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Friday, March 31, 2006
First off, I received the thumbs up from Deidre on the synopsis for my current WIP. She was very excited about it and that really fueled my motivation. Then, I had to leave work early thanks to the afore mentioned Mexican food, so I though my day was going downhill fast. But I got home, called Maria, and we started to chat about my story. I was happy with what I had so far, but something was missing. I couldn't quite figure it out. So, Maria suggested I read the thread on scene and sequel in our RWA Online forum and maybe that would help me see things differently. To be honest, I had been avoiding that thread. I get so overwhelmed sometimes by the rules of the craft. But, Maria is all-knowing, so I had to at least give it a shot. I'm so glad I did. I didn't even get through the first page before I had an "aha!" moment. The scene is what is happening. It's the action. Okay, I get that. Every scene has a goal, a conflict, and a disaster. I get that, too. Or so I thought. Something that kept catching my eye: The more dramatic the disaster the better. Okay. Fine. I'll just keep reading. Every scene has a main goal. It doesn't have to be anything big. It's just the purpose of the scene. The disaster is the final twist that stops the pov character from achieving his/her goal. I didn't have to go any further. I realized where I had gone wrong. My disasters weren't really disasterous. They were more like hurdles. They didn't stop the character from achieving the goal in the scene, they just made it more difficult. So, my characters were achieving their goals which made the conflict kinda blah. It's soooo much better now, thanks to a quick brainstorming session with Maria. And I took my pages from 38 to 45 last night. I love it when things go right! Thursday, March 30, 2006
------------------ From MSNBC: Mississippi outlaws sex toys (Dan Abrams) There is a landmark legal battle of constitutional proportions being fought down in Mississippi. It involves fundamental rights protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, not to mention the rights of certain small business owners to satisfy their customers. This week, another court refused to recognize Mississippians’ right to find companionship for 29.99 and so a law outlawing the sale of sex toys will stand. “A person commits the offense of distributing unlawful sexual devices when he knowingly sells, advertises, publishes or exhibits to any person any three-dimensional device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs or offers to do so or possesses such devices with the intent to do so.” Well, I am glad to see that the local legislators are focusing on the most pressing issues of the day. I’ve long believed that a three-dimensional, possibly battery-operated device is far more menacing than a handgun. In Mississippi, people can buy guns at a gun show with no background check and certain weapons can be carried almost anywhere. Sure, guns and toys can bring joy and a sense of comfort to the user, but apparently the legislators concluded that a genital replica is a far greater threat to society. This, from a state that levies only an 18-cent tax on cigarettes, 55 cents below the national average and where 62 percent of residents are overweight, making it the fattest state in the country. Yet still the public schools don’t make gym class compulsory. Mississippi’s laws would make you believe sex is the single greatest threat to public safety and well-being. After all, it’s illegal in Mississippi to have sex with someone you’re not married to or to live with someone other than your spouse. Both can result in a $500 fine and six months in jail. And men are not permitted to be aroused in public. But at least good people are protected from the disfigurement that could result from an accidental electrical overload from a defective toy. Georgia and Texas have passed similar bans and courts have repeatedly ruled the legislators have the power to do it. I guess the Second Amendment doesn’t say anything about the right to bear a stimulation device. But the sex activists are not closing up shop in the South Pole just yet. They formed a lobbying group based in Florida called the National Alliance of Adult Trade Organizations or NAATO. Not, of course, to be confused with the other NATO, which is based in Brussels. I don’t mean to pick on Mississippi. I love the state and the people, but I just don’t get why the legislators are fighting so hard for this law. We’re talking about adults here. It’s not that I really care about ensuring that these toys are ready accessible. Really. It’s just that you have to wonder, is one of these toys really a greater threat to the community than what real live people do to each other every day? Tuesday, March 28, 2006
![]() I'm getting my hair cut and colored today, so I took the afternoon off. Then I looked at my workload and realized I could take the whole day off without any real problems. So, this morning, I'm perched on my futon in the office with my mug of coffee and my laptop. I have Thieves to write about. See y'all mañana! Sunday, March 26, 2006
My friend, Terri Garey, is calling out for a favor. As writers, we know all about heroes. Well, Terri's brother-in-law is a real life hero and this is your chance to say thank you to him. He is a Federal officer who works on the FBI's Innocent Images task force, tracking down internet predators. (Like on the recent Dateline report, TO CATCH A PREDATOR) He's devoted 21 years of his life to making other people's life safe and now he's been nominated as an America's Most Wanted All-Star. The grand price is $10K and a trip. The winner is determined by votes. Please take a second and go vote for Phil Dubord at America's Most Wanted All-Star. Thanks. Saturday, March 25, 2006
So, if you're also a member of My Space--make me happy and friend me. This is all I needed...one more distraction. LOL Friday, March 24, 2006
![]() Good luck to all my friends who entered the GH and Ritas this year. I have my fingers and toes crossed for you! Extra fingers crossed for Maria Geraci. She has written a helluva regency-set historical. It came close to finaling last year. Anyway, this story deserves to not only final--but to win. Thursday, March 23, 2006
Or, as I like to call it-- A day of firsts. #1 boy's 1st real concert, 1st sex talk, 1st time getting patted down, 1st hubcap burger--all in one day. And there are some pictures, too. It's a little long but very enjoyable--as only my husband could make it. Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Okay, so I may be a collage convert. It's not going to be for everyone, just like doing Q&A sessions with your characters isn't for everyone. But, I'm trying to become a Plantser. Or mabye thats a Plotzer? I'm trying to combine my love for just letting the story come with plotting...It's not easy, btw. But it's something I have to learn in order to make a proposal work. Anyway, I've had this new story swirling in my head for a while and the first two chaps came relatively easily, but it's pretty plot heavy and it really has to be plotted out. My strengths are character and dialogue. This plotting shit is for people who like to plan. When Barbara talked about the collages opening up her mind and helping her to see her story better, I decided to try it. Honestly, it's not like I was really wasting time. I wasn't actually writing and the collaging would at least focus my energy somewhat. I had nothing to lose. So, this is what I discovered. I have a very vivid imagination but when it comes to clipping pictures, I'm very literal...Sure, there's some color and mood setting in my collage, but for the most part, it's very literal. I found myselfdrawn to words and the emotion they pricked in me. The book will be sexy and even though I've known that, I was still surprised at how many evocative pics I clipped. I am ver y in tune with my hero. He's cocky (peacock and mirrors). My heroine, I'm still struggling with. I see her physically, and I understand her motivation, but she's being very secretive. I'm thinking of just doing a character collage to see what happens. I've never been good with the Q&A stuff. Those have never seemed to evoke my imagination or press my characters into opening up.But maybe the collages will? Monday, March 20, 2006
First off, it's very difficult for me not to analyze why the hell I'm clipping certain pictures. Turning off my internal "editor" so to speak was a bitch. But I found a way to help relax the editor into submission. MAKER'S MARK. Oh yeah, baby. I just snipped and clipped my way through about six magazines. I ignored the fact that I was clipping a lot of words and physical representations of my book and just clipped. Barbara's collages are mood and setting for her. Jenny finds theme in hers. I looked at my pile of scraps and thought, Kindergarten art project. But, I wanted to give this a true shot. I put the collage together, just allowing my instincts to guide me. Here is the final product: It's not a 3-D work of art. It's not even pretty. But after it was all said and done, I looked at it, and GOT IT.I have scenes in my head that weren't there before. (well, they were there, just hidden) I have dialogue running through my brain. I have a sense of place and mood. Just out of curiosity, what do you guys see in this collage? Is there anything that you really picked up on immediately? Anything you are really drawn to?
I'm sleepy. It's rainy here and we're supposed to have thunderstorms later today. A cute guy in a celery green shirt just walked by my office. I don't know who he is but I should find out. We have lots of outta-towners in the office today. It's loud. I don't feel like dealing with loud. See, the stupid architect who designed our building was, well, STOOPID. Our "offices" are glass cubes, basically. My office has 3 solid walls and one solid GLASS wall. It has no ceiling. I don't even know why I bother locking my door at night because all you need to do is get a ladder and hoist yourself over the wall. Having no ceiling with a solid glass wall is like being in a fishbowl. Or maybe I'm a zoo animal. The guys in the loft can toss things into my office. (and they have) I hear everything...and it's loud because it's like the noise gets trapped in my little cage. So when all these outta-towners are here and all on their conference calls, it's like they have the speaker phone in my lap. And it's all because of the STOOPID architect. The design may look cool, but it's about as functional as a dead toenail. Writing Stuff I worked on a collage for my book this weekend. I had never done that before but Barbara Samuel talked about it on one of my loops and it made sense to me, so I gave it a go. And then I went and looked at one of Jenny Crusie's collages, and I felt quite inadequate. She's like a collage -savant. I'm more of a collage-doofus. But it was very relaxing. Or maybe that was the bourbon. Who knows? I'll post pics later and talk about what I did. K. That's my monday-monday post. I'm going to do a little blog hopping and maybe find a hot picture of Matthew McC. to brighten my day. Saturday, March 18, 2006
I have a perfect partner. In REAL life. Not everything I do is made up or imaginary, thankyouverymuch. Aren't we the cutest couple ever? You can read a little bit about him over at Fishdog's Flophaus. Or you can just take my word for it, he's perfect for me. ![]() Now onto other stuff: My friend Marley Gibson (who is also a TKA client) signed a four book deal with Puffin! You can read all about it here. (Marley is also the creator of Vanessa Virtue. If you haven't checked out that blog, I suggest you do so!) What else is going on? I did a little blog hopping yesterday and for the longest time, I was forbidden to see Jill Monroe's blog. How does that happen? Why was I getting the FORBIDDEN 403 message? Was Jill Monroe doing something super secret that Mel Francis wasn't allowed to see? Was it a Secret Society of Bloggers that I wasn't invited to join? Of course, being forbidden made me even more determined to see what Jill Monroe was up to. My perserverance paid off and I finally remembered the secret handshake. Apparently, Jill was blogging about the NCAA Tournament and how Oklahoma let her down. Yeah, they let me down too. And so did my little Piggies. But that's okay, because I'm still in the top 5 of the office pool. I still have a shot. Hmmm. What else? Kristen Painter refused to blog the other day. I even tempted her with WARM triple chocolate cake that I made for my son's birthday...but she didn't bite. She did, however, tell me I'm evil. Acutally, she said I was "poorly behaved". She has NOOOO idea how true that is. Gena Showalter did her good news Friday yesterday. And a couple of days ago she posted a picture asking folks if she was on drugs because she liked it. I went with the drugs, but apparently I'm in the minority. I tried to see what Jaci Burton was up to, but all I got was a blank page. Of course, now I'm wondering if she's in on the Secret Society. What is her secret handshake? I wonder if I can bribe her with chocolate. Who am I kidding, of course I can. Lucy got to see Matthew McC. yesterday. She's so lucky. Maria hasn't blogged in so long I'm worried her fingers have fallen off. It's a good thing we talk on the phone almost everyday. I've heard a rumor that she's going to blog about "Sexy-Ugly". And do you know who she thinks is "sexy-ugly"? Heath Ledger. Is she crazy? Is there anything ugly about this man?Well, anyway. Maria will just have to post something and prove to me I'm wrong. (which I'm not). Good luck, sista-girl. Savannah Jordan did the wrasslin' thing last night. I don't get wrasslin' myself, but lots of folks do. Maybe if the big hunky guys weren't wearing panties and tights it would help. and Bonnie posted a great Irish Blessing in honor of St. Patty's Day. Okay, I'm done with Stuff. I visited other blogs yesterday but I am now out of my allotted blogging time. I'm off to finish my synopsis and post it to my crit group for appropriate slaughtering. Check y'all later! Thursday, March 16, 2006
and let's not forget his accent. Holy cow. The man could read straight from a contract law textbook and it would sound like poetry. Anyway, I digress. This post isn't about the lust in my heart and loins for Matthew McC. It's about the book I wish I'd written. ![]() Failure to Launch. Have you seen it yet? (Oh goody, an excuse to post another picture of my little Lust-Muffin) This movie was exactly what it was supposed to be. Watching it was like reading a great romantic comedy. It had some fantastic secondary characters with brilliant dialogue and humor out the ass. All kinds of humor that could appeal to a wide audience. This movie will never win an Oscar...nor should it. It's a good story, well acted, well, written, and it couldn't have been any better if it had tried. It's perfect for the genre of Romantic Comedy. It's what a good date movie should be. Plus, it has Matthew McConaughey. (Did you feel the tingle that time?) This movie is what I aspire to write when I tell my stories. It's a different take on the same story. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy and girl reunite. In between is some sex and laughter. But here's the thing...when watching this movie or reading this type of book, you don't see the "same story". If it's done right, it pulls you in so deep you may as well be a character. You're a voyeur in their world. I hope I can do that one day. I hope one day, you guys will be a voyeur to my stories. And then blog about how great a story teller I am. :) And I hope I can do all this before Matthew McC. is too old to play one of my heroes on screen. Sigh. Wednesday, March 15, 2006
In honor of my 37th birthday (which was yesterday) I stole the Age Gauge from Jill Monroe's blog. Here are some interesting facts surrounding my bday. You said your birthday is 3 / 14 / 1969 |
happy sunday morning
September 2005 |
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