Untitled On Purpose: Hope and Bad Poetry

Untitled On Purpose

Gone for the holidays

Wafted away by snatches of carols

And starry, starry nights.

Lost in foil-lined wrapping paper

And gingerbread dreams.

Not I.

The carols I hear

The wrapping paper lies unwinding on the table

And the gingerbread dreams are still just dreams.

 

I roam in the world I created.

Looking into windows

Listening at doors

A voyeur in my own imagination

Watching the rain fall.

 December 2015

 

Normally I would be posting a Christmas haiku or tanka. I may yet, the day is still young or fairly so. This is what I have written though, so I am posting it.

 

Please note the final line. It’s been a very long time, and there are still obstacles to overcome, but I am starting to have some hope that Rain will be published in 2016. More than that I am afraid to say. Saying it aloud or definitely may jinx the whole thing. But maybe. . . just maybe. . .

Hope is curious thing, isn’t it?

Just How Tall does a Hero Have to Be?

It must be silly question time. I've been doing a lot of reading this past week in what will end up being my genre--romance. And I look over at the bookshelf sitting next to me on the left and see two book series (best sellers all of them). Out of the twelve books there it dawns on me.

EVERY SINGLE MALE PROTAGONIST IS WELL OVER SIX FEET TALL.

Let me repeat that without the caps. Every single male protagonist is well over six feet tall. A fact which started me thinking. Lois McMaster Bujold managed an engaging male protagonist under five feet tall but Miles Vorkosigan is the only one who breaks the rule.

I don't know if research and statistics will back me up. This is strictly anecdotal and one shelf of the bookcase.

• Jondalar from the Earth's Children Series by Jean M. Auel                     Six foot six inches
• Jamie Frasier from the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon                   Six foot four inches*
• Matthew Claremont from the AllSouls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness     Six foot three inches

I just finished reading my fifth book of the week and, yes, out of five male protagonists, not a single one of them was under six foot three. I'm not going to name titles/authors with those five. It was research, not fun, and I don't want it known I read them. Yes, they were that bad.

Not a large enough number for statistical purposes but enough to get me to asking the question. Is this becoming a rule?

So I have a question for those who write and read romance (or even other genres with a romantic subplot).

 

How tall is your male protagonist?

How tall were the last five male protagonists in the books you read?

 

 

*not totally sure of the accuracy of this but I recall reading it in the discussion surrounding the casting for Jamie Frasier in the new Starz series.

 

Writing the Ending

I know this blog is a bit self-centered. I'm working on it but it seems to want to remain that way. It can't be a writing advice blog or a publishing advice blog. One would need some form of expertise in those areas. All I have is opinion, generally based on what I read in those types of writing blogs. All that remains is what I write and what I discover, sometimes just by playing with an idea.

"I don't plot," she said for what seemed like the hundredth time. "But it doesn't mean I don't know where I'm going, even if it takes me a couple of chapters to discover specifics."

So today I am going to play a little game. I'm going to write a couple of final scenes I already know. No character names included. It may be spoiler-ish but who knows? These are not final. They're rough drafts. Things could change.

Character File for Aaron Johansson

I said in one of  my last posts, where I described my character sketches that I would post one from a current WIP. So I decided on the male protagonist from Snow. This is a very fluid document. Things can and do change. Would you like to meet the honorable Aaron Johansson?

 

Some Writing Memes or "I need a little fun around here."

I have found revising to be tedious work--- a good bit of it anyway. It takes me far longer to get into than the original writing. I need encouragement. . .a carrot. . .a stick. . .inspiration. Most of all, sometimes I just need a smile. Don't we all?

So I gathered some of those "you should be writing" memes from around the Internet. Most were fine and made their way to my screensaver to nag and prod me when my mind drifts away. But I did make a few of my own and thought I would share them. For laughs. . .for giggles. . .for blushes.

 

 

 

Yeah, showing my prejudices here. A couple of them anyway. I hope you enjoy them. I have a few more but that's another blog all together. Now I must really get to work. These guys can really bug me!

 



The Perfect Question

I subscribe to a lot of blogs and writing sites. One of them I particularly like is Writers Write. Every day in my mailbox I find a writing-related comic, the latest blog posting,  a literary birthday,  a writing-related quote, and a writing prompt. All of them make me smile, think, and sometimes laugh out loud. The only thing I don't like--- they're in South Africa and when they send me an announcement about an upcoming class I growl. "I can't come! You're in South Africa!" Yes, I talk back to my computer screen, don't you?

I really like some of the prompts, though I don't really need them right now to get me writing,  Just as an example I'll share a few.

• List the gifts your protagonist received on his or her birthday. Which one did your hero like best?
• Make a list of five things your protagonist does not want to do.
• Write about missing a plane.
• Your hero and villain are on a train. Where are they going?

Sometimes one intrigues me to the point I want to use it so I do and end up stuffing it into a character's dossier. Today I'm going to take that up a notch and do a posting with a recent prompt. I thought I would apply it to each project just for fun. So here goes.

What is the perfect question to use as the opening line of your novel?

1. Rain: Cheryl's here at the club?

2. Snow: Get placed again in that trice-cursed area of the female psyche known as friend? Not only no but hell no!

3. Dani's Song: What do you suppose the story would be like if the Beauty was a king and the Beast his bride?

4. Troika: Didn't she know she was too small to be lifting weights like that without a spotter?

5. Familiar Strangers: What in the hell did she think she was doing waiting beside Buckingham Fountain in December for a man she had never met?

It's more difficult than it sounds. Only the question for Familiar Strangers and Troika come close to being acceptable. I cheated on Snow by adding Aaron's answer and the question for Dani's Song is in the old narrative voice which I am re-doing for the revision. All of them hold true to the beginning of the story though. Interesting.

What Kind of Love Story?

Write what you know. Isn’t that a popular saying in almost any writing class you can take? If writers only wrote about things they knew what a dull place fiction would be! I decided to take another pundit’s advice instead: write the story you would want to read. It may be wishful thinking. It may be unmarketable but some things just keep coming out at the end of my fingertips.

1.     The love story doesn't end at the altar. All right some of them do but some of them actually start there. And I fully believe some of the best love stories grow from there.

2.     Attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder.

3.     Geeks can be attractive. . .and sexy. Do you think they are all alike in both form and function? You haven’t met the geeks I have! 

4.     Women over 40 can be sexy, too. Do I really have to address this?

5.     Everyone has family! Stories may be easier to write for orphans or near-orphans but really!

6.     Parents do have love lives. If you're a parent, you understand this.

7.     Sex can be funny. I mean come on! Think about it.

8.     Men are often more romantic then they are given credit for. One of the advantages of being older is by this point is I've actually witnessed this over and over again. I don't have sisters, daughters, or nieces; I have brothers, sons, and nephews.

9.     Love at first sight does happen. Hey, this is romantic fiction after all. And, I am sometimes struck by the number of times I've heard a man say, "Yes, I knew the moment I saw her I was going to marry her (or something similar)."  Women have said it, too.

10.  A love story isn't always a romance but it is always a love story. I have a couple of projects on my writing list which fit that description.

 

These aren't all the little ideas or rules that make their way into my stories and I can't say they all make their way into  every story. Some do and some don't. They're just the ones I've become aware of over time.

 

Cookies, Presentations, and Other Terrors

What do cookies, presentations, and other terrors have in common? It doesn't look like there is a common thread or pattern to it but there is.

All of them are focused on one particular weekend, the weekend of the DFW Writers Conference.

1. I do have cookies to bake. I had major problems with my early bird sign-up and two conference gurus went out of their way to get in the system and get the problems solved. Dealing with a bat-sh*t crazy lady in a totally courteous and prompt manner won them extra points. I gave them their choice of cookies. Chocolate-chunk Pecan cookies it is. Challenge accepted!
2. I  have an appointment scheduled with a literary agent. I will be pitching Rain. In a well-intentioned fit of either insanity or foolhardy bravery I picked the scariest agent I could find, thinking if I can get through it I can get through any pitch. As the time grows closer I am starting to wonder what the heck have I done? I've read article after article about pitching your work and as many blog entries. I've read everything I can find on the agent, including the agent's blog. I still have no bloody idea what I'm doing! Everything I've read has poured through my brain cells like soup served in a sieve, leaving only the aroma behind.
3. I also signed up for a Romance Writer's Workshop. This may have been an actual error on my part. I thought I was signing up for a nice little creative workshop. A teacher/facilitator, some blank paper, some writing exercises. After I signed up I got my homework assignment.
1. Cover Page
2. Query Letter
3. First two pages
4. Plot description

I have seriously thought about withdrawing from that one. Cover Page is no problem, first two pages are no problem, query letter is a bit of a daunting one, but the plot description has me dreaming of anti-emetic medications. Only four sentences allowed in that section. I wonder how compound and complex I can get without making anyone's eyes cross?

I think I will bake cookies tomorrow. Gotta start somewhere I guess.

"Rain": First Draft Completed!

Oh, I've been waiting so long to be able to post this!

 

a facsimile of what a former boyfriend would call "the chick dance of joy"!

 I just typed the last line in "Rain"!

I've only been writing it, on and off, since 1994. Yes, almost twenty years. I don't really know how to act or what to feel right now.  As some of the younger bloggers I've read would say: "too many feels". So many I can't put them all down right now. They contradict each other anyway.

I will gather all the input from those who have read it and do a rudimentary edit when I come back from a short trip to Missouri this weekend. On May 4th and 5th I will be attending the DFW Writer's Convention---and pitching "Rain" to an agent. Beta-blockers and other anxiety-reducing chemicals will be needed. And no, I haven't written that yet either. After all you can't pitch a story until it's finished and you know who you are pitching it to. O.K. maybe you can do the former but I've been told most agents want to hear about a finished book and I wanted to able to look them in the eye and say I had completed a manuscript.


Yes, lots to still do but time to move on as well. I guess the best way to put it is: weather is changing. . .it's time  for "Snow". . .then comes "Familiar Strangers" then "Summer Heat" then "Fatherhood"----you know the list. Writing. . .it's a chronic, raging disease. . . and the strangest joy.

Note: Yes, I know in my last blog post I expected to be finished in a week. It was very wishful thinking---it was much harder than I expected but that's another posting. My apologies and, if you've been waiting on this posting, thank you so very much for your patience.

An Almost Never-Ending Writing List

So I'm writing, that's been established. I thought I would actually write a list to keep myself honest and on track. Do I know what I'm doing? That is a question I don't know the answer to right now. Who knows?

Writing projects (as of December 2012)

StClare Chronicles (all are "working" titles)

·                 "Rain" first draft completed April 2, 2013

·                 "Breaking Precedent"

·                 "Fatherhood"

·                 "Couples and Pairs"

·                 "Scenes from a Wedding"

·                 "Snow"

·                 "Summer Heat"

·                 "Evelyn and Alexander"

·                 "Spring Break"

            Of all those, only one is complete and it's a short story which will probably never be published or even submitted for consideration. Two are being written right now; three have only been started. The last three are just ideas with titles and principals in my head. I don't know if I dare even begin them right now. "Snow" really doesn't belong here but it started here so I'm keeping here.

Fairy Tales

            "Dani's Song" is complete; actually has been completed for some time now. It was written back in the 90's. Two laboriously printed copies were given away to the ones I dedicated the story to. It was a birthday present, you see. Currently I brought it back out, decided it wasn't too bad. So I've teamed up with my friend Tasha,an artist who likes fairy tales and fantasy, and we (she, actually) are working on some illustrations. When the illustrations and editing are done, "Dani's Song" will go up on Kindle.

            "Dragon in the Snow" is another one. I have started writing snippets but have put it on the back burner, so to speak.

Other Projects

            "Familiar Strangers" is the third major story I'm working on. Like "Rain" and "Snow", it's a romance, aka 'love story', too. Heck, all of them are. Some are just more traditonally romances than others. But that's another posting.

Future Ideas

·                 "Taste of a Man"

·                 "Troika"

 

            I think I'm going to stop now before even more pop up in my mind. Now to get the bloody things written and some characters (who shall not named--nags, the lot of you!) off my back. Enough, wouldn't you say?

 

 

 

 

 

Today's Quote:

 

The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly.- Corra Harris