Celebrating Differences

by Kristina McMorris 

“That’s so nice of you, adopting a cute little Oriental baby,” the woman had remarked to my mother, standing in the grocery checkout line. It wasn’t the first time a well-intentioned stranger had voiced the sentiment about my little sister. Eventually, with a dose of good humor, my mom had a T-shirt created for my sister that read: No, I’m not adopted.

 
That seemed to do the trick.

I suppose I can understand the common misconception back then; interracial families were less prominent in the ’80s than they are today. With a Caucasian American mother and Japanese immigrant father, people didn’t quite know what to make of us. I recall other families staring in fascination at our table in restaurants. When I visited friends’ houses, their parents were often intrigued that I removed my shoes at the door. While other homes in our suburban neighborhood boasted green lawns and trimmed hedges, our yard featured an oversized bonsai-shaped tree and a koi pond.

Upon reflection, I find the differences amusing. As a kid, however, when “fitting in” trumped all, the ways in which we stood out wasn’t as welcome. I wanted to be the blond haired-blue eyed girl. When taking state-administered school exams, allowed only one choice, I wanted a clear ethnicity bubble to fill in: Caucasian? Asian-Pacific Islander? None of the above?

 (To this day, the second option conjures images of a grass skirt and coconut bikini.)

Of course, with the passing of time and society's increased number of “mixed” relationships, the uniqueness of our family has lessened. I’ve come to celebrate the differences with which I was raised and grown comfortable, as they say, in my own skin. And yet, I haven’t forgotten the struggles of living between worlds, striving to determine where I belonged.

It was this perspective that drew me to write my latest novel, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves. While researching the initial story idea of two brothers during WWII, one who fought for America and the other for Japan, I happened across a brief mention of roughly two hundred non-Japanese spouses who lived voluntarily in the Japanese American relocation camps.

I knew right then that I’d discovered my next story. Suddenly, I was grateful for my past struggles that would help shape my characters, all of whom find themselves on a search for their true identity. I suppose, in various ways, that’s a journey in life everyone takes—even if we don’t own a T-shirt to say so.

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves:

Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.

Skillfully capturing one of the most controversial episodes in recent American history, Kristina McMorris draws readers into a novel filled with triumphs and heartbreaking loss--an authentic, moving testament to love, forgiveness, and the enduring music of the human spirit.

Kristina McMorris is a graduate of Pepperdine University and the recipient of nearly twenty national literary awards. A host of weekly TV shows since age nine, including an Emmy® Award-winning program, she penned her debut novel, Letters from Home (Kensington Books, Avon/HarperCollins UK), based on inspiration from her grandparents' wartime courtship. This critically praised book was declared a must-read by Woman's Day magazine and achieved additional acclaim as a Reader's Digest Select Editions feature, a Doubleday/Literary Guild selection, and a 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Historical Fiction. Her second novel, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves (March 2012), has already received glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, among many others. Named one of Portland's "40 Under 40" by The Business Journal, Kristina lives with her husband and two sons in the Pacific Northwest, where she refuses to own an umbrella. 

 For more, visit www.KristinaMcMorris.com

CELEBRATE A SUCCESS STORY & a giveaway!

I will give away a gift certificate for one copy of Forbidden Magic to one lucky commenter!

Today I invite you to join all of us here at Romancing the Genres in celebrating the first of our not-yet-published bloggers to become a published author: Robin Weaver, who writes as GENIA AVERS. Her Debut novel is a Paranormal Romance/Adventure from MuseItUp Publishing, FORBIDDEN MAGIC. 

 Robin/Genia was a Golden Heart Finalist in 2010 with this book. She’s worked long and hard to perfect her craft and to craft a perfectly captivating story of heroism, sacrifice, magic and romance. 

GENIA AVERS

Several of our Genre-istas (including me) are working toward publication in novel-length fiction. Robin/Genia’s success is an inspiration and an affirmation that hard work and perseverance pay off. 

Celebrating FORBIDDEN MAGIC’s release is the icing on the cake of our Blog-o-versary Month!

My question for you is, Do you believe in magic?

FORBIDDEN MAGIC blurb
 

To save her world, she offers her life, but fate demands more. She must sleep with the enemy.

Subena has a choice: Marry a man she despises, or let everyone in Mydrias die. To gain access to the crystals crucial to the survival of her kind, she devises a treaty with the hated Gatslians—dark elves who practice forbidden magic and are believed responsible for the elfin banishment from Earth. The Gatsle king agrees to provide the light-reflecting substance, but adds an appalling condition. Subena must marry his son, Prince Kamber.

Her vow to remain aloof wavers as murder attempts, renegade troops, and a traitor who wants to destroy both Gatsle and Mydrias force Subena to work closely with her new spouse. Too closely. The forbidden magic she possesses might shield her body, but she possesses no power to protect her heart. Especially when Kamber’s former paramour resurfaces, laying claim to the man who’s made his imprint on Subena’s soul.

FORBIDDEN MAGIC is the first in a series of romantic adventures chronicling the intercultural challenges as Mydrias and Gastle attempt to resolve their differences and return to Earth.

“It’s loaded with passion leavened by a touch of snark—a fun read.” Linda Lovely, author of Dear Killer and No Wake Zone

I can’t wait to read this myself!  I bought FORBIDDEN MAGIC for my Kindle today.
~Sarah Raplee

The Alpha Male

by Donna Hatch, Regency Romance and Fantasy Author

Whether you love romance novels or fantasy or mainstream fiction, readers love alpha males in stories--strong, resolute, dedicated, and a born leader. But how does one capture that in writing?

The Alpha Hero is Top Dog
In a wolf pack, there is only one Alpha Male. In Disney’s cartoon version of Tarzan, when the leopard, Sabore wounded Kerchek, Tarzan jumped in to protect the family and Kerchek. He later takes over that role as the leader of the family. He was the perfect alpha male, for many reasons.

He’s usually bigger, stronger, more focused and more self-sufficient than the others in his pack, clan, family, or town.

He’s also sometimes wounded, either in body or heart because he’s often impacted by external change, often tragic. And I absolutely love the wounded hero because he's so conflicted and needs the love of the heroine to help him heal.

He is often alone. Think of the classic cowboy who rides into town, rights a wrong, and rides off into the sunset. There isn’t much room at the top, and he keeps his emotions carefully locked away.

Alpha heroes are referred to as the strong, silent type. Men typically talk less than women, with a few notable exceptions, but the Alpha Male will let his actions speak for him.

He cares little for public opinion because he has his own internal sense of justice, or code of honor. He may fall sometimes, but he will never be broken.

The Alpha Hero Never Runs from a Fight
He’s extremely driven to right injustice and to protect those he loves, or those over whom he has stewardship. He’s the one who would say “I couldn’t not act.”

They never worry about dying, they assume they will, but they will fight as long as they live.

They often cannot explain their motives and typically don’t care to discuss them even if they understand them. Remember the man of few words part?

The alpha male will never leave someone in peril. Or if he feels he should leave against his better judgment, it will tear him up and he will either ‘come to his senses’ and return, or avenge himself in some way.

The Alpha Hero Has Tremendous Emotional Appeal
The closer someone gets to what, or who, the alpha hero cherishes, the more guarded he becomes. That which makes him strong, makes him weak, too. That’s why his is so fiercely protective of the woman, children, families he loves. He often views them as his vulnerable spot, and worry that his enemies will strike at them by harming his loved ones.

This is why the alpha hero appeal so much to women; they are an emotional fantasy. Women want to be respected, cherished, protected. The Alpha Hero can’t find the haven he wants without his heroine. His emotions are locked up until he meets her. She saves him from loneliness and despair, and she provides comfort. He would never abandon his mate, even if he must temporarily move physically away.

The Alpha Hero can be a Sophisticated Lover
Think James Bond (Pierce Brosnan was my favorite James Bond, btw.) He is cool, suave, has tremendous control and his confidence and is larger than life. He would never use brute force or domination. He has a keen wit and is extremely intelligent.

There must be chemistry between the alpha hero and his heroine. The female is never UNaware of him. He has lots of energy, even when he’s at rest. He is very confident and expects others to give in because he is very persuasive.

Love Transforms The Alpha Hero
He appears tough, jaded, even rough on the outside, but he is tender and has strong emotions deep, deep inside.

He has a predatory instinct and will protect and defend at all costs, even his own life. Because he is so loyal and protective, he will watch other people’s back, and always protect those who are weak and cannot fight, and all women and children.

He will also help prepare boys to become men, sort of a mentor, and will guide boys into manhood, instilling in them his values and commitment. 

He doesn’t need perfect harmony, but he needs to complete his mission before he can move on. He would never leave unfinished business.

The Alpha Hero Needs an Alpha Female
He will go to the ends of the earth for the right woman. An alpha female is intelligent and a woman of strong convictions who will not be bullied into going against her principles. She is someone who will protect home and children while he is away and become fierce when those she loves are threatened. She’s is the perfect Mother Bear protecting her cubs. He cannot have home and family without her there to watch his back.

So, how do we use the Alpha Male in writing?
Work his flaws; pride, stubbornness, they way he can be unyielding and won’t accept others' help or sacrifice. He has difficulty accepting love, and difficulty expressing emotions – he speaks physically rather than verbally. We must give them external conflict to confront. Force them to choose between two worthy causes, or between their honor and their heart. I heard once that to create a good story, we should strand our characters up in a tree with no way to climb down and then throw rocks at them. Seeing them find a way to overcome their trials is the stuff of good stories. The Alpha Male will always triumph; he will never fail because he never gives up.

And that is the stuff of great stories!

7 Great Ways to Use a Celebration to Promote Your Work

Lauren Ruth

In the spirit of Romancing the Genres’ blog-o-versary, I’d like to chime in with my thoughts on celebrations. Authors can use milestones as excellent opportunities to further spread the word about their work through celebration. From tweeting to holding contests and giveaways, to making appearances, authors past and present have been successfully exploiting their own successes to garner more of the same to higher degrees in the future. Here are some suggestions and examples of celebratory marketing ideas that have worked in the past, and some new ones I’ve come across in my travels:

Hold a celebratory contest. This could be a celebration of just about anything from a new book deal, to a pub date to even the completion of revisions. Put together a package of things to give away, like trinkets themed to your book,, manuscript critiques, bookmarks, baked goods (make sure you label them with the ingredients…no reason for the peanut-allergic to die for your success!) or free copies of your books. You could even ask your friends to contribute items for giveaway, since this would be a way for them to benefit from cross promotion. You could ask readers to submit a photo of themselves and your book (which would require access to your book) or you could simply have them submit a name and email address. You could even get creative and ask them to tweet an answer to a question or prompt and choose the tweet you like best as a winner. To enter, require that participants tweet your contest, follow you on Twitter, follow your blog, friend you on Facebook, or all of the above and more. This way, you’re celebrating and creating enthusiasm and buzz while also expanding your network.

Another variation on a contest is to hold a scavenger hunt right within your book. Come up with a list of trivia from your book, and using Twitter, your own blog, or others’ blogs if they let you, offer something great to the reader who can answer all the trivia questions first! Of course, you’ll want to ensure that people tweet, write a Facebook post or blog post about the contest in order to submit their answers. Just have them provide a link to their tweet or post with their answers.

If you’re celebrating a publication date, visit all the bookstores in your area and offer to sign their stock of your book. The bookstore manager will love it, since he’s more likely to sell the books and he can call attention to them with signs or stickers that say, “Signed copy!” and you’ll love it for exactly the same reason! You could even let the bookstores know that you’ll be signing in advance so that they can advertise that.

Start a blog tour. You can either put yourself on tour, or host others at your own blog. Either way, you’ll raise awareness of your brand and your work.

Write a short story. Then, to celebrate a new pub date, book deal, or what-have-you, give it away to the next 1,000 (or whatever number you like) people who follow you on Twitter, like your Facebook fan page or follow your blog. You can do this with first chapters too, if your publisher allows that.

If you have a character who is already known and loved (because you’re writing a series) and if this character has a specific key possession, piece of clothing, baking recipe, etc., you could buy or make something identical to that and then auction it off for money and then give that money away to a charity that has a huge marketing base they can tell about your good deed.

Hold a virtual scavenger hunt blog tour and give away something big to the winner. This takes some work, but it will also cross-promote your friends. Here’s how to do it:

Make a blog list of all your author and publishing friends who blog and are willing to participate.

On each day of the scavenger hunt, pose a trivia question (maybe about you, your characters, your genre, etc.) and then have all the other participating bloggers post a clue of some sort. These clues could be hints, or each blogger could post a single letter in the answer to the question you posed. Scavenger hunters will need to collect the letters and unscramble them to arrive at the answer and then submit the answer to you via email. You could even further promote it by requiring participants make themselves eligible to enter their answer, by submitting a link to a tweet or post about the hunt. This is a fun idea that BookEnds used to do around the holidays and it’s useful because it ensures that each participant’s blog is seen and that each participating blogger’s audience now becomes yours!

Lauren Ruth started her publishing career as an intern at Simon & Schuster's Touchstone/Fireside imprint while earning her B.A. in English language and literature from Pace University. Shortly thereafter, she completed her second internship at BookEnds, where she fell in love with the literary agency side of the publishing industry. In February 2011, she joined BookEnds as a full-time literary assistant, and very soon after began to build her own client list. She will soon have her master's degree in book publishing. In fiction, Lauren is looking for: romance—all genres; literary fiction; commercial fiction, especially up-market; middle-grade—all subgenres; young adult—all subgenres; mystery, with a strong focus on cozies; and women's fiction, particularly literary. On the nonfiction side, she's looking for memoir, parenting and family, relationships, food and lifestyle, business, popular science, popular culture, and popular psychology.

Lauren blogs at www.slushpiletales.wordpress.com and can be found on Twitter at @_LaurenRuth_.

You can contact Lauren at submissions@bookends-inc.com

Blog Tour de Troops

Blog Tour de Troops is the first of three miltary-related guest posts we're featuring today, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Memorial Day is about remembering those men and women who have served in the military. Go to a cemetery this weekend and you will see the American Flag at the grave sites of our veterans. Even though the actual Blog Tour de Troops isn't until November and Veteran's Day, we wanted to recognize this group of writers who are doing their part and inviting you to join them now. Please plan on joining them this November.


Every day hundreds of young men and women enlist to serve in the United States military.  These brave men and women proudly protect us, our country, and the freedoms that we possess.  While their service does not go unnoticed, it’s important that we continue to support them as much as we can, in any way possible. 

Did you know that books are the most requested item by troops serving overseas and returning veterans?   This may come as a surprise, but it’s very true, and a really big deal, considering if you’re reading this, you are probably an author or know someone who is.

The Indie Book Collective and a host of other independent authors go above and beyond to help get our troops the books that they want…for free!  Because it is their work that allows us to continue to do what we do and to grow in world of indie authorship.

In 2011 on Memorial Day, Blog Tour de Troops was born.  With over thirty participating authors and hundreds of readers, it was a huge success!  Like many of our blog tours, readers hopped from blog to blog, left comments, and earned the chance to win many great prizes. 

The fabulous Indie Authors that participated donated one book per comment left from readers to the troops for FREE!  Many authors even donate an unlimited number of books to the troops.  Any service man or woman who wanted a book got one.

Due to overwhelming success of the Memorial Day event, the Indie Book Collective decided to do it again on Veterans Day Weekend.  This time over seventy-five authors participated and hundreds of books were once again donated to the troops.

And these are some pretty great books brought to the authors by over seventy-five great authors.  We’re talking about up and coming titles, award-winning titles, and bestsellers!

Giving back to the men and women who are currently serving our country and the ones who have done it before is what Blog Tour de Troops is all about.  We also take that opportunity to gift brand new Kindles to service members. 

Recently, we received an email from a very lucky service woman is serving overseas.  She was lucky enough to be gifted one of the Kindles and wrote us to express her gratitude.  Receiving a Kindle was a huge deal for her since she is constantly on the move and books take up a lot of space and are hard to travel with.  Her Kindle offers her more than just convenience.  The small gesture showed her that there are many people here that care and support what she’s doing for her country and always will.

Please spread the word and shout it from the roof tops about Blog Tour de Troops because it will be here faster than you know it.  Join us for the annual Veterans Day Blog Tour de Troops blog hop this November.  It will be a spectacular event and will continue to get better every year.

Hope to see you there!

Celebrating The Ones Who Inspire Us

I can’t wait for June 16, 2012. That’s when I make a book signing/benefit appearance at the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum in Arnolds Park/Lake Okoboji, Iowa. All profits from museum sales of my latest mystery, NO WAKE ZONE, will benefit the museum. 

The benefit is my chance to salute someone who inspired me—Stephen Ross Kennedy, my late cousin. NO WAKE ZONE is dedicated to Steve, one of the Maritime Museum’s founders and its first director. Steve also was the first captain of the Queen II, an excursion boat that plies the waters of Okoboji West every summer.

While book launches and signings are always fun, this one is truly special. It lets me spotlight a life that mattered. In no small part, Steve’s infectious enthusiasm is responsible for helping a number of the lake region’s family fun staples continue to flourish. His life and contributions should be a lesson to us all when we’re tempted to shrug our shoulders and ask “why bother?”

Steve didn’t graduate from college. It wasn’t his cup of tea. But he loved the Iowa Great Lakes and read every book about the region’s history he could lay his hands on. He worked in a drug store, joined the Chamber. When the idea of bringing a grand excursion boat back to the lakes took root, he sought donations door-to-door. When the Queen II was christened, he was ecstatic to be asked to be its first captain. Never mind that he’d never driven anything larger than his beloved Hafer motorboat. As Steve guided the Queen II around Lake Okoboji, his humor-laced patter brought patrons back again and again. Soon the Queen paid off its debts and banked profits were saved to build the Maritime Museum, a magical time capsule that includes all types of memorabilia from nineteenth century ladies bathing suits to boats with gleaming mahogany exteriors.

While the “cousin” in NO WAKE ZONE is fictional, there’s no doubt who inspired my affable character, Captain Ross. And I’m delighted to report the institutions that play major roles in my novel are real treasures of the Iowa Great Lakes. While I hope you’ll read my new mystery, I hope even more that you have occasion to board the Queen II for a cruise and visit the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum located in Historic Arnolds Park. Maybe you’ll even hear Steve’s good-natured chuckle on the breeze.

Do you like to read books set in real locations? Authors, do you ever salute your loved ones by incorporating their personalities in your cast of characters?

MEMORIAL DAY - MARGARET TANNER

MEMORIAL DAY – BATTLEFIELD SCENE
Call it blatant self promotion if you will, but I thought as it is only a few days to Memorial Day in the US, I would post a battlefield excerpt from my latest historical romance, Daring Masquerade, which is set during the 1^st World War.
In Australia we remember our war dead, on ANZAC Day, 25^th April and also Remembrance Day/Armistice Day on 11^th November.
ANZAC Day commemorates the landing at Gallipoli in Turkey by The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) on the 25^TH April, 1915. And the 25^th April is now sacred. It is when we remember the brave men and women who paid the supreme sacrifice in the 1^st World War and in subsequent wars, 2^nd World War, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. These battlefields are also stained with American blood, as you would be well aware.

War is a terrible thing, it not only affects the soldier on the battlefield, but also those who are left at home. How many lives have been blighted by war? How many families torn apart? Even after a war ends the consequences are still dire. Young men and women return home, broken in body and mind. Some never recover and carry the scars of their war service for the rest of their lives. This in turn affects their families. I can remember as a child, my father (who saw active service in World War 2) having these terrible nightmares. He would scream out so loudly that he woke up the whole household.My mother who had been engaged to him before he went to war, said that when he returned home, he was not the same man that he was before. Consequently, because of Dad's nightmares, we could never have friends stay overnight, in case Dad had one of his "turns."

DARING MASQUERADE – Out on Kindle from Books We Love Publishing
The third battle for Ypres had begun. The first and second Australian Divisions marched through the ruins of Ypres in Flanders, and fought their way along the Menin Road ridge. Their ultimate destination was Passchendale.

It had been raining steadily, the front had turned into a sea of mud, criss-crossed with miles of concrete German blockhouses. A German arc of machine gun fire dominated the landscape and the casualties were terrible.

Ross despaired of the carnage ever ending. After one battle another always followed. Men died or were wounded; many simply disappeared into the mud.

Reinforcements came and went, followed by more reinforcements. Few old faces were left now.
Increasingly, he feared he might never leave this chamber of horrors and return to Harry at Devil’s Ridge. Never get the chance to utter the words, ‘I love you,’ to his wife.

How much longer could his luck hold out? He had suffered several minor shrapnel wounds that only required a dressing.

On the morning of the fourth of October, 1917, Ross’ unit was sent to Broodseinde Ridge. Forty minutes before the attack, soldiers waiting in the rear a mile behind the line saw white and yellow German flares through the hazy drizzle.

0530 hours.  Heavy trench mortars fell on Ross’s men as they sheltered in shell holes. At 0600 hours, the British artillery barrage opened up and he waited. Another attack—more casualties in this endless saga of death and suffering.

White tapes marked the jump off area. When the signal for attack came, he urged his men on.
“Come on, come on.”

He stood up and started running. Officers led by example, he remembered from training. The men charged forward now, yelling and screaming.

A line of troops rose from some shell holes a little in front of them, and Ross suddenly realized they were Germans mounting a counter attack. Too late to do anything but keep on going.

He did not see where the firing came from, but felt a thud, first in one leg then the other. As he sank to his knees, he felt a bullet slamming into his chest. He toppled forward.  Soldiers ran over him. Boots pressing into his back forced him deeper into the mud.

This is the end. I’ll never see Harry again.

He regained consciousness. It was daylight. How long had he been lying out in no-man’s land? Groggily, he got to his hands and knees. Pain and exhaustion racked his body. Breathing was agony. The landscape see-sawed. Shell fire echoed in his ears.

What’s the use? All I have to do is close my eyes and sink back into the mud and oblivion.

Too tired to fight any more, he started slipping away. His body floated upwards and the pain disappeared.

“Ross, don’t leave me. Fight Ross, fight for me.”

“Harry?” He opened his eyes but he was alone.  Only dead men, twisted and grotesque lay out here in no-man’s land with him.

Did he want to leave Harry a widow at twenty? Never hold his son? Oh, God, he couldn’t die like a dog out here. His body might never be recovered. Harry would wait and mourn, but keep on hoping for years. She would never hear the words ‘I love you,’ fall from his lips. What a bloody fool he had been obsessing over Virginia, instead of letting himself fall in love with Harry. Now it was too late.  She would never know the true depth of his feelings for her. He couldn’t do it to her. He must survive.

http://www.amazon.com/Daring-Masquerade-ebook/dp/B0081CJECY/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTG8&qid=13364772888&sr=1-10