POV Problems

Current Project: NMMNG
Status: The eternal outline of doom (or success)

My title sounds like the sort of . . . performance "problem" one might need a little blue pill for, and in a way, it is. If you don't have a point-of-view, you don't have a story. However, I have a story, but I'm still searching for the perfect POV. Or to put it bluntly, I have a POV dysfunction. Now, as we all know, we have three main choices:

First Person: I love to talk about me, me, me, me and more me. This is the darling of YA and Chick Lit authors alike.

Second Person: You shouldn't be reading this. You should be off doing your laundry. And if you want to be really annoying, you should be doing it in the past tense: you ate your lunch. And if you want to drive everyone to click the nearest LOLcat just to escape, do it in the present tense: You go into a room, and you look around. And unless there is a stack of cash and a signed contract for a choose-your-own adventure book waiting there, RUN! Don't look back. I'm sure that a huge second-person trend is just around the corner, but since you'll be the one running my story, I'll never know. Don't hand over your story to an anonymous "you," because YOU might not like what they do with it.

Third Person: The dear old grandpappy of fiction. "Once upon a time, there lived a Prince . . ." When writing as the all-knowing and all-powerful author who knows all, sees all, and shares judiciously, this is known as third-person omniscient, otherwise known as "Please, do head-hop your way through this nice Regency novel." Third-person limited or Deep Third Person retains the barrier between author and character, but limits it to what that particular character knows, feels, thinks, smells, etc at that exact moment in time much like first person. See the altar I have made to Suzanne Brockmann and Jennifer Crusie for more on how this POV works.

Now, literary fiction throws all the rules out the window and will often do things like alternate chapters of first-person, third-person omniscient, and deep third person POV all while playing with the time continuum, but if you are up for such POV Olympics, you probably aren't in the market for POV aids. Also, you probably hate POV monogamists like myself who insist that you should choose one POV strategy for your story and stick with it to the bitter end. And even worse, I am a this-life-and-the-next monogamist and think that you should choose one POV strategy for your book series and stick with it until the voices in your head (or pictures, thank you, Debbie) hand you a new universe to play with.

Thus, I'm struggling with making the choice between First and Third Person POV for my current WIP. As I have outlined this book, the other books in the series have also become clearer to me (I think I am channeling the lovely Genene), and I envision a point where I really want to use Third Person in my series. Maybe. And thus I dicker, and I will subject you to my dickering because if I can't use my POV yet, I can at least dicker with it.

First Person POV:

• PRO: This is the current gold standard in YA. I personally miss the days when there were more third-person books on shelves, but absent flying fairies and space ships, the contemporary YA subgenre truly is all about ME. And I. And ME some more. And god forbid we see YOU, but we might squeeze HER in somewhere over there. In a dusty corner.
• CON: Is it possible that something so fresh can go stale?
• CON: It often feels like there needs to be a reason for the narrator to share his or her story, and lord save us from a heroine with a diary. Absent the diary though, and the device sometimes feels a bit artificial.
  
• PRO: The reader gets an immediate connection with the hero(ine) and gets to see their inner workings and insecurities in minute detail.
• CON: The reader only gets that connection with one character. The audience is left in the dark about other characters' inner lives.
  
• CON: Any sub-plots need to happen "on-camera" for the first person narrator to be able to share them. This limits the ability to advance character arcs for secondary characters.
  
• PRO: The readers get to feel smart when they realize things before the hero(ine) does.
• CON: The readers are left in the dark a lot of times all the way up until the end of the book when the big reveal happens.
• CON: The plot limitations of this device can often result in the hero(ine) looking clueless and less than sympathetic.
  

Third Person (I only do this "deep" so that's what I'm referring to here):

• PRO: Your reader gets to live in the heads of multiple characters.
• CON: They lack the commentary and intense connection of first person POV.
  
• PRO: Multiple story arcs can be advanced.
• CON: If you have a story that's big on character and light on plot, third person can make it feel smaller and fluffier.
  
• CON: If most of your story happens from one POV anyway, the other character's "head time" can seem forced.
  
• PRO: You can reveal motivations and causes for actions before the hero(ine) becomes aware of them.
• CON: You miss out on the big reveal of first person stories.
  
• CON: There's an emotional distance between the reader and the story. This is a huge factor in YA, less so in other genres, but still a key consideration.
  

Now, 90% of the time, you probably know what POV you want to use before you even begin to plot (or pants :)). Perhaps your voices (pictures) only speak to you in third person. Perhaps your particular sub-genre has firm rules about POV and how it is handled, and you lack any real choice. But what about when the choice isn't clear cut? How do you solve this? Write entire chapters and then compare? Write an entire draft and then decide? And can we talk about series that switch POV style partway through the series? Is this universally hated or can it work? Share your POV problems. Anonymously if you must, but you know, even Senators and Football Stars have POV problems from time to time . . .

There Will Always Be Something . . .

Current Project: NMMNG
Status: Outlining

I had a different post for today all about back story, but I had a different kind of day today than I planned. A friend lost her baby at 26/27 weeks gestation, and my day was spent trying to figure out how to support her family. I had my brother here, and I had high hopes of sneaking some writing in while the hurricane was occupied. Three months ago, a different friend lost a child, and I lost my writing momentum for weeks. A few weeks ago, my dad was sick, and I had to fight against the tidal wave of procrastination that threatened to capsize my meager WIP. I am the Queen of the "It's Always Something" excuse club. I didn't write for most of my pregnancy, and then I had a newborn, and then toddlerhood was hard, and I have all these classes to teach. . . .

It will ALWAYS be something.

This hit me a few weeks ago when my Dad became ill, and I realized that there will always be things more pressing than writing. Life is not going to slow down and hand me time to write. If not a demanding toddler, it will a new baby, an ill parent, a death in the family, or a friend's tragedy. I see Alice with her mother, Genene with her son, Eli with her illness, Lisa with her school, Debbie with her job uncertainty, Paty with the six zillion hats she wears, and I am continually inspired by the way that you all keep going in the face of adversity.

The easy choice is always to turn away from the blinking cursor. It is easy to do the "selfless" thing and put others first. There are only 24 hours in a day, and none of them are programmed to throw a quill at you and shout, "GET WRITING! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!" Instead, there are phone calls to make, anxiety to beat back, lunches to prepare, noses to wipe, conversations to have, and there is always just one more thing that you could do. It is easy to fall into bed and think, "Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will write."

Except, what happens when tomorrow ISN'T any better? And the day after that? We have a family joke about my father and a rubbish pile in the garden. "When are you going to burn that, Dad?" It was too windy. There wasn't enough wind. It was too sunny. It was too rainy. It looked like it *could* rain. It looked like it wouldn't rain soon enough. He had better things to do. He had nothing to do, so he needed a nap. He lost his matches. He had matches but couldn't find the hose in case he needed water. He didn't have a chair to sit on to watch the fire. If we were going to have a fire, we should have marshmallows and hot dogs, but we had none. This went on for YEARS. And then, one day, my mother went out, lit the pile, and 15 minutes later, there was only ashes instead of a pile of excuses.

Writing is my rubbish pile--the task I keep putting off, waiting for an ideal moment. Lately though, I've been talking back to that voice in my head. What would a perfect moment look like? Clean house, accomplished to-do list, bills paid, work caught up, rested, fed, and toddler on a five hour nap? Sure. And I'll dedicate my first sale to the flying pigs I just saw. There will always be something. And just as surely, I will always pine for more writing time.

It is not in my nature to write productively through pain. I have so much other stuff churning around in my head that it is easy to let writing slip. But, in the last year, I've been working on changing that mentality. I don't want to be hobby writer. I'm not sure if I've written that out before, but there it is. Leaving aside all doubts about my talent and my voice, I want to be a paid writer. And that means being able to produce in the face of distractions. I teach my classes when I would rather not. I read stories, assemble puzzles, and prepare lunch when I would rather not. I clean . . . okay. Bad example. But, I AM capable of doing stuff when distracted.

The key for me is making writing one of those things that I do no matter what. I am working on acknowledging to myself that, yes, this bad thing happens, and my heart breaks, and I do what I can to make the situation better, but I still write. And that doesn't make me a bad or callous person. Especially in light of my friend's tragedy, the temptation is so strong to bring everything to a screeching halt and simply rail against the universe and all its injustices and not resurface for weeks or months. I feel like a bad person for writing when someone I love is hurting or when I put things off to write. It sucks when I can't make things better or take away a love one's pain, and so I feel really guilty when I write instead of X million other things that I could do.

So, to deal with that, I'm starting a list. I call it my dedication list. Each time I feel guilty about choices I make, I add a line to my dedication page:

To the budgets I could be writing, to the cakes I could be making, to the "Little Bear" videos I have playing, to the dishes spilling over, the laundry exploding, to the husbands I'm neglecting, to the wallowing I'm not doing, this book is for you. To my father, to my friend C and her daughter, to my friend D and her daughter, I honor you with this book. If I had a beer, I'd raise it, and if I had a hat, I'd tip it, but I have a pen, so I'm writing.

What would your list look like? Has it been a struggle for you to make writing a priority in your life?

A Dear John Letter

Current Project: NMMNG ( I'm superstitious about sharing the title, so I'm doing initials)
Status: Plotting

Dear Manuscript #3:

I've tried to break up with you in person a thousand times, but I just see your sad face blinking on my hard drive, and I always give you one more chance. I'm not very good at confrontation, so if you're reading this, I've already left. Or rather, YOU'VE left. My hard drive that is. You'll find your new residence on the back-up server to be quite spacious and accommodating of you, your 14 odd drafts, your many failed synopses, and that Rolling Stones poster you insist on toting everywhere with you.

I really hoped it wouldn't end this way. I still remember when you popped into my head back in 2005. I finished my YA in record time because I couldn't wait to move onto you. When I first sketched the rough outlines of the plot that would become you, my fingers tingled. I started drafting you in 2006, and I loved everything about you: the meandering plot, the beta hero, the funny secondary characters, and the ugly duckling heroine. You were going to be THAT book for me: The one that earned me a golden heart final, the one I snagged an agent with, the one I launched a career with. You made me laugh, you made me tear my hair out, and you forced to me to grow in ways I never could have expected.

I wanted this for you. For US. And so, I spent the last two years making excuses for you. I went on a reading tour of best-selling author's first books, and I tried to convince myself that you were just as bad as them. This should have been where I got a clue, but instead I tried an intervention. I didn't want you to meet my friends, so I said that you were in revision. For two years, I kept up the mantra that you were one synopsis away from being presentable. You were my invisible book--only I knew the REAL you. I kept hoping that you would wise up and do your part to achieve a marketable plot. You had so much potential. But, I can't keep your lazy behind around any longer on the promise of potential.

This summer, I finally decided to make you earn your keep. I tried for the umpteenth time to write a synopsis that would give me a road map to fixing your flaws, and I sent you out to a few contests that don't require a synopsis. Then the inevitable happened: I saw you for who you really are, not just who you have the potential to become. Your plot takes a year to complete, you have a beta hero, and your heroine is more than a little boring. You have a shiny title, but don't get too attached to it--I just might snatch it back later.

I was already packing my bags, but then I got contest scores back last week, and I realized that perhaps you CAN be fixed, but I just don't have it in me to try anymore. I love too much to take a chainsaw to the essence of you, and yet, I don't love you enough to let you stay the way you are. You've shaken my faith in myself long enough. At this point, I'm keeping you around for sentimental reasons, which isn't good enough. You are the embodiment of my journey to parenthood, and I secretly believe that I got pregnant because I wrote you. However, perhaps I can't fix you because I'm not that person any more. Silly inaccuracies that were endearing three years ago drive me crazy now. Thus, if I don't respect you enough to want to be seen in public with you anymore, you can laze around another hard drive for awhile.

I've got a new tingle in my hands and a new WIP that keeps me up at night. I'm a little more jaded this time around, but I still think it might be the one. I can't wait to tell its story. I'm sorry that to do it justice that I have to let you go. I wanted better for you, and I want you to know that I am a better writer for having written you to a completion, for having spent two years trying to save you, and for letting you go.

I know that someday we will both look back and know that this was truly "for the best." When I finally write THAT book, the one that truly is my ONE, I'll dedicate it to you for everything that you taught me and everything that you should-of-could-of-would-of been.

All my love,

Bethany

Your turn: Tell me about manuscripts that sit on your hard drive, under your bed, in your attic. Tell me about the one you thought was THE ONE but wasn't. Tell me about the one that you had a hard time moving on from. Tell me about your rebound book :)

What are you reading?

Current Project: Contest Entries
Status: Getting them done!

I am chomping at the bit because I have yet to read the slew of great books that came out last week: Suzanne Brockmann's latest, our own Eli's latest, Allison Brennan's latest, but I'm waiting for them to arrive (and for time to materialize), and I've been on a up and down streak with books right now. But there have been a few gems:

I just finished Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. The 12 greek gods are alive and well in London, sharing a cramped townhouse. Who will love it: Eli and Lisa.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner isn't really a romance, but it is a gem of a book as the best thief in the land gets a chance to go on a royal quest. Who will love it: Karen, Becky, and anyone else who loves a good fantasy tale in the spirit of Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.

Wed Him Before You Bed Him by Sabrina Jefferies. This is the culiminatation of the school of heiresses series, and Mrs. Harris finally gets her book. Absolutely delightful, but you will get the most pleasure out of it if you start with the earlier books in the series. Who will love it: Becky and others who love historicals.

Tell me what you're reading right now, and what is on your TBR pile that you are most excited about? What have you read recently that you give 5 Stars to? Also, any interest in bringing books for trading to the August Meeting?

Grammatically Correct Tattoos

Current Project: Synopis + Contest Entries
Status: Picked the next two months of contests and carried synopsis in my bag to work. Writing by osmosis not working yet, but am hopeful.

I want a tattoo.

I'll give you a minute to find your jaw amid the pencil stubs on your floor. No, not a dancing lady or Chinese symbol or intricate ferns, or even something cute and sentimental like Lisa's.

I want a big, bold, 72 pt. Font tattoo that says:

When joining two complete sentences with a FAN BOYS*, a comma is required.

A bit cumbersome, yes, but as a "traditionally built woman," my back is broad, and I figure we can set it off nicely with some scroll work. Further, we can balance it out with several smaller tattoos:

A cayenne pepper semicolon (A semicolon has one purpose in life: to join two complete sentences that are not joined with a comma + FAN BOYS. Semicolons add versatility and zest to one's punctuation repertoire, but too many of them spoils the soup.)

Were= Verb. Where = Place.

A smiley face accompanied by, "That is for things; who is for people."

A red hot rod underscored with, "They're moving their car over there. "

A purse monogrammed with, "You're in need of a new purse to match your dress."

And on my shoulders:

A lovely modern art piece of quotation marks hugging periods and question marks.

A thesis playing hide and seek amid the sentence forest.

Can you tell that I've been grading? There are days when I really wish I had a set of stamps because I just keep seeing the same errors over and over. I wonder if there is something faulty in my teaching methodology that commas remain elusive for my students, popping up in spots they don't belong and conspicuously absent from spots where they are most needed. Last night, I decided to try something new and pulled up a news story so that my class could analyze why the writer placed each comma and discuss the editing process.

Imagine my dismay when I found THIS lurking in the article:

Cronkite was the broadcaster to whom the title "anchorman" was first applied; and his name was at one point synonymous with the role even outside the U.S.

Can you spot the error? I would explain, but I'm still waiting for my copy of Elements of Style to quit twitching. I begin to think that my tattoos may be the only sane solution.

Your turn: What grammar pet peeves do you have? What literary tatoos would you most like to get (see below for inspiration)? If you want to practice commas and semicolons as to not offend the grammar gods, I love this short exercise (it has an answer key). How did you do?


*FAN BOYS= For, And, Not, But, Or, Yet, So
** The awesome tattoo is from a great site of literary tatoos: http://www.contrariwise.org/

Wearing That Book Plum Out

Current Project: Finding my way back . . .
Status: waiting for a map

Oh um, HI! Is it my day to blog? REALLY? Of course, I remembered LAST night, only to forget in the course of freezing berries, toddler wrangling, and general life. And so it goes.

Have you ever worn a book out? My beloved copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything has been in three pieces for months now. Note that this is NOT a three volume set. Then this weekend, I noticed that pages were missing. The death knell has finally tolled, and I'm facing the need to replace. Similarly, my copy of Dr. Sears' The Baby Book has not survived the toddler years. I'm wondering if the universe is sending me a message. When I was younger, I wore out These Happy Golden Years, Anne of Green Gables, countless Judy Blume books, and the first 10 Babysitter's Club books. My copies of Suzanne Brockmann's Unsung Hero and Breaking Point are in sore need of an upgrade to hardback. I wore my copy of Lori Foster's Mr. November out and was so happy to see its release in anthology last year.

The toddler is following in my footsteps. Baby Colors is in tatters, Dear Santa needs a trauma team on stand by, Dr. Seuss's Alphabet book is missing a few letters, and Johnny the Gorilla is now a two volume set. I look at the carnage with pride.

I'm always torn between replacing and repairing. I'm not an expert on repairs like some of my relatives, so my repair jobs end up impairing the reading experience. Yet, the battered books stand as testaments of love and devotion. They are badges of honor. I can think of no greater compliment to a writer than a worn out book. Personally, I would much rather see a tattered stack of paperbacks than a shelf of display books in pristine condition. Books are meant to be loved.

Which books have you worn out? Have you ever replaced a beloved book?

Reading with Your Ears

Current Project: Synopsis
Status: STUCK


I had another post ready to go, but that topic just doesn't suit today's mood. I'll keep it in reserve. Instead, I'd like to talk about books on tape/CD. Everyone's talking about eBooks and Kindle this and Sony that, but I'm so far from hopping on that bandwagon that I'm looking to hitch a ride on last decade's technological advance first. My mother is addicted to books on tape/CD/mp3. She has listened to dozens of mystery series as she cleans her kitchen and while driving. In her life as a librarian she's always raving about books on tape and has converted several other family members. I, on the other hand, have had a love-hate relationship with books on tape. When I broke my foot, I listened to several good ones in a row and got some great knitting done. However, the slow pace soon wore on me. I'm a fast reader, so I had trouble adjusting to spending a week with a single book. Also, while the format works well for mysteries, there's something vaguely uncomfortable about listening to love scenes. After Tavy was born, I listened to a few other books on tape while nursing, but again the slow pace kept me from becoming a regular listener. I'm not a very auditory person--I don't like podcasts (whole different blog topic), and I don't listen to a ton of music.

Anyway, lately, I find myself rather bored cleaning late at night, and I admit that I often put it off in favor of a book/work/writing. I'm wondering if books on tape might help. Of course, my mother would say YES. But, what do YOU say? Do you listen to books on tape? What's your preferred method--tape/CD/mp3 download? What do you like/dislike about the format? And, do you have any 5 star recomendations to help me love this format?

Backstory Exercise!

Current Project: Synopsis
Status: Seventh Circle of Something . . .


I'm swamped today, so I'm going to be lazy and piggy back on the heels of Debbie's great post. Go read this great blog by Jennifer Crusie. She talks about how much you can tell about people from what is in their fridge (and how clean it is!). Now my task for you, in the interest of learning more about your characters is pick three characters who are not the hero and heroine and tell me what's in their fridges. So many times we focus and focus on the main characters, but rich secondary characters are important too.

I'm eager to see what you come up with!

Motivation, Baby

Current Project: Contest Entries
Status: Almost done with one, two to go

If you haven't seen Debbie's awesome post from yesterday, read that first because mine ties neatly into the same topic of reading like a writer. I've just finished three fabulous five-star books (I love it when this happens): The Club by Sharon Page (Historical/Spicy), Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston (Women's Fiction), and Delicious by Sherry Thomas (Historical). And of course, I had to analyze each one to figure out what made it work and why. Each features memorable, unusual characters and intricate plotting, but one thing that stood out to me is motivation.

Each of these books reaches a point where hero/heroine/a secondary character (or all three!) act in an absurd fashion. Extreme actions and reversals are very tricky things--if they fall flat, you risk the reader sending your book on a one-trip to the nearest wall, but if you don't push the limits, you risk a flat book that fails to fully engage the reader. What makes the above trio work is that each time an extreme action is taken, the character's motivation is clear. Now, this next bit is absolutely critical: Even though the character is doing absurd thing, even things that don't fit who they were at the beginning of the book, things that we would never do, the action is 100% consistent with the motivation.

For example, in Happiness Sold Separately, Elinor (the main character) spends a night under the tree in her front yard. This is the type of extreme action that can easily fail as being unbelievable and seemingly used just to advance the plot or shock the reader. However, in this case, Elinor's action gives a deeper insight into who she is because the unexpected action is grounded in realistic motivation: she's desperate to change something, she's already been bonding with this particular tree, and she doesn't want to sleep in her bedroom. Elinor's relationship with the tree is a central theme of the story, so the action makes sense.

Now, here's my challenge for you: What is the most extreme or absurd action that one of your characters takes? What is the motivation for this action? Is it clear? Is it clear immediately after the action is taken? If not, how long does your reader have to wait? Could the reader summarize the motivation in a single sentence without any qualifiers? Can you think of books that are unsatisfying because the motivation for a particular action isn't clear?

I look forward to seeing your replies!

A quarter of a post--Critique versus Attack?

Current Project:Contest entries.
Status: Stalled. Hoping for progress soon.

Apologies. I have been waylaid by an icky gallbladder that may or may not have to be removed. Sigh. But, there's a very interesting discussion over at Dear Author (follow the link for more) about what constitutes fair critique and discussion of the romance genre. I know that those of you who are published wait for reviews with baited breath and suffer mightily when you receive a less than favorable review. However, I'm wondering about this question on a larger scale. When does critique go too far? Is it fair game to question some of the tropes of the genre? When does review become unbearable snark? Has your tolerance for critique changed overtime?

And finally, isn't it nifty that the Princeton conference and others are bringing romance to academia. I so wish I could see Elosia James's presentation at the RWA conference this summer. Take copious notes for me!

Finding the Time

Current Project: Dr. Hardhat (better title names happily accepted!)
Status: Chapter One

I'm typing this right now from my "Bad Mother Cubicle." I have the toddler on my lap facing Monitor #1 (Signing Time on You Tube ) while I'm facing my laptop to type this. I am fully expecting my lump of coal for Mother's Day. My get-over-myself program of recommitting to writing is going well, but as I anticipated, the hardest thing is finding the time to work. Or let me phrase that more accurately: letting myself find the time. I have this perfectionist streak that thinks only in all-or-nothing terms:

"It's only five minutes. That's not even time to open the document! (However, it's time to read Go Fug Yourself) ."

"I'm too tired to do a good job."

"I can't think with Hurricane Tavy in the same room."

"I don't have my laptop with me."

"I'm not going to finish even a page."

If my brain doesn't see the uninterrupted chance to get 1500 words, it doesn't want to bother. However, my brain needs to get over itself. Eli gave me a gift when she said that even when I wasn't writing I was still thinking like a writing. I need to start valuing the little moments when I do ANYTHING that furthers my goals. To this end, I've been stealing little minutes here and there that add up:

• Using the bad mother cubicle
• Sitting in the driveway with a notepad and a sleeping baby
  
• Trading baby wrangling with a friend
  
• Taking an extra five or ten minutes at the gym to write down what percolated during my workout.
  
• Cutting back on my nightly reading time (I know, I'm surprised at me too. This is the most painful one.)
  
• Using those five to twenty minutes that the Hurricane is happily occupied to stage things for later
  
• Sitting in the car with a notepad while DH runs into a store with the Hurricane
  
• Prioritizing so that I get things that require less concentration done quickly so that I have more time later when I do have a block of time
  
• Putting the baby to be earlier
• Teaching the hurricane how to color (she's obsessed now, and it buys me a few minutes).
  

How do you steal time? Do you schedule time for writing or do you grab it where you can? Both?

NOW, it's time for a drill. Note the time on your screen. For the next five minutes, WRITE. If your document isn't handy, grab a sheet of paper, a back of an envelope, open a blank email to yourself, but choose your medium quickly. If you can't remember where you left off, just grab a snippet of dialogue as it comes to you. You can place it later. No dialogue coming? Ask your characters a couple of questions. Write a paragraph about your character at 10 years old. ANYTHING even remotely related to your current WIP counts. Make bullet points outlining a chapter, make a sketch of a town or room. ANYTHING. Now, didn't that feel good? If you do that drop-everything-and-write drill three more times today, you'll rack up 20 minutes that otherwise would be lost to the ether. Report back!

GH 2010 or Bust

Current Project: Proofing Sugar High
Status: 1/3 done!

All weekend, I worked on an awesome post about how failure is sometimes the best possible thing that can happen to us. I was upset about not making GH, but I was *good* upset--the kind of upset where you resolve to make what you want happen. THEN, as you can see from Eli's sweet announcement on the sidebar, I got AWESOME news with winning the Great Expectations Contest and a request for the full from the Editor. So, um, yeah, about that failure blog . . . I think I'm a little too giddy right now to don my Commando Wavy attire and get all up in your grill. But, I'm going to try because I still want to talk about planning and goals.

Now, excuse me while I go channel Genene and Lisa for this very un-Bethany posting topic. Oooooom Oooooom Feeling the Need to Buy Office Supplies Ooooom Ooooom Feeling urge to make a spreadsheet Ooooom. Okay. I'm in the right headspace to plan, now. And really, I think that this is 90% of the battle with goal setting. For the last year, I haven't really committed to a plan. Oh sure, I've made goals. Aspirations really. Ideals. And while it looks awesome cross-stiched on a wall (gathering dust, natch), "Write Everyday" hasn't exactly landed me anywhere near my goals. Instead, I miss a day, and I feel guilty and stew, and then it's been three weeks, and then suddenly it's 2009, and I last had a finished MS in 2007, and my purple book of ideas has expanded to Ideas-Exceeding-Life-Expectancy Levels, and lordy, was I really surprised when I didn't final in the GH when I only decided to enter to justify keeping my RWA membership?

Alexis Morgan spoke to our chapter two weeks ago about "Getting Organized to Write." Her talk was my getting organized to get organized moment as it got me in the right headspace to think about what I really want right now. I mulled this over and tried to get myself to drink the "I'm 100% happy being a professor right now. I'm a professor/mother. I don't need another slash right now" kool-aid despite the gnawing ache in my gut whenever I finish a really good book. Maybe I could recommit to this whole writing later . . . a decade or two . . .or get a new goal . . .

I'm really good at lying to myself. Scary good. When I found out that I didn't get GH this year, I realized that I had been holding a lot back from myself. It was a bit like reaching page 303 and realizing that OMG! The heroine has an evil twin! I had this whole fantasy spun out in my head most of which centered around passive success. Lo! I would be discovered! With no further work required on my end.

Except, okay, yes. Lots of work. Something Alexis said that made a lot of sense for me was that you have to know your pace so that when you sell(not if, if is now banned from my vocabulary), you can tell your editor when to expect book 2. Light bulb! When you sell, you have MORE work. Better get started now, as there isn't such a thing as a Book Two Fairy or Publicity Elf. She also talked about having realistic goals that keep you accountable and take fate out of the equation.

Thus, while my driving fire right now is all "Golden Heart," I don't control the judging gods. However, what I do control is putting myself in the best position to reach that goal. So here's my GH 2010 or Bust Plan:

• Weekly goals. I'm breaking down my goals into weekly goals that CHANGE each week. Small concrete tasks that either get accomplished or not. I need recovery from all the XXX words by Y month goals that I never met. New week = New Goal. This lets me take into account what sort of week I have ahead of me and pick that week's goal accordingly. I've got enough small and large tasks to keep my momentum going if I choose wisely each week.
  
• Overall goals. Keeping my eye on the prize, I'm looking at what needs to be done. I would like to enter three manuscripts.
  
• Manuscript #1 is the YA which won Great Expectations. I've done revising based on awsome judge feedback from the contest, and this is in good shape, but I'd like to get it a shiny new synopsis and consider whether I need to upsell the romance to suit RWA tastes.
  
• Manuscript #2 is one of two long-languishing contemporaries. I need to just get over myself already. I'm planning to enter more contests over the Spring and the summer to force myself to draft a synopsis and cut-and-burn along the way.
  
• I need to get over myself where Manuscript #2 is concerned, because Manuscript #3 is hopefully going to be a new finished MS. As in, yes, actually moving beyond Chapter 1. Right now, I have . . .gulp . . .SIX first chapters rattling around my hard drive. I might need to return in a future blog to play WIP idol with y'all as judges . . .
  
• I'm including little details in my plan to make it easier this year. For example, I'm putting aside a little money each month to cover contests and to have enough to cover three entries and postage for 3 tons of paper heading to Texas. And postage would be much cheaper if I could ship via muletrain instead of two-days-before deadline concord. So I'm planning to enter and ship #1 & #2 as soon as the contest opens, saving #3 for a last-minute NaNoWriMo push worthy of paying a small fortune in stamps.

So, this is where I'm at right now. My apologies for the lack of a prettier looking plan as the Genene/Lisa juice wore off before I could make a pie-chart or some such. However, I'm still fired up. Do you have ideas for me to add to my plan? Have you ever been surprised by your reaction to something? Have you turned a failure into a fire-up moment for yourself?

**The picture is the best one I found during a quick search, and the only one by far to feature a smoldering hero worthy of a romance blog. It's from this neat historic photo website.

Hand Selling

Current Project: Waiting for the meeting tonight!
Status: Impatient

Authors often acknowledge small booksellers for "handselling" their book. I never really understood this concept until recently. Here is a good discussion of handselling that better explains the process from a book seller perspective. Now, here is my insight: We are ALL capable of handselling books. In bookseller lingo, handselling is when a bookstore blogs about, adds reviews, decides to place promiently, features in a newsletter, or otherwise promotes a book independent of efforts by the author/publishing house. However, often marketing by the author does play a role in catching the bookseller's attention. Librarians handsell when they recomend, blog about, place on lists, feature in newsletter, give promient shelf space and otherwise promote works.

I have seen this happen with my mother time and time again. She spys new fiction coming in, reads it, shares it with other librians. It ends up getting a promient shelf space on "New Fiction" instead of joining the rows and maybe gets a newsletter blurb.

A certain amount of synergy goes into bookstore and library handselling. Someone sees your postcard on the same day that she sees a review in publisher's weekly in the same week that she sees a guest blog and suddenly feels like everyone ELSE is talking about this book and gets inspired enough to read a copy.

Now, how do those of us who lack a bookstore or a library handsell books? There's always the subversive method. (On rare occasions, I like to discretely rearrange shelves at Big Box stores. Key word: discrete. I'm not replacing any of the NYT slots or anything obvious. If you want to try this method, you could get a stack of "local author" stickers and add them to copies. I have seen this occasionally at CostCo and know that some authors do this themselves (not my doing:))). There's the amazon/goodreads/insert book review site here method whereby you make a habit of giving favorable reviews to books you enjoyed. There's the blogging about books you loved avenue. There's talking up books that you like method. And then there's the the next step: Talking up books that you think OTHERS will like.

This is where we all have the power to be handsellers. It's not simply sharing what we love. It's matching up readers to books and acknowledging that not everyone will like what we like. Recently, I've been on a bit of a bad-luck run with my reading. I keep reading books that have a lot of great buzz, but that just don't do it for me. However, I've been determined to find readers for these books. I want them to be loved.

I've also been trying to more actively handsell the books of our chapter members, remembering to throw them in when someone mentions X author that they like. Just this morning, someone mentioned that they wished that Susan Wiggs would return to historicals. I suggested Paty's books. She wrote down her name and said that this was perfect timing as she had an amazon gift card to use. Handselling. I have a friend who usually reads Vampire and Sci Fi, but who likes a good action movie. I loaned her a copy of Eli's Stolen Fury. She's eager to see her paranormal series now. Handselling. I told my mother about Chris York's new mystery series, and I'll remind her when the launch date nears. She'll add it to the order list for the library. Handselling.

Returning to synergy, this is why even when it feels like promo isn't working, it actually IS. You create enough buzz for a reader to pick up your book. You snare the right reader, and they get you more readers. And then, as fast you can holler Amway, you've got an army of rabid fans.

In this economy, I think it is worth it to remember our value as readers and as advocates for our fellow writers. If YOU want to sell, you should think about selling OTHERS.

Now, allow me to introduce you to a few books you may love:

• The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig. Who will love it: Readers who like historical books, but who dislike regency novels. Chick lit readers who are wary of historicals but would like something smarter than the average contemporary. Literary fiction readers who would like a little more romance. Readers who wish Meg Cabot or Sophie Kinsella would write historicals and/or smarter heroines.
• The Vampire Next Door. Who will love it: Readers who like their vampires light and silly. Readers who love French heroes. Readers who wish that vampire didn't always = erotica or lots of explict sex. Readers who like Rachel Gibson or Carly Phillips and wish that they would write vampire novels (Please no).
• The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson. Who will love it: Any one who loved Gilmore Girls. Women moving on after a divorce. Daughters of single mothers.
• The Gourmet Girl Mystery series. Who will love it: Chick lit fans who also like cozy mysteries. Girls who crush on celebrity chefs. Readers who like to cook. Graduate school drop-outs.

Now, you return the favor. I need to end my streak of perfectly nice books that don't float my boat. It's painful giving yet another book the "It's not you, it's me" speech about why I can't commit to the rest of their series or why it isn't landing on my keeper shelf. Handsell me some books. Published authors, how has handselling helped you?

What's in your bag?

Current Project: Surviving February and March
Status: Half Done!

One of my favorite short stories to teach is "The Things They Carried," both for its beautiful centering narrative and for the depth and variety of descriptive writing. The items that each solider chose to carry reveals much about each one's character. I then ask students to dig through their bags and purses to find three unusual items and describe each in a way that reveals its significance to them. Literary fiction authors (I really hate that term as ALL fiction is literature) often toil with description, working with the nuisances of wording, and building up lavish portraits of inanimate objects. (Case in point, the tree in Separate Peace). Sometimes, however, in romance novels, items get overlooked in favor of rippling pecs, smoldering glances, and witty banter. Of course, fashion occupies a good deal of page real estate in many novels, but I'm talking about what's in the purse, the bedside table, the desk drawer, the kitchen junk drawer, and the bathroom vanity. This is a shame because used judiciously item descriptions can do a lot of showing of character and save you from all that tedious telling. In Out of Control, Suzanne Brockmann uses the contents of the heroine's purse to reveal much of her backstory, show her character traits, and reveal much of inner hopes and dreams. She also manages to tie story arcs together using items from the purse. Pretty nifty, eh?

So, let's try an exercise. (You knew this was coming!) Pick three items from your purse and give a description that moves beyond "the pink cell phone" and the "set of nine keys." Bonus points if you do the same for your heroine or hero.

Bookmark This

Current Project: The Sandy Contest Entries
Status: DONE!

February is kicking my behind 28 ways to March, and I'm still bummed from missing RWA last night, and yet, I feel more like a writer than I have in a year and half. Perhaps I'm buoyed by my contest final, or perhaps it's a new idea I have that has me super excited, or perhaps it's just seeing what all of you amazing ladies have happening. I've been making a big effort to stay more connected to the writing community (sadly, this has not resulted in my commenting more, but I am reading!).

I find that when I check in with Smart Bitches, Running With Quills, Argh Ink(Jennifer Crusie's blog), and Romancing the Blog, my brain switches into "writer mode." And I love it when I discover a new blog like my latest find, Courtney Milan, whose series on Copyright Law is one of the most engaging writer-law pieces I've seen in a while.

Which writer blogs are your daily reads? Anyone new on your list? Any undiscovered treasure on your list? Share!

Managing Reader Expectations

Current Project: PNWA Entries
Status: Recovering from the plague

Sorry for my prolonged blog absence, but I've been insanely busy with school and with recovering from the plague. Or maybe Ebola. Whatever it was, my whole house has been ill with some vile nastiness.

Suzanne Brockmann (whom, as many of you know, is my personal goddess) has landed herself into a industrial sized pot of boiling water with her latest release, Dark of Night. If you have not read the book and are planning to or have not started the series and have it on your TBR pile, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS ahead. And I strongly urge you to read this one spoiler-free. I did, and I'm really happy for it.

SPOILERS

Many readers are furious with her for not pairing a particular hero (Hero A) and heroine (Heroine A). These readers were absolutely certain that a HEA was forthcoming for them based on a past sexual encounter and some smoldering glances, pining, and tension over several books. Hero and Heroine were discussed endlessly on Brockmann's message board and topped several reader polls for favorite couples. I have to admit at one time, I was firmly in Hero A's camp. However, over time, I came to root for Hero B and therefore wasn't too disapointed by the pairing. I trusted that I would like whatever Brockmann came up with and read the book without reading any reviews or spoilers. My perspective is that I loved the book even though it wasn't what I had expected, and I give her kudos for pushing the boundaries of romantic a little futher. (I'm linking to my good reads review--lots of spoilers)

However, there is a huge contingent of livid readers who feel very betrayed. They've errupted all over the All About Romance Forums, made themselves known on the Dear Author review, and staged protests on other blogs and in the amazon reviews. There's still a lot of controversy on Brockmann's message board as well, but it's nothing compared to the vitrol I'm seeing other places. Brockmann responded to reader questions as part of her Barnes and Noble centerstage chat (she's still taking questions through Friday! And she's happy to chat writing/craft!), but many readers are still dissatisfied (and indeed, some got even angrier at her replies). There's a pretty sizeable contingent of readers who have sworn off her books completely and/or refused to read Dark of Night.

Many readers seem to want some sort of apology or explanation ala Elizabeth George (this link also contains spoilers). You often see this kind of protest with TV shows (I've yet to forgive Enterprise, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy and a host of others for stupid pairings), but I've yet to see this kind of passion for romance novels. Although, Lori Foster is encountering a similar resistance to her latest offering that moves a contemporary realistic series into the realm of time-travel (which is in my TBR pile). Readers WANTED one thing, and the author handed them something different. AAR has another great post about other author/reader expectations mismatch?

Does the author OWE readers a certain HEA or style of novel? How should writers manage reader expectations? Should Brockmann have announced the hero/heroine pairings earlier or given more advanced warning? Should Foster have kept her series in the here and now? Have you ever been disapointed by a couple pairing or series direction? How do YOU (plan to) manage reader expectations? Oh, and, do you go spoiler-free on your favorite books or are you all about the spoilers?

Where's the Romance?

Current Project:PNWA Entries
Status: Revisions

I know it's a bit late for a year-in-review entry, but I've seen a number of "Best Books of 2008" articles lately, and they all irritate me. There's nary a romance in sight and each entry begins something like, "In this angst ridden tale . . ." "This dark and twisted novel . . ." "In this haunting portrait . . . " "X's life is meaningless and about to get more tragic . . . " Lovely, lovely, lovely. Literary fiction is usually much more . . .depressing than genre fiction, but this year it seems especially bad. Also, as much I support literary fiction, with so much of the book market made up of mystery, romance, and science fiction, shouldn't at least ONE genre book make SOMEONE's list? And yes, you can find lists on the various romance review websites, but I'd really like to see a mainstream publication add a genre novel or two to their year-end lists.

I read around 300 books last year, and about 30-40 of those were literary fiction. However, when I look at my "Keeper Shelf" for 2008, it's ALL Romance. Here's my top 30 Keepers from 2008. Note that not all of the books have 2008 publication dates, as I mainly read used books. (Oh and are you signed up for Good Reads yet? You should!) What books made it on to your keeper shelf in 2008?

File under Last Name

Current Project: PNWA Contest Entry
Status: Waiting for the weekend

(Don't forget to check out Debbie's awesome post on research below!) We've had numerous posts on first names. First Names are fun. I love pulling out the baby name books and trolling around various baby naming websites. However, last names are a burden. We're saddled with them from birth, and no real choice is involved. * And, while we get to choose for our characters, it's still a burden. There are no handy naming guides, and we have to be careful to not use last names that we know lest friends and relatives start seeing themselves on our pages.

Last names have become even more important with a big trend towards characters calling each other by their last names. Eli's hero and heroine in Stolen Fury use last names as part of their banter. I just finished Elizabeth Bevarly's You've Got Male, and again, last names feature prominently in the story. Many a rugged hero seems to be going by his last name-as-first name these days, and even the historical ones often answer to their last name or title. Saving the first name for intimate occasions is a nice trick to show the growing connection between hero and heroine and to showcase the hero's vulnerable side.

All well and good, but how to find the perfect last name? How do you avoid a slew of Smith's, Jones's, Lee's, Robert's, and Adam's? My mother loves combing the phone book, but I get very sleepy very quick. I like looking at family trees, but this falls under the dicey don't-use-names-you-know rule. You don't want to poach off another writer either, especially one you know. It's kind of like when your best friends uses YOUR baby name--you pretty much have to suck it up and find a new name, even if YOUR hero/ine had the name first. Sigh.

So tell me, how do your characters get their last names? Any good resources to share?


* Well, 99% of the time anyway. I do know one awesome couple who gave their children the last name "love."

Home for the Holidays . . . .

Current Project: Rewrites & plotting
Status: "gobbly gobbly pfferneuse! "*

Ah. Christmas Eve. Feel that fire crackling? Hear those Christmas Carols on the iPod? Smell those cookies coming out of Mom's oven? It's enough to send you rushing from the internet to dive into the nearest vat of eggnog. But not yet! We have work to do!

Work? Yes. Work. See, you are not the only one atwitter with anticipation. Your characters are about to celebrate the holiday as well. "But I'm not writing a holiday novel, Wavy!" Patience, grasshopper. Patience.

A person's reaction to the holiday reveals a lot about who they are, what they value, and what their goals are. GMC all in a tidy little holiday package. And, if you really want to get to know someone, send them home to their family and watch the dysFUNctional times. Many times, novels take place over a course of days or weeks--lives change before the first frost falls. Often, the extended family only makes a cameo appearance at the epilogue wedding. Consequently, you only get a limited glimpse of your character--who she is two weeks in May while Mom's on that Bermuda cruise and crazy stalker guy is terrorizing the surbubia.

Consider this: Where was your character on their last pre-HEA Christmas? Where will they be on their first HEA Christmas? I've been looking for ways to get deeper into the emotional growth of my characters, and I've found that looking backwards from their HEA gives me remarkable insight and clarity as to what changes are going to need to occur over the course of the story to allow that character to get his or her HEA. Sometimes, we get so bogged down in certain scenes or in the need to make forward progress with word count that we miss chances to play with our characters and really get inside their heads. Recently, I've been sending my character on all sorts of sidetrips that will never make into THE BOOK, but I'm learning so much about her that I'm planning future outings for her.

Your Turn: Send your character home for Christmas! Where were they last Christmas? Where will they be this Christmas? Next Christmas?

In the spirit of giving, I'll go first:

Last Christmas, Claire worked. As an intern, she was only too happy to pull extra shifts on Christmas and New Years--she didn't have any family to go home to, and she was grateful for the excuse of work to avoid her well-meaning friends. Growing up, Christmas wasn't a big deal--money was at its tightest as her mother struggled to pay for heat, and she usually had to work as well. Unlike Claire, however, she had no choice. Any presents that Claire got were practical in nature, and her mother was usually too tired for big meals or decorations. Later, after her mother died, Claire used holiday breaks to catch up on her studying and to work extra hours to pay for tuition. Now that she's finally done with school, Christmas still doesn't have any special appeal for her, although some deep, secret part of her feels a little twinge when she sees a Santa Hat in the waiting room or when one of the nurses passes around a holiday photo. She just buries those twinges under more work.

This Christmas, everything is different. She got her HEA moment months ago, but everything still feels raw and new--like stitches that still haven't healed. Claire is surrounded by hero's big Hispanic, Catholic family. She's overwhelmed by all the relatives, food, and decorations. Christmas Eve will find her going to midnight mass with hero's family, and even after several months in their fold, she still feels like an observer. Her sisters-in-law to-be cornered her and goaded her into a wearing a dress. An actual dress. Claire doesn't do dresses, especially velvet ones that pull and tug, but she liked how hero looked at her in it, so here she is. She really enjoyed helping Hero find gifts for all the nieces and nephews. She has absolutely no idea what to get Hero, and she doesn't want to give the sisters-in-law any more chances to meddle, so she's struggling with what to give him. She's afraid that if she dickers any more he'll end with something from the 50% off shelf in the hospital gift shop!

Claire could go on and on, but she (and I) want to hear about your character's Christmas history! Do share! Merry Christmas everyone!

*Swedish Chef, Muppet Family Christmas.

The Romance Gene

Current Project:Golden Heart Entries
Status: MAILED!!!!!!!!!!!

My paternal grandmother passed away Sunday afternoon, after a decade's long battle with Alzheimer's that stole her, the real her, from us years ago. Of all that Alzheimer's robbed her of, the loss of her ability to read was one of the cruelest. Unlike my mother's family where the library & bookseller gene mainfests shortly after birth, my father's mother came from simpler, Midwestern stock. Her house was neat and tidy, and books didn't factor into the decor at all. There were some musty books of my grandfather's in the basement, and she often had a book of inspirational sayings or a "Chicken Soup" book next to her chair. But other than this, you had to look hard to find the books in her house.

It was sheer luck that I discovered the boxes of romance novels under the guest room bed. When I spent the night, I would stay up late reading by the light of the closet. Occasionally, I would fall so in love with a book that I couldn't bear to part with it, and I would sneak it home in my overnight bag, heart pounding with guilt. I never told her that I found the books, and I lived in fear that she would clean them out before I could read them all. Once or twice I spied a romance on her nightstand table, and I would wait eagerly for that book to join the cache under the bed.

These were the best of the early Harlequins and category books--rich older men, naive young virgins, and covers festooned (thanks, Debbie!) with mustaches, walks on the beach, and Dorothy Hamill haircuts. I quickly became a connoisseur of the category novel--I knew which lines I preferred and could easily predict whether I would like a given story.

I'm sure that Grandma would much have much rather inspired a love of inspirational books, but I'm not sure I would have become a romance reader without her. My mother steered me clear of the paperback racks at the library, and the book-loving side of the family doesn't exactly embrace popular fiction. But, thanks to Grandma, I spent much of the 90's reading category books before I discovered contemporary single-title romances. I was adept at sneaking books back from the library and yard sales, and I became a good detective when visiting other relatives and homes.

Afterall, if GRANDMA had romances under HER bed, who else might have them stashed away?

Where did you find your first romance novel? Any closet readers in your family? Remember, tommorrow, as you carve that turkey, the relative you least suspect may have Nora's entire backlist in the linen closet!