Monday, September 25, 2006

THE KEEPER SHELF

Hoo boy ... it's been a tough day.

I've been going through my bookshelves, trying to make room for recently-read books, and maybe sandwich some of my to-be-read pile up there, too, as it's been towering and tottering for quite a while now. You know what that means?

Yep. Clear out some of the books I've already read.

I'm a pack rat, and things like this just stick in my throat. Especially with books, because as a writer, I'm always thinking, I might want to refer back to that sometime, to see how the author did such-and-such....

Gulp. Time to get real. I'm really only likely to do this with my favorite books, right? That leaves a lot of books that pleased me as I read them, but I'm not likely to hand them off to friends or go back to review the writer's technique. So a lot of the old ones have got to go. And what does that leave?

Here's the pleasant part. It leaves me with a "keeper" shelf of books I can view with real enjoyment, because each glance at a spine leaves me with a moment's memory of the time I spent with those characters. I've made a lot of nice additions in the past year or two -- books that I'm happy to keep around. Some, but not all, are listed as favorites in my Blogger profile.

What does your keeper shelf look like?

Friday, September 22, 2006

CHECKIN' IN

Okay ... deep breath ... time to start the clock ticking on my latest wip.

I'm participating in Trish Wylie's "Book With Trish" workshop, and I've decided to poke my head up and post my progress. I'm on Chapter One with approximately 17 out of 200 pages written ... the trouble is, those last three pages keep asking to be re-written. I'm still in the early stages of defining the hero, heroine and their conflicts -- but doggone it, they WILL figure out what to say to each other!

I've set up a challenge for myself because my heroine is very different from the ones I've written before. I guess that's because I've usually started creating my heroines from the inside out. I've thought of a situation, then conceived the character to put into it -- and okay, I'll admit it, her reactions are similar to the way I would respond if I had her situation and background.

Christie, from LOVE ON THE AIR, is similar to me, but younger, spunkier, more ambitious. Meg, in MEG'S CONFESSION, is similar to me, but a LOT more self reliant, because she's had to be. Lindsay, from my yet-to-be-sold Christmas book, contains a lot of my uncertainties....

But not Yvonne.

Yvonne is the heroine's friend in LOVE ON THE AIR. I needed a co-worker, started typing, and she just turned around and walked right off the page. I saw her so perfectly from the outside -- now is my chance to get IN there and see what makes her that way!

She's beautiful and she knows it, but she doesn't make a big deal out of it -- she's got too much to do. Unlike my other heroines, she's the kind that wears high heels and paints her nails on a regular basis. Even though she's got to redo the polish every couple of days because her hands are busy, and that polish gets nicked up, which drives her nuts. However, she could NOT be bothered to go to a salon and pay money for acrylic nails.

And of course, a different heroine demands a different type of hero. HE's been proving himself much harder to write!

How much do your heroines resemble you? Do they share any of your weaknesses? Do they have strengths you wish you had? 'Fess up, now....

Friday, September 15, 2006

I SHOULDN'T ... BUT I MUST

Yes, I've blogged before. Somewhat unsuccessfully. On my first blog, I felt like every post should contain some significant Words of Wisdom, so a lot of entries got first-drafted, but never perfected enough to post. Then spammers ate the blog site. I took this as a sign from On High that blogging wasn't for me.

Plus, I really should spend that time working on my actual WRITING.

But oh, the temptation....

Some of my friends have a lot of fun on their blogs (I'll try to figure out how to post their links soon!). Now, Trish Wylie of The Pink Heart Society has started a write-a-book workshop, while actually daring to post a meter that shows how far she's gone on her own work in progress. And hey, whaddaya know, I'm on Chapter One of my current wip.

So here I go. I'll try to find a way to post that progress meter here, and I'll even try to tell the truth on it. This blog, rather than being an attempt at semi-weekly Words of Wisdom, will be an informal journal, mostly about my writing life, but don't be surprised if my family shows up too. After all, they're the ones who put up with me.

I'll do my best to keep it interesting. But fair warning: any Words of Wisdom will be purely accidental.