What Happens at the Salon … Ends Up in a Book!

by Wendy Burke

My Decadent Publishing writing pal DeannaWadsworth, just happens to be the person who cuts my hair.  Usually, I’m allotted much more time than any other scheduled appointment, because we both know while she’s trimming, dying and making me look fabulous, (…a chore unto itself…) we’ll be plotting books, or working on endings, or wondering how "Minor character A" from one of my 1NightStands ends up as "Main Character A" in one of hers. 

  Well, it’s happened again.    

  At first it was completely accidental, then it was a challenge, now after six books total, all these characters know or are related to each other in some way.

  Deanna was intrigued by the gallery owner in my Wise Men Say, so she decided to ‘steal’ him. I’m happy to report, her next 1NS offering, Finding His Fantasy, is nearly complete.

  But, wait there’s more.

  The Wise Men Say characters are totally unrelated to any of the other six "over-lapping character" books we’ve published – well, that is until the last time she cut my hair!  Now, it looks like there may be at least four more: a spin off from her latest story, and if I get off my duff, at least one from me – which will neatly tie her Bear It All, Accidentally Beautiful, The Best Ever, and my The One He Chose, Haste Ye Back, and For Me, to her latest story and back to Wise Men Say.

   Yes, it does sound confusing – but it made crystal-clear sense when we yammered on about it during my dye-

job processing. (…complete with odd looks from other stylists and their clients. Thankfully, she did not holler, "You should totally kill the priest!"...)

   I’d hate to think of what we’d come up with if I got a perm!

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and three fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Mid-West.

Unconscious Honor

    Sometimes writing it's not a conscious decision, your brain just forces you to do it. On the highest level of awareness, the writer at times doesn’t know where the story is headed or why it’s set in a certain location or the specific reason a character has the background he or she does.

     Eventually the ‘whys’ are made clear and, at times, even those cerebral explanations are superficial.

   In my first Decadent Publishing story, ‘Respite,’ the idea of making Ryan Davison a Army sergeant wandering northern Africa after the end of World War II didn’t happen intentionally, I didn’t say to myself, ‘I’m going to sit down and write a post-WWII angst-filled travel story.’ No, it began as something completely different and that chunk of grey matter in one corner of my skull filled in the ‘wheres and whys’ for me. Thankfully, that section of brain usually knows what’s best for the story, and the only decision I made was not to ignore its insistent direction.

    In the same vein, a photo sparked the background for Navy SEAL Nicholas Klaussen in my military holiday 1NightStand ‘Wise Men Say.’ After I had decided to honor my hometown with a sledding scene in the opening chapters, a photo of actor Jim Caviezel clad in a Navy cammo shirt saluting, filled in the remainder of Nick’s covert journeys and his trek home. (Thanks to that glob of grey matter mentioned above.)

   So is it any ‘coincidence’ that this blog about how two vets came to be and honoring all veterans through erotic romance should fall on Veterans’ Day? 

Thanks, Dad!

  Again, whether it’s my writer’s conscious knowing better than the remainder of my aware intellect, the stars being aligned properly in the ether, or just common dumb luck, I’m glad in some tiny way I could honor and give even the slightest of inadvertent thanks to those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect my ability to pen little stories.

   Thank you Veterans, all of you. No greater love have you than to lay down your lives for millions of your friends and neighbors.

  

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and three fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest. Find her books at Decadent Publishing, Amazon and other reputable e-book retailers. 

Playing Favorites

   I don't have children, so I can't say if this is true, but I'm told mothers 'have no favorites when it comes to their kids.

   I don't think that's the same when it comes to stories, because I'm definitely more partial to some of my five books than others.

   Is that wrong? I don't know. Is it common?  Again, I don't know, but if my fellow authors want to weigh in on the subject, I'd be glad to entertain their comments.

   Why does it happen?  I think it may have to do with 'where' I was when the story was penned -- what was going on in my life -- did the 'birth' of the story, and its subsequent 'upbringing,' end up being a peaceful process with few painful trips to Dr. Editor?

It's a toss up for me, "The One He Chose", and "Haste Ye Back."

"Chose" was the second story Decadent Publishing contracted from me. I got an awesome, threatening acceptance email from the submission specialist and from then on out the process was wonderful. The first line of the book came to me in a dream and the title bantered about over beers with my fellow-DP author, Deanna Wadsworth. "It'll probably be something overly sweet and uber-cheesy, like The One He Chose," I said with a slight slur. Yes, my non-author friends, this is how books get titles! When she swiped a character in the story for her own 1Night Stand, well, then we both knew we were on to something.

"Haste" pretty much wrote itself within days of returning from a vacation to Scotland. Although, it began as a much longer work, again Deanna stepped in and insisted it be a 1 Night Stand. (Damn, she's gonna want an agent's cut pretty soon!) The locale was imprinted in my mind, and I go back and read "Haste" every now and again, just to remind myself of the scenery on my vacation, which really isn't captured properly in photos.

In some ways, I'm a bit fonder of Ian and Bryn's 'situation' than that of Jake and Grace's in The One He Chose. But, there's also something about Grace and Jake's 'innocence' of their situation I'm drawn to, compared to Bryn and Ian's 'revenge,' so to speak.

I love each of the characters. Now, I guess, I'll get an email from Deanna forcing the two couples to meet!

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and three fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Mid-West. You can holler at her: wendyburke1994@bex.net.

It’s All About Vocabulary – Or Not! (Part Two!)

   

By Wendy Burke

    At one time, I was usually one of the youngest persons anywhere I worked. It gave me a sense of pride as I advanced through my profession at such a young age.

    Now, however….

    I have twice the years on most of the ‘kids’ I work with. And, damn, it’s true, kids DO say the darndest things!

    I mentioned last month about how words have meaning and vocabulary is slowly becoming archaic – well, so is common knowledge.

   For instance, I booked a camel farmer (yes, a CAMEL farmer) on one of the shows I produce, and he was mentioning how camel milk is incredibly nutritious. From one cubbie producer, “I didn’t know camels had nipples OR gave milk!” (She mentioned the same after a story about manatees.)

   One young lady passed my desk en route to the copier. “Uh, Wendy, could you help me? I don’t know how to use the copy machine.”  Sorry, had to reply, “Tough love, get on in there and figure it out!”

   Ever have a really good sandwich on Chewbacca Bread? One of the anchors at our station loves the stuff, regaling its deliciousness on air, although I’m not sure how she dodges all that hair! (Nope, still not sure if she knows it’s ‘ciabatta’).

  A few of us in the office actually remember a time before cable/satellite/streaming TV and we were discussing how few channels we could watch. We got twice as many in our household – three out of Milwaukee and three out of Green Bay. Of course, you had to turn the antenna from south to north. Same camel/manatee/nipple/milk producer asks, “Didn’t that suck having to go up on the roof and move the antenna all the time?” Uh, it’s called a ‘rotor, honey, and it sat on top of your TV…INSIDE.

   The same producer is full of wondering. News release: man found dead in apartment, died during an act of ‘auto-erotism. Her question, “What was he doing with a car?”

   And finally, my Chewbacca-bread eating coworker once asked about aspirin and how to pronounce analgesic. When I mentioned it’s ‘ANN-al-gee-zick’ she wiped her brow and let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” she says, “I’m glad I didn’t have to say it on the air, I thought it was ANAL-gesic.”

   That, my Decadent Publishing and 1Night Stand authors, you may use in your next m/m romance!

   You may think I’m making this up – another funny story out of my head. Sorry…not possible, truth is funnier than fiction!

   Like I mentioned last month, don’t worry, there is SO a book here! 

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and three fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Mid-West. You can holler at her: wendyburke1994@bex.net.

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