Random Writings

First Review for Switch-A-Wish Is In

9/26/2015

Many thanks to Gina Wynn for posting her wonderful review of Switch-A-Wish on Goodreads:

"A solid 4 1/2 stars for M.B. Earnhardt's debut novel, Switch-A-Wish. She has woven an intriguing story..." read more at Goodreads.com.

Thanks, Ms. Wynn.

Get your copy on Amazon, or click on the "Book" link to find more options for getting your copy.

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When Fiction is a Little Too Close to Reality

9/19/2015

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Switch-A-Wish is told from the points of view of a married couple, Chris and Amanda Claridge. As I prepare for the release (September 18), I’m also trying to prepare myself for the reaction my friends and families will have to the central relationship.

Based on reading Facebook posts and comments by other authors, people who know me and know my husband, Adam, will assume I’ve written a memoir. I took the classic advice people give new writers, “write what you know,” and now I’ve written myself into a position that makes it look like my marriage is in jeopardy.

Adam was my beta-reader and the first to realize this could be a problem. After reading the first draft he said he felt uncomfortable because everyone would think it was us. I had exacerbated the problem by giving Chris and Amanda physical characteristics that were reminiscent of me and Adam. I didn’t really do it on purpose. It’s just kind of how they turned out when I was writing.

I also made Amanda’s past occupation a journalist and Chris a college professor. Adam and I are both professors (I specialize in journalism). Adam is worried that our friends, family and colleagues will think he’s contemplated an affair with a student. I don’t blame him, it kind of looks that way.

In an attempt to offset this speculation, I thought it may be good to go on my blog and write a little about how I came to the story.

First, I grew up watching daytime television shows like Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey. My favorite episodes were the ones where people shared their personal stories. When Oprah launched Dr. Phil, I had found a daily dose of personal stories with a dose of real psychological insight. I love this stuff. When I was trying to determine what type of conflict would be at the center of Switch-A-Wish, I drew from my experience watching married couples struggling to connect. Looking outside the relationship to feel better seemed like a reasonable way a man would react. When I started to think of the way this would play out when my main characters switched bodies, I knew it was the way to go.

I didn’t have personal experience with an affair. I had heard of students who slept with their teachers, but it had never been something that was close to me. I turned to blog posts about these types of relationships. I read a post, written by a professor, which detailed his affair with a student. I read postings in a discussion group about students who had slept with professors. I read reports by psychologists about student/teacher relationships. This was how I built a body of knowledge I could use to explore the relationship between Chris and Jenna.

Another concern was writing about sex (see my guest blog post at Gina Wynn’s http://ginawriteswords.com/ for details). I didn’t want people to picture me having sex and I still don’t. The good news is that reading a book is a personal experience. So, if I did my job well, the reader will be so caught up in his or her own world that I won’t even be involved.

I wish I would have made different choices. I wish I would have changed the details of Chris and Amanda to make their marriage less like mine, but now it’s too late and I have to own it. My advice to people thinking about writing is to write what you know. But once in a while, it might be good to consider different occupations, or at least different hair colors.

You can purchase Switch-A-Wish on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, ARe, and Nook.

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On Writing Sex Scenes

9/13/2015

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My favorite part of Switch-A-Wish is the premise. I believe many couples can relate to seeing the world through their partner’s eyes. I would love my husband to see our marriage, parenting and life through my lens.

In thinking about what he’d like me to better understand, I landed on a hard truth. He’d like me to understand his feelings about our sex life. My avid viewing of Dr. Phil and Oprah upheld this conclusion. Married couples who have kids often have problems with sexual intimacy.

After taking time to digest this revelation, I landed on another hard truth: my main characters, a married couple living in each other’s bodies, would have sex as the other person.

At first I thought that maybe I could get away with eliminating sex scenes by stating my main characters didn’t want to do it because it would be too strange. But in trying to justify this, I couldn’t think of one person I knew who would let this opportunity pass unexplored. Sex is too much of the fabric of a marriage to be ignored.

Because of this, Switch-A-Wish has sex scenes. It has descriptive sex scenes. It has scenes that were incredibly uncomfortable to write. I had to suppress my inner prude and let the characters take over in order to get through it. I had to read other sex scenes to find language that would describe what was happening in a way that didn’t sound too vulgar, but also didn’t sound too much like I was trying not to be vulgar.

When I was editing the first draft I almost deleted it all because I knew my mom would want to read the book and I couldn’t imagine how embarrassing it would be for her to know what a dirty mind I had.

I had to make justifications that allowed me to move through it. The first is, they are married, and married people should have sex with each other. The second is, even if they weren’t married, our bodies are designed to create and embrace intimacy this way. Third, I’m just editing a rough draft, no one will ever read it. In honesty, it was the third one that worked best.

Now, it’s out there. My voice, my name, my words about sex will be shared with the English reading world. It helps to write this blog post, admitting to the fact that writing about sex was embarrassing. Because it was hard for me, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

That said, here are a few tips to keep in mind if you ever find yourself writing a story where the characters are going to have sex, and you have to write it down for them:

1.    Do some research. Don’t run out and have sex with someone and take notes throughout (unless you’re into that, who am I to judge?). I mean go online and read about sex. Go to blogs and discussion forums. Amanda and Chris’ sex lives were not about me. So, looking at other people’s sex lives helped depersonalize the scenes.

2.    Don’t edit yourself as you write. I’m not someone who just writes and then revises when it’s all done. I write a little, then go back and edit, then write some more. It works for me. That said, I didn’t do this when I was writing the sex scenes. I just tried to picture what was happening and record it. I used whatever strange vocabulary that came to mind (wiener, anyone?) and didn’t judge myself. I let these scenes alone for a while and then I came back later and edited them. It was easier because now it felt like work, trying to take words and make them understandable and arrange them properly. This I could do.

3.    Read other sex scenes. There are many, many, many writers who have done this longer than me and have figured out beautiful (and incredibly raunchy) ways of describing sex. Some are very graphic (as in, pornographic), while others hold details. By examining their language, their words and the intent of the scenes, I started to figure out what I liked. I was able to find my comfort zone and this gave me boundaries.

4.    Get a second opinion. I trust my husband’s opinion. He’s also a writer, albeit an academic writer and columnist. But he reads, and he’s not a prude. So I bounced a few of the scenes off him to get a sense for what words he would use, and how he would react if trapped in my body.

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Switch-A-Wish Pre-Orders Start Today

9/11/2015

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Amazon | Google Play | ARe | Kobo

Chris and Amanda Claridge are that couple. They look happy. They live in a well-kept house, have three little girls and fit squarely into the traditional roles of a husband and wife.

Chris is a handsome college professor, and easily charms most everyone he meets. He loves his job and can’t wait to go to work each day. Amanda is a dedicated mother and caretaker. She tends to the kids and appreciates how important her job is, even if others don’t get it.

Underneath the surface of this functioning family, things are unraveling. Their marital problems are about to split them apart when something magical happens. Chris and Amanda make a bedtime wish that forces them to live the life of the other person.

Chris must pretend to be his wife as he takes on childcare and household chores. Amanda steps out of her heels and into Chris’ shoes to tackle his job as a college professor. The role reversal is a revelation for the couple. Neither one has it as good, or bad, as they expected.

Can Chris and Amanda’s newfound understanding of each other survive when the secrets come out? Or, did a magical wish just cost them their marriage? Will they be able to switch back?

Switch-A-Wish examines the complexity of a stressed relationship through the eyes of partners who are required to live as each other. This unique perspective allows Chris and Amanda a chance to find their way back to the feelings of the love they once shared.

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Be Careful What You Wish For

9/10/2015

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On the first day of the pre-orders for my debut novel, Switch-A-Wish, bet you thought I'd be on here asking you to go to Amazon and order it today (for a limited-time, discounted price). Nope.

Today, I'm hear promoting the ultra-talented Gina Wynn and her new book What You Wish For (Three Worlds Press). If you think you're sensing a theme, you're right: the power of wishing.

Below is a brief synopsis and here's a link to her blog. Links to ordering What You Wish For are below.

Check her out. You won't be disappointed.
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Be careful what you wish for (it might come true).

The old adage teaches us that even the things we might most desire don't come without consequences. A wish for chocolate, well, that brings calories and weight gain. A wish for a green lawn might bring rain.

And wishes are powerful. They come with rules. Make one as you blow your birthday candles out. Close your eyes. Don't tell anyone or it won't come true! We often won't make wishes, we bite them back if the phrasing is too vague, too open to interpretation, don't want to send sudden whims or wants into the universe for fear of how they might be answered. A jinx, a hex, an ill-wish...that prickle at the back of your neck as you refuse to acknowledge nature's magic, or the universe granting you your desire...by any means.

A wish for a soulmate, then, for 'in love' rather than just 'love'? That might be life altering. It is unlikely the one you were meant to be with could slip into your life without ripple or disruption, unlikely you could leave your old life without negativity and destruction. But what would you do? What would you really do if you made that wish and the universe answered it?

Available on:
Amazon – ARe – Kobo – Nook

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Cover Reveal for Switch-A-Wish

9/5/2015

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Thanks to my editor and wonderful author, Melissa Shirley, for her blog post about the cover of Switch-A-Wish. I've captured a bit of her comments here, but you can read the rest at her Storybrook Lake Blog:
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“Little kids are great, but they are capable of making their mothers disappear, one hour of sleep at a time.”

If a book has a line that sticks with me, I know the book is going to end up on my prized shelf in my house. I love to read, but I don't have a lot of books on that shelf. Something happened when I read Switch-A-Wish the very first time and it had power behind it. I was hooked and I knew it would sit right alongside all my favorites...

read more at Storybrook Lake Blog.

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First Review for Switch-A-Wish Is In

When Fiction is a Little Too Close to Reality

On Writing Sex Scenes

Switch-A-Wish Pre-Orders Start Today

Be Careful What You Wish For

Cover Reveal for Switch-A-Wish

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