Mar 8, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Who on earth can top the authors over at the The Lipstick Chronicles today? Not me!
I am speaking, of course, of that act one does for another in which most of the sexual gratification goes to one partner. Oh, sure, you can argue there's some satisfaction for the provider. But let's be honest. One half gets all the treats. That's why they call it a job.
Gosh, what to talk about after that, huh? 🙂 Hmm, erotica maybe? Do you like it? Not like it? Buy it only online? Think it's porn?
I have a theory about romantica/erotica written by women that I'm saving for the PhD, should I ever be crazy enough to pursue one. Basically, it involves women reclaiming for themselves, and in their own language, what has traditionally been a male-dominated market. While I have no problem with its existence, I'm not much of a consumer of the harder forms of it. Basically, I just get tired of the sexual mechanics. And I know there are some mighty fine writers of erotica out there who are capable of making the story (and do) so much more meaningful and complicated than what goes where. I just haven't had the patience or time to go looking.
But maybe I don't even really know the gradations of erotica. For instance, I like Brava and Blaze (are they erotica? Romantica? Steamy romances?). Loved Alison Kent's Deep Breath. I've heard of Emma Holly but never read her. I get the feeling her work is much more raw than Brava and Blaze.
One of the things I don't like about the harder (rawer? sexier?) forms of erotica is the expansion of the sexual relationship beyond the two main characters (I'm not talking subplots, but group sex). For me, romance is between two characters. (I prefer to read about a man and a woman, but there's certainly a market for same-gender characters.) I don't want to see the hero and heroine having group sex in order to bond more with each other. For me, that's not romantic. And I do mean for me, because if you think romance can encompass that, then fine. I'm a big believer in the 1st Amendment. 🙂
[PS Rather than move furniture around, I redid my webpage. Yep, for the 4th time. I like it. For the next three months anyway…..] 🙂
Mar 7, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Over at Murder She Writes, they're talking about wall bangers. What makes you heave a book in disgust? What can't you stand? I had to think about this for a bit. I am an extremely picky reader, which is bad. But, knowing that, I try to stick with a book even when it irritates me. Unless it irritates me so much that reading is a torture or, worse, boring. Boring is the biggest wall banger of them all. Predictable doesn't do it, head hopping doesn't do it, TSTL doesn't necessarily do it, but boring will.
I don't know how to describe boring, except maybe it's a book that's predictable, thinly layered (if at all), and cliched. Best I can do. I know it when I see it. And my boring isn't necessarily your boring. For instance, I thought a certain book about a certain religious conspiracy boring (can't name names because I promised to be nice from now on; even mega-blockbuster writers have feelings, ya know). Yawn, snore, oh my, boring. Most people don't agree with me on that one.
Head hopping was one of the things mentioned over at MSW. It does bother me, but not because I look at it and scream, like some sort of pod person from that body snatcher movie, YOU CAN'T DO THAT! RULE BREAKER! EEEK! EEEK!
Ooops, got carried away. 🙂 I agree that it can be done well and it can be done poorly. Nora Roberts does it well. (Literary novels do it all the time, but I'm specifically talking about genre fiction here.) What bothers me about it, though, is that I never feel close to the characters. I never feel like I know them, because head hopping done well means I'm never deeply in a character's head and I'm never there long enough to know the character. Head hopping done poorly means I don't care AT ALL because I'm too busy recovering from whiplash. What's the difference between poorly and well? I think, armchair analysis here, that done well has to do with a limited 3rd POV that feels light and nimble, whereas poorly done implies a deeper degree of immersion in the 3rd POV than can comfortably be gotten out of quickly. To ping-pong between deep 3rds gives that whiplash effect that often results in wall-bangers. 🙂
TSTL. Oh my. I seriously dislike too stupid to live characters. To pull an example from the movies, my husband didn't like “The Constant Gardener” because he thought the character played by Rachel Weiscz was TSTL. I liked the message of the movie, so I was able to overlook that to a certain extent. But, yeah, she was pretty stupid.
Backstory. Infodumps. Puhleeze. I try not to do it myself, I really do, so when I pick up a book by [insert famous novelist] and get ten pages of backstory to start the book, I grit my teeth but keep reading because she can get away with it and I can't. However, where it really irritates me is when the action of the book grinds to a halt for a page and a half of backstory. Aaaahhhhh!
It's like you're watching a movie, and the action is suspenseful, and the music is fast-paced and your heart is pounding and then—
Screeeeeeech. Light, fluffy music begins to play while the character takes you into an aside while she remembers the first time she met Hunk O'Man, how she's always loved him, how he's the only one for her, how their relationship broke up in the first place, how they can't be together because of the past, blah blah blah. Drives me NUTS! Why do writers do this? Why do we think we have to halt the action to tell the reader all about the characters' pasts? I'm guilty, I know it, but I'm trying to fix it. Think of backstory as sentences and lines, not paragraphs. Heard that on a conference workshop CD and it's the best advice ever, I think.
Anyway, those are my biggest pet peeves/annoyances that I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll think of more. What stops you when you're reading a book? Do you plow through anyway, or do you set the book aside for a while (guilty), or do you stop reading it all together? How many chances does an author get with you? If you dislike one book, will you try another?
Mar 6, 2006 | Uncategorized |
My head is still swimming from everything Dee Buckingham said to the Aloha Chapter on Saturday! She brought a suitcase full of research books, pamphlets, handouts, flyers, papers, printouts–man, I can't even remember it all. The most important thing I learned? Google doesn't know everything.
Seriously, I'm a lazy researcher. I hate the idea of going somewhere and searching for something (I'm talking for the fiction writing, not the academic stuff). I'd rather Google it and see what comes up. Want to know what a sniper rifle looks like? Google Images. Need to know the recipe for Long Island Iced Tea? Google.
But, as Dee explained, Google is only the surface. True, for a contemporary writer like myself, I don't have as much need for obscure facts. A historical writer, OTOH, might need to know about native Hawaiian plants in 1850. Believe it or not, there's a book for that. There's also a book that I thought was too cool: Firsts in Hawaii by Robert C. Schmitt. Want to know when the first bikini was worn in Waikiki? It was in the 50s (I don't remember the date now, but we were all kind of amazed on Saturday). There's a book for Hawaii in the movies, a book for the journals of New England missionaries to Hawaii, a war records depository at UH, and several small historical libraries with original documents scattered across the island (the libraries, not the documents). 🙂
Now, since most of us aren't writing about Hawaii, how about some other info? Well, did you know that your public library often subscribes to the online scholarly databases like Lexis Nexis and EBSCO and that access is free? Sometimes, you can even get to the databases without leaving home. Go to the library's website and see if you can't login (in the Hawaii system, we have a barcode and pin number). I get all the databases I want through my university, so haven't actually tried the library access (though of course I have a library card!). I was pleased to know they had it (perhaps I'm the only one who wasn't aware–duh).
And, while you're not leaving home, try the Librarians' Internet Index. How do you know you can trust the info you find on the web? Well, if you find it through LII, you can trust it. These sites are juried by librarians, so the content is trustworthy. You can also subscribe by email or RSS to their newsletter. Pretty cool, huh? I think I spent a couple of hours Saturday evening clicking on websites. Just what I need, another distraction. 🙂
That's about all I processed, though I did take notes! Oh, wait, one more thing. If you know an event took place in, say, 1960 and you wanted to find an article about it, most newspapers print an index to the previous year in their January papers. So, if the event occurred in Honolulu in 1960, we'd look at the 1961 January papers to get an index. Sunday papers, usually. 🙂
Finally, make friends with your librarian. And find a good research librarian, in case your librarian isn't a research librarian, and make friends with him or her. They are invaluable, love searching for info, and will probably be happy to help if you are nice (though of course there are grumps out there too; skip the grumps and find someone nice). 🙂
Mar 4, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I'm off to the Aloha Chapter meeting today! We meet from 10-12 on the first Saturday of the month at the Aina Haina Library. Today, chapter member, author, and librarian Dee Buckingham (if that wasn't enough stuff, she's a sweetie to boot!) is giving a talk about research. How to do it, how not to do it, where to find it, etc. I'm looking forward to this because when I asked Dee a question once, she sent me about twenty links. 🙂 Sounds as easy as Google, right? Nope, it was more complicated and involved library databases.
Anyway, here's a recent pic of Dee signing her new release, POISONED PALMS, a mystery about the murder of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford. Naturally, Dee based this story on an interesting bit of research that just wouldn't leave her alone.
L to R: Bonnie Kuchler, Dee Buckingham, Alison Anteau (Barnes and Noble Community Relations Manager), and Lynn Raye Harris
Dee busily signing….
POISONED PALMS is published by Island Heritage Press.
Mar 3, 2006 | Uncategorized |
But first, a weather rant. I think I've moved back to Germany, except that it isn't as cold. Seriously, Germany can go for weeks with no sun, low lying gray clouds, rain and more rain. People who aren't used to it get depressed. I used to love it, though it took me awhile.
Now I live in Hawaii, land of aloha and sunsets. Nuh-uh. Not for the past three weeks. Rain, rain, low-lying gray clouds, no sun (or spots of sun). I feel like I never moved! Except it alternates between chilly and humid outside, which is different than Germany for sure.
It's hard to feel sorry for anyone who lives in Hawaii, I know, but consider this advice: never plan your vacation for Hawaii in February. In fact, it's best to avoid the winter months all together (Dec-Feb especially). We had a beautiful December in 2005. 2004 was horrible. You just can't predict it, so come in the spring and summer when the weather is better and the tourists aren't so many.
I know that has nothing to do with writing, but I'm tapped out today. Well, except for this interesting little article I came across at the New York Times: From Blogger to Publisher. Apparently, for a mere $30, you too can turn your blog into a keepsake book! Yes, one more thing to clutter your shelves!
Pricing for printed versions of your book from Blurb starts at $30 for an 8-by-10-inch full-color hardcover volume with dust jacket and up to 40 pages. A book of up to 80 pages is $3 more. (Blurb plans to eventually offer paperback editions selling for about 30 percent less than hardcover.) Authors will also be able to set up online bookstores through Blurb's Web site.
The software “downloads and reformats the contents of a Web log into a book that bloggers and their admirers can purchase online.” Yep, just what I was looking for. Another way to collect more stuff.
Mar 2, 2006 | Uncategorized |
I think one of the things you have to admit to yourself when doing a writing blog is that unless you've got a book contract, you aren't going to get much traffic. I think it's human nature. We go visit the blogs of people who've published books, or recently sold books, because we're looking for the secret. (This is not to say that all published author blogs get a lot of traffic.) There's no secret here. Not yet anyway. When we head over to JA Konrath's blog, for example, we're looking for things to amaze and inspire us. Joe manages to do that pretty regularly, by the way.
I'm always trying new blogs, refining my list, but I do have some must reads (and yes, I think they're all published/contracted). Many of them you'll find in the sidebar: Alison Kent, Murder She Writes, JA, Miss Snark, Pub Rants, Paperback Writer, Tess Gerritsen. I also like Diana Peterfreund's blog, though I haven't put her in the sidebar yet. Inevitably, from these blogs I find others. Romancing the Blog is great too (see sidebar).
I also have friends' blogs to read, and I love keeping up with them and reading their posts. One of the best for general interest to a wide audience, however, is I See Invisible People. Terry's my friend, but also a great blogger.
So, what makes you want to read a blog? Do you find any value in the blogs of the unpublished? (I have short pieces print published, but by RWA standards I am unpublished. This is fine with me because I don't see it as permanent.) Or do you prefer to read blogs by published writers? Is this simply another way to portion out what may be already limited blog time? If you visit other people's blogs, do you expect them to visit you in turn (I'm not talking about the popular bloggers because they are too busy to be expected to visit everyone who visits them)? Does it bother you if you visit people and they don't return the favor? Do you think there's a club mentality at work in the blogging world? (PBW once likened it to high school.) Any other thoughts?
And thanks for reading. 🙂
