Since Alice is off in Never-Never-Land (or maybe Wonderland...I think I have my fairy tales mixed up), enjoying the sun and fun, I'm taking over her day. (Aren't you thrilled?!)Okay, since I can't think of anything witty to come up with, I thought I'd take a very un-scientific poll here. I want to know which of these things you've included in your writing:
1. Revenge Plot
2. Secret Baby
3. Amnesia
4. Love Triangle
5. Pregnant character
6. Kids
7. Twin Story
8. Marriage of Convenience
9. May-December Romance (or December-May)
10. Loony Secondary Character
11. Evil Best Friend
12. Hospital Scene
13. A character that dies then comes back to life (ah, the miracles of modern medicine)
14. An explosion
15. Someone being shot
16. Tears
17. An inebriated character
18. A writer (as in, your character, not you)
19. A cop
20. A pet
Okay, so fess up. Which of these have you used, and when and how? And if you've used all of them in one way or the other, I have a chocolate surprise for you at the next chapter meeting! (But you have to be able to explain each one.) ;)
22 comments:
1. in the second spirit book - the Heroine is out for revenge
2. The secret baby could be the fact they keep the baby a secret from the person who raped her in the second spirit book.
3. The second romance I wrote has kind of amnesia. The heroine had a very abusive past and tends to leave it hidden in the recesses of her mind.
4. Kind of a love triangle in the first spirit book. The heroine has to marry someone from an enemy tribe to bring peace when she is in love with the spirit of the mountain and the spirit of the mountain loves the heroine but must let her go out of duty and the enemy is only after the horses. LOL
5. Second romance I ever wrote had a pregnant heroine and the second spirit book has a pregnant heroine.
6. all my books include kids!
7. the previously mentioned second romance the heroine birthed twins from that pregnancy.
10. all my books have loony/goofy secondary characters. They are what enrich the story.
12. If you can call a diphtheria outbreak and using a hotel as a makeshift hospital a hospital scene I've had a hospital scene.
13. Yes! my first spirit book! Part of the paranormal aspect.
14. Yes, in MIP the robbers dynamite the bank.
15, Yes, the bank robber in MIP, the hero in the Chinese murder book.
16. Where there is love torn apart there is tears. Nearly all my books have a scene with tears.
17. the brother in Gambling on an Angel is a drunk.
19. Does a marshal count? I have those in two books.
20. I have a dog and horses in the contemporary and a kitten in one book and of course horses in nearly all the westerns.
Dang! I missed 4!
It will be interesting to see what others write!
Here's mine:
1. Revenge Plot - Yep. Book I hooked my agent with.
2. Secret Baby - Uh, yes, again. Book three, although the baby in question wasn't a baby anymore
3. Amnesia - Yes, again. As Alice says, she doesn't want to live in a world where amnesia isn't possible. (This is the story that got me writing. It'll probably never be pubbed, but I love it anyway.)
4. Love Triangle -Nope.
5. Pregnant character - Yes, the heroine in the proposal I'm working on is pg. Never thought I'd do that. As a mother of three, pg is sooooo not sexy, but it's kinda important in this book.
6. Kids - Yep. Books 1,2,3...I wised up later. ;)
7. Twin Story - Nope.
8. Marriage of Convenience - Nope.
9. May-December Romance (or December-May) - Nope
10. Loony Secondary Character - Not yet, though I'm not opposed to crazies (have a few in my family myself)
11. Evil Best Friend - Oooh. Yes. These are fun.
12. Hospital Scene - Yes, but never the main character. Book 2, it's the heroine's brother (knocked over the head). Book 5, it's the hero's mother (cancer).
13. A character that dies then comes back to life (ah, the miracles of modern medicine) - ROFL. Yep. Kinda the premise (in a roundabout way) for the proposal I just sent my agent.
14. An explosion - Of Course! I write RS, after all. Book 5
15. Someone being shot - Yes, again. Book 5
16. Tears - I guess a few, though I don't like weepy characters. I don't think I've ever had a character break down and openly weep though.
17. An inebriated character - slightly. Fun to write.
18. A writer (as in, your character, not you) - Nope. Not yet.
19. A cop - Yes, though it makes me cringe. Writing cops is outside my comfort zone. I had a secondary cop character in the last book who is pushing for his own book. The fact I don't want to write a cop-centered book is the only reason I keep dodging him. (He's very pushy though...don't know how long I can hold out).
20. A pet - Yep. A dog named Grimly in book 4. He was a stupid golden retriever. Had fun with him.
I obviously don't get the chocolate. :( Can't wait to see everyone else's answers!
Wow, Paty. Very cool. So far you've got me beat. ;) How many manuscripts do you have completed?
And I hope Alice answers this when she gets back. It'll be interesting to see if in her 30+ published books she's covered all these things.
So Paty, I just looked closer... You've never written 8 (Marriage of convenience), 9 (May-December romance) 11 (Evil Best friend), and 18 (writer)?
Eli--Here we are in Morro Bay at the library and I finally have my lap top with me! I knew your blog would be better than anything my mile weary mind could comeup with!
I'll give it a try:
1. Revenge Plot-- Yep, love em'.
2. Secret Baby-- I don't think so. I have to ponder this one
3. Amnesia-- Yep, you know what I say about amnesia!
4. Love Triangle-- I think so. I'm pondering again. Probably will think of it sometime late tonight, sit bolt upright in my bed, hit my head and yell, "Triangle! Yes!"
5. Pregnant character -- Are you kidding? But unlike Paty, I would have to think even more to come up with a title--oh! PRIM, PROPER...PREGNANT.
6. Kids-- Many times
7. Twin Story-- Yep. twice.
8. Marriage of Convenience-- Another one I'm not sure of.
9. May-December Romance (or December-May) -- Yep. Though not with a huge age gap. Maybe fifteen years.
10. Loony Secondary Character-- Paty said it best, love em'.
11. Evil Best Friend-- Pondering, pondering
12. Hospital Scene-- Yes.
13. A character that dies then comes back to life (ah, the miracles of modern medicine--) No. I'm such a slacker.
14. An explosion Yes.
15. Someone being shot-- Many times
16. Tears-- Buckets
17. An inebriated character-- Yes, slightly.
18. A writer (as in, your character, not you)-- One of my favorite secondary characters was a romance writer ala Barbara Cartland. I loved her. She spoke in metaphors using past characters and plots to explain and understand life.
19. A cop-- Lots
20. A pet-- Almost always
Eli--Fun blog! I miss you guys. I check out this web site before I go check to see if my editor okayed the last plot! My husband thinks I'm nuts.
No chocolate for me, but lots of new plot twists, so thanks!!!
Alice
1. I have a revenge SUBplot in Project Resurrection (my first pubbed book)
2. Secret baby in Desert Guardian
3. Amnesia in Project Resurrection
4. Love Triangle in Project Resurrection
5. Heroine is pregnant at the end of Project Resurrection
6. A child (the secret baby at age 5) is in Desert Guardian
7. No twins
8. There's a marriage of convenience between the married villains in Desert Guardian
9. No May-Dec romance
10. Define loony. 8^) I do have some off-the-wall secondary characters in my stories but none that I think of as "loony."
11. There's an evil best friend in my unpubbed paranormal mystery, but she's not all bad (even if she did do some very bad things. Her intentions were good.)
12. There's a hospital scene in my paranormal mystery.
13. Ha! That's what Project Resurrection is about. It's a reincarnation love story, but dead characters really are reanimated. 8^)
14. No explosions
15. The hero gets shot in Desert Guardian
16. Tears in all my books, but they're reluctantly shed.
17. The evil best friend in my paranormal gets drunk
18. The dead friend in my paranormal was a clairvoyant mystery author (and yes, she did predict her own death)
19. There is a secondary character who's a cop in my paranormal mystery
20. What's a good book without pets? Sheesh. 8^)
Okay, so no twins, no may-december romances, no loonies, no explosions. Therefore no chocolate. Sniff. (But I wouldn't have been able to make the meeting anyway).
Karen
Well Eli, I don't deserve chocolate...well, let me rephrase that...I don't win chocolate because I haven't used all those things in my writing. But that's okay, this damn flu is still hanging on and chocolate sounds disgusting anyway. (Anyone who really knows me knows I'm really sick to say that).
So, here goes:
I've used revenge, kids, loony secondary, hospital scene, shot, tears, drunk, writer, cop and pet.
kids, tears, cop and pet more than once.
Ha, ha! What a riot. Do we know our "hooks" or what? Snort.
Hey, Danita, you'll get there. When I first read Eli's list, I thought, "Nah. I have maybe a half dozen of these in my stuff." But low and behold I had lots more than that, lol! 8^)
Karen
You know, well it isn't a romance, but the heroine in my second romance was bought and married at the age of 12 to a man in his 30's and ran away after he conjugated the marriage. Does that count as a May-December romance??
I have a book thought up that's a marriage of convenience. ;) Has to do with the sheep range wars in Central Oregon.
But I've never done an evil best friend or writer.
All total - including my two mysteries - I've written 10 books.
Wow, Paty! You're prolific! 8^)
Karen
Rejoining the land of the writing after a week with the flu (and counting).
4. Love Triangle--WIP has a sort-of-love triangle between hero-heroine-and her search for the "perfect husband."
5. Pregnant character--WIP character gets pregnant
6. Kids--1st book featured a kid, 2nd book IS a YA
9. May-December Romance (or December-May) WIP heroine is 6-7 years older than the hero.
10. Loony Secondary Character. All of my books. Wouldn't be comedy without it :)
12. Hospital Scene both the YA and WIP have major scenes that
13. A character that dies then comes back to life (ah, the miracles of modern medicine) YA character needs CPR. But she doesn't actually die.
16. Tears--all three of mine. I write weepy women.
19. A cop--hero of first book is a cop.
20. A pet--hero of first book has a really funny dog.
No where close to chocolate. What do I get if I come up with a plot that would have all 20?????? LOL LOL. Now, THAT would be a book :)
I'm not going to get the chocolate unless I cheat and start a book right now that's ridiculous and has all those elements in it.
Ugh, that sounds like way too much trouble, I'll just go buy my own chocolate. Or better yet, I'll steal some from my kid's Valentine's Day treats they're giving away to all the snot nosed brats in their classes. :)
I'm so glad that Alice is chiming in, even though she's on vacation.
Hi Alice! Hope you're having a super time in Mexico! And thanks for commenting enough for me to learn what a stinking May-December romance is. I learn so much stuff from you. LOL
Alice! I'm so glad you checked in. We miss you! I hope you're having a ball. And I figured in your long career you'd probably done (oooh, scratch that, I mean of course WRITTEN) most of those things.
Unless of course YOU yourself were at one time a young woman, pregnant with twins but keeping it secret from your cop lover who happened to be 20 yrs older than you. Your parents had made you marry a man you didn't love when you were barely out of high school, and he, I suspect, was at home with the three brats you birthed for him, probably unappreciative of all your efforts, sleeping with your certifiable best friend, Milly, who also happened to want to kill you so she could have your so-called wonderful life. When Milly surprised you with a gun one day at the gas station, you cried and pleaded for your life, but it just wasn't your day. Milly fired a warning shot that hit the gas tank, thereby igniting an explosion that landed you in the hospital. I'm guessing the explosion probably killed you, but by the wonders of modern medicine, the kind doctor on call that night brought you back to life, except you suffered a minor episode of amnesia, and during that time, you fell for the sexy doctor. When you finally got your memory back, you discovered you'd delivered twins while in a coma, and the doctor told you he'd adopted them while you were out. You thought that was cool, he gave you a puppy to express his undying love, and you named the puppy Chance, in honor of your second chance at life. You celebrated your first night out of the hospital by getting snockered with the sexy doctor, wound up pregnant again because you get loopy when you drink and turn into a nyphomaniac, and decided to become...what else...a writer so you could pass on your wisdom to the rest of the world.
Am I even close???
ROFL, Karen.
Let me get this straight...Project Resurrection is a revenge, amnesia, love-triangle where the main characters die and come back to life???
Oh, I gotta get that book. :)
Sorry you're so sick, Danita. I've been down the past few days and only feel marginally-alive today. Hope you're on the mend soon.
Great work, Wavy! You're doing good for only having two completed ms's under your belt!
I say go for it. I wrote Alice's lifestory and she obviously has done all twenty things on the list. It IS possible.
Can't wait to hear what your plot is like. ;)
Oh, come on Piper, I double-dare you. You can write a blurb that has all 20 elements in it at least. ;)
Ooooh a chocolate surprise!!! I'm noticing that the first book I worked on has a lot of these. Namely bits of: #1, #4, #10, #11, #16, #17, #20. Another story idea I had has the hero and heroine both as #18. Fun list Eli! I'm missing a lot of them, but I'm still a baby in the # of books. I'm sure I'll get to them all some time or another.
1. Revenge Plot - Don't Look Back
2. Secret Baby - no
3. Amnesia - no
4. Love Triangle - in one of my EARLY mss
5. Pregnant character - yes, several times
6. Kids - a couple of times
7. Twin Story - no
8. Marriage of Convenience - no, but I have one planned ;)
9. May-December Romance (or December-May) no, but I have one planned ;)
10. Loony Secondary Character - no
11. Evil Best Friend - no
12. Hospital Scene - in nearly every book!
13. A character that dies then comes back to life (ah, the miracles of modern medicine) - no
14. An explosion - Spy Girl
15. Someone being shot - in nearly every book!
16. Tears - in nearly every book!
17. An inebriated character - yep
18. A writer (as in, your character, not you) - Hot Shot
19. A cop - at least 3
20. A pet - no, because I always forget about them!
Great list, Mary! Glad to see you stopped by. :)
Eli--You'll probably never see this, but your life story of me so paralleled my life that I am in awe!
I'm baaacckkkk!
Alice
BWAHAHAHAH! Alice, I knew it. ;)
So glad you're back. We missed you! How was the trip?
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