Rhobin Lee Courtright's Blog, page 33

Jack Update

Well, a year later and Jack is still with us. It was a near thing. He spent last winter in isolation downstairs with daily visits. He spent the summer outdoors. After three other cats were attacked, he was nearly shot. The only reason he is alive is the marksman missed the shot and Jack skedaddled. This fall we began bringing him in. The other cats have slowly accepted him although there occasionally is some spitting and yowling. He has made himself to home and is very vocal in his opinions.

Finished a New Novel

Finished my first romance novel the last week of December. I've submitted it to an e-publisher. It may be the first submission... it may be the last. I have a list of titles for romances, all based in Michigan. This particular story revolves around one of the typical stone houses found throughout the state.

Guess what I've been doing?

The snow keeps piling up. I'm told we are getting more snow because of global warming. It seems odd but probably true. Another theme to use in a story.

Real Characters

As a story teller everything I learn about or experience comes into play when I write. Which is one reason I like to watch people and everything in which they are involved, for after all, stories are about people, even when they don't seem to be.

Which is why this blog seems to be all over the place with no one all inclusive rambling topic.

I've heard there is no new story and I tend to believe that premise, but there are new ways to tell it. This is what I like to try to do.

So isn't the current

Reading

When an author tells a story just right, the imagination takes over -- and although the eyes take in each word -- the mind visualizes the story internally and lets it flow. Have you ever had this happen? Where you became so enchanted you can't put the book down?

While understanding is important to non-fiction writing, only fiction lets the mind take this extra leap to make the author's story a personal experience. It's similar to watching a movie or seeing a play, where for a few hours, you becom

Mizging Contest

Just received an email from Miz G. telling me players couldn't find the clue or the next link. Well, it was/is here but not in the posts. For those of you who couldn't find the information you needed, just stroll down the right side a little, hint, hint. It's there. While you're here you might comment on the first book you read post or on your favorite heroine post. LOVE to here about firsts and favorites.
Good luck to all who are playing the blog train contest!

Contemporary Time Capsules

Georgette Heyer is listed as having written the first ‘historical’ romance novel. Don’t you find that interesting? I love so many historical novels. Jane Austen’s have become classic literature, as have Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and her sister Emily’s Wuthering Heights. Classics and historical, yes, but at the time they were written, these books were contemporary romances.

As time passes, contemporary novels often act like time capsules for the generation about which they were written. I remem

Vote -- Celebrate Women's Hard Won Rights

My last post was about heroines, too. The Suffragettes were the real-life version.

My sister sent me an email today about why women vote. Not because its an inalienable right, but because a few of our predecessors worked tirelessly to make us independent by giving us a simple thing -- the right to vote.

It's important to remember that not so long ago women belonged to either their father or husband. The grandmothers and great-grandmothers of women eligible to vote today earned those rights. It too

Supereminent Heroines

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For all the fiction written annually, there are only a handful of heroines who stand out in my mind.

I am not saying I’ve only come across a few good heroines. To the contrary, I’ve enjoyed many great heroines.

All heroines are reincarnations of a few archtype women, most of whom fall into one of three categories. First is the totally helpless but loveable Snow White often encountered in early romances, where the story depends on the hero saving the heroine. If you’re old enough, you might re