For the Criminally Inane

I read this book, "A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Why we read Jane Austen" about, imagine this, Jane Austen's writing. One of the essays really hit me. The author talked about how Austen used an emotional description in her writing. This is really more powerful than describing every little detail because it allows the reader to imagine the hero/heroine in her mind, but with the careful guidance of the writer. What does Darcy look like? Well, now he looks like Colin Firth to the majority of the people out there, but before A&E's adaptation, what did he look like? Whatever I wanted him to look like, imposing figure maybe, but it more of what I felt about him. I knew him emotionally not from a line up of guys. I knew that he needed to be respected, that his presence commanded respect. Well-groomed, perhaps because he was wealthy. We know people who are rich and how they wear their clothes, so we can imagine what he was wearing without being explicitly t...

I think they are finally polished enough to let them go out into the world. I wonder if mom's feel this way when they send their kids off to college? Kindergarten? Yeah. Had to reorder my chapters yesterday on my story after my amputation of 30k words. When I'm done with this one, I think I'll start revising, reworking my humorous book about a girl heroine. Or write another one. I've got tons of ideas I'd love to start working on. I wish my hubby had the time to collaborate on a middle-grade fiction idea. He's the one with the humor!

I've been on a reading frenzy lately. I've been writing too, don't worry, even 8.5 months pregnant, I don't neglect my writing. Read "If I Tell You I Love You, I'd have to Kill You" by Ally Carter. When I read the back cover, my first reaction was, "Man, I wish I'd thought of this brilliant idea!" Now that I've read it, I'm glad I didn't. Ms. Carter did an excellent job! I found her voice engaging, her characters fun and the plot hilariously outrageous. Having said that, I was a little sad that the boyfriend, Josh, was a little two-dimensional. Sure, he was a nice, sweet, forgiving boyfriend, but I'm not sure he had much personality. But really, reading back on my jr. high journals, I really didn't know the boys I had crushes on. I mostly saw that they were hot, and hoped for this ideal that couldn't possibly be expected of a young kid at that age. Anyway, I enjoyed it so much, I think I'll try submitt...

I've decided to work on my signed author collection. I have four books right now. I'm hoping to have another by the end of the week. This is a huge commitment right now considering our budget. So, I went to see Holly Black of Spiderwick Chronicles and Cassandra Clare when they came to our local library. I was astounded when on the cover of Clare's paperback I saw a blurb by Stephanie Meyer. I was not surprised she blurbed it, but I was surprised that under Ms. Meyer's name was "Author of Twilight." Like we have to be told? My husband is my preview reader. He's going to read the Clare book and let me know if it's something I would like to read. (I'm a bit of a sensitive reader. In my present condition, I cannot read anything sad or depressing. ) Anyway, he reads a good deal, too, and wrote two novels when he was 14. Completed, though not edited or revised or even rewritten, but that's still a heck of a lot more than some people can boa...

Now I have two versions of my story. One that is 20k words and one that is 79k words. I think if I can meld them together, I might have a pretty good story. One comment from my brother in law, when he read it. He said, I wanted more. Surely, with nearly 80k words he didn't mean more plot, I think he meant more depth. So, instead of breadth, I tried in my 20k version to make it deeper, more intense feeling. More personal thoughts, less action. We shall see how it turns out. I went back to the first version and cut it to 63k words and am infusing it with depth--maybe.

So, I read this blog entry on why I should write because I have a passion, not because I want to make money by publishing. I thought that was the stupidest thing ever! I mean, you should do whatever you do (work etc) because you love it. If you aren't, then you are in a temporary job. But what gets me is that he makes the argument that you shouldn't write or just write to get published. Maybe he's trying to rationalize why he's not published or discourage people from trying to have their work published. But to that I say, that's like telling someone who has studied a role in theater, went to every rehearsal, went through the make up and costume routine never to perform. Nobody would want to do that, even if they loved theater. Why? Because part of the passion is sharing . If you don't want to share your craft, you do not have passion. So, yes, I love to write. Yes, I feel there is personal fulfillment just in the journey. But I have a goal, a destinat...

You know what tempts me the most? Beautiful, calm sunny days. I sit here on my computer feeling the energy invigorate the outdoors, calling me to come play. During the winter it's easy to sit cozy under blankets and my warming laptop, gratefully thinking I don't have to go anywhere. But nice days, are such a distraction. There's shopping to be done, parks to go to, yard work to do, friends to see, heck, even playing in the back yard sounds fun. But self-discipline overrides them all! Hahahahahhaha! Or is it boohooohooohooo?