Robert DeNiro, voice and touching center

I was watching the Kennedy Center Honors for about the 80th time the other day (Springsteen was honored and oh! the speech by Jon Stewart! oh! the singing by Ben Harper oh! The close ups of Bruce's misty eyes and strange underbite.) But alongside Bruce they were honoring DeNiro. I'm a DeNiro fan, though his movies of late have been disappointing.

But I am totally aware of what he means to film acting - as Meryl Streep said - he took the lessons from Brando one step further. DeNiro is a trailblazer and the clips from all those early movies are simply reminders that this man created characters that are part of not only pop culture, but our collective consciousness. One after another - Raging Bull, Godfather II, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino - seminal movies, seminal characters.

So, I was watching these clips, thinking - Bobby? Where have you gone?

And then Scorsese got up and talked, saying how - in their minds, at that time - there was nothing more dangerous than making those movies. And it dawned on me. Obviously, what was so amazing about those characters and DeNiro's portrayal of them was that he touched center. He got the danger and the fear and the violence. Something in his life connected to something in those lives. His art was dangerous so he got right under the skin of the dangerous characters.

Now, I'm guessing there's not much danger or fear in DeNiro's life these days - which is why his more recent characters seem cookie cutter. Except for those characters in which he makes fun of the old characters - Analyze This, The Fockers. Those are just good fun.

Which reminded me of something Eileen said about voice. That part of what makes up our voice are the characters and stories that we create time and time again. The themes that we always return to. Those things, on which, we touch center. And I think it's why some books we write are better than others - because some aspect of it our subconscious fully understands what we're trying to convey.

Sinead has this thing about really understanding what we're good at and trying to capitalize on that - and so far we talk about things like plot and characters and emotion. But I think we need to go one step further - what are the things we "get." Those books or scenes or ideas that come together like a boulder rolling downhill - why? And if we can distill the magic of why something works - can't we apply it to things that aren't working?

Or maybe, like DeNiro, somethings work and somethings don't. Be grateful when they do.

This scene is killing me

I thought I'd finished my current WIP. Truly believed it was done, was feeling pretty good, ready to send it out.
And then re-read the one scene I have now re-written at least five times. Five bloody times.
And it still sucks.
And now I'm looking down the ass end of another re-write of the same scene. And I know I've lost all perspective on the story, and very specifically, that scene.

But I can't send it out as it is. So I'm looking into ways of getting it right. I'm going to start writing it by hand, because obviously, writing it directly into the computer hasn't worked for me.
I might get up really early and see if some pre-dawn sleepiness will work on my head. (this is a serious sacrifice for a person with a baby, so you can see I'm desperate)

Other than that, I'm out of ideas. This is a pivotal scene and I can't get it wrong. Anyone have any suggestions for me.

Writing Fears...

Not a new topic I’m sure, but one that I’ve been experiencing more and more lately. When I started on this journey of writing romance I can assure you I believed by the very ripe age of (cough cough 40) that I would have my beach house (the only thing I want) and I would be a perennial bestseller (just because it would be really cool). How could I not? I was published at 26. I had a business plan. I was going to write category romance like Linda Howard and Jayne Ann Krentz and then I was eventually going to move into contemporary romantic suspense. I was going to build loyal readers and as I said by 40 I would be on top.

I still rent a shore house. I’ve only written 12 category romances for 5 different lines. I think in those same amount of years JAK must have written 100! I’ve developed no following whatsoever and the bestseller list is about as far away from me as Saturn. Those books that were supposed to “make it” - all currently collecting dust in a folder on my PC appropriately named “Someday Stories”. I prefer this to “Reject Folder.”

And because of this dramatic veering off from the “plan” it’s brought a lot of fear into my writing.

I’m about to try and write for another line. I’m nearly paralyzed with fear. Can I do this? This is not what I thought I could do. Will it work? Will I like it? Will I get half way through this story and realize it sucks?

As a kid – and let’s face it all 26 year-olds are kids – I had no fear. I wrote the story. I had confidence it would sell. I LOVED it when it was done. Now older and wiser, I worry if it will sell, if it will be reviewed well, if the numbers will be all right.

In a way – I want that cocky kid back. I want the writer who just did it because she loved it with no worries. Who was so confident that it would all work out in the end.

But in another way – a very strange way – I’m glad she’s gone too.
I don’t know what comes next. I have no idea if I can pull off this new story in my head. I’m scared sh**less. And it feels … exhilarating. There is a certain thrill about NOT having a plan. Anything can happen. I can write any story.

So I’m afraid… but I’m loving it. Make sense?

Momentum

Momentum is a fickle thing.

Your best friend when you've got it, or at least when it's moving in the right direction, and your worst enemy when it's stalled.

But the really great thing about momentum (sometimes) is that once it gets moving, it keeps itself moving and even builds. Until, of course, it decides to stall out and stop. Fickle.

And yes, I am trying to project control of my brain's and fingers' collective ability to get pages done on this new WIP onto some outside force. Trying to make it "not my fault". But the truth is that I've been struggling getting going on this one, and can hardly blame momentum. Inertia maybe? Something in science must be to blame, because it can't possibly be my creative juices, or my dedication, or my work ethic. ;-)

According to my trusty spreadsheet/plan, I was supposed to complete the first draft of said WIP by, well, tomorrow. And let me tell you, even if I pulled an all nighter, that ain't gonna happen.

But I did finally feel today (yesterday) like I finally found some forward momentum. Yippee!

Any tips for keeping it rolling in the right direction?

Too much of a good thing

Last week, I posted about relatability, specifically how important it was to be able to relate to a character to get into the story. This week, I'm posting about how a story can have too much relatability, at least for me.

My book group (Love you, BDBC!) decided to read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Actually, they've been trying to read this for a while and I keep talking them out of it. They finally scheduled it for this month.

TYMT is a memoir about Didion's life the year after her husband died. My own husband died in 1999 of a brain tumor. To say that the year of his illness and his eventual death was a watershed event in my life doesn't begin to sum up how losing him changed me. I will never be the same person I was before the day that he had that first seizure and we ended up in the emergency room hearing words like occipital lobe and gliosarcoma.

It's been more than ten years for me. While I've reconciled myself to the idea that I will never be able to put all of it behind me or truly "get over" it, I have gone on. Didion's book sucked me right back to that year after Fred died. I have read other books with widows in them and even cried at their loss, none of them has hit me like this book. At 35 pages in, I found myself starting to hyperventilate. At 82 pages in, I woke up in the morning with the pit in my stomach and the rock in my chest that I had thought would be my permanent state of being in the two years after Fred's death.

I stopped reading it. I can't go back there. Part of me would love to reread some sections to see how she did what she did, but I don't think I have the emotional fortitude. In one of those bizarre twists, I am not the only widow in my book group. There are three of us. I e-mailed on of the other women and she's not having the same experience with the book I am. She finds the parallels between Didion's experience and her own comforting for the same reasons I find them devastating.

So how much is too much? Have you ever read a book that affected you so strongly that you had to stop reading it?

Stress And You...and Me...but Mostly Maureen

At the latest Drunk Writer Talk (Steph, Eileen, you were missed. We toasted you often) Maureen was talking about her stress level due to the deadlines for her books but as of the third pint she was going to try and stop living her life in a writer's panic.

And I said: "wait a second! I'm living in a writer's panic"

And then Sinead said: "more cider!"

Or something like that. But we did talk about stress and frankly, how utterly unavoidable it is.

I'm not even going to discuss the stress of waiting, of being on submission and spending every moment of your life denying the deadly siren call of booze, chocolate and your email inbox. And I'm not going to talk about the stress of rejection which can, in turn, make you fighting angry, or reduce you to a quivering mass of insecurity. I'm not going to talk about bad covers, bad reviews, low sell-through numbers or option books. Because, frankly, those are the given stresses. The kinds that come with the business of writing and we all know - business is stressful.

It's the secret stress that's killing me. The writing stress. Coming up with crap that is interesting and in some way unexpected, but also totally satisfying - stressful. Then remembering that crap when you're in the process of switching it all around. Sure, you can have notes and programs, but things are going to slip through the holes in our Swiss cheese brains. Knowing something is wrong, but not being sure how to fix it. And then realizes what will fix it requires pretty much a total rewrite - which means coming up with new crap.

And it would be one thing if we could all go to our office, work for a few hours, go to lunch, come back work a few more hours and then leave all that work behind and get back to a life. But we can't because we're writers. So, we're writing in the car on our way to holiday parties like Eileen. We're waking up at some stupid hour so we can get ten pages in like Stephanie. F***ing Sinead, has a new baby, is moving next week and she's heading to her computer every night to work on a new project. What the what???

Maureen and I are both on deadline - Maureen's is insane. She's got to write 23 hours out of 24 and the few hours she spends getting plastered with her writing buddies - are hours she should be thinking about fairy tales. Every minute I'm not at my computer right now is a minute that stresses me out, because I'm sure with just three hours in a row I could get past the hump in my rewrite. But all this life is getting in my way.

The agony of a writer's life is that when things are going well - we live in a panic. Of course, when things aren't going well - we also live in a panic.

Writer's stress - totally unavoidable.

The Biggest Loser and Legally Blond

I just started watching the Biggest Loser and I have to admit, I find it pretty compelling tv. I like that, on the whole, the competitors develop a real caring for each other, and seem genuinely distraught when one is voted off the show.
But what the Biggest Loser really does is give us the perfect hero/heroine at the beginning of the show and then shows us them overcoming odds and adversity, and one screaming woman, to become the person they want to be.
So smart. On the first show, they bring in these very overweight people and on national tv, show exactly what they weigh and in agonizing detail, show us the shame and hopelessness on their faces.
Then they torture them for weeks on end. Seriously, those workout sessions go on for hours every day. (and yet whenever I watch it, I feel the need to workout)
In the process, our hopeless, overweight protagonists gain what they want the most, weightloss.
It's a pretty classic story structure.

I watched the beginning of Legally Blond the other day, and yes, the pretty, thin blond girl has little to do physically with the overweight contestants on The Biggest Loser, but the movie does something very similar to Elle.
They take everything from her, her boyfriend, her popularity, her success in school, until she is miserable, and then they give it back to her.

Seeing someone at their lowest point, and watching them regain what they have always wanted is fascinating, compelling entertainment, in any genre.

Different types of heroes...

I’m cheating a little bit by using a blog post I already posted this week on eHarlequin. But I figure it’s still a pretty good topic.

I’m on record as being a reality TV fan. (Frankly, I thought the Bachelor was one of the most entertaining moments in TV this week… when confronted with kissing the cameraman the lovely model said… “I don’t think my personal life is anyone’s business.” Uh…you’re on a dating show. Yeah it sort of is.)

My other favorite, beyond Idol, is Survivor. After 20 seasons in 10 years I still go back time and time again. The reason is that throughout the seasons true heroes have emerged. Men and women who have been stronger than others, skilled at leadership and able to mentally withstand various different challenges. The “alpha” is alive and well and this show highlights that.

As a fan of romance that features alpha characters, both male and female I love watching to see how they emerge and the different characteristics these people can have. Some are straight up, honest, hardworking stalwarts. Some are charismatic and charming. And others are devious and manipulative and don’t pull any punches to get what they want.

This next season will feature Survivor All Stars: Heroes vs. Villains. And it brings back two of my all time favorites. Tom the fireman and Boston Rob. I was so excited these two particular men were returning because for me they really showcase the opposite spectrum of the romance heroes we love to read about.

Tom dominated the game. Through strength and mental toughness. He was simply bigger than life. A man in his late forties he schooled the younger men with his prowess and never once had to lie or connive to make his way to the top. He was the leader from day one and he won with a unanimous vote.

Boston Rob also dominated the game. Through his strength but also his charm. He attracted people and made them loyal to him, even though they knew he wasn’t always trustworthy. He found the strongest woman on the show, aligned with her and then (much to my delight) fell in love with her. They became an awesome power team. When it was over the outcasts hated him, so they gave her the money. But it was too late. Rob had already proposed so in a sense the money was his. At one point mid-season he said to the camera…. “At the end of this thing either she’s going to be spending my money or I’m going to be spending hers.”

Now I get to watch as these two types pit their skills against each other. Throw in some strong women, some sinister folks and you’ve got a recipe for great drama. At least I hope so.

So tell me – are you an alpha fan? And what aspects of the alpha attract you the most?

Stuff I Like

So, I missed all the best of 2009 posts because I was scrambling to meet a deadline. I'm scrambling toward an even scarier deadline now, but figure I'd better get something posted on this blog this week, or I'll be replaced. And at least I'll have written something today. (Don't ask.)

Unlike Molly and Stephanie, I'm not so good with lists. Every time Molly asks me for a top 10 list I panic. The pressure's too high. What if I miss something really great?

Okay, the truth is that my brain's simply not quick enough these days to come up with a list on the spot.

But here are a few random great things from 2009.

The Hurt Locker

Okay, just looked up a review I wrote about this film when I saw it, only to realize that I actually saw this film in 2008. Ooops. But it was released in theaters in 2009 and might be up for Oscars this year, and let's just say, I think it deserves some. Stunning performance from the lead actor, some great cameos by famous actors and a non-traditional storytelling structure that really worked.

Star Trek

Okay, how's that for jumping from a limited release movie to a blockbuster. But I grinned all the way through this fast paced, smartly written movie. Fun. Fun. Fun.

500 Days of Summer

Another clever, funny, smart movie that's not what you expect, had a cool storytelling structure, and made me laugh out loud before the title even appeared on the screen. (Seriously. Do not miss the "disclaimer" at the very beginning.) This film gets the slightly satirical tone perfect, being both romantic and a send up of romantic comedies at the same time.

Avatar

Unobtanium aside (OMG did they really think it was a good idea to call it that???) I loved this movie. Spectacular to look at, sure, but felt like more than merely a special effects movie to me, and certainly didn't feel like an animated film like the very creepy Polar Express from a few years ago. I actually thought the acting in this film was believable too, and while the story is fairly predictable, the context and world were different enough to make it fresh.

Mad Men

Continues to raise the bar for good TV. I was blown away by the final episode this past season and can't wait for it to come back.

Battlestar Gallactica

Can't believe it's over. But also glad they didn't keep going until it got dull or jumped the shark.

The Wire

I know this is old, but I watched all five seasons in 2009. Awesome. Idris Elba aside, I think Season Four was my favorite. Heartbreaking. I liked the idea and theme of Season Five, but it jumped the shark a bit for me in terms of the things the cops did. Hmmm... Just realized I believed the "Hamsterdam" thing in season 3, but didn't believe that fake serial killer thing in season 5. Or at least not that those particular characters would've done it.

Modern Family

I think the pilot episode of this new show is the best written 30 minutes of TV I've ever seen. (Okay, maybe even with the pilot episode of Mad Men.) I still have it saved on my DVR and although I must have watched it 5 or 6 times by now, I laugh out loud every time. To me this is a show where the writing and acting are so good, I see new things every time I watch. I wish I'd saved the second one where Cam and Mitchell take Lilly to the playgroup and Mitchell cheats at blocks. Seriously. Will have to buy this show on DVD. Cracks me up. And I think it's because most of the comedy comes from the characters not the situations... Hmmm.. Will have to think on that some more.

Glee

Most weeks just plain fun. And so audacious. Love it. I'm having trouble believing they'll be able to carry this show over multiple seasons, but who cares. We'll always have 2009. ;-)

Vampire Diaries

This one falls under the category of big surprises for me. Did not expect to like it, but really got hooked and looking forward to when it comes back on. Blogged about it here.

Hunger Games and Catching Fire

Gobbled up these two books. Catching Fire had a bit too much "recapping" at the beginning, but I was so eager to read it, I didn't care. If you haven't tried these books, go buy them now. The third book in the series comes out this fall and I can't wait.

Relatability and the Cone of Shame

I saw UP last week. Yes, I'm aware that the rest of the planet saw it last summer, but I saw it last week. I was prepared to be disappointed because everyone had raved about how great it was and knew my expectations would be too high (WALL*E, anyone? Anyone? Buehler?).

I loved it. I cried like a baby during that opening montage. Sniffled my way through parts of it, laughed out loud at much of it and just wanted to hug everyone at the end of it although I'm SERIOUSLY worried about Russell. How much longer can Carl last? Must the poor child lose another father figure? Will the residuals pay enough to cover that much therapy? Why am I that worried about an animated person?

I can answer the last question with one word that I'm pretty sure I made up since the dictionary is not recognizing it: relatability.

We all know a Russell, a kid who is trying to achieve to win a parent's love and attention. Hell, some of us have been a Russell.

Then there is the Cone of Shame. If there is one thing from the movie I hear quoted again and again, it's "I do not like the Cone of Shame." Well, that and "SQUIRREL!!!" We currently have a cat wearing a Cone of Shame (see photo on the left). He lifted his head up and meowed when Dug said his quotable line.

We've all seen dogs or cats wearing those and can see them cringing inside them. More importantly, we have all had moments in our lives when we've had to face the world with whatever our equivalent Cone of Shame is: a bad hair cut, a zit on the end of our nose, that irritating 20 pound weight gain, the loss of a contract. We know that cringing feeling inside the Cone of Shame. We relate to it.

Yesterday, Molly blogged about historicals. I said my problem was that I often didn't relate to the problems the characters face. Their Cones of Shame don't make me cringe inside. That said, I've read a few contemporaries with Cones of Shame that didn't mean much to me either. I'm beginning to think my problem isn't genre (contemporary vs. historical), but whether or not something in the character lets me relate to them and to their problem.

I understood Russell's Cone of Shame and Carl's, so I related to the movie. Find me an historical character whose Cone of Shame makes sense to me and I'll relate to that, too!

Historical Romance is Ruining Me....

My love affair with romance started with Harlequin Desire and while I kept reading category contemporary romance, I soon found historicals and...well, that was that. As a teenager the drama and repressed emotion found in regency England ballrooms was a heck of a lot like the drama and repressed emotion found at good old RTHS.

The conventions of historical romance get me every time. I adore absolutely adore long conversations wherein the characters don't talk about what really needs to be talked about because the CAN'T. Society dictates they not talk about that kiss, or their past, or what he said at the soiree, or her drunk uncle or his bankruptcy. All that subtext is delicious. Kills me.

I also love a good misunderstanding - as long as it's short and sweet and doesn't get too ridiculous. A misunderstanding can be bigger and go longer in historicals because of all those conversations they can't have.

Forced marriages, marriages of convenience all work better in historical. They rarely work at all in contemporaries - because marriage isn't what it used to be.

And therein lies my problem. I keep trying to put these conventions to work in my books and they fail - miserably. Maybe I'm just doing them wrong. This conversation with my editor that resulted in a giant rewrite was all about the fact that characters not having a conversation they need to have - is not a plot point. It isn't satisfying and it didn't work. In contemporary romance those conversations need to be had and they need to make things worse between the characters.

I swear I knew that.

The other big change was about a secret that starts in Chapter 2 and is revealed at the end of the book. Not much changes about this secret - stakes don't get changed all that much. It's a static subplot. And I think that was part of what bugged my about the Hoyt series - that mystery was so stagnant. Who was the traitor? For four books. Anyway -that's a side note.

I have to take a historical break and get back to some contemporaries. Victoria Dahl's new one is getting rave reviews - I'll start there.

Demented fairy tales

The demented stands for the women who actually campaigned to be on the Bachelor and fairy tale, because I lost count of the number of women who used that termt to describe the situation. Twenty five women competing for the attention of one man.

It's a train wreck of low self-esteem and impossible expectations. A scary number of women admitted to being ready to marry some man they'd never met before, because they deserved him, and they wanted kids right away.

And as I watched the show, I thought, more of these women need to be romance novels. Our genre takes a lot of crap for sustaining unrealistic expectations, but the vast majority of romance novels describe a relationship worked out by two people interacting a lot, overcoming obstacles and getting to know each other and falling in love because of who the person is, not what they've seen on TV.

But then again, if the bachelor show found twenty five intelligent, reasonable women, there wouldn't be much of a show.

And I'm going to try never to watch it again. It sort of makes me angry.

Revenge...

I want revenge against a lot of things. And since I, like Molly, am a big fan of lists here it goes…

1. Valerie Bertinelli - for getting into that freakin bikini and making me think that it’s possible.
2. My treadmill – for the recent torture it has inflicted on me.
3. All people with good metabolism – including my two sisters. (Are you all sensing a pattern… day 3 of jogging sucks!)
4. Movie screen writers - the ones who make six and seven figures for writing unoriginal crap.
5. Aaron Sorkin - for leaving me without television like the West Wing. I miss you Aaron.
6. My inner muse – for handing me stories about a mute witch, an American Revolutionary and a Viking that I can do nothing with. (Not really inner muse – you know I love you. Just keep it coming.)
7. My writing ability – for failing me at crucial moments. Like when I thought I had a great idea but didn’t execute it well enough to attract anyone’s notice.
8. My assistant – for telling me I really should read New Moon.
9. My favorite authors - for not being able to produce books faster but also for not taking the time to make each book as good as the last because they’re going too fast. (Seems unfair I know, but it’s my list!)
10. Time – for not giving me enough of it in a day to sleep as much as I want, write as much as I want and exercise as much as I need. (Oh wait… that’s not time. That’s my day job.)

Who/What do you want revenge against?

The Joys of Fictional Revenge

From our guest Drunk Writer Eileen Cook

People always want to know if I’ve ever sought revenge like the main character in GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD. Obviously, due to legal implications there is no way I’m going to admit to anything. If you crossed me earlier in life and now that you’ve read the book you’re wondering if what happened with your favorite pair of jeans maybe wasn’t an accident… well, I can neither confirm nor deny anything.

What should be clear is that people shouldn’t mess with us writer types. We’re a lethal combination of overly sensitive and creative. Our imaginations are capable of creating entire new worlds, people, and futures. Coming up with a way to mess someone up is practically easy. Luckily, we’re typically satisfied to have those that cross us have their brains sucked out of their nostrils by hungry zombies on the page and don’t need to take our revenge into the real world.

I actually prefer fictional revenge. You’re highly unlikely to jail time for fiction. Plus, it can be really hard to find a hungry zombie when you need one. They’re highly unreliable. For me, writing has always been a cathartic way to deal with strong emotions: anger, passion, despair. There’s a release that comes with letting those thoughts that we normally keep locked down, tucked away from public viewing, out for some free time. On the page, unlike life you want to constantly increase conflict. You push your characters to the breaking point to show that even what seemed imaginable can be survived.

Writing allows us to put old demons to bed. (I like to picture them in footie jammies) We’re able to play things out on the page and let them go. Writers don’t need to live in the past, because we can live in any world we can imagine. And we can imagine better than just about anyone.

Thanks for having me!

Presenting Eileen Cook!

It is my great pleasure to present to all of you, regardless of your state of sobriety, the adorable and talented Eileen Cook.

I first met Eileen at RWA Nationals in Atlanta a few years ago. She had been a regular commenter on another group blog I participated in (oh, how I miss thee, Literary Chicks) and wanted to know exactly how pissed off I was at the fact that no one could tell her comments from mine. One look into her big beautiful eyes and I wasn't pissed off at all, although I did later insist that she be given a nick

name to tell us apart. Please feel free to refer to her as Shoop from now on.

What followed has been, for me, a beautiful friendship. We've done a workshop together and traveled a bit together and Shoop is a peach, even when her pneumonia is acting up so badly that she makes a funny little squeaking sound every time she inhales. Her books make me laugh in embarrassing snorts, she likes red wine and we're thrilled to have her here as our guest at Drunk Writer Talk.

As an added bonus, Eileen is offering to give away a signed copy of her latest book, GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD to one lucky commenter here this week!

Without further ado, here's Eileen!

What inspired you to write GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD?

I was an English major in college. I recently re-read THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. It had everything- best friends, betrayal, revenge, secret identities. I started to think how interesting it would be to play the story out in a modern day high school, from there I was off and running. I also believe the desire for revenge is universal. Most people I know have been hurt at some point in their life and dreamed of getting that person back. Writing about it was very cathartic.

Your first book, the extremely funny and touching UNPREDICTABLE, was a chick lit novel. You've made the switch to writing YA with WHAT WOULD EMMA DO and now GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD. What led you to that change? Was it difficult to make that swtich?

The change was remarkably easy to make. I don't see a huge difference in writing for teens versus adults. YA books are dealing with a range of subjects and if anything the intensity is that much stronger. When you're a teen you haven't built up a crusty exterior yet, you feel things deeply. When you love someone, no one has loved like you have, and when you hate someone...look out. This intensity makes it really fun to write. There is also the possibility that I never really grew up and that is why writing for teens feels so natural.

WHAT WOULD EMMA DO? is also a retelling of a classic. What is about retelling or re-imagining a story that attracts you to a project?

I was one of those weird people who actually enjoyed reading the classics in school. One reason people tend to dislike them is because they see them as un-relateable. They can't imagine how the characters have anything to tell them in this time. I love playing with the story and seeing how it can be played out with a modern twist. The themes are timeless. I've been contacted by a few English teachers who have used my book in conjunction with the original classic. If something I write has the opportunity to make people more interested in reading the the classic then I'm thrilled.

What's next for you?

I am very excited to announce that just before Christmas I signed a two book deal with my publisher. I'm working on a book that is a twist on THE SCARLET LETTER. I'm also working on a middle grade series with a girl who comes from a fairy godmother family. The only wish she's interested in granting is her own- to be normal. Unfortunately for her, being normal doesn't come easy.

Happy New Year - Recapturing the joy

The end of a year usually leaves me contemplative. And this year is no exception. Recessions, book publishing in crisis, people worried for their jobs, their futures, their writing careers, these are what come to mind when I think back on 2009.

Not a great legacy for a year.

But for me what I want from 2010, is a complete and total return to the joy I once got from watching movies, tv, reading a great book. This year I am going to turn my inner critic off, because I want to watch a movie and experience the sheer rush of exhileration that I got from watching Jaws, or Raiders, for the first time.

As writers we teach ourselves to be critical. How else do we get better, but there has to be way to turn it off. I used to love certain authors, certain books, and re-read them all the time. I can still read the books I loved before I started writing, but rarely feel that way about any I've read since. (I appreciate the artistry and the effort but rarely do I reread a book anymore), and I will recapture that this year. And if I'm lucky, Judith McNaught will publish something magnificent this year.
(Judith, no stress or anything)

And this year, I'm writing just for the joy. I'm writing stories and characters, simply because they fascinate me.

Not the fastest route to publication, but the one that gives me the most joy.

And much more drunk writer talk.

Hello 2010

Avatar...

Okay I was going to blog on my list for 2010 but then I saw this movie and it simply required a post. I have a new fear in my life and I’m very concerned. I fear that I will never be able to see a movie without picking it apart to pieces.

I know writers do it all the time, but I was never one of those. When I saw a movie I turned everything off and just focused on what I was seeing, good or bad. Now afterwards if I liked it/disliked it I would always think about why that was.

I mentioned Sherlock Holmes in a prior post and I did see it and I did enjoy it. One element of the film however really bothered me and that was Irene Adler. She was awful. And I thought… okay what was wrong with her? What element made me dislike her so much? Miscasting, bad acting, bad storyline for her? In this case I’ll throw Rachel McAdams a bone and say miscasting. And I figure I can’t really blame the writers for that. It was just a poor choice by the studio. I was able to accept that and enjoy the rest of the movie.

Not so with Avatar. I was prepared to be visually amazed and I was. The effects were beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. I should have been mesmerized. I should have been dazzled. I should have lost myself in this other world…

I didn’t. Why? Because I couldn’t get beyond how one dimensional the characters were. The protagonist had “some” story. But the villains of the piece – which as far as I can tell were corporate America and GI Joe – were awful. I spent the whole time so focused on why a director would spend $300 million dollars to create this visual masterpiece and fill it with cookie cutter clichés that had absolutely no serious motivation.

Corporate America guy only cares about money. GI Joe likes to kill things. Really? This is what you came up with Cameron?

You couldn’t give these villains just a hint of back story? Some deeper motivation? I wanted to stand up and scream at somebody. I wanted to stomp my feet and demand at least half my money back because all you gave me was something interesting to look at. You didn’t respect me – the audience. You didn’t even respect the craft of storytelling.

Characters 101: All characters good and bad must have motivation for their actions.

So now I worry. Is this the end? Will I never be able to sit in a dark theater and lose myself again? What about you? Can you enjoy a movie without thinking about the craft?

The Zone

I whine a lot about writing. I talk about how hard it is. I talk about how difficult it is to plot a book, to come up with dialogue, to create characters. I whine. In all honesty, I whine in general, but I do whine about writing in specific pretty often.

Then I hit places like where I am today. I hit The Zone. The words are flying out of my fingertips. I know what the next scene should be before I finish the one I'm working on. I know goals, motivations and conflicts. I actually wrote in the car on the way to the Christmas Eve celebration at my boyfriend's mother's house and wrote again on the way home the next day. In the car! With kids horsing around in the back seat and my sweetie listening to that stupid dead cat song that he loves so much at Christmas time.

I don't know how to get here. I've tried a million ways to force it. I don't know how to stay here once I've gotten here. I will inevitably hit a rough patch and my production will slow and I'll get frustrated. Still, when I'm here in this Zone and I know my story and my characters and the obstacles they face . . . it's so good. I don't want to do anything, but ride the wave.

So, short post today 'cuz I'm riding it until I fall off!

My New Year's Resolutions....

I love New Year's Resolutions. Not as promises or pacts, or anything at all I need to feel guilty about when I don't achieve them - because I rarely do. But sort of as touchstones about what I've learned over the last year and what I want to learn over the coming year. I feel like I'm taking a big breath, looking at the work laid out ahead of me and prioritizing.

That and I really love lists.

Anyway - once again, I swear this will be the year I figure out what to do with a comma. And a hyphen. I am sure my misuse of these tools has not only infuriated the grammar warriors, but made me look like an idiot more times than I would care to count. This is the year. Comma here I come.

My writing time has shrunk into a little tiny speck - two hours three times a week. So it's time to open up the those hours in the evening and it's time to claim some weekend time for writing too. I need to get greedy and far more disciplined. I hate House - but I watch it, because I'm on the couch not writing. That's gotta change.

In fact I would say time management in general is going to have to be dealt with in the New Year. I'm a stay at home mom, writing books, making dinner, trying to exercise and addicted to television - surely I can make that all work. Right?

I had a conversation with my editor a few days ago (I think I'm going to blog about it later) and I've been walking around hitting myself in the head saying "stupid writer. Such a stupid writer." Because I screwed something up that I thought I'd learned. I'm relearning a really difficult lesson about plot. And I thought I had that crap figured out. But, this year I'm going to forgive myself these lessons I have to keep learning. I'm embarrassed and I feel like a freshman - but I think that happens to the best of us. Because in this really flawed book - I nailed something else. I mean I really got it right, albeit to the detriment of everything else. So, you know...one out of like thirty things ain't bad.

I'm going to join Ninc and I'm going to get to more workshops and one conference a year. And at that conference I'm actually going to talk to people instead of sitting in my room writing. Because while Drunk Writer Talk nourishes me I think I need to get out of my vacuum. I watch Maureen come back from conference with a sparkle around her, because she's talked to people that surprised her or infuriated her or challenged her in some way. I need some of that sparkle. That electric charge that comes from rubbing up against other writers - we all do.

I like that list. I feel good about it. Warm and challanged, ready to put my head down and get to work. Which is what New Year's Resolutions are all about.

Christmas Day and my best and worst

Late post, because it's Christmas day and I'd be lying if I weren't a couple of glasses into the evening.

But so many great things to talk about this year, (please forgive the spelling and grammar problems.)

First for me, Books.

At the risk of sounding repetitious, Hunger Games, I am so passionate about that book. And then Catching Fire, which I loved almost as much. And I loved, Beguile a Beast, for me the best Historical romance I read this year. I too was disappointed by the Rehvenge book, far preferring Covet. I think perhaps I've gotten a little bored by the Brotherhood, but I still love her voice.

TV, for me, Mad Men was by far my number one choice, followed by Generation Kill, amazing series if you can find it. And Stephanie, your boyfriend is in it.
I love, like everyone else, Glee. It's far from perfect, but what works, works so well, I don't care about the flaws.
And, don't laugh, but Vampire Diaries. OK, get past the teen love diary crap and focus on the character of Damon and the plotting. They move their storylines quickly, and make them entertaining and make sure they reverse expectations at lot more than you would expect.

As for movies, I cannot comment, I haven't seen enough, but UP, was my hands down favourite of the few I have seen.
Crazy, those guys at Pixar..

Merry Christmas Eve.... My Best/Worst 2009

See I was very sneaky about not commenting on Molly’s post earlier this week because I knew I planned to steal her idea for my post. Gee now that I think about it… sneaky, stealing… doesn’t sound very Christmassy.

Best Books:

Am I allowed to say Kinsale even though she wrote the ones I read in the 90’s? I think because I didn’t find them until 2009 that should still count. Flowers From The Storm… hello!!!! Anyone?

I am so in love with Hoyt I might have been blinded a little by Devil – but I still thought it was a solid read.

And now you’ve all ruined Hunger Games for me I’m sure because I don’t know how any book can live up to the hype… but it will be my first read for 2010.

Best TV:

Glee – I watched two re-runs I hadn’t seen earlier in the season and wow this show is good. Original, turn you on your head good. A football team dancing to Beyonce – are you kidding me?

Bones – I know this one has been around a long time. And in typical fashion the couple is moving together at the pace of an iceberg but this show is different. This season the audience knows the hero is in love with the heroine, but she doesn’t know. So we get to watch him break his heart over her while we wait to see if she is finally going to catch on. Very well done.

Best Movie:

The only one that got me into the theater this year was Harry Potter. So I’ll have to go with that.

Best Fantasy Lover:

Eric from True Blood. Brad from Generation Kill. For me the best moment in TV this season might have been Eric in the color foils chomping on a guy.

Worst Book:

New Moon. No doubt. No question. My brain still hurts from reading this book.

Worst TV:

House. This show is doing wrong everything that Bones is getting right. Granted the romance is less of a focus but if your going to dip your toe into that water, do so with some originality. I have broken up with you House.

Worst Movie:

I haven’t watched a movie that I thought WOW in long time. For me most movies are okay. Harry Potter might have been WOW except for one ridiculous scene in the middle of the movie that wasn’t even in the book. How do you edit down a 700 page book and then decide to add a scene that wasn’t there and as far as I cant tell does nothing to move the plot forward?

So for me I’m lumping movies in general into this category. Step up your game Hollywood. I’m waiting.

And Sherlock Holmes… please don’t disappoint me.

Show. Don't Tell.

Anybody who writes has heard that one. Don't tell us your character is sad. Show us she's sad. Have the tears sting her eyes. Make her feel like there's a rock in her chest. Let her stomach twist in knots or have her lie in bed and refuse to get up.

I've been thinking about it a lot because the book I'm writing right now is in first person. It's pretty easy to get my heroine's feelings, thoughts, emotions, goals, motivations and everything else across because we are in her head all the time.

It's a little trickier with the other characters. They really have to show all that stuff because I'm never ever in their point of view.

I get a lot of inspiration from every day life and had a doozy of an example fall in my lap this weekend while I was on a bike ride with two friends. We'll call them Deb and Ellen because, well, those are their names.

I was a little ahead of Deb and Ellen as we turned from Putah Creek Road onto Stevenson's Bridge Road (you can totally google that, by the way). There was a car coming toward us, but we had plenty of time so I didn't worry about it.

Then I heard a blood-curdling scream from behind me. I whipped my bike around (I call her Bianca, by the way, because she's so pretty and special) half expecting to see that someone had wiped out in front of the car or that the car had swerved and hit one of them or some other horrid thing. Instead, there's a half-dead squirrel doing a horrible twitching flipping flopping death dance in the middle of the road.

Turns out, Ellen and Deb were riding along and the squirrel was just in front of them hopping along. Ellen had just something to Deb about how cute the squirrel was when the squirrel dashed out in front of the car and WHAM! got hit. (You can snort a little at that part. It's hard not to. It's like some sort of bad sit-com moment.)

So Ellen is almost falling off her bike and tears are rolling down her face. I'm trying to get her to not look at the squirrel's death dance and am hoping that another car comes along and finishes the poor thing off. Meanwhile, Deb hops off her bicycle and goes in search of "a big rock to put the poor thing out of it's misery." (You have to imagine that in a New Zealand accent, by the way, cuz Deb's a kiwi.)

So my point here? Besides the fact that squirrels really should learn to stop, look and listen before crossing the road?

Both women's reactions really showed me something. Both were equally compassionate. Both felt terrible for the little squirrel. Ellen (who is one of the sweetest, most empathetic people you'd ever want to meet) was devastated and could hardly move. Deb (who is one of the most capable and pragmatic people you'd ever want to meet) was prepared to do what had to be done.

Me? As usual, I was the observer. I'm not sure I want to think too much about what that says about me.

The Best and Worst of 2009

I love these lists but the problem with ME doing one is 1) I can never remember if something I loved or hated was this year or ten years ago and 2) I can never totally remember what I loved and hated and 3) these lists are always best compiled at a bar over many drinks. But since the drunk writers are flung to the far corners - this will have to suffice. But it sure would be fun to see all of you at a bar...

Anywho - my best books of 2009

By far and without compare - Hunger Games. Best thing I read in probably the last few years.
Followed by my Russian War period: City of Thieves and The People's Republic of Love. Both excellent. Truly truly excellent.
Not Quite a Husband was brilliant.
The Shadow Of The Wind - an amazing, scary Gothic little gem that I can't get out of my head.

After that things get messy. I loved Covet and I really really enjoyed Catching Fire. I liked Meredith Duran's next two books (I had some problems with them, like Steph - but that is for another post). To Beguile a Beast was good - not top five, but good. I really enjoyed the Victoria Dahl books that I read this year - Talk Me Down and Start Me Up. I read some fantastic Category romance this year - She's Got It Bad, Hot Under Pressure, and Debra Salonen's fabulous Finding Their Son.

As far as disappointments - I was a little down on Ward's Rehvenge book. Good - but not a stand out in the series. I think as she slips from romance into Urban fantasy - I'll stay a great fan, but I won't be obsessively re-reading those books, which honestly makes me sad.

The last of the Hoyt series really disappointed me. It just fizzled a little. Beguile A Beast was a tough act to follow.

Best TV-
Mad Men and Glee - two shows on the opposite ends of the spectrum, but they got me every time. 30 Rock - the episode when they tapped the opening credits to Liz's talk show? Did you see that? Laughed so hard I pulled something. Honestly, funniest thing on television I have ever seen.

Generation Kill. For the writing. For the performances. For Stephanie's boyfriend.

Disappointing TV. Dexter. Oh, Dexter. How they ruined you. Californication. Oh, Frank Moody. How they ruined you.

Movies....what's a movie again? Does it involve animated elephants and talking dogs?
I did manage to see a few things - Away We Go totally destroyed me in it's simple perfect brilliance. Same with Sunshine Cleaning.

Disappointing - we had one night out to see a movie and husband and I love the Coen Brothers so off we go to see A Serious Man. Oy. Brilliant performances, excellent characters, dialogue that's sharp like razor wire. But, what a downer. Honestly.

All right - let's hear yours....

My Christmas list

Gah, I have not finished Christmas shopping and as always, will be heading to the malls at the last freakin' moment. Me and the rest of the terminally insane people out there, all fighting for a parking spot within walking distance of the front doors.

But as I come up with gift ideas for my family, I’ve been thinking of ideas of books I want to read in the coming year. I’ve read everything in my house and I’ve hit a reading slump, so I need something new.

I would love to read a fantasy romance series. Something grand and sweeping, fast paced, set in another world.

More historicals that engage my emotions. Like those great Judith McNaught historicals that first got me reading romance.

Another SEP that matches the brilliance of Ain’t She Sweet. That book has been on my mind a lot lately. Or Dream a little Dream.

A series that gripped me the same way that the Anita Blake series did for the first eleven books. I still believe she started the urban fantasy explosion and rightly so. Those books set the benchmark for pacing in that genre.

The next book in the hunger games trilogy. Any other amazing YA’s I can get my hands on. I think 2010 will be me glomming all I can find in YA.

I’m chomping at the bit to read Maureen’s updated take on Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, to see what Molly does with her next series, to read Eileen’s Chinese Vampires and I would seriously love to read Stephanie’s Salem historical, because it sounds amazing and we need some new and different historicals.

But really I’m hoping to get my hands on many books that surprise me, take me places I wasn’t expecting, and make me wonder, how did they do that?

And, watch more Hugh Jackman movies.. for obvious reasons.

Deadlines...

Drunk Writer Maureen made a comment in one of her messages the other day regarding her deadline and how she was afraid she wasn’t going to make it. Maureen all I can say is I sympathize. I have been there more times than I can count and it got me thinking about how deadlines hurt and also help.

How they hurt is easy. They bring with them intense pressure, the fear of what might happen if you fail to meet them and guilt if you’re doing something else in life other than working on your book.

I always start strong, then I linger, then at some point I realize the deadline is closer than I thought it was and I curse profusely before kicking it into high gear.

For my last WIP I was getting up every morning at 5:00 am (and believe me when I tell you I am not a 5:00 am girl. I’m more like a 10:30 am girl) to work on my manuscript before going to my day job. I was stressed to the max about the story. Completely stressed about meeting the deadline. And that stress was followed by my typical panic when I put all the chapters together, totaled the word count and realized I was 8,000 words short. I do this every time always forgetting that once I put the book together and start editing that I always expand in enough areas to make up the shortage.

Not fun.

But here is the flipside. I was getting up every morning at 5:00 am. I was producing anywhere from 5 to 8 pages a day. I was completely in a grove where the story was flowing as fast from my fingers as I could make it go. And I thought… if I could do this every day, and not just when I’m stressing to meet a deadline, I could write maybe two more books a year. Deadlines push and prod you to move the story forward. Deadlines do not allow for “writer’s block”. Deadlines make me go.

So love them, hate them. I do both. And know Maureen that you will make it. You think you won’t… but you will. It’s just how it always works out.

Predictable elements vs iconic touchstones

I'm working on an adaptation of a fairy tale right now, and let's just say I'm struggling through my revision process. Brain bleeding daily.

Even the simplest things like whether the stepmother should be dressed in black, or whether magic wands emit sparks, give me pause.

On the one hand, in the western world, anyway, symbols like black clothing have been used by writers and costume designers for centuries. It immediately sends the signal to the reader: this person is bad. But it makes me think, "this writer--ME--is lazy". And it's not like I don't show this woman being pretty hideously evil -- constantly. Damn. She should be dressed in pink, shouldn't she... Damn.

Same thing with the magic elements in this book... I seem to be using a lot of sparks and balls of fire and bolts of lightning. Heck, even the fact that there are magic wands in my magical world, as opposed to something else, (magic rings? magic bracelets?), makes me feel lazy.

Have I just hit that point where everything about my book feels trite and derivative?

Do you make use of iconic symbols as shorthand in your stories?

Feeling befuddled and bewildered and questioning everything, today....

Investing

I'm not here to talk about my 401K and not just because it's totally pathetic. Seriously, I'll be lucky if I get to eat the expensive cat food when I retire. Nope. I want to talk about getting people to invest in your book, not just with their money and their time, but also with their hearts.

I got a great e-mail the other day. It was from a reader who was worried about one of the characters in my last book. Granted, I wished I'd explained how things ended up a little better in the book so she wouldn't have been upset in the first place, but she wrote me an e-mail because she WAS WORRIED ABOUT A FICTIONAL PERSON I MADE UP!! So regardless of the fact that I maybe left a little loose end, I felt like just about the most successful author on the planet.

Yesterday, Sarah Mayberry talked about how she starts a book. Where did she start? With character. The last time I read a book and sat there with tears rolling down my face at the end of it, it was because I was invested in the character. Oh, sure, the plot was great and meticulously researched and the setting was beautifully wrought and the dialogue was good. Still, it was the character that the author made me love and made my heart break along with hers.

How do we do this? I have no clue. I guess I lucked out a little last time. I know I like my characters flawed, but they still have to be redeemable. It's a tricky line to balance on. I know Molly knows how to walk that tightrope pretty darn well.

What do you need in a character to connect with them?

Sarah Mayberry Floats Floats My Boat...

I've been thinking about something Eileen said about how a high tide floats all the boats and I am on a quest to find those category authors who create such a high tide. Great category books can be hard to find and I feel like every person who has given up on category, or read one that they hated and now don't pick any up - have been cheated of a great read.

I believe great category romances are the reasons why romance lovers love romance. It's conflict and chemistry - in a bite sized package. And there are authors out there who are as good and better than the pioneers of the genre. We met Kathleen O'Reilly some time ago - she rises the tide for all of us. And now - meet Sarah Mayberry - she writes for Blaze and Superromance. She's a story editor for Australian soap operas. She loves shoes and booze. And she writes wicked good romance. Her Christmas Super: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS is both sexy and tear jerking and I can't wait to get my hands on her Jan. Blaze HER SECRET FLING .

How do you approach a story? Characters first? Situation? As a person who loves your heroines and the successful flip you manage to make between what’s considered feminine and masculine (and am amazed at how gritty and real you make them) how do you approach your characters?

Every book comes from a different place. Sometimes I have a sort of "flavor" in my mouth for the kind of story I want to tell, sometimes I have a situation or character. My next Super - Her Best Friend - was inspired by my friend telling me how she and her husband got together. The Super I'm about to write was inspired by an ad in a local magazine seeking sperm donors for a single woman in her late thirties... Once I have those story seeds, though, I start thinking about characters who will be pushed to change the most by this sort of situation/story. Often I have a clearer idea of one character more than the other, so once I feel I have a grip on that one character, be it the heroine or hero, and have worked out what their weaknesses/fears and backstory are, I then think about the partner who will challenge/excite that fear the most. For example, a commitaphobe who falls for a woman who is determined to have a baby in the next year. That kind of thing. Very basic, on some levels, but by the time I've thought about what they both want and why they are that way, the story starts to unfold for me. I spend quite a bit of time with my characters before I start writing, I guess, but things still come to me during the book and I often go back and adjust or add elements during my revisions.

In regard to flipping characters and playing with the masculine/feminine, this is not something I necessarily set out to do on a conscious level. I have always been one of those women who carries her own suitcase and changes her own car tire, so I tend to make my heroines responsible and capable in this way. I also think that men - real men - are far more uncertain, gentle and nurturing than we often give them credit for. I did a weekend workshop with an LA story consultant when I was last working in-house on a TV show in Australia and she helped crystalise something for me when she talked about Tony Soprano. Now, by rights, Tony Soprano is a very bad guy. He's a murderer, he's violent, he's very animalistic. Yet he's also the reason people watched The Sopranos, and many, many people love him. Why? I believe it's because we see his vulnerabilities - his fear and anxiety, his confusion, his great love for his kids, his concern about managing the men beneath him, his conflicted love for his wife, his brutal upbringing. People do crappy things all the time in life, but almost all the time they have a reason for it. As a reader, I am prepared to forgive much if I understand why and can empathise with that why. So even though I sometimes write difficult/scratchy/selfish heroes and heroines, they always have their reasons, and I always try to show that sometimes what they say is not necessarily who they are or how they feel privately. Vulnerability is the key.


Are there things you’ve tried in your books – envelopes you’ve pushed that an editor has pushed back on?

I can honestly say I have never had my ed clip my wings. She's never said "too unlikeable" or "too slutty" or "too damaged" or anything like that. I write very, very detailed outlines - they're usually about 6 - 8 pages, single spaced, and I break them down into chapters so that when I sit down to write, I have a road map. I think because of my TV story lining background, I tend to like to get things sorted before I write. I try to anticipate problems and really dig in. That said, sometimes a story or plot point looks and feels strong in outline but when I get into the nitty-gritty honesty of the moment in the book it feels all wrong. Then I have to sit down and think my way out of the hole. Not much fun, but I haven't not found a way out yet! So I think because I usually show in my outline where the story is going and what's behind my characters' actions, she trusts that I will pull it off.

How do you find the jump from Blaze to Supers? What do you like about writing each?

Blaze books are a lot of fun. Blaze heroines are honest about their sexual desire and are very bold and modern. There's something very liberating about having a heroine who is so up front and honest - real life is often far more complicated. There are certain demands for the Blaze line that are different for Supers - Blaze readers are looking for a sexy situation, there needs to be ample opportunity for physical intimacy, and in some ways the romance is a little backward - sex first, then emotional intimacy. Unless it's a friends to lovers book, of course! In a more traditional romance, there is attraction and then emotional intimacy as the hero and heroine draw closer to each other and sex is the natural conclusion to all the two-stepping and back and forth. So doing it the other way around can be a challenge - and really forces you to dig into the psychology of your characters to find reasons why they would be happy to be physically but not emotionally intimate with each other. Supers, by their very nature, offer a much broader pallet. They tend to be more realistic in tone in that pregnancies, family conflicts, personal crises, pets, siblings, careers - all the mess of real life - are very much a part of the picture. In Blaze, it's about the heat, and I think Supers are more about the romance, if that makes sense. I like writing both, for different reasons. As I said above, Blazes are fun, and I get to be outrageous in my head in ways that I would never be outrageous in real life. Supers are more complex and having that broader pallet to explore after having written a dozen or so Blazes is both challenging and stimulating.

Please tell us that your life as a successful soap writer is as exciting as we all want to believe it is? How did the job come to you? Were you writing romance first?

I have always written romance - I think I tried to write my first romance when I graduated from my writing degree at 22. It was terrible, however, and I'm very glad a copy does not still exist. I got my chance to put my hand up for a job in TV through nepotism, of sorts. My partner did the same degree as myself - although we never met once on campus, believe it or not - and he scored a job working on a TV show not long after graduating. He has since gone on to work on many shows all over the world. One thing you should know is that a soap opera chews up an enormous amount of story - it's a greedy, insatiable story gobbler. The soaps we have here in Australia are quite different from the daytime soaps in the US that tend to drag stories out for months on end. It's kind of the opposite down here - we burn through story at a great rate of knots. Anyway, while my man was working on these shows I was sitting on the sidelines, working as a journalist, chipping in with story ideas and suggestions whenever I could. He kept telling me I was good with story and should try out for a job but I didn't want to work with him - that seemed like a fast-track to divorce-ville to me. The time came when they were looking for a new storyliner, and he was ready to leave in-house work. I took two weeks off work and came and sat on the story table for two weeks for free, a sort of informal work experience. I loved it and seemed to click with everyone and was offered the job after a few days.

As for it being exciting... Being a storyliner is enormous fun. There aren't many writing jobs where you get to sit in a room with a bunch of other like-minded souls and plot out loud and talk about character and emotion and act out scenes and argue over motivation or reactions etc, etc. Usually these arguments happen in our heads in our lonely writerly offices, right? So there's enormous energy and lots of crude, silly, pointless jokes flying around. The flip side of all that it that it can be absolutely exhausting - coming up with over 100+ dramatic, interesting, moving, funny scenes per week to fill 5 x 1/2 hour episodes is a daunting task. Doing that 48 weeks a year is even more daunting. At this time of year - just before Christmas - everyone is feeling burnt out and exhausted and drained, let me tell you! But at the end of the day, both myself and my man agree that storylining on a soap is one of the best jobs we've ever had. We've both been story editors, too - which means we've been in charge of the story room and all those unruly, poo-joke-telling storyliners, and that is a far more exhausting, challenging, pressured job. Personally, I enjoy it, but I can't do it for huge stints at a time. And there's definitely no energy left at the end of the day to write a book. At the present, and pretty much ever since I've been published, I write scripts on a freelance basis - that is, every four weeks or so I get a script to write. It arrives in my inbox, I read the outline, have a chat to a script editor, then I get two weeks to write the script and hand it in. All done by remote control, really, and not particularly exciting or glamorous.

What’s next for you?

I've written a single title book called Before and After that I'm shopping around at the moment. It's just finaled in a competition down here in Australia and is in front of a couple of publishers. It's a bit of a departure for me - first person, chick lit. It's about a 30 year old woman working as a storyliner on a soap opera and her realisation that somehow, while she wasn't looking, she's put on a lot of weight. ( I know what you're thinking - where did she get that idea?! ) The book is my attempt to be honest about how it feels to be big and how hard it is to lose weight and all the unrealistic expectations we pin on the idea of "when I am skinny". I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope it finds a home.

I'm also in the throes of plotting a romantic-comedy screenplay with my partner. I've done some story consulting work with a production company this year, working with a couple of just-starting-out writers who have crafted a really lovely and funny romantic comedy and talking with them and thinking about the rom-com form has got my juices flowing. So, we shall see.

And I always have other Harlequin ideas burbling away in the back of my brain...

I’m on a hunt for top shelf category writers/books – what are some of your top shelf writers in the Harlequin/Silhouette world?

This is such a tough question. I tend to read outside the genre to refill my word well, as Stephen King calls it. But I do try to pick up series books when something catches my eye or I read something good on review sites. I just finished Ellen Hartman's Super, His Secret Past and loved it, so I'm keen to read more of her books. I have also recently enjoyed Karina Bliss's Super, Mr Unforgettable. Anything by Joan Kilby, who is also a Super writer. I love your books, Molly, and have been recommending you on other blogs! I'm also partial to Carol Marinelli, who writes wonderful Medicals, which I don't think are generally available in the US, as well as Presents. And Susan Napier also rocks a good Presents. I'm sure I'm leaving many of my favorites out. It's hard to think when my bookshelf is all packed away in boxes (we're moving house) and I have nothing to consult.

Pacing - almost as hard to define as voice

I used to judge a lot of contests. For me, and this I know is coloured by my own preferences, the biggest issue I would find with most entries was pacing.

So many entries spent pages describing scenery, detailed out the daily activities of characters, had pages and pages of zippy conversations with best friends, none of which moved the story forward in any way.

I think, along with depth of characterization, it really separates the beginners from the seasoned pro’s.

For me, pacing is all about discipline. The discipline to understand what is really important to the POV character, and the discipline to remove anything that isn’t. For a long time, I associated fast pacing with suspense and adventure stories, because there, the external plot carries everything along, and the pacing is easy to figure out.

But read Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or Elizabeth Hoyt - stories where the suspense plot is minor, or non-existent, and notice how quickly those stories zip along. There’s no accident to this, even though those authors make it seem effortless. Any scene that doesn’t move the plot forward, and reveal character, or backstory(preferably all three) does not belong in the book.

I know it’s the standard we hold ourselves to in my critique group, and trust me, it’s a frustrating critique to hear about our beautifully crafted scene, that sadly, does not move the story forward.

And anyone who wants to take a master class in pacing, please read the Hunger Games. That book is now my gold standard in creating a fast paced read.

I don't like ho-hum sex...

Do I have your attention? People are starting to read this blog thinking where is she going with this one. But of course this is a writing blog not an article for Playboy so when I refer to ho-hum sex it’s in my romance novels.
Now let me be very clear, this is not to say that I only read books with extreme sexual content. I’m actually not much of an erotica fan unless I trust the author who is writing it. To me there is just nothing worse than bad erotica.

What I mean by ho-hum sex is that scene that feels like it was just put in there for the sake of being put in there. We know they have to have sex. It’s expected, but you can tell when reading it that the author just doesn’t put a whole lot into it. It’s more about blocking and steps. Step one: clothes off. Step two: petting. Move to the right, hit the bed, turn over. Step three… you get the idea.

Now I love my steamy reads. I think Elizabeth Hoyt has mastered the art of what I consider to be good sex. It’s always a little different. It feels authentic. And it’s hot. Kresley Cole is another author who I think succeeds with this. She tends to push some boundaries, which is fine as long as it’s true to the story. Pushing boundaries just for the heck of it doesn’t work for me either.

But there are also authors who create the most intense scenes with very little description. One of my all time favorite sex scenes is by Laurie R King who writes the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books. In A Monstrous Regiment of Women, Russell and Holmes marry and consummate the relationship. The scene however is overlaid with the first kiss. Interspersed between dialogue we get just a hint of that scene behind the bedroom door and it was intense and very heated with nothing more than a few written lines. Nothing ho-hum about that.

As a writer I always try to remember that. It’s not the words, the positions, or crossing some taboo lines. It’s about the characters and why we as readers want to be a part of that very intimate moment between them. Someone once asked me if I just cut and paste the sex scenes from one book to the next. (A man who doesn’t read my books who got a very nasty glare from me after such a comment.) But I hope that if I ever attempted such a thing that it would be very obvious. The scene from one story should simply not fit with the couple in the second story. If I’ve done my job anyway.

Talk to me, do you like it as RT rates it these days…. Mild, Hot or Scorching?

Release Day Party! Free book! Twenty Authors!

Yesterday was the official release day for the anthology my short story, "Lost and Found" is in, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE.

I'm a little in love with this cover--okay, the model on the cover--even if they did spell my name "Many More". (My apologies to the great Michelle Rowen, aka Michelle Maddox, who's also in this anthology, for stealing that joke. At least she got her name as part of the back cover blurb. ;-)

Covers are something we authors have zero to little input on, (in this case zero), so it's nice when it turns out to be not-so-hideous. :-) While it's what's between the covers that pleases readers and builds word of mouth, the cover is probably the next single biggest thing that can impact sales, and so I bow down to the cover artist who picked this hot guy.

But back to the party. While this isn't a novel, it is the first time any fiction of mine has been in print, (unless you count a few stories and poems in school yearbooks, or that 5000 word excerpt that was up on Amazon for the better part of a year in a contest), and I must say, it's a nice feeling. Especially since I recently did get contracts for what will be my first two novels in print. Read about that, here. As an update to that post, my publisher (I have a publisher...squee) has a new website. Turns out my books will be part of the launch of a new imprint, Pickwick Press.

Neither of these "first deals" came about in a normal first deal kind of way, and I will blog about that at some point, but for now, let's just party! Someone pass the bubbly.

I'd love to give away a copy of the anthology to a commenter. If you comment by Friday at midnight, I'll choose a random winner on Saturday. If you want to hedge your bet, you can order the book from Amazon, or Indigo or anywhere books are sold. It makes a nice gift. Just saying...

If you could travel through time, when would you go?

Stepping Up to the Plate

I'm here to talk Twilight again. Yes, I'm aware of how unwise it is and how what I say right now might make me a little bit unpopular. Let me explain why I'm willing to plunge into the mess I'm about to create.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a class being taught at the University of California-Davis about Twilight. Yep. An actual class about Twilight. The woman who teaches the class, the lovely and gracious Amy Clarke, happens to be a fellow soccer mom. After we had a spirited chat (fine, it was a hissing spitting rant on my part) on a soccer sideline about Twilight one Saturday, she invited me to stop by her class to hear some presentations and perhaps add my own (horrified and horrible) perspective.

I heard two presentations; one on the history of werewolf and vampire depiction in film and one titled "Edward: The Perfect Man." Yep. The guy I think is an abusive boyfriend (and BTW, I'm not alone on this one, click here for a very interesting discussion of same) was being held up as the perfect man by three completely darling and impressionable young college students.

I was so relieved when their presentation wasn't about how they personally saw Edward as the Perfect Man, but was instead an interesting discussion of how he fits the mold of so many heros in so many books and movies and television shows. They had a little check list that included the hero hating the heroine at first and then loving her, that she was the only one to whom he revealed his emotions, that he was often difficult and arrogant and unpleasant to the heroine and it was up to the heroine to "fix" him. They compared Edward to Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff and even dudes in Korean television shows, all of whom display these same characteristics that also make them abusive jerks that you would never want your sister/daughter/friend to date.

After comparing Edward to a lot of very specific characters, they then put up a montage of romance novel covers and said he pretty much was the same as the heros in all those books. I was horrified. Especially when I realized that the kids were kind of right.

We all do this. We need a reason for our hero and heroine not to jump into bed together by page 10 (depending on what we're writing) so we make him mean or dismissive. We need them to get past the conflict so we make them The One for each other so she's the only one who can heal his wounds with her good, pure love and if she doesn't, it's somehow her fault. We trap her in a relationship that might well suffocate her at best and choke the life out of her at worst.

Let's make a stand here. Let's not make our heros abusive jerks. A guy can be an Alpha male and not physically subdue our heroine when she disagrees with him or belittle her or make her responsible for his emotional well-being. Let's not perpetuate a myth that endangers women.

I know what we write is fiction and isn't supposed to be reality. It does, however, embody our world views. Let's espouse one that is healthy for our sisters and daughters and friends and, yes, our selves.

Some Thoughts on Voice...And some WINNERS!

I feel like voice is something we're never going to agree on. What you think is voice, I think is theme and what I think is voice, you think is crap. However I love to talk about it. I love to get drunk and get misty eyed about it. I love to get drunk.


The last few weeks (nine days spent with my kids and my parents - have I mentioned how I feel about booze?) I've heard a couple of things about voice that I just loved. Don't totally understand what the speakers were talking about when they talked about voice - but that's the subject matter for you.

The first was Jon Favreau on the fabulous show Iconoclasts - two famous people from very different mediums get together and talk. In this case it was Jon and Tony Hawk. It was great. Anyway, Jon was saying about Swingers vs Iron Man (two totally fabulously entertaining movies) that he's not the same writer he was with Swingers. His voice isn't raw or insightful - now, he needs all the golf clubs to tell his story. He needs some effects and some money. He needs Robert Downey Jr. because he can't keep hammering the 20 something angst.

I love that. Our voices grow up with us and change and we should probably embrace it just so we can keep telling great stories, rather than become a shadow of ourselves.

Second thing - Jason Reitman talking about his storytelling style vs. his father's. I'm totally paraphrasing: Ivan Reitman wants to take your favorite story and tell it better than you've ever heard it. He wants to ruin you for other versions of that story. Jason wants to take the worst story you've ever heard and tell it so well you can't help but love it.


See, awesome. But is that even voice? What is that? Style? Don't know.

On to our winners!

J.K. Coi - I need you to email me because you are a winner from a previous contest and I am a lazy lazy blogger so email me at molly @ molly - okeefe .com no spaces! with your address and I will send you a bunch of fabulous things.


Winners of a couple of Molly O'Keefe classics - and I do mean classics - are:

Gale Laure

Karen Whiddon

Becca J. Heath

please email me with your addresses and I'll send out some holiday cheer - thanks so much for your comments.

What I love about the Holidays

I’ve been really grinchy in the comments section this week. It’s a combination of lack of sleep, time and restricting myself to one cup of coffee a day. A bad plan if ever there was one.

But really, I love Christmas, always have, even the year when I was sixteen and a typical sullen teenager who spent all day in my room reading Pride and Prejudice, refusing to do anything with my family, or the year I ate so much chocolate that I spent a large portion of Christmas night throwing it all back up. (seriously, it’s a wonder my parents didn’t kill me)

It’s not the gifts I love, although sometimes that part can be really nice. It’s a combination of a whole bunch of little things.

So here is my list in no particular order.

1) Candy canes. Can’t get enough of them, am eating one now as I type this and probably will have at least one a day from now until the end of Jan.
2) The home made apple pies my mother always makes. Because who doesn’t think their mother’s pie is the best in the world? And she usually makes a few, because my father will eat a whole one all by himself, and then it just gets competitive for the rest of us. So Christmas day lunch is always at least a couple of slices of home made apple pie.
3) That my husband’s family celebrates on Christmas Eve and my family celebrates Christmas day, so each side gets to keep their tradition, and we get two Christmases every year.
4) Advent calendars. Because my girls are so excited that they each have one and get to open a new door every night. A small piece of chocolate has never given as much joy as they get from their calendar chocolate.
5) Boxing day porridge. Because we usually stay at the folks place on Christmas night and in the morning my Dad makes his slow stirred porridge that sticks to your bones and is so good.
6) Playing trivial pursuit on Christmas night. It’s always girls against the boys and so far, we’ve traded wins each year.
7) Following that up with a movie my mother will heartily disapprove of. So nothing in the Christmas spirit and usually something sci fi, or thriller ish..

Ok, so as I type this, I’m now looking forward to Christmas. Now I should think about putting up my Christmas tree. Now I have to go order Molly's Christmas Anthology and Maureen's time travel anthology. I was thrilled to find both available through a major Canadian chain(Chapters), and free shipping. Seriously, how much better can it get?

Gift Giving...

I have already expressed in comments how I feel about the holidays. Definitely not the fun for me that it used to be. Reading Maureen’s post yesterday brought it all back too. The thing is I think I was truly spoiled as a child. I’m the youngest of six so for me the holidays were about everyone coming home, getting together, laughing, playing. Not to mention I also got tons of gifts. Packages from Santa and my brothers and sisters. My birthday is the 19th of December so in addition to all the Christmas fun, I got all the birthday fun too. I never had a problem with it being close to Christmas.

For me December was like my own special month filled with good times.

Now December is about getting older and stringing lights off the deck on my condo. There is a reason women marry… I’m convinced it’s to have a husband to string the Christmas lights. And the other tough part about the holidays: gift giving.

I have to confess - I am a sucky gift giver. I never know what to give. I hate giving gift cards because they’re too easy but I do it anyway. All my nieces and nephews are teenagers so they just get (and just want) cash. No fun in even thinking about ideas there.

Each year my one sister manages to find the perfect gift and each year I strive to match it… and fail.

Last year I gave my assistant at the office a gift card to Dunkin Donuts and Petco. She likes coffee. She has dogs. I thought this would be good. She gave me the most beautifully illustrated book on Jane Austen you’ve ever seen. Copies of personal letters from Jane, copies of original manuscript pages… I wanted to cry.

So I’m taking this opportunity to use this blog for personal gain. HELP ME. I need good gift ideas. I need clever, thoughtful ideas I can steal…(cough, cough)… borrow so that I won’t be the sucky gift giver again this year.

The one gift I’ve already bought for myself… naturally a good book. Molly, I can’t wait to read The Night Before Christmas anthology. I plan to save it as my reward… for hanging up those darn lights!

Holiday fun

I could really identify with Merry, the heroine in Molly's fabulous Christmas story in the anthology THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS with Brenda Novak and Day Leclaire. At the start of the story she's less than merry about the upcoming holiday, in fact in the opening lines she describes herself as being attacked by Christmas as she gets choked by a drooping garland and tackled by a blow up santa. Hilarious, but also shows the character's irritation. An irritation that's really not about Christmas, but about something else all together.

And that's the way it is for me, too. Although not the same reasons as Molly's heroine. For me it's all about dealing with change, coping with the realization that the holiday will never again be like the Christmases I remember. Not like the awesome magical holidays I had as a child, with tons of white fluffy snow in Montreal and Winnipeg. Not like the crazy-fun Boxing Day gatherings with my cousins when we were teenagers in Toronto -- there were 10 of us all fairly close in age. (Yes, Spoons and Pounce and broken fingers were involved.) But I think the Christmases I'll miss most were the ones where my siblings and I were young adults, but all still single, and it was just the four of us and our folks, and maybe a few aunties, getting drunk and paying games. One year we invented a game called The Grand Toss. I can't remember all the details except it involved both throwing darts, retrieving objects from the bottom of the pool and a lot of drinking. My brother (who just turned 40), was likely underage at the time... His big sisters were so corrupting.

And don't even get me started about the "guess that water animal" game we played one year. I think you had to be there to fully appreciate it. But let's just say one of my (slim) sisters was very upset when we all guessed walrus at her baby seal imitation.

Now there's another generation below us in the family, and when our generation has more than a couple drinks we just want to sleep. And this year will be the first since my parents moved out of the house they were in for nearly 35 years and the site of the crazy invented games.

But I'm sure we'll find some new traditions to carry us through, even if they're slightly tamer and involve more naps.

How about you? Are the holidays getting better all the time, or starting to fade?

Grinch no more

Let me be perfectly clear. I am a Holiday Hater. Generally, some time in the fall (it gets earlier and earlier every year) I see the first Christmas decoration go up or the first ad for Christmas shopping and I suddenly feel like there's a stone weight in my chest. It dissipates some time in early January (for us the holiday season doesn't really end until my boyfriend's mother's birthday). But for months, I'm unhappy and tense and I make my boyfriend tiptoe around me and my children shift away from me on the couch whenever a Christmas ad comes on TV (which is a lot) with just the tension that is vibrating off me in nearly palpable waves. Plus don't get me started on all the weight gain . . .

I have tried and tried to get some holiday spirit, to find something in the season that didn't make me grit my teeth and growl. There was the year that I played nothing but Christmas songs in my car from Thanksgiving to Christmas because I love to sing and a lot of those songs are fun.

Didn't work. It just made my children start to cry every time they heard Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and gave me serious ear worms all day.

There were the years that I decorated the house inside and out because having grown up Jewish, we didn't do that and I always thought people's Christmas trees were beautiful.

Didn't work. It just made me trip over stuff in my already over-crowded house and gave me bad dreams about the Christmas tree bursting into flames in the middle of the night.

There was the year I thought I'd get in touch with the Christmas spirit by hand-making all the gifts.

Didn't work. It just meant late nights trying to get everything done and who really wants hand-made gifts anyway?

Suddenly, however, this year, I'm not feeling so Grinchy. I don't know what it is, but I've already decided not to spend hours stressing trying to get the perfect gift for each person. I'll do my best and if it's not good enough, well, it'll still have to do. I can sing a few Christmas carols, but it doesn't have to be constant. I can have a piece of fudge, but I don't have to bury my face in the dish and eat the whole thing.

It's early yet. My serenity could be stripped away from me. It happens. But at least the rock hasn't formed in my chest yet. I like the sound of Molly's Christmas story (what a surprise, since I think she's a fabulous writer and a terrific human being) and the idea of reading about someone who has a love/hate relationship with holiday traditions.

Happy Holiday to all of you. Congratulations to whichever one of you commenters wins a copy of Molly's fabulous book. And if any of you have any hints on how to maintain my serenity through the next few weeks, please let me know!