Link

Still not up to snuff, I’m afraid. So, in loo of any actual content from me, check out this site to learn about (among other things) just what the heck “steampunk” is.

Just a Quick Note

Hi folks,

I’m slowly being dragged under the weather and will likely concede defeat by the end of tonight by the evil-doer known as The Common Cold. Or maybe one of its cousins like Upper Respiratory Infection. I dunno. I’m not feeling lousy enough to drag myself to the doctor, but I may have to fall headfirst into bed, self-induce an OTC-medicated coma, and not wake up for a week.

So please forgive me if I disappear for a spell.

Until then, here’s a quickie update: So far, I’ve completed approximately 38,250 words BEAR. Wahoo! I’m trying to stay in the NaNoWriMo mindset and not edit anything that I’ve already written, even if I change my mind about details like how long the hero and heroine have known each other. 4 years? 6? 10? I keep changing it, but that’s just something the “find” function is going to have to take care of once the first draft is done.

It’s harder not to go back than I thought, but I’ve also discovered that editing an unfinished manuscript may have become a procrastination technique for me. Now, when I don’t know exactly what I want to get out of the next scene, I force myself to sit and think it through instead of launching into days of edits. What do I want this next scene to accomplish? What’s the best way to move the plot forward? How can I reveal more about my characters?

So 38,000+ and roughly 52,000 left to go.

Makeup and Me

I stumbled over a blog today featuring this post about “The Unconscious Effect of Women’s Makeup on Men” and found it, naturally, very interesting. The fact that men approached the women with enough regularity to generate a formula for frequency and time surprised me, but then again I’ve never made it a habit to sit alone at bars. Actually, I’ve never really made it a habit to even go to bars. I’ve gone, yes, but never often enough for it to be called a habit. Do women in bars really get approached by men every 17-23 minutes? I’m assuming that the women in the study are attractive with or without makeup, but is it the fact that she’s [I'm assuming] alone  reason enough to approach her? I wonder how many marriages occur between people who first meet in bars.

Sorry. As usual, I digress. The point I wanted to make is that I’ve experienced this first hand. I once worked with a man who, I discovered, only spoke to me when I wore makeup. Now, I don’t wear makeup every day; only when I have the time and inclination to do so. More often than not, I’m au naturel. I should also say that the man in question–let’s call him Fred–never spoke to me in the “Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign” kind of way. 

I just started to notice a pattern. The days when Fred would nod absently in passing and say “Good morning” always seemed to be the days when I wore makeup. As this particular job was unbelievably boring, conducting unscientific sociological studies became a good way to pass the time, so I tested my theory. I tried to keep my behavior consistent between the days I wore makeup and the days I did not, but since individuals aren’t good at interpreting their own unconscious nonverbal cues (ie body language), I can only assume I did okay trying to act “normal”. Still, Fred spoke to me only on the days I wore makeup.

Next, I tried switching my moods. I’d try to be more withdrawn on the days I wore makeup and more withdrawn on the days I did not, but the result was the same. The one consistent factor, it seemed, was the makeup itself. This surprised me, not because he spoke to me only on the days when I wore makeup, but because he seemed at least subconsciously aware that I was wearing makeup. I don’t wear much. In fact, most people can’t tell when I do, even some of my women friends. Just some foundation, a bit of blush, and maybe some mascara before I’d run out the door, but it’s apparently enough to register with men in general on some level.

Men might not be able to tell the difference between fuchsia and magenta, but they can tell when you’ve got on blush. Go figure.

Friday Feature: Wicked Lovely

I first came across this book out in the internet ether. Or, more accurately, out in the land o’ blogs. I can’t remember which blog specifically I first found mention of Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely, but that shouldn’t be a surprise considering I stumbled over three or four others discussing the same. It was just one of those things, you know? You hear about something once, and the next thing you know the chatter lanes seem to be inundated with the same conversation.

Naturally my interest was piqued, especially since all the reviews for Wicked Lovely were favorable. Everyone seemed to enjoy this book. So I’m giving you fair warning now, but I’m not going to be any different from everyone else. I bought this book over the Christmas holidays, intending to add it to my behemoth TBR pile because–well, I have issues, all right?

I brought it home, nibbled on the first few pages, and then ended up devouring the book until the wee hours of the morning. I was originally watching a movie on television with my father, but he ended up ditching me in disgust when most of my attention was riveted to the page and not to the screen. Wicked Lovely is a YA urban fantasy about a teenage girl who’s grown up with the ability to see fairies, but don’t be fooled. We’re not talking Tinkerbell here. Her world is inhabited by a wide assortment of the supernatural that includes both the beautiful and the horrifying, and she’s spent her life pretending not to see them for her and her family’s safety.

The first book of what appears to be a series, Wicked Lovely is overall an excellent and engrossing read.

What To Do with Snippets

What I call “snippets” are actually story ideas. In the Time Before I completed a full manuscript, I’d let myself get dragged around from one idea to another, often completing only a chapter’s worth of pages at the most. I was ambitious. As a kid, I’d bind these fledgling stories with yarn and posterboard, making sure I kept enough sheets of blank paper in the back so I could continue working on them. Needless to say, I never used those pages. The pack rat that I am (or used to be–I’ve gotten much better), I was able to forage those blank sheets years later. To this day, I still have yet to buy another ream of notebook paper.

Since then, I’ve learned that snippets, without proper handling, can act as disguised procrastination tools. Yea! A new story idea! This one’s much more interesting than figuring out how to get Bob out of Ecuador and over to the Pit of Doom in Minnesota using only a shovel and a broken jet ski, so I’m going to go start on the new one instead. I’ll come back for you, Bob. I swear I will.

Poor Bob. He’s the victim of NewIdeaitis, that dreadful condition that afflicts most writers. The mid-manuscript slump comes along, and the poor characters get abandoned for the latest and greatest like a dirty old man who leaves his wife for the babysitter.

I know, I know. All those snippets have that new manuscript smell that’s better than a Cinnabon, but just as one can wreak havoc on your diet, the other can wreak havoc on your productivity. The first step to completing a manuscript is to find a way to filter out those new ideas. This is trickier than it sounds because your subconscious is a tricky, neurotic thing that knows you better than you know yourself. You may tell yourself that you’ll remember this snippet, that you’ll come back to you, but deep down your subsconscious knows better, and you’ll dwell on this new idea until it drives you into the arms of another manuscript.

Yes, you could simply write the snippet down on a slip of paper and file it away, but if you’re like me your subconscious scoffs. “You never file,” it says with the “uh-huh” expression of skeptical teens everywhere. “You’re just going to lose it.” And all this does is give you is a double dose of neurosis. Now you’re not only obsessing about the snippet but about keeping track of the paper the snippet’s written on.

I’ve learned to handle this dilemma in one of three ways. Depending on the snippet, I’ll either create a whole new folder on the computer complete with its own working title, I’ll create a document for it and store it in my “Synopses” folder, or I’ll add it to my on-going list of “Story Ideas”. The size of the snippet itself determines its handling. Obviously, if I only have a one or two line concept, it goes in the preexisting Story Ideas document. If I get hit with characters, setting, dialogue, and the everything in between, it gets its own folder where all scenes and character sketches can find a safe home.

And Ta-da! No more neuroses!

Er, well. One less neurosis anyway.

Sub Subgenres

A conversation this past weekend has me thinking about genres and subgenres. As romance is the overall genre for RWA members, excepting the “novel with romantic elements” folks, the paranormals, historicals, suspenses, and like are all technically subgenres. Easy enough, right?

From there, these subgenres can be further split into various classifications based on specific aspects of the story itself. A historical, for example, may not just be a historical; it can be a Regency, a western historical, a highland historical, and so forth based on location and time period. For the most part, however, a subgenre pretty well defines its niche. Rom-coms, suspense, contemporary, inspirational… they pretty much say it all on their own. Then, of course, are the super fun crossovers that give us such beauties as rom-com historical or inspirational suspense.

But something the Infamous Kate W. said made me pause, and she’s right–the paranormal subgenre covers a lot of ground. Sure, there’s a new split into urban fantasy, most people tend to shuffle vampires off into their own classification, romantic science fiction is what I personally think will become the next Big Thang and falls under the umbrella of a well known genre in its own right, and–arguably–high fantasy was never really lumped into “paranormal”. Some stories, however, lay within the paranormal confines in the loosest of parameters for the simple reason that it doesn’t neatly fall anywhere else. (*cough*BEAR*cough-cough*)

Still, for the sake of clarity, I’d like to humbly offer the following classifications for the paranormal romance subgenre:

ALTERNATE REALITY – Stories set in the contemporary world, Includes:
Urban Fantasy
     –Vampires
     –Werewolves
Futuristic
Psychic
     –Ghost
Time-Travel

ALTERNATE WORLD – Stories set in a world other than contemporary Earth
[High] Fantasy
Alternative Myth
Science Fiction (arguable)
     –Space Opera
Alternative Lore

Simple, yes? *Grins* Okay, so I didn’t really add anything new except for the “Alternative Myth” and the “Alternative Lore”, but I happen to like my list. Alternative Myth, I figure, would be supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and the like who inhabit an alternate world. On the other hand, Alternative Lore is a story that takes place in a setting not unlike your typical fantasy, only without the magic. (I figure my BEAR would go into the Alternative Myth category.)

Now comes the fun part. Let’s cross-genre! Anyone up for an Alternative Myth Inspirational Suspense? Or maybe a Historical Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements? Oh, oh! A Western Historical/Science Fiction Psychic Time-Travel! Yes!

Okay, I’m having waaay to much fun with this.

Odds & Ends

A variety of announcements and tidbits for this beautiful Tuesday:

• Happy Inauguration Day! Regardless of your political preferences, you have to admit that it’s thrilling to witness history in the making firsthand. I get a kick out of the fact that this will become one of those little factoids in children’s history schoolbooks, and very likely a question on their quizzes or tests. (Leave it to me to bring it all back to books!)
• Tracy Wolff has her first single-title out, Full Exposure. I’ve got my copy. Now go out and get your own!
• Lexi Connor has a gorgeous new website. Check it out. Her story blurb for her manuscript BROKEN PROMISES gave me goosebumps.
• Skyler White has a publishing date for her book and Falling, Fly. (I love that title.) I look forward to buying my own copy. Yea, Skye!
• I’m still working on BEAR. Unfortunately, I missed the 50,000 word goal I’d set for the end of December. I should just stop setting goals. They don’t seem to work for me unless there’s some impending punishment or other sort of impetus. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped entirely, however. As of today, I’m up to 33,488 words, and I’ve realized that it’s not going to be category-length after all. I’m also starting to think of different titles, though it’s always going to be BEAR in my mind.
• Revisions for CAROLINA NORTH continues to be ongoing. I’m still only thirty-something pages in, mostly because I’ve been dragging my feet or writing because I prefer that to revising. My goal this year, though, is to finally find an agent, so I have to (have to) get it done and out because the querying process can be looooong.
• I have yet another series idea for a contemporary rom-com that I’m really excited about. Of course, I have a gazillion other stories, some already started, that I need to get to first, but it keeps tumbling about my head anyway. Here’s hoping that I’ll not only get to use it one day, but that I’ll get to sell it.

Cheers!

Friday Feature: Girls with Slingshots

Girls with Slingshots
by Danielle Corsetto

This is a comic that my friend, the Infamous Kate W’s hubbie and the Kung Fu Techie, forwarded along to us. (“Us” meaning Kate and me, not the many voices in my head that tell me to impale carrot slices on toothpicks and line them up in my refrigerator as a warning to all the other demonic vegetables contemplating an uprising and me.) I received the e-mail in the morning and then spent the rest of the day reading every last one of the 600+ archives.

The series is funny and often beautifully rendered, though I should add that some of the comics are neither kid nor work friendly. It is, however, a fantastic way to spend several hours, and the characters are feisty, witty, and endearing, including the mustached, sombrero-wearing cactus that talks with an Irish accent. Yes, I said talking cactus, but somehow it works.

Some of my specific favorites are #24, #73, #219, and #611.

A Prayer

Dear God,

Please let me not suck.

Amen.

P.S. Maybe St. Francis de Sales can lend a hand? Then again, a priest might not be the best fella to help with a paranormal romance…

Hypergraphia–Or, There’s a Name for This?

I stumbled across this article at PsychologyToday.com, which discusses a condition called hypergraphia, which is defined as the uncontrollable compulsion to write. Naturally, this fascinates me. I can relate to the late night scribblings, and I have pens and little notebooks stashed in my car for those quick red-light notes. The last time I bought a purse, I picked the one I did because I realized that I could fit an entire spiral in it.

This doesn’t mean I believe I have hypergraphia, however. Sure, I’ve already made contingency plans for emergencies. If I’m ever stranded on a deserted island, for example, I plan on blackening the tips of branches to create make-shift pencils and then writing on rocks until I can figure out that whole making-paper thing. Having that Plan B makes me feel better.

I do not possess a constant and daily compulsion to write something, and while I’d normally tack “unfortunately” at the end of that clause, I’ve had second thoughts. Yes, I’d love the ability to write every day in theory, but here’s yet another example of how something taken in excess can be a bad thing. Let’s just say I’d prefer to spend Christmas with my family and not the computer, and I’d prefer not to have to write on my arm because paper wasn’t handy. There’s a difference between a compulsion and dedication, even though I admire those who’ve been able to make it work for them.

Okay, so the thought of the world’s ink supply suddenly running out brings on a mild panic attack, I carry spirals or notebooks with me wherever I go, and I have so many notes and bits of paper with thoughts, ideas, and sayings scribbled on them that I have to force myself to cull them twice a year to save space, but I don’t have a problem. No, really. I can quit whenever I want. In fact, I’ve gone months without writing before. Of course, it does affect my personality when I go without for that long, but it’s not a compulsion. I think.

This a problem (or a blessing) for anyone out there?

For more information, here’s another article from the Harvard Gazette, and yet anotherfrom the oh-so-reliable Wikipedia.