By Mackenzie Lucas (Guest Blogger)
I’m
what they like to call a Plan-ster. I do some initial planning, then
I’m a pantser. I enjoy the discovery process that comes for me
during the creative writing of a story too much to worry about
planning out every little detail of my book first.
So
what I usually do is I come up with the core concept of the story and
write a little blurb about it, combining a Michal Hauge and a Bob
Mayer type of process. Once I have my short paragraph--maybe
twenty-five or so words. I’ll come up with a list of plot points.
Things I know need to happen in my story from beginning to end. It’s
everything I know about the story. It can be in order, or it can be
out of order, it doesn’t matter. At times I’ve done this on the
computer then printed the plot points out and taped them onto
individual index cards. That way, I can shuffle the points around and
move them as I need. These are the tent poles, as Jenny Cruise calls
them--the plot points that hold up my story.
When
I have my plot points written down. I sit and write an in-depth
character sketch of my main characters, usually the hero and the
heroine. So that I begin to get to know them. Understand their
motivations and backgrounds and wounds. Something I’ve recently
added to my process is that I write down each of their arcs. Where
they are at the beginning of the story and where they are (usually
emotionally) by the end of the story. This way, I know how they
change. I may not yet know what changes them. But I see them at the
beginning and the end. I’ve also begun to note the arc they have in
their relationships with others beyond the main character. Say, for
example, the arc my heroine has with her grandmother who is a
secondary character.
Then,
it’s time to begin writing in earnest. I open my word document (or
sometimes Scrivener) and I begin … Chapter One. The beauty of my
process is that it works for me (for now). Every book is a little
different. And, sometimes, the process changes slightly. But I get
down everything I know first. Then, I begin to write from one known
point to the next, and as I do, fun and interesting things pop up to
make my story richer and bring it alive. This is the part I love.
It’s the dating phase. The discovery phase where we know each other
well enough to go out and share a meal, but as we sit and have a
conversation, we find hidden depths and fall just a little more in
love with each other. So that by the time I’m finished with the
story, there’s not a nuance I don’t know about the story I’ve
just told.
So
there you see how I’m a self-defined Plan-ster. ;0)
Blurb
All
Haven Jameson ever wanted was to own a little piece of paradise. Now,
she does, having established a successful luxury spa in St.
Augustine, Florida. But when the property next door is sold to a mega
developer and his pro-golf celebrity brother who design trendy,
bustling playgrounds for the rich and famous, she fears her dream
could slip away. Confronted by her late husband’s infidelity, Haven
learns everything she believed about her marriage was a lie; so she
finally sets aside her grief and opens her heart to loving the
widowed pro-golfer who is her biggest professional competition. In
the end, Haven discovers that living a safe, loveless life is far
worse than embracing passion and taking a chance on a man who’s
vowed never to love again. And that, sometimes, no matter how high
the risk, the best paradise of all can be found inside our own
hearts.
Excerpt
Pace
Daniels lay on his belly on a massage table, naked except for a thin
sheet covering his backside. He rested his cheek on his hands and
closed his eyes, and breathed in the calming scent of the room.
Light
music played from the overhead speakers, not too loud, but nice. It
sounded like a mix of music from India and the Southwest—Burma to
Santa Fe. Pan flutes and bowl singing. Interesting.
He
breathed deep again, taking air deep into his lungs, and pushed
through the pain in his shoulder, the achiness that seemed to stick
with him no matter what he did.
It was
time to retire. Leave the circuit.
He'd
known for a while now. Hell, he was a fairly young man for his
profession. But one mistake. One stupid mistake had cost him
everything. And now at the age of almost forty, he was facing a blank
future. Filled with a lot of nothing if he didn't make some changes
soon.
He had
no idea what to expect when he'd come to Essence. A pretty brunette
had given him instructions today for the massage, showed him the
transition room—a fancy name for a locker room—and where to store
his clothes and belongings. Of course, he'd had massages before.
Mostly by sports medicine doctors.
Essence
surprised him. Pleasantly. The atmosphere was different than he’d
imagined. He'd expected fru fru and had been bowled over at every
turn. The place wasn't just a female Mecca, as he’d feared. He'd
anticipated salon chairs and manicurists around every corner.
Instead,
the spa resort was a posh hotel.
A serene
place. A spot he could see himself settling into to find some measure
of peace in his own life.
He let
out a deep sigh.
But, no.
He wouldn't. He'd move on like he always did.
A knock
sounded at the door and a moment later, the door opened on silent
hinges. He opened his eyes to see the massage therapist.
The
woman who entered wasn't the petite, curvy brunette who'd checked him
in, but a tall, leggy blonde.
He
stilled as he watched her.
Yes, she
was beautiful. High cheekbones, wide, exotic pale green eyes, lush
body. But there was something else. Something indefinable. Something
more, he couldn’t explain. Maybe a sadness that clung to her that
he recognized because the same sloe-eyed desolation dogged him, day
after day for the past ten years.
He
couldn’t be one-hundred percent certain to what extent, but on some
level, he identified with her.
Then she
spoke, and every cell in his body awoke at the husky tone of her
voice. Sex liquefied. He'd die and go to Heaven if he could just have
her talk to him for the next hour in that sweet, sexy, soft voice.
“I'm
sorry. I must be in the wrong room.” She turned to go.
He
pushed up from the table. “No. Wait.”
About the Author
Mackenzie
Lucas is a lover of story in any form. She’s an avid reader of
genre fiction, she writes contemporary and paranormal romance, and
she listens to an eclectic mix of music that spans from pop/rock to
country to gospel. She loves a good story whether it’s an erotic
short, a full-length romance novel, or the narrative slice-of-life
found in country music. In any story, emotional integrity and
authenticity are most important to her as well as a big dose of
romping hot sexual tension. She enjoys smart-mouthed, sexy heroines,
hunky alpha heroes who know how to take care of their women, and plot
twists that surprise her, but most of all, she just wants to
experience a satisfying emotional arc of a character falling in love
and finding what he or she needs most in life.
Mac is a
small-town country girl with a world-traveler’s soul. She grew up
in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and she’s lived in
Dublin, Ireland, within spitting distance of New York City in Long
Island, and now in the Washington, D.C. area. She obtained her
undergraduate degree in English Literature from Dickinson College and
received her M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill
University. She’s currently an author, writing coach, a mother, and
a wife.
With
Mackenzie Lucas--whether you’re reading her light paranormal
romance, her small-town-based contemporary romance, or her steamin’
hawt erotica--you’ll always get a story about connectedness,
community, and emotional authenticity, and, at its core, love. No,
and it doesn’t hurt that all her heroes are panty-melting gorgeous
alphas and all their sexy, sensually aware heroines know how to stand
up to them, give no quarter, and love them just as they are.
Links
Website:
http://www.mackenzielucas.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MacLucas_writer
