Feb 5, 2008 | Travel, Photos, Life |
There are times when I miss Hawaii. Like now, when it's overcast and drizzly again. Oh, it's not too bad here, really. It's supposed to be 73 today, and that's much better than a few other places I can think of. Not complaining about the temp. Not even really complaining about the drizzle. It's good writing weather.
But, dang, sometimes I want to see the ocean again. I want to sit on the beach with a book and dig my toes in the sand. I want to feel that hot Hawaiian sun beating down on my sunscreened skin. Did I really used to live there? Were those pictures just routine everyday things in Hawaii? Unfortunately, yes, they were. Not unfortunately when I was there, but unfortunately now when I'm not. *sigh*
So now I have to settle for looking at my pictures and remembering the sunshine, trade winds, and warmth. It was great while it lasted, though I'm not unhappy with my move to Alabama. No, Alabama has its pluses. One of which is a much lower cost of living. It's nice not to have to contemplate paying half your monthly income for a house.
Still, if I could just afford a condo there, and the time to go stay in it for a month or so at a time, that'd be awesome. 🙂 Beach breaks are necessary from time to time.
When I lived in Hawaii, I loved seeing the beach and the ocean, but I didn't love hanging out there so much. Seems nutty, huh? But sand is annoying, and the sun is hot, and after a while you just want a cool drink and some AC. A couple of hours at the beach and I was done. Many of my Hawaii friends don't go to the beach much at all. If you aren't a water sport person, it gets old. If you like to surf or sail or windsurf or dive, it makes more sense to head for the water. Otherwise, it's just fun to enjoy it from the vantage of a beachside bar or restaurant. 🙂
So what about you? Any favorite beach spots? Or do you prefer something else? Enjoy the virtual beach break!
Feb 4, 2008 | Photos, Life, General, Fun |
This past Saturday, the hubby and I went to a Southern ball in a historic home. I got to dress in a gown that made me realize exactly how lucky I am to be living today and not in the 1860s (among many other reasons, of course). But, it was quite fun to be dressed so differently. To realize that hoops are flattering, in fact. Those Victorian-era women weren't dumb. A dress with a big bell and a cinched in waist makes you appear more slender than jeans. 🙂 Who'd a thunk it?
My dress is kind of a replica of Scarlett's curtain dress, though you can't tell it from this picture. There is a cape attached to the back, which you can't see, and some gold cords that hang from it and from the sash (which had to be tied in the back because it was too small to close around the front — or I'm too wide, but we won't go there…). There is also a hat, but since I was going to a ball, I wasn't supposed to wear it.
I'm holding a fan, and I definitely needed it after dancing the Virginia Reel in a velvet dress. Whew! Oh, and I won best ladies costume, which surprised me because there were some beautiful dresses there.
Riding in a car with a hoop skirt on was quite interesting. I did learn how to sit so as not to flash folks, though. One woman at the ball, however, learned it the hard way. 😉 Let's just say I know why pantaloons were required attire under these things. If I ever decide to go back to writing historicals, I'll know firsthand what it feels like to wear hoops. And my cat found it fascinating. She liked to get under it and attack it from the inside.
Hubby was splendid as a gentleman, don't you think? His outfit was far easier to don than mine. I kind of wish men still dressed like this sometimes. I thought it was so elegant. I'm glad, though, that women don't wear hoops anymore. Can you imagine running errands in that getup? No wonder they sat around and fanned themselves all day.
Jan 2, 2008 | Life, Writing, Travel, Photos, Books |
I forgot how much I enjoyed 80+ degree temps at Christmas. Alabama isn't bad in the winter, but it was in the 30s last night when we drove to my parents' house for dinner. Brrr! To think that just last week, I was wearing a bathing suit…..
Here's a pic of Nassau. Doesn't that look inviting? No one warned me about the Straw Market. In consequence, I wasn't prepared. I didn't take enough cash off the ship and only managed to buy two purses instead of the 5 or so I would have liked to buy.
Some people don't like the hassle of bargaining with merchants. Some people don't like the close quarters of the market. But I loved it. I have no problem saying no and no problem walking away. Therefore, I think my designer knockoffs were a bargain.
Next stop was St. Thomas on Christmas day. Isn't it gorgeous? Reminded me of a cross between Hawaii and the Amalfi coast in Italy. I would definitely love to spend some time in the USVI. It's much closer than Hawaii, and just as lovely.
Finally, here we are with the famous coconut monkey cups. Yes, they are tacky tourist tchotchke. They are over priced. But I teased my hubby one too many times about getting sloshed on coconut monkey drinks. So he went to the bar and bought two (with margaritas inside) just to shut me up, I think. 🙂
All in all, the cruise was fun. The difficulties I imagined in traveling with both sets of parents were just that — my imagination. Everyone got along fabulously. No one felt pressured to do anything they didn't want to do. We spent whole days doing nothing. When the ladies wanted to go shopping, we went. When the men wanted to lounge around doing nothing, they did it.
I think I will cruise again. I enjoyed being waited on, enjoyed lounging around reading books. I tried the casino, but wasn't hooked. After I lost $50 in the slots, I was cured of any desire to keep trying. I also went to an art auction, but I set my number on the table, face down, and put my sunglasses on top to keep me out of trouble. It worked, thank God. Not so much for others, though. Someone in the room spent eleven grand on four Peter Max prints. PRINTS, not oils, not one-of-a-kind paintings. Then there were the Rembrandt woodcuts for 15K. No one bought them.
I only read two books on board (though I took about 10), but they were both very good. I finally read J.R. Ward's Dark Lover. Yeah, I'm hooked, and I don't even like vampires that much. It's her characterization. Fabulous. I had some quibbles with the story, but not enough to make me stop. That's good writing, when you get mad at the characters but are too interested in their story to stop reading.
I also read Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study. Another winner. Great book, and now I have to buy the sequel in trade paperback because I can't wait for mass market. I took along a J.D. Robb, but didn't get to it. Hubby read it, and he was hooked, but ultimately didn't like it. Too much romance for him. Still, Nora had him turning those pages.
What did you do over the holidays? Get everything you wanted for Christmas? Make any new resolutions? I have to think about mine. I purposely didn't take a computer or Alphie on the cruise because I wanted time away from writing, so now I'm getting my brain back into gear and thinking about what I want to accomplish this year. If you've figured out your goals, please share!
Nov 16, 2007 | Writing, Photos, Life, Hunks |
Does it get any better? I'm admittedly behind the times with television, but when I saw this guy on my favorite channel, HGTV, my brain just kind of stopped working. 🙂 Carter Oosterhouse, carpenter, model, and humanitarian, host of “Carter Can.”
Oh dear.
He has so got to be the inspiration for one of my heroes. Just not sure which one yet. 🙂
My personal hero, the hubby, was out of town this week. He returned yesterday. And I realized something while he was gone. I cannot be a hermit writer, much as I like to think I can. I love being home alone all day, working on my writing, but I really need that evening time with my honey.
Long days stretched in front of me with nothing but time to write? Nope, need the hubby to come home at the end of the day and make me think about something else. It's amazing how tangled up your life can get with one person, but we're like the roots of two plants that have grown together and entwined to such an extent that one can't survive without the other.
And that's what I love about romance novels. Love is the most wonderful, important, life-altering emotion in the universe. Amazing how romance gets bashed as “those little books” or “bodice rippers” or “easy, mindless trash.” Really? Love is mindless trash? Interesting thought.
Got any thoughts about love, romance novels, or fabulous hunks? Do share!
**Edited to remove picture
Nov 7, 2007 | Writing, Photos, 70 Days of Sweat |
Can you imagine writing before copy-paste-delete? Not me! I know some people still write longhand, and then transcribe it into the computer. I can't do it. I tried it, but my brain moves much faster than my hand, and I got frustrated.
Today is a Sven check-in. My writing has slowed down because I finished the book, and instead of launching into the next one, I started the revisions. I know you're supposed to let the book sit, but I've been writing this one long enough that I've pretty much forgotten the first half by now. Really.
Anyway, I wrote 1685 words yesterday, which is kind of scary because the book is over 70K now. Hopefully, today, I'll do some cutting. But what I'm (re)discovering in this process is that I love rewriting. Once the story is finally on the page, it's so much fun to go back and expand the stuff I glossed over in my rush to reach the end. It's amazing to see a scene with new eyes and to be able to pull out the nuances I wanted the first time but couldn't find because the story wasn't complete and I didn't know the characters.
And that's another thing: knowing the characters. By the end of the book, I know them so well that I have to go back and fix them in the beginning. They weren't fully formed in my head, and I made them do things that weren't right. Easy enough to fix once I know them.
I love hearing about process, which is why I like to talk about mine. Everyone is different, but it's always helped me to know how writers work. I used to think there was a correct way to write a book. Now I know there isn't.
Process is also a journey in self-discovery. When I first started, I worked on one book for a year, rewriting it as I went, polishing and polishing, until I had a finished product at the end. Truthfully, the book could have stood some revision. I didn't realize that beautiful sentences and a good story weren't necessarily the same thing. I had a beautifully written cliche.
The next book I entered in the GH and had to write like mad to get to the end. It was horrible, it didn't final, and I didn't bother revising it (pretty much because I didn't know how). The next book I gave up on. I wrote another book very quickly, then abandoned it during revisions because I got bored.
That brings me to the current book. I rewrote the first 150 pages twice. Threw it all out and rewrote it. Ouch. Finally reached the end by writing to a deadline (thanks, Sven) and now I'm revising. I'm not bored, and I'm not worried I won't get to the end. In fact, I think I've finally found my process. Write the first third or half, rewrite it once or twice, write to the end, and revise.
I don't plot (tried it and failed). I don't plan. I have two characters and a problem and I launch into nothingness. Not pretty, but that's the way it works. Why am I sharing this? Because I remember floundering and wondering why I couldn't do it “right.” I didn't realize there was no right. If talking about my process helps even one writer who is struggling, I'm glad to do it.
How does your process work? Do you plot? Or do you launch into nothingness and hope you make it to the other side? I love hearing about it, so tell me!
Oct 29, 2007 | Photos, Writing |
I picked a picture of a grindstone for this post because that's what today is: back to the grindstone. After a weekend of fun and games, I must return my mind to a working state. I'm Sweating with Sven, after all. I don't even know my Th-Sun word totals, but they aren't much. I'd be surprised if I broke 600. (I'll figure it out later today.)
I took the laptop to TN, and I even used it a few times. I did spend about an hour and a half writing in the two days I was there. Not enough to brag about, really.
And I did solve, I think, a plot issue while lying facedown on the massage table and breathing in lavender while a tiny woman with really strong hands kneaded my back. 🙂
The coup de grace of the entire retreat was the Murder Mystery Party on Saturday night. Everyone did a fabulous job, though the coordinator did the best job of all in arranging everything. The costumes were elaborate, the hijinks hilarious, and the mystery was good. I have pictures that I'll upload eventually. 🙂
My mind is rested, but also weird. I dreamed last night that my husband decided to write a horror story, had 50 pages done, and somehow got a passel of agents interested (because I was trying to get them interested in me and one saw his stuff instead, LOL).
After a major bidding war, my husband (the non-writer), got offered a $5.6 million advance on the strength of 50 pages. Everyone asked me if I was jealous, but I said hell no I wasn't jealous, just envious, and besides, I'd get the benefits of the money anyway. (I ain't stupid.) 😉
When I told the hubby my dream this morning, he started plotting. I told him that all I knew about his story was that it had a werewolf in it. He thought that wasn't very interesting and had been done before. I told him it's the twist you put on a story that makes it unique.
Hubby, being a smarty pants, has decided to pen GayoWolf, about a decorator who goes to Sweden for furniture and gets attacked by a werewolf. The man ain't right. I'm afraid my dream was just a dream after all. No multi-million dollar advance in the Harris future, it seems. 🙁
Has your mind ever come up with weird dreams after a period of relaxation? I don't know where that came from, believe me. Partly, I'm sure it's a fear that I'm not a good writer and that I won't succeed. Partly, my mind was keeping the success close to home in giving it to my husband. And the werewolf had to be a manifestation of my frustration with the paranormal market (and the approach of Halloween).
But most importantly, do you think GayoWolf has a chance? 😉
Edited: picture deleted
There are times when I miss Hawaii. Like now, when it's overcast and drizzly again. Oh, it's not too bad here, really. It's supposed to be 73 today, and that's much better than a few other places I can think of. Not complaining about the temp. Not even really complaining about the drizzle. It's good writing weather.
