Catching up: kids, goals, backstory

It feels like I've missed a week, but according to the calendar I haven't. My kid has been sick this week, so it's dragged, but she's feeling better and returned to school today. Yay!

I met my most recent goal by getting my entry into the Sheila under the wire, so I'm waiting (im)patiently until May 1st when they announce finalists. Yeah. What was I thinking? :)

Next up: backstory. I'm listening to a thriller right now that has a TON of backstory. Each chapter, nay, each SCENE has backstory in it. It's pissing me off! I work hard to avoid backstory - weaving in only what's necessary and then I spend my hard-earned, uh, time (since I checked it out from the library) on a not just published, but a best-selling author, only to be bombarded with it. Ugh. It's frustrating.

And yet a bit inspiring, too.

Half a goal met

Oh, and btw, I did find a contest I want to enter (see 1/22's post). So I'm writing two posts tonight to procrastinate instead. :)

The Sheila contest from the Valley Forge Romance Writers has a Pocket editor as a final judge in the Romantic Suspense category, so if I can sneak some writing time this weekend and get a synopsis whipped into shape, I'm going to enter.

Whew! It's kinda scary posting goals here for the world to see.

Not that the world is looking. :)

It's not the writing that gets them.....

I saw a blurb somewhere the other day (very specific, huh?) where Stephen King was talking about J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer and how they were both targeting the children/young adult market, but he said the difference was that Rowling can write.

My first thought was who cares? Meyer is just as successful as Rowling - maybe a tad less since Harry Potter pulled in both boys and girls and Twilight is attracting mostly just the girls, but still. What I wouldn't give for a fraction of that success! I read the whole Harry Potter series and I've read two of the Twilight books. I'm reading Twilight (the first in the series) again with my second daughter so this is all very fresh in my brain.

HP is a wonderful, fabulous story and I love Rowling's imagination and the world she created. I'm amazed by how plot points in the early books still have revelance in the last book, and I was so caught up in the adventures I could hardly put the books down.

Twilight is similar. Yet so different. And I'm sorry, but you can't compare the Twilight movie to the Harry Potter books, so don't even try. To compare, you have read the books. Not that I'm going to compare the books. I'm just stating my opinion on why the Twilight series is so popular. Now, I know that I haven't finished the series yet. I know what happens in the last book (darn spoilers!), but I haven't read it. So, judge me if you must, but this is just my opinion, not policy. :) Okay, on with the post.....

So, why does Twilight work? For me it's the first love aspect of it. The angst. The holding back, afraid you feel it more than he does. Add to this the fact that he could kill you at any moment and isn't sure he trusts himself not to until the middle of the book and it just turns up the emotions. First love is wonder. Insecurity. Obsession. And Meyer covers these well. Yes, she uses too many adverbs. Yes, she often tells instead of showing. But still, the story grabs you. It's hard to put down. You want to know what's going to happen next. There's danger, intrigue, and all those wonderful emotions that are brand new to some of these readers and fun to remember for others. :)

Is Meyer's book perfect? No. But is any book perfect? No. I guess when it all comes down to it, the bottom line is that I still hope my books are a fraction as successful as hers have been. I hope the reader gets sucked in and can't put it down and wants to buy the next one. And the next one.

POV

I just finished reading Suzanne Brockmann's latest book called "Dark Of Night" - and loved it - as I do all her stories! The woman is a master of the deep point of view (POV). Master, I say.

She really gets into her characters' heads, thus pulling us, the readers, in with her. It's wonderful. Impressive. And loads of fun. I can read her books over and over again because I consistently get yanked out of my world and into hers.

Another book that really nailed POV was Elizabeth Bevarly's "Taming the Prince" (Desire #1474). Her heroine is a prim and proper girl with a bit of a British accent, while her hero is cool. Just one of the guys. A real down-to-earth dude. There is never a question in any scene who is talking. Each character's speech is so distinct it's like you're hearing it as you read. Fabulous! I re-read this one periodically for inspiration, too.

Got any great examples of POV?

I don't have time for pens that don't work.

You know the ones I mean. You pull out a pen to jot down a note or an idea or gosh, even a whole scene, but after the first word the ink fades to nothing. On the corner of the page (or index card or napkin or prescription) you scribble madly trying to get something to start flowing again, and maybe it does - for another word or so.

Chuck it. Throw it in the trash. Or across the room. (Please don't just drop it in the street, though - I'm not condoning littering here, people.) Get a new one - one that works - and get that idea written down.

I have several cups of pens (ink, markers, fountain: all kinds), but I bet more than half of them don't work. My goal as a recovering packrat is to start tossing the writing implements that don't write. Who needs them? No one. Except maybe some artist who's creating an altar to the unuseable pen. That person is not me. Although I have all the raw materials! :)

Anyone have a suggestion for a great pen for everyday use? I'm not looking for a Montblanc. I don't want to spend a ton, but I know you get what you pay for. The freebie pens typically don't stand up to the test of time - except I did find one that I LOVED from a hotel. Maybe I should go back there and grab a few from the front desk.

I'm looking for something that flows freely, has a cap (cuts back on that annoying clicking) and keeps writing day after day. Any suggestions?

I got nothing this week. Except cedar fever. And it's sucking the life out of me. I've only done a smidgen of the writing I planned to do. Only a smidgen of the planning, too.

The worst part is that with weather in the 70's in the afternoons (almost 80 yesterday), I fear the cedar blooming is just gonna get worse. Ugh.

I'm at the point where I'm hoping this is the flu so that it will go away. Before, say, March. :)

Next up: find a contest for my current WIP. I'm looking for the right agent or editor as the final judge. This manuscript (ms) doesn't fit into any of the nicely defined categories I typically see in contests, but it could maybe swing it as Mainstream with Romantic Elements or something along those lines.

Okay, good. I've posted a goal. Now I just gotta get on it.

Blogging - A Study in Perseverance

Here's how my blog entry went today:
8:15 am - see reminder, but ignore it to check email and pay bills
8:50 am - remember I was going to leave for work at 9:00 but I haven't even gotten in the shower yet; see reminder again and make a mental note to do it tonight

8:40 pm - as I'm reading through something I should have critiqued a while back, remember I was going to blog tonight - I even have a topic that's been brewing since Saturday (so why didn't I just do it then, huh?)
8:41 pm - open IE and go the the "Blog Sign-in" bookmark. Sad that I have to do that, but I used to waste hours trying to find the sign-in page through other peoples' blogs.
8:42 pm - ah, yes, my blog....I should check out Deepish Thoughts and see if anything's new since last time (yes!)
8:45 pm - now I need to check Lexi's blog and see what's happened. Oh, look, comments on one of her posts.
8:50 pm - Oh yeah, THAT'S who Avery Beck is.... cool, she sold another book! Neat website.
8:55 pm - Hmmm, website designed by Stonecreek Media.... I'll just go see some of their other work.
9:10 pm - There's Avery's site! Ooooh, who's Gregg Olsen?
9:30 pm - Wow. I should read one of his books. Hmmm, let's get back to the Stonecreek Media site and see what else is there.
9:40 pm - Cool. Murder She Writes - I should check that out. Oh, look. Allison Brennan blogs here. Last night at the ARWA meeting Jan Hudson mentioned Allison Brennan writes thrillers with some romance in them and I made a note to check her out. Let's go see her website.
10:05 pm - OMG it's 10:00 and the kids are still watching TV!
10:30 pm - Okay everyone's in bed. I should really go write my blog now. Right after I check out this one link.....