M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 70

Angel the Vampire

Maybe responsibility isn't the sexiest trait to kick off our month of hero worship, but when you've been married twenty-four years, well, it's damned sexy. Nothing like a man who splits the work with you, who takes initiative, and who deals with the results when it goes wrong.

 

Angel the vampire's soul was returned to him by the gypsies after he killed one of their own, so that he could feel remorse for his sins for the remainder of his days.

They couldn't have found a more fitting punishment. Angel wallows for years, living in alleys and eating rats as he comes to grips with the havoc he wrought while soulless.

Now, in the present day, he's determined to fight on the side of good, from fighting nests of vampires to fighting Wolfram and Hart to helping Buffy save the world. Always a loner, he reluctantly becomes a father figure to a strange group, first with the Scoobies, then with Doyle and Cordelia, then Wesley, Fred and Gunn. The decisions he makes have to impact all of them, just like a father.

This is a huge adjustment for Angel, who would rather be alone so he can lick his wounds when a choice goes wrong. But his rag-tag family doesn't allow him to do that.

Because of his strong sense of responsibility, he sacrifices a lot. He knows if he stops being the protector he is, so much can go wrong. He learns that when he's given mortality, and Buffy's life is in danger. Whose heart doesn't break during that episode, where they share ice cream in bed and make love with no consequences, only for him to discover he can't protect her as a mortal man? His sense of responsibility is so great, he walks away from the love of his life so he can continue to help those who need it.

This doesn't mean he lives alone (though I never loved Angel and Cordelia together) but I don't believe he's ever as happy.

Responsibility can be a bitch, can't it?

What do you think about Angel's embodiment of this trait? Which character—movie, television or book—embodies it for you?

 

Goals for the Week of the Crazy

This is the week of OMG crazy, the first week of an insane month. One day at a time, and lots of deep breaths.

 

1)      TAKS writing test Tuesday. A very long stressful boring stressful day. And Monday I need to prepare my room. I have to cover or remove anything that could help them  and rearrange the class and make dividers.

2)      Traffic duty.

3)      The first push of the big promo celebration with Natalie. I'm very nervous about it, like I'm going to ruin it somehow.

4)      Supernatural Sisters news blog

5)      Clean house. Trish will be here next Sunday. Gulp.

6)      Find time to write because I'm going to need the release.

One day at a time….

 

Fun Release Month Contest Coming Soon!

So Natalie Damschroder and I have books out within the next month. To celebrate, we're having a month of heroes! Every week, we'll highlight a different heroic trait, and a character from a TV, movie or book who embodies that trait. Every week we'll pick a commenter from our blogs (hers and mine combined) to win an e-gift certificate from an online bookstore. And at the end of the month we'll have a "hero bracket," where you can vote for your favorite. So spread the word and play along, beginning Monday February 28!

And just because I love me some Raylan….

 

End of February and…

I haven't written anything. I revised my NaNoWriMo book and started the post-apoc but dropped that. I started the second Bluestone after that and I'm like on page 10. I started another novella and am on about page 10. I've hardly written this week. I'm not reading either, just vegging on the couch. It's driving me kinda crazy because I have some ideas that I'd love to see flesh out, but…

Now, there's a lot of stress at work, with The Big Writing Test next week, meetings every week in addition to tutoring. Then there's some family drama that's pretty draining. But it doesn't make me feel better about my lack of productivity.  Worse, I know I'm going to regret this later on when I'm slammed again.

In the meantime, I'm going to watch a lot of TV.

Reasons You Should Be Watching Justified

Reasons You Should be Watching JUSTIFIED

1)      Raylan Givens. Raylan is a US Marshal who is under investigation for a questionable shooting, so he's been reassigned to the area where he grew up. In doing so, he encounters ghosts from the past, including his ex-wife, now married to a Realtor (the way they say it is a hoot), his con-man father, and the man he used to dig coal with, now a white supremacist. Raylan is a sharp-shooter, but he usually tries other means of resolving a conflict before he draws. My favorite quote is to Boyd: "You make me pull, I'll put you down." He's famous for his hat and boots, out of place in Kentucky, but that only adds to the air of confidence. And then there's the voice. I've heard him raise his voice twice in 15 episodes—once out of fear and once out of frustration.

2)      Raylan and Boyd. Boyd Crowder is the man he used to dig coal with, and they have a camaraderie that goes back—only now Raylan's a marshall, and Boyd likes to "steal money and blow sh** up." Boyd is by far my favorite villain—he's also a smooth talker, especially when he finds Jesus. His choice of words is hilarious, and his enunciation is deliberate. I can't take my eyes off the screen when he's on—I'm always so happy when he's in an episode. He's Raylan's best foil.

3)      Raylan and Arlo. Arlo is Raylan's daddy, who apparently used to beat him. The man is a small-time criminal who tries and fails again and again to make it big. He's been in and out of jail all Raylan's life. Raylan left when he was young and hasn't looked back. Now that he's home, he has to face some of his past with his father. I love Arlo. He's a bad son of a gun, but fascinating to watch.

4)      Raylan and Winona. Winona left Raylan for Gary the Realtor, and now Winona, a court reporter, works in the same building as Raylan. Their encounters range from angry to sexy to needy. They have great chemistry and I'm interested to know more about their past.

5)      Dialogue. Justified is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, who has a hand in the production of the show. The dialogue is rich and smart and quick. I have to wonder how big those scripts must be.

6)      Secondary characters. Dewey Crow, Aunt Helen, and now Mags and Dickey Bennett add another terrific layer.

Goals for the Last Week of Sanity

I feel weird. I didn't write at all Friday, and a very little last night. It's not like I'm doing anything else, but I have the attention span of a flea. I don't even want to write blog posts. I know part of it is test stress–the big writing test is in a bit more than a week, and this class is making me work for it. And it seems every weekend is a different drama. So maybe it's a self-preservation thing. Maybe I should just enjoy this week before the big promo push starts next week. (A month–what was I thinking???)

1) Last push for the writing test at school.

2) Tutoring

3) Faculty meeting

4) Send out newsletter (which I need to write)

5) Maybe work on a Honky Tonk Hearts story for TWRP

6) Annnnd….start on those blasted Midnight Sun revisions. That's right. I haven't started yet.

7) Clean house–Trish is coming in 2 weeks. The house isn't terrible but I need to get into the guest room and well, make room.

Feeling the Fear…and Doing It Anyway?

I wish…

A couple of weeks ago now, I got a long revise/resubmit letter for Midnight Sun. I printed out the manuscript because I need to break it into chunks–and the manuscript is just sitting here. Now, granted, last week was rough–family drama starting on the snow day and not over yet, and 3 late nights at school. But you know me, I can usually push through all that. Heck, I wrote Beneath the Surface when my grandmother was in the hospital, just so I could have control of something.

So what's stopping me? Fear. I'm scared to death I can't meet my editor's expectations. It's not that she wasn't very clear. She was. But she wants me to dig deeper into the characters, into the story, and I just don't know if I can.  I know I need to, but to rise to the level she's asking? I don't know. And the mechanics of doing it–I don't know that, either. I thought of going scene by scene, but I can't make myself even open the document.

How do you overcome this kind of fear?

Happy Valentine's Day

Good Lord, I have eaten TOO MUCH today! I got a doughnut, and candy bars, and we had so many chips and cupcakes and cookies and candy at the party I'm feeling a little ill. Good thing the dh and I aren't going out. I'm going to make a steak dinner.

 

Don't Look Back is up for BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR at Long and Short Reviews. I would certainly appreciate your vote!

Goals for the Week of Valentine's Day

I'm excited–Road Signs is available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Also, we got our car this week and it's lots of fun to drive. The seat warmers came in handy the mornings it was in the 20s. But when I took Susan home Thursday afternoon, we opened the sunroof! Whenever I'm looking for my husband, I can find him sitting in the car. He's in love. We take the long way for everything, and haven't even used up a half tank of gas.

So, this week…

1)      Survive Valentine's Day—you would not believe how much these kids, these 4th graders, get into it.

2)      Wrap up one promo and get ready for the next.

3)      Enter the More than Magic contest—it's easy enough, 3 electronic entries, pay with Paypal. Easy is why I haven't been entering a lot, sadly. Pure D laziness.

4)      Tutoring

5)      Work on Bluestone

6)      Work on Midnight Sun revisions

7)      Get tax paperwork together

8)      Make doctor and eye doctor appts.

9)      House

10)   exercise

11) I need to cook. I didn't cook at all this week, and I feel bleh.

Slowing the Pace

So since I decided not to finish the post apoc right now, I started the second Bluestone book. I don't plan to have it done before the end of the school year, so that means I only need to write about 2 pages a day.

It makes sense, I suppose, to slow down on writing when everything is going full-steam ahead at school (TAKS writing is in a little over 2 weeks, TAKS Reading and Math not quite two months after that–and I'm worried. This class…) But it feels WEIRD not to have to wake up early or take my netbook to school or any of that.

I'll be working on some big revisions, too, but plan only a scene a day. And of course there's promotion of my March book, and various other things that may come at me along the way. I don't know when my third Carina book is out, or my other for TWRP, so I'm sure I'll be feeling some pressure before long. But to not is…different.