Jodie Leigh Murray

 

Funny this should come up since I'm currently living in the place of my enjoyment. Camping! I love going camping. We're temporarily living in our RV after the sale of our house while we find another. Initially, we thought we would live in it while we built a house. That would be too lengthy, though. Living in an RV, unless you're actually traveling in it, is harder than you think.

 

Camping

I've always loved camping. Tent camping led to RV camping, of course. 'Glamping' as some people would put it. My husband and I usually go to state parks to camp, but we've also gone to KOA's. It all depends on location. Sometimes our travel trailer doesn't fit. There is something to be said about sitting around a campfire and relaxing in the middle of the woods. I don't care if I have a bathroom at my disposal to use instead of having to pee in the woods. I've been there and done that at one time in my life. Camping is the one enjoyment in my life that I've never outgrown.

 

Reading

Reading when I'm not working is something I do on a daily basis. Not only does it help me with my own writing, but it's an escape from a reality. And a good one. Like most of what you read on social media, I can be anything I want to be by slipping into a good story. Unlike camping, I have an obsession with buying and reading books. I can't get enough. Sometimes it interferes with my writing time, although I try not to let that happen. My reading time is reserved for before bed. I always set aside time before bed for reading. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes I can only squeeze in a little. I'm lucky to get that.

 

Those are my two enjoyments outside of work. They'll always be my enjoyments for as long as I get to enjoy them. I hope it's for a long time to come.

 

Happy reading!

 

Jodie Leigh Murray

 

Writing elements of a romance are the same as writing the elements of any other genre. The writer has to have good pacing, descriptions must be spot on, showing versus telling should be clear and present, and the reader should be engaged throughout or you'll lose them along the way. Romance is no different, except for the added spice. Perhaps there are more expectations from those who read romance and the level of intimacy expected in a romance novel. Some readers don't like a lot, but reading some of the bestselling books in today's markets, I'd have to say the majority like a lot of descriptive scenes. Hot and heavy. I like to think I'm somewhere in between. I can't bring myself to be extremely detailed in those scenes. I like to leave something to the reader's imagination, but I'm thinking I might leave a little too much, maybe. I wish my readers would give me a little more feedback sometimes. I don't get a lot of reviews, and those that leave 1 and 2 star ratings don't tell me why. I'm digressing. Let's get to these elements.

 

First Meeting

Sometimes sparks fly during the first meeting, an immediate attraction, so to speak. Other times, it might be a small feeling. In The Gangster's Daughter, it's an attraction, but she's knows she can't act on it. Whatever the case, the attraction needs to be clear, whether big or small. It's up to the writer to make sure the reader knows where the characters stand in the meeting, depending on the point of view. The last thing you want is a confused reader. Is there an attraction or not? If you're writing an enemies to lovers trope, there should still be at least a little bit of attraction there. There is one thing for certain that will squash any believability of your plot. Love at first sight. That is so incredibly unbelievable it's not even funny. Of course, that's my opinion.

 

The Almost Kiss: Something interrupts

This is the tough one for me to write because I always get so caught up in the moment that I find it hard to stop, but stop you must. As heartbreaking as it is to rip them apart, it has to be done. I didn't do this in The Gangster's Daughter, but I had good reason. It didn't flow with my trope to do so right away. I had to wait for it a bit. Not necessarily an interruption, but a disruption. Without giving anything away if you haven't read it, I had to make it hurt. And hurt, it did. Damn near ripped out my own heart. If I had to go back and write it again, I would write it the same. Exact. Way. I'm a romance writer for a reason.

 

An Uninterrupted Kiss and Deepening Desire

Ah, yes . . . it's finally happening, and the reader gets sucked into all the feels. Heart is pumping; Skin is sizzling; Limbs are trembling and your heroine is falling so fast that she doesn't know if she can stop it. BUT, this is not the end all of end all. While the romance might have finally taken the leap into their feelings for each other without really saying it, but something is still in the way. They'll have to face it, but for now, they can just live in the moment. It all has to be on point and believable. I try to throw in twists that are believable, but no one can see coming. That way, it keeps the reader coming back for more, but boredom isn't setting in with having already seen it before. It's a fine line with so many books being written these days.

 

Grand Gesture and Big Last Kiss

The main character and love interest have made it through the last obstacle. Love is declared and they can live happily ever after. If you don't, you are going to have one furious reader. If your characters aren't living happily ever after with each other, you'd better have a dang good explanation for it. The last thing you want is a reader angry enough to never pick up another one of your books. So make it good, regardless of which path you go. The ending is probably the hardest. Some authors will write this part first, but I have to write in order and let my characters 'talk' to me to find out how they'll handle the ending. With five books under my belt now, I think I've done a pretty good job with my endings and how my characters wrap it up.

 

These are the big elements that I navigate through, although there are a lot more elements in a. There are dozens along the way to make the journey, for the characters make sense to the reader. Not all of them actually need to make it onto the page. It just depends on the story and the characters. But it all needs to make sense and write it in a way that makes it clear to the reader.

 

Happy Reading!

 

Jodie Leigh Murray

 

There are different reasons for traveling. A person can travel for work, as I have to do for both my full-time career and my writing career. Or a person can travel for pleasure, either on vacation or on a weekend getaway. Maybe someone is traveling to see family. Sadly enough, working while traveling for pleasure gets the best of us workaholics sometimes. My husband hates it. Sometimes, he tries to put his foot down. Notice how I say 'tries'? Yeah, he usually doesn't win that argument. I concede to not work the entire time, but to set time aside for it.

 

Traveling for Work

When I travel for my full-time job, most notably our National Sales Meeting followed immediately by our annual company meeting, I not only have to make time to do my day-to-day work writing proposals but squeeze in time for writing as well. Last year, I had The Aristocrat's Wife had just come back from my editor. Talk about a tight timeline! For my full-time job, the National Sales Meeting is not just meetings and making time for day-to-day work in between. Evenings are reserved for team dinners, and going out with co-workers after. Sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. Just to give you a glimpse into my life outside of my writing career. It is, to say the least, a whirlwind week without trying to work on writing. I set aside some nights to focus on what I need to do for writing, so not every night is going staying out late with co-workers. It's hard because I don't get to see some of them more than this every year.

 

Traveling for Pleasure

When I travel for vacation or a holiday, even a weekend-get away, this is supposed to be my time to relax and not do any type of work. This is where I fail. Every. Single. Time. I hope against all hope that someday I will surprise my husband and not do any type of writing on a vacation. For writers, and I'm certain I'm not the only one, it is extremely difficult to turn our brains off. I am constantly writing something in my head. And if I don't write it down, it's gone the next minute. That is why it's essential that I bring my writing tools with me. Not necessarily laptop, but at least notebooks and pens. You see, I don't like to be bored. Sitting in a chair, unless it's in the evening around the bonfire with a drink or a beer in my hand, is boring for me. I have to be doing something. I fill that boredom with writing, and that is why I bring all of my writing gear with me. It isn't anything for me to sit outside our camper, or poolside in the Florida sun, with my laptop, tap tap tapping away. In my defense, it also doesn't take much for me to be reading, either.

 

Working while traveling is really all about balance. Unless you are traveling for work, I shouldn't advocate for working while traveling. But I'd be a hypocrite if I judged anyone for doing it since I do it myself. I heard a saying somewhere and I'm not sure who said it, but it went something like this: If you don't take a break once in a while, your body will take one for you and it won't be at a convenient time.

 

Happy reading (and traveling, if you like to do so)!

 

Jodie Leigh Murray

 

First, let me start out this blog by saying that I never set out to write a sequel. It never crossed my mind. Not until my first book sparked interest with readers enough for people to want to know what happens to the characters. That is how much I put into my characters. And it's heart-warming to know this.

 

Episodic Series

I consider my romantic suspense series, beginning with The Gangster's Daughter, an episodic series, where each book covers a different story but connects the characters. Although I've enjoyed several different series, mostly romantasy, that follow the same character, there are some series that I've read and enjoyed that have been episodic.

 

Characters

It's extremely important to not only keep the characters straight in each book, but paying attention to naming. I hadn't planned on continuing The Gangster's Daughter into a series. I may have had to stretch some facts a little bit when I wrote The Gangster's Mistake, but I'll never tell. It all worked out pretty dang good, so I'll leave it at that. I've started to keep track of all the characters in each book, even the mention of a name, so I don't have any repeats. Believe it or not, it's hard to keep track of.

 

I also have a dossier on each major character with things like personality, traits, what they look like, who's in their family tree, likes/dislikes, what has happened in their life that might have had an affected them, etc. These dossiers are huge. Minor characters have smaller dossiers if they're in multiple books.

 

Timeline

I also have a timeline of all characters, what has happened and birthdates. This helps me keep track of what might happen in each part of their lives from birth to the current day. You'd be surprised at how you might slip up, thinking someone might graduate from high school and they're twenty. It's unlikely they're a super senior these days. It also helps me plan for the future books in the series.

 

Settings

I try not to bounce around settings too much. Cape Haven, my fictional island in The Gangster's Daughter, reappears in the next two books. I haven't decided if it will be or not in the next one. Currently, it's not essential to the plot. Las Vegas and California, do. I will also need to add in another setting as well, so this is another section in my binder that I have to keep track of. I also have visuals on houses. It's just another thing for me to keep straight.

 

That's all I have for now, just learning about writing sequels myself. I recently read a review on The Aristocrat's Wife that someone left on Goodreads requesting a sequel, and I've been asked for a sequel to The Duke's Daughter as well. I definitely have a spin-off bouncing around for The Duke's Daughter, but I'll need to noodle on the other one. The possibilities for stories are positively endless, which is why I write novels, not short stories. There is always more to the story.

 

Happy reading!

 

Jodie

 

Today, the tool we have in our hands most of the time make it much easier to research anything. All you have to do is Google something on your smartphone and you've got the answer. Whether what we find is correct is the question. Sometimes it's hard to forget that not everything you read on the internet is true.

 

Current Day Research

I will never claim to know everything. In fact, there is a tremendous amount that I don't know that I have to research. Even for my romantic suspense novels. Settings, weather, crime, politics. There are several things I look up before and during the writing process. For The Gangster's Game, which is coming out in a few days, I had to do a substantial amount of research on how to get a license to be a therapist and a license to be a private investigator in the state of California. I also did research on trafficking.

 

Historical Research

Researching history is a lot more complicated than writing in the current day. It can pull you into a rabbit hole like you wouldn't believe. Fascinating things to learn from history, whether it's the beginning of time or 50 years ago. Currently, I'm researching my next book, set in the year 1702. Not a lot of data on this time of period, also known as Stuart England, which was 1603-1714 and began with James I, succeeding Queen Elizabeth I. It was a time of innovation and discovery, when England went through a transition from monarchy to parliament. It was also the Golden Age of Piracy, which is what my book revolves around! I have to research everything from historical dates, to fashion, to landmarks, to everything about pirates. And it. Is. So. Fun!! I love history.

 

The further back in history a person has to research, the harder it becomes because of a lack of data. But this also can be a good thing. Many historical facts have been stretched over the years. My novel, The Duke's Daughter, had real historical figures and I may have added some fictional happenings, but one thing that is not entirely clear is the battle of Hastings (Senlac as some refer to it). Some say King Harold took an arrow to the arrow, while others say that didn't happen. I shrug. Will we ever know?

 

When doing research, I first determine what I need to know before I begin writing and get that out of the way. But there's always something that pops up I might need to look into. What type of gun are they using? Are the ages and school level system the same in Italy as here in the U.S.? What level of crime can get you a prison sentence as opposed to a county jail sentence, or felony vs. misdemeanor? It seems there is always a question to everything, even the smallest detail needs to be accurate.