Countdown to Publication

Shutting Down

2011-01-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am officially shutting this blog down for good. If you want to find me, I am now blogging under the name I plan to publish under - Josi Springs. Hopefully I'll see some of you there.

Editing and Interviews

2010-02-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

Like I mentioned in my last post, I am trying the highlighting method of editing that I learned about from Yuna. I really like it. It moves fairly fast and makes it easy to pinpoint problem areas. Of course the actual rewriting hasn't happened yet, but it will.

Here is what the first few pages of the first chapter look like.

The different colors of highlighting have different meanings. One for stuff that needs to come out entirely; one for stuff to keep as is (at least for now); one for stuff that definitely needs fixing; one for stuff I inputed while going through it; and one for notes to myself about what needs to be put in in a certain spot. Hopefully this will make rewriting much easier to do.

One thing I'm hoping to do that will (maybe?) help with the rewrites is character interviews with a few of the characters from CS. I just don't feel that I really have a handle on any of the characters except for Cassie, Tom, Ricky, Abby and Helen. That leaves Jack, Jake (am thinking of changing his name entirely), Luke, Frank and Lloyd.

Huh. Just noticed that all the characters except for Cassie, Abby and Helen are all male. I wonder why?

But regardless, I need to do the character interviews and will be doing them both here and on CC. So if you have any questions you can think of for the characters, please stop by and ask away.

Update

2010-02-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

Well, things have settled down some. Or at least hit a lull. So I've been thinking of trying to edit Cassandra's Secrets some more.

I spent some time yesterday and today doing highlight editing (a different color each for keep, delete, change, etc.) that I picked up from reading my friend Yuna's blog (though I can't figure out how she gets the screen image on there). I was happy to see a significant amount of my "keep" color, though there was still plenty of the others. Trust me.

The other thing I spent time on the past two days was helping a friend with his homework assignment - to create a serial killer. It was such fun!

He had a basic idea of his killer, but for this assignment, he had to have everything - just like when a writer creates a character for a story. We need to know when he was born, where, who his parents were, what his upbringing was, what significant events happened to him, etc. Well, even though he had an idea, he had none of that info thought out.

So how did I help him, you ask? Easy. I conducted a character interview with him as the serial killer. When that didn't work too well, we switched it around and he asked me the questions which I answered. Is it any wonder that the killer turned from a landscaper who chops up hookers but doesn't know why to a priest who humanely kills prostitutes in an effort to save them the pain and suffering their lives cause them?

We got the entire background and wrote it all up for him so he could use it to write his paper. I'm almost thinking I need to take that class next semester just so I can do that assignment on my own :)

That's it for now, but I'll keep you updated when I can.

Time For Goodbyes

2009-11-14T00:34:00.000-08:00

As much as I hate to do it, I'm going to be shutting the blog down. I just don't have the time anymore between work, school, kids, writing and attempting to have at least 5 minutes alone each day.

If and when things settle down (or I get a book deal), I'll post again, but not until.

Update

2009-08-15T03:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am doing the Snoopy happy dance :)

Why you ask? Easy. Both Twin Magic and Cassandra's Secrets rewrites have both hit over 10,000 words!!

Okay, so it doesn't take much to make me happy these days, but shouldn't we find our joy where we can? (No, I promise this isn't turning philosophical.)

To me, 10k (and it's multiples) has always been a bit of a milestone. I think it comes from when I did NaNoWriMo. One way to keep motivation up is to reward yourself every so often. I chose to give myself those rewards at the 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k and 50k marks.

So even though nano has been over for 8 months and won't start again for 3, those numbers still represent something to me. This morning I hit it for CS and I rewarded myself by buying a new secondhand book.

As for Sensory Deprivation, the second chapter is well under way. I think I may have it finished tonight.

I'm cruising, folks!

ADD

2009-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Some authors complain about writer's block. I really can't say that I've ever experienced it. In fact, the inside of my head looks more like this:

With more and more book ideas popping up every minute of the day. Most of them, I'll probably never write. Some of them, even if I do write them, won't be sellable.

That doesn't stop me from working on them though. Right now I have about 17 active WIPs that I'm flip flopping back and forth on.

Yep. Seventeen.

See why the post is called ADD? I (and some other writers I know) am convinced I have it, but only in relation to my writing. No matter how much I love a project, no matter how strongly I believe that it might be the first novel I get published, I can not settle and work on just one at a time.

Right now I have two WIPs in rewrite stage - Twin Magic and Cassandra's Secrets. Now that's understandable to me. I despise editing/rewriting. So I can't do too much at a time.

I'm also working on a bunch of first drafts. These are the ones that have me wondering. I'm not sure I'm ever going to finish them.

Why?

Because they're taking so long. The rough draft of TM took me only 1 week to complete. CS took a little less than two. Most of the ones I'm working on now have been stagnating for months. I'll add a few sentences here or there, maybe a page, but that's it.

My first day writing TM, I churned out almost 11,000 words in 24 hours. That's a major amount considering I'm not the fastest typer since I only have one hand. And I had all the kids home and I was going to school myself.

With CS, the first week went slowly and I only got about 3,000 done. Then my friend Chelle and I spent a day doing word races. 20 minutes racing then 10 minutes break. We kept that schedule going for about 7 or 8 hours. A full weekend like that and the rough draft was almost done.

The Newest Project

I mentioned in one of my posts about the WIP with a blind girl as the MC. Well, it turns out it's a teen romance (that sure wasn't the plan orginally!), but also a book about self-realization for the hero and heroine.

Unlike most romances, I'm not going for the alpha male as the hero. Nope, he's strictly beta material. I think it'll work though. Here's a little snippet to give you a look at Vince. (Remember this is a very rough draft.)

His breath caught in his lungs. She was beautiful. The most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her hair had so many colors in it, he couldn’t think what to call it, but it hung in soft curls down to the middle of her back. What little of her face that he could see was tanned. He wondered if she used a tanning bed or had just moved here from some sunny state.

Vince let his gaze travel down her body and grinned. She wasn’t some stick figure like most of the girls at Chriswell Prep. She had curves, reminding him of the actresses in the old black and white movies his family watched together every Saturday night.

The woman next to her looked enough like her, so he guessed it was her mother. What the hell? he thought. No teenager lets their mom walk them to class.

The heads of some of his classmates moved, opening a space so he could see the huge, black German Shepherd standing next to the girl. Something was wrong with her. The handle and harness looked like those he’d seen on service animals before. And that’s the only reason Principal Garreth would let an animal on school grounds.

He saw Ms. Janney and the mother step back into the hall, but his eyes never left the girl. She looked . . . lost, standing there all alone, not sure where to go. Her face lifted then and Vince knew in an instant that she was blind and the Shepherd was a seeing eye dog. Her eyes were a dark blue, but with a hazy film covering them.

Ms. Janney strode back into the room alone, her thin lips pressed together so tightly they practically disappeared. Not a good sign at all. Vince peeked at the other students, who were whispering amongst themselves.

She clapped her hands once, loudly. “Class, please say hello to our new student, Brooke Matthias. Pick any empty seat and get settled so we may begin.”

Brooke stood in the doorway looking confused. Vince couldn’t believe the teacher’d done that to her. How was she supposed to pick an empty seat when she couldn’t see them? He opened his mouth to mention it, closing it again without speaking when she whispered to her dog.

The dog began to move slowly down the aisle between the desks. Each step was carefully placed to lead the girl around the backpacks, purses and legs sticking out all over.

Two of his soccer buddies, Jarod and Don spoke quietly as pointed at her as she neared them. The dog took a step forward into the open aisle next to Jarod’s desk, Brooke following right on her heels.So fast that Vince hadn’t even realized what was happening, Jarod stuck his foot out and tripped her. Brooke fell to the ground, a loud crack echoing in the room as her head hit the floor. Jarod tucked his leg back under the desk and hi-fived Don.

His classmates snickered and pointed, some laughed out loud, but no one moved to help her. Vince half rose from his seat, but a glare from Jarod stopped him. Not so long ago, he’d been the new kid. An ugly nerd who no one wanted to know. Without soccer and Jarod absorbing him into his group of friends, Vince would still be the lonely outsider he’d been at his last school. If keeping quiet was the price he had to pay for that friendship and popularity, he’d keep his mouth locked tight.

He switched on his iPod and let the classroom disappear as Harry Dresden dragged him into Chicago and the supernatural happenings there. He’d deal with his conscience later.

This new WIP is tentatively called Sensory Deprivation, but I'm not sure that's a good title for a romance. What do you think?

My Turn

2009-07-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes, when there's twins, they have different personalities? Almost opposite?

I'm not talking about good versus evil that you writers do. Just regular stuff. A quiet twin and a loud one. One that always takes a dare and one that never will.

That's the way Sarah wrote me and my twin Maddy. I'm Lizzie Nichols, the main character in one of the book's she's rewriting right now - Twin Magic. She didn't know what to write today, so I'm taking over.

Like I said at the beginning, me and Maddy are opposites. But don't think that means we don't get along. We do. Closer than best friends actually. I read a book called Anne of Green Gables once and Anne uses the phrase "bosom buddies." I think that works for us too.

At least until that witch, Patience, gets to her. Maddy can't help being weaker. It's who she is and I don't hate her for it.

I'm the loud, outgoing, always ready for a fight twin. Maddy . . . isn't. She daydreams and wants to bring home wild dogs to keep as pets. She forgets what's real a lot, so she needs me to take care of her.

I don't do such a good job or Patience would never have gotten her under her spell. I just got . . . obsessed, I guess. We found those journals and the spellbook, and I started playing the "What if?" game.

What if magic was real? What if the body in the cave were really alive, not dead? What if we could do magic?

Next thing I knew, we were trapped. And it was my job to find a way out. I'm the one who looks after Maddy.

That's all I'm going to say or I'll give away the end of the book. Sarah might get mad at that. See y'all next time she can't think of a post.

Editing

2009-06-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's been happening. Slowly, thanks to starting my new job, but it is happening. I've been working on both Cassandra's Secrets and Twin Magic.

New writing is taking a back seat as I'm determined to have something query ready by year's end.

Writing News

2009-05-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

It feels good to be writing steadily again. Weird, because I'm writing on paper instead of the comp (need to be accessible to the kids while they're here), but good nonetheless. At least words are making it out of my brain.

I'm still stuck at the research phase for the MG I was talking about in the last post, that is temporarily titled Don't Turn Your Back. But I've gone back to an old WIP that has never had a name. It's a YA romance with a blind girl as the MC. It should be quite interesting to write.

One of the things that helped me pick it back up again was a post over at one of my favorite blogs, The Prairie Chicks. The post was all about touch, and using the senses when writing. It really started me thinking, and I rewrote the first two paragraphs, focusing on the sense of smell.

According to the critters that I let read the new beginning, it works and well. I'm not entirely sure where the story is going, but I should have fun getting there. The MC, Brooke Matthias, is the new featured character on the sidebar. Check her out if you get the chance.

The kids and I have decided to do a "summer NaNo" this year. They are each going to have a story written, edited and printed to show their teachers on the first day of school next year. They are quite excited!! Brett is already planning something with zombie birds. Micah's talking about flying horses and other animals. And Ben said something about a killer video game.

Yes, if there is one thing my kids have, it's imagination.

My New Project

2009-05-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I just did my first book review at the new blog Book Faire. If you get the chance, check it out.

So, I've started a new WIP. Not new really, because I've had the idea and some research notes for almost two years now (and yet it still doesn't have a title, though I'm thinking of something like Don't Turn Your Back). I spent about 3-5 hours researching for it yesterday.

When I add up all the research I've done, and still have to do, for this WIP, it scares me. Why? Because I've never really had to do much research for any of my other WIPs. They were all set in either fictional places or places that I know, having lived there myself. So far the only project I had to do research for was Cassandra's Secrets and that was just 5 hours sitting in Denny's with a couple of cops, discussing kidnapping. Not really tough.

The magnitude of research required for a book (even though it's MG) set in the time period of 1668 - 1676 in my hometown of Simsbury, CT, centering around King Philip's War is huge!

I need to know the clothing. What the town looked like then? Was it even a town? Actually it became Simsbury in 1670. Who were the original settlers? What would daily life have been like for a young girl back then?

Then I have to know pretty much the same things about the Wampanoag tribe. But for them, I also need to find some traditional names in their language. Maybe even some stray words to throw in. It would add not only realism, but might spark some interest in their culture and heritage.

All in all, a pretty daunting task that I hope I am up to.

FREE!!

2009-05-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we all love that word. And it's surprising how much there is online that you can get for that low price.

Earlier this morning, I was going over crits I've received and realized something - My writing hasn't really improved. I don't know if it's because I that stubborn and resistant to change (been known to happen), I'm just that dense (a definite possibility) or if I'm just not learning from my mistakes because no one is really explaining why they are mistakes.

Take for example starting your story with dialogue. We've been having a huge debate about this over at Critique Circle lately. Ceyxa even posted this link to an article listing the top 10 reasons manuscripts land in the slush pile.

Number 6 on the list is "starting with dialogue".

Fine. I get that it's something you're not supposed to do. I don't care. If people are going to tell me that, they better include a reason why.

So far, the closest I've received to an explanation is that it makes the writer appear amateurish. And maybe I'm dumb, or maybe I never left that annoying childhood phase, but I want to know WHY!

In my quest to find answers, I went to Google and searched for free onlnie writing classes (free because none of us has money right now). And boy, did I find a bunch!

Suite 101 is a favorite research tool of mine and it turns out that they have online classes (really just print outs of lectures). I've saved a bunch of the sites for future reading and I'll share them with you.

Creative writing 101
Character development
Selling manuscripts
Selling stories
Writing well
Writing novels

There are a bunch more there, geared to the individual genres as well. And others, either hosted by websites or universities:

Storymind
Steven Barnes
Write what you know
What is good writing?
MIT - The creative spark
MIT - Playwriting 101

Those are just the links I saved for me to look at when I have time. There were so many more! I'm hoping that I will be able to learn from these online classes and grow as a writer. And hopefully they'll help you too.

Brenda Novak auction

2009-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

*smacks forehead*

I can't believe I forgot. I meant to give you all a couple of links in with the last post.

For those of you who don't know, May is the month-long auction begun and run by author Brenda Novak to benefit diabetes research. Check out the list of available items here.

She also did an interview on the Prairie Chicks Write Romance blog today. Everyone who comments is entered to win a bag of her books (romantic suspense). Go by and comment.

Goals, Prompts and the Backseat

2009-04-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today. I will write today.

I guess I'm trying to brainwash myself. Something has to work to get me out of this rut. Whatever it takes, I am determined to write at least 500 words today (way less than I used to write). I just need to get something down on paper.

Over on Critique Circle, I have a small group that is supposed to write 1 short story a week (yeah, like that actually happens). We take turns posting prompts and everyone gets to take their pick of which they want to write about. The only restriction (and we're not that strict on it) is a 2500 word limit.

In fact, the short I've been subbing, A Mother's Best, was written for the prompt that said: Life imitating art: Find a picture or song and write a story to go with it. Include the link to said art form when you submit to the queue.

I picked the song Don't Laugh At Me by Mark Wills and wrote my short about a homeless woman and her young daughter.

This week's prompts are interesting as well (thanks, Merc):

1.) Write a story with the title, "The Forgotten Toast"

2.) someone walks into a subway (station or restaurant, up to you) and gets
deja vu that something Very Bad is going to happen. What is it? Why is this
happening? What do they do?

3.) Use the opening line, "In an hour, I will never have existed."

4.) it's prom night and you're date has just ditched you—plus, you realize
something disastrous has happened to your dress/suit but you have a lot riding
on actually being at the prom (with a date), so what do you do?

5.) watching a scary movie on a stormy night, alone in the house, you hear
someone pounding on the door. Who is it? What do you do?

(Bonus points if you can put a humorous twist on it. )

++ points if you use the words stewardesses and lollipops in the story

So that is my goal today - to get a significant start made on my new short.

BTW, Cassandra's Secrets rewrites are taking a backseat for a while. It's a story that has several parts that are very difficult for me to write emotionally (hit way too close to home) and I have enough going on in my life without dealing with that too.

Stopping the Submission Process

2009-04-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to stop subbing A Mother's Best (the only short I have out) for a while. At least until I figure out why it's not being accepted anywhere.

Am I subbing it to the wrong places? I don't think so since the 15 places I picked accept pretty much any genre (though I admit to extreme difficulties classifying AMB).

I've only received 1 form rejection out of 13 rejections. The rest have been personalized and quite positive. Based on that, I would think someone somewhere would give me a yes.

So it goes on the shelf until I can look at it with more objective eyes. If any of you want to read it and give an opinion/crit it, let me know. I'll take all the help I can get!

Habits

2009-04-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Script Frenzy is not going to happen.

I had it all planned out. Outlines and everything. Problem is, life doesn't like to follow an outline, so SF is off the table for this year.

Habits - Good and Bad

I realized something the past couple of weeks while Yuna was here. I've gotten out of the habit of writing. Used to be that writing was as vital to me as breathing. I couldn't possibly let a day go by without doing it.

Now, except for outlines, the last serious writing I did was in late-February. Yikes!

That's a long time. Almost two whole months. Not a good thing.

And it's not like I don't want to write, because I do. I miss it terribly! I think about it every day. But whenever I sit down to write, something happens and no words get down on the page.

I think what I really need is to get a new laptop (since my breathed its last breath back in September) and start doing the night writing at Denny's again. I used to get so much done there between midnight and 5 a.m.

But I need $$ to get a laptop and that's not happening in the near future.

SF

2009-04-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hmm . . .

I think I mentioned something about Script Frenzy this month. Guess what? It's been going on for a week already and how much have I written? Not a single page!

Theoretically that's not so bad. After all, my first nano, I didn't start until the 12th of November and still won. And last year's SF, I finished almost a week early.

So maybe. But I won't be starting until next week after Yuna heads back to England.

I'll just have to see how it goes.

Sorry

2009-03-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

You'll notice I haven't done a writing post in a while. Sorry about that. Life has just been insanely busy and I haven't written at all (except for blog posts).

After my friend from England visits (she arrives Wednesday and leaves Easter), I'm going to start forcing myself to sit and write again.

Until then, I'll see you all on your blogs :)

Desperate Housewives

2009-03-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

I took a quiz over at Royal Blush Authors (followed one of their guest bloggers, Chiron O'Keefe there). It deals with female archetypes in literature and film/tv.

You're Bree
Take What Desperate Housewives character are you? today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

You are such a perfect and charming mom and widow. Everyone loves you EXCEPT your own family. You are too much of a neat freak, and your house always smells of cuisene. Try to be normal for once...take your kids out to McDonalds...just dont bring any of them sponges!

I think they are completely wrong. Just personal opinion. And how they can decide after only 4 questions is a mystery to me.

Funny Video

2009-03-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

My friend, Liana Broooks, just posted this video over at her blog. It is beyond hysterical. Go check it out.

Obituary

2009-03-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

This really has nothing to do with writing, but I'm going to post it anyway because I think people should read it.

My friend sent me one of those forwarded emails that I tend to delete without reading. I opened this one because of the subject line "Interesting Obituary in the London Times".

Who could resist that? So here it is:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, whohas been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. Hewill be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets theworm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspendedfrom school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

What's Important?

2009-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking lately about what makes a book stand out in my mind. Many reasons came to me.

1) Characters - People discuss these all the time, so I'm not going to go in-depth. I'm just going to say that I like characters that have major flaws (real or imaginary). One of the main characters in CS is Tom. He has a major flaw that does not get resolved during the course of the novel. Tom wants to be an alpha male. Take charge of situations. Be the MAN.

But he's not. He's a scared, confused, 15 year old boy. Growing up with an unpredictable, career criminal for a mother, he's too hesitant to take charge. Instead he's a follower. The two main parts of the story (both are rescues of Cassie) show him following someone else's lead. The first time, Cassie orchestrates her own escape and Tom helps her because he knows it's the right thing to do. In the second, his dad is the leader and Tom does what he's told.

He kind of reminds me of Robin (you know - Batman and Robin?). Tom needs a stronger personality to guide him and do the strategizing. I don't think that's always a bad thing.

2) Plot - This one's kind of another no-brainer, but it is important (and it connects with the next one). I don't even know if I can explain what makes a plot work for me. I just know that I'm kind of weird in my tastes.

Obviously the plot has to keep moving forward, but some things that others hate, I enjoy. I don't mind reading about a character eating dinner and making small talk or discussing the day's events with their spouse. Or about them going to the bathroom.

But that's just me.

3) Diversity - I can't stand reading a book that's just one genre entirely. I mean, I love romance novels, but they must have some other aspect as well - suspense, mystery, paranormal, fantasy, sci fi . It doesn't matter, there just has to be more.

I try to bring that into the stories I write too. CS has suspense and paranormal. RIS is chick lit, romance and suspense.

In fact, I think only my short stories could possibly stick with just one genre.

And last but not least . . .

4) Description - Yes, this is odd coming from me, President of the I Hate Description fan club, but it's true. IMO, descriptions should be short, sweet and to the point, but they must evoke some sort of visual. Granted, I like most of the visual to be left up to my imagination. Others don't. So the amount of description all depends on the reader and writer.

So what do you look for most in a book?

Planning Ahead

2009-03-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've heard people ask (usually on Critique Circle) how much planning is too much for something like Script Frenzy or NaNoWriMo. Obviously it depends in part on your usual way of writing, what works for you on a general basis.

For me, I need an outline to follow or I don't finish. In fact the only first drafts I've finished to date were the first two that I did outlines for. But I'm not talking about some 20 page, in-depth outline. Mine fits in a page, maybe a page and a half depending on the length of the story.

Twin Magic, the first one I outlined (and my first NaNo) has 23 chapters. Each rough draft chapter was between 1000-1500 words (yes, short, but I add details in later at the insistence of critters). My outline was only a page long. Each chapter label had 3-5 bullet points after it with significant things that needed to happen in that chapter. Writing filled in the blanks.

I did the same sort of outline for Cassandra's Secrets and it worked again. So I'm sticking with it for the forseeable future.

Including for SF which I have almost completely outlined already!!

A Back Seat Once Again

2009-03-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's where writing is - again! It's happening, just so slowly that the tortoise in the DSL commercials moves faster.

Script Frenzy plotting is moving ahead full steam. There has also been a lot going on in my personal life that you can read about here.

And . . . I started a new blog - Handicapped Is A State Of Mind. Check it out if you get the chance.

Addition to the Sidebar

2009-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

I've decided to borrow/steal an idea from my friend Yuna's blog. She has started a weekly character profile on her sidebar that I thought was really cool. So, I'm going to do it on mine too, starting with the characters from Cassandra's Secrets (which all of you know is the novel I'm revising at the moment).

In other news that has me both excited and filled with dread, Script Frenzy is less than a month away. I got the email today that the site is up and running for the new year.

I have to confess - I have done zero prep work on it. Last year my friend Profitmom (who is now published and has her own blog) and I worked together on it and managed to win with a movie script that was a sequel to The Highlander television series (that's why your post yesterday had me laughing so hard, David). It went so smoothly, that the script was finished and we'd won almost before I knew it.

This year, I'm on my own, without a clue of what to write. And my writing has been miniscule to nonexistent the past couple of months.

What makes me think I can do another screenplay?

:) Insanity!! I will be going for it. Are any of you signed up or planning to sign up and join the "Needs-a-padded-room-and-a-computer" crew?

I'm Off To See The Wizard

2009-03-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Follow the yellow brick road . . .

. . . to Emerald City!!

A question asked on CC led me to Google. He wrote:

An idea has been rolling around in my head for a while about a way to analyse writing styles utilizing an objective approach: My idea is to break the story down, sentence by sentence, into component parts (for instance, Dialogue, Descirption, Action, Naration) and then analyse the patterns in which these parts appear and the overall ratios in which they appear. Comparing the results across authors in a particular genre might yield useful results... or it might not.

Has this type of thing ever been done? Does anyone think it would be a useful endeavor or would the results be worthless? Is my analytical mind just trying to force itself into a realm in which it does not belong?

So like I said, I headed to Google (which I think is the most awesome thing ever for web research) and looked for sites that analyze writing samples. I found O'Faust.

It was so much fun, it occupied me for almost the entire morning! Here are my results:

This blog has a 19% similarity to Edgar Allen Poe's writing style.

My personal blog has a 58% similarity to Lewis Carroll's writing.

Cassandra's Secrets (20%), Absolutely Livid (24%), Twin Magic (32%), A Day With Death (16%), Street Kid (24%), A Mother's Best (29%), Revenge Is Sweet (38%) and Spice It Up (18%) all have similarity to Frank Baum, wonderful author of The Wizard of Oz.

The only WIP that I tested that did not show a similarity to Baum was The Demon Priest which came up with a 17% similarity to Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote Tarzan.

I find it really weird that my blogs come in so different to my actual writing, and that the two blogs are comparative to such different writers!

Check out some of your writing/blogs and let me know what you come up with.

My Writing Style

2009-03-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

I started to write a response to Glam's post on layers, but realized it was way too long. She asked about how we write. And mine way is a bit different than hers, so I thought I'd let you guys know how I go about writing a story.

The Characters

This is where I always begin. The main character forms in my mind - who they are, what they are, what they look like, what is important to them. And that follows with what I like to read. To me, if a book doesn't have strong, believable characters (whether they be lovable or hateable), the story isn't worth reading.

Not to say that strong characters can't come about through other means, they can. This is just my way.

Take my novel Absolutely Livid as an example. I started with the character of Olivia/Livid. I wanted her to be along the lines of Batman - a tortured heroine fighting crime in secret because of something awful that happened in her past. For Olivia that event was the rape and murder of her sister when she was 12 years old.

Olivia is a tall redhead who has spent her life training for her "mission" of taking care of all the children in her city. Martial arts, weapons, every skill she could imagine possibly needing to fight the evil that preys on children. Even the job she works at was picked for the same reason - police dispatcher. What better way to find the scum of the earth that the cops can't?

Because she lost everyone she loved at such a young age (after her sister's murder, her parents died as well - one to suicide and one to a drunk driving accident), she is terrified of caring for anyone. It only leads to pain and she's not sure if she can survive anymore of it.

Enter the MMC - Joel Bradshaw. He's a cop who works with her. He despises Livid and her vigilantism and doesn't know that the woman he loves is one and the same. Joel has lived a very steady life with very few extreme ups and downs. He doesn't have a clue how to deal with a woman like Olivia who would rather knee him in the nuts than go on a date with him.

So that's where the story begins for me. Then I move on.

Plot Threads

For me, the plot (and various subplots) come from the characters and their lives. I think about what are they willing to fight for? What could go wrong and make their lives hell? Who could they lose? Who might try to stop them from doing what's right/what they want?

The answers to those questions become my plot threads. The main plot in AL is Livid's fight to rid the city of the group running an internet website of child pornography. That is what she's fighting for, her entire reason for being.

Then there are her internal struggles. Her fears that she's starting to lose Olivia to Livid. That she's going to far and forgetting justice in favor of vengeance.

Of course, as a lifelong romance reader, I had to throw in the romance between Olivia and Bradshaw. Can Olivia open her heart again and take the risk?

And the last major plot thread starts toward the end when Bradshaw finds out that Olivia and Livid are the same person. Can he reconcile the fact that the woman he loves is also the woman he and the rest of the police force have hated for years?

The Outline

I move on to my outline from there. Most chapters that I write are between 1500 - 2500 words, so I think of how long I want the book to be. For AL I am aiming for 75,000 words. So I estimated there would be about 35 chapters in all (give or take a couple).

I number a paper with the chapter numbers with a few spaces between each number. Then I pick 3-4 twists or events that will happen in that chapter. Not all plots must be addressed in each chapter (as we all know) and not all of the twists/events have to be major, they just have to be important to the overall story.

Write

Then I start writing. And I don't ever edit until the first draft is done. If I did, I'd never finish a draft.

So there is the long explanation of how I write.

Checking In

2009-03-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

No writing done for a while. Life has been extremely busy. Check out my personal blog for details on why.

But I think I'm getting back on track with writing at the moment. I had some new inspiration for Cassandra's Secrets and have started something new (and as yet untitled). Both are chugging along at a reasonable pace, though I doubt CS rewrites will be done by mid-April as I'd hoped.

Oh, well. It's not like I have an agent who's pushing a deadline. I just wish I did :)

I'll be doing another grammar post tomorrow, but that's all for now.

My Life

2009-02-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

Cassandra's Secrets seems to have hit a major roadblock. No matter what I do, it will not let me fix it. Grrrrr!

My kids are coming today, so I won't be blogging again until they leave on Monday (and hopefully I'll have something interesting to say then).

All my spare time lately has been spent either reading or preparing for my baptism or with my kids. Even though I know I have, it feels like I never have a minute to myself

And that's pretty much my life in 5 sentences.

Yep, I Got One Too (actually 2)

2009-02-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

So two people gave me this award recently (thanks, guys!), so I think it's finally time I fulfill the requirements and pass it on.

First thing I have to do is reveal 5 of my obsessions. (Why can't I be OCD like Monk? Then this would be easy.)

1) I'm a major-league grammar nazi.

2) No matter how crappy a book is, I will finish it. There are only 3 that I have not finished in my life.

3) Cleaning bathrooms. They literally have to be clean enough that a baby could go in and lick the toilet.

4) Writing. Yeah, guess you kind of figured that one.

5) Johnny Depp. Trite but true. I have lusted for the boy since I was a teenager.

Now I must pick five people to pass it on to.

1) Chelle Speaks

2) Crimogenic

3) Merc Rants

4) The Bookshelf Muse

5) Prairie Chicks

Pass it on, guys!

The Great Eight

2009-02-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

I recently signed up to be a book review blogger. Hey, I'm broke and doing it means I get free books, so why not?

When I saw that one of my choice to review was The Great Eight by Scott Hamilton, I was beyond thrilled. This guy had been one of my idols growing up. Whenever I knew he was going to be skating in a competition, I parked myself in front of the television to watch it. Even blew off a few dates to watch him (Sorry, guys. Blame him :)).

So I clicked on The Great Eight and they sent it to me. Despite how much I adore him as a skater, I was prepared to hate Scott's book for a couple of reasons.

1) I hate nonfiction. It doesn't matter what the topic, I don't like dwelling on reality when my imagination works so well.

2) Most books that I've read by famous people suck, plain and simple.

3) Because the book talks a lot about his relationship with God, I was ready to read a lot of preaching and sanctimonious, holier-than-thou tripe.

Man, was I pleasantly surprised.

It's so awesome to look back and remember these events.

Scott writes such an honest (and frequently harsh) accounting of the reality of his life and himself. Talking about his many life-threatening illnesses, his almost pathological need to please everyone around him, and the events (and person) in his life that led him to God, whom he calls the Almighty Coach.

This backflip was a signature Scott Hamilton move.

He talks very plainly about what he sees as the eight steps to leading a happy life, how to turn adversity into opportunity. The phrase he uses to describe coincidence is "God-scheduled opportunities". I absolutely love that phrase because it sums up so much of life into three little words.

Every time he was out on the ice, it looked like he was having such a blast.

The Great Eight is a heartwrenching, soul-searching memoir that frequently brought tears to my eyes and made me look at how I view things in my life.

As people who know me can tell you, the past couple of years have been a trial for me, but his book helped me see other ways to look at things. How to see them as a learning experience instead of some sort of punishment for past wrongs.

The tragedy of cancer took his mother and almost himself.

I only had one small problem with the book - every so often, a sentence would be written in such a way that came across as extremely egotistical. Now, granted, each time was something about skating, and he has every right to an ego where his talents are concerned. It just rubbed against me wrong when it popped out in the writing.

On the big screen playing himself in Blades of Glory.

All in all, a great book though, and I'm very glad I read it. Especially at this point in my life where everything has seemed to be sliding downhill for so long.

Too? To? Two?

2009-02-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

anal retentive - excessively fussy and concerned with order and minute details

I've come to a conclusion. I have way too many issues with grammar. Some might even call me anal retentive or OCD.

I'm not. Really. Promise!

Bad grammar just . . . bugs the living daylights out of me. My latest peeve that I'm about to spill all over you is about homophones. (For anyone who doesn't remember, homophones sound the same but have different meanings.)

The two that bother me the most, and that I see the most, are to, too, two and they're, there, their. People tend to get them horribly confused. It's also the most common mistake I find in published books as well, so I guess it's a difficult one for editors as well.

Let's start with the first group.

1) To: a preposition indicating movement, action, position, etc.; more
common than the other two.

2) Too: adverb meaning besides, also, to an excessive degree.

3) Two: an adjective; a number; one more than one.

With such drastically different definitions, it seems like it would be easy to keep track of them. Alas, 'tis not so.

Second group:

1) They're: a contraction combining they and are.

2) There: this one can be either adverb, pronoun, adjective or noun, and
the definition in the dictionary is way too long, so I'll just say, if the other
two don't fit, use this one.

3) Their: adjective; the possessive form of they and is always
followed by a noun.

Really not that difficult if you stop to think about it. Yet when I crit, I spend half my time pointing these errors out to the authors.

Synopses

2009-02-04T07:43:00.001-08:00

No, this isn't going to be a post on how to write them (have never successfully written one myself), but my version of what fellow blogger Natalie did on her blog this morning. Basically a short little blurb about each of the projects I am currently working on or have finished (I'm going to ignore the ones that I've just about given up on).

1) Twin Magic - rough draft complete - MG - A story (in first person) about twin 11 year old girls who find a witch trapped in a cave. They accidentally release her and must find a way to either kill or retrap her.

(Ok, why does it sound so boring when I write it out like that?)

2) Cassandra's Secrets - working on the rewrite - YA - Cassie Bridgewater, famous teen psychic, is kidnapped during an assassination attempt on the president of the US. With the help of Tom, hunky son of on of the kidnappers, Cassie escapes and must save her bodyguard.

3) A Day With Death - rough draft in progress - YA - Becca is 16, depressed, blamed by her parents for the death of her older sister, and losing everyone she loves. She plans her suicide meticulously and is struggling to find the courage to follow through. Then Death appears and offers her a deal - a day spent shadowing him and learning the truth about death, in exchange for him granting her the thing she wants most.

4) Absolutely Livid - rough draft in progress - chick lit - Olivia, police dispatcher with an attitude by day; Livid, a vigilante whose sole goal in life is to rid her city of those who prey on children by night. She killed for the first time at age 12 to avenge her sister's rape and murder. Now she is faced with an internet kiddie porn ring that she must break and a cop who hates Livid but is very interested in Olivia.

5) Revenge Is Sweet - rough draft in progress - chick lit - Five women, who haven't seen each other since graduation, reconnect at their high school reunion. Their lives each look perfect on the surface, but when they poke and prod (as women do), the truth comes out. Each is desperately unhappy and searching for a solution to her problem. During a night of tears and alcohol, they find it - a Survivor-like game. All the men in their lives get dumped on a deserted island with nothing. And only one may leave alive.

6) Street Kids - rough draft in progress - YA - Fourteen year old Megan finds herself living on the streets when her hopes of finding work to help support her family are smashed to bits. Pop, older and much wiser in the ways of street life, takes her under her wing and teaches her how to survive. But Megan wonders, will she ever make it back home?

7) The Demon Priest - rough draft in progress - YA - Six weeks away from entering the seminary and fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a priest, 21 year old Patrick learns the truth about his heritage, one that his mother and siblings have ruthlessly guarded for years. He is half incubus. Can he reconcile the two sides of his personality? Or will the sex-hungry demonic side take complete control?

8) Who Am I? - rough draft in progress - YA - On her 18th birthday, Eve Madsen receives the shock of her life. - she was adopted as a baby! Determined to find the truth of her heritage, she, along with her boyfriend Chase, sets out to find her birth parents.

9) The Professional - rough draft in progress - erotica - Louise is terrified of sex. Logan is a prostitute. Louise is about to be married. Logan is her last ditch effort to lose her fear so she can go to her marriage bed as a full partner.

So, that's them. I think I got better at the little blurbs as I went along. Drop a note and let us know what you're working on.

Improving Vocabulary

2009-02-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently told me that she wanted to improve her vocabulary but didn't know how to go about it. "I read so much. My vocab should be huge," she said.

In theory, she's right. Reading should, and does, improve a person's vocabulary. BUT it all depends on the kinds of books you read. I mean an adult reading HP will learn nothing vocabulary-wise.

So being the sarcastic, smart-ass I am, I tell her to start reading the dictionary every day. I knew she'd never do it. She doesn't read books that go above a 9th grade level. So of course, she looked at me like I'd completely lost my mind. I smiled and told her the truth - that I do.

Yes, I am a hopeless nerd who reads the dictionary for fun. And I'm proud of my nerdiness. Not only has it expanded my vocabulary and made my spelling abilities even better, but it's improved my Scrabble game by about 199 points :)

Which brings to mind a funny story I heard. Another friend of mine and her friend have a thing. Both are horrible spellers. Both are trying to get better. So their new rule is, if you use a word, you have to be able to spell it or you are not allowed to use it anymore.

I think that's so cool! So I suggested to my roomie that we do it too, but adding in that you must know the definition as well. She got . . . a little bit pissed off about that. Can't imagine why.

A Fellow Blogger . . .

2009-02-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

. . . posted a poem on her site today. It brought tears to my eyes and I wanted my readers to see it even if they don't follow her blog. It's a poem she wrote for her brother's funeral called God Is Still Working On Me.

Why?

2009-01-31T04:34:00.000-08:00

Sorry about this. I was going to try to keep the grammar posts for Thursdays (try to get myself on a bit of a schedule, you know?), but I have to do this one.

It astounds me how little people (I'm not talking about writers) care so little for the basic rules of grammar. It feels like I spend more time correcting my kids' and everyone elses' kids' grammar than anything else. Drives me nuts! And, of course, they all hate me for it. (Though that I can live with.)

The two most common mistakes made?

1) Double negatives - I must say that people are coming up with more and more interesting ways to phrase them, but it doesn't change what they are - a huge no-no! I'm seriously ready to scream if I hear one more college-educated person say, "It doesn't mean nothing."

*tears out hair and puts in earplugs*

I can't stand it!! When I correct the person, the response tends to be along the lines of, "What difference does it make? Everyone knows what I meant anyway and they don't care."

To me that is the saddest statement ever made about our educational system today.

2) Adverbs/adjectives - How hard can it really be? As long as you know the difference between a noun and a verb, the adverbs and adjectives are easy. Adjectives and nouns are an inseparable couple, and so are verbs and adverbs. Heck, the last couple even share a name!

"I did real good on the test yesterday." is a big one my kids do. Real good is attempting to describe the word did. Just one problem - both real and good are adjectives!

How much more difficult is it to say. "I did really well on the test yesterday."? Only two letters got added to the sentence.

You know, as I write these grammar posts, I've come to a conclusion. I'm a grammar snob. I have so many pet peeves when it comes to grammar, it's not even funny.

Aha!

2009-01-30T10:30:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that everyone (myself included) seems to struggle with Point Of View. Figuring out which to use, how to stay within the limits of what you choose. Not only that, but personally, I've never understood anything beyond first and third person.

People start talking about all these different kinds of POV and I just sit there nodding and saying, "Um-hmm." And they think I'm intelligent :) Hate to spoil the illusion, but I don't have a clue.

Until a few minutes ago, that is, when I did a bit of research on th4e subject.

Here is one explanation for POV that I found. I really like the way it teaches you as if you were a 4 year old who knows nothing.

Point of View

An automobile accident occurs. Two drivers are involved. Witnesses include four sidewalk spectators, a policeman, a man with a video camera who happened to be shooting the scene, and the pilot of a helicopter that was flying overhead. Here we have nine different points of view and, most likely, nine different descriptions of the accident.

In short fiction, who tells the story and how it is told are critical issues for an author to decide. The tone and feel of the story, and even its meaning, can change radically depending on who is telling the story.

Remember, someone is always between the reader and the action of the story. That someone is telling the story from his or her own point of view. This angle of vision, he point of view from which the people, events, and details of a story are viewed, is important to consider when reading a story.

Kind of makes sense when you describe it that way, huh?

But still, I didn't get the different label that get flung around places like Critique Circle. So I kept looking for answers. Well, not just answers - answers that made sense!

Now I found a very basic, but well written, definition here. I'll give you the high points here though:

First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.

Second-person point of view, in which the author uses you and your, is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.

Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.

Like I said, very basic description, but enough for me to get a better idea of what I do (Gotta love those Dummies books :D). I know there are a lot more detailed subdivisions, especially of 3rd person, but I think that's enough to be getting on with.

Except, then I look at another site and it varies somewhat. An Associated Content article takes a bit of a different view:

Omniscient: This is when the writer tells the story using the third person (he said, she did, etc.) The writer has access into every action and even the thoughts of all the characters. He is all-knowing, in other words. Omniscient point of view means the writer is a god.

Limited Omniscient: The writer still uses the third person, but his insight into every thought is now limited to just one character in the story, or maybe a few different characters separated by parts of the book. He still has some pretty godlike powers, but he's not all knowing.

First Person: This writer uses "I" and "me" and can tell you a lot about himself, but doesn't have access into the minds of others. The story is told from that person's viewpoint.

Objective: The writer still uses third person pronouns, but has lost all godlike powers of peering into the minds of his characters. He can tell you everything they do, but has no insight into why they did it. This type of point of view strips the omniscience down to reportage of the known facts. That is why objective point of view is often used in the writing of mysteries or detective novels.

Again, great definitions.

When I first started writing, I used 1st person almost exclusively. I found it easier to not POV hop if I wrote in 1st person. But as I've progressed, I've moved into 3rd person limited and found I enjoy it. I rarely slip from head to head, except when I want to.

What about you guys? How well do you know the different definition? Which do you prefer?

Thursday's Grammar Lesson #3

2009-01-29T04:47:00.000-08:00

I'm going to go with another personal pet peeve since no one is bothering to give me ideas! So the pet peeve is familial labels. Surprisingly (at least to me), a lot of writers (even published ones) don't seem to understand when to and when not to capitalize words like father, brother, cousin.

Seeing things like:

My Dad comes to all my baseball games.

"Can mommy come with us too?"

He's my big brother.

Your Aunt is coming for dinner.

What is wrong with those examples? (Actually, being the sneaky sort, one of them is correct. See if you can figure it out.)

Only the third one is right. Dad, mommy and Aunt are all wrong. The only reason to capitalize a label like this is if it is replacing a proper noun name. That is the long and short of it. In reality, a very simple rule.

So why the heck can't people remember it?

In my nice moods, I assume that the writer can't tell when it's replacing a name and when it's not. The answer's pretty simple. If you have (what I call) a qualifying word in front of it, no capitalization needed.

Qualifying words are those like: my, his, your, her, our their. Any dad, father, mom, mother, aunt or uncle that comes after one of those words is not replacing a proper noun. Otherwise, they are consider a title which replaces their given name.

Can we go to the store, Aunt Susan?

My brother, Mom and I ate dinner early.

How are you doing, Dad?

This can even work with the word cousin too. The only ones it doesn't worl for are brother and sister. Those only get capitalized when speaking of monks and nuns.

Think you've got it now?

Opinions Needed Please

2009-01-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

Ok. You guys have been great responding to my poll. Major thanks! But I'm still feeling rather unsure about the whole thing, so I thought I'd post the scene and get your opinions on it. Please be completely honest in your responses.

The set up is 13 year old Cassie Bridgewater, famous tv psychic, has been kidnapped from the studio during a staged assassination attempt.

When the lid of the trunk flew open, Cassie squeezed her eyes shut against the bright sunlight. A knife sliced through the rope holding her ankles together. Huge hands clamped down on her arms and dragged her out of the car, scraping her legs against the metal. Her eyes flew open to see two men. The one holding her stunk. His matted hair, scraggly beard, rotted teeth and filthy clothes left no doubt as to the reason why. Cassie winced at the sight of his grime-encrusted hands touching her.

The other man was his complete opposite. Well-dressed in a business suit and paisley tie, and impeccably groomed. Cassie wished he'd been the one to drag her out of the trunk.
"Well, lookie here. Didn't get so good a look at her afore. Had no idea she was so purty." The man speaking reached out and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger and brought it to his nose. A dreamy smile spread across his face as he sniffed. "And she smells yummy. All fresh and innocent and new."
Cassie opened her mouth and shrieked. A wordless sound that she couldn't stop, not with fear of this man filling her. A pale hand, with a ruby ring on one finger, reached out and smacked the man holding her.
"Truly, Ricky. Must you be so foul?" His strong British accent made it difficullt for her to understand him at first. "We are not supposed to harm her. That includes molesting the dear girl. Now, let me have her."
Ricky tightened his grip, shifting one hand off her arm and sliding it onto her breast. His eyes shone as he smiled and cruelly pinched and twisted her nipple. "I don' care what the boss say. I'm gonna have her afore we let her go. She was meant to be mine, Lloyd."
Lloyd yanked her out of Ricky's hands, dragging a whimper from her mouth. "Stay behind me," he whispered. "Ricky's not the most stable, but we needed him and his contacts to get you out of the studio. Now, you need to stay as far away from him as possible, and whatever you do, don't provoke him."

Out Of The Norm Characters

2009-01-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes choosing the right word for a story is a pain in the you-know-what. People complain if the word has a different connotation to them, if they think you had to use a thesaurus to come up with the word, if you use a certain word too often . . .

The list goes on and on. And yes, these are all complaints that I've received in critiques.

Take the WIP I'm revising right now - Cassandra's Secrets. The main character is a 13 year old girl, so I've gotten many complaints that her language usage, vocabulary and tone are unrealistic.

If she were a normal teen, then I'd agree. What few of my readers seem to take into account is that she is not normal. She has been the star of her own psychic talk show since she was 8 or 9 years old. She has taken speech, elocution, ennunciation, etc. classes for years, has no friends her own age, and deals almost exclusively with adults.

So why on earth would they expect her to talk like all the teens down at the local hang out? I don't get it.

When reading (or writing) a character, there are so many things that have to factor in, and it seems that many readers and writers are too lazy to do that. To them it's like a basic math formula:

Teen MC = bad vocab + excessive use of slang + mumbling and slurring of words

That sort of character, while perfect for the average teen, is unrealistic for my character.

Do you guys have any characters that fall outside the box? That critters complain are unrealistic? I'd love to hear about them.

Monday Update

2009-01-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

I actually have made some progress on the writing front the past few days!!! (Can you tell I'm excited?) CS is chugging along on rewrites. And changing drastically from where it was in the first draft.

To be expected of course, but it always amazes me anyway.

So chapter 4 is almost done. I've written about 2k on the RHA book 1. Wrote a short and fleshed out some of the outlines I have for other projects.

My New Year's resolution this year is to keep my ongoing WIPs to 5 or under at any given time this year. Right now I have CS rewrites (1), RHA book 1 (2), AL, RIS and DP.

Shorts do not count as WIPs. (And I'll swear to that under oath :P)

Vocabulary Lesson - School's Back In Session!

2009-01-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Wisdom is the ability and inclination to make choices that stand the test of time.

I like that definition (thank you, Websters online!). A friend was telling me earlier that I was wise (Having or prompted by wisdom) and I must say that I disagree. In fact, I'd say about 85-90% of my decisions end up to be disasters.

If I screw up, that's not a decision that stands the test of time. I've been shown that it was the wrong decision to make.

But . . .

Where does learning from your mistakes factor in? If learning from them (and usually not repeating them) makes you wise, then I'm on par with Methuselah.

I have made so many mistakes, that I don't think I can count that high. Yet each time, when I made the decision, I was convinced it was the right one.

Other people think that wisdom is based solely on how many and varied experiences you've had. Once again, if that is an appropriate usage of the word, just call me Methuselah. At 36, having lived a very not sheltered life, I have had oodles of experiences.

Do we go by the dictionary's definition when we describe ourselves and others? (I confess that I do. I'm very literal with my definitions) Do we use words as we think they mean or as others use them? Which is right?

As an example, my teen daughters absolutely love to use the word "ignorant". Hey, I don't blame them. It's a great word. Except that they are completely and utterly ignorant of its definition!! They basically use it to mean anything that they don't like, or is uncool. Its real definition is:

1. Lacking general education or knowledge; "an ignorant man"; "nescient of contemporary literature"; "an unlearned group incapable of understanding complex issues"; "exhibiting contempt for his unlettered companions".
2. Ignorant of the fundamentals of a given art or branch of knowledge; "ignorant of quantum mechanics"; "musically illiterate".
3. Lacking basic knowledge; "how can someone that age be so ignorant?"; "inexperienced and new to the real world".
4. (archaic) used of things; lacking sense or awareness; "ignorant hope"; "fine innocent weather".
5. Lacking knowledge or skill; "unversed in the jargon of the social scientist".
6. Lacking information or knowledge; "an unknowledgeable assistant".

Not exactly even in the same league.

Another Grammar Post

2009-01-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

Since absolutely nothing has been happening on the writing front lately, I've decided to do another post about a writing pet peeve of mine - passive voice.

One thing I've found on Critique Circle is that while most people will point out passive voice tons of times in a critique, very few actually know what passive voice really is.

Not every "to be" verb means that the person is using passive voice. While most passive voice sentences do have a "to be" verb in them, it's not an all or nothing thing.

I have been working at home for the past five years.

I have been kept home by the flu the past few days.

Only one of those is passive. Think you know which is which? I know a lot of critiquers don't. The first sentence is not passive. It's merely past tense (there's a fancy name for it which I neither know, nor care to know). The second sentence however is passive. And here is why.

In passive voice, the subject is not doing the noun. In my example, "I" is not "keeping home". Writing this in a non-passive way would be The flu kept me home the past few days. That way the subject is performing the verb.

It's really pretty easy to understand and fix, once you know what to look for. But then (and I am waaaay guilty of this too) one other thing critters forget, sometimes passive voice is used on purpose! Whether for effect or because the real subject of the sentence is not something the author wants you focused on, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the critter accept the author's choice.

Say the author is writing about a young girl, maybe 5 or 6, being held at gunpoint. Where is her focus going to be? On the big, scary gun pointing right at her. So her sentences would focus on the gun as well.

The gun was waved in front of her face.

The gun was jerked away suddenly.

Even though each sentence is passive, it makes sense because it follows the child's viewpoint and focuses on what her focus is.

I hope this helps at least some of you. If not, well, not much time wasted. If so, YIPEE!!

A Request

2009-01-16T06:13:00.000-08:00

I got a request from one of my readers today on what to post - "to be" verbs.

*cringes*

If I have ever critiqued you, you know that I count "to be" verbs as my biggest pet peeve! If it seems like the story contains way too many, I will even go through, count and highlight them all. I've even received requests just to do crits like that with nothing else.

So first off, what qualifies as a "to be" verb? Am, are, is, was, were, 's, 're, 'm, and (according to research, but not my old teachers) became and become.

They are weak verbs that tell the reader nothing. Actually, scratch that. "To be" verbs tell. Rarely do "to be" verbs show any action or hold the reader's interest. Consider these two sentences:

Luke was going to the store to get the food for his dinner
date. She was going to be surprised if she caught him. She thought he was
a gourmet cook.

Luke hurried to the store. He needed food - fast. If only he hadn't told
his date that he attended a Cordon Bleu cooking school!

Ok. Not the greatest examples in the world. (Actually downright horrid!) But you get the point, I think. The first gives you the basic info in a flat, boring way. That style of writing will definitely not hold a reader's interest.

The second (though still a crappy, spur-of-the-moment thing), draws the reader in more. It shows what Luke is doing. The verbs give us action! (I am not talking active vs. passive here, but I can go into that in another post if you like.)

My 6th grade English teacher, Mrs. Abbott (I adored that woman!) gave me this rule of thumb concerning the dreaded "to be" verbs: If you use one more often than once per one hundred words, you've use too many.

I've found it true in my own writing. Granted, my first drafts are "to be" Grand Central Station! But I make a conscious effort to remove as many as possible from subsequent drafts.

So do you guys have a pet peeve? If so, what is it?

Yikes!

2009-01-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a week since I posted. That's not good. Believe it or not, I do Ihave pretty good (if I do say so myself) reasons.

1) It's been the week from hell.

2) I have been writing and editing (Yes, I am halfway through editing chapter 4 of CS and have finished the first 3 chapters of TP).

3) I have been critiqueing (Can't post my chapters and expecy crits if I don't crit others).

4) Job hunting.

Pretty good reasons? Yeah? So why do I feel like such a slacker? I think I might just try some shorts so I can get some instant gratification. I'm tired of nothing ever getting done (even if it is just a draft).

*grumble, grumble*

Yes, I think I've finally sunk into my bad mood.

Also, yesterday, I finally read the first two books of the Twilight series (Twilight and New Moon). And I must admit that, yes, I understand what all the fuss is about.

Remember our dear old friend HP? How basic (and let's admit it - horrendous) JKR's writing was? Stephenie Meyers's writing is about on the same level (I almost CRIED from all the "to be" verbs and mistakes my 11 year old son would catch). Makes me wonder if the women have the same editor.

BUT! SM's characters, like HP, RW and HG, are enchanting. They are what draw the reader in. Like last night, I stood behind the counter at work listening to various groups of people. There were teen girls arguing over who is better for Bella - Jake or Edward. I have seen middle-aged ladies arguing whether the punishments Charlie hands out are appropriate.

This is the new craze. And I confess to completely jumping on the bandwagon. I am in love with the books now and can't wait to read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

That's it for now.

Progress Has Been Made

2009-01-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

Well, the experiment of stopping editing and working on The Professional worked. In the last hour, I have written about 1200 words on it.

Yipee!!

The first chapter should be finished tonight. *crosses fingers* Of course whenever I say something like that, it never happens. Maybe I should try reverse psychology. I will not get the first chapter finished and posted tonight.

*waits*

Nope. Didn' t work, I still want to take a bubble bath and go to bed.

I Hate Editing!

2009-01-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

I'm tired of editing.

So instead of doing the writerly equivalent of banging my head against a brick wall, I've decided to go back to one of my old stories that I'd put aside. The one that drew me back in the fastest was The Professional.

I love the plot for this story. It is an erotica piece that I'm hoping to post on the new erotica queue on Critique Circle. The main characters are Logan Warner, a male prostitute (yes, he has the stereotypical heart of gold), and Louise Dobson, a school teacher who, due to sexual abuse when she was a child, is terrified of sex.

Hopefully I can get the first draft of this novella done soon.

I Don't Get It.

2009-01-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

A bunch of us on CC the other day were discussing sex in books and erotica. One friend said that she'd rather see a dead body than sex, because a dead body wouldn't bother her. I think that right there shows how wrong our society has gone.

Why on earth is something bad like death, gruesome and violent like murder okay? Why is something wonderful and beautiful and joyous like sex turned into a taboo?

Sex is a natural, normal part of like. Yes, it is a private thing and I don't want to be watching other people having it, but reading about it is nowhere near the same. When I read a sex scene in a book, it brings back memories of when things were good between my ex and me. Or it reminds me of my first time, how scared I was that I'd be a disappointment, would do something wrong. I don't remember the actual act when reading these scenes, but the feelings they evoke (no, not sexual ones) make me happy.

A dead body? Even described on the pages of a book disturbs me. Especially if that body was murdered. I've seen too much death in real life to be casual about it. I have held a 10 year old boy in the back a of car racing him to the hospital and felt him take his last breath. I have gotten the long-awaited and dreaded call that a friend has died from complications due to AIDS. And murder is worse. Why do people want to promote senseless violence?

By saying that violence and death are okay to put in books and movies, and sex isn't, you say that violence and murder is acceptable to you, but sex isn't. Too many people think this way nowadays. It's an extremely sad statement as to the mental state of our country.

Erotica and porn are very different from each other. A difference that most people ignore, usually because they've never bothered to read and expand their horizons and bother to learn. Erotica has rules. It has plots, character development. It is not just sex for the sake of sex. There are rules for the sex too.

Yes, some people cross the line between erotica and porn (which is gratuitous sex just for the sake of it with no rules). Then again a lot of horror writers cross the line into gratuitous violence that has no purpose to the story.

The fact is though that erotica is a recognized form of literature. Not everyone likes it. That's fine. But that doesn't mean you should support censorship of it. It doesn't mean that its authors are any lower on the ladder than authors of sci-fi or YA.

Sorry about the ranting. It just needed to come out.

Monday Update

2008-12-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Today has been a blah day, but I'm going to try to do some editing on CS. I really want to finish chapter 3 and get it posted on Critique Circle tonight. Of course, wanting and doing are frequently very different things. But I'll try.

One thing I have done today is enter the "Secondary Character" contest on my friend Glam's blog The Innocent Flower. I did Ricky from CS. He is despicable. A general criminal, kidnapper, and pedophile. And the person he and his cohorts are paid to kidnap is a 13 year old girl. Fits his desires perfectly. Luckily the other kidnappers are smart enough to never leave him alone with her.

I've worked some more on the outlines for the RHA series (Did I tell you it's the first series I've ever thought of?) I think they'll flow well once I actually start writing them. And since they're MG, they won't be that long. I have difficulty with long novels (can never seem to finish even the first draft).

That's it for now.

Writing? What's That?

2008-12-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

I am such a slacker. In the past 16 days (since my last post), I've barely written anything - only about 200 words of the new chapter 3 of CS. It's getting there though. And the new chapter works well IMO. It shows the gunfight, the President going down, Cassie being carted away by the kidnappers (which I couldn't do before when writing from her POV, because she was unconscious).

On the other hand, I have outlined 2 books for a new kids' series (most likely MG) called The Rainbow Heart Academy. It's interesting to me at least, and the name is very misleading. Problem is, I'm not sure if it falls into sci-fi or fantasy. Guess I should get them written before I worry, huh?

That's really all the update I have right now. Just not too much going on with the holidays.

I Get Excited

2008-12-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

about the silliest things sometimes. Right now I am ecstatic that I completed and posted the revised chapter 2 of CS on CC (say that 5 times fast :)) It does make me happy though.

And I just entered the first paragraph of it into Nathan Bransford's contest here. Keep your fingers crossed for me please! And he did say to spread the word (even though he has a projected entry count of 2,000!), so consider it spread (if anyone NOT part of CC ever reads this, that is).

Other than CS revisions, I haven't done any writing. Too busy with work, kids, and other assorted junk. But I'm not ditching any of my other current projects, so don't worry.

Now I'm off to mope about the fact that High School Musical 3 is no longer playing at any theaters within a 50 mile radius :'(, nor is it out on DVD yet. That's just so wrong. I watch the first two last night, and now I am a HSM junkie. I confess. Send me to a support group.

See ya!

Progress

2008-12-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am making it. Unfortunately I'm taking baby steps.

My book blog is almost entirely done. And chapter 2 of CS only needs a couple hundred new words.

Now I'm off to buy my younger son a birthday present and then head to work.

Maximus sigh

2008-12-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I'm just freakishly weird or what, but whenever I read a book, I get attached to one of the characters (never the main character). It's best when I'm reading a series and, even though s/he isn't in all the scenes, I still really get to know him or her.

A couple of days ago I read Jim Butcher's Book 5 from the Codex Alera series Princep's Fury. I absolutely adore his books (yes, the Dresden series as well). Well my character in that series is Antillar Maximus. There's just something about him - young and handsome are a given, and he has the tortured past that women tend to find so irresistible being the bastard son of a High Lord and a lower class citizen, his step-mother continually plotted to kill him and his half-brother followed in his mother's footsteps (at least until book 3).

He's just the kind of character I love, so why can't I write one like him??

My characters always feel so flat to me. Not just - Oops, I left the soda out too long flat, but - Champagne 2 weeks after it's been opened flat. There is nothing to them. No oomph!

Now I have the choice between continuing my edits of Cassandra's Secrets, or curling up in a ball and mourning my lack of talent. Guess which I'll be doing?

Blogs, blogs and more blogs

2008-12-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last couple of days setting up a book blog featuring all of the novels, novellas and scripts that I'm working on. It has character photos, excerpts from the books and short synopses.

If you're a friend from CC and I haven't invited you, sorry. Let me know and I will.

Oops!

2008-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Well, chapter 2 of CS has taken a bit of a back burner position at the moment. I got caught up in a new project - Planet Parenthood (on the Scripts in Progress list). I haven't forgotten Cassie though. Progress is being made. The distractions just slow it down a bit :)

Planet Parenthood is about a future, revolutionized Earth. Sounds pretty basic sci-fi, right? Wrong! Because the war isn't a political one (though politics are completely revamped due to it), nor is it science based or any of the other usual reasons. Nope, the thing that causes the war that changes the entire world (unifying it under one rule) is bad parenting. People who just don't have a clue what it means to be a good mom or dad, yet have kids anyway.

In PP, people all over the world got fed up with it. A revolution happened and life changed. Now (in the 2200's), if you want to have kids (and be allowed to get married), you must apply, be accepted, attend and graduate with high honors from MDU (Mommy & Daddy University). Four years of intense training in how to be parents.

Divorce is not an option. Death is their only way out if the marriage turns bad. If one partner dies, the other can apply to have the university find him/her a new spouse.

Anyway, the screenplay follows the struggles of one couple as they receive their acceptance and attend MDU.

Should be a fun project.

:D:D:D

2008-11-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

I am so happy! And proud of myself. I finally finished the revised chapter one for Cassandra's Secrets and posted it on CC. Now I just have to hope that my critters aren't too busy with NaNo to actually crit it.

Until this afternoon when I added up all the writing I've done this month, I thought I was doing really poorly at NaNo. But I'm almost at 45k and have 5 days left. Granted only about 10-15k is actually my official NaNo project. The rest is just bits and pieces of other stuff that I've been writing when it pops into my head, but I don't care. It was all written in November, so I'm counting it. And if people don't like it - :P to them.

Now to take a quick break and tackle the editing of chapter 2.

Grrrrr!

2008-11-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

I swear, sometimes RL just needs to stop. It always gets in the way of plans. All I want is to work on Cassandra's Secrets, to get it ready to send to agents. So far, not happening.

Between work, kids, roomie and roomie's kids, driving, unexpected guests and just general life, I haven't touched it in almost a week. Very frustrating.

What I need most is my laptop fixed so I can pick up, go somewhere, hide and write all day long. Hopefully someday soon that will be possible.

Outlines

2008-11-22T06:51:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of days, all I've done is outlining. After finishing the most recent one, I flipped through my binder (that's where I save them until the day they finally become a book). I have . . . *gulp* . . . 117 books outlined! When am I ever going to find the time to write them all? It's absolutely insane.

*shakes head in despair*

I put the time into organizing them by genre. There are 63 YA, 21 MG, 29 chick-lit/romance and 4 erotica. Makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing. Why can't I just pick one genre that's "me"? Why am I so all over the place? Quite frustrating, really.

This evening, I'm really hoping to edit chapter 2 of CS and get the next couple of chapters done on AL. Of course, I've been hoping that for a few days now and it hasn't happened yet. Oh, well. At least I'm not on a deadline - yet.

The funny thing about my many and varied outlines is that I know I will write those books eventually. In fact, until I started outlining, I had never completed a first draft. And the 2 that are now in revision were both written from outlines. So I guess for me they are a good thing, but I know some people who drop their books like hot potatoes after writing an outline. It's almost like now that they have the concept down on paper/computer, it no longer interests them.

Weird.

I Am a Writer Now

2008-11-21T08:32:00.001-08:00

Well, it finally happened. My friends say I am now, officially, a writer because I got my first rejection for A MOTHER'S BEST. It took them only 2 days to respond (which was very nice - less stress-time). They told me that "even though AMB is a poignant, heart-wrenching story, it does not suit our needs." A very nice rejection as far as rejections go, but still a blow nonetheless.

It is still on submission at 9 other places at the moment, so I still have hope.

As far as the writing I'm working on right now, I need to finish editing/rewriting chapters 1 and 2 of CASSANDRA'S SECRETS. I also want to get another chapter of ABSOLUTELY LIVID done (Livid has been hogging my imagination lately).

I'll keep you all updated on the responses I get from magazines.

Greetings!

2008-11-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my writing blog, Countdown to Publication. Now, I'll admit - the title is a bit presumptuous. After all, I don't even have a completed 2nd draft done yet.

I do have 2 completed 1st drafts though that I am working on editing/rewriting right now. My goal of the moment is to have the second draft of Cassandra's Secrets done by the end of the year. Then I'll put it back up on Critique Circle for shredding.

YAY!

I love having people totally demolish my work. It'll never improve if I don't know what's wrong in the first place. And considering the fact that anything less than a blow with a sledgehammer flies right over my head, I need brutal honesty.

My other completed 1st draft, called Twin Magic (last year's NaNo), is scheduled to be rewritten in April.

I hope to complete at least 1 chapter of rewriting every 2 days for CS. After that, I'll see where I am and how I feel. All I know for sure is that I need to complete more first drafts as well this coming year. I have 9 novels, in various stages of completion, that I want to focus on. They ALL need finishing.

Countdown to Publication

Shutting Down

Editing and Interviews

Update

Time For Goodbyes

Update

ADD

My Turn

Editing

Writing News

My New Project

FREE!!

Brenda Novak auction

Goals, Prompts and the Backseat

Stopping the Submission Process

Habits

SF

Sorry

Desperate Housewives

Funny Video

Obituary

What's Important?

Planning Ahead

A Back Seat Once Again

Addition to the Sidebar

I'm Off To See The Wizard

My Writing Style

Checking In

My Life

Yep, I Got One Too (actually 2)

The Great Eight

Too? To? Two?

Synopses

Improving Vocabulary

A Fellow Blogger . . .

Why?

Aha!

Thursday's Grammar Lesson #3

Opinions Needed Please

Out Of The Norm Characters

Monday Update

Vocabulary Lesson - School's Back In Session!

Another Grammar Post

A Request

Yikes!

Progress Has Been Made

I Hate Editing!

I Don't Get It.

Monday Update

Writing? What's That?

I Get Excited

Progress

Maximus *sigh*

Blogs, blogs and more blogs

Oops!

:D:D:D

Grrrrr!

Outlines

I Am a Writer Now

Greetings!

Maximus sigh