But a few other updates first:  MASTER OF TORMENT and HAVE YOURSELF A NAUGHTY LITTLE SANTA are still at bookstores everywhere.  Didn’t read the reviews? Scroll down to Save an Author Buy a Book and take a gander!  Then go buy!  J  Buffie, one of our regulars here at The Write Life and who also happens to review for www.romancenovel.tv just posted a review of TORMENT, go on over and check out the site, lot’s of really good stuff.  This is a place you’ll want to add to daily blog tour!

Okay so here are some things to consider with regard to the First Line Contest, which will commence next Monday:

Do not post your first line yet! This is just a brush up on the do’s and don’ts. However, get ready. Monday December 8th, I will post a blog at exactly 7:00 p.m. PACIFIC TIME titled GAME ON! When that post is up the first 100 legit first lines will be in the hunt.

The last few times I watched the lines go up and emailed those who screwed up. I will not be doing that this year. Follow the guidelines below and you should be good to go. If you have a question/s, post them to the comment section of this blog post. I will do my best to answer all of them before the contest officially commences Monday evening.

The prize? The five finalists will have the opportunity to send 10 pages of their story beginning with their original first line to Senior Grand Central Editor, Amy Pierpont.

Now, here are a few First Line rules

*First of all I will accept only 100 entries. The first 100 first lines that adhere to these rules:

*Rule number one: Each entry must be ONE line. One line meaning one sentence, statement or dialogue line with dialogue tag. I know last time many of you used semi colons and colons and that’s ok, but remember, in many ways, less is more. My advice? Make a quick hard hitting punch then pull back and watch the reader fall for the next line.

*Which brings me to rule number two: The line you begin with is the line you stay with, along with each subsequent line. No adding, subtracting or changing words. This will be strictly enforced. Please don’t make more work for me. Last contest it was brought to my attention that there were some changes, and while unintentional, if any lines this time around are changed the entry will be dropped. I will not notify you, it just won’t show up the following week.

*Numero three: If you make it to the next round and don’t post your subsequent line in time you will not be notified, and you will be dropped. No exceptions. We had an excellent entry last year that most likely would have finaled, but because of an electrical hiccough, the person was unable to post her line by the deadline at the end of the week. My suggestion? Post it asap to avoid freaky things like that.

*Four: The following round will be posted some time each Monday, each entrant has until midnight Friday (of the same week) to post their next line. I will enforce this. My judge needs the weekend at the very least to make their picks. And be sure when you post your subsequent line you also post the lines that got you there.

*Five: For the first two rounds, 20 lines will be culled each week, when we hit 60 entries, I will go back to 5 a week. If not all entrants post, I will only have the judge cull the amount necessary to get to the next multiple of five. Example: if we are at 40 and five are culled making the next round 35 and only 32 of those entrants post, only two will be culled to keep the next round at 30. I will not allow previously culled lines to reenter. It’s too confusing, too much work, and causes too much strife. And I’m grumpier this time around.

*Six: I will open the contest 7 p.m. PACIFIC time Monday December 8th.

*Let’s be fair. One entry per person.  Last year there were two folks who used two different email addy’s for two different lines, even after the rules clearly stated one line per person, and it really pissed me off.  I don’t like cheaters and this time around they will be dropped, period.

*Seven: To avoid the problems we had last year with entrants posting early and thus being dropped for doing so, I will post a commencement blog at 7 p.m. PACIFIC time Monday December 8th titled Game On, when you see it, go for it. Any lines posted before that post will be automatically dropped, and it will be up to you to pay attention and get back into the hunt. After the first 100 legitimate first lines are posted the contest will be closed to new entries. I’ll post a blog announcing the contest is closed. I’ll be monitoring closely. There will be many comments along with the first lines so it can get confusing. But I will make the cut at the correct entry, it just may take me a bit to figure it out. Last year the spots were filled in less than 30 minutes, I expect it will go sooner this year.

*Again, the five finalists will have the opportunity to send the first 10 pages of their first line story to Grand Central Senior Editor Amy Pierpont. She will pick the winner and hopefully ask to see fulls, which I hope will result in a sale.

*As with the previous contests, I will have a different anonymous judge (a New York multi-published author) cull five entries a week, 20 each the first two weeks. I will be keeping better records this year, and let me just say thanks again to my judges. While they thoroughly enjoyed the job, they found it very difficult and asked me on several occasions to be the tie-breaker. I passed. I know too many of you, and could not in good conscience do it. So, all I can say, is put your best line forward every week. And good luck!

*Have a question? Let’s get them out of the way now.

K* who is really excited!

Have a safe wonderful day!

K*

MASTER OF TORMENT releases today!!!!!

Here what the reviewers are saying!!

“Karin Tabke creates a dark but oh so compelling ambiance in MASTER OF TORMENT. It was refreshing to see an author not gloss over some of the issues of that time period and yet still write a tale of hope. Karin Tabke shows the strength of character and personality exhibited by women in the medieval times. She doesn’t make Tarian a hapless victim of circumstances but neither does she ignore the worldview surrounding her. Instead, Karin Tabke provides a picture of a strong woman in a very trying time.

MASTER OF TORMENT is a rich, deeply moving tale of bitterness, betrayal, love, and yes, hope. Karin Tabke takes readers through a gamut of emotions as there are characters who will evoke very strong reactions. MASTER OF TORMENT is not necessarily an easy read as the story delves into some very dark pieces of history in which violence permeated everything, but it easily ranks among the best historical books I have ever read. Kudos to Karin Tabke for such a deeply moving tale!”  Reviewed by Debbie Ck2S Kwips and Kritiques

“MASTER OF TORMENT by Karin Tabke is a thoroughly engaging historical romance worthy of any library.  The plot is suspenseful and superbly written – I despised Tarian’s uncle by marriage the first time he arrived on the scene – the characters were realistic with human failings and with passionate human emotions.  I sat on pins and needles and aching for a happy ending. 

Don’t miss MASTER OF TORMENT.  Karin Tabke has taken a medieval setting with genuine historical figures and added vibrant fictional characters to equal a magnificent historical romance.  As an added bonus, I highly recommend going back and reading the first installment of this fabulous series, MASTER OF SURRENDER.  You’ll be glad you did!”  Wild on Books

“Tabke gives medieval fans what they dream about: a Saxon warrior princess
and a bold Norman knight in a heated battle of wills, set against
a tense political situation. Tabke taps into the classic plot with the
freshness and hot sensual tension of a master craftsman.”  Romantic Times

“Sumptuous, Sexy, Superb! Master of Torment grabs hold of you on page one and doesn’t let go.If you’ve been waiting for the perfect Medieval series, this is it. Karin Tabke does for Norman knights what JR Ward has done for vampires, with hot alpha heroes and the fiery heroines who tame them. I can’t wait for the next book!” Monica McCarty, New York Times Bestselling author

I hope you all enjoy Wulfson and Tarian’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

K*

hunky knight in MASTER OF CRAVING resembles?

Here ya go!

Be still my heart, ladies, pop this headshot on hunky cover guy’s shoulders and is there anything else more, well, knightly?  I printed this and had it taped to my lap top while I wrote CRAVING.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time writing…

K*

PS, keep checking back this week for updates on the First Line Contest!

Stefan

I had to share!

Happy drooling…

K*

I just typed The End to MASTER OF CRAVING!  And I came in under 100K words so I have some wiggle room.  Next: layer and polish, but I love this part.  I’ll be MIA for the rest of the week so I can really clean this mess up, so I won’t be gone because the hubster finally caught up to me with his shovel.  Gotta love that guy!

Ciao, ladies until i come up for air and then it will be celebration time and First Line Contest time!  Whoo hoo!  Oh, and MASTER OF TORMENT releases next week!  So much to be excited about!

K*

Busy weekend!  Today I met a great group of readers and hung out with them for the afternoon at a local Borders, I did not want to go home, but alas the family kept calling.  Actually, I really didn’t want to go home, I, um, kinda sorta scraped up the hubster’s Escalade.  It’s a good thing he loves me, but boy was he pissed when he saw what I did.  It was an accident!  Of course, now the kids have something on me and have been making fun of me all night, but well, I screwed up.  I’m taking it. Sigh.

Still working on CRAVING.  The plot keeps thickening, which is good but I have so much to go back and rewrite to catch up, I feel like I’ll never finish, and my time is up. I’ll be burning the midnight oil again tonight.  I’m right there, almost to The End, but more stuff keeps happening!

I have a lot of stuff that’s in my pending file that I just have to keep there until this book is done, so bear with me.  I have books to mail, emails to respond to, and signings to organize, but I can’t do any of that until CRAVING is written. 

What’s on your plate for the week?

K*

Karin is happy again!  Karin is writing like a mad woman!  And Karin just wrote a smokin’ hot love scene!  Finally, the hero and heroine are together!

Okay, I’ll stop referring to myself in the third person.  But, I am vera happy.  I spent a very busy day outside of the office and though I should have been writing I knew I had to get out.  So, my mil and I and the lady’s group we belong to had our monthly luncheon today, and as I do every time, I say, no to the wine then have a glass. I can drink wine all night long, but if I have a glass during the day, I can’t write.  I came home and tried to write but took a nap instead (hey! I was up ’til three this a.m. writing and up too early). Theeeennn, my mil picked me up again, and we met her sister and my youngest daughter at a new restaurant in town for dinner.  It wasn’t bad, but the service was sloooooooooooow, which wasn’t a problem ’cause were chatting like school girls. Then off we all went to a local coffee shop my son-in-law’s cousin just opened and sat around drinking lattes and cappuccinos for the next two hours. 

Came home to all of the guys here at the house, visited some more and now, here I am at the computer catching up.  I had 238 emails!  And none were spam! 

I wanted to let y’all know Edie is guest blogging at Murder She Writes Friday (today for most of you), and next week I have a few announcements to make and a few friends and their endeavors to share.  So, off I go to wrap up CRAVING!  I wrote almost 9K words yesterday!  And they didn’t suck!!!

Oh, and just in case you didn’t know, HAVE YOURSELF A NAUGHTY LITTLE SANTA is not only available at a bookstore near you, but!  It will make a great stocking stuffer!

K*

I think it’s hormones.  Hate when it’s hormones.  Hormones mess with stuff that doesn’t need to be messed with. 

I think it might be this economy and the fact that I have two fabulous books releasing smack dab in the middle of a crisis and there is nothing I can do about it.  Maybe I’ll put on my writer sweats and fuzzy slippers and icky green shirt my son hates and sit on a busy corner with a PLEASE BUY MY BOOK sign.  Maybe not.  It’s depressing when something you have worked so hard on gets caught up in a storm you just have to ride out.

I think it might be MASTER OF CRAVING is taking me longer than I expected and I’m at the, “This pile of pooh sucks big time,” phase. I’ll get over it but it’s not fun while it lasts.

The one bright spot is I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and beyond.  Despite all of this craziness around us, I’m going to enjoy the holidays.  I’m looking forward to the First Line Contest, which will launch in a couple of weeks.  The bright spot for me today is, I’m over at Title Magic, ready and willing to chat up a storm!  C’mon over and say hello!

In the meantime, my funk may be gone by the time y’all read this.  Or maybe not. 

What do you do to get out of a funk?

Funky K*

Everyone say, a big hello to my dear, dear friend, Edie Ramer!!!!

Thanks to Karin for having me here today.  Most people don’t know Karin knocked into my head the most important element in fiction: Emotion, emotion, emotion!  When I started writing fiction, I read all the how-to articles and writing books.  Each book emphasized showing instead of telling.  I followed their directions.  If I couldn’t show it, I didn’t write it. 

This was years before Margie Lawson taught her Empowering Characters’ Emotions and Deep Edits classes.  At the time I was reading short stories, which fit into my crazy life style.  Short stories have to be tight – all muscles and no flab – and I started writing and selling short stories that bulged with muscles.  Writing tight became ingrained in me, something I did naturally when I wrote. 

Then Karin and I became CPs.  At first we were tentative, tiptoeing around each other’s pages.  When I finally told Karin I thought her first scene should be cut (chapters later!), she said, “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”  She insisted I tell her the truth, even when it hurt.  When she sent us her chapters, she’d say “Rip ‘em up, ladies.”  I did.  In return, she ripped up mine too. 

On my pages, the comment she wrote most often was “How does he/she feel?”  A great question, but I didn’t get it.  I’d think, “Can’t people read this and realize how this person feels?” 

Now I know.  They can’t. Sometimes, yes, but not always.  And it’s vital to make the reader feel emotion.  As we read, we live vicariously through the characters.  We want to be so deep within them we feel the frightened hitch in their throat, their bodies heating with sexual need, tension fisting inside their stomach.  We want to be one with the characters.  We want to feel their passions, their pain, their triumphs, their sadness.

Now as I write my scenes, I hear Karin’s voice in my head, saying, “How does he/she feel?”

Karin, on the last scene I wrote, my hero is feeling determined and angry.  The heroine is scared.  As for me, I’m scared too. Also excited!  Thrilled!  Fabulous! 

Voting for the American Title V contest starts TODAY! 

For those who don’t know, Dorchester Publishing’s American Title V contest, given in conjunction with Romantic Times Magazine, is romance writers’ version of American Idol. The winner gets a publishing contract with Dorchester! 

The contest has 5 rounds, one round each month, with excerpts and voting instructions posted on the Romantic Times Magazine website.  This year there are 8 finalists.  From today to Nov. 23rd, you can vote for the first line you like best.  The entries should be up mid to late morning, which is when voting will begin.  Voting directions are on the page.

I hope you’ll vote for the book you like best.  Of course I hope that will be DEAD PEOPLE, but all of us entered the contest because publishing is our dream.  Vote and help someone’s dream come true.  Help someone feel fabulous!

What about you?  How are your characters feeling today?  And how are you feeling?  I hope you feel fabulous too. J

Edie Ramer

http://www.edieramer.com

***Note from Karin:  Personally I love the American Title contest, it’s a great way to get read and drum up name recognition.  I’m inviting you all to ask Edie all about the process, and her journey since being notified she was a finalist.  She’s been a busy little bee ever since! 

***Another note from Karin: I have read DEAD PEOPLE; it’s funny, sexy, and so very unique that I can’t see why anyone would not vote for DEAD PEOPLE!!  Go vote! Now!  This minute.  What are you waiting for?  Goooooooooo!!!