First of all, Joanna Stamfel-Volpe is hosting a query contest tomorrow for one hour only. You can find information on that here.
I've been wearing my sunglasses a lot today. I am not particularly fond of the pair, but I haven't found any I like better. Once, many years ago, I had a pair that I loved, and lost. They were, in fact, keelhauled. I was standing at the bow of a ship with my best friend's brother when they were blown off and the ship ran over them. Tragic. Anyway, now that the spring sun is here, I find that I'm in mourning for my keelhauled sunglasses.
Just thought you wanted to know.
Plus, I love the word keelhauled.
And defenestration.
And susurrus.
And perambulate, said with a Scottish accent. See, a few years ago I went to a panel at LTUE where they were talking about dialogue. Howard Taylor, I believe, mentioned that someone with a Scottish accent wouldn't use the word "perambulate." But he said it with a Scottish accent, and that's how it exists in my mind now. Forever.
But what about you? What are some of your favorite words?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
My Amazingly Awesome Accomplishment
My mind has been preoccupied of late by goals like "Finish this draft by the end of the month," and "Try to stay sane while doing this." Apparently, I had my goals all wrong. I should have been shooting for a much loftier ideal. One that I unexpectedly achieved last night. I didn't even know it was possible.
What happened? you ask.
Well, last night as I was writing, Word stopped me with an unusual message: I had exceeded the number of grammatical/spelling errors and it would no longer be identifying them for me using friendly, colorful underlines. How cool is that? I feel like I've joined some sort of special club. "The Writers Word Has Given Up On." Yes, that would be me.
But now that I've achieved that, how will any of my other goals (like actually finishing said misspleld/gramitakly: incorrect novel) ever measure up in comparison?
Maybe I'll just have to bake another cake or something.
(I should mention that the characters all have non-English names, and Word doesn't like any of them.)
I came across this Animator vs. Animation recently. Not only did it make me laugh, but I watched it as I was beginning to fall into the downward spiral of baking-to-pretend-I-don't-have-writer's-block. At the time, it reminded me a lot of my attempt with my story, with me playing the role of animation. No matter what I do, it just keeps shooting at me. Fortunately, I discovered that I am, in fact, not the animation, but the animator and all I really needed was to not save the thoroughly-out-of-hand-and-going-the-wrong-direction creature.
I also spent quite a bit of time pushing this button. Even more time pushing it once my kids saw it. They think it's hilarious.
Anyway, happy Friday to you all and may you too be privileged to join me someday in "The Writers Word Has Given Up On" Club.
What happened? you ask.
Well, last night as I was writing, Word stopped me with an unusual message: I had exceeded the number of grammatical/spelling errors and it would no longer be identifying them for me using friendly, colorful underlines. How cool is that? I feel like I've joined some sort of special club. "The Writers Word Has Given Up On." Yes, that would be me.
But now that I've achieved that, how will any of my other goals (like actually finishing said misspleld/gramitakly: incorrect novel) ever measure up in comparison?
Maybe I'll just have to bake another cake or something.
(I should mention that the characters all have non-English names, and Word doesn't like any of them.)
I came across this Animator vs. Animation recently. Not only did it make me laugh, but I watched it as I was beginning to fall into the downward spiral of baking-to-pretend-I-don't-have-writer's-block. At the time, it reminded me a lot of my attempt with my story, with me playing the role of animation. No matter what I do, it just keeps shooting at me. Fortunately, I discovered that I am, in fact, not the animation, but the animator and all I really needed was to not save the thoroughly-out-of-hand-and-going-the-wrong-direction creature.
I also spent quite a bit of time pushing this button. Even more time pushing it once my kids saw it. They think it's hilarious.
Anyway, happy Friday to you all and may you too be privileged to join me someday in "The Writers Word Has Given Up On" Club.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Baking instead of writing
I've been in a baking mood lately. In the last week and a half, I've made:
-blackberry cribble (I couldn't decide between cobbler and crisp, so I combined the two--I'm terrible at following recipes the way they should be followed!)
-sweet potato cake (like carrot cake but with sweet potatoes)
-bread
-apple crisp
-banana-pear bread (I didn't have quite enough bananas--either I was doing something wrong or freezing them really doesn't work--so I used some pears that were getting a little overripe. Even though I reduced the liquid, the bread still was too moist and the pear flavor didn't really come through, so I don't recommend this)
-bread pudding
And, no, I didn't eat all of it (although all of it was made with whole wheat and most with applesauce instead of butter/oil so it isn't quite as unhealthy). We gave some of it away, I froze some of the cake, and some of the later experiments are still languishing on the counter.
I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with baking at the moment. It might be that I keep having fruit that is getting past its prime, but it could also be that I was trying not to admit to myself that my WIP had an issue. Finally, on Saturday at LTUE, I admitted to a friend (and myself) that I couldn't go on without fixing the problem. I would sit down to write and...not write.
Yesterday I went back and started where the plot went wrong. So I'm down to a word count of 40,000 now instead of almost 50,000. But I am no longer paralyzed when I sit down to write. Yay! The story is where I want it to be. Still need major revising, but it's at least headed in the right direction.
Will it be finished before the end of the month when some friends and I are doing a whole novel critique? I don't know. I have another one that I might submit if I'm not done. I really do want opinions on that one as well---I need to know if I should keep working at it, start over on it (again!!), or toss it.
So, what should I go bake tonight instead of writing the talk I'm supposed to give tonight? It's only a five minute thing, but, again, inspiration is not coming, so I'm forced to bake instead. We do need more bread . . .
-blackberry cribble (I couldn't decide between cobbler and crisp, so I combined the two--I'm terrible at following recipes the way they should be followed!)
-sweet potato cake (like carrot cake but with sweet potatoes)
-bread
-apple crisp
-banana-pear bread (I didn't have quite enough bananas--either I was doing something wrong or freezing them really doesn't work--so I used some pears that were getting a little overripe. Even though I reduced the liquid, the bread still was too moist and the pear flavor didn't really come through, so I don't recommend this)
-bread pudding
And, no, I didn't eat all of it (although all of it was made with whole wheat and most with applesauce instead of butter/oil so it isn't quite as unhealthy). We gave some of it away, I froze some of the cake, and some of the later experiments are still languishing on the counter.
I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with baking at the moment. It might be that I keep having fruit that is getting past its prime, but it could also be that I was trying not to admit to myself that my WIP had an issue. Finally, on Saturday at LTUE, I admitted to a friend (and myself) that I couldn't go on without fixing the problem. I would sit down to write and...not write.
Yesterday I went back and started where the plot went wrong. So I'm down to a word count of 40,000 now instead of almost 50,000. But I am no longer paralyzed when I sit down to write. Yay! The story is where I want it to be. Still need major revising, but it's at least headed in the right direction.
Will it be finished before the end of the month when some friends and I are doing a whole novel critique? I don't know. I have another one that I might submit if I'm not done. I really do want opinions on that one as well---I need to know if I should keep working at it, start over on it (again!!), or toss it.
So, what should I go bake tonight instead of writing the talk I'm supposed to give tonight? It's only a five minute thing, but, again, inspiration is not coming, so I'm forced to bake instead. We do need more bread . . .
Friday, February 12, 2010
Life, The Universe, and Everything including romance
Life, The Universe, and Everything, a Science Fiction and Fantasy Symposium, is currently going on at BYU. I had the opportunity to go yesterday afternoon and thought I would share some of the comments panelists made. Unfortunately, I didn't write down who said what, so I can't credit them for their wisdom.
From "Creating a wizard that isn’t another Gandalf, Merlin, Dumbledore, etc.":
-Look at what people like in stories (i.e., the archetypes) and why they like them. Then figure out what happens if that character isn't there.
-Start with the story you want to tell and move forward from there. Everything else is just technique and/or decisions you've made.
-The wizard always dies; it's part of the archetype.
-Get out of the European tradition--look at original Greek, Roman, or Asian, but if you do that, watch out for having a "Magical Minority" figure (i.e., the wizard from a minority race)
From "Defining Children’s Literature":
-Middle Grade is the new YA; editors are looking for more MG
-General guidelines on ages; no strict lines between genres
-Ask: Is protagonist the right age? Does the character match the audience? Does the content match the audience? Kids don't care about adults problems.
-What is the level of adult interference? Adults more absent in MG, and become obstacles in YA.
-Don't worry about vocabulary level. Never talk down to readers.
From "Writing Strong Female Characters":
-Strong=independent thought and doesn't have to act like a man. However unfeminine or feminine the goal, she has the inner strength to do what needs to be done.
-DO NOT make a woman "strong" at the expense of men (i.e., make all the men stupid or bumbling so she is strong in comparison)
-A man with breasts does not equal a strong woman. Make sure she is acting the way a real woman would act.
-Don't have a character who only response to external motivations. They have to want something or themselves. We like characters who DO things, not have things just happen to them.
From "Putting Romance into Your Fantasy":
-You need to know if you are writing a paranormal romance or a fantasy with romance elements. It will make a difference with agents and editors. A "romance" has 51% of the book dealing with the romantic relationship.
-If the protagonist is named something like "Bella Swan," you know it's a romance.
-Romance is part of real life: exciting for everyone and everyone can relate.
-Easiest way to write a romance: take a guy and a girl and put an immovable wall between them (i.e., a reason why they could never get together)
-Mette Ivie Harrison's Theory on Romance:
1. In order to have a believable romance, have characters that the reader will fall in love with, then they'll believe that they would fall in love with each other.
2. Characters should be forced to work together and depend on each other; complimentary gifts and traits
-Myth: Romance is impossible in real life and can only occur when people have escaped to a desert island.
-No stupid characters, especially in a romance! They could get married and have even stupider children.
-We want things to feel authentic, but we are seeking for truth, not fact. We are not trying to capture the way things were, but the way it felt.
Speaking of romance, you may or may not have noticed that it's Valentine's Day this weekend. So, in honor of the holiday, I thought I'd talk a little about 10 love stories that I, well, love. These aren't in any particular order---I'm not very good at picking favorites.
1. BBC's adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South
I haven't actually read this book. I own it. I've read about half of it. The problem is that the version I have has so many typos that it's distracting and hard to follow. Apparently those quotation marks are important or something.
But I love, love, LOVE the movie. Talk about putting up a wall between the two characters! It's so, SO good. And, yes, I know that some of the things are anachronistic, but it's such a beautiful movie that I'm willing to forgive it. (Also, see the last note under "Putting Romance into Your Fantasy.")
2. Megan Whalen Turner's books: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia.
I know, I know. I keep talking about these books. But I really, really love them. Also, I should mention that The Thief isn't my favorite, but I think it's necessary to read it first in order to appreciate the other books.
3. Wildwood Dancing by Juliette Marillier. I adore retold fairy tales, and this is one of the best.
4. Promised Land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice. Apparently this is out of print. That's a shame.
5. It's a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison (I also enjoyed My Fair Godmother. Actually, I like all of her books that I've read, but those two are my favorites.) This is a fun, contemporary romance, no magic involved.
6. Summers at Castle Auburn and Archangel by Sharon Shinn. Summers at Castle Auburn is a wonderful story with fabulous characters. Archangel is the first book I can remember being completely obsessed with.
7. Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I'm not sure if these are paranormal romance or urban fantasy, but the werewolves in it sure are hot! This is also not a YA book, just so you know.
8. I'll admit it, I'm a Georgette Heyer fan. Some, though, are better than others. My favorites are probably The Grand Sophy, The Nonesuch, Frederica, and Sylvester.
9. Austenland by Shannon Hale is great for an escape. I have a soft spot for this book. I read it first when I was expecting our third child. I started having contractions around 28 weeks and, combined with all the other problems we had from previous pregnancies, my doctors were stressing about me. As bad luck would have it, my parents and my husband both had to go to conferences the same week. It was during that week that I put the kids to bed, baked myself chocolate chip cookies, and read Austenland. Ahh. Sweet escape.
10. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Or Beauty by Robin McKinley. Or Pride and Prejudice (without the zombies). Or . . .
I would put Logan and Veronica on here from Veronica Mars, but they broke up and I can't have that. Can you hear that, Universe? Unacceptable! And Mal and Inara from Firefly/Serenity never really got together. Also unacceptable. And don't even get me started about . . .
Anyway. So, what are some of your favorite love stories, either books or movies or TV shows? I know I left some off of my list, so please help me fill it in.
(And my apologies for making this the longest blog post EVER. Seriously. What am I thinking?)
From "Creating a wizard that isn’t another Gandalf, Merlin, Dumbledore, etc.":
-Look at what people like in stories (i.e., the archetypes) and why they like them. Then figure out what happens if that character isn't there.
-Start with the story you want to tell and move forward from there. Everything else is just technique and/or decisions you've made.
-The wizard always dies; it's part of the archetype.
-Get out of the European tradition--look at original Greek, Roman, or Asian, but if you do that, watch out for having a "Magical Minority" figure (i.e., the wizard from a minority race)
From "Defining Children’s Literature":
-Middle Grade is the new YA; editors are looking for more MG
-General guidelines on ages; no strict lines between genres
-Ask: Is protagonist the right age? Does the character match the audience? Does the content match the audience? Kids don't care about adults problems.
-What is the level of adult interference? Adults more absent in MG, and become obstacles in YA.
-Don't worry about vocabulary level. Never talk down to readers.
From "Writing Strong Female Characters":
-Strong=independent thought and doesn't have to act like a man. However unfeminine or feminine the goal, she has the inner strength to do what needs to be done.
-DO NOT make a woman "strong" at the expense of men (i.e., make all the men stupid or bumbling so she is strong in comparison)
-A man with breasts does not equal a strong woman. Make sure she is acting the way a real woman would act.
-Don't have a character who only response to external motivations. They have to want something or themselves. We like characters who DO things, not have things just happen to them.
From "Putting Romance into Your Fantasy":
-You need to know if you are writing a paranormal romance or a fantasy with romance elements. It will make a difference with agents and editors. A "romance" has 51% of the book dealing with the romantic relationship.
-If the protagonist is named something like "Bella Swan," you know it's a romance.
-Romance is part of real life: exciting for everyone and everyone can relate.
-Easiest way to write a romance: take a guy and a girl and put an immovable wall between them (i.e., a reason why they could never get together)
-Mette Ivie Harrison's Theory on Romance:
1. In order to have a believable romance, have characters that the reader will fall in love with, then they'll believe that they would fall in love with each other.
2. Characters should be forced to work together and depend on each other; complimentary gifts and traits
-Myth: Romance is impossible in real life and can only occur when people have escaped to a desert island.
-No stupid characters, especially in a romance! They could get married and have even stupider children.
-We want things to feel authentic, but we are seeking for truth, not fact. We are not trying to capture the way things were, but the way it felt.
Speaking of romance, you may or may not have noticed that it's Valentine's Day this weekend. So, in honor of the holiday, I thought I'd talk a little about 10 love stories that I, well, love. These aren't in any particular order---I'm not very good at picking favorites.
1. BBC's adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South
I haven't actually read this book. I own it. I've read about half of it. The problem is that the version I have has so many typos that it's distracting and hard to follow. Apparently those quotation marks are important or something.
But I love, love, LOVE the movie. Talk about putting up a wall between the two characters! It's so, SO good. And, yes, I know that some of the things are anachronistic, but it's such a beautiful movie that I'm willing to forgive it. (Also, see the last note under "Putting Romance into Your Fantasy.")
2. Megan Whalen Turner's books: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia.
I know, I know. I keep talking about these books. But I really, really love them. Also, I should mention that The Thief isn't my favorite, but I think it's necessary to read it first in order to appreciate the other books.
3. Wildwood Dancing by Juliette Marillier. I adore retold fairy tales, and this is one of the best.
4. Promised Land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice. Apparently this is out of print. That's a shame.
5. It's a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison (I also enjoyed My Fair Godmother. Actually, I like all of her books that I've read, but those two are my favorites.) This is a fun, contemporary romance, no magic involved.
6. Summers at Castle Auburn and Archangel by Sharon Shinn. Summers at Castle Auburn is a wonderful story with fabulous characters. Archangel is the first book I can remember being completely obsessed with.
7. Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. I'm not sure if these are paranormal romance or urban fantasy, but the werewolves in it sure are hot! This is also not a YA book, just so you know.
8. I'll admit it, I'm a Georgette Heyer fan. Some, though, are better than others. My favorites are probably The Grand Sophy, The Nonesuch, Frederica, and Sylvester.
9. Austenland by Shannon Hale is great for an escape. I have a soft spot for this book. I read it first when I was expecting our third child. I started having contractions around 28 weeks and, combined with all the other problems we had from previous pregnancies, my doctors were stressing about me. As bad luck would have it, my parents and my husband both had to go to conferences the same week. It was during that week that I put the kids to bed, baked myself chocolate chip cookies, and read Austenland. Ahh. Sweet escape.
10. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Or Beauty by Robin McKinley. Or Pride and Prejudice (without the zombies). Or . . .
I would put Logan and Veronica on here from Veronica Mars, but they broke up and I can't have that. Can you hear that, Universe? Unacceptable! And Mal and Inara from Firefly/Serenity never really got together. Also unacceptable. And don't even get me started about . . .
Anyway. So, what are some of your favorite love stories, either books or movies or TV shows? I know I left some off of my list, so please help me fill it in.
(And my apologies for making this the longest blog post EVER. Seriously. What am I thinking?)
Monday, February 8, 2010
More Contests and Important Career Changes
So. It's almost time for Slush Week with Dystel and Goderich Literary Management. They're asking for query letters and they will randomly choose nine and each will be critiqued by one of the nine members of Dystel and Goderich. Sounds fun, huh? So go read the instructions here and then submit your query letter. You know you want to.
Also, Jennifer Laughran from Andrea Brown Literary Agency is judging a contest here with www.guidetoliteraryagents.com. If you haven't ever been to that site, they have some really good information about agents and try to keep up with the latest information on agents.
I didn't think I'd make my writing goal of 7,000 words last week. To my surprise, I discovered on Saturday night that I had 8,427 words for the week. Yay! As of this moment, counting the words today, I have 39,242 words. My goal is to finish the first draft by February 27th for a full novel critique. Because everyone wants to read my first and completely unedited draft. Ha!
I know I promised to write about upcoming books that I'm excited about, but that's going to have to wait. I need to ask for advice again. See, I was looking through my old CD's (which should give you a clue about the last time I updated my music) and realized I was sick of almost all of it. I'm looking for new music, but don't even know where to start. Any suggestions?
The only thing is that it has to be kid friendly. I rarely get the chance to listen without small ones soaking it up like sponges. Seriously. Ever seen a two-year-old boy singing "Popular" from Wicked? Yeah, it's a bit scary. And, yes, that really does happen in our household. So, please let me know if you have any music suggestions.
Otherwise I'll be forced to ask the 12 and 13 year old girls in the neighborhood and, quite frankly, I'm terrified of their suggestions. I have a right to be. I've tried to plan activities with these same girls and their suggestions sometimes run along the lines of getting everyone a pickle. And that's the whole activity.
So please, please, comment and give me music suggestions.
Also, since I'm not blogging about upcoming books, you'll have to be content with watching a book trailer for A Conspiracy of Kings. If you haven't heard about Megan Whalen Turner, go now and buy her books. The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. Read them in order and DO NOT read the backs! Anyway, they come out every 4+ years, so I'm super excited about it. Enjoy the clip!
Lastly, but most importantly, it's time for Barbie to have a new career for the new year. (Yes, Heather, this is for you, and everyone else should read her blog about it.) Barbie was a race car driver last year, which is frankly embarrassing. So let's go help her get something more interesting this year by voting here. But go now and vote.
Also, Jennifer Laughran from Andrea Brown Literary Agency is judging a contest here with www.guidetoliteraryagents.com. If you haven't ever been to that site, they have some really good information about agents and try to keep up with the latest information on agents.
I didn't think I'd make my writing goal of 7,000 words last week. To my surprise, I discovered on Saturday night that I had 8,427 words for the week. Yay! As of this moment, counting the words today, I have 39,242 words. My goal is to finish the first draft by February 27th for a full novel critique. Because everyone wants to read my first and completely unedited draft. Ha!
I know I promised to write about upcoming books that I'm excited about, but that's going to have to wait. I need to ask for advice again. See, I was looking through my old CD's (which should give you a clue about the last time I updated my music) and realized I was sick of almost all of it. I'm looking for new music, but don't even know where to start. Any suggestions?
The only thing is that it has to be kid friendly. I rarely get the chance to listen without small ones soaking it up like sponges. Seriously. Ever seen a two-year-old boy singing "Popular" from Wicked? Yeah, it's a bit scary. And, yes, that really does happen in our household. So, please let me know if you have any music suggestions.
Otherwise I'll be forced to ask the 12 and 13 year old girls in the neighborhood and, quite frankly, I'm terrified of their suggestions. I have a right to be. I've tried to plan activities with these same girls and their suggestions sometimes run along the lines of getting everyone a pickle. And that's the whole activity.
So please, please, comment and give me music suggestions.
Also, since I'm not blogging about upcoming books, you'll have to be content with watching a book trailer for A Conspiracy of Kings. If you haven't heard about Megan Whalen Turner, go now and buy her books. The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. Read them in order and DO NOT read the backs! Anyway, they come out every 4+ years, so I'm super excited about it. Enjoy the clip!
Lastly, but most importantly, it's time for Barbie to have a new career for the new year. (Yes, Heather, this is for you, and everyone else should read her blog about it.) Barbie was a race car driver last year, which is frankly embarrassing. So let's go help her get something more interesting this year by voting here. But go now and vote.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
My Family Shows Their True Colors and More Contests
I love personality tests. They fascinate me. Several years ago, my family came across a Star Wars personality test. Most of us took it and the results were...interesting.
My mom really is rather like C3P0 (I love you, Mom!!).
Apart from the height, my brother is a lot like Yoda. Calm, wise, green skinned. Okay, maybe not the skin.
And then my sister, my father, and I were all Emperor Palpatine. Can you imagine growing up in a household with THREE Emperor Palpatines? No wonder my sister and I fought so much! (Although my father used to say that it was a natural result of both of us having red hair.)
Anyway, I came across a new one that I love---finding out which bachelor of Highbury is your dream guy:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
I was tied between Mr. Knightley and Robert Martin. It all depended on my final preference for money or laughter. Who do you prefer? If you take the quiz, I'd love to know who you end up with.
I really have been thoroughly enjoying the new BBC version of Emma (and not just the personality test). Although I thought it would finish on Sunday and was disappointed that it didn't. But enough sulking about that. I love a lot of the things that they've done with it, especially Mr. Knightley. Don't get me wrong, I love Jeremy Northam and Mark Strong (who was also FABULOUS as Septimus in Stardust), but this Mr. Knightley is just charming. Charming, charming, charming!!
And, can I say, I LOVE what they did with Mr. Elton!
Okay. Enough gushing. If you haven't seen it, PBS has the first three episodes online, so you can watch them.
You know you want to.
A couple of contests:
The 7th annual LDStorymakers conference is coming up in April. It looks like it will be a pretty good conference. Currently, they're having a contest to win dinner tickets to sit with the editor and some of the other authors that will be at the conference.
Also, Kathleen Ortiz, an agent at Lowenstein Associates, is running a contest and will critique the winner's query letter.
I was going to post about the books coming out that I'm really excited about, but that will have to wait until next time.
My mom really is rather like C3P0 (I love you, Mom!!).
Apart from the height, my brother is a lot like Yoda. Calm, wise, green skinned. Okay, maybe not the skin.
And then my sister, my father, and I were all Emperor Palpatine. Can you imagine growing up in a household with THREE Emperor Palpatines? No wonder my sister and I fought so much! (Although my father used to say that it was a natural result of both of us having red hair.)
Anyway, I came across a new one that I love---finding out which bachelor of Highbury is your dream guy:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
I was tied between Mr. Knightley and Robert Martin. It all depended on my final preference for money or laughter. Who do you prefer? If you take the quiz, I'd love to know who you end up with.
I really have been thoroughly enjoying the new BBC version of Emma (and not just the personality test). Although I thought it would finish on Sunday and was disappointed that it didn't. But enough sulking about that. I love a lot of the things that they've done with it, especially Mr. Knightley. Don't get me wrong, I love Jeremy Northam and Mark Strong (who was also FABULOUS as Septimus in Stardust), but this Mr. Knightley is just charming. Charming, charming, charming!!
And, can I say, I LOVE what they did with Mr. Elton!
Okay. Enough gushing. If you haven't seen it, PBS has the first three episodes online, so you can watch them.
You know you want to.
A couple of contests:
The 7th annual LDStorymakers conference is coming up in April. It looks like it will be a pretty good conference. Currently, they're having a contest to win dinner tickets to sit with the editor and some of the other authors that will be at the conference.
Also, Kathleen Ortiz, an agent at Lowenstein Associates, is running a contest and will critique the winner's query letter.
I was going to post about the books coming out that I'm really excited about, but that will have to wait until next time.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Happy February 1st!
Amazon and Macmillan had a bit of a disagreement over the weekend. Okay, it's closer to all out war, but whatever. If your interested in reading more about it, Nathan Bransford and Scott Westerfeld have summarize it nicely, I think. It takes a much wiser head than mine to grapple with all the implications of what's going on.
And I've never been very wise. If I were wise, I wouldn't have put a hole in the siding of our house on Saturday. Oops...
And I've never been very wise. If I were wise, I wouldn't have put a hole in the siding of our house on Saturday. Oops...
Any guesses what I did?
At least it's not very big and it's in the back of the house.
Let's not talk about that anymore. Or about the fact that I had to teach a lesson on keeping your house clean yesterday at church. I'm probably one of the least qualified people I know to teach this subject.
I achieved my goal for last week and wrote 8,535 words. I'm hoping to have a completed draft by February 27th for a manuscript exchange with some writer friends. Right now I only have 29,000 words, so I'm really going to have to work (i.e., stop reading about the Amazon/Macmillan disaster) to get it completed by then.
A question for you. I read a book a week or so ago that has been plaguing me. See, I love, love, loved the main character. For most of the book, at least. And then he changed, did things that didn't seem to fit with my interpretation of him, and made decisions that drove me nuts. So, while I couldn't put the book down, I ultimately didn't like it. And I can't stop thinking about it. So, here's my question:
As a writer, would you rather people liked your book and it left them with a smile on their face, but they moved on and didn't think about it anymore, or would you rather have a book that they hated, passionately, but couldn't forget about? I'm curious to know which you'd prefer, assuming those were your only two choices.
Happy February 1st!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)