Change of Direction

I just deleted over two thousand words. It stings a little, but the story will be better for it. I got a better idea, which meant I had to toss the old stuff. Everything I wrote previously on Nano is now in the 'delected scenes' area, and I'm ready to move forward with this newer, better plan.

As much as I hate deleting, I love this new direction my book is taking. Love it, love it.

And now, back to work. :whipcrack:

(Yes, I know... I'm supposed to be editing on the weekends. I did a chapter of Manhunter - really I did - and then a whole new beginning for the WIP jumped out of nowhere, and I was off. For the record, I love that, too.)

Character Ethnicity

Okay, so I didn't get any new words in yesterday. In my defense, I did get the blurb for RTL rewritten (if anyone wants to see it, let me know) and I mowed the lawn. Doesn't sound like an overly taxing day, but since I hadn't mowed in two weeks and we got a lot of rain during those two weeks, it was like hacking my way through the Amazon. Not pretty. I also got a handful of splinters trying to move an old pallet out of my way. Lovely.

But enough needless whining... I still should've worked. I have the start of my next chapter in my head. I have my first dead body and I know where I'm going with it. (That didn't sound right.) I've done some in-depth research into my villain's background, and I know what has to be done.

Which brings me around to the subject of the day. Character ethnicity. My villain has to be from another country. It has to be a country wrought with civil unrest and senseless wholesale slaughter. But it also has to be a country where a brilliant mind could conceivably be raised, and from where that brilliant mind could escape to go to college in America. I finally settled on one of the many war-torn nations in Africa. (Yes, I could've gone eastern Europe, but you don't hear about the Bosnians or Serbians or whatever coming here to go to school.)

So, since I am not African, and I don't ever plan to travel to Africa, I have a lot of research to do. Hell, it took me almost an hour to figure out what the guy's name was. (Obviously Joe Smith wasn't going to work here.) Did you know they have different names for each little region, and then for the religious backgrounds of the people in those regions? Learning this lead to more research so I could pinpoint exactly where the guy was from and what his religious tendencies were just so I could find a first name for him. And surnames? Fuggetaboutit. I had to find actual people from that region and then borrow a last name that fit with the first name I'd picked (based on the meaning... I love name meanings... but I digress).

I know it's going to be a stretch for me. Write what you know isn't going to work here. If I stuck to what I knew, all my characters would be of German ancestry with a sprinkle of American Indian. Heinrich Dances-with-Sauerkraut doesn't quite do it. Although... the villain could be killing people with an overdose of fattening food... Ahem. Not. Besides, Die Hard nailed German villains, and plus it wouldn't really work for my purposes anyway. Germany hasn't had civil unrest since we kicked the crap out of that psycho back in the '40s and we got the damn wall torn down in the '80s.

Which means I'm stretching myself to write an African villain.

You know, sitting here thinking about it, I've never really cared what my characters ethnicity was. Oh sure, I have an hero of Irish ancestry in RTL, but that's more because I liked the name than because Ireland is in any way important to the piece. In my WIP, the heroine has Polish roots for the same reason. (Actually, for her, I borrowed the name from a customer I had back in Michigan. I don't think he'll mind. His name fits, and he's a cool guy.) I never really cared because usually it's not important. This time, I need him to be from where he's from.

So, I put it out to you. Does character ethnicity make a difference to a reader? As a writer, do you think about what the ancestry of your character is? Does it make any difference whatsoever?

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We Have A Winner

I think I got it figured out. Turns out the whole 'blurbing' idea wasn't as futile as I thought. While I watched Top Chef last night, I wrote out the two main ideas I have swimming in my head.

As I suspected, the heart idea isn't ready to be written yet. Too many questions left unanswered or unanswerable at the present time. Which is a bummer. I still love the premise, and the characters are so alive to me, but I'm not there with it yet. (If that makes any sense.)

On the other hand, the second and far more commercial idea came out last night. I don't have all the plot points nailed down yet, but I have a good grasp on the villain - his goal, motivation, conflict thingy-ma-bobber. I have some good ideas about the hero and the heroine. Now I just need to start writing and let the story work itself out.

So, I guess the winner is.... :drumroll:... Nano. (Working title, folks. For personal and entirely childish reasons, I can't market this book under that name. Long story.)

It's going to be a romantic suspense/borderline thriller. (With techno elements.) Think Allison Brennan meets Michael Crichton.

Of course, I still need to do the editing. The plan then is to go back to my old schedule - new words during the week, edit on the weekends. That should keep me writing without feeling guilty about not doing the work that needs to be done.

Now, you tell me... What's news in your world?

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Heart or Wallet?

Okay. I'm still trying to figure out which project to jump into next. (I got over the life-burp from yesterday.) I have several I could be working on right now, which leads me to the subject of today's post.

If you had a choice, would you write the book of your heart or the book of your wallet?

Now, if you're not catching my meaning here, the book of your heart is one you're not sure you could sell, but you love the idea of it. The book of your wallet is, of course, the idea you're pretty sure is going to make you some money. You may love the idea of this book, too, but that's not the point. (I guess you could have a book that fits both your heart and your wallet, but I'm not in that place right now.)

So, what I've got is a couple highly marketable ideas, and one book whose premise is totally off the wall. Eventually, I'm going to write them all, but which one should I do now?

Hmmmmm.....

One thing I decided to do was right a blurb for the heart book. I guess I figured if I could blurb it, it was ready to be written. Umm, yeah. It's not blurbing for me. (This may not mean anything, though. I know some authors who write the blurb or the synopsis first, but my writing synapses don't work that way.) I did spend about an hour, and got a fairly good outline of the beginning, but the rest is dragging its feet.

On the other hand, I already have a hefty chunk and an outline for one of the commercial novels. I have a pretty good idea for the premise of another (although that one keeps shifting between two alternate means of getting from point A to point B). Both of these could sell.

The other book? Not so much.

But it's been kicking around in my skull for a couple of years now, and frankly, it's becoming a bit of a pest in there.

I'm not usually this indecisive. Really. So, I'm asking you. Since I have some free time, and I'm not nailed to a contract or anything yet, which direction do you think I should go? Write one of the commercial novels or stick with the bizarre one that won't leave me alone?

Or should I give writing new words a break and just get some editing done? (Truth be told, I love writing new words and I love editing, I just love new words more. Maybe that'll be another post...)

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Derailed and Sundry Thoughts

Dontcha just hate when your train of thought (or of life) gets derailed? So, as much as yesterday I wanted to work , I don't want to work tonight.

In honor of not working, I'd like to give you some random thoughts:

Spam... More than being just an annoyance in our email boxes (or a tasty potted meat product), it can actually be useful. (I'm not just talking about the Viagra or the cheap 'Rolex' offers here.) You see, I've been getting a couple of spams a day in my gmail account, and I noticed something the other day. Spam is a great source for character names. This evening I got an email from 'Rupert Ricks'. Doesn't he just sound like the villain of a historical? Too bad I don't write historicals. If you do, feel free to use it.

On the subject of names have you ever met anyone with a really unfortunate name? My father supposedly went to school with a gal by the name of Lorna Lipschitz. That poor girl must've been teased to her wits' end. I've met some really poorly named people, but I'll refrain from mentioning them here. They know who they are, and really, why add to their suffering. How about people who should've had normal names but their parents couldn't spell? I one knew of a guy named 'Brain' and another named 'Adrain'. And who... who I say... decided that Simian was a good name for a baby? Simian Rice, the football player, immediately comes to mind. Did his parents not know that Simian means 'ape' or did they not care?

I wonder about these things sometimes.

Off on the subject of kids. Yesterday I saw a little girl--she couldn't have been four--riding her bigwheel down the middle of the street. She rolled right into the intersection, without looking, and hung a Louie. No one went after her. No adults were visible. I watched for several minutes and no one went looking for her. I assume she decided to take her bigwheel for a spin around the block, because she never came back. I also didn't hear of her ending up as some idiot's hood ornament, thank goodness. (This is a small town. I would've heard.) When my daughter was that age, she wasn't allowed outside without my supervision, and she was never out of my sight even then. (And I had a fenced in yard.)

Onto other stuff, did anyone watch the Libertarian Presidential Debate and Election? It was on CSPAN this weekend. I'm not a Libertarian, but I wanted to see what they had to offer. It wasn't pretty. One candidate was a glad-handing, smarmy thing - stereotypical 'politician'. Plus, you know how the old adage is to watch out for people whose eyes are too close together? Well, this guy had one eye that was bigger than the other. It was truly bizarre. Another candidate had really really bad hairplugs. (Poor guy.) The only female candidate was for anything anyone else was for. She just wants everyone to get along. One of her most memorable statements was along the lines of 'People shouldn't make judgements.' And then she promptly made a few. One of the state reps looked like a cartoon mouse I remember from childhood. Another guy looked like a hippy version of Santa. Don't get me wrong. I see just as many loons when I watch the other political parties. I make my little observations all the time. My husband just laughs. He's awesome that way.

I'm an observer. I watch. I listen. Have you ever spent some time watching CSPAN? Some of those senators need personal shoppers. Seriously. Who buys their ties??? Some of the members of government are strange looking, too. One guy looks like he crawled out of a Dr. Seuss book. He scares me. Remember when we were kids and some classmate would tape the end of his nose to his forehead? That's what this guy looks like. I swear you can look right up the guy's nose. To borrow a often used word from my teen: "Gross".

Or have you ever spent some time reading the ticker on any news network (including ESPN)? The typos are killer, but sometimes the clarity of meaning truly stinks. I wish I could think of some examples, but they escape me right now. Watching those really gives one perspective on how NOT to write, though. I know I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, but I'm also not getting paid to write copy for CNN or MSNBC. I hope to someday get paid to write, so I try to keep my writing error-free. I don't, however, get paid to blog, so I don't watch myself as closely here. (And I don't proofread before I post - shame on me.)

I expect (hope?) that someday I will be on television somewhere talking about my books. Maybe someone watching will notice something odd about me, maybe point it out to their family and they'll all have a good laugh. Have fun, folks.

Oh, and just so you don't think I'm a total ass, I don't make fun of people with actual physical defects or disabilities. That's not fun, and those people can't help it. (I know the one senator can't help the way he looks. I don't joke about him. He scares me.)

In closing, I will leave with this final thought from Steven Wright: On the other hand... there are different fingers.

Good night, and don't forget to tip your waitress, folks. (Just remember to set her upright again before you leave.)

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Keyboard Withdrawal

This is the third night I haven't written. Saturday night was a necessity--I was braindead. Last night was weird. Tonight, I'm beginning to suffer Keyboard Withdrawal. Every cell is telling me I should be sitting here writing. When eight o'clock hit, I actually got ready to write--until I remembered that I finished and I'm supposed to be taking a break. I meant to take a week off, but I don't think I'm going to last that long.

I want to write. I don't even have another book in the shute and ready to start, but I'm itching to work. *sigh* So much for a break. Eh, I'll take a break when I'm dead.

Sooooo, what now?

I don't want to touch Manhunter yet. It's needs time to simmer. If I jump into it now, I won't see the things that need to be fixed because I need the objectivity time brings. Not a whole lot of time, mind you. That's one of the great things about brain damage--a week is enough time for me to forget how married I am to a sentence. I'll probably take two, just to make sure though.

That leaves me with two... no, three... options.

1) Get back to work on the cute mystery novel that may or may not work into a series.
2) Edit the mystery I never quite finished because I fell out of love with it, even though it still deserves to be finished and published.
3) Hit on a whole new idea and get wrapped up in the first blush of new love again. (Except I'm not really feeling the attraction to anything in my idea file.)

Or, I could do something really odd and pick #4. Number four would be going back to one of the stories I barely started and see what I can make out of the pages I already have.

You see, I still love Redemption, even though I'm not quite sure how to make it work. I could probably sink my teeth into that one fairly easy and I loved writing it. I still have the hots for Nano, too. It's more a techno-thriller, and it's got teeth. Then I also have the one book where I wrote the beginning and the end, but never got around to the middle--the one that if I smushed the end into the beginning it would make an awesome short story. On the other hand, if I actually wrote the middle, it would stand as a novel. (I know that sounds weird, but you'll have to trust me on the fact that it would work. It's a different kind of story.)

And then there's the memoir I've been playing around with. Oh, plus the historical piece loosely based on my grandfather and his children in 1930s Detroit.

Ummm, yeah...

Time will tell what I'll do. All I know right now is I have to work soon before the DTs get me. If you ask my husband, I'm sure he'll tell you I'm already starting to get a little fruity.

And it's only been three nights.

Ack

Memorial Day.

I was going to write a big Memorial Day Post today, but in the gray light of morning, I'm just not up to the emotion of it. Suffice it to say, I love America and I'm proud to be an American, and I sincerely appreciate everything every member of the military--all the way back to before it was a country--has done to keep this country free.

Nuff said.

First Draft Finished

Man am I tired. Over 7200 words today, which is like some kind of record. (At least for me it is. I don't know about anyone else.) And I got to type THE END.

Now for a brief musical interlude while my brain leaks out my ears...

I said that I would do it. I knew it, I knew it. I said that I would do it and indeed I did.

Have a good weekend everyone. I'm going to go collapse somewhere.