Drunken War of the Sexes

I'm filling in for Eli's Friday spot. I have some time now, while squirt is sleeping and DH is at work. Forgive me if I'm stepping on your blog toes, Genene.

I may have forwarded this email on to a couple of you -- if so, sorry for the redundancy. This list cracked me up, but that's not the only reason I'm sharing it. I thought it offered a lot of insight into women with alcohol altered minds (besides bringing back a lot of college memories. Ha!) And who hasn't, or won’t at one time or another, write about an alcohol impaired character?

So, read the list, chuckle if you will, then check out the exercise at the bottom of the page.


WHEN GIRLS DRINK TOO MUCH.

1) WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE OUR PURSE IS.

2) WE BELIEVE THAT DANCING WITH OUR ARMS OVERHEAD AND WIGGLING OUR BUTT WHILE YELLING "WOO-HOO!" IS TRULY THE SEXIEST DANCE MOVE AROUND.

3) WE'VE SUDDENLY DECIDED THAT WE WANT TO KICK SOMEONE'S BUTT AND HONESTLY BELIEVE WE CAN DO IT TOO.

4) IN OUR LAST TRIP TO PEE, WE REALIZE THAT WE NOW LOOK MORE LIKE HOMELESS HOOKERS THAN THE GODDESSES WE LOOKED LIKE JUST FOUR SHORT HOURS AGO.

5) WE START CRYING AND TELLING EVERYONE WE SEE THAT WE LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH.

6) WE GET EXTREMELY EXCITED AND JUMP UP AND DOWN EVERY TIME A NEW SONG PLAYS BECAUSE "OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!"

7) WE'VE FOUND A DEEPER/SPIRITUAL SIDE TO THE GEEK SITTING NEXT TO US. AND THOSE HORN-RIMMED GLASSES AND OILY HAIR PARTED ON THE SIDE ACTUALLY SORT OF LOOK GOOD ON HIM.

8) WE'VE SUDDENLY TAKEN UP SMOKING, AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT IT.

9) WE YELL AT THE BARTENDER, WHO WE BELIEVE CHEATED US BY GIVING US PLAIN LEMONADE, BUT THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE WE CAN NO LONGER TASTE THE VODKA.

10) WE THINK WE ARE IN BED, BUT OUR PILLOW FEELS STRANGELY LIKE THE KITCHEN FLOOR (or the mop?)

11) WE FAIL TO NOTICE THAT THE TOILET LID'S DOWN WHEN WE SIT ON IT.

12) WE TAKE OUR SHOES OFF BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT THAT WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS WALKING STRAIGHT.


I think that pretty well sums up drunken women, especially young, drunken women. However, men don't do these same things when they've had too much to drink, do they? (Except for number three). And as certain as we'll someday write about a drunken woman or two, we may also find ourselves someday in need of some drunken male material. So, let's sit down with a nice toddy or hot-buttered rum and compile our own list of

WHEN GUYS DRINK TOO MUCH:

I'll go first:

1) Guys grow increasingly invincible with each alcoholic beverage they down. As the country song goes, men grow "ten feet tall and bullet proof."

2) Their pickup lines become more and more cliché: "How yoo doin'?" "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Or, my fave, "Hey baby, what's your sign?"

GIVE THANKS!

To those who celebrate the day -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm starting with an easy blog entry: what do you have to be thankful for? List the first five things that pop into your head. Here are mine and why:
1) Heat in my house -- because, man, it's cold tonight!
2) Neighbors -- because they rounded up my dogs when they escaped.
3) Doggies -- because I don't need so many blankets on cold nights!
4) Good food -- because I like to eat. (Thank goodness for Thanksgiving!)
5) Computers -- for instant communication with any number of people from around the entire world.

Now, to take a page from Donald Maass' book, toss out those five things and list five more things that you have to dig deeper for. (We are so blessed in this country that we may have to toss out the first ten or twenty before we get deeply into gratitude.)

OR, dig deeper into the reasons why you are grateful for those first five, which I did below.
1) Heat in my house -- because I actually have a house and, as the temperatures get colder, many homeless people must find shelter or risk frostbite, serious illness or even death from the cold weather.
2) Neighbors -- my dogs could have been lost or injured, or caused injury to someone rather than being safe back inside my house.
3) Doggies -- have been some of my wisest teachers in the lessons I have learned in this life. Each of my dogs reflects an aspect of my personality that I want to change.
4) Good food -- many people don't have food at all, yet I get to choose what I want for each meal.
5) Computers -- that instant communication allows me to stay in touch with friends who have moved out of town (or out of state), lets me research or find an opinion on pretty much any topic I'm interested in, gives me a chuckle or a warm fuzzy, helps me expand my perspective, lets me share my thoughts on this blog -- and much more!

How about you?

IN THE BEGINNING

The number one question I am asked: "Where do you get your ideas?"

Every book has to start somewhere. Even if that somewhere never makes it into the end product, it's the catalyst, the spark. Can you trace back where your latest idea came from?

For instance, Danita's red-eyed demon dogs. Danita has said she often gets her ideas from dreams. I am curious to know in what form that particular dream appeared. Was it just the dogs? Was it also the demon aspect? How much came with the initial birth of the idea?

And Karen with her urban fantasy and that whole world she's creating with gargoyle masters and all the rest I am afraid to write down because I know I'll get it wrong. Where did that idea originate? What was the beginning thought?

Paty and historicals. Did she read about a stamp mill or grow interested in a geographic place, did the characters come first or did the plot?

Eli's writing a paranormal. Did she read about gods and goddesses, or did an idea pop into her head, or did the concept seem interesting and she built the rest?

And everyone else, of course. I have no idea how Genene originates a book. And Lisa, where did yours start? Did Wavy think of the YA characters first or their situation? I know I am leaving people out, please forgive me.

The idea for my WIP came from a newspaper article about an event. My strongest thought upon reading the article was the "what if?" we all know so well. The book after this one is trickier as it morphed from an idea that came at a NY conference in a blinding moment during someone's workshop. The book itself no longer resembles much of the original idea. The one before this book came from a concept -- revenge. And before that, the general idea of not knowing who you are, where you are, or how you got there. What would happen next?

I haven't been specific with my examples because you've heard them before. Please, be as specific as you like so we can see how your spark ignited and created a book.

Happy Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble.

Decisions, Decisions

Reminder: Join us for our November meeting, tonight at 6:00 p.m. (social hour with brown bag dinner) with the meeting starting at 7:00 p.m. Our speaker is our very own Jim who will be speaking about swords and sword fighting. No stranger to swashbuckling romance, Jim writes with his wife Barbara Ray. Please join us!

I promise to return to reviewing RWA news soon, but today I actually had fodder for a blog-like post, so I decided to go with that.

I was thinking the other day about all the decisions that have gotten me to this point in my life--some big (which college, which boy, which job ), others small (which club, which book, which dinner). They all add up to the person I am now. I tend to revisit certain decisions in my head and wonder what would be different if I had chosen Y instead of X. It's not that I'm unhappy with my life (far from it). I'm just really curious about who I'd be if I'd chosen the other path. More importantly, who would I have needed to be to choose that path? I often wish for a time machine or a movie that would show me the other path but still let me return to my current life.

Then, last night I slapped myself upside the head! Duh! I'm a WRITER. The other path is ALWAYS open to me in my fiction, and I have a front row seat to the movies in my head. Realizing this gave me new insight on character development. A character is the sum of his/her choices. Each choice both reflects and reveals character.

Why did your character order eggs and pancakes instead of oatmeal?
Why did your character drive from Chicago to St. Louis instead of taking the train or flying?
Would your character really show up at that party?
Who would your character be if they worked at a different job, had said yes to that boy in college, went to graduate school?
What type of person would your character have to be to have met her best friend in kindergarten versus last year at a playgroup or five years ago in college?

Let's say you think it would be interesting if your heroine was a chef. You research cooking techinques, maybe interview a chef, and watch several hours of Food Network to ensure that she comes across authentic. This is all good, but if you really want to get inside her head consider her choices:

Who was she before she was a chef? What choices did she make along the way?
What sort of person chooses to go to culinary school versus college?
Why did she choose (or not) to stay at a small bistro versus moving up to an exclusive eatery?
What things has she had to give up to continue being a chef: night-time socializing? holidays? weekends? dieting? friends?

Each choice reveals something about the background of your character, who she is, how she thinks, what her values are. When you get an inconsistent answer, a red flag should go up: she wouldn't choose that. Back up, and reconsider the answer. Are you inserting your own preferences? Are you being true to her previous choices? Is there a reason for her acting outside of her pattern?

Let's say you decide to give your heroine a house in the suburbs while she works at a downtown eatery. Would a chef working 80+ hours a week really choose to commute that far, plus take on the upkeep of a house? If your chef would, why? Is she happy with her choice? Who would she be if you stuck her in a downtown loft instead?

Consider the smaller choices your characters make as well. Are you in a rut? Do all your heroines crave chocolate, hate their mothers, and love Audrey Hepburn. Would this character really make those choices?

Since as writers, the path not taken is always an option, don't fence your characters (or yourself!) in with the first choice that comes to mind. Consider what might happen if your character chose a different option. What if our fictional chef chose to go to college before leaving to become a chef? Who would she be then? What if instead of getting on a plane to go to St. Louis, you stick her on a train instead?

Are you taking advantage of places to reveal character through the motivation for choices. In John Grisham's The Summons, the main character, Ray, ends up eating in a lot of diners. Instead of just having his character order the pancakes, he reflects that he'd rather order cereal and grapefruit, but doesn't feel free to do so. He also notes in conversation why his father wouldn't eat breakfast at an establishment like that. These little details about the choices of Ray and his father reveal a lot about who they are.

As you write today, I challenge you to examine all of the choices your character has to make to bring them to that place in the story. Dig deeper into your back story and learn more about each character. Look for places to reveal motivation for choices.

Any thoughts? Examples?

Pumping out those words

We've got 25 days left in our challenge, folks. The stress of the holidays is upon us. Family coming to visit, kids out of school, food to cook, houses to clean, gifts to buy, people to kick in the shin at the Fred Meyer half-off sock sale on Friday, etc. All in all it's a super busy time of the year and writing is likely not at the top of your list of things to do.

Alas, don't let it slip to the bottom! It may be stressful to try and find time to write, but trust me, you'll thank yourself. Imagine that it's early January and the holidays are over, kids in school, and you sit down to write. It's been over a month since you've really worked on your book. You're not "feeling it" anymore, lost track of where you were going. You are down on yourself because you haven't added any words to it since the middle of November. The stress is overwhelming so you close up the document and don't open it again for a couple of weeks.

I've done this before, a couple of times. It's so hard to get back into the swing of things.

Rather than let this frustration get the best of you, take a few minutes once a day or a few times a week to just read over the last part you wrote - to keep it fresh in your mind. Or add in a few bullet points of what you want to happen next, or things you want to make sure to include. Just something to keep your book brewing in your mind during the holidays.

I'm going to try and practice what I preach. 25 days left people, push through it! You can do it! And remember, if you know you won't meet your 100-day goal, that's ok! Just try and get as close as you can. Don't stop now.

Eli's Challenge

Hi guys. Well, I got my 1,000 words today but goodness, it was like pulling teeth. I hate that kind of writing day and my only hope is that it sets up a better day tomorrow. I am way behind where I wanted to be at this point.

How about everyone else?

Do You Write Funny?

I love to laugh. And I love to make others laugh, often at the risk of embarrassing myself, which I do quite often in the sake of humor. If the cause behind my flaming red cheeks brings on a hearty guffaw from a friend, then, hey, it was worth it, right?

But what about incorporating humor into our writing? Here's what Gloria Kempton, has to say about it in her book, "Dialogue:

"Since humor seems to emerge out of the way certain writers view their worlds, if you're not one of them, you'll probably never write comedic fiction, creating the kind of story that is funny all the way through. But to throw in a funny line of dialogue once in a while goes a long way in holding your reader's attention. Humor hooks readers. They know if a character says something funny once, he most likely will again, and so they're watching for that, waiting for you to surprise them and make them laugh again."

So, to recap: Humor is surprise. I also like the sentence 'humor hooks readers' but then you all know what a sucker I am for a good hook. And, oops, now I have stepped away from the thrust of this blog, so let's step back onto the beaten path of humor shall we?

Okay. That's better. Surprise. Humor is surprise. Let's practice utilizing this theory with a fun little exercise that Ms. Kempton devised and I adjusted a teeny bit to suit our purpose here:

Just For Fun

Your female character is walking late at night on a downtown street of a big city. Suddenly she is accosted by three teenage boys who grab her purse. She yells something at them as they run away. What does she yell? Write one line of dialogue for one (or more) of the types of character below. Try to be as original as you can. The goal is to surprise your reader.

*a mom from the suburbs
*a prostitute
*a businesswoman
*an undercover cop
*Queen Latifah
*a grandmother
*Alice Sharpe
*a drag queen

Okay, I'll go first in the comments section. Thanks for playing along. (And thanks for letting me turn your cheeks red in the sake of making others chuckle, Alice. See, surprise! Bet none of you were expecting to see a member's name on the list -- ha!)

Taking stock

I recently took stock of all my writing projects, which would be the novels I've finished, published, started, been thinking of starting, and of course the work in progress, and let's not forget the short stories. I've been writing fiction for what seems like forever and I have a stockpile to show for it.

Completed novels: 5
Published novels: 3 (one is a novella)
Started novels: 4 (about 100 pages into each, but I plan to finish only 2)
Novel concepts waiting to start: 4
Works in progress: 1
Short Stories: 5

You'd think with all the pages I've wracked up that I'd be making a living at this by now. Ha! I've earned about $1500 total, which comes to around 63 cents a page. That's enough to mail a 2 ounce letter first class! Cool! But that doesn't take into account all my expenses, which would include scads of writers conferences and organization dues, so that puts me in the hole a few thousand bucks. Eh, so what. That's not the point.

Non-writers would think it crazy to want to continue this career quest, saying it isn't worth it. But I can't think of anything more worthwhile. I may not have made much income, but the rewards have been phenomenal. I've made amazing friends, learned about a fascinating business, and stretched my creativity and imagination farther than I'd ever dreamed possible. Through my stories I've visited enchanted islands and vast deserts, I've battled a serial killer and traveled to the astral plane, I've talked to mummies, turned into a gargoyle, suffered a dozen scorpion stings and jelly fish stings, I've killed people, made love to people, and given birth to people. How many non-writers can say that about their jobs?

So have you taken stock of your writing inventory? What have you experienced through the stories you've told?

Fill In Wednesday

These are just for fun...

*****

You Might Be A Writer If . . .
from www.SharonHink.coms

1. You stop random strangers to tell them about your plot ideas.
2. You believe that jail time is an appropriate punishment for misuse of the apostrophe.
3. You participate in four different online critique groups simultaneously
4. You wake in the middle of the night with a brilliant line of dialogue and get up to write it down.
5. People change tables in a restaurant because they notice you writing down their conversations word for word.
6. When you go grocery shopping, you notice things one of your characters would like – and put them in your cart.
7. You write a post-it note to one of your characters and leave it on the kitchen table to remind her of something she needs to do in her next chapter.
8. There is no such thing as a “quick trip” to a bookstore.
9. You wish Channel made a perfume with the scent of printer ink.
10. One minute you’re convinced that every word you write is dreck and the next minute you’re sure your manuscript has the makings of a best seller.
11. Your car is rear-ended and your first thought is what metaphor you would use to describe the sound.
12. You bring a notebook to your child’s piano recital and jot a scene while the other kids are playing.
13. You walk by the book aisle in Target and burst into tears because your heart has such a powerful yearning to see your stories on a book shelf one day.
14. A police car with sirens blaring drives into a scene you’re writing – and you didn't see it coming.
15. You get paid for telling people what the voices in your head are saying.


*****

You Know You're a Professional Writer If...
by Donna M. Chavez, © 2003
Excerpted from The Professional Writer's Starter Kit

1. You know your words have value.
2. You have the grit to pit your work against someone else’s in a fierce marketplace.
3. You have enough self-discipline to write on a regular basis, not just when you feel like it.
4. You have the initiative to shamelessly promote your work and yourself as a writer.
5. You can be thick skinned when it comes to rejection.
6. You believe you can pay the rent by plying your craft.
7. Editors can rely on you to meet deadlines.
8. You simply can’t imagine any other way to make a living…except, of course, maybe flipping burgers on those inevitable bad days.
9. You are as much a businessperson as you are a writer (like it or not).
10. You get paid to write.

*****

How many of these are true for you? Any that aren't?

To-Do Tuesday: Writing Raffle

At least I remembered it was Tuesday before 10 p.m. That's got to count for something. As no one has emailed me with "NEWS" in the subject header (hint, hint, hint), I'm not going to feel too guilty for having less news and more exercise yet again. The tiny dictator doesn't value computer time as much as bouncing and dancing time.

Paty just posted a neat raffle sponsored by the Valley Forge chapter on our loop--they are offering expenses paid trip to Nationals 2008. How totally awesome! This got me thinking about why we gamble and enter raffles--you have to really want the prize. The more you want the prize, the more tickets you'll buy. In fact, sometimes we'll spend more on tickets than the dollar value of the item. Is it because we want to "win" something rather than make it happen ourselves? I'm not sure, but I'm sure we all daydream about winning certain raffles.

The truly interesting question is which raffles do you daydream about? Imagine for second that I've handed you $50 that you can spend on any writing related raffle you choose. Publication and NYT bestseller status aren't on the table, but anything else is. What do you want to win? Your dream critique group? An hour with Deb Dixon? Synopsis help? Conference? New laptop?What writing related thing do YOU want to win? Dig deep into your heart here, and share your surprising answers with us.

Now let's take this one step further. The main character from your WIP also has $50 to spend in any raffle. What does he/she most want to win?

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It i s joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

I believe this is true not only of "good" and "evil" but also of what you can accomplish in other ways. If you "feed" your writing and your muse you will end up with a better written book. To feed is to learn all you can about the writing process, listen to advice with an open mind, and be willing to take chances when writing. Don't always play it save with scenes and characters.

You will hinder the writing process if you feed the doubts and insecurities. Always feed the positive thoughts and let the negative ones starve. It isn't always easy to stay positive in a world where rejection is more the norm, but if you want to succeed as a writer, you have to grow a tough skin and remember to feed the right wolf.

Which are you, a cup is half empty or a cup is half full kind of person? And how does that affect your writing?

Eli's Challenge

At the risk of irritating everyone, I'm posting again. It's Sunday. I just finished chapter three of the second book so this proposal is ready to go. 1471 words today. I'll read it through tomorrow just to make sure it makes sense and send it on Tuesday. Now it's time to try to get a thousand words back in the first book.

Is anyone out there keeping me company or are you all, once again, having an actual life?

Still have company, Paty? Are they leaving tomorrow?

Hi, Genene.

Yoo Hoo, she whose name graces our word count banner, what are you up to?

Anyone???

Eli's Challenge

Hey everyone, hope the weekend is going well. Genene asked how my word count was doing, so I will share the question with the rest of you. How are you coming?

As for me, I have just waved off my mid week company and am settling down to write. Had to stop the WIP to write half a chapter and change a few details in a synopsis for the second book in the contract I signed a few weeks ago. It's due in about five days which means I need to write 10-15 pages between today and tomorrow to finish chapter three and send it on.

Then it's back to the other book.

So for today, nothing so far, though by tonight, there should be something. I'll check back in but meanwhile, Genene, how are you doing? And Danita and Paty and Karen and Eli -- who I have a feeling is suffering from another cold -- and Lisa and Lori and anyone else who has been toying around with word counts of one kind or another. It doesn't have to be Eli's 1,000 words a day, we're all interested in and draw inspiration from those people working away at a goal.

So, share!

Thinking Cap Time

Okay, girlies. This is all in fun. To get your brains working and your fingers flying. Consider this your warm-up exercise for the day.

Directions are simple: Read what I've posted, read each of the comments before yours (if any) and add to the story. Sort of a "choose your own adventure" exercise. LOL. Can't wait to see how this turns out. If you feel the desire to add again during the day, go for it!!

***************

Antoinette stared down at the package in her hands and choked back the urge to hurl the whole thing at the hunky UPS man on her doorstep. She had a whole list of things brown could do for her today but none included the mystery box she was currently holding.

"You'll have to sign for that, ma'am." Mr. Hunk-and-a-half flashed her a sparkling grin as he handed over the electronic contraption and stylus.

Ma'am. Holy crap. He'd just called her ma'am! Sure, she'd answered the door with a towel wrapped around her head and the rest of her hidden behind her biggest, pinkest, fluffiest bathrobe but that didn't grant her ma'am status. She was thirty-three for crying out loud, not eighty!

With a frown she didn't try to hide, she took the stylus and scribbled her signature across the screen, hopefully in the wrong spot. Okay, the hunk-o-meter arrow had just dropped significantly into the mildly attractive category, bordering on jackass. There went all those late night delivery fantasies. How much crappier could her day get?

"Thanks." He winked then turned and headed off for his ugly truck like he hadn't just committed the most heinous sin of all.

Antoinette shot him one last withering glare, stepped back into the house and flicked the door shut with her bare foot. Her black cat, Hades, slinked around her feet as she moved. Only when she was alone in her foyer did she remember the package in her hand. She looked down and glowered. No return address but she knew exactly who it was from.

She'd been wrong. Her day could definitely get crappier.

"Meeeowwrr??"

"My thoughts exactly, Hades. I'm going to kill him for this." Jaw clenched, she stalked into the kitchen with Hades tight on her heels. The tiny bell around his neck tinkled as he moved. He jumped from floor to chair to tabletop with barely a sound as she set the package on the wooden surface. With both eyes closed she took one deep breath and ripped the package open. She fumbled with the cardboard ends and only when she had the box open did she pry one eyelid free so she could peer inside.

Then frowned.

"Oh, he's definitely going to pay for this," she muttered.

Fishnet stockings, four-inch stilettos, pink fuzz-covered handcuffs and a tiny tube of lipstick which was anything but what it resembled. Just once she'd like to see him dress up in all this garbage while she sat back and watched from the shadows. Why did having boobs automatically volunteer her for every lousy assignment on the planet?

"I'm not doing it. No way, no how. He can't make me."

She slammed the cardboard lid closed and was just about to toss the whole thing into the garbage pail when a harsh knock sounded at her back kitchen door.

RE-CHARGE IT!

How do you recharge?

The idea for this blog came after reading about Eli's birthday weekend, which sounded heavenly, by the way.

I spent a good part of last weekend cleaning the top layer of "stuff" in my house, which was also a way to re-charge for me. Though I do like my house to be clean, I don't usually enjoy the cleaning itself. However, this time it felt good for one main reason. I haven't had the time to do this for months and the clutter was closing in. So this session of house cleaning was symbolic of finishing several large projects and entering a period of less commitment to "stuff and things" in my life.

Then I started thinking about what else recharges me.

A couple mornings ago I stepped outside to let my dogs out and stood on the deck for a few minutes. Mist was hanging among trees vibrant with color. The air was chilly and fresh. It was a perfect fall morning and I felt wonderful! Was it any different than the other mornings when I shivered and hurried back inside? Or was my perspective simply different? Either way, I felt emotionally recharged.

When it comes to writing, workshops and conferences always leave me eager to get back to the keyboard. So does starting a new story. Those new ideas and new projects are ways to recharge.

What recharges you? A change of scenery away from your usual world? Perhaps reading a book, watching a movie, or spending a day spent being pampered? Conversely, maybe a day of hard physical activity recharges you.

Do any of you schedule time to recharge during the holidays or do you simply hope to survive? This holiday season I'm going to plan some relaxation and recharging time. Maybe I'll use some of your ideas!

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Every once and awhile I receive an email forwarded by a friend called Getting to Know You or something similar. Flattered anyone wants to get to know me better, I always answer them. But I am often puzzled by some of the questions. For instance, what does my favorite color have to do with anything? I mean, does it say something about me that I like pink more than red? Or that I prefer jammies over nightgowns?

I don't get it.

So here's my survey. Hopefully, it will reveal something more interesting about each of us than what we wear to bed…

1. What was the VERY FIRST thing you ever wrote (besides your name and the ABCs) and does a copy of it still exist?

2. Who was the VERY FIRST person who gave you the feeling your writing talent was special?

3. If everyone and everything left you alone, how many hours (be honest) a day do you think you would devote to writing?

4. If you subtracted your pre-writing weight from your WIP weight, divided the difference by three, added the number of children in your extended family and still came up with a number exceeding the speed of light, would you continue saying writers need chocolate?

5. When you write your breakout best seller and become so famous Hollywood wants to make a movie about your life, who would you cast to play the part of You?

6. Who would you like to play your significant other(s)?

7. I've heard Sue Grafton's motivation for writing her first novel was the lust to kill off her newly divorced husband. Who would you like to write into a book and then torture, maim, or lock in a closet for fifty years (no names need be given) if no one would ever be the wiser?

8. Have you personally engaged in all the sexual acts you write about and this includes location, etc…?

9. If you could spend one day in one of your books (either finished or partially done) which would it be and why?

10. What would you be if you couldn't be a writer but could be anything else in the world?

To-Do Tuesday: Doing More with Less

First off, this isn't REALLY a to-do Tuesday column. I'm slowly sifting through my market updates and loops to get back up to speed. To help me have a REAL column next Tuesday, please e-mail me your latest brag-worthy tidbits--I know some of you have new books out, have editor requests, are kicking butt on Eli's challenge, etc. Send me an email with NEWS in the header!

Now, what I do have for you is an exercise. Lisa's post yesterday focused on writing MORE in a shorter length of time. But what about when your life is lived in 10 minute increments or your brain power is stuck on empty (not that I would know about either of these things)? Sometimes, you can't jump in and out of a novel length work. Heck, some days even a paragraph is asking too much.

But a sentence? We can all do a sentence. Trying to tell a story in a single sentence allows us to hone our hook skills with the added benefit of distance from our WIP. It also allows us to focus on what's really necessary for the reader. Try to tell your story with as few words as possible.

EXAMPLE: It was a five outfit morning.

Now, this is a hook for sure, but it's also a story. If you've ever been a new mother, you know that that line IS the story. If you've had a job interview or a first date, you fill in your own story.

It's your turn! Since I'm still getting caught up on all the news, why not focus on your day or your life right now. Tell me a story in one sentence increments. Feel free to tell me MANY stories!

Enjoy! And send me your news!

NaNoWriMo

Is anyone taking part in NaNoWriMo this year? For those who don't know what it is, it's basically an organized effort to have people write 50,000 words in the month of November, or 1667 words per day.

If you're falling behind on our 100-day challenge, this may be a great way to get caught up and meet the deadline of Dec. 13. It's very intense, but the nice thing is there's a forum at the NaNoWriMo site where you can ask questions on anything from help with a plot to what types of helmets were worn in 15th Century England to scenery help of Thailand. My first time at NaNoWriMo, I was writing a book that took place in Edinburgh, Scotland. So I went to the thread for Scotland and asked the locals for scenery help. It was very beneficial.

Whether or not you're doing NaNoWriMo, you're likely doing the 100-day challenge and having to do some speed writing. So let's talk about speed writing techniques.

First of all, I don't edit as a I go. That would take me forever and I'd never move on from anything. Second, I tend to write primarily dialogue when I'm writing on a first draft. That comes naturally to me, it's adding the description, backstory and internals that stalls me on the clock. Other than that I don't really have any speed writing strategies.

What do you do to speed write? Any tricks or tips?

Eli's Challenge

Hi everyone.
About 2,000 words today. Anyone else work on this nice Sunday or were you smart enough to take a blasted day off? How's it going?

Eli's Challenge

Well, Eli is no doubt off partying seeing as it's her birthday, but the rest of us little worker bees have to plod along. Or not. It is Saturday, afterall.

How is everyone doing on their 1,000 word a day challenge? I looked back at my log for the week and saw that I averaged 1,000 words a day for the past seven days. That's not fast enough for the deadline since I have another deadline for the completed partial of the second book due in less than two weeks. That's what writing is, right? Deadlines, copyedits, new proposals, ideas out of the blue -- juggling.

My word count will pick up as I start the last one hundred pages which will come after a thorough read through tomorrow.

How about you? Please share!

Sudoku, The Puzzle Sensation That's Sweeping the Nation

Hi. My name's Danita and I'm a Sudoku junkie.

It started out innocent enough. I tried one of the number puzzles here, another there. I couldn't solve a single one. I hated all nine of those blasted little 3 X 3 squares. I wadded up each newspaper in turn and threw it across the room in disgust. No solved puzzle, therefore no problem.

I think you can guess where this story is headed.

That's right, just last week, I solved one. The whole thing. Without looking at the cheat sheet. All 81 of those glorious little squares contained a number, in the right magical order.

And now, well, you already know the rest of my story -- I can't get enough. My husband had to buy me two Sudoku books because the one-a-day newspaper puzzles were no longer enough to satisfy my cravings.

I started wasting precious writing time, quit cleaning my house, I even refused to take time out to eat. Okay, maybe I'm stretching the truth a bit, and yeah, yeah, that last one is an out-and-out bald-face lie, but you get my point:

Sudoku might be sweeping the nation, but it's not lifting a finger to sweep my floors. And it's not helping me get my writing done either.


So, do you Sudoko, or do you have another favorite time waster?

What do you think, do we need to start a twelve-step online program just for writers? Ha!

Scene Play

Scene planning is one of my favorite parts of writing fiction. Characters are the heart of your story, and scenes make the heart beat.

I don't do any kind of detailed plotting ahead of time, but I know who my characters are and I have a general sense of the story, at least enough of it to write a short blurb like what you might see on a book jacket. So my scenes come to me one at a time, as they happen, though I do plan them thoroughly in my head before touching my keyboard.

We all know the basic structure of a scene: goal, conflict, disaster. To make the scene work, we set the character up to fail, or if she doesn't fail, some new complication is introduced to make her life more miserable than it already is. Donald Maas instructs us to come up worst case scenarios, but what if you were to come up with the best case scenario first? Let me explain:

I'm a big fan of the double ending, the first one coming just before the black moment. You give the character everything she wants, then slap her hands and send the hearts and flowers flying every which way but in her favor. Now think about doing this for each one of your scenes, only don't write it down. It's just for brain storming purposes. Come up with the best that can happen, think it all the way through, then take it away. You may find, as I do, that the emotional charge you get from stomping on your character's hopes and dreams is more intense than "what-iffing" how she might feel when disaster strikes. This method makes the disaster more real. If you already do this, great. I think it works extremely well.

Here's a for-instance for a scene I'm about to write in my WIP that I've only thought through via the planning method described above. My main character, Chalice, met this great guy a couple of chapters ago. He's a thief like her, and he's also bonded to a gargoyle just like she is. Talk about having something in common. Anyway, she just learned he was a Turkish warrior in the Crusades, which makes him almost a thousand years old. She's okay with that, but not with the fact he'd bargained with a demon for his immortality, plus he's a member of the magical society that has enslaved her. And the bargain he'd made marks him as a coward. The scene that just ended had him helping her survive an event that almost killed her, and now I'm in the sequel where the two of them are alone for the first time after Chalice learned about his deal with the devil. It will segue into a scene where her goal is to learn the truth from him, which she hopes will redeem him of his cowardice.

The best that can happen is that he'll tell her what she'd been told was all a lie, that he's not a member of the Vyantara (the magical society) and his immortality actually made him a hero. At last there's someone on her side, someone she can trust and believe in after years of pain and torture, corruption, hubris, trickery and cruelty. He's the one who will help free her of her bond to the vicious gargoyle she depends on to keep herself human. He's the one who will bring her the compassion and joy she'd known while growing up in the monastery. She finally has the bliss she deserves.

But as I set out to write the scene, I take away her success at reaching her goal. She learns that what she's heard is true, and her hopes are dashed again. And even more troubling news of his duplicitous nature comes to the fore, and he expects her to be okay with it? The devastation is more real now that I know, and experienced for myself, what she could have had.

This method is a twist on the traditional, and some of you may already use it, but if you haven't, give it a try. And if you have another technique, please share. Do you apply the traditional GCD (goal, conflict, disaster) to your scenes, and if not, what do you do instead?

Time Waster or Writing Helper... You Decide

So many of you are prolific writers and I’m sure you never get “stuck’ or frustrated to the point of having to do any sort of writing exercise to get your mind and heart into writing each day. But, there are some of us “lesser” writers who do struggle and need an extra “OOMPH” to get us warmed up.

On Charlotte Dillion's website she has some helps for writers called “Writing Prompts”. The one that caught my attention was where you make a list of occupations and a list of situations where your hero and heroine could meet. After you write out these lists, cut them in separate strips and turn them upside down. Now, take two strips from the occupations lists and one strip from the “meet” list. The first occupation strip is the heroine’s and the second is the hero’s. Do not switch them! That’s cheating.

So, you now have an occupation for the heroine and one for the hero and where/how they meet. Some of the suggestions for the occupation list could be…

Firefighter
Sheriff
Pilot
Mechanic
Nurse
Food Service Worker
Plumber
Designer
CEO
Mail Room Clerk
Drag Queen
Erotic Dancer

Whatever you can come up with for a list.

The “Meeting” list could be…

Meet by chance
Both reach for the same veggies at the grocery store
Newly made neighbors
Blind Date
Family interference
Rivals
One hires the other to do work for them
Meet at wedding
Meet at a bar
Held hostage together
One rescues the other from some awful situation

Whatever you come up with for a list.

Now, take the strips and match them up and write a scene of this meeting encounter.

This is a good way to get the grey matter sloshing around in your brain and your writing juices flowing.

After you write the warm up scene you may be ready to just jump "write" in and get busy on your WIP. Hey, it could happen. :)

If you want to be creative today, or waste a little time, go ahead and make a ridiculous match out of the prompts I’ve listed and write a little rough draft scene to post to the comments section of this blog. It can have as many writer's mistakes in it as you want. You can TELL, instead of SHOW the scene. Whatever. The point is to just get you warmed up a bit.

So, feel free to "throw up on the page" with this exercise and entertain us with your practice scene! :) Not only will it get you writing, but it’s a great way to avoid writing on your WIP if you’re not in the mood for it yet today. LOL

Oh, and if you don't have time or feel like doing the exercise, then maybe you could just post a comment about how you get warmed up each day, or maybe you don't need any warming up at all because you're already such a smokin' writer! :)

What ever you decide...

Happy Writing Wednesday and Happy Halloween!

The Dabbler vs. The Real Deal

Quick Addendum: While some of you may think I'm clever and witty, alas, I am not. I wish I'd written this, but I didn't. I pulled it off this blog but it was so appropo I decided to post it here today. So credit goes to Boxing The Octopus, not me. But the message is still the same.

Enjoy!
Eli

***
The Dabbler vs. The Real Deal

1. The Dabbler's going to do it someday. The Real Deal is working on it now.

2. The Dabbler's waiting for life to get less hectic. For the kiddos to get older, the sick parents to get well, the earth's orbit to grind to a complete stop (so distracting!). The Real Deal writes over, around, and through life's disruptions because they never end.

3. The Dabbler's attending workshops, networking with writers, and reading craft books to lay the groundwork for her dream. The Real Deal is actually writing, with or without doing the foregoing as well.

4. The Dabbler expends far more creativity embroidering her excuses than her plots.

5. The Dabbler frequently (and loudly) decries "that trash" that's getting published nowadays (by sell-outs). She knows she could do better -- and isn't shy about saying so. The Real Deal knows that writing anything commercial is much harder than it looks.

6. The Dabbler refuses to risk criticism/rejection by submitting work to critique groups, first-chapter contests, agents, or editors. The Real Deal knows she'll have to take her lumps, often for years.

7. If the Dabbler does risk and receive any sort of criticism/rejection, she rages against the a) stupidity, b) unfairness, c) potential jealousy of the party involved. The Real Deal feels the sting but realizes it's a subjective business and moves on.

8. The Dabbler is a true "artiste" and New York is just too blind or threatened to recognize her work. This often results in years-long bouts of writer's block requiring expensive therapy. The Real Deal digs in and works that much harder, always believing that the next project with be "the one."

9. The Dabbler is sure that the purchase of expensive equipment/software or travel to distant and costly workshops is "the" secret to success. The Real Deal will write on toilet paper if she has to.

10. The Dabbler's looking for a shortcut -- a favor from the established writer that fills said writer with the urge to run like hell. The Real Deal, on the other hand, knows there *are* no shortcuts and puts in enough sweat equity (without trumpeting it) that established writers feel moved to offer whatever assistance they can.

***

So which are you? The Dabbler or The Real Deal?

No. Maybe. Okay… yes.

The last few months I haven’t really read or looked at the RWR. I’ve been too busy. I’m still busy, but I wanted something to read while soaking in the tub the other night. I grabbed the RWR because I can’t start a book right now, well, I have one started, but I can’t finish it. Right now I have so much reading- not for fun to do that I can’t afford to read for fun. And what I need to read is all in my computer so it makes it kind of hard to read while in the tub- anyhoo- I picked up the RWR and soaked away, reading. There were points in several articles that struck a chord with me.

The one that really hit, because of everything happening right now, was: “What I Wish I’d Known Before I Sold”. Specifically- No is not a four letter word, but time is. This struck me because- 1) while visiting my son in AK, I felt like I was getting farther and farther behind in work. Even though I did manage to get through three partial subs. But the whole time I felt like I couldn’t work unless they (son and grandchildren) were sleeping. 2) I have both daughters and their combined four children coming to visit for a week and I’m already grumpy knowing I’ll get very little done while they are here. Even though they both understand that I “work” from home. I know if I locked myself in the bedroom and worked, they wouldn’t say a thing, but I’d be feeling guilty the whole time. Since I won’t see the one daughter and her kids until January when I go up to baby sit while she has her third baby.

Right now I am struggling also with saying “No” to anything that may put my name in front of more readers. I won’t list all the things I’ve said yes to in the last two months. But just to warn you, if I am completely batty by April – it’s because I can’t say “No”. The only lesson I hope you all get from this blog is to learn from my stupidity. Learn to say “No” and mean it!

Did you find any of the articles in the last RWR helpful or interesting?

Internal vs. External Conflict

Apologies to Alice. She told (ordered???) me to blog before she had to leave for Emerald City today. I know I missed her deadline. So, since I know she took her computer with her (as she can't live without the thing) I have a feeling she'll find some way to log on and see this. My only excuse for not posting before you left, Alice, is that my hubby decided to take the day off from work, and we all know how hubbies have a way of messing with our schedules. 'nuff said.

So I've been doing a lot of reading lately. In my genre, out of my genre, across the river and off to Grandma's house. And here's something interesting I'm noticing. Within the romantic suspense genre, external conflict rules and internal conflict is a fleeting thing. I'm not sure why this is, maybe because RS is going more mainstream and trying to draw more male readers in. (Think Lisa Jackson, Tami Hoag, Allison Brennan...) It's not so much the romance taking a backseat to the suspense as it is that romance missing the "what's keeping them apart" element I've always read RS for.

The last one, two, three....heck, five RS books I've read have progressed like this: Hero and heroine meet. Someone dies. Hero and heroine are at odds, they end up working together, fighting an attraction, convinced the other one is completely wrong for them. Sure, they dodge bullets and often someone gets hurt, but they still don't like each other for (usually) pretty good reasons. Then about halfway through the book they have sex and suddenly, all the reasons they couldn't be together anymore fizzle. What happened to the big secret? What happened to the lies? What happened to all those trust issues????? Zip, zing, gone.

I know why this happens. In an RS there's so much external conflict going on it's hard to keep the internal conflict alive, and as we writers know, it's especially hard to do that after the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, and especially when there's so much life-or-death action that has to be squeezed into a measly word count. But in an effort to raise the physical stakes, I think a lot of RS authors are losing the emotional pull on their readers. In most of the RS books I've read recently (new releases) I can't remember what the emotional pull was between the two characters, what kept them apart, and how they got over it. And ultimately, those books - even if the plots were fantabulous - won't go on to my keeper shelves. I read (and write) RS for a reason. I love the thrills and chills of the suspense, but at the heart of every one is a phenomenal love story. And I'm here to tell you, if the only thing keeping those characters apart is a quick roll in the sheets, it's not going to be enough to hold my interest.

Anyone noticing this in any other genres? Paranormal tends to deal with a lot of external conflict. Is it happening there or is it only in RS? And how do you guys (girls) feel about this concept of external conflict vs. internal conflict? Are you okay with a couple knowing they're destined to be together halfway through the book or do you need more internal angst?

Make every scene great!

I recently attended a workshop featuring New York agent and author, Donald Maass, who presented material that will be included in his book slated for release in 2009 called, The Fire in Fiction.

His premise is that not only can every book you write be powerful, but so can every chapter and every scene. He said the key is passion -- not just what happens between the hero and heroine of romance novels, but what a writer feels about their work.

He led workshop participants through a number of exercises to go beyond the usual and find the unexpected to engage the reader deeply in a story. One of those exercises was to develop the world of the story. He had us pick a scene of our WIP where something significant happens and write down the five most obvious things we would observe about this scene. Then cross out all those things and write down five more things we would notice if we had the time.

Next he asked us to feel the emotions of the point-of-view character about the place where this scene was happening. Is she happy? Sad? Does the setting of this scene evoke painful memories or joyful ones? Does the character want to stay in this place or get out? What does the POV character like most about this place? What does she like least? Will she cry or curse about being in this place? Will she want to run or never leave? Try to find the strongest emotion of the POV character, then take all these responses and weave the emotions of the POV character into the scene. This won't just describe a setting, but will set a memorable scene.

Another suggestion Maass made was to pull the emotion out of yourself to make characters more real. For instance, what do you feel when you are afraid? Does your mouth get dry? Your palms get sweaty? Do you feel like a six-year-old child knowing there are monsters under your bed? Give the protagonist as many of your own emotions as you can. This will give your characters a realism that pulls a reader deeply into your story.

Now do this for every scene of your story. :)

Like Alice's exercise of getting into the skin of a character, Maass' exercises made me itch to get rolling on another story again. What about you? Are there exercises you use to dig deeper into your characters or bring your settings to life? Or is this something you do without thinking about it?

100-Day Challenge

Hey ladies...today is the official half-way mark of our 100-day challenge. Fifty days down, fifty more to go. How's everyone doing? Give us an update. Inquiring minds want to know.

ACADEMY AWARD

I took the liberty yesterday of nominating myself for an Academy Award. Consider my performance:

The role I embraced is that of Karen Wylie, age fifteen going on thirty. I have bleached blonde hair and black roots and I never met a make-up product I didn't like. I chew my nails. I wear a small heart on a silver chain and my clothes are too tight. Hey, if you got it, flaunt it. My mother has lost heart with me (I also play her part, catch that performance a chapter earlier…) and I guess I don't blame her, but honestly, she wants to know EVERYTHING. So I tell her nothing.

Today the hero and heroine (I also play their parts. They have a running performance) asked me a few questions about my shot up ex-boyfriend and I don't mind telling you, I got a little spooked. I called the new guy in my life, and boy, that's a whole other story. He said it was time for us to run away together.

Now, I'm just a Junior in high-school and he's a lot older but the things I have done with him…well, anyway, he said he didn't want anyone spoiling our plans so I should just ride a bus two towns down the river and he'd pick me up and we'd go get married, he'd fix all the details. I can't believe this is happening to me!

Okay, I couldn't tell Mom where I was going. I took a hundred dollars out of her wallet and bought a bus ticket to Portland so if she tries to find me, she'll get it wrong. It wasn't really my idea, my boyfriend came up with it. He's knows all that kind of stuff.

He wasn't waiting for me when I got off the bus so I stood on a corner across from some bum asking for money cause he ran out of gas for his car. Sure. Like he has a car. (I know he doesn't, because I will play him in the immediate future.) After awhile, it got hot so I walked down the street toward the river. My boyfriend had told me not to use my cell phone, so all I could do was wait out in front of an old warehouse. The old bag across the street kept staring at me. She finally went away from the window (as I will also play her, I know she went to answer the phone) right when my boyfriend showed up. We walked down the block to his car.

The fact is I won't ever get out of this car alive, but of course, I don't know that. The fact is my mother is going to think I ran away for good until way later when they find my body. The fact is, my last thought is going to be of my mother and how she was actually right about some things and my last sight is going to be my boyfriend's face…

I can't go into that. It upsets me and I'm not supposed to know it, anyway. In fact, other than the part when the hero and heroine talk to me at my job at the pharmacy and I get spooked, the rest happens off screen.

Which means all my dying hopes and fears have to exist in the mind of my audience just as they do in the mind of my creator.

So, yesterday, I was that girl. And all this happened to me.

Can you do this with a character in your WIP or do you do something similar? Do you get inside them, even if for only a few moments as you write and "live" their parts? Not a major character, and not a chain of events you show in the book, but the off stage stuff that has to be as real as the printed word. It chilled me to get inside Karen Wylie's vacant head. It made me sad for her. For the years she won't have, for her short life (one lousy conversation where she, frankly, didn't come off that well) and then nothing. On the other hand, she will be avenged, her killer will pay.

But, of course, I also play his role.

Feeds For Dummies

Okay, I waited for Bethany to put up a Tuesday post but it looks like she's still in new mommy-land. (Bethany, take all the time you need and enjoy every moment of it.) However, we lucked out because Barbara Ray is guest blogging today!

Enjoy,
Eli

***

Feeds For Dummies...

Do you try to keep up with the web logs of members of MWVRWA, other genre writers, agents, editors, and publishers? Do you fall behind because it takes so much time to visit each site, some of which have nothing new posted anyway?

I’ve recently discovered a way to save time and still keep up with all the blogs I’m interested in reading. It’s called “Feeds.” For the barely computer literate like me, here’s a step-by-step way to set up your blogs on feeds so you can go to them when and only when a new posting has been made there.

The next time you visit your favorite web logs, check each one for a feed button on the right side of the tool bar just above the main screen. If that web log has a feed, the button will be orange-with-white curved stripes (if the blog doesn’t have a feed, the button will be gray with lighter stripes).

To add the blog to your list of Feeds, press the feed button and wait a moment while a white screen with that blog’s entries in a simplified format comes up. At the top of that screen there will be a banner message about feeds with a button at the bottom saying, “Subscribe to this feed.” Press the button. A decision box will appear again asking if you want to subscribe. Press the Subscribe button.

Now read the entries down to the last one you read, and go on to the next web log. If you want to save the entries to read later, look on the right side of the main screen near the bottom for a line that reads “Mark as read” with a check mark in front of it. Click that line and the current entries will show up again the next time you visit this feed. That’s all there is to subscribing to each web log (at least for PCs with Windows XP).

Once you have blogs on your feed, you can check them for new entries by pressing the single yellow star on the far left of the tool bar. Right next to the button for Favorites will be a button labeled Feeds. Press that button and a list of your feeds will appear.

The feeds that have new entries since your last visit will be in bold print. When you click on them, you will get the white simplified screen you got when you first subscribed to the feed. You can read the entries there if the whole entry is included or if you are just skimming through the entries to find the ones you are interested in reading. If only a few lines of the entry are listed and you want to read the whole entry, you can click on the little green arrow next to the author’s name at the top of the entry or on Continue or More at the end of the entry. From this screen you can read comments and add your own comments to the blog entry.

Not all web logs have feeds, so some you will still need to visit individually from your list of Favorites. I don’t know how a web log writer puts their blog on feeds; maybe someone who has their blog on a feed can enlighten us on that in their comments to this posting. Right now the MWVRWA blog is not on a feed. Would you like it to be? I know I would. Who could do that? Elisabeth?

I know quite a few of our members use Apple computers. Can someone tell us how to subscribe to feeds on a Macintosh?

Is your writing blog on a feed? Did the number of visits to your blog go up when you put it on a feed? How do you use blogs in your research, networking, and marketing?

Keeping track of your progress

I'm late! Sorry! *hangs head*

Ok, for those of you free-spirits who are frightened of plotting, planning or organizing, I wouldn't read this. You may get hives. **Disclaimer: Lisa Pulliam will not be held responsible for any reactions to this post, be they medical, mental, or physical.

Talk on a couple of loops I'm on in preparation for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has centered around spreadsheets for tracking progress. Those of you who ignored my warning, I just heard you faint. I told you this would freak you out! I know not all of us are doing NaNoWriMo, but a spreadsheet may help those of us doing the chapter challenge.

I wanted a spreadsheet that would let me input my daily word count, my deadline, daily word count goal and overall goal length of project. I wanted it to take that information and tell me how many words I need to write today to get on track and if I write at my current pace, when I'll be done.

I googled and found a few spreadsheets that had components I wanted, but none of them had all of the functions I wanted. And I'm not an Excel guru, so I struggled to customize the document to my needs.

Today I hit the NaNoWriMo forums to ask for help and I found one that had most of what I was looking for, at least the hard stuff so I added the rest of what I wanted. So now I have a spreadsheet that lets me do all of what I wanted, plus a neato pie chart that shows me the percentage of what I have done.

For those of you who are skeptical, I've found it rather motivating. I started the count as of today, then put in the words I already have. So I played with it and put in that I only wrote 17 words today. It said I would meet my goal on October 11, 2020. Yikes! When I change it to 100 words a day, it shaves off 10 years and 9 months. Writing 1,000 words/day, I'll be done January 8, 2008. Not bad! See how motivational that can be? Just a couple more paragraphs and you shaves off months, or maybe even years.

Does anyone want a copy of this spreadsheet? Send me an e-mail at lisa (at) lisapulliam (dot) com and I'll send it to you, along with instructions for putting in your info.

What tools do you all use to keep track of your writing, goals or submissions? If you've found anything helpful online, please leave us a link!

Eli's Challenge

Did more inside work today. Got my thousand words (more or less) here and there and everywhere even though the book concept didn't advance much. On the other hand, the tension level got ratcheted up and a much needed scene got added.

How is everyone else doing?

Eli's Challenge

As often as I cup my ear and listen into the wind, I cannot hear many victorious cries echoing the mantra, "1000 words today or else!"

I am getting my 1,000 words in, so I am going to brag about it a little and ask the rest of you if you have been so busy writing you haven't had time to report.

1,095 yesterday, a little more the day before, but they were rewriting words. Rewriting counts! That's what books are. Pages and pages of rewriting. Actually, the words were words written within, you know, additional words that don't go forward but expand and enrich what is already there.

My goal for today is to get twice that many. How is everybody else doing and this means you, too, Eli, you slacker. Enough of the "I have a cold (and it's your fault.)" excuse. Karen? Lisa? Everyone?

Let's re-dedicate! Let's bug Eli enough that she takes up her own challenge again. Let's be all that we can be. Let's not think of excuses why not and concentrate on why.

Cheerleading over.

Hello Blog, It's me, Danita

IDEAS, WHERE DO THEY COME FROM AND WHO DO THEY KNOW?


So, here it is, blog day, and me without a single thing to wear. I mean a single thing to say. Oh, I'm sure I could think of plenty to yak on and on about, given the right set of listening ears and a nice hot cup of Earl Grey to wrap my fingers around, but would any of that yakking pertain to writing? Probably not. Which puts my round peg right back to into the square one hole.

Hey! That gives me an idea -- thank you, blog, I needed one of those -- what about a book about a serial killer who kept track of his "conquests" with a peg on a cribbage board? Or, more twisted yet, what if the killer kept track of his victims on one of those kiddy toys, you know, the kind with the pegs that toddlers bang down into the holes with a plastic hammer?

Wait, wait! What if the killer were a woman? And what if that woman were a mother herself, and she used her own child's pegs and hammer toy? And what if to all the world, this woman appeared to be a caring and devoted mother to her children? Why would a good mother want/need to kill? Who would her victims be? Would they be men who had jilted her in the past? Cheated on her? Beat her? Maybe in her younger life, she was a runaway who turned to prostitution to support her babies, and now she is seeking revenge on the Johns who took advantage of her situation.

Okay, okay, sick and twisted, I'll agree. But also, maybe sort of interesting. And alive with possibilities. It could be written into a screenplay for CSI if done skillfully enough. And the idea grew out of the common words "round peg" and "square hole".

Which brings me to the point, if indeed, this post actually has a point -- how or where do you get your ideas? Do they flutter in on a sultry spring breeze, or clunk you in the noggin like a tumbling anvil? Do you "idea" best in the shower, while scrubbing the tub, or while driving and humming along to Nickelback, dreaming of being a rock star?

Please share.

A question of character... among other things

This blog post is a segue from Piper's post on Wednesday. She asked about the other genres we read, and that got me to thinking about how genre can affect both the kinds of characters who appear in a story, and the way those characters are portrayed.

Romances are good at digging deep into the characters' souls so that we get a full glimpse of whom we're reading about. Why do you think that is? What methods do these authors use to flesh out their people enough to make them bleed on the page? I think some writers do an excellent job of letting the details around the characters assist in defining them as real human beings. That also goes for detailed observations made by the characters themselves. For example, a character who is focused on, say, the preparation of a meal and describes in loving detail each ingredient, how it tastes, how the dough feels in her fingers, the way the scent of baking apples reminds her of her grandmother, etc.

In a mystery novel, maybe the character approaches the cooking scenario from a totally different perspective. The woman is a private detective and her observations are more in line with ferreting out clues to catching a killer.

In a science fiction novel, the very concept of cooking could be totally foreign because the characters in the story simply push a button to get sirloin tips, roasted baby potatoes and a Caesar salad, hold the croutons.

A horror novel might have the chef baking up something really different and not very appealing to mainstream taste buds, if you know what I mean.

Point is, the genre can affect how the character is presented. Sensual, pragmatic, logical, horrible… whatever. These people are different and present themselves in different ways.

Now what if you had an outside-the-box character, one who didn't fit conventional norms. How would this person be portrayed? A mentally ill character in the kitchen. Hmm… Now that's an image. Would this character act and react in a predictable way? Probably not. So if you had, say, an autistic character making pancakes, would their lack of emotional connection to the act of cooking make you feel disconnected from the character because you can't relate?

Maybe we choose to read the genres we read that are only in our comfort zone. Someone who doesn't care for military novels or political thrillers may not relate to those characters and therefore find the story boring, even if it's the most fascinating plot ever to hit the best seller list. Does that make these books uninteresting? No, just uninteresting to you. Could you critique one? Or more to the point, could you critique a genre you don't read?

We often hear that good writing is good writing, no matter the genre. True. I guess. But can you feel connected to a well-written book on a subject or in a genre you don't understand or like? I know I can't. I could probably detect if it's "well-written," but as far as the characters go, I might struggle. The tough as nails soldier who spouts military jargon would glaze my eyes over. The politician who schemes to do… whatever would have me setting the book down to go clean the toilet. And an erotica novel? I won't even go there. (*cough* icky *cough*)

When it comes to critique, or contest judging, I believe it's important to stay within the genres we understand and enjoy. I'm curious to know what you think. Does it make any difference to you? Can you critique or judge anything and feel you can do the work justice?

Of What Does Your Diet Consist?

Ugh, the nightmare of posting a blog is once again upon me so, here goes...

Yesterday, I was perusing some of my preferred author's websites to check out what's new in their writing lives and find out what they have on their "recommended reads" lists.

This got me to thinking. (Yeah, scary concept, me thinkin' and all.)

Anyway, what I started to think about is...

How does one open their reading horizons and try new authors or genres? Do they go to their favorite authors and see what they recommend, or do people talk to friends about it? Perhaps a bookseller shares their ideas, or even a librarian. I wonder. :)

For so long, my reading diet was of one genre, only. I supped upon Regency romance till stuffed. It grieved me to find myself full, yet unsatisfied in my voracious appetite to read. Then one day I whiffed the tantalizing scent of YA books, took a nibble, and found myself snacking on this delightful new flavor, too.

Now, I no longer gorge myself on any one genre; instead, I gnaw here and there on the lighter sides of paranormal, romantic suspense, and even science fiction. This new variety of flavors is very enjoyable.

So tell me, how or what do you do to broaden your reading scope?

Ugh, the nightmare of posting a blog is once again upon me so, here goes...

Yesterday, I was perusing some of my preferred author's websites to check out what's new in their writing lives and find out what they have on their "recommended reads" lists.

This got me to thinking. (Yeah, scary concept, me thinkin' and all.)

Anyway, what I started to think about is...

How does one open their reading horizons and try new authors or genres? Do they go to their favorite authors and see what they recommend, like I do, or do people talk to friends about it? Perhaps a bookseller shares their ideas, or even a librarian.

For so long, my reading diet was of one genre, only. I supped upon Regency romance till stuffed. It grieved me to find myself full, yet unsatisfied in my voracious appetite to read. Then one day I whiffed the tantalizing scent of YA books, took a nibble, and found myself snacking on this delightful new flavor, too.

Now, I no longer gorge myself on any one genre; instead, I gnaw here and there on the lighter sides of paranormal, romantic suspense, and even science fiction. This new variety of flavors is very enjoyable.

So tell me, how or what do you do to broaden your reading scope?

Eli's Challenge

I hope I am not stepping on blogging etiquette's toes by posting here all the time. If I am, please, someone contact me and tell me to knock it off.

Meanwhile, how is it coming? Karen? Lisa? Eli? Lori? Paty? Did I forget someone?

2,348 words today. Helps make up for a lackluster yesterday.

Hope everyone else is feeling good about what they've accomplished.

Not Just the Eyes Hooked Me.

I don't know who else besides Danita watches Men in Trees. It's on Friday nights at 10PM, but I am still drooling over the newest character they added. Cash. Or in real life Scott Elrod. He has what they dub as "Paul Newman" eyes. They are so blue they are almost freaky, yet the whole package is yummy!

Anyway, his character is "helping" the main character, Maren, (who is an author) renovate a house she bought and get over a man. Cash is a free spirit construction man and in Friday's episode he took Maren to see a "spiritualist" to help her get her muse back. The "spiritualist" told her to write all her hangups/things she doesn't like about herself on rocks and toss them over a cliff. As she and Cash are walking up the mountain, she is lugging a big heavy bag of rocks and he is only carrying one. She asks what his problem is and he only smiles. At the top, he tosses his rock and waits as she one by one reads hers written in red marker and tosses them off the cliff.

At the end of the show, they always have Maren talk about what she learned in the episode and show the different characters and how they are reacting after each of the scenarios that have played out. At the very end they show a rock with blue writing that says, "sickness".

Wow! That hit me! You know it's Cash's rock because it is written in blue. But it didn't say illness or disease- like he is physically ill, it said "sickness" like he has a mental problem. What could it be? Is he a stalker? A serial killer? Depressed? Man, my mind has been going over what if's all weekend.

That has got to be the best "hook" I've ever seen at the end of a show. And the writer in me has been piecing together so many scenarios!

Have you watched a show that had a hook so intriguing at the end you had to watch the next episode or episodes to see what was going to happen? And if you have written linked books, have you written a hook that will make your readers pick up the next book?

Eli's Challenge

Me again. 1, 084. Not much, just a fraction of what I should have written, but I need a break. Having that 1,000 word goal kept me in the chair when I otherwise would have left, so whoopee!

Anyone else?

Eli's Challenge

I'm taking the liberty of adding a weekend blog for Eli's challenge.

I got in about 1300 words today. Maybe more tonight.

Anyone else???

Alice

Goals, Goals, Goals

(Paty's chomping at the bit because it's 1:04 and there's no new post up yet...)

Sorry this is late. I had a nightmare night with the 2 yr old. I won't bore you with the details, but I ended up with about 2 hrs of sleep, then got up and went running with a girlfriend and then was stupid enough (in my sleep-deprived state) to agree to a weight lifting class after. By the time I got home I was ready to drop (sore and in a grouchy mood). Oh, and did I mention it's an inservice day so the Gremlins are home? Ay ya ya...it's going to be a long day. This is the first chance I've had so far to get to the computer.

So goals. Lisa reminded me that I haven't posted a 100-Day challenge check-in in a while. Well, yeah, there's a reason. I've been slacking. After I sent the proposal I'd been working so hard on off to my agent two weeks ago, my writing energy has dragged. Switching gears is definitely something I need to work on. And this new project is not the gimmee book the earlier proposal was. I've restarted it about 4 times - different scene, different POV, different location. I think (hope) I've finally figured out the right starting place, but who knows. I have a feeling I'll be going back over this again and again.

But that's irrelevant to you as you could care less. However, you DO care about the challenge, so I'm going to tell you where we're at. We started the 100-Day challenge on Sept. 4th. The goal was simple: write at least 1000 words per day and in 100 days' time, you'd have a 100,000-word first draft (or finished, depending how you write). We are now in the middle of week six (there are 15.5 weeks total, with an ending date of December 13th), right around day 40. So if you were doing the 1000-words per day, you should have about 40K words total at this point. Everyone with me so far????

Some of you might be thinking, "ugh! I'm supposed to have 40K words already??? No way!" Fear not. If you're behind that mark, don't sweat it. Just recommit to getting back to work and moving forward. For those of you who want to make the commitment from here on out, imagine...if you joined us and committed to 1000-words per day you could have 60K words written by December 13th! That's a full length category or YA book! (Becky...that was for you).

So now that the cheerleading is over with (whew!), check-in time, ladies. How's the writing going? What are you working on? Have you been writing consistently, are you hitting your goals, are you making writing a habit? (Because, come on, we know it is. Once you stop writing it's that much harder to get back to it.) Even if you're not doing the challenge, let us know what you're working on and how it's going.

SLOOOOOWING DOWN ...

This is a watershed week for me. I've finished several large projects and have promised myself that I won't take on anything new between now and the first of the year. Instead, I will focus on shaping up my house and yard, finishing a promotion plan for the books that will be released in the next eighteen months, and enjoying the holidays with family and doggies. All with the goal of slowing down the frantic pace of my life the last few months without losing the productivity I've gained.

My first step is to do a thorough cleaning and take stock of what needs to be done. This includes paperwork and filing that have been accumulating for months. I'm also going back on a fitness plan for me and returning to the healthy habits that have slipped as I've pushed myself to get other things done. And my doggies need some individual play time with me. Yes, this is slowing down!

Just looking forward to this change in lifestyle has given me new energy. Since it's now almost 2:30 in the morning, one thing I'm obviously still not doing well is getting to bed at a decent time. I'm going to change that too!

I'm also not going to push myself to do a lot of writing, though I have another manuscript that's itching to be finished. I'll just have to see how that unfolds!

All this has come about as I've realized it's OK for the different pieces of my life to have an ebb and flow. Sometimes I focus on writing and promotion -- as I will after the first of the year. Sometimes home and family and doggies, as I plan to in the next few months. Some times other pieces.

How about you? Have you ever felt the need to slow down? If so, how did you go about it?

Ah, to Blog

As I reported a week or more ago, I recently sold the two books I'd been working on. Of course, these are just proposals, three chapters and about sixty pages each, so the real work begins after the sale.

SInce I was sick at the time of the sale, I didn't get to work on book one until very recently, and still not feeling 100%, I've been struggling to get reinvested in the story. Last night about midnight, I realized it was my turn to blog today and so I lay there trying to think of an entertaining topic.

Went to sleep. Woke at 2:30 a.m., decided to forgo entertaining and settle on pithy. Woke up again at 5:30, ditched pithy, leaned toward craft-orientated. At 6:30 I got up and sat at the computer for half an hour without typing a word for the blog. Read yesterday's comments to Wavy's blog and spent quite a bit of time pondering what Eli meant when she said something about not letting me know she used to struggle with POV (why?). Couldn't figure that one out, so moved on to what double tags mean when referring to dialogue. I think I know, but would appreciate an example, btw.

At 7:30 or so, I decided to eat breakfast and the only thing on TV was an old Brady Bunch. Surely, I thought as I nibbled on toast, there will be a topic revealed within this clever episode of 60's TV. What I learned was stereotypes of what constituted women's work and men's work were alive and well at that time. But no topic came to me.

At 8:30, I decided to work on my book as I do every day without actually making progress because of reasons stated up there in the first paragraph of this thing, and realized I am still not engaged in the story and then the blogging dilemma became clear. For whatever convoluted reason, be it sickness or distraction or the rain or the cat drooling on my foot when she purrs, I just am not thinking like a writer right now.

This is not a block, but it is a little alarming as the deadlines are tight. I got some good advice not to try to make up the sixty pages I am down by in one day (like that would happen!) but sooner or later, I am going to have to get back into this book. So today I'll read what I have yet again, and then throw something unexpected into the works to shake up my characters who seem to be as caught in inertia as I am.

Thus this blog about not blogging. By the way, I have an ongoing discussion thing going on over at eHarlequin.com. If you want to check it out, go to the site and sign in, then choose Simply Series from the list on the right side of the screen, go to Intrigues and eventually to something about being "Queen for a day" in the discussions. If you think of a way to shake that up a little, bless you.

Next blog, I promise, I'll come up with something entertaining, pithy, instructional and ... well, maybe I'd better quit while I'm ahead.

This blog is a problem today. Ten days or so ago, I sold a couple of books. My enthusiasm was hampered by the fact I was in the middle of a cold, and has stayed on the back burner as I have fet too rotten and distracted to write. Now I am feeling better though I still don't feel great -- this lingering sore throat and cough can leave anytime, thanks -- and I still haven't written much.

On top of trying to get back into my book, I am now trying to think of something pithy or entertaining to blog about and wow, I am stymied.

I watched the only thing on TV this a.m. hoping for inspiration. It was a very old Brady Bunch. The kids have to lear to share. Zip inspiration.

QOTD: Tools of the Trade

To-do Tuesday is on temporary hold while I master this whole mothering business. But, the other night while I was wondering if nursing will ever get easier, I remembered a time when I was convinced I would never learn to touch type. Several typing classes in high school, typing software, and a fair amount of hunting and pecking, and still . . . nothing. But, then one day, there I was typing away. It turned out that all I needed was motivation--and college plus e-mail was plenty of motivation. I felt the same way about Word and other software. As much as I despaired at the time, I still managed to master each obstacle.

I want to know about what writing related skills did NOT come naturally to you. Did you learn to type in order to write your first MS? Conquer the computer? What skills are you still trying to master?

Workshop recap

On Saturday the chapter held its annual conference. This year's theme was 'Whodunnit? A Writer's Guide to Working a Crime Scene." I found all of the speakers very interesting. First we heard from a Medical Examiner and a Sheriff's Office Deputy with who does Search and Rescue. They did a great job explaining how the search and rescue process would work if someone was missing in the woods. The second speaker was an Oregon State Police detective, who gave lots of info including how an specific police actions and investigation steps if a body is found. The third talk was given by three representatives of the District Attorney's office. They dispelled a lot of myths we get about lawyers roles from watching crime dramas on TV. They also broke down the legal process from start to finish.

That was a super quick overview, but instead of me blabbing on about what I picked up from their talks, lets all share what we learned.

I really enjoyed learning the steps in each of their processes. I think that will help us write accurate portrayals. Even if we don't need the whole process, just to be able to identify, "Sally was trying to sneak into the secondary perimeter." Plus I also loved the slang, particularly "road toads." Teehee! Those words make our writing authentic.

I also enjoyed learning about how much lawyers get involved. My only thoughts on process come from TV shows. I was interested to learn that they get involved even at the search & rescue stage, but that they don't interact during interrogations. Like they said, Law & Order shows lawyers in there making deals and layin' the smack down.

What did you get out of it?

A Big Pickle

Okay, before any of ya'll start thinking this is some green and twisted blog on erotica, ha! let's set the record straight: This is an essay about a dilemma.

Now that we've gotten that prickly bit of sensitive matter cleared up, let's proceed, shall we?

My dilemma is simple. Yet not. See, I'm a writer, but I'm also a photographer. I've been interested in both professions for most all my life, practicing at both, taking classes in both fields, selling both. In the past 10 or 15 years I've tended to concentrate more heavily on the writing aspect of my split personality. Until lately that is. And therein lies my big Kosher dill.

I love writing. It's in my blood and my soul, but I'm frustrated with it. At least the fiction side of it. I've had good success at non-fiction writing, sold a good deal of it, both as a freelancer, and as an on-staff crime reporter. But as far as fiction goes, I cannot easily measure success. Oh, there's the two books I've completed, that's something right there. I mean how many people can truthfully claim they've written two books? But as far as contests, contracts, agents, editors, I claim zip.

On the other hand, my successes at photography keep piling up. I have enough ribbons to decorate half my office wall. I sell framed work at a coffee house. A local gallery wants my work. I've had assignments from newspapers. I've taken high-school senior, family and baby portraits, covered weddings and lately even did a fad "Trash the Dress" shoot. Fun. And profitable. And when I see my work on display, like Paty's portrait on her website (the one which pops up beside her blog comments) or see the book cover of Genene's new release she designed with the photo I took, it makes me feel a little burst of pride. Which throws the fermented cucumber in my face again: Photography is in my heart and soul too. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it helps pay the electric bill.

It also doesn't take 10 months to complete a photo assignment as it does to finish a novel. The biggest dill of all this is the time factor. With a young family, my creative time and my computer time is often limited to nap times. At the moment I am not having the time and/or the energy for both writing and photography, and frankly, it bothers me.

Now let an agent or book editor show more than a passing interest in my work, and watch my creative writing juices erupt. But in the meantime, I'm afraid the writing is stuck in the back of the frige like that last lone pickle in the bottom of the jar with only pieces of garlic, bits of dill weed and milky pickle sludge to keep it company at night.


So, here's the question: Do any of you out there have similar dilemmas? Paying work vs. dreams? Or other things pulling you in directions other than your chair and keyboard? Please share.

The next big thing.

We've seen all these phenomenal books take off to best seller status – The Da Vinci Code, These Lovely Bones, Harry Potter – and now there's mutterings within the writing community about what the next "big thing" will be.

We know it's not wise to clone what's already selling big at the moment as we're told time and time again by editors and agents that the manuscripts bought today won't be on the shelves for another couple of years. We shouldn't follow trends because they're fickle. Most of us write according to our passion anyway, trends be damned. But still, it's fun to speculate what the next big thing might be, what genre, what new idea will spark the reading consumer into buying more books?

Ideas come from everywhere. The next best seller is probably sitting on someone's hard drive somewhere, the queries being rejected left and right, partials getting turned down as often as bed sheets in a brothel, but it's out there, waiting for its time. Could it be yours? Hmm…

It's fun to speculate what people will be reading in terms of fiction. Non-fiction is a totally different subject, but fiction is less tangible and more speculative. What appeals to the American reader? We could look to television for our ideas. Not the shows so much as the themes. Like what's up with these game shows? Maybe a novel will come out about a game show. Pretty lame. Or how about all the reality shows that are taking over primetime? Many authors have taken advantage of this craze by using it in their plots. It was popular for a while, got people's attention, but never really broke out into anything newsworthy.

So if themes aren't where the next big thing will spring from, how about genre? Genre mixing has become THE topic of discussion at many writers' conferences lately. Of course, that was anticipated a dozen years ago when authors began mixing their romance and suspense and mystery and horror together, only to find agents pooh-poohing their great American tomes because they weren't marketable. Now the industry pros are screaming for these books. What's up with that? Well, what's up is that authors tend to have a sixth sense about these things. Too bad publishers aren't as tuned in. They just take a while to catch up.

So if you were to take out your crystal ball and shine it up, what would it reveal to you about the next big thing? Could it be a style of writing, like what happened with the chicklit explosion when Bridget Jones' Diary came out? Or an Internet chat/email format, like what we've been seeing in some recent YA fiction? Or how about those graphic novels, huh? I'd never in a million years have imagined comic books coming into fashion this way. Kind of reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 and how the only books allowed were those with pictures and no words. Are we headed in that same direction? Will people only read something if there are pictures to go with it, or even better, moving pictures?

We can't predict for sure, but it's a lot of fun to think about. High concept literary fiction is a big deal right now, but it always has been. Same with up-market women's fiction (i.e. book club books). Both have a wide audience, which is why it has such great appeal. Haven't read either in a while because I'm so focused on my own genre fave that it's all I read these days. Most likely the next big thing will be far a field from anything I'd ever write. Social trends have been leaning in a retro direction so I'll guess retro historical fiction, like high concept stories set in more recent decades, like the sixties. Sex, drugs and rock and roll, baby. Bwahahahaha! How about you? Care to take a stab at what you think the next big thing will be?

Let's Talk About Virgin Heroes

To quote Magnum P.I. "I know what you're thinking..."



You're thinking... Sheeyeah. Right. Virgin Heroes?

But let's ponder this idea for a bit; shall we?

How sexy or romantic is this concept of the Virgin Hero?

For me, it's very sexy. Let me explain...

In my opinion, a boy who grows into a man and waits for the right woman is uber-romantic. I love the idea of a man who doesn't just go for anything because it's the modern thing to do or because he feels pressure from his hormones, friends, whatever, and it's just too overwhelming, so he loses his control and beds woman after woman, trying to conquer that elusive satisfaction that only comes with a true love relationship with the right woman. I don't view a hero that gets his jollies as often as he wishes with any woman he chooses as sexy and irresistible, but rather, weak and inadequate. (Now remember, these are my opinions.) ;)

For a man to resist his natural urges and gain mastery over himself shows a rare quality and strength for the male species. And it's so romantically sexy to me because it may also mean that he's conquered other stupid male traits that get in the way of being a great man who's not only physically strong, but mentally and spiritually too, all before he's lying on his death bed as an old man who wasted his life in pursuits that left him neglectful and ineffectual in his role as husband and father.

Wow, that last sentence was an eyeful! And yes, I'm well aware what my high school english teacher would have done to that sentence, but she's not here, so thwpppttt on her red pen!

Okay blogsters, take some time and really ponder the following questions so you can give your true opinion and not one that you think the world expects, but what you really think deep in your own heart. Your answers won't mean you should or have to change how you write your heroes. Nope, nope, nope. I simply want you to get past what society tell us and what your head might tell you, and I want you to listen with your gut and your heart to the answers.

Ready? Go...

1. What do you think about Virgin Heroes?

2. Do you like to read about them? Or have you ever even had a chance to read about one? If not, would you like to, just to have the experience, once? *big grin*

3. Could you write one? If no, why not?

4. Is this concept sexy to you, or ridiculous?