Still Working

And still stressy. So much stuff to do: work, write, prep for agent/editor meets, work some more, fulfill BDG orders, visit friends, work even more, go to Greece, and then work to pay for that trip. There's always so much to do before vacation and then all this work is hitting the week before. Aaaahhhh!!!

But it's all good stuff. Really. I'm just feeling crabby because I'm tired. And I always spazz before a trip. It's a given.

I went to a silent auction this weekend. And my very supportive husband was talking to a man at the event about how I write paranormal romance. The man got very excited and told us how he loves paranormal romance and reads them on the Metro going to work. Of course, he hides up the covers because he doesn't want people to judge him (a fact that sort of frustrated me), but at least he admitted it to strangers and with such animation. We talked for awhile about these books and then he asked me something I found interesting:

"Why do all the heroines feel guilty about being with the men in the paranormal romances?"

I'm sure there's usually more to it than feeling guilty about being with the men. Issues that happened in their past. Or circumstances that keep them apart. But usually by the end of the story, they overcome their problems and give into the relationship. I don't know, but I thought it was interesting and while I read my next paranormal I'll be considering his question and see if it holds true.

What do you think? Is it just paranormals or a lot of other genres as well?

Work and More Work

I've been working a lot and been el' sicko lately, hence the lack of blogging. Not sure where my days have been going, except passing me by in some kind of blinding speed of light, much like a tornado picking me up from my bed in the morning spinning me around and then tossing me somewhere in the vicinity of my bed by the evening, usually on my head or my butt. Though nowadays I can't much tell the difference between either.

I am however attending the WRW Retreat. Another reason for all the working so I can pay for that and my vacation, which was already booked last year before all my financial craziness ensued. Ack!

(Lizzy, please forgive for not calling about this. It was a last minute decision—literally 2 days prior—and I totally forgot to tell you until it was too late [too much going in my brain and not enough going out]. I'm such a dweeb. Forgive me :( ])

So I'm thrilled about that. Now I just need to get my latest and greatest in shape to pitch and between working on site and the working on Billion Dollar Graphics, my writing has gotten pitched to Oz along with Dorothy and Toto.

But I'm blogging, and that's a step. I was making progress before my week o' hell and getting up early to write before the tornado sweeps me away, but I'm not as far along as I'd like to be. I'm hoping to settle more into a routine once I kick this lingering cold, which won't go away. Ugh!

Anyway, Karen suggested writing about superpowers ... because ... that's what my latest book is about—a league of superheroes. I had the idea over a year or so ago and I've developed the synopsis and a lot of points on it, so I've very excited. Which has led me to thinking, geek that I am, what my superpower would be.

Hmmmm ....

I though it might be cool to do everything, like Peter from Heroes, who can assume others' powers after having been in contact with them. Now he has a vast collection of powers. But I think that might require too much multi-tasking for me.

I had a dream years ago where I could phase through things, like Kitty Pride from X-Men. It was a lot of fun in my dream. So maybe something along the lines of alternating my molecules to allow myself to phase through walls and objects and maybe even turn invisible.

I just think I could have a lot of fun with that one. :P

What about you? What would be your superpower?

What Dreams May Come

Okay, so I know that dreams only sound interesting to the dreamer. But I had a scary dream last night and it was so cool.

Yes ... I know ... excited about scary dreams? What's up with that?

Well, I get some of the best ideas from dreams and mostly nightmares. Lately, for whatever reason, I haven't been dreaming or remembering my dreams, which has put a crimp in my creativity.

Last night I dreamt I went to a haunted house. It had the normal scary ghost children playing with old-fashioned toys, who threatened to kill me as their eyes glowed read; however, what was really creepy was the master bedroom. It was a rainy day in my dream and the curtains were open and what little light made the room seem grey. I flicked on the light, and the room went totally black. Instead of the light illuminating the room, all of the light was sucked out. I slowly backed out of room, knowing that something was lying in wait inside the darkness, and ran like hell out of the house.

Then I woke up.

Totally need to use that in one of my stories.

Plugging Away

I'm plugging away on the writing front. I'm working on a rough (emphasis on rough) draft of a synopsis for my latest story. I've gotten more feedback on it and wrote out my goal list to have the first three chapters polished and a synopsis finished by WRW's Retreat (even though I'm still now sure if I can afford it—ugh!). But it's nice to have goals. Now it's just the sticking to them that is hard, which is why I'm telling all of you. I'm accountable not only to myself but to all those who are reading my blog. You have a right to taunt me if I don't do it. :)

Has anyone seen No Country for Old Men? It's one of those movies, at least for me, which I need to discuss with someone else who loves to pick apart movies and books. When I attended the Michael Hauge workshop on story structure, we talked about character growth in regards to identity and essence and two of five things you need to do to make your audience in tune with your main character. It did follow the structure of showing current situation and having something happen which creates a new situation, then a point of no return, climax, etc. But I'm wondering if the main character whose growth is chronicled is actually Sheriff Bell and not Llewelyn (Josh Brolin), whom I originally thought. Also, just before I fell asleep that night, I wondered if the theme of the movie was "the only thing certain in life is death." Because a few characters talked about certainty in regards to what occurs in life.

And can I say that there's nothing worse than a psychotic hitman with his own principles? Javier Bardem was SCARY.

Good Stuff

I really love this little book I mentioned in my comment to the previous blog: It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden, a former Creative Director who now runs a film production company. There was one chapter in particular that stood out to me.

The Person Who Doesn't Make Mistakes Is Unlikely to Make Anything

It goes on to have a few quotes on making mistakes from those who know best and who learned best:

"I haven't failed, I've had 10,000 ideas that didn't work." —Benjamin Franklin

"Of the 200 light bulbs that didn't work, every failure told me something that I was able to incorporate into the next attempt." —Thomas Edison

"There is nothing that is a more certain sign of insanity than to do the same thing over and over and expect the results to be different."—Albert Einstein

Reading and learning about successful people who have made mistakes and still kept following the path to their goal is one way I cope with rejections and my own failures. As the Arden says in the opening pages of the book:

Your vision of where or who you want to be is the greatest asset you have. Without having a goal, it's difficult to score.

Fear Factor

This past weekend I attended a workshop through WRW. It was a fun and very helpful workshop by Denise McInery about using improve to spark your creativity and get to know your characters. But what really resounded with me is something Denise told us about a brainstorming session with a critique group. She said that during the session, many people kept saying, "yes, but ..." to her ideas. It was giving her affirmation and then taking it away at the same time. She didn't write for nearly two months, afraid that her ideas weren't good enough. She'd rewrite a paragraph over and over again because she was afraid that it still wasn't there yet. She said the best anyone can do for other writers is say "yes, and ..." which was part of an exercise we performed. Two simple words can help encourage someone and still add your valuable ideas to the pot. I have been struggling lately with rejections. I've gotten a lot of "yes, but ..." and now I realize why I've been avoiding putting the pen to the paper.

I'm scared.

I'm afraid that I don't have what it takes. I'm afraid that I'm going to fail again. This fear is paralyzing and annoying. But now that I recognize it, I can work to overcome it and change my perspective.

"Fail. Fail again. Fail better."—Samuel Beckett

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

A little late, I know. I had this whole dinner thing planned for my husband when he came home from work. And it took FOREVER for me to buy the food, prepare it, and then have everything served up (including me) in perfect timing for when he walked through the door. Honestly, I wouldn't get anything done if I had to cook huge meals every night. Luckily, I'm very adept at pushing microwave buttons. :P

In honor of Cupid's big day, I wanted to share some cool quotes that have to do with love or ... close enough:

"Death cannot stop true love; it can only delay it for a little while." —The Princess Bride

"The odds may be good, but the goods are odd." —(can't remember but love this one)

"A man in the house is worth two on the street." —Mae West (she was the original cool chick)

"Love is a battlefield." —Pat Benetar

"I'd rather spend a lifetime with you then to live all the ages of this world alone."—Lord of the Rings

"You have bewitched me, body and soul."—Pride and Prejudice

"A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears."—Woodrow Wyatt

"I feel like a million, but I'll take one at a time." —Mae West

"He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals. "—Benjamin Franklin

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung .... All you need is love."—The Beatles

"Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses."—Dorothy Parker

"Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained."—William Blake

"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth."—Benjamin Disraeli

"Anyone who marries for money earns every cent of it."—Anonymous

"Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."—Robert Browning

"However far away, I will always love you."—The Cure

"I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."—When Harry Met Sally