When I pick up a romance novel, I’m looking for an irresistible hero. One who’s gorgeous, intelligent, challenging and confident. If he’s gaga over the heroine by the tenth page, I’m bored. I like to WATCH a hero fall in love. On the flip side, I’m looking for a likable heroine, one I can identify with. A woman who isn’t so cold, standoffish or self-absorbed she can’t recognize a good thing when she sees it. Well lately, one of my favorite authors hasn’t been delivering. I’m tired of her clones … er … I mean, her characters. To be brutally frank, her cookie-cutter protagonists (mainly her heroines) make me want to slap the sh*t out of them.

(more…)

We know them well. The temptations we face every day. They beckon us to follow and like a babe to mother’s milk, we’re there. What are your 4 favorite ways to procrastinate? Mine are:

1. movies
2. websurfing
3. “Research”
4. audio books

How about you? Don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul. :-)

PS: I’m sure you “dedicated” writers won’t even be curious about what lies below. Only slackers like me will be tempted to proceed.

(more…)

When I began my WIP, I knew my hero’s house would look like a museum. He’d have Impressionist oil paintings, tapestries, suits of armor, mounted animal heads, mismatched furniture, Asian sculptures and various other knickknacks. His library would be filled with books on Art, Literature, History, Medicine, Religion, Philosophy, Architecture and Science. I never asked myself why because the answer seemed obvious. He was immortal. Naturally he’d accumulated a bunch of stuff over the centuries.

Profession-wise, he started as an obscure Elizabethan poet, so I figured he’d naturally branch off into a related field over the course of his lifetime. Maybe try his hand at a novel writing, or perhaps he’d become a journalist. This lead me to discover he had a genius IQ, a photographic memory, and he could really draw. Just a few more unrelated character traits, right?

Wrong.

(more…)

Last week I asked for favorite movie/TV kissing scenes. This week, after watching the latest installment of So You Think You Can Dance I thought I’d venture into favorite dance scenes/performances on TV and/or film. I have dozens but for brevity’s sake, I picked five out of a hat. Can you name one that stands out for you? Here are mine in no particular order:
(more…)

I’ve been a bad girl this week. My Felicity DVD set finally arrived on Monday (Seasons 1-4), and I’ve been hip-deep in the series, which means (you guessed it) no writing. Do I feel guilty? Um … maybe just a little, but I’ll get over it.

So what’s the point of this post?

Well, yesterday I got to this fabulous kissing scene and it got me thinking about other memorable TV and Movie kissing scenes I loved. You know, the ones you can never forget because of their emotional impact on the characters and plot in general. Can you name some of yours?

MOVIES: I have two

Somewhere In Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour

Troy with Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne. (love how she drops that knife )

TV: Just one, for now

Felicity with Scott Speedman and Keri Russell (anyone familiar with this series knows how pivotal this first kiss was)

I was just looking over the books I’ve written and I noticed something interesting. Most of them are character-driven except for the one I’m working on now. It (my current WIP) is a blend of both (plot/character), but I think by the time I get to my final revision, it’ll probably morph into a character-driven book. More often than not, it takes a little less than half a dozen revisions before I really know my story. The plot might meander and get tangled this way and that, but I’m usually able to rein it in with strong character development. I think strong characters can do a lot to save a plot in my eyes, then again, sometimes NOT as you’ll see below.

Anyway, I also noticed that most of the books I buy are character-driven too. The same goes for the shows and movies I watch as well.

Would you say your books are MOSTLY plot or character driven? Or are they a healthy blend of the two? Also, what about the books and movies/shows you enjoy? Are they more character-driven (Lost) or plot-driven (24)?

And speaking of Lost, I have honestly come to believe that the writers have NO idea where they lost the plot. Sure, they’ve got a bunch of strong characters, but they’ve yet to rein their plot in. It’s all over the place. As are the characters. I think they gave up on it at the end of the first season. My DH and I have knock down drag out fights over this. He still watches, convinced (deluded is more like it) that the writers know what they’re doing and are leading us down a well-crafted path. Me? I think they’re all dropping acid. I got so disgusted with Lost that I stopped watching, preferring instead for my kids to give me random episode summaries. I honestly believe the writers have painted themselves into a plot corner and are just tossing everything out there, including the kitchen sink in hopes that maybe WE will understand the morass they’ve created. I have actually grown to HATE Lost now because I feel like the viewer is getting jerked around. Ooops. Didn’t mean to go off on a tangent, but I think the title of that show is apropos. The writers are truly LOST! IMHO, it jumped the shark long ago.

This brings me to another question. As a reader/viewer, how much patience do you have? How long before you toss a poorly plotted book against the wall? Ever walk out of a movie? Or abandon a show you really enjoyed because of plot quagmire(s)? Has a show/book/movie ever jump the shark for you? If so, how? (If it’s a book, no titles please.)

Yeah, I know, I’m all over the place this week. I blame it on LOST! DH had the nerve to rent the first season from Blockbuster.  Why is he torturing himself?  Just thinking about that show sends me into a mental pretzel.

Pet sentences. How do I hate thee, let me count the ways.

They’re the tarnished nuggets we writers regurgitate again and again, sometimes without even realizing it. They make editors and agents crazy. They make readers want to smack us. But most importantly, they make us look like hacks.

Here are a few of mine: “She stood motionless.” Then there’s “She gazed back at him.” And my all time favorite, “He heaved a sigh.”

While in revision hell, all my “pet phrases” and “pet words” jumped out at me. It was painful. It was pathetic. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! I also seem to have an obsession with the word “smirked.” Everybody in the damned book was smirking. I mean everyone. They were all “licking” their lips too. It was ridiculous.

What are your pet phrases or words? Do you catch them right away, or do they have to scream at you during revision or critique?

Writing Through Adversity

Last year I did a post at Blogging in Black entitled “I’ve Lost my Passion” which explored my dwindling interest in reading. In the piece, I did some deep soul searching why I just didn’t enjoy books as much as I once did and related that personal problems may have gotten in the way. I still believe this. Adversity has a way of sapping the enjoyment out of many of life’s pleasures.

I’ve read postings from other authors about the need to write during stressful times, including family illness, and I take this to heart because I have a close family member who has suffered two strokes. We’re both dealing as well as we can, and she is recovering. We got hit with more bad news recently, but we’ve decided to react with positivity instead of just accepting it.

In the meantime, I write because I have to, although it’s mostly freelance non-creative pieces. Still, I find satisfaction doing these pieces, maybe because they serve as a distraction, where my mind is fully engrossed with facts and figures. And I always try for a personal best whenever I sit down to the keyboard, no matter what I’m writing.

Still, it’s been a while since I have done anything creative - and to be honest, I’m not missing it right now. Laying out a plotline, researching ancillary facts, fleshing out characters are fun components of writing, but only if your heart is in it, and right now, mine just isn’t. Yet, I know that if I had to, I could - especially if there were a deadline involved. In the middle of THE OBJECT OF LOVE (TOOL), my relative suffered her first stroke, and I didn’t think I would be able to type another word. Not to mention, that I came across a rather brutal online critique of my first book AGAIN, which made me question my abilities to pull in an audience.

Feeling discouraged about the review, I emailed author Monica Jackson and mentioned that I wanted to quit writing altogether. She threatened to find me and do damage if I did and admonished that this was just part of a writer’s lot; some people are going to like your work, others won’t. She told me not to let them put me off course. So I got back to work and was able to deliver TOOL right on deadline.

So even though I feel off course right now (maybe I need a good Monica a** kicking), I hope one day to find my mojo and get back to the novels I love to write - adversity be damned.

======================

Note from Tanya:

Sharon,

You may have temporarily lost your passion, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll get it back. For one thing, nobody with talent like yours can stay away from storytelling. Fiction writing (and in your case, STELLAR fiction writing) is sewn into your DNA. You can no more walk away from it, than you can stop breathing. Having read two of your books, I can honestly say that you’ve got a fan for life in me, and I truly look forward to your next novel.

You’re on my auto-buy list, lady.

Be sure to stop by this coming Wednesday to chat with Kensington Brava author Sharon Cullars! I first met Sharon online while blog hopping, and once I bought her paranormal romance The Object of Love, I was hooked. Again was just as fabulous!

Here’s Sharon’s bio:

I’m a Chicagoan bred and born, a woman in a midlife flux who has always loved reading. Now a new writer, I’m still learning the ins and outs of the business. Before writing AGAIN (Kensington/Brava, May 2006), I self-published a paranormal mystery in 2002 entitled CELIA. Although a dismal marketing failure, CELIA was a jumping off point and a learning experience for me. Since then, I have published a few online short stories and also have had a story included in MASQUES V, an anthology of horror fiction that includes works by Ray Bradbury, Gary Braunbeck, Poppy Z. Brite and Richard Christian Matheson among others.

In addition to AGAIN, I have another novel and novella coming out with Brava and consider myself fortunate for the opportunity. Although I like writing romance, I am writing a couple of books on spec, including a historical mystery and a horror story. My reading life includes all genres, which has influenced my writing style. Hopefully my readers will enjoy.

Check out Sharon’s sizzling bookcovers: