I know. I should be writing. But the red-headed hellion came by for a visit and we had to play with one of my new toys—the cute little Canon Elph. I snapped pictures of her in my office until she gave me the shot I wanted. She never reads my blog because she says she’s afraid to open an excerpt that will make her queasy. Sometimes, I’ll hand her pages and ask her what she thinks just to see her gag. She just can’t imagine her mom writing this stuff—I never had sex, right? This pic is my little revenge.

Then I handed the camera to her. Oy! I so hate to see my own photos, because in my mind I’m still 25 and built like a brick house. I think I have the opposite of anorexia.

Revised and shipped Jane’s Wild Weekend to The Cave!

Before I get to the rest of the lesson…
Interesting day. I had a work crew in the front yard all day sinking a very large hole for a pool. Granted it was warm, in the upper ’80s, but did every one of them have to go shirtless? A couple had handsome faces, but the rest I never noticed. Niiiiice chests and arms. I was a teeny weeny distracted, but still managed to write the rest of the quickie for Ellora’s Cave and started on a short story for a try at one of Black Lace’s upcoming anthologies. Maybe I was inspired.

2) PREMISE or HIGH CONCEPT
A premise is your “germ” of an idea fleshed out a bit. Think of it as the back cover to your story. This is the blurb. It’s also a very helpful thing to have when preparing your query letter and synopsis, because you can plunk it right into both documents as a starting point.

Here’s a nifty way for you to start in building this thing!! Try these steps:

Line 1: A sentence to describe where the main character (who’s book is this really?) is at the start of the story.
Line 2: A sentence to describe the main-main character’s goal. (You may have a hero and heroine in your story—but only one really owns the book)
Line 3: A sentence to describe where the second main character (if you have one) is at the start of the story and his/or her goal.
Line 4: A sentence to describe the essence of their adventure.

The point is to give a snapshot of the conflicts between the characters–external and internal–and identify the genre/setting in as few words as possible.

Examples:
INTO THE DARKNESS
Escaping from a tragic past, the virginal beauty arrives in New Orleans and falls victim to a series of strange, unearthly attacks. But soon she will be powerful and magnificent in ways she could never have imagined. A ruggedly handsome Cajun policeman, Detective Rene Broussard has come to rescue Natalie in her time of greatest need. And when he inexplicably wakes in bed beside her, he doesn’t care that a dark and vengeful enemy has brought them to this moment. All that matters is the irresistible curve of her body, the heat of her passion…and the forbidden pleasures of the night.

SEDUCED BY DARKNESS
For nearly 800 years, Revenant Nicolas Mountfaucon has dedicated his life to ensuring an immortal monster never walks free. When a terrible storm unleashes the beast, Nicolas’ past rises to haunt him and he turns to the only person who can provide him solace, Born vampire Chessa Tomas, sure she will join the hunt for the evil creature. Only Chessa wants nothing to do with hunting the “Big Bad”—he’s Nic’s and the Ardeal coven’s problem, not hers. She shed her responsibilities as a Born, refusing her seat on the council because she doesn’t trust their leader. However, Nic isn’t easily dismissed—he appeals to the secret side her nature that needs to be dominated.

DEMON EYE
Mercenary warrior, Magnus, has no memory of his past after being pulled from the rubble of a conquered Saxon keep. For gold and the use of her body, he agrees to aid a female warrior, Sybell Moyaux, in her quest for revenge against the man who destroyed her family and stole her home. Sybell’s special gift enables her to see otherkin—and she knows Magnus is more than he appears, but she will risk all—first for revenge, then to save her sibling. With Sybell, Magnus will face the wrath of demons over a stolen treasure, a dragon, and his true nature to discover his destiny.

Almost done with Jane’s Wild Weekend!

This past Saturday (after the cemetary field trip), my sister and I taught a short class on developing pitches. I thought the information might be helpful to other writers, so I’m repeating it here with samples!

When I’m developing a project to pitch at an editor or agent, I find it helpful to put together two short descriptions. Let’s start with the logline. I’ll talk about developing the premise/high concept later!

1) LOGLINE

The logline should accurately convey the essence of your story as well as a sense of why the public should rush to buy your project. Think of the “one-sheets” (giant posters) that advertise movies, or the Readers Digest summations of movies and TV shows. Loglines are great when you’re pitching to an editor. A good one will catch her interest and make her want to look at more!

Examples:

NATIONAL TREASURE
Logline: An adventurer teams with a curator at the National Archives to stop a group of fortune hunters from stealing the Declaration of Independence, which may have a map to a hidden treasure encoded on it

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Logline: A young boy’s call to a radio psychologist sets into motion a series of events which could unite his widowed father with a magazine writer. Only a couple of things stand in the way – the boy and his father live in Seattle and the writer is already engaged and lives in Baltimore.

I have a fascination with cemetaries.

I know it’s a bit morbid, but you learn so much about people who are long gone by how they honor their loved ones. Sometimes, you see their sense of humor in a glib epitath. Sometimes, you see the tragedies they never recovered from by the carefully chosen poems they leave engraved in stone. “Beloved wife…” “Gentle angels…” The prayers they leave expressing their desire to meet again in the afterlife can bring me to tears.

The writer in me is always inspired by the heavy spirits that linger around the carefully kept grounds.

This weekend I trekked through the Mount Holly Cemetary in Little Rock with a group of writer friends from the Diamond State Romance Authors. Take a peek at some of the things that moved and inspired me.

The daughters of this couple arranged this monument. Not an angel, but a woman sitting by herself and looking very sad. Maybe the daughters thought of themselves and their long wait to see their parents again.

The inscription here gave me the chills! You know it’s going into a book somewhere along the way. In case you can’t read it, this is what is said:

Ever near us tho’ unseen
Thy dear immortal spirit treads
For all the boundless universe
is life—there is no dead

This one was the saddest and most tragic. A husband was buried many years after his young wife and two daughters for whom he had commissioned these statues. The little girls names were Martha and Pearl. Inscribed in their headstones was “Papa’s Baby” and Mama’s Darling” for Little Martha, and “Papa’s Sweetheart” and “Mama’s Pet” for Pearl.

The sentiments had me tearing up, but once I took the picture of the little girls with the robed woman, I realized it looked as though the woman was striding right at me. Got me to thinking…

These are my sisters in crime. If you’re a writer, little field trips like these help “fill the well.” I can’t wait for the next one. I already have scenes playing in my mind set in a graveyard with rustling trees and furtive sounds around me. Yeah, I’ll have nightmares, but I embrace them!

I’m a bit buzzed today. Can’t write. Can’t hold a conversation. Can’t concentrate worth a damn. In a couple of hours my little girl will be a married woman again. Yeah, first time was a disaster. I’m hoping this one takes!

We’re doing a low-key ceremony outdoors. The weather here is cooperating. It’s sunny, but a lovely mid-70s. I’ll let you know how it goes. There’s always an unexpected little adventure in any of the Devlin household’s celebrations.

I do have some news. Not big news. But something nice. Can’t talk about it until the contract’s signed. But it looks like I’ll be adding another release to my already crowded schedule soon. And my EC readers will be happy. *huge hint*

Y’all take care and say a little prayer for my redheaded hellion’s happiness!

Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday to play with me at Access Romance’s All-A-Blog! You know I have a stash of goodies to give away from the Romantic Times Convention, and I’d love to send some to the winner of yesterday’s little contest. The winner must email me–use the “Contact Form” on this website to let me know you’ve read this notice and to give me your snail mail addy!

And the winner is…well, I chose two, because both Masha and Valerie totally worked it! I have the bare bones of a fun story that I might have time to write in the near future (we’ll see if anything I have floating actually sells, first!)! So, ladies, send me those addresses!

Now the Kensington thing. I’m soooooo vain. Someone send me the lyrics to that song because I swear my name must be there hiding subliminally in the song!! My webmistress updated my website and wrote the most lovely thing about my new upcoming book, Down in Texas. I wrote her saying how much I loved it (but thinking folks will know I’m starting to grow out of these britches). She said, “I didn’t have a thing to do with it. It was in Kensington’s catalog!”

This is what they said, and why I was so excited:

“From erotica superstar Delilah Devlin comes a sizzling hot story about a little town in Texas called Honkeytonk, where the women get exactly what they want…and the men know just how to give it to them.”

Today, I’m blogging at Access Romance’s All A-Blog! Be sure to stop by and comment. If you do, you’ll be in the running for a Romantic Times convention prize pack!