Monday, October 26, 2009
With Love, from Ms. Blush
What a month! If we thought October would be quiet, we had another think coming! In between releases, promo, and catching up on the meanders and intricacies of a publishing house, it's been non-stop rushing!
As you probably know, Eirelander Publishing opened its doors at the start of the month. Two authors of the RBA posse saw their releases debut-ing the Main and Heat lines of the publisher, respectively.
Aasiyah Qamar released Light My World, a multicultural contemporary romance with comedic influences set on a small and dynamic island of the southern Indian Ocean, Mauritius.
Tethys J. Killian released Master and Commander's Prey, a time-travel, erotic historical that brings you into the world of a master and commander hero, Captain Jacob Wolfson, and his Fate-determined clash with modern-girl Shiloh Montgomery-Moore.
In between all this, needless to say, the two have been hard-pressed to hold on to a scrap of sanity to blog. But, they knew they could count on the other wonderful ladies of the RBA clan to hold the fort. Sandra Marshall and Angela Guillaume (who made her blogging comeback with us - give her a big round of applause!) have done a stellar job of grabbing and captivating the blog's audience with their thought-provoking pieces.
So as we finish off October, amidst a show-stopping fireworks display to celebrate the above-mentioned releases and the opening of the publisher, and while gearing up for a fabulous Halloween weekend, we ask you again - are there skeletons lingering in writers' closets?
Don't forget:
This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.
This October, we're on the quest:
Searching for a some meat and beef...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, October 5, 2009
With Love, from Ms.Blush
Last week saw the opening of Eirelander Publishing, a small-press house many of us RBA posse are involved with. It's been a terribly exciting time for us, and take a moment if you can to check it out. I promise you won't regret it!
So. October... already! Hmm, spooky atmosphere, lengthening darkness, creatures of the night and hallows, Halloween... Expect to see jack-o-lanterns everywhere, rich and warm fall colours, ghouls and other such lot, skeletons...
Speaking of which, we here at RBA are sad to say this, but if you're a book lover, you don't need to look long and hard and even far to see skeletons lately. Just take a look at most books coming out right now and bam! There you are - a skeleton of a story packaged as a book!
This got us thinking, bumping our brains and making hissing sounds come from our lips. Why? We kept asking ourselves - why is there is no real story now? Where are the writers? Where did they check the 'wow' factor that should be so inherent to writing?
Stay with us this month as we try to answer this question while navigating through the sinuous and tortuous waters of what is known today and in this age as publishing and writing.
T.J. and Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will be taking all these on, as well as our regular contributors Sandra Marshall and Diana Castilleja. And after months off (wherein she achieved another superwoman milestone - that of becoming a mommy!), Angela Guillaume is back with us and ready to roar!
Catch us this week as we hiss the turmoil out of our systems!
On Tuesday, T.J asks writers today whether they really care about their craft.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will want to know whether you're watching books or reading them.
Don't forget:
This October, we want to try and put some flesh, meat and skin on this poor soul we now meet that bears the name of 'story skeleton'. And maybe, get a heart to beat inside this ribcage.
This October, we're on the quest:
Searching for a some meat and beef...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
P.S A little woman-to-woman aside: October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Take a minute to get the knowledge on how a little thing like a monthly self-exam can save your life, and remember, Think Pink!
Monday, March 2, 2009
With Love, From Ms. Blush
They say men are from Mars (no wonder they're such a mystery!) and women are from Venus.
I don't know about you, but Venus brings to my mind thoughts of warmth, love, caring, and beauty. That pretty much sums up women, wouldn't you say? And all this makes women heroines.
Heroines... What would our dear heroes be without the special woman to make their hearts beat faster and who arouses their protective instinct as well as the fire in the blood?
But, is this all a heroine is about?
This will be our topic for the third month of this year. Throughout the following weeks, we'll all bring you our views and takes on this very delicate matter - Who is the modern-day heroine and what is she made of?
As usual, we'll have our regular contributors - T.J. Killian, Aasiyah/Nolwynn, Sandra Marshall, Angela Guillaume, Diana Castilleja - and this month, we bring you someone else from the Royal Blush Authors posse - Chiron O'Keefe! Chiron will be posting on the last week of March.
In the days to come, here's what we'll be treating you to:
Catch T.J. on Tuesday as she tells you what the archetypes for heroines are. Yes, there are archetypes for heroines too, just like for shaping your ultimate hero.
On Wednesday, Sandy will once again bring us her offbeat take on the topic of heroines. Believe me, this is one humorous romp you don't want to miss!
Thursday, Aasiyah/Nolwynn will take you on a trip down memory lane as she recounts a bit about heroines through time - how they evolved, and yet how they remained the same at the core.
Women writing about women...
This March, we at are RBA are delving deep into our hearts and soul.
This March, we're taking you on the inner quest:
Searching for the perfect heroine...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, February 16, 2009
With Love From Ms. Blush
What's a world without heroes? A pretty dreary perspective, wouldn't you say?
Or would it be a blessing in disguise?
How do we reconcile to the idea that heroes are not exactly the men we meet day in, day out in our regular existence, and vice versa? Can reality meet the imaginary? Can we as writers build this bridge to connect these two perspectives?
Last week we shifted our focus to this aspect.
Angela Guillaume posted about the worthy hero, and what makes him 'real'.
Aasiyah/Nolwynn gave us more about the cultural hero, what makes and (mostly) breaks him in the world of fiction.
T.J. Killian gave us an insider peek into the basics of writing a hero.
This week, we continue in this same vein.
Catch T.J. again as she tells us more about the basics of the hero - but this time, what makes him as opposed to what breaks him.
Diana Castilleja will chime in about her view on this whole topic. Catch her on Wednesday.
Aasiyah/Nolwynn will go into the many dimensions of the hero - is there one 'template' for every story?
Don't forget - This February, we at Royal Blush are sending the hormones flying high.
This February, we're taking you on a quest:
Searching for The Perfect Hero...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, February 9, 2009
With Love From Ms. Blush
Heroes make our hearts beat faster. Heroes make us believe in love. Heroes make us rise above the drudgery of everyday life.
Do you agree? Or don't you?
Last week, we started our discussion on this theme. Sandra came up with a very pertinent post about the search for a perfect hero.
This week, we continue in that same vein.
What is the basis for a hero? What makes him heroic? Is there a way to take any man and make him a worthy hero? Or is it that taking a toad and changing him into a prince is easier?
Catch us this week as we ask and attempt to answer these questions.
On Tuesday, catch T.J. as she takes us further down the path of hero archetypes. Tune in here for explanations about what actually constitues those definitions.
On Wednesday, Angela Guillaume wonders whether reality and fiction meet where heroes are concerned. This promises to be a very dynamic thread.
On Thursday, Aasiyah/Nolwynn brings you a bit more about the specifics of a culture-based hero. (Yes, culture plays into how a man is).
And on Friday, catch Prudence Tempest again. Remember, last fortnight, the divine Malcolm took Prudence to his house for a work meeting. But once inside the dwelling, a woman questions the integrity of Prudence... Who is this mystery woman? Stay tuned, it will be revealed this week!
Don't forget - This February, we at Royal Blush are sending the hormones flying high.
This February, we're taking you on a quest:
Searching for The Perfect Hero...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, January 26, 2009
With Love From Ms. Blush
It's already the final week of January and we'll be bringing you a little bit more about the quest for Identity.
Remember , in the past weeks, each one of us has taken you on a trip to find out more about your identity as a writer and about the identity of your work.
T.J. has explained about the defining aspect of the impact moment for your characters, and then she followed it up with a little expose on how to plant your characters in the story using basis and logic.
Sandra gave us a peek as to who she is in her post about her identity as a writer.
Angela then blogged to show us the multiple facets of her that make the woman and the writer she is, and how these facets mingle and merge to create characters, and how characters can influence the writer too.
Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) started her topic on how to find your ID calling card in the writing world and she followed with how to further this ID and make it work for you using he branding strategy.
So, what do we have in store for you this week?
T.J. will have another scintillating one for you tomorrow as she delves yet again into the inner workings of a story and its characters.
On Wednesday, we welcome another weekly contributor - Diana Castilleja will make her debut and will tell us about her take on the world of writing, marketing and promotion.
On Thursday, Z(Aasiyah/Nolwynn) will conclude the final leg of her topic on Branding. Catch her as she tells you a bit more how to 'escape' the pitfalls of branding strategy.
Friday, get ready to meet Prudence Tempest, her hunky colleague Malcolm who features in all her dreams and fantasies, her pain-in-the-arse other colleague, Des (shiver here, will ya?), and the boss from hell, Marie.
Last time we met them, Prudence was being sent on a hands-on job with Malcolm.
What will happen now? Catch us, and you'll know!
Join us as we continue
Searching for an identity...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, January 19, 2009
With love from Ms. Blush
Here we are in another weeks at the Royal Blush Authors' blog. I hope you have enjoyed the content we have provided for you in the past days. We gave you a little glimpse of who and what we are.
T.J introduced us to the impact moment in backstory.
Sandra told us about her identity as a writer.
Aasiyah/Nolwynn started her topic about who you are and how to represent your unique identity in the writing world.
Friday saw the first instalment of our ongoing free read. You met Prudence Tempest and were introduced to her crazy, wacky world and the hunk who peoples all her fantasies. Not to mention her strange boss and her sticky-like-glue male colleague. What do we have in store for Prue? That'll be coming very soon.
So, this week, one of us, cheeky git that she is (Chiron, yes, that's you!!), tagged us in the ongoing Tag, You're It game running about blogs in the blogosphere. We need to tell you 6 things that makes us happy, and then we need to tag 6 more people (who will we tag???)
So, here goes - 6 things that make us happy.
- Strong plots that tread off the beaten track.
- A story we can lose ourselves in.
- A delicious Alpha hero.
- Getting the call.
- Completing mss.
- Johnny Wilkinson (in case you need a reason why he makes us happy, look a few lines down. There, you get it?)
6 people we're tagging:
JMorgan, Buffi Becraft-Woodall, Bonnie Clarke, Sandra Marshall, Diana Castilleja, Kristin Lawrence
So, what do we have in store for you this week?
T.J will take you tomorrow on a small trip to find out more about the basics of writing, the ones you need to consider before even putting pen to paper.
Angela Guillaume makes her debut post for us on Wednesday. She'll be telling us more about how a writer's identity influences her characters, and how a writer's identity changes with everything she writes.
Aasiyah/Nolwynn will be back on Thursday to expand upon her first post, introducing you to the inner workings of branding in the publishing/writing world.
Join us as we continue
Searching for an identity...
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
Monday, January 12, 2009
With love from Ms. Blush
You may be wondering who I am, and what I'm doing here. Let's put all your concerns to rest, shall we?
My name is Ms. Blush, and I'm the gal who rounds off each and every one of the Royal Blush Authors' posse. Every week, I'll bring you a little reminder of what we at Royal Blush have in store for you.
So, what can you expect from us? Certainly not the hum-drum pace of what you usually see out there.
We give you fresh. We give you news. We give you views. Every week, stick around and get to know us better as we open the doors of our world to you and share what's on our minds and what's on our writing plate.
Speaking of 'we', who are 'we'?
Well, behind this blog stands the posse and crew of the Royal Blush Authors. Some you'll see more often, some you'll see fleetingly, but we can all tell you we're here to stay. We want to get to know you, and we hope you do too.
Basically, what we have in store for you is something a little different. The authors of Royal Blush come with a full package of information, education, and entertainment. Separated into themed months, you'll all know what we're talking about at any given point in time.
Catch author T.J Killian every Tuesday for a little lesson on craft. Or else come find out what she has on her mind that day.
Every Thursday, the author behind the pen names of Aasiyah Qamar & Nolwynn Ardennes brings you her take on an aspect pertinent to the month's topic.
Every Wednesday, we bring you one of the Royal Blush Authors and she'll be sharing her take and view on the topic of the month. Sandra Marshall, Angela Guillaume, and Diana Castilleja will be your date on each of these days.
Friday is a special day here, because every other week, Prudence Tempest will make her appearance. You don't know who she is? Worry not, you'll find out soon enough as the fictional heroine will take you through an account of her topsy-turvy life at each fortnight.
We'll also have ongoing contests, promos and opportunities to meet our authors.
In case you're still wondering who the people at Royal Blush are, catch us this month as we take you on a wild ride that'll make you discover our personas.
This January, the Royal Blush Authors want to announce their presence in the blogosphere.
This January, they're taking you on a quest:
Searching for an identity...
Don't forget to catch T.J tomorrow, Sandra on Wednesday, and Aasiyah/Nolwynn on Thursday.
Our ongoing fictional story also begins on Friday, where you'll meet Preudence Tempest, striving author, striving young woman of today's world, striving singleton and basically, a striving everything kinda gal!
The best of us for the best of you, that's our promise as we deliver the full flush of romance.
From now till later, enjoy!
With love, from Ms. Blush
