Television Ranting

I thought I’d start off the new week by offering some television rants.

24: Okay, I’m willing to suspend disbelief on many things, but why in the WORLD would they not make a copy of the evidence recording? They are all running around like crazed idiots trying to keep a recording, and no one makes a copy? All they’d have to do is pick up the phone, call the local news station, and hit Play. The president’s career would be over. Also, I am still holding out for an action heroine to join CTU. Jack Bauer needs a female agent who can help him out and not need rescuing.

Lost–My husband still has not watched this week’s episode that we TIVO’ed. I am about ready to duct-tape him to the couch. I stayed up to watch it and practically started screeching at the television. It was quite a shocker….deliciously so. I am a big fan of twisty plots that lead up to something huge and then flip the tables on you. If I can believe in the twist, and see how it was motivated, I will drool with glee. Yes, I needed a roll of Bounty to mop up the drool from where my jaw hit the rug.:confused:

American Idol–You know, I don’t particularly care who wins at this point. Last year it was fun to see whether Carrie or Bo would win. Katharine sometimes does a wonderful job, but she’s hit or miss. Chris is probably my favorite, but he’s firmly entrenched in his type of music and doesn’t have much variety. Taylor cracks me up, but truthfully, I don’t know that I’d buy any of their albums. Ah well. It’s mindless entertainment.

Last, my niece’s First Communion went really well. We got her a rosary from the Vatican, and she carried it in her purse. At the last minute, she decided she wanted to wear it around her neck. Oh well, why not?

I also think Brian needs to step in the comments section and tell us about his weekend at the Kentucky Derby. Lucky man!

It’s Friday!

It’s Friday, or what I now view as phone-stalking day. You see, on Friday’s, there’s a myth floating around writer-land that this is the day when editors call to offer book contracts. Mondays? Nah. People are just coming in off the weekend, figuring out what’s happening this week…no way would they call an author. But Fridays are another story.

I stalk my classroom phone. As the clock moves closer to lunchtime, my nerves start to sharpen. I start thinking…what if today is the day? What would it be like? My imagination takes off, and of course I envision myself as being very calm, smooth-talking, etc. The reality is, I’d probably pass out cold. I probably wouldn’t remember my own name.

But it is a fun pasttime. I love having submissions out, playing the what-if game. I think it would be an interesting statistic to find out when people got The Call. Does the day of the week have anything to do with it? Or is it completely random? Something to ponder. (and yes, if you know the answer to this Question of the Universe, please do post it!)

This afternoon we’re traveling to Raleigh to attend my goddaughter’s First Communion. I love family weekends. Can’t wait. What about you? Any plans for the weekend?

Texturing Your Novel

Several years ago, I had the great fortune to listen to a workshop by Kristin Hannah called Texturing Your Novel. She demonstrated how to take a good scene from a book and make it sparkle by using the five senses and by “upgrading” the language of the text. She is a true master, and I’ll admit to being spellbound over one of her recent books The Things We Do for Love. But it wasn’t the plot or characters that truly grabbed me (though I couldn’t put it down!–not unlike Julie Cohen’s recent books). No, it was her way of texturing the prose, of making it come to life.

She describes a character, the heroine’s mother, in terms of smell. The character smells like Aquanet and drugstore perfume. The writer in me practically squealed–Oooh! Good one! Because it goes beyond scent and moves into who the woman is. She’s a woman who cares about her appearance, but isn’t willing to spend too much money. Bam! Two scents, and she nailed the character. I am in awe.

But translating this into historical romance is tough. Truly, what else is a medieval knight going to smell like, but horse manure and sweat? Blech. Sensory detail is such a powerful element to good writing, and yet I have to balance it with reality. I love working with double-meanings, though. For example–instead of describing something in terms of one sense, I try to hit it on two levels. The color gray can be steel (strength), silver (sensual), cloudy (mysterious), mist-filled (haunting), or my favorite, the color of a gun (violent). Obviously, you can’t use the last one in an early medieval period, but you can play around.

A friend of mine, Suzanne McMinn picked up paint sample cards at a hardware store to get more colors for her books. I love that idea, though it’s awfully tempting to get silly with it. You know, the hero with jetstream eyes and so on.

Anyway, I’m almost at the halfway point of my new book and I’m feeling the need to step back and see where I am. Time for texturizing. Of course, I’ll still need to do a second and third draft (it seems to be my pattern), but this will give my subconscious a chance to process everything. I think I need a kiss in there. It’s a romance novel, I’m on page 147, and they haven’t kissed. What’s wrong with this picture? Of course, the true question is–do they really need to? Are they ready for that? I’ll have to go back and see how it’s playing out.

Which authors do you love, who do a great job of bringing their “world” to life?