Ramblings By Rhianna

I’m unashamedly stealing a concept from Madame Butterfly’s. Her blog is about hearing and saying the “I love you” words.  It is not necessary in her life, because it is a given in her relationships. I would guess that is a cultural perspective that she has learned from many years in Japan. So, I am taking the theme and putting it through my POV.

I say “I love you” often to my family. Perhaps it is because my day job has taught me the lesson that you cannot let things go until next time. I have heard the words, “I didn’t get a chance to tell him/her how much I love them.” I have watched too many people die suddenly. It’s all living in the moment, which is a theme I have explored before on my blog. But, in most relationships, excluding family, applying those words is a very touchy point. It can scare off many if said to soon in a relationship and it may have very different meanings from one person to the next.

As a writer, it is important to let the reader see the progression of a relationship between the hero and heroine. Most books don’t allow you weeks and months to grow into love. In life, it is the small moments of normal activities upon which we build our lives and which seem to become more because we let somebody in on the experience. Like the shared cup of coffee in the morning; dressing and undressing with someone else there watching or waiting; or discussing something of interest in the paper or on the news. It is the ordinary made extraordinary, that we tuck away into our memories as we fall in love in segments of shared experiences.

Capturing the essence of small moments in a book or story becomes tedious for the reader. I love romance books because they move along and take them with me. They are bigger than life and have extraordinary themes beyond my simple life. I live vicariously through the heroine when I read a book and I want her to be someone I can relate to, but not have my boring problems to deal with. Give me the Greek tycoon or ancient Vampire King and I’m a pretty happy gal.  (Maybe I should write something geared to Harlequin.) The themes of a book are not as important as the words within. Quirky characters and hard core explicit sex are great if the story and plot make it plausible. It’s the difference between a XXX movie, that will get you cranked sexually, and a big production pride and prejudice that can feed the soul. I won’t remember the sex movie, but will never forget as Darcy crosses that field to stand before Elizabeth. I try to write about the experience of falling in to love, which includes it all…the sex and the large and small moments that get you there, but also the insecurites and frailty of love that can crumble so easily as it begins to coarse through our hearts and minds.

I am an insecure. It is my cultural upbringing, and my life lessons that have made me so. I need to hear in my relationships and from my lovers that I am indead loved and cherished. I want to know that I am a companion because I am more than convenient or comfortable. It is not necessary that those words be spoken often or with great passion. In fact I think a note or letter that says more than just I love you is perfect.

My baby brother, the youngest of six, died when he was twenty eight years old in a motorcycle accident. He was a good friend to me, as well as my brother. Although we were nine years apart, we hung out a lot when we were living in the same town for a while. Two years before he died he sent me a Christmas card with a hand written note attached. Spelling isn’t (wasn’t) his forte, that’s a family trait.

This card doesn’t really express how much I love you. You’ve been a friend when I needed one, a council, a devel’s advocate, etc.  You’re fun, witty and sometimes too smart for your own good. But most of all, you’re a great sister. I hope this day is a happy one for you, I’m sure I’ll find out when you call.
Love ya,
Andy
I keep that card out on my desk in a plastic frame. It reminds me of what a loving and sweet man my brother was, but it reminds me that we are something different to everyone, and sometimes the sweetest things in life are being told what we mean to someone else. It’s more than the words I love you, it’s the reasons behind those words that are eloquent and soul shattering. That is what I want to hear from those who love me and from the books I read and write.

Rhianna

Well I finished the rewrites and revisions on The Replacement Lists, (the sequel to SOTD) and have submitted. I will not hear for a while. I have my fingers crossed, but I try not to count on anything. The hardest part of being a writer is learning to live with rejection. I’m tough though. And this week I move on too concentrate on one of the other WIPs.

My older sister is my idea bouncer off-er. You know what I’m trying to say. She has one of those 150 or higher IQ’s, so she’s literate and funny as hell. I tell her what my idea’s are and then she helps me tweak details on characters or the mythology of the world I am creating. As I was letting SOTD percolate in my head for many months before I sat down and it poured out of me like fresh coffee, I was working on the mythology of the ghosts in my story. Did they have rules and what were those rules? If you have read the book, then you know that there were rules for them.

My family is very spiritual. And my sister insisted that when they died they had to make a choice to stay. The light to the next place in their spiritual journey was there for them to take and the light appeared every day at sunrise. The ghosts all have different reasons for remaining. Some to assure their children were safe, some to try and ease the pain of the living and some because they were young and afraid. But the sun will rise and a new choice is made each day.

That is our life anyway, we didn’t make one decision as a child and move on. We make a decision every day on how we see our world and lives. We wake to the new day and decide… Que Sera, Sera…Will I be happy, will I be sad. I’ve always thought of life’s journey as a tapestry, we pull the threads, change the colors, weave the good and bad together into our own design and once in a while we look back at the big picture. I try to live in the moment, but it ‘s more than that. I try to enjoy the moment. Ol James Taylor sings about it in the Secret of Life, The secret of love is in loving. The secret of life is enjoying the moment you are in.

I’ll admit, I’ve been all over the place with this blog tonight. It may be lack of sleep, but I have to tell you…I’m enjoying it.

Rhianna Samuels

I am starting the new year as a published author. I like the sound of that. Most people don’t know what an accomplishment that is in today’s world. If you are a writer then you know how hard it is to simply complete a novel, much less the polishing and sheer stamina it takes to send it out to editors and agents.

I’d like to say rejection makes you strong, and for some it does, but for others it only makes you fragile to the point you question your abilities. Everyone has different expectations in what the market wants. The main advice I heard and have to agree with, is that you must write a good story.

I worry like all new authors that my novel will not find an audience. I take a certain pride in the fact that my editor liked Shaking Off the Dust well enough to work her fanny off to get it ready for publication. As a debut novel from an unkown author, she took a chance on me and that was a huge compliment as far as I am concerned. Now it’s up to the readers to decide if it satisfies the romantic or suspense loving portion of thier minds.

I loved writing this story. That’s exactly the kind of feeling I want the readers to have, that rush of excitement and satisfaction. And if you like it, feel free to tell me all about it.

Rhianna

The hero of Shaking off the Dust is Takeshi Shimodo. He is quiet, disciplined and not sure how to respond to Hannah when she comes knocking on his door with news his friend is a ghosts and wants his help. As you read, you learn what kind of man he is from his interactions with all of those around him. You will also learn of an event that has touched his life. Meeting Hannah makes him realize what has been missing for far to long. Hannah takes no prisoners in her dealings with everyone in her life. She has to keep finding the absurd and amusing in order to move through each day, which is one of the things that draws Takeshi to her as a friend. It doesn’t take long for him to discover he wants more that friendship from her. There is a certain amount of jealousy between Takeshi and Tom Mecurio as they both learn to care for Hannah.  That envy becomes an issue and creates humorous moments in the story. Takeshi tries to keep a Zen like attitude about his relationship, but that changes as he finds other men are drawn to Hannah. You will enjoy seeing how that all plays out until the end.  In the blurbs and excerpts, there is a focus on the romance between Takeshi and Hannah. It is the foundation on which the building suspense unfolds into what I hope is a thrilling ride to find the ones responsible for placing a bomb on board Toms’ plane in Madrid. Along the way is humor, drama and adventure. Start your New Year by “Shaking Off the Dust.”