The Aroma of a Fresh Box of Crayons (Melissa Robbins)

It’s that time of year, back to school shopping! But Mel, it’s only July. My kids go back in the middle of August. If we don’t get our supplies now, the required blue folder with the brads won’t be there.

To my children, Drama Queen (DQ), Boy, and Little One, school supply shopping is bittersweet. They enjoy picking out their spiral notebooks and binders. Who my age doesn’t remember getting their new Trapper Keeper? New supplies are a sign that summer is almost over, the camps are completed, and the neighborhood pool closes. Our trip resulted in joy and tears. Little One bawled. Unlike her older siblings who could choose whatever color folders they wanted, her sheet instructed that she bring yellow, blue, and greens folders. Her favorite color is purple and hello, when a seven year old has a choice between a folder with a cute tiger or a plain yellow, which one do you think she’ll want? I bought both.

I love school supply shopping. I buy stuff for me too. One can never have too many nice pens (mine all grow legs and wander off) and a notebook to fill with all sorts of notes for stories. Don’t forget that smell of a fresh box of crayons. Talk about an aroma that stirs up the memories of school and first days. I try so hard to remember to add the sense of smell into my stories, because where one scent evokes joy and excitement, in someone else, it drudges up fears of bullying and poor marks. Don’t forget the scents in your stories. Think of all the emotions they can stir up! 

W.W.Y.W.T.K (Melissa Robbins)

What writing rule do I break? But I don’t break rules. I follow them or at least I try. I know there are several unwritten romance rules that I break often.

There is one rule that drives me crazy, Write What You Know. Really? How restrictive is that? Oh sure if you are a real cop or news reporter, you write what you know and your characters can be cops or news reporters. I write mysteries. I don’t go around killing people and write what I know! I’m also a stay at home mom who lives in KS. There’s a turn pager for you.

I read an author years ago, I wish I could remember who wrote it, but she or he said, “Don’t write what you know. Write what you WANT to know.” This makes perfect sense. I write stories set in WW2. I didn’t live during that time, but others did. Research. Books. The Library. People. The Internet (be careful with that one). It’s all there for you to learn. My current manuscript is about a fourteen year old boy who wants to fly during WW2. I’m not a boy, not a pilot (how I want to be though!), but I can learn from other who do know.

I can understand the theory behind Write What You Know. Writing takes a lot of research and reading. I guess I do Write What I Know since I rock World War Two questions now in trivia games. 

What do flight simulators and suits of armor have in common? (Melissa Robbins)

As someone who writes stories from World War Two, I do loads of research. All writers do. We’re walking encyclopedias and that’s why we’re awesome at pub quizzes or maybe it’s because writers also love to read.

For my latest book, my hero’s last name is Ruggles. To get the name I combined rugged and Biggles. Rugged because my teen is a rough and tumble kind of kid. Bigglesworth aka Biggles is my favorite literary pilot who has many flying adventures. Later on in my story, I needed to know the history of flight simulators. Did they even exist in WW2? Oh yes they did since 1910, but I discovered that in 1912, a William Ruggles(!) invented the Ruggles Orientator, a flight simulator. Is that fate or what that I created a name that actually exists and belonged to an inventor of a flight simulator?

But just because I’m writing a story that takes place in WW2, doesn’t mean my research won’t go beyond the 1940’s. Two of my older gentlemen flew in WW1 so I have to know some bits about that timeframe, especially the planes. And just last week, I found myself looking at suits of armor to determine if a girl could hide an item inside one.

Even when you think you have researched all you need for your story, you haven't. Just this morning, before I realized I had to write my blog post, I was researching bodies of water in northern England for a place to hide a rowboat and hopefully avoid beach minds. 

Reading, a Guilty Pleasure?

          This month, WARA members discussed where we read. My simple answer is everywhere, particularly my library, (see last month’s post) but I wanted to share another part of that. I love to read and can read anywhere, but I feel SO GUILTY sitting down and reading a book. I just know there is something else I could be doing instead. Something I should be doing. Writing my own story, cleaning the house, playing with my children, making dinner. How many of us have delayed or forgotten dinner completely, because we were lost in a book we just couldn’t put down!?

If I pull out a book, it’s at night by my bedside after the kids are asleep and the day is “done.” That’s a terrible thing to do, if I don’t fall asleep or worse yet stay up way too late. That’s if I pick up a book. By the time I get into the bed, my eyes won’t stay open long enough to start a chapter.

My school-aged children are required to read daily and I note it on their logs. I don’t always do that which makes me feel like a terrible mother. I know my kids read, but I don’t keep track of how much. How can I make them read when they don’t see me reading? Fortunately, they read all the time. If my son finds a series he likes, he’ll be reading the book at the breakfast table.

So readers and writers, what should I do? Indulge in the guilty pleasure of reading? Any tips on a happy medium? 

AND if you want to indulge in a bit of mystery reading, check out Fish or Cut Bait: A Guppy Anthology that includes my short story The Bones in the Box. I'm so thrilled it's out! You can find it at Amazon, B&N, and Wildside Press. 
 

My Writer's Toolbox (Melissa Robbins)

      Every person wanting to improve his or her craft must have the right tools. A painter needs the right brushes to paint his masterpiece and yes I spend $6.99 a piece on the really nice markers at the craft store. There is a difference between coloring with those than the Crayola ones. The same applies to writers. Let’s open my writer’s toolbox and find out what helps me.

  

   My library (looking rather tidied up at the moment): Of course it fits in my toolbox. My box is bigger on the inside. ;0) The library is my favorite room in the house which makes it ideal to create stories. Along with my desk and computer, my library shelves are full of books to fuel my creativity and for research purposes. Don’t forget the comfortable chair for reading. Since I burned up the laptop, my husband insisted that our next PC be a professional computer, one designed for staying on for long periods of time. I LOVE it.

   My plotting board: Also in the library, it’s on the right just out of the picture. I would be lost without it. Scenes are on cards and I pinned them to my bulletin board. I know what scenes I have to write and where I’m going, like a road map.

   The Internet opened so many doorways into worlds that some people would never experience. One day, I hit the jackpot. Some wonderful souls imputed for a digital diary ALL the incidents in Northeast England during World War Two. I know when the blackout times were for each day. What areas were hit. Damage reports. Times when the sirens went on and off. Everything.

    Photographs: I collected photographs for people, uniform and clothing references. What houses looked like in the 40’s. Speaking of tools, there are photographs for items that we just don’t use anymore with technology. My fourteen year old boy can’t just throw a shirt in the front loading washer, not that he would do that if he could.

   My notebooks: I need a place to put all the items I found for my stories. My toolbox may be ever expanding, but my brain can only remember so much. The leather bound ones are my favorite. I write ideas and scenes in them. Stuff in photographs of people, planes, and houses, maps, and sketches I’ve drawn. They are novel scrapbooks.

    Music: I can’t write in silence. I HAVE to have music playing softly in the background. When I sit down at my computer to start writing, I click on Itunes, Word, and Excel in that order. Lately, I play soundtracks like Transformers 4: Age of Extinction and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Both epic soundtracks, the songs inspire me and my characters. Some songs are soft when my hero is contemplating the world and other songs when he and his mates are taking on the bad guys. Drago’s Coming is my favorite one from HTTYD2. It’s a “let’s ban to together and kick some villain butt” song. With its mournful pipes and trumpet, Stoick’s Ship makes a great song for a fallen comrade.

   That’s just some of the items in my writer’s toolbox. Do you have any like these in yours?

Pirate, Ghost, Pilot, Magician's Son (Melissa Robbins)

                Hmm, that title reminds me of the book Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but really they are all my characters. Where do they come from? Simple answer. All around me from all walks of life and sometimes I don’t even know where they come from.

               One character, named for an ancestor of mine, appeared in a dream, probably after researching her genealogy. She was a ghost who wanted my heroine to solve the murders of her family that happened decades before.

                When I was a teenager, I created a character, because of my sad crush on Jim Hawkins. Yes, that Jim from Treasure Island. I crushed on a book character! Annie was Captain Flint’s granddaughter trying to break free from his pirate legacy.

                My son and his heart condition inspired another hero. The two share similar features, but my hero is WAY naughtier than my son. As writers, it’s important to let our characters make mistakes and remember that some teen boys don’t think like middle-aged women who know it’s wrong to break into houses, etc. 

                Some of my characters exhibit traits I wish I had. The extroverts I wish I could be. One beautiful blonde springs to mind. Vivian can wrap any man around her finger with her looks and sultry voice. Her friend, one of my heroines, tries her best to be like Vivian and she fails miserably at it and always seems to get herself into even more trouble.

                Many of my characters are Royal Air Force pilots from WW2. What a bunch of naughty boys! These brave men loved every day like it could be there last. My Connor is like that. Doesn’t care what his commanding officers think or for that matter anyone else. Doing what he isn’t supposed to do is what usually keeps him safe. Connor almost never sleeps without a woman by his side, but does he do that because he loves women or to frighten away the nightmares?

                Another character I’m currently creating has a family life quite different from my own or one I grew up with. His father is a magician and his mother is his father’s assistant. The family travels across Europe mesmerizing the nobility and commoners with a great magic show in a time just before WW2 when the political atmosphere is crumbling around everyone. He goes from living out of a suitcase to staying in one spot. Where did he come from? I’m not 100% sure. His older brother is a classmate of another hero of mine. The first chapter (or maybe it's a prologue) came to life one very early morning when I lay in bed awake. 

  

              The most important thing about characters is to welcome them when they do appear. I swear I suffer from multiple personality disorder, but don’t all writers?

The Story Behind the Story (Melissa Robbins)

Writers have a knack for reading a news article or having a dream that turns into a story.  My short story mystery, The Bones in the Box, which it part of the Sisters in Crime Guppies Anthology, Fish or Cut Bait (due out in May), touches on this very subject. 

I love World War Two stuff and relish reading fascinating stories of the time whether it’s found lost love notes or film or time capsules.  The inspiration for The Bones in the Box sprang from one of these very stories.  In 2010, a French lady died, leaving behind a Parisian flat.  A flat she abandoned in 1942 during  Nazi occupation and never returned to despite always paying on the place.  When her lawyers opened the flat, it revealed a treasure trove like opening an Egyptian tomb.  Items left when she fled, remained untouched, including a priceless painting.

The wheels of my writer’s brain spun. As we often do, I asked myself, why and what if. Why did the lady never return, but still paid on the flat? What if she didn’t want anyone to know what remained inside?

The Bones in the Box was born. Charlotte Graham just inherited a house on a Channel Island from her grandmother who had abandoned it just after WW2.  Charlie never knew the place existed nor the Nazi skeleton in Granny’s cedar chest.  How did he get there? Did Granny put him there?

My son and his heart condition inspired my current project, a middle grade story about a boy with a heart condition who desperately wants to fly for England’s Air Defense Cadet Corps during WW2.  How far will he go to achieve his goal?

Be ever vigilant. You'll never know when inspiration will strike next!

If I had a million dollars...(Melissa Robbins)

The blog topic reminded me of a song my friends and I would sing constantly in college, “If I Had a Million Dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies.  The band came up with silly things to buy with a million dollars, but in the end, they sing, “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy your love.”

I have love, so I don’t need to buy that.  ;0)  Ever the practical person, if I received a million dollars, I would probably invest it or just save it for kids’ college funds.  But this is a blog post!  You don’t want to read about that.  Boring! So here is my list of five things I would buy.

1. A small plane that my family would fit in comfortably, so I could fly them anywhere. Let’s throw in a pilot’s license, too.  I hear it’s not cheap. Flying coach? Thing of the past. 

2. Speaking of private jets, for some CRAZY reason, my husband and I received this big fancy brochure about flying around the world in a private jet through National Geographic Expeditions.  For a mere $75,000, you and your guest can fly in style around the southern part of the world with experts guiding you.  A normal 757 adjusted to fit 75 people instead of 200 in coach.  Talk about leg room!  Don’t forget the on board physician and chef!  Peru, Morocco, Tanzania, Tibet, China, Australia are just a few of the destinations.  Swim in the Great Barrier Reef?  Tour a vast wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania? Sign me up! Or just drop me off in Australia or New Zealand. 

3. That Around the World expedition sounds great, but no mention of Europe.  That’s where I would really like to go, England, Scottish Highlands, and Germany.  Stay in a haunted castle. Drag my husband to every WW2 memorial and sight I could find. Good times.

4. Clearly, I have travel on my brain. I would love to buy a cottage in the Colorado Rockies.  Somewhere near the slopes where my family can ski and then relax by a warm fire. 

5. If I still had some money leftover, a lovely conservatory would be a beautiful addition to my house.  I have always wanted one with metal and all glass.  A place filled with sunlight to write, read, and paint. 

Well, I’m broke, but well-traveled and I can rest my weary feet while I read in my new conservatory.  What about you?  What would you want if you had a million dollars?  

The Spark that Sets My Knickers Ablaze or Lights My Way (Melissa Robbins)

Earlier in this year, dry, grassy areas caught fire along the highway in our town, sending my neighbors into a frenzy.  Neighbor helped neighbor.  Firefighters showed up to battle the fires to keep them from spreading and damaging the houses.  Children watched everything in awe. 

We asked the firefighters how the fires got started.  One said he saw sparks shooting off a trailer on the highway.  With the dry conditions and that darn Kansas wind, that’s all it took. 

“Uh, Mel.  The topic is your writing process, although we won’t complain if you start talking about hunky firemen.”  What does this have to do with my writing process?  Take that spark the fireman talked about.  If you’re panster, that spark would set your knickers ablaze and you would take off, writing like a fire frenzy.  I’m picturing Thunk (from The Croods) who thinks the fire is biting him so he runs into the tall grass and sets the entire field on fire. 

Now me, I’m a plotter.  I’ll take that spark, light a torch, and stake it into the ground.  Then I’ll circle it and to make my teachers proud, I’ll ask the Who, What, Why, When, Where, How, and the What Ifs.  Let’s go back to that fire by my house.  What if the firefighter didn’t see that trailer or what if they discovered it was arson?  What if a neighbor wanted to burn down his house for the insurance money or to cover up a murder?  My “spark” could be an incident or a character.  What if one of the homeowners was a single woman who gave a bottle of water to a fireman.  That one act of kindness could melt his cynical heart for whatever reason.  Romance!  Or one of the kids witnessed the heroism and the event reminded him of his dad who, also a fireman, died in the line of duty.  The possibilities are endless. 

I take another torch and, using the fire from the first torch, I light it.  Then, I run ahead or hop into my car and drive all the way down to the end of my story and stake that new torch into the ground.  This is where I want my story to end.  Then, I run or drive back to the first torch.  I can see the last torch.  I know it’s there.  With more torches, I start to light my way to the last torch.  First they are sporadic, spots were certain things must happen.  Some call them turning points.  I use Alexandra Sokoloff’s screenwriting method of plotting and she calls them act climaxes. 

More scenes are written.  More torches light my way.  Sometimes, characters light their own torches and go a different way.  As a writer, I have to decide if that’s good or bad.  Keep that bucket of water handy to douse any unwanted fires. 

Same goes for when I finally reach my last torch.  I may turn around and go yuck, that’s not a very pretty path of torches or my last torch is in the wrong place.  Some get extinguished altogether.  Some get moved around.  New prettier torches may take their places.  Only you know when the path of torches is complete and beautiful. 

Now go find those sparks and light up the world with your stories!  

Plotter? Pantser? How about an 80/20 hybrid? (Melissa Robbins)

I HAVE to know point A and where point B ends up so I can leave a trail of bread crumbs (clues) along the way.  I’ve read that some mystery writers can pen a story without knowing who the killer is until the end.  Nope.  Not me. 

Besides using the great plotting method by Alexandra Sokoloff (her Elements of Acts are awesome), a simple spreadsheet helps me plot out a mystery.  I list each character’s name at the top and below that, I type in his or her agenda, secrets, etc.  My first person heroine may not know what’s going on, but I have to know. 

But like the title suggests, I’m a hybrid and only too happy to follow a character who leads me in another direction.  He or she may reveal a secret I didn’t even know about!  I just have to be careful my characters don't leave me astray.

The key with writing, whether you're a plotter or a pantser, is use what works for you.  

Armed with a labeler and I’m not afraid to use it (Melissa Robbins)

   Organization is key with writing.  How would you keep it all straight?  Plot, characters, research.  It’s a good thing I like office supply stores more than one person should, but here are just some of the examples I found useful in my writing endeavors.

Notebooks – Go find the prettiest notebooks you can find or buy up a bunch during back to school sales in the summer.  Here is my collection of notebooks.  I’ve labeled each one with my handy dandy labeler.  Character information fills some.  Other notebooks contain research material, which brings me to number two.

Notebook Tabs – The same tab organizers I used in school for my different subjects help keep my information straight.  My teachers would be so proud.  These tab dividers separate RAF research, like planes,  aerodromes and 40’s fashions, etc. 

  Leather Notebooks – I once saw on an author’s blog how she used handcrafted leather notebooks to keep notes, story ideas, pictures, etc. straight.  Who wouldn’t be inspired by a beautiful notebook?  I made the two books on the left myself using supplies from Hobby Lobby.  The paper is thick sketch paper great for pens and markers.  I fill mine with scene and story ideas, sketches of my characters, locations, character information. They are easier to transport than my larger notebooks.  If you don’t want to make a notebook, Barnes and Noble has some beautiful ones.

Spreadsheets – Where would I be without my Excel spreadsheets?  Probably still combing through pages of my stories searching for George’s eye color.  With so many pilots and other characters running through my aerodromes and cities, spreadsheets allow me to keep track of all of them in one place.  Spreadsheets also aid me in corralling all the agendas.  In a mystery, everyone has secrets, but which character is willing to kill to keep that secret quiet?  My heroine may not know what’s going on behind the scenes, but I need to know. 

That’s just some of the tools I use to organize my writing.  What works for you?

Fill in the Blank(s)

Yes, that's a blank sheet of paper, which is pretty much where I was on ideas for characters, plot, conflict...  You name it.

Usually, as I'm finishing the last half of one book, the next idea starts bugging me.  For the first time I can remember, that didn't happen.  I turned in the last Desperation book almost a month ago.  So where are all the ideas that bounce around, already taking space in my head?  Where's the heart of the next story idea?  The characters for the next story?

The answer to that has been "nowhere."

I have a basis:  A Texas ghost town.  I have the names of three heroes and three heroines.  Oh, and babies.  There must be babies.  But I don't know who these characters are, much less hunting for photos of what "stars" might represent them in my head.  Smack!  This doesn't happen.  I was at a loss.  I was in a panic.

One evening, Patricia Davids and I were doing some brainstorming on her WIP.  (Go, Pat!)  When we finished with that, I threw out my basic idea for the ghost town series.  She asked me questions I had no answers for.  None.  Nada.  Zilch.  It took a few weeks, but I finally came up with some answers, although they weren't very solid.  A week ago, with Pat and Theresa and Melissa, things began to come together.  Four heads are definitely better than one!  (May blessings rain upon you, P, T, & M!)

But one of the elements I chose needed some research, so last night I decided to do a little of that.  One thing led to another, and...  Do you have any idea how many real ghost towns there are in Texas?  Oh, my stars and garters!  And the stories behind those towns--the history of them--are sometimes fascinating.

Now that I've found the answer to that element I needed and even more, plus a suitcase full of photos of Texas Hill Country, the story is beginning to form.  Ideas for a scene or two are slowly starting to sneak and twist through my mind.  Short snippets of conversations between characters, along with a little introspection (character thoughts) are whispering.  Those characters are starting to take shape and will hopefully come to life soon on the written page.

Is it what I'd imagined originally?  Not quite, but what's replaced those first pitiful ideas are much better and finally taking form.  At least I hope so, especially on the 'better' part of it.

So that blank page above?  It's full of scribbles and notes now.  It's starting to come together.  It won't be long before I'm hunting for photos, not of ghost towns and underground caves, but hunky cowboys and their feminine equals.

Wish me luck!

Faces of The Bones in the Box (Melissa Robbins)

When I saw this month’s topic, I envisioned showcasing my Murder Decoded ensemble cast.  Who doesn’t like oodles and oodles of cute guys as my pilots?  However, my secret identity, as a mom who is sewing costumes for a local children’s theater production my daughter is performing in, has left little time to write and search for perfect pictures of my ensemble cast.  Most of the pictures I have are real pilots, WAAFs, and actresses from the 40's.  Instead, I introduce you to two new faces.  Last month, I finished my short story, The Bones in the Box and submitted it to the third Sisters in Crime Guppies anthology.  Cross your fingers, they accept my story. 

 My heroine, Charlotte “Charlie” Graham finds a Nazi skeleton in her grandmother’s cedar chest.  How did he get there? Who stabbed him?  Nanny Vic?  Ashley Greene has that beautiful girl next door look that is just perfect for Charlie. 

When I decided to write The Bones in the Box, one of my critique partners pleaded and begged me to use Tom Hiddleston.   I obliged because Tom could easily portray my Tom Montgomery’s enthusiasm.  Perhaps he is a little too enthusiastic about the Nazi skeleton.  Yes, they share the same name.  ;0)  Charlie enlists the Edinburgh University graduate student to help sort through her grandparents’ house they abandoned in 1945.  Can Tom’s WW2 expertise help Charlie solve a seventy-year-old murder?   

New Year? Not Quite for Me (Melissa Robbins)

Many people see January as a fresh start, a clean slate.  Honestly, to me, it’s not.  You see I have three kids in school and in my head, the “new year” starts at the end of August.  The kids are a grade older.  They have new teachers.  Ah, the smell of fresh pencils and paper.  The calendar that holds all of our family activities goes from July to July instead of starting in January. 

Last fall, my youngest started half day kindergarten.  It was that new found time where I adjusted my goals.  I went from having three hours three times a week to four hours five days a week without kids. Still doesn’t seem to be enough time to write though.  Is there ever?  Like my kids are half way through school in January, I’m halfway through my writing goals, which makes me feel happy that I didn’t “accomplish” my 2013 goals.  When August 2014 comes around, that’s when I’ll make new goals.  All of my kids will be in school all day. 

So do we have any others out there that start their new years in August instead of January or am I the odd ball?  

My Library Christmas Tree (Melissa Robbins)

Merry Christmas Eve!  I thought I would share my library Christmas tree with all of you.  It’s a tree I have been dying to create for a while and it’s still a work in progress.  I designed the base out of necessity.  The original one was too small for the heaviness of the tree.  The two books are fake paper mache books I painted and stuck the base inside. 

Every tree needs an angel and one reading a book is perfect for mine.  That’s Skippyjon Jones photobombing my picture.  One can’t have a tree without a cat climbing up it or should I say a Chihuahua?  And yes that’s Lowly Worm around the base.  I am a HUGE Richard Scary fan.  The other ornaments reflect famous stories, mini books of Little Women, Wuthering Heights, and Alice in Wonderland.  Route 66 for Grapes of Wrath.  Many of the little ornaments are actually charms I found in the jewelry section of my local craft store.  I’m on the lookout for a pirate ship or the Jolly Roger flag for my favorite pirate story, Treasure Island. 

What ornaments to represent your favorite books would you add if you had a library tree?

My Top Five Tools for Writing (Melissa Robbins)

There are so many stages of writing with different tools helping in each stage.   Here are my top five.

Plotting Board –  When I wrote in my teen years, I didn’t plot, so my stories eventually failed.  Now, with my plotting board, I can move around scene cards and see what’s missing. It’s hard to see the big picture in a word document.   I use Alexandra Sokoloff’s screenwriting techniques and her Element of Acts. 

Sketching – I find if I sketch my characters, describing them comes easier and inspires me to write more.  Oddly enough, my sketching also helps my critique partners when I sketch their characters.  They see what I see.  Did they give enough detail that I could draw a scene or too much?  These sketches are Fran and Connor.  Of course, I drew Connor shirtless.  You’re welcome. 

Critique Partners – For years no one knew I liked to write, because I kept the pages hidden from everyone else including my family.  I became friends with Fran in Irish Dancing and discovered she was a writer too.  We swapped our wips and have come a long way since then.  Critique partners see the things we miss and help you when the words won’t come with encouragement or ideas. 

Spreadsheets – Wonderful invention; I have an aerodrome full of people, eight pilots in one story!  Spreadsheets allow me to keep track of all my WAAFs, pilots, RAF support personnel, and their families.  Just call me Group Officer Robbins or better yet Air Commandant Robbins (highest rank a WAAF could receive, equivalent to a Major General).  I also have family tree spreadsheets since my characters seem to hook up.  ;0) 

Lately, spreadsheets have helped me with my plot.  In mystery writing, everyone has secrets.  The key is finding out which character would kill to keep those secrets hidden.  My Agenda Spreadsheet lists my main characters, but not my first person pov character.  I always know what she is thinking, but by keeping track of the agendas of the rest of my characters, I can see where to insert clues or reveal them.

Google – I’m convinced that writers need to know a little bit about everything.  That’s probably why I earned the nickname, Queen of Useless Knowledge from my husband.  I have googled things on occasion, like the scientific name of clouds because a pilot will know that.  I guess before Google, writers spent all their time at the library.  

Do you use any of these tools? 

Biggles: A Literary Adventurer (Melissa Robbins)

Movie still from Biggles:Adventures in Time

One of my favorite literary characters is Major James Bigglesworth aka Biggles.  I first discovered him in a campy 80’s movie, Biggles:  Adventures in Time when I was a kid.  I loved the movie then and since it came out the same time as Top Gun, it only fueled my pilot obsession.  I have since watched it as an adult and cringed, but who can resist a pilot? The first time I saw the movie, I had no idea that Biggles was a literary character.  The English books weren’t found on my Maryland library shelves.  With the joy of the Internet, I now have five Biggles books, three are 1940’s editions. 

Biggles was created by WW1 pilot, Captain WE Johns.  Through many, many books (101), Biggles has flown in both world wars for the Royal Air Force and any time a flyer is needed to save the day (secret air service and air police).  Many of the original stories were first published in flying magazines in the 30’s, but became so popular, they were published in book form too.      

  In every book, Biggles gets himself and his friends in some crazy and sometimes hilarious situations.  With the ones I’ve read, the bad guys are German or sympathizers, with one in particular, Biggles’ nemesis, Erick Von Stalhein.  The Germans really hate Biggles since in every book he steals one of their planes (or car or motorcycle) and uses it against them.  He’s quite fluent in German.  If Biggles isn’t rescuing his mates, they’re rescuing him!  “Biggles is facing an execution.  Let’s torpedo the sub he’s on.”

Now this being a romance blog, many of you may be wondering does Biggles breaks women’s hearts.  It’s quite the opposite.  Biggles fell madly in love with a French girl, but she turned out to be a German spy and her actions almost killed his entire squadron.  Still in love with her, he never loves again.   

Even in the most harrowing situations, there’s humor. I still laugh out loud when Biggles, Ginger, and Algy are naming their spy planes in Biggles in the Baltic.  If the scene wasn’t three pages long, I would post it here.  They call themselves the Boomerang Squadron, because a boomerang whirls out, strikes, and then whirls back home again.  This causes them to give their planes Australian names and after much debate Dingo, Didgeree-du, Willie-Willie, and Duck-billed Platypus are chosen. Sadly, the four planes don’t survive to the end of the book, but Biggles and Company destroying a plane or four is par for the course for them. 

My pilot character Connor (Cheeky Pilot) started reading the books as a teenager.  He joins the RAF because of Biggles. Connor's sister, Wren receives a Biggles book as a gift from her boyfriend and they use it to send coded messages to each other.  

This blog post made me realize that sometimes when we like a literary character that we also have to consider the supporting cast.  They give us a glimpse of how our hero reacts to things.  Where would Harry Potter be without Hermoine and Ron?  

Imagination: Fueling children and writers for centuries (Melissa Robbins)

At our writing retreat, I shared how imaginative my ten year old daughter is.  I still want to create a picture book of her story about a little girl and her pet pig living in a Paris hotel even if it's just for her.  

I too grew up with an active imagination.  I was a shy kid and played with my made-up friends more than with real kids.  A child of the 80's, naturally my first story I wrote down involved a winged unicorn with a rainbow mane.  It was 'published' in my fourth grade class complete with illustrations by yours truly.  I still have it.  It's awful.  

Part of my extraordinary imagination came from hours spent reading.  My parents took me to the local library and an amazing used bookstore all the time.  Easy to get lost in your imagination when the bookstore had so many shelves, it was like a maze.  

Books allowed me to travel to far off places.  I loved books about dragons, magically lands, and pirates.  My dad was a sailor so that fueled my pirate obsession.  My next story (written when I was a young teenager) was about a girl who went sailing with her dad, but a freak storm appeared.  She got hit with the boom and fell over board.  When she woke up, she was on a pirate ship in the 1700's.  That story is unfinished due to lack of GMC I would later (a lot later) learn I needed.  

From dragons to pirates, I drifted to mysteries, borrowing my mother's copy of Murder on the Orient Express by the Queen of Mysteries, Agatha Christie and I've been hooked ever since.  

I bet I got some of my creativeness from my grandfather.  That man was an amazing storyteller.  Between his childhood stories and WW2 ones, I still wonder how much of them were made up and which ones were true.  Sometimes, truth can be just as amazing as fiction.  

Whatever the case, I have to write and create stories.  I can't help it.  It must be in my blood or was it my environment?  That would be an interesting study of writers.  Are you a writer because of you, your environment, or both?    

Music - When the words for romance escape us (Melissa Robbins)

I admit.  I struggled with this topic at first.  I couldn’t find the words.  Then, as I was listening to my writing playlist, the realization hit me.  What have men and women done for centuries when the words for romance fail them?  Music!  Receive a mix tape from a guy?  A pin from Pinterest had me laughing out loud.  “Sad?  Depressed?  Heartbroken?  Cheated on?  Treated badly by a man?  Don’t worry…There’s a Taylor Swift song for that.”  So here are some songs I listen to when I need help in the romance department of my stories.  Some on the list may surprise you.  Hope you can find them on Itunes. 

Raul Menendez Theme (Nino Precioso): Call of Duty Black Ops – Huh?  What does a military shoot up video game have to do with romance?  Technically, the song is about a soldier’s daughter, but the music has that tango vibe.  My character Connor, who learned pretty quick that a guy who can dance gets ALL the girls, tangoes with his girl Fran to this song.  What’s more romantic than a tango????

It’s Our Fight – Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon – What?  This is the song I was listening to when the idea for this post hit me.  Bet you didn’t know T3 was a romance, did ya?  Spoilers!  Near the end of the movie, Sam wants to go into the wrecked Chicago city controlled by the evil Decepticons.  Why?  To save his girl and stop the bad guys together!  This is the song playing in the background when he’s trying to get her back (with the help of special ops soldiers) and I just love the grandness of it.  What’s more romantic than a hero and heroine saving the day together?  Whether it’s in a plane or dodging bombing raids, Meris keeps up with Carrick without a problem.  So does Fran and Wren. 

Strength of a Thousand Men: Two Steps from Hell – My husband recommended this group.  Their instrumentals are epic with choirs and orchestras.  This is another one playing when my hero and heroine can save the day.  I can’t tell you why (I was a terrible musician), but it has this neat fallingness to it.   Let’s run and jump off a cliff together to get away from the bad guys.  Weird, huh?  Not that any of my characters have done that yet, but my money is on Connor to be the first.  Maybe Carrick.  

Can You See Jane?  Thor – Comic book guys think they are fooling us girls, but they like romance too.  I particularly like the fact that Thor’s girl is an astrophysicist.  However for me, this song from the soundtrack is hands down Connor and Fran’s theme.  Why?  It starts off sweet and melodious and then speeds up and becomes playful and fun.  Just like Connor and Fran. 

Just A Kiss: Lady Antebellum – Love this song!  This is such a Wren and Jack song and describes their relationship perfectly.  “Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight.  Just a touch of the fire burning so bright.  No I don’t want to mess this thing up.  I don’t want to push too far.  Just a shot in the dark that you just might be the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life.  So baby I’m all right, with just a kiss goodnight.”  Even the guy on the music video smiles like Jack.  Search for it on YouTube.  You won’t be sorry.

Heart of Courage: Two Steps from Hell – I’ll end with this song.  To me this is Carrick’s theme song.  “I’m going to kick bum, but even if we’re battle weary, my girl will hug me at the end of the book” sound. 

This is just a handful of the songs in my playlists.  So readers and music lovers, do you have romantic soundtracks to help with the writing?

A dream vacation involving planes and trains, but maybe not what you think (Melissa Robbins)

               In a couple of years, I turn 40.  Leaving the kids with the grandparents, my husband and I will travel to England to celebrate.  It will be a marvelous time to go, the 70^th anniversary of the VE Day and 75^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.  It would be cool to stand in some of the places my characters have stood.  Some must-sees on my list.

Royal Air Force Museum – oh yeah, first on my list.  Not only do they have planes, but entire exhibits devoted to the Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service and Americans in the RAF.  Since one of my heroines is a PM and one of my heroes is an American RAF pilot, my husband will be dragging me out of those rooms hours after I go in. 

Hastings – Although the village of Sandwick-on-Sea and Thaddington Hall, where my characters reside, are made up, Sandwick has a striking resemblance to the town of Hastings on the southern east coast of England.  I would love to walk the hills and piers. Hopefully with no barbed wire and land mines on the beach.

Battle of Britain Memorial – not far from Hastings, near Dover.  Looks a lot like the Vietnam Memorial, with its wall of names. 

Imperial War Museums – All of them if my DH will let me, but definitely the ones including Churchill’s War Rooms and IWM Duxford, which was an aerodrome  for the Royal Air Force and then the Yanks (Mighty Eighth Air Force) took over.  Lots of planes.

The Blitz Party – This will take some planning, but I would LOVE to attend one while in England.  The Blitz Party is held one night once a quarter.  EVERYONE dresses up in 40’s clothes.  I don’t think you can enter the party without looking like you stepped out of WW2.  Google The Blitz Party and you’ll see loads of people dressed up from previous parties. 

 Train stations fascinate me.  Paddington Station would be cool to visit.  I had a Paddington Bear when I was a kid.  Waterloo Station would be another on my list.  I am curious to see how much it has changed since the war. 

  Of course, there are the usual tourist stuff, like the castles, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, etc.       

Whose with me?