15-Minute Monday

There’s a skunk that lives near my house. This Pepe wanders around close enough (do the have to be close?) to wake me EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

(Oh! I forgot to tell everyone I had a dream about the Property Brothers from HGTV the other night. Yes! The skunk woke me from that dream, too.)

Here is my normal night:

Go to sleep. Fall asleep quickly.

Have nightmare.

Wake up.

Cold.

Scared.

Fall asleep.

Toss and turn. Fitful dreams.

Wake up.

Curse.

Go to the potty.

Look at the clock. 12:25.

Shake and repeat.

Almost all night long.

So when I get close to having a pleasant bit of dreamy time–Property Brothers Dreamy Time–and skunk arrives . . . .

Well, I think murderous thoughts. And you can see they’re justified.

This is EXACTLY like our characters. They need to do what they really would do. And they need to be groomed for it in the writing of our novels. If one MC would never jump out of a plane, but must by the end of the book, then you need her to be getting ready for it. If one character has a social anxiety and would never speak up, but must by the end of the novel, then you need them to be taking the baby steps that will get them to this change. If one lady wouldn’t normally think of bagging a wild animal and throwing that very animal next to her worse enemy’s house, then I better get a bag, a protective suit and nose plugs.

There’s hardly anything worse (in reading) (not including a stinking skunk) than getting to the end of a book and saying, “That character would have never done that. Ever.” This means the writer hasn’t done her work. There was no character growth. At least not in the right direction.

And you don’t want to be that writer, do you?

Huh?

Didn’t think so.

 

 

Freaky Friday

Best thing I’ve read all day.

Yes, it is a little after 6 am, but I doubt anything will top this today.

 

https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/wife-lists–utterly-crap–mobile-home-on-ebay-after-husband-s-drunken-buying-spree-004514558.html

 

Too bad the Yahoo! ‘reporter’ doesn’t write as well as the lady selling the camper.

Believe it or not, Ann Dee and I have a camper in our book.

Now all we need is the woman who put this on eBay!

 

Does this help you to be more creative?

Less?

Can you picture a mom in a mid grade who acts like this?

A kid?

A dad?

Oh, man, I can!

Three Thing Thursday

Brenda:

I signed up, months ago, to receive information from The Authors Publish Magazine on line. I don’t think there was any cost to signing up, but I’ve been on their site for a fairly long time. They send out a lot of updates on which publishers are looking for what kinds of materials, and occasional other writing goodies. This week they offered a free pdf down-load for a book they’re calling The Authors Publish Compendium of Writing Prompts.  I’ve already got my copy. It’s 148 pages with various sections: Regular Prompts, Classic Prompts, Prompts for Novelists, and Prompts for Groups — with each of the larger groups having a further break-down of topics. The only thing they wanted back was some information on errors, perceived problems in the book, suggestions of ways to improve the offering, etc., so they can revise and then offer it to the general public again.

For Carol (or any other teachers of writing) this might be a help when you’re looking for something new and fun

and QUICK to do with your writing classes.

And, for the rest of us, we can always use something to jolt us with a few new ideas — check it out and see if they still need some feedback!  The more the merrier, I say!

Cheryl:

With a two-year-old in the house, I eat, breathe, and sleep Disney. 

A SLEEPING BEAUTY story before naptime. TANGLED soundtrack in the car. Princess fruit snacks in the cupboard. And of course, FROZEN dialogue being thrown at me constantly.

So I find myself (unintentionally, I promise) writing Disney fan fiction. Who was Mother Gothel before the sun drop? Why did Ursula live in the castle once, and why did she have to leave? And my personal favorite, why was Hans bullied by his older brothers and how did that shape him into a sociopath?

I love that Disney has such fleshed out characters that every single one could fill an entire novel. Even if they only have a few lines, we understand them. They come to life on the screen.

Do your characters do that? Could your villain have a spin-off novel? What about your secondary characters? In real life, everyone has a story, even if only a few make the headlines. Our novels need to reflect that.

Me:

My newest novel, NEVER SAID, came out day before yesterday.

It’s always exciting when books are ‘born,’ always exciting when they show up at the house and I get to unpack a box and show them off to the family.

But what’s really cool this time was August 25 (the release date) was my beloved Aunt’s birthday. She died unexpectedly a few years back. I’ve thought of her often.

My aunt loved me through thick and thin–and I mean that. Our family was odd, at best. But she always stood by my side.

Life is all about the people we know. Isn’t that a part of why you write? To save people forever?

 

Bits of those we love can wind up in our characters. Aunt Linda informs every good female I write.

I wish she had known.

I wish I had told her.

NEVER SAID is dedicated to LuAnn Staheli. I was able to tell her, just before she died, that she was who I was thinking of as I finished that novel.

Who are the people who inspire you?

Do they know it?

Is it someone from long ago?

A person you love right now?

How do they inform you?

Change your work?

Inspire your characters?

This Gorgie Lady

Yesterday, instead of packing or writing or getting a syllabus ready, I cut my bangs.

Short. Really short.

I’ve always wanted to do it and so I asked the new girl at the hair salon go for it. I even showed her a picture. This picture, actually.

she looked at the is famous, young, gorgie actress and then looked at me and my face and my clothes and the hair growing out my chin and said, we’ll go a little conservative.

Then she gave me a mom cut. I always get mom cuts no matter what I do.

So I kept the mom cut for a few days.

And then, maybe because I was sad, or maybe because I was overwhelmed, or maybe because I really wanted short bangs, I got the scissors and did something I have never done in my life. I cut my dumb own hair.

It doesn’t look gorgie like her and It may look a little Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber but it’s deliberate and it’s different and it’s not a mom cut.

Get your manuscript.

Stop being conservative.

Stop doing what you’re always doing.

Stop letting other people dictate what you do.

Use your gut.

Decide what the book really really really needs.

Get your scissors and stop being scared and go for it. You deserve it and your book deserves it.

The end.

Please let me move to a new house by the end of the week, short bangs and all.