I signed up for NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm working on the mystery I've been creating characters for and plotting for the last few months. I managed to make my first day's goal -- actually a little more -- at 1685 words. Woo-hoo! :-)

There's something freeing about NaNo. I don't know why I've had such a hard time turning off the internal editor during the rest of this year. I'm hoping that getting into the writing habit in November will help me do that, as well as help me get closer to finishing the first draft of the mystery. Both of those goals would be very good to achieve.

The title of this year's novel is the same as I had a few years ago. The story, however, has completely changed. Besides, that previous year I think I got all the way to 1,000 words before life got in the way.

Here's my current version of the "back of the book blurb" for "A Killer Pinot Noir". I'm not satisfied with it, but it'll do as a first attempt:

An independent-minded Special Event Planner, faced with being the prime suspect in the murder of her obnoxious client, must find the real killer and clear her name. With the reluctant help of a sexy by-the-book homicide detective, she saves herself and her career and learns that love can appear even in the most dangerous of circumstances.

Last night was not exactly the kind of excitement most people are looking for on their anniversary. We were in the middle of a very nice (if I do say so myself) dinner when a huge crash came from the kitchen. The kind of crash that immediately conjures broken glass.

We rushed down the hall to find that the cats had been playing on top of the cabinets. They're usually so careful about brushing up against anything, so I suspect that they were chasing each other. Whatever happened, one of them knocked a clear glass vase off the cabinet. It crashed to the counter where it splintered into a million pieces--all over the counter and the floor. Glass was everywhere, from tiny shards to large chunks. There was no way to tell if any had landed in what was left of my signature salad, so we ended up tossing most of that (we'd each already had a bowl, but we love this salad and usually end up eating the entire large salad bowl full in one meal). We spent most of the next hour cleaning up. What a disappointment.

At least the cats didn't get hurt. And I suppose, if you look on the bright side, neither did we. This could easily have happened while one or both of us were in the kitchen. If it had I'm sure we would have been covered in glass--and quite possibly bleeding.

Guess you have to be thankful for what you can.

I was just perusing the DVD shelves, looking for something to watch later tonight and got to thinking about the types of movies in our collection. It isn't surprising that SF and Fantasy are in the lead for most in a genre. Still, some of my favorite movies are romantic comedies. Maybe because they never fail to make me smile. Here are my top 15 Romantic Comedies:

1. The Quiet Man (my all time favorite John Wayne movie)
2. American Dreamer
3. How to Steal a Million
4. French Kiss
5. Don't Tell Her It's Me (aka "The Boyfriend School")
6. The Cutting Edge
7. The Princess Bride
8. Sweet Home Alabama
9. It Happened One Night
10. Serendipity
11. While You Were Sleeping
12. Shakespeare in Love
13. Emma
14. The Truth About Cats & Dogs
15. Two Weeks Notice

How about you? What are your favorites?

It's odd to be in a position where I'm at the tail end of the learning curve again. I'm talking about writing, here. I've been at the top of my (day) career for so long now--still learning new things, but not the newbie--that it's a bit disconcerting to realize that I have such a long way to go with my writing.

There's an ego thing involved, of course. But hopefully I'm past that (or at least it only twinges very occasionally). I'm humble enough to be able to acknowledge that I've got a lot of room for improvement. In fact, this is one of those areas where I doubt that I'll ever stop finding things to improve.

I'm just thankful that I've found a writing group that's supportive and incredibly generous (most members are already published) to the newbie. I hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to be in a position to do the same for some other writer just starting out.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Seems like most Americans only remember that first sentence--especially the part about Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Something which many sadly interpret as it's all about me, but hey, I'm not denying that I can be as narcissistic and selfish as the next person at times.) The part we need to remind ourselves of is that our government is as it is today through the consent of the governed. We've gotten ourselves here and only we can fix it.

Whew! That was a lot heavier than I'd originally intended. Really -- I only started all this to say, "Happy 4th of July!"

We spent the weekend in Lake Tahoe (a family wedding). It was a quick trip, but even so, I'm glad to be home. Sometimes I think those "quick" trips are the hardest. Usually we have a specific reason for traveling, rather than just going on vacation, and everything we do seems focused and more intense somehow.

The Lake was lovely, though the air quality wasn't as crystal clear as it normally is -- all those forest fires in California. It was much better than Sacramento, though. When  our plane landed on Friday morning, the smoke was so bad you couldn't see the ground until the plane was almost ready to touch down. We didn't get above it until we were almost at Donner. Still, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun.

The cats were glad to see us. Even though we've found a great place to board them that's the equivalent of a feline spa, they were as happy to be home as we were.

Two trips done, two more to go (for me) for the summer. I'll be glad when it's all over.

My copy of the Season 1 DVDs of Early Edition arrived today. I'm in the middle of watching the pilot. I haven't seen the show in years (my VHS tapes of the original run are long gone), but I'm already struck by how good it is -- how likeable the characters and how well done the stories are. I love that the stories mostly hinge on the fact that Gary is everyman--and he's just trying to do the right thing and get through the day.

I'd love to be able to write stories that make you go hmmm. Maybe one day I will.

Apropos of nothing, but kinda catchy, doncha think?

My husband first used it a few weeks ago when talking about the garden -- something about the birds and spiders and the suicide bees that get drunk on the flowers and fly into the picture windows and knock themselves silly. He immediately stopped and said, "That'd be a great name for a band." It's become our catch-phrase. In fact, I'm thinking of changing the name of this journal to Suicide Bees.

Anyhoo...I realized I hadn't written anything in awhile and, after a couple of glasses of champagne, thought I'd rectify that. So, this entry will either be really clever -- or more likely, really embarrassing.

I'm still plodding away on Heir to Murder. Pretty sure that title won't stick, but that's the project name. My goal is to have a rough draft by the end of July.

There was a big turnout at my local RWA chapter meeting tonight. In fact, I think it was the largest meeting we've had since I joined last fall. I'm sure the good weather and long daylight hours played a part. I'm not always certain that I'm writing Romance. I think my stories are more romance (little r) -- romantic elements, happy outcome probable, but romance not the main focus of the story. But I have to say that the writers in this group are very generous with their advice and encouragement. I feel like a sponge, soaking up every bit of information that I can. I don't feel I have much to contribute yet, but I look forward to the day when I can also give back.

Phrase to remember for next month's meeting: 50 cent karma.

or, It's All Relative, Isn't It?

Every time I read or hear this advice, I smile to myself. The first time I heard it (in a slightly different guise), I was in 3rd grade. We'd been told by our teacher that we were going to write a story, with a new chapter or segment each week. And at the end of the week each of us would have to get up in front of the class and read what we'd written for that week.

Now, I loved school dearly and was usually at the top of my class (that was before I knew what that meant) and hadn't gotten to the stage where I dreaded getting up in front of people and talking. I loved reading and writing -- but something about the idea that I'd have to read my story aloud sent me into a panic. What would I write about? I needed a really good story so everyone would like it, but what??? Remember that brain freeze I had last night at my RWA meeting? Not the first time, obviously.

I did what I normally did at that age when I needed advice -- I asked my mom. And she, being the smart woman that she is, passed the buck to my brother. Not my oldest brother, but the brother in-between. The one who wrote. Everyone in the family knew he wrote stories and poetry, that he was creative. My mom figured that if he'd give me advice, that I'd listen.

My brother, five years older and bored at having to talk to his little sister, let alone help her, told me to pick something you know about and write about that. In other words, write what you know. I didn't get what he meant and said so. What happened next still cracks me up to this day. Now thoroughly annoyed, he looked around my bedroom until my pile of stuffed animals caught his eye. Write about them, he said. Write what about them, I asked? Make something up, he replied, and then left to go play with his friends. As far as he was concerned, he'd done his duty.

I stared at my stuffed buddies, wondering what I was going to say about them, and suddenly it seemed like my favorite Teddy Bear was trying to get my attention. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I was right. He wanted the story to be about him. But what kind of story?

Right here is where I need to tell you that at that time I was reading Science Fiction -- my older brothers' adult SF, no less -- for fun. Asimov. Clark, Heinlein. Bradbury. Those were the authors whose books I'd sneak from the bookshelves in my brothers' room and read. My head was full of space ships and aliens and all kinds of fun stuff. Write what I know about, huh? Well, I knew SF (at least that's what my 9 year old self thought). Any bets on what happened next?

You guessed it. I wrote a story about the invasion of earth by evil aliens disguised as Teddy Bears! And, of course, there were the good aliens (also disguised as a different kind of Teddy Bear) who were trying to save the earth from their evil counterparts. There were all kinds of fantastical characters -- including talking birds that helped the good guys by spying on the bad guys.

Each week we read our stories and each week my classmates wanted more than I gave them. My teacher never knew quite what to say after I was done, though she was always positive. Come to think of it, she was positive about everyone's stories. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure the whole point was about being encouraged to create something, because I don't think we got graded. I know we never had to hand it in -- just read it out loud.

I wish I had a copy of that story.

So, whenever I hear write what you know, I think, yeah. uh-huh. It all depends on what you think you know, doesn't it?

...when your brain refuses to work? Usually at a time calculated to be the most embarrassing for you?

Tonight I had a couple of those wonderful moments. It was at my RWA chapter meeting during a presentation on characterization by one of our members. They happened, of course, at a point where we were supposed to participate by listing 3 character traits of a main character (presumably from a work-in-progress) and then writing a sentence or paragraph illustrating those traits from the POV of another character.

And what happens? I suddenly have a deer-caught-in-the-headlights moment.

It was completely stupid. I know my main character and her various physical tells and character traits. I've actually written this kind of thing already -- from the POV of the romantic interest in the story. But could I think of more than one trait? Shyeah, right. And could I write even a single sentence to illustrate at least that one trait? Not to save my life.

A few moments later came the next brain fade moment. We were to describe a place (from a list of choices) from the main character's POV in a way that also illustrated those character traits. One of the choices was "Mother's bedroom"  -- again, a scene I've already written and should be able to either reproduce or write fresh. And again, I froze.

I don't think I was able to write more than 3 words total. How embarrassing to be in a room of writers and be the only one to freeze like that.  Everyone was nice about it, but I still wanted to sink into a hole in the floor.

I just don't do well to be put on the spot like that. If I could've written even a mediocre sentence, I would have. And I would've been okay with that. But my brain didn't just come up with crap. Oh, no. It went completely blank. Words didn't come at all.

sigh.

Sorry, but I couldn't come up with a better title for this post. *shrug*

I've been following links to various authors' web sites over the past few weeks as I came upon them. Out of curiousity, mainly, because I'm not familiar with most of the writers whose web sites I've visited. I found my initial reaction to each site interesting.

It's obvious that some writers have put a lot of thought into their site. They've either gone to a lot of trouble themselves or hired a professional. And in some of those cases, it's obvious that the designer knew what they were about and didn't just throw a lot of annoying features in because "everybody's doing web2.0 stuff and you have to have it to be current."  There's a difference between having an up-to-date design and having a design that uses AJAX or flash or Java or other tech, but is annoyingly not usable.

It's also obvious that some writers have a web presence because they were told they need one, but haven't figured out that a design that looks like it's from the early days of the web when Mosaic was the cool new browser just doesn't cut it (think white text on colored textured backgrounds with very little actual content, for example). To these people, I'd say, if you don't want to deal with maintaining a web site, make it simple. Black text on a white or off-white background, a few graphics and quotes,  a list of your books (both in print and out), maybe a few *short* excerpts from your books, and a calendar if you make appearances. Yes, you may need to update it on occasion if you have a calendar, but the rest of that info will remain fairly static. Crisp, clean, simple. Doesn't date you or the web site.

There is, of course, the middle ground. No flash, but a bit more sophisticated in design. I've seen a few of these and they can be very effective. In fact, I'd much rather visit a site that's integrated with a stylish header graphic and clean menus, than the sites that go overboard with the flash intros or the Java applets. Thank goodness for No Script for Firefox--I can turn all that junk off and only enable what I want to see.

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a good web site design and I'm sure that a lot of people would disagree with me. But when I visit an author's site, I'm looking for a few specific things -- what books they've written, when their next book will be released, what they're working on now, and--maybe--a calendar of events they'll be attending. If there's a short excerpt from the beginning of their books, I may use that to determine whether I'm interested in buying. Beyond that, I don't see the point of trailers (I haven't seen a single one that's made me think I'd want to buy a book or that I hadn't wasted my time watching it).

At least this has helped me figure out what I'd want on my own web site when the day comes that I need one.  And you'll notice I used the positive *when* and not the hesitant *if*.  ;-)

Way back when, it seems like it was easier to figure out genre. At least it was when I was a kid going to the library or the bookstore (and when I wasn't writing). If a novel wasn't mainstream Fiction, it was one of the following: Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, or Western.

Horror was shelved with either SF&F or in mainstream Fiction. The Western shelves were huge (is there even a separate Western category these days?). I don't think there was even a separate Romance section for a long time at my library--they either didn't stock romance or shelved them with the mainstream fiction, though Tower Books had a separate case for them.
( Read more )

No, this doesn't have anything to do with Real Life^(tm). This is about Conflict between characters in a novel. This is something that I'm still learning to create in a way that's organic to the story that I'm telling and not something grafted on, because without conflict, well, that story is pretty dull.

I'm beginning to see that this is the biggest issue that I have right now when it comes to writing. I feel comfortable with my wordsmithing. Don't get me wrong, I'm always trying to improve, but I've come far enough in that area that I think my prose (after revisions, of course!) is acceptable. It doesn't get in the way of my story telling, at least, and, on good days, I think I get a glimmer of that thing called Voice. But conflict is still a bugaboo for me.

I've always avoided conflict like the plague in real life--either outright by not getting into situations where conflict was inevitable or by being the peacemaker. To be in conflict, for me, means to be in distress. And that's just not a good place to be.

It's a matter of degree, you see. By being a natural conflict avoider, any conflict to me is bad. So by definition, any conflict I inflict on my characters is bad (and distressing to me). What I've come to understand is that I tend to choose conflicts that would be insignificant to most people and therefore boring to read.

I'm trying to take the admonition to make it worse for my characters to heart. But, boy, is it something that I have to continually work at!

Yoga: Day 5

I was tempted to title this post Freakazoid Weather. Snow in April. In Salem. Oregon. Really. I know I'm new here, but this can't be normal. A year ago this month we started visiting to explore the area and begin house hunting. I swear the weather was in the 70s during the day and 60s in the evening, with a few showers thrown in, because, hey! Oregon!

So what's up with the snow? I mean, it was eerily beautiful to raise the shades this morning and see the white stuff falling (and sticking!) on the hillside, but it's time to stop now. My poor plants are out there shivering and the bulbs are wondering what happened to the nice warm 70 degree weather they had just last weekend.

Who says global warming hasn't screwed up weather patterns? *sigh*

At least it wasn't snowing yesterday (though it was pretty darn cold) when I went downtown to the Blue Pepper for an all day workshop with my RWA Chapter. We watched and discussed The Hero's 2 Journeys -- the dvds of a workshop put on by Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler. It was an excellent way to spend a very cold Saturday. There's so much information packed in their lectures--so many aha! moments. I took copious notes, but I can see where multiple viewings would be beneficial.

Just as beneficial, for me anyway, was talking with the other members of the chapter. I'm such a newbie when it comes to writing seriously for publication. Yes, I've been writing for myself for years, but somehow that isn't the same. Since I finally made the conscious decision to work towards getting published, I've been struggling with actually getting started. I keep making fits and starts and getting easily distracted. It was great to get the advice of others who have been there--and to hear that I'm not alone. I don't know why, but somehow that makes it all a bit easier.

Going to the MWV-RWA meeting last night was exactly what I needed to remind myself that writing--for publication, hopefully, yes--is really what I want to do. I needed that jolt of hearing from other writers, both published and not, that I'm not the only one who sometimes struggles.

There are times when I wonder if my writing will ever be good enough to be published. Telling a story in a way that brings the kind of enjoyment to someone else that I get out of reading a good book -- that's all I want to do.

I was also happy to hear other writers say that writing the first draft was the hard part for them and that editing was what they found enjoyable. I've honestly thought I was a freak for feeling that way. Too much time spent in fandom, I think, where many people, even those who use beta readers, rhapsodize about the creation (ie the first draft) and despair over the editing. Geez, for me writing that first draft is like falling on broken glass; editing is where the fun lies.

Yoga: Day 2

I started doing my yoga routine today. I've been practicing yoga on and off for years, using the same book/routine (Richard Hittleman's 28 day yoga book) since I was 17. So, yes, years and years. ;-)

I'd gotten out of the habit in the last few years and lately I've been noticing how stiff and sore I've become. I hate that feeling. So today I grabbed the book off the shelf and turned to page 1. I always start from the beginning when I haven't been doing the exercises for awhile. It's an easy way to gently remind my body about the positions. By the time I get to the end of the 28 days I usually find that I'm able to perform most of the more advanced positions (not all, but most).

It felt so wonderful to stretch!

I'm currently in a standoff with myself. I've been letting excuses rule my writing. Especially difficult are "work is too busy/stressful right now" and it's corollary "I don't have any time for more than working, eating and sleeping right now."

The problem is, these are sort of true and sort of false. It's true that work, the work that brings in the bucks, is crazy at the moment. But this is the first time I've allowed myself to use it as an excuse for not doing something. And it's true that I don't have much free time to spare these days. It's how I'm applying that free time that's a concern. My brain seems content to just fritter away the moments available in mindless activity.

Yes, I'm tired. I know what I need to do to change that. I'm more tired of disappointing myself and letting my fears rule me.

Time to make time to write. Bleh. Time to write.

Everybody's played some version of the "what 5 books would you want on a deserted island" game. This one is a little different.

Picture it--stranded on a desert island with a portable DVD player with an unlimited power supply and only 5 movies to watch for the rest of your life. What movies would you choose?

Here are mine (and yes, they are in order):

1. Casablanca
If I could only choose one movie, this would be my choice. It's been at the top of my movie list for years. It has it all: love, heroism, sacrifice, friendship. What more could I ask for?

2. The Usual Suspects
A twisty plot and great cast. I get something new out of it every time I watch it. Have you been Kaiser Soze'd lately?

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
The first and best of the Indiana Jones movies. Note that I prefer the original title to the retconned "Indiana Jones and the..." version. This movie spawns myriad quest fantasies every time I watch it.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean (The Curse of the Black Pearl)
The first and best of the Pirates movies. Johnny Depp is amazing. Another movie to fuel the mental story telling (hey, if I'm going to be alone on an island for the rest of my life, I'd better be able to tell myself stories).

5. Big Trouble in Little China
The first 4 movies are probably understandable to most people. This one is a bit of a cult choice, I suppose. I can't help it -- it never fails to make me laugh every time I see it. Silly? Maybe. But don't we all need some silly in our lives?

I'm at the beginning of this writing journey. I realize that. I also realize that I have a very long way to go. This is a journey that could potentially take years. It's something that I need to remind myself of every now and then. I'm in it for the long haul.

It doesn't matter how long it takes. All that matters is that I don't give up.

A perk of having a window seat on a plane is being able to look out at the clouds. It's been awhile since I've traveled east and I'd forgotten just how busy the skies are over the southern states. We landed in Atlanta and then flew from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale. I kept noticing these strange cloud formations--long tube-like shapes that reminded me of giant skeletal backbones. It took me a bit to figure out that they weren't really clouds, but the decomposing remains of the contrails left behind by jet planes.

Another image stuck with me, though--that of long dragon-like creatures snaking through the sky, disguised as clouds. Once I saw them as creatures, I started thinking about what it would be like to live in the clouds. Of course, no ecosystem only has a single inhabitant, so I asked myself what other types of creatures would live there. By the time we landed in Ft. Lauderdale I'd managed to sketch out an entire new world. I played the same game on the way home (by way of Dallas, this time), embellishing what I'd started on the earlier flight, including how anything solid could exist in the cloud world.

I don't know if I'll ever use any of this in a story. But whether I do or not, it was a great reminder that the fantastic lurks everywhere. All you need is an open mind.

It was also a great way to pass a boring plane trip. I'll have to remember this for the next trip I take. Who knows? Maybe I'll come up with a world that I just can't help but write about.