The Lurve Scene

Kat is determined to get us all into trouble with the latest question for the blog chain.

How do you feel about love scenes? As a reader, are you put off by the gratuitous? As a writer, do you shy away from spelling out the down-and-dirty? Or do you write until your computer lights a cigarette?

That's right, we've talked about romance and we've talked about love, but now it's time to go there. Kids, it's time to talk about s-e-x.

I love that Kat asked about our feelings about love scenes from both the prospective of a reader and as a writer, because for me they are very different. It is kind of the same way I feel about fried foods. Now like most people with working taste buds and no history of heart disease, I love french fries, fried mozzarella, and believe in miracles every time I eat a fresh from the conveyor belt Krispy Kreme doughnut.

However, as much as I enjoy the distinctive taste of foods cooked in hot fat, I refuse to fry at home. Not in a fryer machine and not in a deep pot with a thermometer attached. It's too messy and too dangerous. Not to mention the health risks. Wait... are we still talking about frying food or did we switch back to sex?

As I've mentioned before here I am a fan of the romance genre. I first discovered romance novels towards the end of my middle school years, and if it wasn't for the sex scenes in them who knows when or where or how I would have eventually filled in the gaps in my sexual education. You see I grew up in a house that not only lacked HBO but any kind of cable television at all. And I went to a Catholic school up until eighth grade where when we did have our boys and girls separated sex ed classes their information was so out of date that the film reels (yes!) showed us girls how to attach our sanitary napkins with belts that kind of acted like garters.

Sex scenes aren't merely for educational purposes though. In the best written romances they should work in much the same way as a musical number in a Broadway musical does. It should advance the plot, reveal character, and entertain.

So when I wrote my first novel and it was a romance novel and it came time for the sex scene of course I wanted it to be good - I wanted it to be great. And it was. Probably. In the alternate universe where I actually wrote it. Yeah, there was sex in my book, but it was closed door - as in I wrote the before and I wrote the after, but the in-between was left to the reader's imagination.

And I think that is just the type of writer I am, because when I tried to write the in-between or when I even thought about writing it, I started shaking. Not with fear, but with a terrible awful case of the church giggles (these, of course, are the giggles you get at a time place when you are absolutely NOT supposed to be giggling, and this then causes you to giggle all the more).

I have a terrible time taking myself seriously sometimes, especially when something is very serious, but at the same time - if you look at it from a slightly different angle - very very silly. And sex scenes can become incredibly silly, incredibly quickly. Even at the very basic level of dealing with anatomy - you either get flowery and euphemistic and that is unintentionally hilarious. Or else you are very technical and sound like a stuffy textbook, which is once again hilarious.

I don't think it is possible to write a good, believable sex scene when you are giggling and snickering behind your hand like a sixth grade boy (no offense to sixth grade boys, but c'mon guys, you know how you are), and since I cannot at this time summon the necessary gravity, for now I'll leave the sex scenes to those who can.

So what about you? Are you a reader of sex scenes, a writer of them, both, or neither?

And if you love reading about love scenes, continue reading with Sandra and Cole.

Expect the Unexpected

It's blog chain time once more and today's question is brought to us by Sarah.

what has been the most unexpected part of your writing journey up to this point? What has happened that you could never have predicted? Has it been a help or a hindrance?

There have actually been lots of unexpected parts to my writing journey, but maybe that's because I didn't have a whole lot of solid expectations starting out. Even though I've always known that I wanted to be a writer, I'm not a sit down and write down time specific goals type person. Instead, I use the "well let's try this" method of living my life.

That's how I ended up getting a BFA in theatre instead of the english degree I'd originally intended on receiving. And when I realized that might not have been quite what I wanted, it was off to film school in California - the other end of country from my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I met my husband and we both earned MFAs in Film and Television Production, but finding a job in the LA industry was tougher than we'd expected so when he got a job offer in Tennessee - I didn't even hesitate. Sure, why not - let's go for it. Once settled down South with full health insurance benefits my husband and I saw an opportunity to join the great "let's have a kid" experiment. And because we never do anything halfway, we had two (not at the same time though. gah. I shudder at the thought.)

Okay, but this is supposed to be about my writing life. And that big paragraph above this one is just about my life life. Well that's because my writing life has always happened in between my life life. And I really only got serious about the writing part of my life in between having those kids. That's when I started my first novel, not even knowing it was going to be the first novel that I actually finished. So that was kind of unexpected. It was the fall of 2007 and my son was four months old. By December I finished it and by the Spring I was itching to send it out into the world.

This is where the really unexpected part comes in. I had no idea how much there was to learn. Or how much was involved in the "trying to get book published" process. Going into it, I figured it would be similar to putting a worm on a hook, casting it out to sea, and waiting for the fish to bite. Okay, so I know nothing about fishing, and I knew nothing about getting published. But I do now. Well, the publishing part - still not real clear on the ins and outs of fishing.

At first it was mind boggling how many resources were available out there FOR FREE to anyone who had the ability to Google and then read until their eyes bled. And I did read until my eyes bleed.

I hunted down every agent blog. Every editor blog. Every writing forum. Everything ever written on how best to write a query and how best to write a synopsis. And how not to write a query and synopsis.

I found a crit group, and realized got some good feedback.

I wrote a query and then I rewrote it five hundred thousand times. And then I rewrote it again.

I found out what books were trending hot. I found out not to follow trends.

I learned about blogging and leaving comments and started my own blog and hoped to one day get my own blog comments.

Sometimes I would remember to blink, and then I would read some more.

I entered agent contests and read about what to do when you get the call, and what to do if more than one agent is interested - even though by this point I was packing poor novel number one away and starting work on novel number two, because I had also read that this is what you are supposed to do.

I learned the difference between New York publishing, online publishing, and self publishing.

I read success stories and felt envious and wistful and more determined than ever.

I found Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, Dear Author, Book Smugglers and lots of other great review sights that added to my pile of books to buy or get from the library and I read those too.

I cross referenced agents on QueryTracker and AgentQuery and felt like Santa Claus writing his list and checking it twice.

Yes, several times I purposely Googled something along the lines of, "authors who were rejected a million times and then went on to become kiss my a$$ rich and famous."

I learned about publishing contracts and edits and the whole process that goes into making the books that end up on the shelves.

I read agented authors saying that it didn't get easier after having an agent, and read published authors saying it didn't get better after being published, and thought "well that's just frigging great."

And then one day I got to the point where I'd click on a link to an article on how to write a better query, and realized... hey, wait, I already knew this. I've done this.

At that point I could've printed myself out a BS in Writing degree to hang on my wall. I didn't though.

One, because that would be lame and a little delusional, especially since I don't have the actual diplomas I have earned hanging on the wall.

And two, because I don't think my education is complete. I'm not anywhere near to how obsessive I once was in my online agent, blog, and forum following, but having that time when I was really plugged in was a huge help in getting closer to my writing goals. At the same time it was also a hindrance to my having any time to do some actual writing, which is why I've cut down significantly (child #2 in the "let's have a kid" experiment didn't help with the time constraints either). Overall though, time spent learning the business has probably been the most important unexpected detour I've taken on this writing journey.

That's it for this unexpected post. But there are more surprises to be had! Go find them with Sandra, Cole, and the rest of the blog chain.

Literary Love

After a bit of an unplanned hiatus, I am back on the blog chain just in time for Shaun's Valentine's themed question.

Who is your favorite literary couple and why?

I always have trouble with questions that ask me to pick a favorite. Favorite book, favorite movie, or favorite candy bar - how can I be expected to pick just one? And when it comes to ask a lifelong romance reader, such a myself, to pick just ONE favorite literary couple... well, it's almost enough to make my head explode... that is until the obvious answer came to me.

My favorite literary couple is my first literary couple - Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables. Their relationship starts when they are children, when Gilbert makes fun of Anne's red hair. Over the course of the book, they become fierce competitors at school - each trying to take the place at the head of the class. By the end though, things change, they are older and become friends... with a suggestion (and hope from me) of something more. There are eight books in total in the Green Gables series, and slowly Anne and Gilbert fall in love, marry, and have children together. Having so many books, means there is no happy ending, but just like in life they continue to find new challenges together.

These books are not romances, but the relationship between Anne and Gilbert is one of the most romantic I've ever read, and I simply love them.

So who are your favorite literary lovebirds?

And to read more of this chain (full of excellent book recommendations for those seeking a little romance in their reading) make sure to check out Sandra before me, and Cole immediately after.

Interview with Michelle Mclean

Today I have an interview with Michelle McLean (one of the awesome members of the blog chain) discussing her NEW BOOK (like hot of the presses, get it now NEW) Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers


FIVE ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS WITH MICHELLE MCLEAN

1. The first essay type report I can remember doing was on koala bears. I am pretty sure I went to the library and used encyclopedias (like books printed on paper for the youngsters out there) for most of my information. There may also have been a poster board presentation to go along with it. Can you remember your first written essay? Where the ways of researching and presenting the information as outdated as my own?

I’m not sure I remember my first essay. I remember doing a mission report in 5th grade. I grew up in California, so elementary kids always had to do a report on one of the Spanish missions out there. We had to write an essay on it and build a model of whichever mission we’d chosen. I actually really enjoyed it. Since we lived close to the one I chose, we went to visit it, and my dad helped me build a really cool model. And yes, I used those ancient encyclopedias as well LOL I seriously remember thinking the internet was some weird fad that I’d never use, especially for something like RESEARCH. :D Ahhh how times have changed. In fact, a good chunk of my chapter on how to research focuses on how to research without leaving your house :D

2. Up until college I was an undercover nerd. Okay, I tried to be undercover, but I think my honor roll status might have blown my cover pretty early. Still, I tried to be stealthy about my book a day extracurricular reading activities - especially once I discovered romance novels. Were you out loud and proud about your love of books and learning at school - or did you try the stealth approach as well?

Nope, I was in total stealth mode. I would have loved to read during all my breaks but I was too embarrassed and afraid to get teased. I talked about reading and I often still found something to read, but it was usually my history textbook or whatever novel we’d been assigned for English :D Then I’d devour my ‘real’ books when I got home. They didn’t have all these cool YA books when I was growing up. I read Sweet Valley High…those were socially acceptable. But my mother didn’t approve of them so I could only read those in secret LOL Seems like I was always hiding a book from someone :D

3. Cliffnotes. Fess up. Did you ever use them? Were you ever tempted to?

Ha! The few times I was able to get my hands on them I did. Confession – I’m not a fan of most of the “classics.” Snooze……Moby Dick…made it through exactly 2 chapters. The first one and one somewhere in the middle. Luckily my teacher was a huge fan of the book and talked about it so much I was able to ace every test :) That’s not to say I didn’t read my fair share of classics, and I did enjoy some of them. And most of the time I just couldn’t get a hold of the cliffnotes so I HAD to read. But yeah, cliffnotes or anywhere else I could find a summary – total fan :D

4. Finish the essay a week before it's due, or pull an all-nighter trying to get it finished at the last minute?

A little of both. I always tried to do it early. I always had my research and notes done ahead of time. But there were many times when I left the actual writing of the paper until the night before. Especially in grad school when I was juggling school and two babies :) But, if you have good notes and an outline, your paper is pretty much done for you….something I go over in my book :D I couldn’t have pulled off the night before writing though if I hadn’t had my notes and outline already. I don’t know how people do that :)

5. Ever used an excuse for a paper that wasn't ready on time (whether real or not)? Was it the dog ate my homework, or the computer ate my homework, or something even more creative?

I think I always had my paper ready on time. Though, I did take one class in my undergrad days, where I actually had the paper done like a month ahead of time, and then totally spaced the day it was due. I told the professor that I had it done and that it had been done for weeks but I’d left it at home. He’d told the class before there would be absolutely no accepting late papers so I was just sick. But he gave me until 4 that afternoon to have it in his office. I’m pretty sure I’d asked him a couple weeks earlier if I could turn it in early and he said no, so he must have known I really had it done. Plus, he gave me enough time to go grab it, but certainly not enough to write a 15 page paper from scratch lol

Luckily I just lived down the street from the school. I jetted home, grabbed it, and had it in his file box in under an hour. But ugh….nothing worse than that sick feeling of forgetting your homework…at least for me :)

BONUS QUESTION

Do you have saved any favorite essays from high school or college - either on paper or hidden away on some poor forgotten floppy disk? What were they and why did you save them?

Yep. I have most of my college papers. Or quite a few anyway. All of my grad school stuff. My mom actually kept a big file of my earlier college stuff. I keep most of what I write, but especially in regards to my papers, I just couldn’t stand the thought of spending that much time on something and then throwing it out :D

In fact, almost every sample essay in my book, with the exception of a few I wrote just for the book, is a paper I wrote for one of my classes. For the most part, I’ve trimmed them down to essay length and changed the language a bit to be more appropriate for high school level, but if you want to see some of my early work, just check out the sample essays in my book :D

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Hmmm... if I was grading this interview I would have to give Michelle an A++ - she totally nailed it - even the bonus question!

Now here are some helpful links: check them out to find out more about Michelle and her book!

Michelle's Website
Michelle's Blog
The Operation Awesome Blog
Facebook Page
Twitter
Amazon link to Homework Helpers

Six Random Words

For some holiday fun Michelle started the blog chain off with a creative writing assignment.

In 100 words or less, write a story using the words ride, post, soulless, local, dehydrator, girdle. Your story may take on any form you wish. The only two rules are 1. you can't simply list the 6 words; you must actually craft them into something creative, and 2. you must use ALL six of them.

Okay, I am going to admit right off that I could not stick to the 100 word limit. In fact, I went 88 words over. Whoops. So, here is my little story using all six words and 182 other ones as well.

*********


"Smart car," she harrumphed, all three of her chins wobbling. "I'm gonna need a girdle if you expect me to ride in that sorry excuse for a vehicle."

"Ma'am, this is a mail truck, not a smart car. And when I suggested you take your complaints to the local post office, I wasn't offering to give you a ride."

Only twenty-five more years until retirement, he reminded himself. Of course, between the old ladies and the dogs he'd be a soulless husk by then, but they said the pension was worth it.

She pushed her false teeth out with her tongue, then with a great slurping sound sucked them back into place. "Well, how 'bout you just take me down to the 7-11 for a Big Gulp? This house is nothing but a big ole dehydrator, and if I don't get myself some Dr. Pepper, I'll be turned into beef jerky. You want that on your conscience?"

In answer, he turned away, trudging towards the next house. The trio of nasty little ankle biters began yipping in anticipation.

Only twenty-five more years.

He'd never make it.


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Okay, now I challenge you to use these same words to do some creative writing! And also to keep following this chain. Check out the Daily Pie Shannon served up yesterday, and then head on over to Amanda's blog tomorrow to see what she posts!

Books Are...

YEEHAW! That's right I just said YEEHAW! Why? Well,

1. because every so often I like to channel my inner cowgirl.
And 2. because it is my turn to start the blog chain! So, YEEHAW!

Okay, inner cowgirl, that's enough.

So, now for the question. Actually, instead of a question, I'm going with more of a fill-in-the-blank style approach. So, here it is - fill in the blank.

Books are ______________________________.

Yep, that's it. Pretty broad, topic, I know, but sometimes that's the fun of it. And as far as the blank goes that can be one word or a whole ten page essay. Now, I know that I usually tend more to the long-winded ten page essay end of things, but right now I am in the midst of Nanowrimo-ing (which I am technically "losing" because I am wwaaayy behind on word count, but I've been writing almost everyday, and have added almost 50 pages to my WIP, so it kinda feels like a win to me.) and am trying to conserve my wind for that.

So, here is my answer. Short. Sweet. Simple.

Books are EVERYWHERE.

Now, I am not presenting this as some deep universal truth, but rather my own very personal one. And I have pictures to back it up.

**WARNING: Some of these pictures contain very graphic scenes of mess, disorder, and disorganization. Proceed at your own risk***

This is pretty self-explantory. It's my trusty old overloaded Ikea bookshelf. If this bookshelf were a dog, it'd be Old Yeller... well except for the whole (SPOILER ALERT!) dying at the end thing.

And this is my bedside table. Note the pile of books I am currently reading or planning on reading soon on the table. The bag of books under the tab are my latest takings from the library. And the "What To Expect" book, well that was from a few weeks ago when I needed to find out if my daughter's rash was eczema (it was) and I haven't gotten around to putting it back yet.

My husband's bedside table with his soon to be read/currently reading/have no intention of reading but will leave it hear to appease my wife pile of books.

Books piled on the kitchen table. Along with some toys, and the Target toy ad that my son has been obsessed with the last few weeks.

Cookbooks. And cooking magazines. And other assorted clutter that just makes home feel like home.

This side table in the family room is where the books that were read to the kids before bedtime get piled. There is also more assorted clutter on display. Yes, I could've cleaned before taking these pics, but that would've felt like censoring, which I don't believe in. Also, I didn't much feel like cleaning today.

The path of destruction leading to the children's bookshelf.

And a close-up of the bookshelf itself, along with the books behind being used to prop the lamp up a bit. Books are excellent multitaskers.

The bookshelf in my son's room. Yes, we have A LOT of children's books. It is pretty cool, because it gives us a great selection to choose from, and if you've ever read to children every single night, you know that having a good selection if key to retaining one's sanity.

Some more books on the desk in my son's room.

And finally, a stray book that I use for naming characters, sitting on the kitchen counter where I left it the night before.

So pretty much every room and every surface has some kind of book on it. And that's pretty much the way we like it here.

Well, that's it for me. To find out how the rest of the chain fills in the books are blank, head on over to Sandra's blog next and follow along.

Characters Popping Up Everywhere

Our new blog chain question started off with Abby who asked:

Where do your characters come from? And once they've been introduced to you, how do you get to know them?

For me everything starts with character. My characters tell me what the plot will be, where the story will be set, and even what genre I'll be writing in.

I'm not really sure where these characters come from - I just start writing and there they are. And to know them better, I simply keep writing. And as I write even more characters emerge.

I actually struggle with a perpetual character overpopulation problem. Minor characters - like a waitress or a next door neighbor - meant to have one line, get greedy. They're not content with merely bringing more coffee or asking about their missing dog. No, they have to become complicated people with their own thoughts and problems. And they want to talk about these problems, and make the main character care about these problems.

Sometimes I let them. Hey, sometimes it works out and the waitress is suddenly the main character's best friend. Sometimes though, it's just a distraction. A tangent that leads nowhere and means nothing except more words on the page. That's when it's time to kill the next door neighbor. Their missing dog probably gets whacked too. Writing can be a bloody business.

And that's pretty much it from me, but don't forget there is more blog chain goodness out there! You can find Shannon's post from yesterday here, and then go look for Sandra's blog post after that!