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I write romantic suspense because I love mystery, and I’m a sucker for romance. Both are timeless. Both make the world go round.

Both make you think.

And because that’s how my brain works. I tried writing a straight-up romance, but it didn’t work. My characters always wound up getting themselves into dangerous situations with bad people.

I read romantic suspense because I want the heart-pounding joys and knee-knocking holy craps that aren’t as common in our mundane, predictable lives.

Make me scared, make me cry, go for it, but I dang well want that happy ending. Without it, you might as well just go turn on the evening news. I feel cheated when books don’t promise that happily ever after. Romantic suspense novels deliver.

The genre also offer opportunities for character growth that you may not get from straight romance or straight mystery. Trial by fire, as they say. I love to strap in for the ride with characters as they face their inner demons, fail, get back up, go through black moments and then come out damaged, but better. More sure of themselves and their place in the world.

That’s life on steroids, often suffused with morals that reinforce things we all value. Loyalty, courage, honor, self-respect…all these themes and so many more come through in romantic suspense due to the nature of the genre.

Okay, back to Kiss of Death Day… If you’re a romantic suspense writer, please consider joining the Kiss of Death chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

Formed in 1994, KOD—as we call our chapter—promotes and supports the writing and reading of suspense and mystery fiction with strong romantic elements. We’re one of the largest RWA chapters with members from across the globe who join our online family of mayhem-loving writers. Joining gives you access to a wide array of programs to help your writing develop and grow.

Top among membership benefits is our College of Felony and Intrigue (COFFIN) online workshops for only $15 per class for KOD members. In addition, KOD offers online networking, a critique group, brainstorming support and a book-in-a-week challenge to help you to get that draft on paper. We support our members with an active Facebook group and Twitter feed giving you access to the information you need, whenever you need it.

“I love so many things about KOD! I’m going with a tie: CLUES-N-NEWS because you can ask the weirdest questions and get the best answers, and Lethal Ladies because they helped me grow as a writer and find good friends.” – Mina Khan

“KOD has been a lifeline when it comes to death-related questions. It’s a safe place to discuss the macabre, run plots by experts, and find support among fellow suspense writers. They know where to hide the bodies and cover their tracks!” – Anne Marie Becker

Nothing says romantic suspense like RWA’s Kiss of Death chapter. Join us today during our annual membership drive. As an added bonus all new members or renewing members who join in December will be entered to win a first chapter critique from published KOD members. To join, visit us at http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/join.php.

And join the conversation on Twitter! We’re trying to make #romanticsuspense a trending topic today. Help us by sharing why you love romantic suspense using the #romanticsuspense hashtag.

So tell us, what is your favorite aspect of romantic suspense?

WTF?

Do I have an up-to-date anti-virus system? YES. I pay $90/year. Do I visit porn sites? NO. (Don’t need to, thank you very much.) Do I go on online gaming sites? NO. Do I click on anything and everything that pops up on my screen? No, no, no!

As I learned the hard way, anyone – and I mean anyone – is at risk if you do any kind of internet browsing. And you know what else? Anti-virus is NOT the same thing as malware protection.

Bloody hell.

So of course I bemoaned this on Facebook, got loads of sympathy, and one of my old friends gave me this analogy, which I think is really quite brilliant:

Think of the Internet as the dirtiest, busiest public bathroom you’ve ever visited.  Touch only what you need to touch, and you’ll save yourself some trouble.  – Brett Miller

Thanks, Brett! As my nephew would say, that’s the bomb.

Anyway, I’m back on track with a clean, mean, writin’ machine. How’d I do it without the Geek Squad, you ask? Two free programs recommended by my network (internet) provider and a little walk-through with them after I had quarantined and then killed the infections.

You can get these two downloads at www.superantispyware.com and http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (for malwarebytes it’s the long green rectangular bar download on the second page). I ran a complete system scan on both of these programs and it took quite a while, especially for SAS, so run it when you have other things to do. I was only going to install one of them, but in reading various online reviews, I discovered that they are very complementary. And, when I ran them both, they actually found different things.

Now, if your machine has been infected with a TROJAN or other malware, once you get rid of it, your machine may still be messed up because that’s what the infection did. Think of it like the chicken pox. You might be done with the acute infection, but still have scabs or scars for a while afterwards. My network provider walked me through the guts of my computer to correct the havoc it had wrought.

One final thing I did was change all my passwords because some malware programs actually record your keystrokes to get your usernames, passwords and credit card numbers to hack into your accounts. Nice, huh?

When these a-holes who code this shit finally get theirs and go to Hell, I hope they are continually forced to re-code a “stop this demon from taking chunks out of me” program.

Like every 5 minutes.

Brett told me there are other proactive programs out there that can help protect you as you browse. He mentioned “Flashblock” and “Better Privacy” for Firefox. Anyone know of any comparable products for Internet Explorer?

What do you do to keep your computer safe from malicious threats?

And really, she has a point.

What a powerfully visceral word. It’s a noun, but boy is it cool to verb. When something devastates me, there’s nothing quite like using the Brit expression, “This guts me” or “I was gutted.”

Yeah, right now, guts is pretty much my favorite word. And a battle-girding word for anyone with a big ass dream.

Like writers.

Because truly, isn’t creating something based completely on your imagination and then putting it out there for the world to see and hopefully enjoy the height of egotism?

That takes guts, people.

A whole lotta guts because you know – you know – not everybody’s gonna like it. There’s just no way. And…some of those people are going to publicly say they don’t. Maybe even not so nicely.

Guts.

Put it out there anyway.

Even though your mother/gramma/friend/neighbor/boss/whoever will have a heart attack when s/he discovers you write some (or a lot of) smut. Even though you’re afraid no one is going to read it and you’re going to fail. Even though you’re opening your soul a crack on every page.

Even though you’re afraid you might succeed. [gasp!]

Guts.

Gird up, dreamers. And act anyway.

Non-writers, what do you need guts for? Writers, what helps you get/keep your guts?

More freaking options.

If you don’t figure most of it out, you’re gonna be left behind. So when I learned about one of the newer marketing gimmicks, this Fan-gating business got my panties in a bunch.

Of course there are bucket loads of social media outlets, but Twitter and Facebook are my favorites. How I love Facebook! It’s like my second home, so I was thrilled earlier this year when I learned I could actually create a separate Page for my writer persona!! (I never said I was on the cutting-edge here so bear with me.)

I got my Page somewhat set up, and I was feeling pretty good about it even though it was very simple. Then I ventured out to other Author Facebook Pages to get some ideas on how to spruce it up. What did I find? A lot of Pages required me to “Like” them in order to reveal certain hidden content (if not most of it).

Okaaaaay? Ew.

This Fan-gating or Like-gating encourages non-fans to “Like” your Page in order to “unlock” the content that is presumably desirable. This immediately turned me off, yet a lot of writers are doing it. Even writers who aren’t household names yet.

I didn’t care for that, but was I missing out on a valuable marketing opportunity? After all, all those people who “Like” your page will see your writer updates. Online proponents of Fan-gating say it’s a simple call to action and a perk for fans.

I started second-guessing myself, so I thought I’d put the question to my Facebook friends. Their response was overwhelmingly against it.

A sampling of their feedback:

“When they do that, I have to really like them beforehand. If I am trying to find out more about them and they require a like first, I go bye-bye!! I am not going to blindly like something I know little to nothing about. That would be like having to say I love you before you can start getting acquainted even.”

“I’ll give up some privacy info with a Like to a company/thing I love, but just to learn about it… Nope.”

“Would you sign up to attend a college you have never visited? Neither would I….Like might as well be a delete button for me, not only will I not “Like” it, I will never come back to it.”

Not one person said they liked it. That’s good enough feedback for me.

What are your thoughts? Do you use Fan-gating? Why or why not?

Clearly, this is an enormous topic. My point here is to merely touch on a few basics to inspire your muse because the plot and characterization opportunities afforded by an understanding of gangs and gang behavior are not only limitless, but nearly universally interesting.

Why?

To answer that question, we need to understand why individuals generally associate with gangs. The two main reasons are:

1. The gang banging lifestyle is all they’ve ever known (drugs, violence, prostitution).
2. Gang membership satisfies a basic human need that isn’t otherwise being met: a sense of belonging.

Who doesn’t understand the need to belong? It’s one of the most powerful themes out there.

Okay, moving on to some of the nitty gritties. There are two main nations in the gang world with multiple sects splitting off from these two broad groups. The two nations are:

1. The Folks, which the Crips identify with; and
2. The People, which the Bloods come from.

Below this hierarchy issue lesser subgroups or “sets” which coalesce based on neighborhoods (eg. the Surenos, a southern California Mexican gang), shared activity (eg. outlaw biker gangs like Hell’s Angels), or beliefs or ethnic solidarity (eg. the Woods, a white supremacist gang). Often these subsets end with a moniker like posse, crew, or mafia.

Members usually dress alike, communicate and use the same symbolism in tattoos and graffiti, and display colors and images associated with their set (eg. blue, the right side, and the number 6 are associated with Crips; while red, the left side, and the number 5 are associated with the Bloods).

If you choose to include gang features in your work, details like these can really make stories come alive for readers.

Other interesting bits of information included teardrop tattoos. Did you know that teardrops that aren’t “inked in” represent the number of people you’re still grieving? Teardrops that have the color completely inked in stand for the number of people you’ve offed.

Nice.

Chilling.

I could go on, but where do you stop? If you’re interested in exploring the gang lifestyle for a story idea, one particular website that’s a treasure trove of information regarding gangs, their symbolism, slang terminology and so much more is Gangs Or Us: http://www.gangsorus.com. Check it out.

The next time your son or daughter comes home with one pant leg rolled up or new sports apparel even though they’ve never watched that particular team play a game…well, you might just want to investigate a little.

What do you think of gangs? Is it understandable why someone from a neglectful, sad home would choose the gang lifestyle? And is this a road you’d ever tread in your writing?

So, my three-week break from the usual allowed me to mostly complete my goal (start and finish a first draft of a new project). I say mostly because while I did it, it totally sucks. Almost to the point I question whether it can ever become something I’d actually put my name on.

But that’s what revisions are for, right?

Anyway, life is nothing if not one distraction after another. And then you throw social media into the pot and well, rejoining the melee, I’m suddenly feeling out of control of my life.

Do I *really* need to be able to access Facebook from my desktop, my phone and my tablet?

It’s ridiculous. But will I remove the apps? No. Heaven forbid I miss someone’s hourly rant. Or joke. Or picture of their cousin’s sister’s friend’s wedding.

I’m exaggerating, but the thing is, I’m noticing all this so much more now that I’ve been to a place where I allowed myself an abundance of silence to let my story unfold. Now the social media din is deafening.

I need to find a balance and the realistic discipline that will validate both my need to be creatively productive (and get housework done) as well as my need to be happily connected. I’m not there yet, but awareness of the problem is the first step. Right?

What’s your balance look like? What strategies do you have to limit social media and/or other life distractions?

Ok, no more questions. Let’s take a good look at your life and figure out what’s standing in your way.

From my vantage point, most of the time what stands in our way are the little things. Kids’ activities, jobs, house cleaning, errands, caring for aging parents or young children…you know, all the “stuff” of life. That stuff will always be there, but there will come a time when we look back and say, “Oh, wow. Where has the time gone, and what have I done with it?” (How many of you have already said it?) We won’t remember how many loads of laundry we did or how many checks we wrote, but we will remember those things that added meaning to our lives. Of course this means spending time with loved ones, but it also means validating ourselves…Going forward in the direction of our dreams and doing things that actualize our individuality—things that “fill the well.”

But sometimes what stands in our way is our own lack of confidence, the belief that we don’t deserve it, or something insidious like that. Maybe we’re not even aware we feel this way. But everyone deserves the chance to be fulfilled and to define that fulfillment.

So here’s my challenge.

For the next several days, solidify a dream/goal in your mind and think about the pre-planning it will take to realistically accommodate that goal. Start with something small. Maybe this is learning something new via independent study (eg. my mom wants to learn French—I told her to start with the alphabet), maybe you want to redecorate your bedroom, run a faster mile, crochet a blanket for your newest grandchild, or…write a completed first draft of a novel.

Whatever it is, lay out a day-to-day strategy that will pave the way for you to reach that goal. Then pursue that goal starting on Tuesday, September 20th, and carry on for at least 14 days.

Your pre-planning strategy could include preparing and freezing meals ahead of time, telling your family what you’re going to do and enlist their help with cleaning/cooking/not whining/etc., asking friends for carpooling help, and telling people you may be uncommunicative for the next little while.

This is going to be hard work. It takes discipline. It probably means turning off the TV as well as very restricted texting/calling/emailing/social networking/Web surfing (do you realize how much time we blow with these seemingly innocuous activities?). But you are going to reward yourself at the end of those 14 days. Oh, yes you will!

Now an example:

Starting a few days ago, I began plotting my next novel. I am 2/3 finished with my outline and I WILL finish by next Tuesday. To accomplish this, there have been many days when my bed has sat unmade, the dishes have grown fur in the sink, centipedes have accumulated under piles of dirty laundry, and the extent of my exercise has been getting up to sharpen my old-fashioned graphite pencil. My husband and kids know what I’m doing, and so far have been great. But this of course is just the pre-planning phase.

On Tuesday I will begin a FAST DRAFT session with several fine ladies in my awesome critique group. This means that we are going to write 5,000 words per day for 14 (non-consecutive) days. The first week will be Tuesday-Friday and the last 10 days will be Monday through Fridays. We are going to finish a completed first-draft. We know it won’t be pretty, but the goal is to get it down. As the saying goes, you can fix a bad page, but you can’t fix a blank page.

This means I am going to have to temporarily cut out certain activities. One will be blogging. So after today, I am going on a blogging hiatus for three weeks to pursue my goal. When I come back I hope to have some interesting posts based on my experiences with FAST DRAFT and the Citizens’ Police Academy. (I started the 8-week course last night with K-9s—it was BRILLIANT! We can sleep when we die, right?)

When (not IF) I finish my draft, I am going to reward myself with a Color NOOK. So at the end of this disciplined push, I’ll have three prizes: a finished draft, an e-reader, and a sense of pride, confidence and fulfillment. If you are interested in participating with us, please let me know. It’s not too late.

So tell us…what do you want? How bad do you want it? And what will be your reward?

This morning I deleted that post.

It’s amazing what one day’s perspective can do.

The post wasn’t razing anyone per se, but I don’t think it would have represented me as professionally as I seek to be presented. I know there are a lot of blogs out there that live and die by the rant. I’ve frequented many and have enjoyed them. Others…not so much.

The point is, the words you send into cyberspace are there forever. Someday they could come back and bite you.

Just think about that and give your rant a 24-hour cooling off period before you hit “publish.” Sometimes just getting the words down for your own edification or calling/texting/bitching to your besties is all you need to put it aside and move on.

What do you think? How close to the edge can ranters go before they’re not professional?