I've been reading a lot, and wondering at all the various things that impact my final feeling toward a book. The final question I ask myself at the end of a book isn't if I was surprised, or if I loved the characters . . . it's "did this book take me away?"

At work, I deal in research questions. I love answering questions. Most of the research I do is in the area of public policy, so it's looking at why people use or don't use services, what people need, what they want from local government, etc.

So I got to thinking . . . what if we applied those same questions to the books we love, and the books that we don't quite love as much. What's the difference between a book that takes you away to some far away, magical romantic place, and drops you off breathless back onto your couch where you have jobs and bills and families and pets . . . and a book that's just a book?

I'm thinking there are a variety of factors which affect "likeability", which I'm using to cover the "swept away and taken on a magical ride" feeling, since it's shorter and easier to abbreviate. Some of those factors are external to the reader's environment, some are internal to the reader's state of mind, and then there's the really important part - what's in the book.

External factors - I think the external factors may be the least powerful. Where is the reader sitting? Are they comfortable? Are they holding a paperback or on an e-reader? Does it matter? I've noticed, when I've downloaded a few library books at at time to my e-reader, that I'm more likely to start skimming, or give up on a book (i.e., NOT get swept away) if I'm on an e-reader. I have no idea if that's true for other readers, but I find it interesting.

Internal factors - what's the reader's state of mind? Do they feel what they paid for the book was fair? What about their opinions toward the genre or subgenre? If you decide to give Western romances a chance, for example, do you find yourself approaching the book with more skepticism than a subgenre you know you love? How about the popularity of the author -- if it's someone who's been hailed as the 2nd coming of Nora Roberts, are you more or less likely to keep reading? Do you ever read with a cut off point in mind? (like, If I'm not really into this by chapter 3, I'm putting it down).

Book factors - voice, characters, and to a lesser extent (I believe) plot. Of the three, at least, the voice or characters are more likely to sweep me away than the plot. Though I will say, a book that keeps throwing really intriguing questions at me can keep me sucked in.

What do you think? How do you define that feeling when you've forgotten you're reading a book? What are some internal or external factors that I might have missed that can affect a reader? Do you agree that the external are least important, or do you think I'm crazy for skimming on an e-reader?

So today’s discussion: have you ever read a series where you lost “faith” in the author but eventually they brought you back again? How much world building is too much world-building for you in books?

They really do.  I'm indebted to them, really I am.  I'm just kind of ready for them to stop now.  Please. 

Okay, that sounds kind of schizophrenic.  I'm not crazy.  It's just time for the voices to take a vacation.  Maybe to Maui.  For a month.

I'm kind of full up on ideas.  My folders overfloweth with ideas.  I have so many books started that I get overwhelmed when I sit down to write. 

And the fact of the matter is, I need to focus on one idea until it's done.  But I seem to have trouble in that area. 

"Oh, take a notebook to bed to write down your ideas in the middle of the night" they say.  Bastards.  I've filled tons of notebooks with jibberish.  Apparently, when I wake up in the middle of the night to write down the idea that's surely going to make me a bestseller - I find in the morning stuff like "banana partridge orangutan goo."

As for the coherent ideas - there's just too damn many of them.  And on any given day, a different one sounds better than the rest.  That's great, and that's also not good. 

I've also tried ginko - blahblahblah, mental exercises and one really weird audio tape that sounds like static that is supposed to boost productivity and focus.  Nothing works.

I'm going to have to take drastic measures. 

I'm asking for an author sitter for Christmas.  Someone who will turn on my computer, make me sit down, choose a file for me, and sit across from me looking menacing until I crank out 20 pages. 

I'm taking suggestions for this position.  Clearly it needs to be a man, and eye-candy is a must.  Any ideas?

The Assassin

You know how you hate to leap on a bandwagon because everyone is doing it? Usually this is because you are a perverse sort of person who hates to like anything everyone else likes. Like chocolate. But then invariably when most of the hub dies down, you decide to give it a whirl?

Sit down. I'm not talking about 50 SHADES OF GREY. You all are a suspicious lot. And I'm not even talking about HARRY POTTER, though that's my true example where I was an after the trend joiner. But this time it was Lisa Kleypas.

I love Lisa Kleypas--a great writer, lyrical, emotional, evocative. Love scenes that make the pages go up in flames. I would love to write like Lisa Kleypas. I remember when it was a big deal when she first wrote her first contemporary. Readers were all freaked out that 1) she wouldn't write historicals any longer and 2) what if they weren't as good. I think after everyone read SUGAR DADDY and BLUE EYED DEVIL, we were all feeling a little sheepish, right? I mean, how dumbass could you be?

But the newest contemporary series she's written aren't exactly like the first contemporaries she did. The first set was more a straight up contemporary, like a Kristan Higgins or Julie Garwood contemporary, but in Lisa's voice and style. But this second set even sets itself apart from the first contemporaries, being in trade back, and are like Barbara O'Neal or Elizabeth Berg, more literary women's fiction than contemporary romance. I think of these as more the Book Club kind of romance--the ones you're allowed to read in book club or recommend.

This series definitely focuses on the various forms of magic and otherworldly--you just can't predict everything or explain everything. In RAINSHADOW ROAD, the heroine is able to just manifest things into being; the heroine has her own special sort of magic.

The heroine in DREAM LAKE also has her own brand of magic: with cooking. So while this book is definitely Lisa Kleypas, you also feel the influences of Barbara O'Neal and Like Water For Chocolate among the pages. The hero has his own problems: he's being haunted by a ghost who doesn't know who he is. There's some definite notes of The Notebook as well. I just love seeing the influences that I think reflects in the author's writing.

The other big influence I think I see here is her husband. I remember a blog Lisa wrote about her husband, where they were first starting to date, he came to pick her up and he was at her house, sitting on her couch, looking at the pictures of her cats and the various cat-lady-weirdness she had going on, and he was like, "Yeah, it's a good thing I'm here." *LOL* This hero is definitely that kind of guy, of balancing out the cat-lady-weirdness of the heroine that is rather hilarious. The heroine has this Persian cat and he's quite a character. *LOL* Very jealous of attention and the heroine does entertaining things to keep her cat stress free like, gives it massages.

I know we read stories to be entertained for our own sake, but does anyone ever read new books by a beloved author and see the every day things you know about that person come out in their writing? Does it amuse you or does it jerk you too much out of the story? What do you think your writing says about you? Has anyone else read RAINSHADOW ROAD and DREAM LAKE and loved them?

It’s funny how people are… I have admitted to a complete mystification regarding the attraction to YA… Yet! I adore watching the animated movies geared for kids. For the people younger than YA… I’ve even enjoyed flipping through the books at stores. There is some odd little part of me that just loves the skill inherent in illustration. And animation.



Hotel Transylvania was such a sweet story. A father’s love for his daughter, his little girl growing up and he’s trying to protect her. So…he’s Dracula and she’s Dracula’s daughter…the story is still there! Toss in a love interest and it’s almost Romeo and Juliet…gothic comic style!

Have you ever encountered this? You're reading along in a perfectly nice romance novel and the character says something like "We're not characters in a romance novel," when they are? Or "It's not like this is a romantic comedy" when it is?

This bothers me to no end.  I've seen it done with impeccable timing a few times, and it can be laugh-out-loud hilarious, but its hard. Usually, all it serves to do is remind me that I'm reading a romance novel or watching a romantic comedy.

It takes away all the magic.

I want to believe the character I'm reading is real. I want to be in their head. And there are a million ways for a writer to yank me out of the head of their character, both obvious and subtle. I'm currently slogging through revisions, so I've been thinking a lot about examples I've seen and what signposts I can watch for in my text that points it out to me.

I've also been really working to deepen my POV. I've been revising a long time. I've known these characters for 5 years. I can go way deeper with my POV now than I ever could before.

Here's some different types of POV I've been thinking about, with examples of each

Omniscient POV
Jill looked up at the big hill and dreaded the thought of hiking all the way up. Jack was similarly nervous, but more about the trek back down with a full bucket of water.

Shallow POV: 
Jill chewed on her fingernail, a nervous gesture, while staring up at the hill. Jack smiled at her. "You got my back, sis?" he asked.

Here, there's no hopping from inside one person's head to another, but instead, the reader is standing with the two of them, watching them both. Visualize the scene -- you can see them both, right? Watch how they interact? With this type of writing (which is often an excellent choice - see caveats below), the focus tends to be on the body language between the characters, as hints to what both are thinking are feeling, rather than diving deeply into one POV.  Glances become telling. A slight crinkle to the edge of an eye conveys intimacy. Body language is something you see - TV shows rely heavily on it, and we writer's tend to rely on it as well. But we're writers. We can go deeper.

Caveat #1:  There are times (many times) in every novel where a shallow POV is called for. Not every scene can be a deep POV, just like every scene can't be tear-jerking angst.

Caveat #2: I almost always write in a shallow POV on the first draft. It's just not possible to do a deep POV until you know that character inside and out. Until you know how they think and what they would notice and what they wouldn't. For a lot of writers, that knowledge can't come until you've made it through the first draft.

Deep POV:
The hill was looming, a giant thing that filled her vision. She'd never been the best at challenges, always preferring to go tumbling through life without taking anything too seriously. But this . . . this was a challenge she had to take on. They needed this water. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jack's smile. Hell, she'd been chewing on her fingernail again. She rubbed her hands on her jeans. "You got my back, sis?" he asked.

The biggest difference between the shallow and deep POV examples? The shallow one could be found in any book, for any character. The second only makes sense for this character in this situation.  It's unique, simply because it's deep. Deep POV is not always the best choice, but it is sometimes, and it can be powerful.

This may have slid around topics a bit, but hopefully I'm making sense. What do you think - do you move from a shallow to deep POV through revisions? Do you use body language to show your character's emotions?  Do you prefer a deep or a shallow POV? What are your thoughts on way to achieve depth if that's what you're going for? And the original question. Do you like it when characters say, "It's not like we're in a romance novel or anything."?

I think adventure is wasted on the young. They have no appreciation for it. The nuance of adventure is lost in the need/desire to add drama to every situation.