Monday, September 20, 2010
The Manic Start to My Mid-Life Crisis
I spent all day Monday trying to narrow down a topic for this blog. It wasn't pretty.
I considered writing something about our evening at the oceanfront Saturday night watching our brave Navy boys parachute onto the beach covered in glow sticks. (Sadly, they were wearing uniforms as well.) Then spin that into hero talk and get everyone riled up talking about the hotness that is a man in uniform.
But then I thought, “Nah.”
I could talk about the newest member of our family who will be joining us in the new house in a little over a month. That’s right, Bumbles is getting a girlfriend. She’s extremely shy, so the warm up period could be extensive, but I think they’ll do fine. (I’ve posted a pic. Isn't she cute?) I’d then spin this topic into the choice of writing a cat into my MS when I needed the heroine to be talking to someone to reveal some info, instead of dumping it all in narrative. This was a handy trick and Charlotte the Tuxedo cat was born.
But then again, how far could that topic go?
I could write about the new place (we’ll be in by Halloween!) and spin that into talking setting and what a home/apartment reveals about a character. How by giving the heroine a closet full of shoes and a yoga mat might say one thing while revealing that same heroine has a Glock and a bullet proof vest tucked away on the top shelf would say something much more. Then we could swing into chicks that kick ass compared to those use a more subtle approach and lament once again about the ones who are TSTL.
But we’ve been there, done that.
What to do, what to do? *swishes rum around in her glass* That’s when it hit me. *ducks a flying banana* Very funny, you stupid monkey. That’s when the idea came to me that I’m totally scattered and floating in the first current of my mid-life crisis, so I can’t be expected to pick just one topic. I can’t even focus on one thing at a time. If I could, I’d focus on SLEEPING, which I haven’t done for a while.
Here’s hoping I can channel the rest of this crisis into something productive and interesting on paper. For now, answer any or all of these questions. Let’s discuss!
Would you believe in the HEA of a romance where the hero/ine remained on active duty at the end of the story? (In case you don’t know, that means he’d/she’d be around rarely at best. Like, maybe a couple months a year.)
How do you feel about pets in your stories, be they the ones you read or the ones you write? (Hellie hates them, which I’m sure she’ll tell us. In color. *g*)
How do you *show* your reader who and what your hero/ine is? Do you make a special effort to use his/her surroundings? And have you ever, while reading a character, been surprised when their home environment was nothing like what you expected?
I considered writing something about our evening at the oceanfront Saturday night watching our brave Navy boys parachute onto the beach covered in glow sticks. (Sadly, they were wearing uniforms as well.) Then spin that into hero talk and get everyone riled up talking about the hotness that is a man in uniform.But then I thought, “Nah.”
I could talk about the newest member of our family who will be joining us in the new house in a little over a month. That’s right, Bumbles is getting a girlfriend. She’s extremely shy, so the warm up period could be extensive, but I think they’ll do fine. (I’ve posted a pic. Isn't she cute?) I’d then spin this topic into the choice of writing a cat into my MS when I needed the heroine to be talking to someone to reveal some info, instead of dumping it all in narrative. This was a handy trick and Charlotte the Tuxedo cat was born.But then again, how far could that topic go?
I could write about the new place (we’ll be in by Halloween!) and spin that into talking setting and what a home/apartment reveals about a character. How by giving the heroine a closet full of shoes and a yoga mat might say one thing while revealing that same heroine has a Glock and a bullet proof vest tucked away on the top shelf would say something much more. Then we could swing into chicks that kick ass compared to those use a more subtle approach and lament once again about the ones who are TSTL.But we’ve been there, done that.
What to do, what to do? *swishes rum around in her glass* That’s when it hit me. *ducks a flying banana* Very funny, you stupid monkey. That’s when the idea came to me that I’m totally scattered and floating in the first current of my mid-life crisis, so I can’t be expected to pick just one topic. I can’t even focus on one thing at a time. If I could, I’d focus on SLEEPING, which I haven’t done for a while.
Here’s hoping I can channel the rest of this crisis into something productive and interesting on paper. For now, answer any or all of these questions. Let’s discuss!
Would you believe in the HEA of a romance where the hero/ine remained on active duty at the end of the story? (In case you don’t know, that means he’d/she’d be around rarely at best. Like, maybe a couple months a year.)
How do you feel about pets in your stories, be they the ones you read or the ones you write? (Hellie hates them, which I’m sure she’ll tell us. In color. *g*)
How do you *show* your reader who and what your hero/ine is? Do you make a special effort to use his/her surroundings? And have you ever, while reading a character, been surprised when their home environment was nothing like what you expected?
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71 comments:
Well, all my heroines sail off with their heroes, or the heroes build them a cabin and they stay on land...
For a short while in the second book, Emily has a pet kraken...until he needs to leave the pond and return to the sea. Not sure what that says about her. Now, I do like pets in stories. Loved Fred tha basset in one of Crusie's stories.
Show the reader by what they keep in their cabin... Nope, don't really go there. Now, saw a lot about Silvestri by the cabin he built... I haven't seen an author not have the home match the character...though Susan Sey sorta did it with the designer wardrobe her heroine kept buried in that closet...
The way Bumbles likes to sprawl and then the new kitty...keep an eye on your feet when you go downstairs in the new place. ;-)
Congrats on the new house!I hope your move is smooth and you find everything you need...I'm still looking for stuff from my move in May, LOL.
1. Yes. I worked with a lot of Navy and Coast Guard couples when I sold real estate. The women actually enjoyed being left alone most of the time, LOL.
2.Animals are okay in stories---I've used them. I guess I don't like them to talk or anything, tho. ;)
3.Too hard to answer. Too lazy. :)
What I hate most is when they slap a dog on the cover of the book, in some lame attempt to compel people to buy it. It's dogs I don't like. And that perpetually living hamster of Stephanie Plum. Cats I don't mind. A ferret would be a nice change of pace. Can't say I'd buy a book where the pet was a snake, due to my terror of the beasts. But I'm just anti-dog. Esp since the majority of these creatures are those ankle biters that come from puppy mills and have about a thousand health problems. If the dog is a mutt, I don't mind as much. I can respect a mutt. Still rather have a cat, but can respect the mutt.
I'd almost rather have a KID in the book than a dog. And I don't want kids littering up my romance novel. Nothing kills romance like a child interrupting your sex ever ten minutes with demands for water.
*LOL* I love Maggie's first answer. I could totally agree with this. I mean, there are times when I wish I had Deerhunter around more, but then there are times when I think, he'd just be having us do something and I'd rather have a nap.
And #3 is too hard. I have white walls in most of my settings--of course I don't think specifically about shit my heroine has and how it shows her. I don't even think about how MY stuff reflects on me. I have a closet full of shoes, a baseball bat by my bed, and pictures I never hang on my walls. In theory this should imply: 1) I like to dress up a lot (nope); 2) I live in a violent neighborhood or have an impish chipmunk who wakes me at 3 am (no and no); 3) I plan to move soon (no.)
All my stuff does is reveal interior stuff about me that most likely would never see light of day, like 1) I wish I were the type who dressed cute all the time and were popular; 2) I'm paranoid; 3) I never think I belong anywhere so I never unpack anything to imply I'm staying.
Terri, are you even *whispers* old *back to normal voice* enough to have a mid-life crisis? :)
And you're just mentioning NOW about watching Navy guys floating from the sky? A real-life version of "It's Raining Men". LOL
I'm not an animal person. . . BUT in my contemp that's out there in the world, there's a cat. It started out as a throwaway line in the beginning, and then ended up being a funny way to help the heroine with her character growth. I don't like cats really, but I got kind of attached to Serena, this snotty fictional one. LOL
until he needs to leave the pond and return to the sea.
Was the pond made of sea water? Or is this a multi-water mythical creature?
And I loathed Fred the Basset Hound, but it's my friend Holly's favorite Crusie book. *LOL*
I can handle her dachshunds, but not a fan of bassets. Except for Flash from the Dukes of Hazzard. Rosco was pretty cute with Flash. He was a fun villain.
Chance - Are you going to tell us WHAT is revealed by the cabin he builds? And the Susan Sey character is a good example. You can also use the home to reveal layers of the character that the reader, and even their counter character, hasn't seen yet.
I do like that book by Crusie - Anyone But You. It's funny how no one ever knows they name, they just know it's Fred's book. LOL!
Maggie - We haven't even begun to pack. But I've been purging drawers and closets like crazy! I have a Navy wife friend here who is ready to divorce her husband unless he retires. Then I have this young downstairs neighbor who took advantage of her husband's constant deployments to party and date. These situations make it harder for me to believe in the perfect HEA if he (or she!) is still full time military.
Donna - If I live to about 80, which wouldn't be bad for a person with bad joints who never eats veggies, then I'm about mid-life. So I'm claiming it. LOL!
I was texting Chance while we were at the oceanfront and she actually said, "Donna is going to be so jealous." LOL! We didn't get close enough to the sand to see them close up, but there was also the Navy band playing and they were quite cute in their little Sailor outfits. (We're talking a cover band, not a marching band. Who knew the Navy had a cover band?!)
This weekend was the Jet Base airshow. Sitting in front of the new house on Sunday, we got to watch the Blue Angels!
Hellie - You're a dog descriminator. (I bet I spelled that wrong.) I have a kid AND a cat. It's a wonder you'll even glance at it.
I believe your answer about your own house just proved my point. LOL!
Dogs are too needy and attention hogging (like kids). I spend a lot of my time yelling (heartlessly), "Look, I don't want to pet you!"
I'm also allergic to dogs. Get me around the right dog and I break out in hives and am completely miserable, while they still insist on cuddling up to me because they need their petting fix. I'm completely miserable. It's awful.
I believe your answer about your own house just proved my point.
Undoubtedly, but I'd never use all that in my book.
Terri, I guess that means I'm going to have to live to 108 then. LOL Or maybe I haven't even MADE it to the halfway point yet. :)
And a Navy cover band? Who woulda thunk it? LOL
Your new place sounds like it has a great view. :) Now I am jealous!
Hellie - I didn't mean include that stuff in a book, I meant using the room to show what the character isn't necessarily revealing. What's on the inside. It's a great way to show and not tell.
I am not suggesting you get a dog, but I have a hard time believing an imaginary dog breaks you out in hives. LOL! Or cuddles up for petting. And "needy and attention hogging" describes half the men I know. LOL!
Donna - They played everything from Brad Paisley to the Violent Femmes. It was pretty cool.
And don't be too jealous. Have you ever lived around a jet base? It's quite NOISY. LOL!
Yeah, but the only thing of the three things you know about me is the paranoid part. The other two wouldn't be clear.
So the revelations are subtle. No reason to make it too easy for the reader...
Terri, I actually grew up by an Air Force base AND an Army base. I'd forgotten how noisy it gets though. LOL I remember my sister and I talking on the phone when we both lived there, and we'd have to stop talking until the planes went past. LOL
So yeah, I guess it's better to just hear the crows cawing their fool heads off, and the annoying chipmunks chirping like they're a dog's chew toy. LOL
the annoying chipmunks chirping like they’re a dog’s chew toy.
I would enjoy having a dog for this reason. A mutt. Not a lazy dog.
See, you know. LOL! I don't hear the chipmunks around here, but they hop through the trees out our living room window (we're on the 2nd floor) and drive Bumblebee crazy.
So they could chew on the chipmunks? LOL
Seriously, on Sunday they about drove me nuts. It was like the Chipmunk Tabernacle Choir or something, and it's the same high-pitched chirp over and over. Aaaugh!
I would totally believe an HEA with an active duty guy. I'm a big believer in absence making a heart grow fonder :) That, and the hubz and I work together, and so NEVER get time apart, and man would I love some. If I could stick him on a ship for six months....
In my first WIP (now firmly under the bed), I used the heroine's apartment. Her bedroom was crammed full of boxes of old magazines (she's a reporter for a news mag like Time), but her walls were painted a sexy red. The hero broke in while she was gone, and so was assuming all these things about her based on her apartment. Not subtle at all, but it did the job. lol
The chipmunks have this whole subterranean colony thing under the sidewalk in the front. I'd actually included them in my blog post yesterday, but took it out -- they are so annoying they might get their very own post. LOL
Hal, I love your story about the hero breaking in and making assumptions based on her apartment. Although now I'm looking at MY place, wondering what assumptions would be made. . .Yikes.
1. Yes. I had three aunts who were married to career military men, and all three marriages were long and happy. One of my oldest friends and her husband recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, and most of those years he was on active duty. In fiction, writers from Jane Austen (Persuasion) to Carla Kelly (most recently Marrying the Royal Marine) have made me believe in HEAs.
2. I like pets--and kids--in stories so long as they serve a purpose. So many of my favorite authors--Georgette Heyer, Jo Beverley, Laura Kinsale, Jennifer Crusie, Elizabeth Hoyt, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and others--have created wonderful aninal characters. I have both pets and kids in my stories--and in my life.
3. I've said before that one of my weaknesses as a writer is including too many details. I spend way too much time cutting. At the same time, as a writer and as a reader, I need enough details to supply context for the characters. I think it says a lot about one of my heroines that she has a weakness for sexy underwear and that another has a necklace, a tiny, silver butterfly, that she always wears. I think the key is choosing the right details. There is a famous example of using the right detail in one of George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia. While fighting in the Spanish Civil War, he is ready to shoot an enemy soldier but hesitates when he sees the soldier pulling his pants up as he runs. That one detail is all Orwell needs to reveal his realization that the enemy is also a human being. The color of the man's hair, his height, his physique--these are all irrelevant for Orwell's purpose.
End of lecture. Sorry!
Hal - You'd miss him within a month and once he came back, you'd never let him leave again. LOL!
I'm absolutely not knocking the military life or suggesting you can't have a HEA if your spouse is in the service. It would just be harder for me to believe one in fiction, based on my personality and the people I know here. Probably would be totally different if I never moved to a military town.
Janga - Picking the right details would be the key. I have to be careful because my tendency is not to pick any details. So this idea of "Where would this character live?" started early with me. When they leave their homes, everything is generic, until they get to another space that belongs to another specific character.
I'm guessing my long desire to have a home of my own might be to blame. We lost our home when I was 8 and I've been longing to get that feeling of home back ever since.
I'm sure there are whole new challenges with being a military marriage -- definitely a "grass is greener" type thing. Not to mention the whole new level of worry that would go along with someone you love being deployed. It's just the idea of sending them away that I love so much :)
I'm big on the concept of "home" too. Mine growing up was not a safe place to be, so now, I'm super anal about my home being safe, secure, clean, quiet and restful. The type of home you're in makes a huge impact on a person's emotional well-being, I think, and so it makes sense to know what a character's home says about them (or what type of emotional need it fulfills).
The John Adams miniseries I've been watching--Abigail Adams is angry with John for leaving again, this time to go to France to secure backing. The opening of the segment had her talking about they'd been married 14 years, but she'd only spent less than 7 of those years in his company.
She's mad, but she sends him off and sends her son too. Later, she and her daughter are in the garden, and the daughter says, "I never thought I'd miss John Quincy (the son)" and Abigail grins. Then the daughter says, "When they come back, we should punish them for leaving us so long." And Abigail says, "When they come back, we'll be so glad to see them, we'll forget we were ever mad at them." *LOL* I just thought it was a very true scene.
The type of home you’re in makes a huge impact on a person’s emotional well-being, I think, and so it makes sense to know what a character’s home says about them (or what type of emotional need it fulfills).
Amen, sister.
Wow, Hal, you hit it on the head for me. Maybe this is why I want so badly to give my daughter a real feeling of home. Safety and security and something cozy and personal. I have this picture of her coming home from a date and the boy walking her onto the porch, which is grand and goes at least across the entire front of the house. With rockers and ceiling fans.
I long to live in a Norman Rockwell painting.
I love the discussion of home, and what it means to everyone. Lately I've been feeling homesick, but it seems to be for a place in time, not an actual physical place. Kinda hard to explain. LOL It's not nostalgia. Mmm.
Never mind. LOL
Oh, and before I forget -- Janga, I loved the detail of the soldier running and pulling up his pants. What a great detail, and it said so much about both characters.
Terri, move to New England -- it looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. LOL I got to see his studio and where he lived a few years ago, over in Western Mass. I think Stockbridge. Typical NE village type place. :)
Donna - I feel your pain. That high pitch chipmunk thing is a warning signal to the rest. I had one that would do it every bloody morning. I'd lay in bed and pray for the hawk to get him...
Reg. the young kraken and fresh water. The young are much more flexible about things like that... ;-)
I'm off to the DDS, so read the rest of the comments when I get back.
But! Without Fred, that particular book wouldn't have happened the way it did. So it's Fred's book! *snicker
Have I mentioned my INTENSE aversion to winter?
Donna - I've long felt as Hellie says above, as if I've yet to find the place that I belong. For me, it was never my home town, but I've been away long enough that I'm taking kiddo home with me next month and taking her to one of my old HS football games. We'll be there about three days and I can almost guarantee by day 2, I'll remember why I don't go home much. LOL!
Terri, are we the same person? LOL The idea of winter is bogging me down. And I have been feeling the urge to move again, which is odd, because I moved so much as a kid, and I hate packing, but. . .I think I must have some internal expiration date on places I live. Actually Hellie, your comment about not unpacking so as not to imply you're staying sounded like me too!
Chance, the little chipmunk is outside the window chirping like he's auditioning for American Idol, and I keep thinking it's got to be painful for him because his whole body inflates and deflates with the sound. Grrr.
I haven't lived in the same house for more than three years since I was 18. Not that I planned it that way, but that's how it's worked out. It doesn't take long for me to get antsy and need a change. But I'm feeling more grounded in the last few years, no idea why. Maybe I'm getting to travel in the writing?
I'm a "grass is greener" person while being extremely practical and aware the grass is rarely if ever greener elsewhere. LOL! I'm a walking contradiction!
You should throw a nut at that sqirrel. A big one.
Actually Hellie, your comment about not unpacking so as not to imply you’re staying sounded like me too!
Yes, but ironically I do tend to stay in the same place. I lived at home, then college (which was 30 miles off), then home, and now I live in an apartment near home. I didn't unpack from college when I came home either, even though I lived there long enough to warrant it.
I blame my mother. I'm sure this is tied with abandonment issues somewhere. I feel it.
You think it's abandonment? Or is it some need to be able to run in a moment's notice? I've never wanted to get into a situation where I couldn't leave if I wanted to. Which now that I think about it, again stems back to my childhood when all I wanted to do was leave.
Terri, are you even *whispers* old *back to normal voice* enough to have a mid-life crisis?
I Heard that, Donna!
Abandonment is simply what the therapist called it. It wouldn't matter if I put the stuff up or not. You can't take it with you if you're dead. That's the abandonment I'm referring to. I don't bother to put stuff up because I'm not going to be here long enough to enjoy it anyway.
I'm going to remind you of this comment 60 years from now. (And your pictures will probably still be on the floor. LOL!)
I suppose you want me to explain that?
Abandonment is simply what the therapist called it. It wouldn’t matter if I put the stuff up or not. You can’t take it with you if you’re dead. That’s the abandonment I’m referring to. I don’t bother to put stuff up because I’m not going to be here long enough to enjoy it anyway.
To which i say ...
Soup.
Well, YES, Yoda...I mean, Jules...you'll have to explain that. *LOL*
I suppose that asking you to read my mind wasn't what you were looking for?
Sorry, Yoda, my mind reading skills have been used up today with silly students.
See?
Soup.
You need Soup.
Not canned. Homemade. The kind that takes all day to make.
You need to eat Soup. You need to make Soup … And enjoy the process of making it.
Why?
Because eating good soup will nourish your body & your soul.
And making soup, good homemade soup , takes hours & hours so it will help you celebrate the fact that:
You have a space of your own
Where you can putter around as you please
As you do what you want when you want too
Even spending all day making soup.
Now, some people might think that it’s a waste of time making homemade soup.
cuz
You can’t take it with you if you’re dead.
They are the same folks who think …
I don’t bother to put stuff up because I’m not going to be here long enough to enjoy it anyway.
Give those same people a bowl of home made soup?
And they don’t care about what they can’t take with them. They care about what’s in their bowl & what’s warming their tummies and they begin to see that taking time to do stuff that seems frivolous … like making homemade soup … or putting stuff up isn’t an exorbitant waste of time.
It’s a celebration. A Celebration of Time Well Spent doing something that nourishes their bodies & their soul..
So
Unpack your stuff.
Hang up your pictures.
Throw the sh!t that you don’t need out.
Make soup.
And celebrate the here and now!
Julie, you do my heart good.
That’s because you understand the power of soup, Janga.
And
The importance of claiming a little piece of space with little pieces of yourself.
Practical, philosophical, and best of all, features food. Thank you, Jules. Remind me of this convo in 6 months. Pretty sure the pictures won't be up then either. Do you know how long it took me to put up curtains? And I did because I wanted to block the light from coming in my bedroom window!
Because I speak in Yoda-ish ...
Translation:
"little pieces of yourself" means Pictures, nick-knacks & decorative items that personalize an otherwise impersonal space.
That's very true and heartwarming, Jules. Not that I'm going to make homemade soup, but I will make other things in my new kitchen. I'm even toying with some kind of T-giving day meal for two. Exactly what would that be? Anybody know?
I've found that parting with my "little pieces of me" is the hardest thing to do. I can part with clothes and blankets and even books, but I have this odd collection of knick-knacks that don't make much sense together, but they are all necessary to my space.
Bet that you hang one up today.
Bet that you won't be able to sleep ... will in fact be lying in your bed thinking about it if you don't. I know how creative minds work. Always thinking of ...
See yesterday's post.
That I ummm ... didn't technically post yesterday, so Technically speaking itts not yesterday's post.
I blame ... soup! ;)
don’t make much sense together, but they are all necessary to my space.
sounds like they make sense to you Terri. And that's all that matters.
I don't frame my pictures. Terri's still nagging me to develop film from the first vacation we had.
"I don’t frame my pictures."
who cares? hang them up that way nay way. if anyone asks you why they don't have frames tell 'em.
"I don’t frame my pictures. I don't frame Anything. Though I have been known to blackmale people I don't like!"
Like nervy people who ask why my pictures don't have frames ...
Blackmail!
Jeez
I HATE typing ... or in my case ... pecking! :(
Julie, I love the soup philosophy -- and I wholeheartedly embrace it -- I just get lazy, and wish somebody else would make it for me, and then I eat toast instead.
But, a couple of times last winter I made beef stew and it was the best damn stuff EVER. So I decided to make some chicken soup -- OMG, I was sure nobody had ever made anything so good. So now that you've reminded me, I will do more to adopt your lovely, lovingly-described philosophy. :)
P.S. I think what makes us tricky to deal with as human beings is what makes us good writers. :) We all have some interesting issues.
Sorry I'm late to the blog today!
1- Would still totally buy in to HEA with an active solider
2 - I ADORE animals in stories - as long as they don't talk or some silly stuff like that. I too loved Fred's book. :)
3 - Oh this one I had a great example for from the current AWESOME book I'm reading. Seriously - Maybe This Time by Cruise on AUDIO - BEST Audio book EVER! That narrator owns those characters - think might be better than print book.
Anyway - so set up is...Divorced couple. Don't ever speak and stay away from each other. Ex-husband (hero) sends -ex-wife (heroine) to take care of 2 kids in rundown old mansion. At one point heroine calls Ex and gives him an update on things - mentions a whole list of good/bad items. Causually mentions that she wanted to bake but the old stove would burn everything.
Randomly a week passes in the story and a brand new stove is delivered. She didn't ask for stove. Didn't make a big deal of stove, but he wanted her to make those cookies for the kids. LOVED THAT!
It SHOWED the reader that the hero takes in every word the heroine says, that he considers her and is willing to give her what she needs even if she doesn't ask for it. That scene rocked my world. That little tidbit.
And on a total side note - but I'm just so excited I can't help but share it with everyone....
I've entered the Mills & Boon (Harlequin UK) New Voices contest and for the very first time am sharing my WIP. It's the 1st chapter.
So far there are over 600 entries - and right after 4:00 today I was ranked the HIGHEST rated chapter out of 601 entries! Totally took a screen capture since it will change fast!
I'm really just entering to get constructive criticism on my writing. First time sharing the WIP at all. So...I would love it if you would take a look at my chapter and give me some comments on where my weaknesses are and (if I do something good) where my writing strengths are.
Here's a link:
http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/495-A-Passion-To-Protect
So far there are over 600 entries – and right after 4:00 today I was ranked the HIGHEST rated chapter out of 601 entries!
Holy smokes,Scapegoat! Congratulations!!
That is awesome! I'm not surprised -- I really enjoyed it when I read it yesterday. :)
Scape - I read that Crusie book months ago (my first an only ARC ever!) and you are so right about that scene. There are a ton of awesome scenes in that book, as there always is with Crusie. The audio book is that good? I may have to get that, since I haven't bought a copy of the final version.
And that is HUGE about the contest. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I just got home from work so need to cook dinner, but I will definitely check that out tonight. Wow, that's amazing!
Got my interest from the first sentence, Scape! And I like the way you handeled giving the reader some back story. Didn’t feel like Info dumping.
Yay, Scape! That's great. So is your story. Reunion stories are my favorites, and I'm already hooked on your hero.
1) I'm for anyone getting their HEA. As Tim Gunn would say to any artist, "Make it work," even they aren't around most of the year.
2) Love pets, especially cats. Gimmie! And why didn't you tell me about you new one, Ter?
3) I've never been surprised by a hero/ine's setting, but you KNOW how I love to be surprised. May try the neat, prim bluestocking living in her brother's bacchanal apartments soon.
In other news, go Scape. Writing takes balls. Show them proudly.
J - I forgot! I'll tell you about her tomorrow. Or maybe this weekend after I finally meet her. LOL!
Scape - Just read the chapter. Great start! Great conflict. Good guy hero who carries a badge. What's not to like?!!
Gods, finally home after a day of DDS traveling and then nearly two hours in the DDS chair... My jaw aches something fierce!
But I got home to a welcome e-mail from Decadent, an author information form to fill out and...! A cover art form to fill out! I so want to get this right! Whoohoo!
And congrats, Scape! That's fantabulous!
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