Anny Cook's Blog, page 85
February 28, 2011
By the Book
I'm convinced there is no greater pain in the butt job than serving as my critique partner. Fortunately, my CP is patient and long-suffering and articulate. We live many, many miles apart and that's probably for the best because it's tougher for her to throttle me when I exhibit my usual Oh-my-gosh-I-don't-understand-what-you're-talking-about.Sigh.
It's hard critiquing someone else's work. There's the itch to fix it. (But she doesn't!) There's the urge to change it. (Nope!) And if you're not both mature enough to not take the critique personally, you can hurt each other. Ideally, you can both look at it and say, "Here's the problem. How will we fix it?"
I have a terrible time spotting the weaknesses in my writing. Absolutely terrible. I know they're there, lurking in the underbrush, waiting for an unsuspecting reader to stumble across them. I would prefer burying those weaknesses deep and planting some daffodils on top.
I just have to find them. That's where my critique partner rides to the rescue. She points them out with her scarlet pen. We weed them out as ruthlessly as possible. And then we slap down a wide variety of flowers on top...flowers that enhance the story instead the murky mess that was there before.
Eventually, when we've both done our best, I send the story off to my editor. And she looks at the roots with a mighty microscope. Sometimes she spies terrible bugs chomping away or slime oozing from the roots.
And we do more weeding. More weeding!
Finally, the day arrives when it's a shining example of word gardening. Then it becomes a book--a story I'm proud to share with friends and family and even total strangers.
But it all starts with the lonely critique partner. Bless her heart.
anny
February 27, 2011
Potato Love
Often we write something on a dare...just because. A few years ago my editor (then) challenged me to write a romantic post with a potato. I'm always one to take a dare (tomorrow I'll post my were-tick story) and I believe love is where you find it. I enjoyed writing this little post and decided to repost it today. I hope you enjoy reading.Masher McArthur stretched his burly body and wedged his
February 24, 2011
New Craziness...
Craziness attacks from left field. Life is just tootling along and then bam! And you're trotting down a new path in life. That just goes to show you can never plan on anything long range.Up until about four weeks ago, my life was all about me, me, me. My rollercoaster sugar counts. My chest pains. My asthma. And then the house hunk had a grand mal seizure--his first in fifteen years. And suddenly
February 23, 2011
Strange Love
Any reader who's read some of the more recent shifter stories knows there's some strange goings-on out yonder in the woods. Cats and wolves making out with the bears and hyenas...it's enough to make you wonder, you know?Of course, all the hanky-panky happens when they're both human. And that seems to work just fiiiiiiine. But you have to wonder what happens if there's offspring from the odd
February 22, 2011
The Sponsors
I think this idea has merit. Some commercials are already mini-shorts. Why not just eliminate the show entirely? Remember that cat round-up commercial? Just think of the potential if they had a half-hour show to do that. Maybe they could get Sam Elliot to play one of the cat wranglers...Or VW could have an entire season of Little Darth Vader. It could be a combo reality show AND commercial. They
February 21, 2011
Tequila Age
I'm writing a book that takes place in the Tequila Age. That's because you need to drink a lot of Tequila to keep all the details straight. Other people write books in the Regency period or the Victorian era--times when there are actual written documents they can check and paintings they can look at.Me? I've got nothin'. Fortunately, mine is a fantasy in the truest sense of the word. The Tuatha
February 20, 2011
Real Men like to Snuggle
I suppose this is gonna be my own personal mini-rant. Somewhere along the line we've lost our snugglers. We traded them in for the uber Alphas. Tough. Ripped. Silent. Unemotional. And we lost the snugglers.Alphas used to be snugglers when they found their woman. And they were even more snuggly when the kids came along. But now? They're too busy hauling their AK-47's around to be snugglers.Now I'm
February 19, 2011
Sex is Boring
First let me hasten to say that is not a personal statement about my private life...Had you going there, didn't I? Actually, I thought I would write about the many erotic romance writers who complain about how bored they are with writing sex scenes. My take on that? A) Maybe they should write a non-erotic genre story. Or B) Maybe the characters aren't interested in having sex.I am no doubt gonna
February 18, 2011
Mulling and ruminations...
Fifty five degrees this morning and we have the windows open. Yes, it's February. Yep, I know we'll have to close them up and turn on the heat, but it's nice to have a bit of false spring every once in a while. And I love to open the windows and "air out" the apartment.Want to thank all of you who stopped by to comment on yesterday's post, either here or at facebook. I really appreciated your
February 17, 2011
Condoms...or not?
A fellow writer and I had a short discussion yesterday about condom use in stories. She'd recently read a YA story that involved a young pregnant woman, the hero and an anal sex scene with no condom. When she reached that particular scene, the no condom issue pulled her right out of the story. I have to say, it would for me, too.There is much discussion about the use of condoms in erotic romances
