma’s stepbrother. Harley soon finds himself desperate to lay all Emma’s ghosts…to rest.
Regarding productivity:
- really, I do. I think the answer (*cringe*) is Discipline - oh, and generous portion of Insanity.
I hate to use the “D” word
The truth is, I get up at 4 am or just before every morning, and commit myself to the task at hand. I know that must sound to most people as though it’s I who should be committed, but for years, around other jobs, I wrote a minimum of 1000 words a day. Now, that seems way too low, but it’s still my minimum. I prefer to see myself at 2500 to 3000 per day. I’m not a very patient person, you see. I don’t like my book writing to seem interminable.
Other things: I’m a research fanatic. I LOVE it, and every book has scads of the stuff! I never plan ahead (pantser), so when I come up with an idea, it’s VOOM! Off to research it. I read enough so I have a feel for the slang, the job, the interactions, then I’m off typing again.
So, my recommendations? Set standards for yourself, but don’t kill yourself if you can’t meet them. Self-challenge and fulfilment can prove a reward in themselves, though. Finishing a full-sized novel in a month can keep your ego shining for years…because you did it for YOURself, and met your own expectations.
Cheers,
by ND|Melody February 13th, 2008 at 2:48 pmND|Melody
ErRatic sound like an interesting book.
by Estella February 13th, 2008 at 3:01 pmErRatic does sound like an interesting book. I like the cover too.
by Maria February 13th, 2008 at 3:44 pmErRatic sounds like a fascinating story, ND.
Discipline is so difficult at times, but I tend to agree. I steal Nike’s slogan and apply it to myself - “Just do it!” Sometimes writing is plain hard work while at other times the words flow.
Research always interests me. What research did you do for ErRatic?
by Shelley Munro February 13th, 2008 at 4:47 pm“Research always interests me. What research did you do for ErRatic?”
Since ErRatic contains a variety of ghosts, I pulled information on everything from poltergeists to orbs to ghostly appearances, joined a ghost society, and even researched how rhabdomancy (dowsing), clairvoyance, telepathy, and PK could be applied to parapsychology. I also explored the type of equipment used now in “ghost chasing” and the procedures used to verify phenomena. There were various other things in the book I needed to check, too (police procedure/terminology, ice skating, rat behaviour). Basically, if I want to go somewhere with my story, I try to figure out how to make it sound as though it’s believable - and find a precedent for the event.
Cheers,
by ND|Melody February 14th, 2008 at 9:17 amND|Melody
I want to thank Shelley again for hosting me, and everyone (Danette, Christine, Tempest, Gwen, Estella, and Maria) for dropping in to comment!
It was so very nice hearing from all of you -
Regards, and best wishes,
by ND|Melody February 14th, 2008 at 9:26 amND|Melody
[...] http://www.shelleymunro.com/blog/2008/02/13/guest-blogger-nd-hansen-hill/#comment-3466 [...]
by From Haunted Houses to Haunted Mirrors | N. D. Hansen-Hill's Weblog February 14th, 2008 at 4:35 pmAs a very special treat in honour of Valentine’s Day, an e-copy of ErRatic has been sent to everyone who participated in the contest!
Congratulations, and thank you for participating.
Cheers, and best wishes,
by ND|Melody February 15th, 2008 at 9:26 amND|Melody
[...] and Articles News & Networking Shelley Munro was kind enough to request an interview with me this week on her blog. I’ve dropped out of [...]
by Interviews and Articles « Books, Stories, Paintings, Writing…with N. D. Hansen-Hill February 16th, 2008 at 6:03 pmThanks so much, ND. Your research sounded very interesting. I’m sure everyone will enjoy ErRatic.
by Shelley Munro February 16th, 2008 at 6:06 pm