Suspense for the Romantic Heart

Most times this is something you feel after making an expensive purchase, like a car or a boat. I however, I have buyer’s remorse after a day of shopping at Goodwill and Walmart.

Sounds crazy right? I guess it is, but in looking at the items I purchased, my husband would say (and is saying) just a bunch of cap we didn’t need. I beg to differ, actually.  I can not only explain every item, I can justify it, so why the guilt? Well when you have not spent any money, or very little money, for a long time the act of spending money again is like tempting fate.  It is like saying “I am going to put myself on the edge on purpose just because I can.”

So now I am looking over the purchases, thinking of the scowl on my husband’s face when he finds out how much I spent and cringing. On the other hand, my seven, eleven and seventeen year olds spent the entire day together, with me. We had a day of fun. We had lunch together, tried on clothes, laughed, teased, talked, sang, complained about the rain and created a memory. The kids at this moment are quietly talking while working on the art projects we got. Wahoo! Silence is golden. So here is how the day went. We started at 7-Eleven with two hot chocolates and a Monster drink.

Then we headed to Goodwill. I was raised to look at thrift stores, garage sales and Goodwill as treasure troves of possibilities. Places where you can spend pennies and walk away with bags of perfectly good stuff. Thus my children have been brought up the same way and look forward to our Goodwill adventures. We walked out of Goodwill with 3 women’s shirts, a teen spring dress, 3 boys sweatshirts, a British Airways jacket, three cat collars, a Pokémon purse, a goofy pen, a SpongeBob book, a Nerf gun and an office chair. Total spent: 60$

Next we went to Carl’s Jr. This is special as we live in Texas and Carl’s Jr. has only recently broken into this market. We loved Carl’s Jr. when we lived in California and to have them here is Texas is awesome. So we went there for lunch, yummm! Total spent 30$ (for 2 adults and 2 mini adults)

Next was a haircut for the youngest, 15$ and he looks very handsome.

Lastly we did our grocery shopping at Walmart. Well, groceries and some other stuff too.  Granted we may not have been desperate for some of the items but we also have not purchased many of the items for months because of lack of funds.  So some would say, if you lived with it before you can continue to live without it. My mother’s voice is echoing in my brain.

The most expensive items were three pairs of work pants for my husband 12.96 each, normally 22.00 each. Two ultra soft throw blankets $11 each. Three beauty items, face moisturizer, eye cream and facial scrub 40$. Yes this is a big Ka-Ching on the list and there is no excuse except for my own vanity, windshield Wipers for my truck, $12, and sorely needed bras for the mid-teen $30.

In looking at the extra’s I could take a few items back, I didn’t have to get new tooth brushes, I guess, except for the fact we needed them.

Also, in my defense, when it comes to the $40 in skin products, that is a quarterly occurrence if that, and I wear little to no make-up, so that expense is kept down. I could also say, “Hell I am going to Walmart”! It is not like I am shopping at the Lancôme counter and all of the money spent was on skin care alone.

In looking back over the day while I sit curled in my new super fuzzy blanket, I guess I can regret spending the money and theoretically I could take a bunch of stuff back. You know what though, I am not going to. Yes, I went a little overboard but you know what? The kids and I deserve it. We have been living on a shoe string budget for a long time now and it is okay to spend once in a while. Christmas was small, birthdays were smaller, and we didn’t by the store, just a few things to have some fun and feel special. Sometimes we need to get a few new shirts, a used toy gun, or a cozy blanket to treat ourselves with the money we have worked so hard to earn. Bills will still be there tomorrow and they will get paid, but today I went shopping and had a blast! My use of buyer’s remorse in this situation is probably a little dramatized. However, I am sure I will get over it and so will my bank account.

It is Friday night, and the kiddos are home. It has been a long week and we are all recovering. My husband and I are watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, our 17 year old son is in his room playing his PS3, our 11 year old daughter is in her room on her computer, and our youngest, seven years old, is flipping though the newspaper in curiosity.  My husband says, “you should be looking at the comics.” My son looks up at him in confusion, and we realize he has no idea what we are talking about.

This is not surprising, as we have not had a newspaper in our house for about five years. We get all of our news from the internet, no need for a newspaper. Comics are one of many things our kids will never experience. Saturday morning cartoons, the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings, or the challenge of trying to tape a song off the radio for your “mix tape”. You wouldn’t think that the gap between then and now would be so very large, but we as a technological society are moving at the speed of light, instead of sound. Another example of how much life has changed was exhibited in a movie we watched the other night, War Games. “Would you like to play a game?” Remember that movie? My husband and I were watching it and it took us both back. Our seventeen year old son decided to watch it with us and the entire film was foreign to him. From the original analog dial up to the five and a half floppy discs, the dot matrix printer, and the tape machines instead of servers. Global Thermonuclear War also needed to be explained. Our son was laughing at the bulky relics that were once cutting edge technology and amazed at the extremity of the cold war. What’s a beeper? That tape thing used to play music? What is this stationary, why can’t I just send an email? You didn’t have Facebook when you were in high school? Now we have everything from telephones the size of a credit card you can take anywhere to computer images appearing on clear glass and touch based technology.

Not just technology has changed. Society as a whole has changed. Simple things like learning cursive, writing a check, checking a book out from the library, or ordering a pizza has all evolved to fast, easy, and idiot proof (almost). People used to groan if you used a credit card, and now we groan if you use cash. We had a huge change jar in our living room for all of the spare change we would collect. Now the bank does it for you automatically.  The radical and speedy evolution from our childhood to our children’s present day has seen possibly the most important technological changes in the shortest amounts of time. We have taken leaps and bounds, leaving behind the rudimentary ways of our childhood, and embracing all that modern technology has to offer.

Warnings though, don’t try to leave it all behind. Remember the way it was once and count your blessings. We all learn eventually that faster is not always better, and sometimes pen to paper means more than a blip on a screen saying “You’ve Got Mail”. This is true especially when the credit card machine goes offline and the eighteen year old kid behind the counter pulls out the metal machine that takes an impression of your card. He will look at it in ignorance and call for help. Just take a breath, laugh, and offer him a lesson.

I have told the story many times of why I decided to write romantic suspense. It is

Shockwave by Amy Romine

because as a reader all of the novels in this genre I found and read left me wanting. They were lacking levels of intensity I was looking for. I am not a normal romance reader or writer. My characters have to work for their happiness.

As a reader I have never been able to read a straight romance. It is too sugary and boring for my taste. So I moved toward the romantic suspense, which should theoretically be a mixture of both.  Unfortunately, I have found in the romantic suspense genre there are few who are truly balanced. Most are usually heavy to one side.  Either they are overly romantic with a weak suspense subplot or they are so embedded in the suspense the romance is merely an afterthought.

In my attempt to write a romantic suspense novel it was extremely important to me to keep the balance between the two genres, as that is what I wanted as a reader.  I wrote the book, became published, and found that I was not the only one looking for more of a balance.

My romance and my suspense are equal in the plot field. They are not subplots of each other. I have subplots that support the direction of the plot and add depth to the overall characters and story.

I think sometimes we become confused by the plot and subplot definitions.  According to our lovely friends at Wikipedia, A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time, place, or in thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist.

In short stories and novellas there is rarely a subplot, but in a novel it is fairly common.  In my novel Trust Me, the main plot is the stalking of Rebecca Gailen and the romantic angst involving her and the two brothers. The subplot is the relationship of the two brothers, before, during, and after the strife.  Does the subplot impact the main plot, possibly. Does the subplot support the direction of the main plot, definitely.  Is the subplot a secondary plot to the main plot, definitely not.

There are subplots that never intersect with the main plot and act as more a thematic locomotive, driving home the root theme of the novel through an alternate perspective.  Either way, it is still a subplot.

True romantic suspense, paranormal romance, or romance fantasy is a novel with an even balance of both genres. Too many times we categorize things “if” they might fit into that shape.  Do you have any genre or subplot gripes? Lets here them! Leave a comment join the conversation!

One of my new year’s resolutions was to read more. It is something I have gotten away

Serenity Lost by Amy Romine

from, as I do not like to read while I am writing. However, as I am writing all the time, I realized reading is a part of writing. Reading other authors, respecting their views, their writing styles and also as a support to craft as a whole. Last year I started a review blog, Romine’s Romance Reviews. It started as a challenge to myself to read the leading books in my genre, and it has stayed that way for the most part. It is not difficult to stay within this theme, as I read the genre I write. One of the major factors of me writing my first romantic suspense novel was the fact I could simply not find what I wanted to read. So I wrote it myself. This path has served me well, and my muse has taken to the challenge.

Recently I have looked to delve into a slightly different genre, one I read more as a teenager than an adult, the Romantic Fantasy. These worlds include mystical creatures such as wizards, elves, fairies, and dragons. Someone close to me suggested this would be a good move for me, and so I have started doing a little research.

I recently chose a book to read in the area of my new genre attempt.  I will not reveal the name of the book, as I do not want to point fingers and or be detrimental to this author.  Reading this book was a confirmation to me of what kind of writer I am. I am a romantic suspense author. I am not an erotica author.

Without giving too much detail, I was initially excited about this book, as it looked to contain all of the aspects I was looking for as far as plot, suspense, and romance.  What it ended up being was something quite different.

Within the first twenty pages of the novel the characters met and copulated. I cannot really say anything negative about this, as in my first novel the two main characters meet and have a one night stand. However in the book I am referring to, the plot from that moment forward was about sex, the relation of sex to the community they entered, the sexual characteristics of the other characters, and the magical allies they had. In short, the book was an excuse to write 100 + pages of sexual encounters, and even included a reoccurring threesome.

This is fine if this is what you are looking for, but I wanted meat, a plot, something to dig my teeth into. This book had a developing subplot that did not include sex, but it was always in the background just out of reach. I have since searched for a book similar to the one I wish to write, one with all of the themes I, as a reader, am looking for, and surprisingly, I have yet to find one.

So how did this journey reaffirm my conviction as a romantic suspense author and hopefully soon to be a romantic fantasy author? Well, once again I am left lacking in what I as a reader am looking for. So, I guess I will just have to do it myself.

As a writer, I live and die by my computer. My entire life is on my laptop, and you know I am not exaggerating. Every project, blog article, and draft of my writing is on this PC. So, when I talk about getting organized, this is a high priority. We all know we need to get our computer organized, and we all sigh in frustration as it seems a major waste of our valuable time. This is a new year, and while it would be great to go back and reorganize, I am not going to ask that you do that. I am going to make a few suggestions as to handle your files moving forward so that next year at this time you won’t even have to think about it!

#1 IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE, PLEASE DO THIS! Back up your computer! We all know we should do this, but again it seems like a waste of time, right? That is until our computer crashes because of a spilled soda, power surge, or just a bad HHD, and everything vanishes! You may think you have nowhere to backup your files and external HDD, however there are tons of FREE places to back up your files. You can do it while multi-tasking, and you will have the reassurance that everything is safe.

At the end of this article is a listing of resources for online backups. I actually use two. I use A-Drive and Dropbox.

I like A-Drive because I load it and it sits. I know it is there whenever I need access to it, and no matter what I do on or with my files on my laptop, that data is there. Their 50G storage plan is free. If you want something with more bells and whistles, their plans are reasonable. The second resource I use is Dropbox. This was introduced to me by my editor when she began having challenges with yahoo mail.  There are several reasons I love Dropbox. The first is the ease of use. You download it to your laptop and start saving files. You can share files with others, and anytime files are updated you receive a notification. This is awesome when you have a few people working on the same project. You can also designate who sees what. If I want to add someone to one of the shared folders, that doesn’t mean they can see everything, they can only the folder I designate. I use it religiously so I do not have to carry two computers around. Drop box enables me to get to all of my files so if I need to send or edit something at work I have fast and easy access. There are no limits to the number of peeps you can share with, and best of all it is FREE! I have been asked if I have tried the MSN SKYE Drive and I have. Unfortunately it was too slow for me. Creating subfolders is a pain and it just doesn’t work for me.

PLEASE set a reminder on your calendar for AT LEAST every other month to back up your files. Even if you are just adding updates, you will be grateful in the end.

#2 Create a naming convention for your DOCs – Not just your folders but your actual documents. There are several ways to do it. No, there are millions of ways. You need to find one that suits you and stick to it.  For me, I am all about dating. Documents are usually the title, but if there are various versions of this document I put the date every time I save. So for example, Get Organized P2 01.09.12 is the name of this file. If I were to edit or change it after this save I will change the date, which in turn creates a new file. Some will comment, isn’t it a waste of HDD space to just save the document over and over. To anyone else, yes would be the answer, but for me as a writer, I need to see every version of a piece. Every time I change something and save it anew, I like to have a copy of the old handy to refer back to. It is a progression dialog that I find helpful.

#3 Create a FOLDER naming convention – Folders can be easy or they can be difficult. I tend to not want too many folders and would rather have sub-folders. So I will categorize items several different ways, by project name, by month, by subject, or by type. For example, I tried to name folders by blog, and that became a pain in the butt because it was taking too long to sub categorize them as there could be various different types of items per blog, so I use a broader stroke now.  Instead of my folders being

Before

I found that my files could be headed in fewer groups and then made more specific by webpage. So now it looks like this…

After

You get the idea. So this may seem odd, but my thinking is when I ‘dump files’, and that is exactly what I do, I throw them in there and then organize later. I am grouping them in the easiest way. All of my blogs articles will be in one place. When I organize all I have to do is place them in the webpage subfolder. Again, find what works best for you, but definitely have a system and use it! It will save you time and energy moving forward.

#4 Pictures, Pictures, Pictures – We all have thousands of them and to go in and give each one a name is truly a pain in the butt. I was drowning, and then I started using photobucket and had two solutions in one! It is completely mobile, so I do not have to be on my computer to upload files. I can use the albums anyway I need to. I have access to them from everywhere, AND they are automatically backed up and off my PC. This is a no brainer! I have tried Picasa and a few others, but photobucket works best for me. I have the Firefox add in, and the simple click to upload to photobucket is a godsend. No more saving the pic and then having to file, upload etc…

Organized Desktop

#5 Day to Day Activity – We are all moving a mile a minute. I save everything I am currently working on to my desktop where I can find it with ease. This is awesome, except I HATE a full desktop. So when I am done with something and know I will probably need it again soon, or am just too lazy to file it properly, I create a NOW folder. I throw everything in the folder (that is located on my desktop) until I am able to go through and file. I am able to do this because I have designated my naming conventions and also my folders, so while it is a desktop junk-drawer when I go to clean it out, it will not be an unthinkable task.

So those are my five suggestions. I hope you find them helpful, and if you have any questions or need any assistance, please ask.

Here are some resources for you!

http://www.consumersearch.com/online-backup-services

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-online-backup-sites.htm

http://lifehacker.com/5405041/five-best-online-backup-tools

http://www.onlinebackupsites.com/

TTFN!