Here I Am

I am here to promote my two books, Takuhi's Dream, and Roman Rhapsody. Takuhi's Dream is a Young Adult Science Fiction novel about a young professional woman who is haunted by dreams about a monster she encountered on her most recent mission. It is for those 13-17 and for those who prefer no erotic content. I have a friend who prefers no erotic content. She feels like a voyeur during the bedroom scenes and feels depressed because the characters almost always are handsome and pretty and have perfect bodies. I see what she means because who would want to read a story about old fat people with arthritis?

Roman Rhapsody is an erotic romance that is mostly about married love. Both the main character Olivia and the Olivia she has dreams about who lives in ancient Rome are married. Both of them have husbands who travel a lot. The ancient Olivia solves her loneliness by taking a gladiator to her bed and later buying him. The modern Olivia is tempted to have an affair with a modern gladiator, a professional athlete, and later her husband introduces her to a football player who is the spittin' image of the gladiator she dreamed about.

I tend to write about people who are attractive. Maybe they aren't movie star attractive, but they are attractive. I prefer to have my characters be ideal people, but they have the same foibles and doubts as the people you and I know. Now I am writing about a real girl. I knew her. She actually lived and died. She was murdered at the age of fifteen by a man crazed on drugs who was robbing the store she worked for. Her grieving parents, who believed in life extension, had her head put in cryo. My story begins with when she wakes up 532 years later, her body having been cloned from the tissues in her head. My editor, the wonderful inimitable Peggy, was enthusing one day about my writing more YA stories, so I decided I would write this one as a YA scifi story.

Half an hour after being awakened in a new body, Luna meets her posse, a group of young people whom she spends the rest of the story with. Peer groups are very important to fifteen year olds, and she will also discover young love. Now I have to ask the question, "What would the real Luna do?" Well, be patient, and you will find out.

Tell Us Your Thoughts on....

We need your thoughts on misread phrases and passive words—which ones are on your Search and Destroy List?

On our next Dragon’s Den internet radio program, we’re going to be talking about funny turns of phrase and overused passive words....you know the things we often miss with a first read but love our critique partners and editors because they are more than ready to point them out to us.

And we especially want your thoughts, questions, and how you handle these topics in your own writing....

Things like:

His eyes rolled around the room, taking in the bleak décor.
Uh, what? Did they fall out of their sockets and just roll around LOL?

Her hand shot through the door and pulled him back.
Right through the wood? LOL—go superwoman!

And these words that get repeated over and over in manuscripts:

Look, said, think, it, felt **cringe**...passive terms that should be searched, destroyed and rewritten before you submit.

We all know them, we’ve all been there. And now we want to know how you fix them? How do you change your sentences? Share your favorite thesaurus resources, your favorite replacement words. We want to know what you do.

Please, feel free to email me at kay@firedrakesweyr.com with your thoughts and suggestions on these topics.

Then come listen to our next Dragon’s Den program Tuesday, April 15th http://www.pivtr.com/ at 8pm EST for your responses and suggestions to help you strengthen your writing.

(Don’t worry if you can’t make it Tuesday, you can always check out our archived shows at http://internetvoicesradio.com/Arch-DragonsDen.htm)