Southern Fried Chicas

I’m afraid I’ll have to plead for leniency.  This week has been one long, punishing energy drain—and in the middle of it all I received first round edits.

Rather than just beg off, I’m repeating a post I recently put up on my own blog.  Sorry, hopefully the next will be a kinder, gentler week.

Have a great one!

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I did want to post today, because I might be a little scarce for the next week or so.  Work is, again, bordering on high-stress levels, and I received first round edits for the upcoming release far sooner than I expected.  But I’m so glad to see them, I have no complaints, lol.

First round edits are different than all the others.  Usually, the manuscript has been waiting for approval, and it’s been a while since you read it through, so there’s that unvarnished set of eyes to run over it. 

If you’re anything like me, this round has you alternating between dismay at some of the silly mistakes that should’ve seemed so OBVIOUS when you were finalizing—and an occasional bit of awe when you encounter something really good, something you may not even REMEMBER writing, that makes you think “wow…really?”

When first round edits hit, you’re excited.  The dream you had for bringing that book to publishing life is really coming true!  You don’t mind reading it over until your vision blurs.  It’s okay if you need to delete half a million commas, one by one, to be sure you get it right.  Yes, you CAN come up with a description for those blue eyes that isn’t so cliche.  And no, it’s no problem at all for you to go searching eight or nine chapters back to see why your protagonist described something in a very distinctive way, and to try to remember what the hell it was you had in mind eighteen months earlier when you wrote it just as you were falling asleep. 

It’s all good.  It’s one huge step toward that dream you dreamed becoming real.

Of course, by the second round of edits, the bloom on that rose usually fades substantially.  But maybe I’ll touch on that next time.

I’ll bet you’ve already figured out how I feel about this subject, haven’t you? LOL!

No, I do not like rug rats in the books I read. BTW, before you label me a baby monster hater, I have three. Kids, that is.  Two are in college and one just entered high school.  So I’ve served my time, okay?

Anyway, I’m writing this because I just finished a book–which shall remain nameless–that had the most annoying child in it.  Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about–ever visit a friend, relative or acquaintance who has bad ass kids? You know, when all you want to do is have a decent conversation to catch up on things, but their kids are doing everything but burning the freaking house down? Well, that’s how reading this book felt.

One of the few books I ever enjoyed that gave considerable page time to a kid, was Sandra Brown’s Rainwater, (a keeper BTW) and the kid was essential to the plot.  Admittedly, I barely tolerated him–not because Sandra Brown didn’t do her job. The woman is a brilliant writer. I just, again, don’t like kids in the books I read. However, unlike Brown’s book, the kid in this other book made me want to rip my head off.  The child was just … horrid.

Other than YA novels, you’d best believe that 95% of the stories on my keeper shelf do not have anyone under the age of 18 in them.  I don’t read romance books with curtain climbers for the same reason I don’t put chocolate on my hot dogs. They just don’t go together for me–unless, of course, I’m really, really, really drunk, not in my right mind, or starving to death. Now, I’m sure there are many folks out here who love the time their favorite authors give to the brats kids in the books they read. Well, chacun à son goût, and all that rot. Have at it.

You don’t need to tell me a secret that maybe you covet as to how you work—I have a couple I’ll probably never share. But I wonder how other writers “start” their new books. From the germ of an idea before you get to Chapter one and/or the first word, how do you get it going?

I guess what I want to know is how you know “what” you’re going to write next from the genre or sub-genre to how you decide on who’s who in the book. How thought-out a process do you go through when you’re on to the next book? Or do you already have several story ideas in the queue so you’re just waiting for the time?

After I got my cozy done and out the door, I pulled open a couple of manuscripts I’ve been working on a for a while—this is where my lack of plotting really curses my arse. When I get stuck, the book will often just sit. And while I may tweak a word here and there, I don’t make great progress. As is the case with the two books from a while ago. So naturally, I decided to start from scratch hoping that would start the mental juices flowing. Silly me thinking it would be so easy. I literally stared at a blank word doc page for days. Not a darn thing was coming to me. I would never call it writer’s block as I wasn’t writing anything. Hell, I didn’t know *what* I wanted to write.

Then luckily, in small, slow bits it came to me. I got the idea for the heroine. The hero was a little more illusive but he did finally gel into a tangible character and after doing a phone consult with my BFF, I hammered out as much of the plot as I am comfortable doing. But I have to tell you, it was a few scary days when my mind was totally blank.

I guess if this question was asked of me, my answer would be… “it just came to me”. That’s so not helpful is it. (and a wee bit scary that that was how my process worked this time around.) I’m not going to knock it, and lets cross fingers I can actually get this book moving along… my ADD has been so high the past few months it’s really sad. Anyhoo, is that how it works for you too, just comes to you, or do you have a dedicated process you go through?

What would you do to be published? Ethics is a heavy word to use, but it fits for this post’s purpose. Every single one of my paralegal professors, most were attorneys, loosely defined (and I’m paraphrasing badly) unethical behavior as questionable actions. Most unethical behavior wasn’t illegal, but it damn sure was something a reasonable person would feel the niggle of guilt, shame, or unease over.

Do we writers have ethics we should adhere to?

Here are some questions that came to mind:

Would you completely re-write an ms in order to get that contract?
Would you sign with a publisher you weren’t sure of?
Would you write in a genre you hated because you knew you could sell it easier? Note I didn’t say easy.
Hell, have you ever sold a book you ended up hating and still put on the happy writer face when hocking it to readers?
Would you turn in a book that’s undercooked but under deadline?

All but the second question assumes that all writers hold their novels in a certain regard. Also, that somehow by writing a book, not of your heart, the book will automatically be sub par.

Apparently, even though I believe myself to be business-minded more than artistic-minded, my own Jiminy Cricket is rubbing his legs together. And, yes he’s playing the world’s smallest violin to the tune of It’s art and it’s sacred. So, I don’t have an answer to whether or not we as writers have an unwritten code of ethics.

Do you think we should have ethics? Do you think there are ethics but they’re the unspoken kind? If not the word ethics, what word(s) would you use? *

* I’m keen on ‘personal standards’, but I think it loses something in the translation. It doesn’t feel all encompassing, but maybe that’s what it comes down to for writers. The choice one makes IS personal and no wide brush exists nor should it.

Link that inspired this post.

Can you believe we’re already more than halfway through the first month of the year?  Geez, I’m already feeling behind!

And here we’ve got a Leap Year going for 2012, one of those peculiar years when women can actually (gasp!) ask men to marry them, and when the powers that be decide to toss in an extra day for good measure (I never quite understood why we couldn’t balance the whole year thing out by giving February a good thirty days or so anyway, when we’ve got all these months with thirty-one anyway, but…).

I’m not normally a superstitious person, but I will say one thing about my personal experiences with Leap Years.  It may be my imagination, but my own tend to be EXTREME.  They seem to feature High-highs and Low-lows, and weird little twists so you never know what’s coming at you next.

And one of the things I try to do during Leap Years is—you guessed it—to take a leap.

I’m not a New Year’s resolution person, but I will make the effort to take a leap,  To do something that’s significant to me that I haven’t done before, no matter how small.  To do something more, or better, and definitely different somewhere along the way.

I’m thinking that one of my leaps this year will be to sub to an agent.  No, it’s not a huge leap because yes, I’ve done it before.  But it’s been quite a while.  Or maybe a different genre, or publisher, or even style.  What the hey—the worst they can do is kick me back into my little fishbowl.  And I’ll live to leap again.

I’ll probably try for other impromptu leaps along the way, but one of my key words here is doing something DIFFERENT.

How about you?  Considering taking any major/minor leaps this year?

Eight years ago, I, a loyal One Life To Live (OLTL) fanatic, stopped watching after decades of obsessive viewership. OLTL had been a guilty pleasure of mine since I was a teen. So why did I tune out?

Well, for several reasons actually…

First, some background: My favorite soap character of all time is Todd Manning. Sure, he was a tad psychotic. And yeah, he was also a convicted rapist, liar, murderer, thief, bully, master manipulator—you name it, he’s done it—but Roger Howarth’s portrayal of Todd was so nuanced and multifaceted, that he sucked viewers right in. Three-dimensional characters were so rare in soap-land, that when one appeared, you couldn’t help but latch onto them.

Though Roger Howarth was initially hired as a temporary day player, the producers, recognizing his talent and seeing viewer response to the character, didn’t hesitate to expand Todd’s storyline.

Thanks to this skillful actor (who eventually won an Emmy for the role), Todd Manning became an anti-hero, a character viewers loved to hate, and hated to love.

Read the rest of this entry »

It is amazing that pretty much the only thing my boys will share is germs. Geez-Louise. It’s been a rough week-though I suppose at least they had the courtesy of waiting a day or two between each sick person. It has left me a little tired and cranky, and given that I am usually tired and cranky, I am just a little more peevish than normal this week. I believe I did threaten the spouse with shears and dismemberment at one point. He just smiled and walked away-while looking over his shoulder a little.

As this is germ central (and finally getting better-of course the youngest who started all this was outside all day the past two days because he’s back to normal) I have gotten very little done in the way of writing. I have been reading though-amazing amounts of downtime between bouts of “mo-om”. Reading is something I wanted to get more of done this year, so knockwood it’s going well. (And I received a lovely box of books in the mail today to read for a contest-I like books )

Anyhoo… not *really* trying to gripe, or have over-much to say, just letting you know what I’ve been up to (or not up to) since we last met, on the computer, just a mere week ago. I will crawl back into my rest-hole and curl up with my books and hope that my tummy ache is stress-related and not the next virus-victim in the McDHouse. Y’all have a good week and carry on ~

(Location:  Sequel Writer’s Convention, Camp Crystal Lake).

Agent X:  Well, it’s the strangest thing Mr…Voorhees, is it?  Mr. Jason Voorhees?  I was told I had at least twenty authors waiting to pitch to me, but you seem to be the only one remaining in line.

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  But you don’t seem to have an appointment.

Jason:  ma-ma-ma…

Agent X:  Yes, I suppose I can make an exception.  You have a stack of multiple manuscripts there, haven’t you?

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  Okay, since I’ve got time on my hands here.  Let’s see this first one…this is a slasher story about some mysterious momma’s boy on a campaign to kill all teenagers who have sex?

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  Mr. Voorhees, it’s been done and done.  Do you seriously believe you can carve a niche into that genre?

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  Have you considered making it a paranormal romance?  Something about a guy who never dies and uses a machete like the one you’re carrying to hunt for his virginal bride?

Jason:  ma-ma-ma…

Agent X:  Don’t stroke out.  It was just a thought.  And this next one?  A small book of poetry?  “Clean Our Lakes for Killers’ Sakes”?  Sorry.  I believe it would drown in apathy.   Too many people jumping off the ecological bandwagon lately.

Jason:  ma-ma-ma…

Agent X:  C’mon, Jason—you don’t mind if I call you Jason?—give me something grand, something seedy, something to make the NASTY money.

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  Hold on, this looks interesting.  A memoir?  They are sorta hot right now.  You’re calling it, “I Was Hannibal Lector’s Illegitimate Son”.

Jason:  ki-ki-ki…

Agent X:  Now, THIS just might fly!  There is a certain family resemblance with the mask thing going on, poor lamb.  It isn’t true, is it?

Jason:  ma-ma-ma…

Agent X:  Even better!  What say we discuss this over lunch?  I hear they’re serving liver, fava beans, and a nice chianti.  Work for you?

Jason:  ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma-ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma-ki-ki-ki…

Since I’m in revision mode, I’ve been trying to assess where the strong points are in my story. This inevitably led to me doing an internal inventory. My goal is to finish this dang revision in a reasonable amount of time. So I found myself trying to gauge my strengths (emotion & description), and how best to use them to my advantage.

EMOTION: For me, it’s not necessarily a character telling me how they feel. It’s more like they’re allowing me to feel how they feel. Almost as if I’m experiencing the same things they are. (From joy to rage to angst). And the *only* thing I can do to exorcise the feeling is to “write it out of me.” Super weird, I know. But that’s how my “muse” works. It’s like I’m empathic or something. Or maybe it’s more like a possession.

DESCRIPTION: I can go on for pages at a time just writing about textures, scents and colors. Then later, I go back and trim down the detail for pacing’s sake. I have a tendency to get lost in description. But this was not always the case and I think I know why. When I first started writing, the door to my mind’s eye was locked. I struggled so much with trying to describe the smallest of things. The words just wouldn’t come. But one day I just woke up and BAM. I could see it all. Now my mind works like a camera and I can zoom in or pull back at will.

So how about you? What are your two writerly strengths? And what’s your methodology? IOW, how do you use them?

The other day, I saw an offer (and I can’t remember quite where, so sorry…) for a writer’s retreat. It was a week-long trip to the beach to write. My first instinct was, *I so want to go* then I started thinking that I would never be able to concentrate if I went. I’d want to walk on the beach or chitchat with the other writers. I know I’d get very little done. And I know this would happen because many a time I’ve gotten together with my writer buddies and got not a single thing done. Yeah, I am weak and *need* to socialize sometimes. Maybe that stems from being  a stay-at-home mom and rarely seeing other adults not named McDonald.

I can actually write somewhere other than my house. I’ve met Ames up at Starbucks and we wrote. Now don’t get me wrong, I tried to talk, but she’d give me that evil get-your-ass-in-gear eye and I would crank the words out—we took chitchat breaks, so that helped. In fact, I got a good chunk of my 5th book written that way. Even in my own house I have written in several rooms. I am not just an at-my-desk writer. When I had to pick up the boys from school, I’d write in the line. And I’ve done it several other places, it’s just the thought of a retreat that makes me know I’d be too distracted, be it the people or the location.

I so want to go, but to spend that kind of money I’d be too worried I wouldn’t get enough done. And worse, I wouldn’t want to be the one to distract other folks from getting their work done either. Have you ever gone on a writer’s retreat? Was it successful for you? And by successful, you got “enough” out if it. Would you recommend it (even to someone who is self-professed ADD…)