Play Day

This past Saturday our local RWA chapter, Midwest Fiction Writers hosted Donald Maass for an all-day intense writing workshop. It's the first workshop I've attended in a looooong time. And it rocked! We brought along our works in progress and I brought my outline as well and took notes right on the pages. I came away with lots of good stuff.

Maass is a super-agent/workshop speaker/writer. He writes under a pseudonym but wouldn't reveal that. I wonder why? His workshops are so great. Wouldn't he want you to know the name he writes under so you could buy his fiction? I'd certainly buy it!

Anyway, the workshop ran from 9 to 4, and I was exhausted following. It was like a day of school. I'm so not used to that intense focus and sitting there and really working like that. I write just as long some days at home, but then I can get up, walk around, go outside, do whatever whenever. So I got blasted with a headache by day's end, and it followed me all through Sunday. So I didn't get to work on my stuff yesterday at all.

But today is Play Day! Maass mentioned something that he wished every contract came with a line stipulating 'there will be a play day for this manuscript'. Meaning, a day the author sits down with his or her work and really looks at it. Examines it. Tears it apart. Plays with it. Just a few examples (that can be found in his Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook): Name one thing your hero/heroine would never say. What's one thing they would never do? One thing they would never think? Now, put those in your story. Seriously. So if you've got a teacher, she would probably never say "Those kids are idiots! They don't need to learn." Or you might have a chef who would never say "ah, just serve the moldy bread." So then, put that in the story. It's a practice in showing opposites and giving the author a way to see their character in a new light.

If you've read the book and/or workbook there are many exercises like that and lots of things to give good thought. So that's what I'm up for today! Playing!

M

Of Angels And Demons

One of my favorite themes or pairings in stories is angels and demons. I love the battle between good and evil, when those lines are blurred. Sure angels are fighting on the good side, but they're not so fluffy. They are warriors wielding spears and unfathomable power, and will take down thousands in the fight for their cause. And sure demons are the evil dudes, but seriously, are they all? Not always.

I love the theme so much I did angels and demons in SERAPHIM. My demons were utterly cruel and my angels were warriors.


I loved the movie CONSTANTINE. Tilda Swinton's angel was perfection, because she walked the line between good and evil masterfully.

Now SUPERNATURAL is serving it up in season 4 with the introduction of Castiel, the angel. This is going to be an exciting season, I can feel it. When the ultimate good and evil come together to butt heads, it can be nothing but.



Just a note to anyone who read Bombshells and liked the IT GIRLS series. I wrote the 2nd book, FLAWLESS. Loved that story! Seriously, four countries in 48-hours on a diamond chase, much explosions and spy stuff, and a sexy Brit hero. That series was optioned for television, and the company that's had the rights has just put up a promo for it (Click on Gotham Roses). I suspect it's one of those pilots they hope to sell to a prospective network. Seriously, though, it's a little awkward. Okay, it's very awkward. They don't have that high caliber of actors in the mix. Don't recognize any of the It Girls. Catherine Oxenberg (is she still alive?) is in there, and the dude that used to be the father on the Nanny show (remember Fran Drescher?) he's on there as the villain. You have to download some viewer to see it, but it took a minute. I was curious. I'm not any more. Don't think I have to worry that this one will show up on anyone's TV any time soon. Though it would have been super cool to see at least a pilot out there.
M

Dancing With Maks!

Well that's what they should call it. ;-) Yay! Dancing With The Stars is back! And so is Maks! I'm addicted to this show, and I love trying to figure who's going to make it all the way and who will be out quick. It's an interesting mix this time around. No sure things like Kristi Yamaguchi, so that makes it a lot more fun.

Here's my impressions, for good or for bad:

Lance Bass - Great! He and his partner might do well, unless they stumble on some of the more refined dances. They do funky well though. I think he'll go far.

Toni Braxton - Another great dancer; she'll go far.

Brooke Burke - When she walked out I thought she'd fail, but she impressed. Pretty, sexy, and a mom, and she's got a great partner. She should do well also.

Rocco DiSprito - Very stiff, but he could improve. Never seen his TV show, and his personality didn't really show, so will keep an eye on him.

Maurice Greene - A track star and looks like a lot of fun. I figure he'll hang around through half the show.

Kim Kardashian - Uh, not too impressed, but then her TV show bothers me. She seemed a little nervous, so maybe as she relaxes she'll improve.

Cloris Leachman - Yeah, she's the old one, but she dances well. And if she bothers to stop playing for the laugh she may hang around a while.

Cody Linley - Never heard of him, but he did a good job. He'll stick around for a while.

Susan Lucci - Did anyone else think Tony wouldn't have to make that drastic a move to break the woman? What is she made of? Toothpicks? Not very personable, either. She'll leave within the first four shows.

Misty May-Treanor - Now, who cares about the chick? Maks is her partner! For that reason alone she has to do well and stick around. Sometimes the athletes have difficulty moving gracefully, and I think it'll be a challenge for her, but I'll be cheering her on. Go, Maks!

Ted McGinley - A gentleman whom I hope will stick around for a while, but suspect won't last too long.

Jeff Ross - If he's not the first to leave, I'll be surprised, even with the excuse of the eye injury. Poor Edyta.

Warren Sapp - What is it with this lunky big football players that they are so light on their feet? Looks like he has a great time dancing, and I hope he sticks around just for the fun he brings to the floor.

So what are your predictions for first one out? For the winner? If I had to make a guess at top three right now....Misty (!), Brooke, and Lance.
M

I loved this movie! I just scanned a few reviews online and was surprised it was reviewed so badly. It was just a bunch of macabre fun! Immediately, you get the idea that whoever designed the movie was a huge fan of Tim Burton. In fact, I think they stole the king of Malaria from Nightmare Before Christmas. It was sweetly tacky and stupidly fun. I loved Steve Buschemi's immortal rabbit who has a death wish, and Sean 'Just Jack' Hayes voiced the brain who wrote his name on his jar "Brian". Wasn't sure how Jon Cusack would sound as an animated character, but I loved Igor and his quest to create evil because that's what he's always believed he should do. And if the blind orphans singing "I can see clearly now" at the end don't get you, then you just don't have a funny bone, it must be one of those evil bones. ;-)

M

Winners!

Two winners are: T.D. Fangirl and Tina!

Please email me with your snail mail addresses. Thanks!

Very interesting that most people's favorite action/adventure flicks were Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. Rogue Angel has a touch of both. :-)

M


email: toastfaery@gmail.com

Dean!

Sam!

They're back and life is good.

So keep entering the below contest. I'll draw and post a winner later this afternoon.

Just got copies of WINTER KISSED! I now have an abundance of books sitting in my office. It's very cool to get these a month and a half before they show up in bookstores. But I usually get an extra box just for giving away. So, if you enter the contest in the below post, I just may send along a copy of WK too. ;-)

M

Rogue Angel contest

I got copies of SWORDSMAN'S LEGACY yesterday.  Woohoo!  Know what I did?  I started to read one.  Seriously.  I handed this story in the summer of 2007, so it's been a long time since I read it.  I wanted to see if I did okay.  I love this story!  I can't wait until others can read it.

Now, I don't have to promote this title because it is under a pseudonym, and it's called work for hire, which means you get a flat fee, and that's it.  So why waste money with promotion?  But seriously, people, if you've never read the ROGUE ANGEL series, you need to.  I think the readership is like 60% men/40% women, though that's just a guess on my part.  If you liked Bombshells, this series is for you.  If you like high action/adventure, shoot-'em-up, smart and sexy women, and evil villains, check out a story from this series!

And just because I'm nice, I'm going to give away a copy or two.  Email me (toastfaery@gmail.com) with your favorite title from this series so far, or if you haven't read it, let me know your favorite action/adventure movie.  I'll announce winner(s) on Friday.

M

Correction for current Dark Rapture release

I've just been alerted to a most frustrating mistake in the text of the rerelease of DARK RAPTURE.  I have no idea how this happened, but one of the pages was printed twice in the text, which means another page got left out.  

The book is in 3 Parts, and each part I start the chapter numbers all over.  Somehow, the first page of Chapter 9 (from Part 1) got reprinted again later for the first page of Chapter 9 (for Part 3).  Confusing?

I'll make it easy.  Page 439 is wrong.  Here's how it should read:

Three Harley Davidsons slowed past Vince as he strode down the boulevard, his long leather fringes shimmying back and forth against his legs.  Man!  He'd never seen so much leather on a woman.  And they were driving motorcycles.  He picked up his pace, catching a sly wink from the one in the lead.  The trio was all decked out in shiny black leather thigh boots and tight-laced brassieres.  They were wild and beautiful.

Still warm from his last victim, Vince caught up to the leader and slide a finger along the leather seat and up over her thigh, teasing it under the tight leather skirt that adhered to her skin.  "Nice bike."

He raked his hand through his shining mane and gave her his best rock n' roll 'sexy pout'.  "You looking for someone to party with?"

The woman looked over her shoulder and winked to her friends.  "Hop on, gorgeous.  I think we found what we're looking for."

Vince looked to the other two girls; both had slick red lips and touch-me-please long hair.  "Three girls and one guy?  Sounds like good odds to me.  Let's go."  He found his place behind the leader and slipped his hands around her waist.  "Where're we going?"

"Gonna go check out a new party spot.  It's out a ways, and lots of fun," she yelled over the rumble of the motor.

"Cool."

Contest winner

Allie (Allison) is the winner!  Allie, please email me your snail mail address to: toastfaery@gmail.com

So what was wrong with Dark Rapture's cover?  My name is spelled correctly on the cover, but on the spine, it's spelled with 2 ls.  Michelle.   Agghhh!!!   

M

I'll announce the What's Wrong With the DR Cover on Friday.  One more day to try figure it out!

New Methods

I like to try new things. New ways to do something, new routes, new ideas, new foods. Heck, every time I hit the produce section in the grocery store I look for the new and unusual. Last new try was a dragonfruit. Pretty, eh? Not so exciting with the flavor. It's very bland. But fun to slice and mix in with other fruits. Certainly not worth the $4 they were trying to sell it for. Though, it didn't ring up at the register and the check-out lady asked if fifty-cents sounded about right. I agreed that it did. (Hey, they don't mark their stuff, is it really my problem?)

Anyway, I'm currently trying a new method of plotting. Usually before I send my editor a proposal for a story idea, I've either started to write the thing, and may even have completely drafted out the thing, or at the very least, know exactly how it runs from beginning to end and have made an outline and a few chapters. It comes to me over days of thought, and the story works itself out in dreams and such. So by the time the editor says 'Yeah, this'll work." I may be half finished with it.

So I did my last Nocturne trilogy by writing all three stories at once. That was cool, and great when you're working in the same world and can trade details from story to story. I knew the plots of all 3 stories in advance. Heck, I just got the proposal approved for one of them yesterday. Know when the story is due? Monday. So, see, I have to work on contracted stories as soon as they are contracted. Because seriously, I can't write a story in three days.

So now I'm plotting a new trilogy. I have no idea what the stories should be. In fact, I started very backward this time. I know I want three heroes. I have an idea what each can do. And an image in my brain that sort of matches their supposed personality. So I just went hero shopping.

I use actors a lot when casting my characters. It's easy because I know what they look like, and have heard them speak. Beyond the outer appearance I don't usually use any other characteristics. I give my characters their own mental, physical and emotional values. So I had an idea of a couple actors I thought would work and spent about an hour online searching Google Images. The first hero I found immediately. Vincent Perez. He needs to play a modern man with a fascination for the 18th century. He could imagine living in that time. He's a rogue and a lover and likes to play. This image immediately cemented that character for me. Give him some longer hair? Perfect.

Next I needed a more serious and scholarly man who was born in medieval Germany. He is smart and when he loves he loves completely. But don't mess with him or draw a weapon on him, because he will retaliate and protect those he loves. I almost gave up on finding an image that spoke to me, until I found this one of Daniel Day-Lewis. Again, perfect.

And then comes the leader of them all. I had this idea that his story would be big, encompassing the world and he the master over it all. A man standing with arms spread wide and a hunger for adventure. He's a bit of a pirate, an explorer, a scientist and a lover. He is every man. But he's got some very deep secrets and doesn't believe he will ever find love. I had no image in my head who this could be, so I just browsed sites with pictures of men. There's a great site that I use often: barefoot.provocateuse.com. So many great pics there! There's even a version for pics of women, which I also use. There, I found this guy. He is Commander Archer Bishop Fleetwood. Maybe the face will change a bit, but the clothes and pose work.

I've got the images of heroes. I spent another hour matching heroines to them. Then, with those pairs I set out to figure who these characters were. I made up character attributes sheets. Just listing whatever came to mind about them. Childhood? Favorite phrases? A specific scene the image conjures? Their abilities, weaknesses. Not thorough, but enough to give me a feel for them.

So I had three sets of heroes/heroines and some basic characteristics. I still need a synopsis. What the heck are their stories about? Well, I brainstormed with a friend. I've never done this before either. I told her a bit about my people, and we tossed ideas back and forth. I think I got really clear on two of the stories. The third is still up in the air. But wow! That really helps to bounce ideas off another person.

With those ideas in hand I set out to write a synopsis. Goal, Motivation and Conflict is key. And knowing what the one thing is that the hero needs to survive is also important. Because I've got to take that away from him. This, still with no daydream-ideas of how the story would actually go. So backwards for me. But it's working so far. I'm still in synopsis mode. I put up the pictures on my desktop when I work on their story. Images work well for me. I like to see who I'm writing about. I know some authors don't do that, and prefer to make up images for characters. I do that sometimes too.

I'm trying to get this trilogy fleshed out within a few weeks so I can send it in and see if my editor likes it. And I'm doing it this way--not writing any of the story beforehand--because this is a particular idea I'm not really sure will be accepted. So do I want to waste the time writing it if it won't fly? (I may start anyway, because this idea really rocks. If it doesn't sell to my publisher, it may sell elsewhere.) But we'll see. Busy with a couple Rogue Angel stories right now as well, so I do have enough to keep me busy.

What about you? If you're a writer, what's your method to plot? Do you start with the big idea? Or character? Or something else?
M

Are you watching this show? You should be if you like fun, sexy spy stuff.

I avoided this show last year because I glanced at the hero and thought 'nah, doesn't do it for me'. Well, now he does. I happened to watch an episode a few weeks ago and noticed Gabrielle Anwar plays the female lead. I really liked her in The Tudors, as Henri VIII's sister. She was feisty. She attracted me to the series. And her role as a gun runner/we're-not-really-sure-what-she-does-but-it's-tough is perfect for her. She comes off tough but sexy, with ease. And I like that she's not so young, and is looking a little worn around the edges. Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the lead Michael Weston really rocks the part. He's got a subtle everyman-ness to him and works the humor. I can also completely buy into him fixing cell phones to work as listening devices or bombs. Bruce "Give Me Some Sugar, Baby" Campbell is a welcome sidekick, and is very understated. The whole cast works well together.

Lots of action, some great humor, and suspense along with smart stories. I caved and bought the season one DVD, and just finished that. I love this show!

M

Just got back from the Apple store. No, not buying a new computer, though God knows I'd love one. My trusty Mac wouldn't power up this morning, and I just love it when you call tech support and they give you a URL to go online to troubleshoot. Really? Because I can go online so easy with this computer that doesn't work. Oy.

Anyway, the power supply was dead. Again. This is the second time it's needed replacing. But I'm back, and sorting through email and such. A person just doesn't realize how much they depend on their computer until it doesn't work. I mean, I was going to throw out the Yellow Pages because I usually always find numbers online. Good thing I hadn't gone quite that far.

Fingers crossed Apple comes out with a new iMac within a few months. (I'm sensing it will happen. Just a feeling.) I want a new one!

M

How it began

I'm blogging over at RIDING today about my first time...publishing, that is. One commenter will receive a copy of Dark Rapture, so stop by!
M

Shoe and tell?

So this is what makes me curious...

Shoes on the road.

What's the deal with that?

You're driving along, and there, on the sidewalk, or even the middle of the road, is a lone shoe.  Usually a tennis shoe, sometimes a sandal, once a boot.  I just have to wonder: Didn't the dude wearing the shoe notice when suddenly he had on only one instead of two?  How do you lose a shoe?  And they're often very nice looking shoes.

Just a thought for today.

M