SINGLE TITLE, OR SERIES?

Miranda's February Musings

Darlings, what happened to January? My stars. Over! Too! Soon! 

So here is a February question for you all while you hibernate from the crazy polar vortex in the northern hemisphere (whaaaat?!), and boil in the record temps Down Under, phew. 

What do you prefer to read? A single title romance, OR a series which can give the same hero and heroine or secondary characters their stories, and prolong the love in the community? 

For example, the amazing Nora Roberts AKA JD Robb began her In Death series waaaay back in 1995 with Naked in Death. This first book introduced prickly NY police detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas - and she meets intriguing Irish billionaire Rourke in the course of her investigations. Huh. Fourty-eight books later - yes, 48! - Eve and Rourke are still fresh, fabulous and intriguing enough for millions of readers to hang out for every new story, with the 49th book scheduled to be released later this year. In hardcover! This is truly a monumental series success story. JD Robb, we are in awe of you! Have you read any Eve and Rourke, and are you keen for more?

Picture credit: amazon.com

A different series called Outback Brides brought joy to many reader hearts in 2018. Beloved Australian authors Kelly Hunter, Victoria Purman, Cathryn Hein and Fiona McArthur gifted us four different brides, all divinely romantic and lovely and absolutely scrumptious. You simply must read on and enjoy each different bride's story, especially as they pop into the previous books. Yes please, I can cope with that very easily: a finite series of 4 books with a different H&H in each one. Can you? 

Picture credit: amazon.com

Hands up the stand alone book readers? Those who really love carving time out to read one romance and that's-enough-for-now-because-it's-so-fabulous? Late 2016 (omigosh that sounds so long ago!) I read The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Totally loved it, laughed all the way through, went looking for another book by her and... eek! Had to wait! Imagine my thrill when her next book 99% Mine, which I pre-purchased months ago, fell into my Kindle last week! I cannot tell you how that sent me into an excited spin, but I need to finish the (fabulous) book I'm reading to get to it... I am sure that, like The Hating Game, reading 99% Mine will be - enough. Something to linger over and enjoy. Hopefully with some laughs and tears, like last time. No pressure, Sally Thorne! I have faith in you. ❤❤ But, YAY for a stand-alone book!

Picture credit: amazon.com

One favourite stand-alone romance is Molly Cooper's Dream Date by Barbara Hannay. Apparently I'm not alone in loving this book; I've heard a whisper it's about to be made into a film, oh my. Bring it on! I could read this book again and again. Actually, I already have... It never loses its charm, and I love it anew every reread. Have you read it? It's actually a lovely armchair travel read for London, part of the appeal for us Aussies, and a luscious romance. Win, win.

Picture credit: amazon.com

So, my pick for Single Title or Series is - BOTH, depending on my mood! I'm happy to read a series or a stand alone; they both have their place. What about you?

Love from Miranda xxx

Love to Love:

A new book from a fave author. And a new book in a series I love!

Love to Laugh:

At my teetering, tottering, Read-Me pile of books. I think it multiplies in the dark at night...?!

Love to Learn:

About all the new romances coming out. I know, I know, I've got a mountainous TBR, but there will be a new gem in the newies somewhere. For sure. 

Author Spotlight: Cathryn Hein

Here at Breathless in the Bush, we love to celebrate our Aussie Authors. Our special guest for this month's Author Spotlight is the lovely Cathryn Hein. Welcome Cathryn!

What is one ‘must have’ when you are writing?

A glass of water. Writing can be thirsty work!

What are you reading at the moment?

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. Finishing will mean I’ve read every one of her releases. Kearsley’s stories and writing are mesmerising.

Name one thing you’re scared of.

The stuff of nightmares! Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Crocodiles. I refused to play golf at a course in Townsville over Christmas because a 3.5 metre saltwater croc had taken up residence in one of the dams. No one else seemed to be too worried but I KNOW that thing would have sought me out.

Like to share something that recently made you happy?

Wayward Heart being winning favourite cover at the recent Australian Romance Reader Awards. That was so cool!

What is the last photo you took with your phone?

A photo of the dinner I was making – pot-roasted chicken with chorizo, leeks and cider from Rick Stein’s Spain cookbook. I love to cook and take a LOT of photos of food.

What is the premise of your latest book?

Wayward Heart is a friends-to-lovers romance about two broken people who discover unexpected strengths in each other, but one is hiding a damaging secret and someone wants it exposed.

What unique challenges did the book pose?

Keeping Digby and Jasmine sympathetic for the reader given their difficult backgrounds and life choices. Although it can be read as a stand-alone, Wayward Heart is also a follow-on story to Rocking Horse Hill, which meant I needed to bring readers up to speed about events in that book without info-dumping or boring those who already know the facts. It’s a tricky thing to manage.

What are you working on at the moment?

Edits for my next release. We’re still nutting out a title but I’m RIDICULOUSLY excited about this book. I think it’s my best yet.

What is your writing schedule? Morning, afternoon or night?

Definitely mornings. I’m usually at work around 7am. I take a long break around 11 or 11.30, when I exercise and have lunch and sometimes read for a while, after which I return to work, finishing up around 5 or 5.30pm.

Are you a plotter, pantser or somewhere in between?

Somewhere in between. I was a pantser and I still think it’s my preferred way to write but I’ve learned that I make more efficient progress if I plot.

Do you listen to music as you write?

Sometimes. Every book is different. For example, I wrote April’s Rainbow with INXS’s “Afterglow” playing on a loop, while other books, like Wayward Heart, have had entire playlists. Almost every book I’ve written has had at least one theme song. The only exception to that so far is Summer and the Groomsman. I have no idea why. It just kind of worked out that way.

What do you love to love?

My Jim. Love him to bits.

What do you love to laugh at?

Pretty much everything, but lately I’ve been getting great joy from the Twitter feeds of 100% Goats and We Rate Dogs. They’re a hoot!

What do you love to learn about?

Food! I adore cooking and will happily spend hours in the kitchen, whipping up recipes. I also love eating out and trying new things.

Short Bio

Cathryn Hein is the best-selling author of ten rural romance and romantic adventure author novels, and regular Australian Romance Reader Awards finalist. A South Australian country girl by birth, she loves nothing more than a rugged rural hero who’s as good with his heart as he is with his hands, which is probably why she writes them! Her romances are warm and emotional, and feature themes that don’t flinch from the tougher side of life but are often happily tempered by the antics of naughty animals. Her aim is to make you smile, sigh, and perhaps sniffle a little, but most of all feel wonderful.

Cathryn currently lives at the base of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales with her partner of many years, Jim. When she’s not writing, she plays golf (ineptly), cooks (well), and in football season barracks (rowdily) for her beloved Sydney Swans AFL team.

Cathryn’s latest release is WAYWARD HEART, available in all good bookstores and online now.

Discover more about Cathryn and her stories at cathrynhein.com.

Contact Cathryn via:

Email: cathryn@cathrynhein.com

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The Process Obsession

with guest blogger Cathryn Hein

Writers love to talk about process. They love to read about it and learn about it and compare and contrast. Why? It’s fascinating. But there comes the trap. It’s too easy to look at what others do, especially those you admire, and think those soul-sucking words, I’m doing it wrong.

You’re not.

There is no right or wrong way, there is only YOUR way. As long as you’re getting your story down then your process is working. Besides, how you go about writing your book is no one else’s business. What’s important is the end result.

Yeah, yeah, I know. There are a bazillion blogs, books and what-have-you out there all claiming that Method Z is the only way to write but that’s rubbish. That’s like saying there’s only one way to swing a golf club or one way to paint a picture.

Of course, we know this intellectually but that doesn’t stop us obsessing over it. There’s always that ugly devil on our shoulders whispering that maybe, just maybe, if we copied mega-selling Awesome Author A’s process we, too, would have their success.

 

It doesn’t work that way. It just doesn’t.

Yet sometimes, even though I trust my process and it works for me, there are days when I long to change it. And what sort of writer am I? An edit-as-I-go one, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages (for me) are:

• I finish with a super clean, submission quality manuscript that only requires tweaking before handing in. 
• I know the story and characters intimately because I write and rewrite them so much I really like and am proud of what I’ve written because chapters aren’t added to the master document until they’re as perfect as I can make them at that point.
• On rereads I’m not distracted by annoying typos and other errors. 
• I can read the manuscript as I would a book, which allows me to see story and characterisation faults more easily.

The disadvantages (for me) are:

• It’s sloooooow. It can take me anything up to 7 months to write one of my rural romances. 
• It can be very depressing when I see other authors churning out multiple books a year and I’m still struggling with one.
• There’s a risk of losing focus on the story because I’m concentrating on the small stuff instead of bigger things.

Revisions can be devastating, especially if there are major changes. All that time and agonising can feel like one big waste.These disadvantages are quite significant, in particular the slowness of my process. It’s the one thing I would like to alter and, over time, I suspect I will. After all, the learning process isn’t static. We’re also people, and people grow and change.

But for now I’m going to embrace my process, ugly bits and all. It’s served me well and with deadlines fast approaching I can’t afford to angst over it. I have books to write. And getting those done, whichever way, is what matters.

I love to love... my Jim. Loveliest man on the planet.

I love to laugh... a lot! And at myself because I can be a total nong sometimes. Especially on the golf course.

I love to learn... about food and cooking and recipes and different cuisines. Mainly because I love to eat!

If you’d like to learn more about Cathryn and her books, please visit her website. You can also connect via Facebook and Twitter using @CathrynHein.