Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 179
August 19, 2011
Join Me at JoJo's Book Corner
I'm guest blogging today at JoJo's Book Corner for her blogoversary! See the model who looks like Dak, the demon hero from Enemy Embrace (Oct 2011 in Crave the Night). I also talk about one of my favorite books from the mid 90s and am giving away a copy of Through a Crimson Veil. Please join me!
August 18, 2011
What It's Like To Work For an Airline
This is another blog topic by request post. Feel free to put in your request in comments, via Twitter or in email.
What's it like working for an airline? If you've read Dilbert, you pretty much know what it's like. Unfortunately, I'm not joking.
I work in Technical Operations in the office, so I don't deal with passengers, I can't tell you anything about fares or sales, and I can't help you find your luggage. :-) Sorry, I'm useless. I do input information into the database where we organize what work needs to be done to keep the planes flying safely and at what intervals. You're welcome. :-)
The specific questions that were requested involved stress levels, job security, and if this job is different from any other corporate job.
Since Dilbert is almost universally funny to people, I think I'm safe in saying that no, my job doesn't differ much from any other corporate job. Before I moved cubes--twice--my wall was covered with Dilbert cartoon strips that struck a particular chord. Many other people here have Dilbert cartoons up, too. Enuf said?
Job security and stress level go hand in hand. There's never been job security. From the time I started with the airline, we've hopped from crisis to crisis. It seems like there's a continual threat of layoffs and if I had to do it over again, I would have gone into another field, something with more stability. I put off buying a house for years, wanting to wait until there was some smooth waters. Finally, I thought, hey, if I want a house, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and do it.
I did. I love my house. I picked out the flooring, the wall colors, the fixtures, even the handles on the cabinets. I've been in it for five years--and my job was relocated to Atlanta. I have to report there in January.
I was here when 9/11 happened. I was here a couple of weeks later when half the people on the floor I worked on were laid off. I was here when oil went over $100 a barrel and there were layoffs. I was here when our pilots went on strike and I was laid off after a couple of weeks, then recalled when they settled. This year, oil prices are going up again. There's early outs being offered. Stress is high again. Will I still have a job after I move to Atlanta? And if so, for how long? I have no idea.
I'm kind of focused on the negative here, and there really is a lot of that, but there are definite benefits. The travel for one. It's not as easy to get anywhere now flying standby, but once upon a time, I used to travel a lot.
My favorite trip was when I took four weeks off and went to Australia with my parents. I had some perfect attendance passes, and back then, the company paid the taxes on them, so the flight was completely free. Australia is without question the most awesome place I've ever been. I saw Sydney and Townsville, Cairns and Fraser Island. We went up to Papua New Guinea and over to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs. I wanted this trip badly enough that I would have gone at some point, but working for the airline allowed me to go sooner and stay longer.
And by and large, I work with some awesome people. There's always a clunker or two, of course, but mostly airline people form a bond. After all, we've been through a lot of downs together. :-)
My job has also allowed me to visit most of the United States. It helped get me to the nation of Kiribati, and let's face it, who goes to Kiribati? :-)
What's it like working for an airline? If you've read Dilbert, you pretty much know what it's like. Unfortunately, I'm not joking.
I work in Technical Operations in the office, so I don't deal with passengers, I can't tell you anything about fares or sales, and I can't help you find your luggage. :-) Sorry, I'm useless. I do input information into the database where we organize what work needs to be done to keep the planes flying safely and at what intervals. You're welcome. :-)
The specific questions that were requested involved stress levels, job security, and if this job is different from any other corporate job.
Since Dilbert is almost universally funny to people, I think I'm safe in saying that no, my job doesn't differ much from any other corporate job. Before I moved cubes--twice--my wall was covered with Dilbert cartoon strips that struck a particular chord. Many other people here have Dilbert cartoons up, too. Enuf said?
Job security and stress level go hand in hand. There's never been job security. From the time I started with the airline, we've hopped from crisis to crisis. It seems like there's a continual threat of layoffs and if I had to do it over again, I would have gone into another field, something with more stability. I put off buying a house for years, wanting to wait until there was some smooth waters. Finally, I thought, hey, if I want a house, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and do it.
I did. I love my house. I picked out the flooring, the wall colors, the fixtures, even the handles on the cabinets. I've been in it for five years--and my job was relocated to Atlanta. I have to report there in January.
I was here when 9/11 happened. I was here a couple of weeks later when half the people on the floor I worked on were laid off. I was here when oil went over $100 a barrel and there were layoffs. I was here when our pilots went on strike and I was laid off after a couple of weeks, then recalled when they settled. This year, oil prices are going up again. There's early outs being offered. Stress is high again. Will I still have a job after I move to Atlanta? And if so, for how long? I have no idea.
I'm kind of focused on the negative here, and there really is a lot of that, but there are definite benefits. The travel for one. It's not as easy to get anywhere now flying standby, but once upon a time, I used to travel a lot.
My favorite trip was when I took four weeks off and went to Australia with my parents. I had some perfect attendance passes, and back then, the company paid the taxes on them, so the flight was completely free. Australia is without question the most awesome place I've ever been. I saw Sydney and Townsville, Cairns and Fraser Island. We went up to Papua New Guinea and over to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs. I wanted this trip badly enough that I would have gone at some point, but working for the airline allowed me to go sooner and stay longer.
And by and large, I work with some awesome people. There's always a clunker or two, of course, but mostly airline people form a bond. After all, we've been through a lot of downs together. :-)
My job has also allowed me to visit most of the United States. It helped get me to the nation of Kiribati, and let's face it, who goes to Kiribati? :-)
August 16, 2011
How I Started Writing
Another topic request blog post--How I started writing. (Remember, if you have anything you'd like to hear me talk about, feel free to leave it in a comment or send a Twitter comment or email me.)
I've always had stories in my head. I distinctly remember as a very small child, maybe 6 or 7, playing Barbies with my friends. They'd be done and ready to do something else, but I had an elaborate scenario to take Barbie and Ken through first. And FYI, even at this tender age, my "characters" were having romances. Maybe not sophisticated romances, but I was in grade school.
The stories stayed even when the dolls were put away. Dragged by my parents to something boring? I'd find a corner, sit down, and play stories through my head until we could go home.
Writing these stories down never occurred to me until 8th grade. One of my best friends at the time started writing a story using the entire class as characters. She paired "me" up with my teen actor heartthrob and passed her notebook around with each new installment. Well, you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? She wrote "me" doing something I didn't like. I asked her to change it and she refused because it was her story. So I was like, hey, I can write stories, too!
And I did. Only I didn't use people in my class as characters. That might have been my original intention--I can't remember--but I had characters show up. Real characters.
Thus began my own scribbling in notebooks as I wrote angsty YA romance. My friend gave up writing that school year, but I didn't. In 9th grade, I joined the school newspaper. In 10th grade, it was the yearbook staff and I was editor my senior year. I took every writing class I could get myself into, including taking 2 English classes my senior year even though I wasn't supposed to be able to do that. They made an exception for me because I was such a good student. heh!
I knew by the time I was in high school that I wanted to be a novelist when I grew up. I also knew even back then that fiction writing didn't pay much for most writers. Being a Capricorn and hugely attracted to financial security, I decided to major in Journalism. I could write and get paid for it. Well, I did get the degree from the School of Journalism, but I went to work for the airline instead. Speaking of tenuous financial security. :-/
The writing bug never died, though. I continued to take writing classes wherever I could find them. And I wrote off and on for years. I finished my first book at 24, but for a long stretch, I'd start books and never get farther than chapter 3. My perfectionism drove me to revise and revise and revise until I was so bored, I'd move on to something different.
Then I reached a point where I realized I had to finish books if I wanted to, you know, sell them. I finished two others. And then I didn't write for almost 2.5 years. I like to think of that time as working on me, becoming a better, more grounded person.
And then I was driving home from work one day in 1999 (I think) and I saw a woman huddled on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. I knew something bad had happened, but I didn't know what. I started writing again and 18 months later, Ravyn's Flight was finished. Y'all know the rest.
I've always had stories in my head. I distinctly remember as a very small child, maybe 6 or 7, playing Barbies with my friends. They'd be done and ready to do something else, but I had an elaborate scenario to take Barbie and Ken through first. And FYI, even at this tender age, my "characters" were having romances. Maybe not sophisticated romances, but I was in grade school.
The stories stayed even when the dolls were put away. Dragged by my parents to something boring? I'd find a corner, sit down, and play stories through my head until we could go home.
Writing these stories down never occurred to me until 8th grade. One of my best friends at the time started writing a story using the entire class as characters. She paired "me" up with my teen actor heartthrob and passed her notebook around with each new installment. Well, you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? She wrote "me" doing something I didn't like. I asked her to change it and she refused because it was her story. So I was like, hey, I can write stories, too!
And I did. Only I didn't use people in my class as characters. That might have been my original intention--I can't remember--but I had characters show up. Real characters.
Thus began my own scribbling in notebooks as I wrote angsty YA romance. My friend gave up writing that school year, but I didn't. In 9th grade, I joined the school newspaper. In 10th grade, it was the yearbook staff and I was editor my senior year. I took every writing class I could get myself into, including taking 2 English classes my senior year even though I wasn't supposed to be able to do that. They made an exception for me because I was such a good student. heh!
I knew by the time I was in high school that I wanted to be a novelist when I grew up. I also knew even back then that fiction writing didn't pay much for most writers. Being a Capricorn and hugely attracted to financial security, I decided to major in Journalism. I could write and get paid for it. Well, I did get the degree from the School of Journalism, but I went to work for the airline instead. Speaking of tenuous financial security. :-/
The writing bug never died, though. I continued to take writing classes wherever I could find them. And I wrote off and on for years. I finished my first book at 24, but for a long stretch, I'd start books and never get farther than chapter 3. My perfectionism drove me to revise and revise and revise until I was so bored, I'd move on to something different.
Then I reached a point where I realized I had to finish books if I wanted to, you know, sell them. I finished two others. And then I didn't write for almost 2.5 years. I like to think of that time as working on me, becoming a better, more grounded person.
And then I was driving home from work one day in 1999 (I think) and I saw a woman huddled on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. I knew something bad had happened, but I didn't know what. I started writing again and 18 months later, Ravyn's Flight was finished. Y'all know the rest.
August 14, 2011
Ransom - Julie Garwood
I am a huge Julie Garwood fan. Not only is she an awesome writer, she's a really nice woman and very gracious as I gushed all over her at an RWA conference. Or two. I always say I don't read historicals, but she's the exception. I love Garwood's historical romances. They're awesome! One of my all-time favorites is Ransom.
The heroine rescues a small boy who's been kidnapped by the villain and she returns him to Scotland to reunite him with his family. She meets the hero when she claims to be his betrothed and orders him (through an intermediary) to come to her. The hero is the little boy's uncle/close friend of the family. The hero shows up with his men, and when he sees the boy, he escorts them both to the boy's home.
Um, lots of stuff ensues along the way, of course, and the heroine is determined to return home. She has a mission. I'm never sure how much to say, but it's a romance, so you know the h/h fall in love.
One of my favorite things about Julie Garwood's stories is her humor. OMG, I laugh when I read her books. Her characters are awesome, too, and I care about them and am rooting for them throughout the story.
I found her kind of by accident. I was looking for new authors to read and I decided that if someone had a lot of books at the bookstore, that must mean they're really good. Julie Garwood had a lot of books. I grabbed one of them, The Gift and loved it enough to go back for more. As much as I loved my first Garwood, though, Ransom remains my absolute favorite.
Highly recommended.
The heroine rescues a small boy who's been kidnapped by the villain and she returns him to Scotland to reunite him with his family. She meets the hero when she claims to be his betrothed and orders him (through an intermediary) to come to her. The hero is the little boy's uncle/close friend of the family. The hero shows up with his men, and when he sees the boy, he escorts them both to the boy's home.
Um, lots of stuff ensues along the way, of course, and the heroine is determined to return home. She has a mission. I'm never sure how much to say, but it's a romance, so you know the h/h fall in love.
One of my favorite things about Julie Garwood's stories is her humor. OMG, I laugh when I read her books. Her characters are awesome, too, and I care about them and am rooting for them throughout the story.
I found her kind of by accident. I was looking for new authors to read and I decided that if someone had a lot of books at the bookstore, that must mean they're really good. Julie Garwood had a lot of books. I grabbed one of them, The Gift and loved it enough to go back for more. As much as I loved my first Garwood, though, Ransom remains my absolute favorite.
Highly recommended.
August 11, 2011
Troll's World
When I was asked to write a time travel romance story for a Mammoth Books' collection, I knew two things. One, I wanted my heroine to travel to the future and my Jarved Nine world. And two, I didn't want to use the "magic necklace" method of time travel. Back when I read a lot of time travel romance, the heroine always traveled to the past via some object, hence the reference to the "magic necklace."
I'd done some research in the past into M Theory in physics and had picked up some really cool information and some of it came back to me. Particle accelerators theoretically can create small black holes and small wormholes, although these outcomes are unlikely, or if they do occur, not dangerous. At least according to what I read.
The idea of using real physics for the time travel element appealed to me. Maybe other writers have used wormholes--I don't read much time travel any longer--but I take great pride on using the particle accelerator and a real issue that physicists have discussed to get my heroine to another time and place. :-)
As I wrote The Troll Bridge, I realized I had a full-length book. I had to cut out all the other stuff that was going on to fit it to the short word count requirement and condense the h/h's relationship down to the bare essence. My writing buddies can tell you how many times I emailed them saying, "I wish I could write the whole book." In the version I wanted to write, there really are coalitions spies on J9. They learn Lia came from the past and want to use her in some plot (details are fuzzy now) and Troll has to protect her. There was so much cool stuff happening.
The story also unfolded over several weeks rather than a day or two, allowing time for the romance and the feelings to deepen enough for a complete happy ending rather than the optimistic ending I had to go with on the shorter length story. As much as I wanted to do a forever after wrap up, I didn't think it was believable that two people who'd spent one day together would commit heart and soul to each other.
Plus, Lia is cautious by nature, she's not going to fling herself into everything all at once. And Troll wouldn't have survived in the army if he was a leap without looking kind of guy. There was just no way they'd let me wrap up the ending in a neat bow even if I could have managed it.
Some day, in my spare time, I'd like to rewrite this story and lengthen it to the way I saw it originally. I'd like to add all the coalition stuff and the teammates with their wives. Of course, I'd like to write the other team members, too, whose stories come before Troll and Lia. I need a lot more spare time than I have.
I'd done some research in the past into M Theory in physics and had picked up some really cool information and some of it came back to me. Particle accelerators theoretically can create small black holes and small wormholes, although these outcomes are unlikely, or if they do occur, not dangerous. At least according to what I read.
The idea of using real physics for the time travel element appealed to me. Maybe other writers have used wormholes--I don't read much time travel any longer--but I take great pride on using the particle accelerator and a real issue that physicists have discussed to get my heroine to another time and place. :-)
As I wrote The Troll Bridge, I realized I had a full-length book. I had to cut out all the other stuff that was going on to fit it to the short word count requirement and condense the h/h's relationship down to the bare essence. My writing buddies can tell you how many times I emailed them saying, "I wish I could write the whole book." In the version I wanted to write, there really are coalitions spies on J9. They learn Lia came from the past and want to use her in some plot (details are fuzzy now) and Troll has to protect her. There was so much cool stuff happening.
The story also unfolded over several weeks rather than a day or two, allowing time for the romance and the feelings to deepen enough for a complete happy ending rather than the optimistic ending I had to go with on the shorter length story. As much as I wanted to do a forever after wrap up, I didn't think it was believable that two people who'd spent one day together would commit heart and soul to each other.
Plus, Lia is cautious by nature, she's not going to fling herself into everything all at once. And Troll wouldn't have survived in the army if he was a leap without looking kind of guy. There was just no way they'd let me wrap up the ending in a neat bow even if I could have managed it.
Some day, in my spare time, I'd like to rewrite this story and lengthen it to the way I saw it originally. I'd like to add all the coalition stuff and the teammates with their wives. Of course, I'd like to write the other team members, too, whose stories come before Troll and Lia. I need a lot more spare time than I have.
August 9, 2011
Adventures In Vehicle Ownership
The other morning, I stepped into the garage to leave for work and discovered my left, rear tire was flat. Completely flat. This is the one tire on my car that manages to find any nail in a five-block radius. It doesn't matter where it is on the car, this is the one that picks up the debris. It's been plugged many times and had developed a leak around the bead seal. I thought that had been fixed, but as I looked, I thought: Guess not.
I took a vacation day, realized it was far too early for any car service center to be open, and resigned myself to a frustrating day once they did open. I called my dad later in the morning and told him the problem. He suggested I buy a new car. Um, yeah, dad, sure.
Now, to be fair to him, my car is a 1998, but there's been nothing mechanically wrong with the car. Everything I've dealt with has been routine maintenance and things like replacing the battery. I wasn't ready to get rid of her and take on a car payment again.
So after calling around and making a decision on where to bring the car, I called AAA and someone came out to inflate the tire. Only problem? This wasn't a slow leak around the bead seal as I'd assumed. I could hear that tire hissing air out fast and furious. Adrenaline kicked in. I leapt behind the wheel, started the car, and drove like a maniac, praying all the way that I'd make it to the car place before the tire got too low for me to drive on it.
I think I hit every light. No lie. Panic rose with each delay.
Finally, finally!, I made it. The service guy found a hole in the tire, on the corner where it can't be plugged. But that tire already had so many plugs in it, that the last time it was patched, I was told it probably couldn't be done again. I also knew that I needed new tires this fall anyway.
Bottom line was four new tires and getting all the corrosion polished off my rims. Sometimes owning a car isn't the awesome experience I imagined it would be when I was in high school.
I took a vacation day, realized it was far too early for any car service center to be open, and resigned myself to a frustrating day once they did open. I called my dad later in the morning and told him the problem. He suggested I buy a new car. Um, yeah, dad, sure.
Now, to be fair to him, my car is a 1998, but there's been nothing mechanically wrong with the car. Everything I've dealt with has been routine maintenance and things like replacing the battery. I wasn't ready to get rid of her and take on a car payment again.
So after calling around and making a decision on where to bring the car, I called AAA and someone came out to inflate the tire. Only problem? This wasn't a slow leak around the bead seal as I'd assumed. I could hear that tire hissing air out fast and furious. Adrenaline kicked in. I leapt behind the wheel, started the car, and drove like a maniac, praying all the way that I'd make it to the car place before the tire got too low for me to drive on it.
I think I hit every light. No lie. Panic rose with each delay.
Finally, finally!, I made it. The service guy found a hole in the tire, on the corner where it can't be plugged. But that tire already had so many plugs in it, that the last time it was patched, I was told it probably couldn't be done again. I also knew that I needed new tires this fall anyway.
Bottom line was four new tires and getting all the corrosion polished off my rims. Sometimes owning a car isn't the awesome experience I imagined it would be when I was in high school.
August 7, 2011
The Morning Side of Dawn
One of my all-time favorite books is The Morning Side of Dawn by Justine Davis. This was a Silhouette Intimate Moments from 1995.
The heroine, Cassandra, is a super model who's taking time away to reassess her life. She's also being stalked, so it's a good time to get away. The hero, Dar, designs and builds wheelchairs for racing. He's a double amputee who competes in these races. He also has a huge attitude problem. But when the stalker follows Cassandra out west and she needs help, it's Dar that steps in to provide it Reluctantly.
This is a book that I've read and reread over and over. One of the themes I liked about the book is how people judge others based on appearance and often don't bother to look deeper. This book shows two different sides of the same coin. Cassandra is only seen for her beauty, but no one seems to see beneath the facade to the person she is below the surface. On the other hand, people look at Dar and see a man in a wheelchair. They don't see him as a person or notice how gorgeous he is. They're too caught up on his physical challenge. It's the fact that they are the flip side of the same coin that allows Dar to finally see that he's judging Cassandra the same way others have judged him.
Justine Davis is one of my favorite authors. I loved a lot of her books for Silhouette (especially the Intimate Moments line) and her futuristic romance, The Skypirate, is still my favorite in this subgenre. She has a way of really making me care about her characters and she excels at torturing them. You know how I feel about that. ;-)
The Morning Side of Dawn is no exception on the torture front. The h/h are immediately attracted to each other, but Dar doesn't want to get close. His attitude problem, BTW, came before the accident that took his legs. Most people don't look beyond that either and make assumptions, but Cassandra doesn't and that's part of what gets under Dar's skin, that the heroine really does care enough to get to know who he is at his heart.
I'm not doing justice to this book at all, but trust me, it's awesome and I highly recommend it.
The heroine, Cassandra, is a super model who's taking time away to reassess her life. She's also being stalked, so it's a good time to get away. The hero, Dar, designs and builds wheelchairs for racing. He's a double amputee who competes in these races. He also has a huge attitude problem. But when the stalker follows Cassandra out west and she needs help, it's Dar that steps in to provide it Reluctantly.
This is a book that I've read and reread over and over. One of the themes I liked about the book is how people judge others based on appearance and often don't bother to look deeper. This book shows two different sides of the same coin. Cassandra is only seen for her beauty, but no one seems to see beneath the facade to the person she is below the surface. On the other hand, people look at Dar and see a man in a wheelchair. They don't see him as a person or notice how gorgeous he is. They're too caught up on his physical challenge. It's the fact that they are the flip side of the same coin that allows Dar to finally see that he's judging Cassandra the same way others have judged him.
Justine Davis is one of my favorite authors. I loved a lot of her books for Silhouette (especially the Intimate Moments line) and her futuristic romance, The Skypirate, is still my favorite in this subgenre. She has a way of really making me care about her characters and she excels at torturing them. You know how I feel about that. ;-)
The Morning Side of Dawn is no exception on the torture front. The h/h are immediately attracted to each other, but Dar doesn't want to get close. His attitude problem, BTW, came before the accident that took his legs. Most people don't look beyond that either and make assumptions, but Cassandra doesn't and that's part of what gets under Dar's skin, that the heroine really does care enough to get to know who he is at his heart.
I'm not doing justice to this book at all, but trust me, it's awesome and I highly recommend it.
August 4, 2011
Blend
(This topic is via request on Twitter. If you have something you'd like me to blog about, feel free to ask.)
I never set out to blend genres. The stories I'm attracted to as a reader are romantic suspense, science fiction romance, and paranormal romance. The books that are straight romance with no action tend to sit in my TBR pile for a very long time. It's the same with movies. Sleepless in Seattle bored the hell out of me and my favorite romance movie of all time is Speed with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.
I've never gotten many story ideas that didn't involve action, adventure, and suspense along with the romance. The few that I did have are gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. I try to write most of my ideas down because I never know when a piece of it (if not the whole thing) might be something I can use later. I actually had the idea for Deke's curse more than ten years before I wrote In the Midnight Hour. (And I even had his name and the name of his TV series, I just didn't have a heroine for him until Ryne showed up.)
So I've never set out consciously to blend genres, I just wrote what I like to read or watch. I'm also a seat of the pants writer which means I don't spend a lot of time analyzing how I do things, I just do them. I think it helps, though, in genre blending to know what part interests you as the writer most.
For me, the focus is always on the relationship between the characters and the character growth arc. Because this is what intrigues me most, and because this is what the romance genre is all about, my books fit best here. Not that they fit perfectly. I've had some romance readers say what I write isn't romance. It's an adventure story. And to someone who reads straight romance without the outside action going on, I maybe do. But my hero and heroine usually are together, they work as a team, they deal with falling in love, so yeah, they're definitely romance.
Sometimes the reaction to genre blending is so mixed, it frustrated me. Some romance readers say I don't write romance. Some romance writers said I write great romance, but I did "science fiction lite." At the same time, I'm getting emails from SF readers saying, hey, you write great light action/adventure science fiction, but couldn't you leave out the romance stuff? My head was spinning like the girl in The Exorcist. :-)
My books usually end up being the heroines' stories, which would make me a more natural Urban Fantasy writer since that genre seems largely heroine centered. The problem is that what interests me about the world is how it affects the characters; I don't have a great deal of fascination with the world by itself. In Fantasy, the focus is on the world more than the characters.
This isn't to say I have no interest in the world or world building. I do and I spend a lot of time making notes, but what usually happens is this: I get, The Gineal shun those who turn to dark magic. It's a weakness. Then my brain goes, ooh! That's why Ryne is a loner. They think she's gone over to the dark. If I was a fantasy writer, I'd probably go, ooh! What happened in this world to make the dark side so reviled? That question is one I could answer vaguely, but not with the kind of thought someone more interested in every facet of the world could provide.
What I know is that dark magic and the suspicion of dark magic use has affected my heroine from the time she was twelve and it shaped Ryne into the woman she is today. I know how it impacts her growth arc, how she has to learn to accept that she's not destined to fall into the dark arts and to trust herself.
I'm not sure I stayed 100% on topic, but I love action, adventure, and suspense with my romance, and if this makes me a genre blender, so be it.
I never set out to blend genres. The stories I'm attracted to as a reader are romantic suspense, science fiction romance, and paranormal romance. The books that are straight romance with no action tend to sit in my TBR pile for a very long time. It's the same with movies. Sleepless in Seattle bored the hell out of me and my favorite romance movie of all time is Speed with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.
I've never gotten many story ideas that didn't involve action, adventure, and suspense along with the romance. The few that I did have are gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. I try to write most of my ideas down because I never know when a piece of it (if not the whole thing) might be something I can use later. I actually had the idea for Deke's curse more than ten years before I wrote In the Midnight Hour. (And I even had his name and the name of his TV series, I just didn't have a heroine for him until Ryne showed up.)
So I've never set out consciously to blend genres, I just wrote what I like to read or watch. I'm also a seat of the pants writer which means I don't spend a lot of time analyzing how I do things, I just do them. I think it helps, though, in genre blending to know what part interests you as the writer most.
For me, the focus is always on the relationship between the characters and the character growth arc. Because this is what intrigues me most, and because this is what the romance genre is all about, my books fit best here. Not that they fit perfectly. I've had some romance readers say what I write isn't romance. It's an adventure story. And to someone who reads straight romance without the outside action going on, I maybe do. But my hero and heroine usually are together, they work as a team, they deal with falling in love, so yeah, they're definitely romance.
Sometimes the reaction to genre blending is so mixed, it frustrated me. Some romance readers say I don't write romance. Some romance writers said I write great romance, but I did "science fiction lite." At the same time, I'm getting emails from SF readers saying, hey, you write great light action/adventure science fiction, but couldn't you leave out the romance stuff? My head was spinning like the girl in The Exorcist. :-)
My books usually end up being the heroines' stories, which would make me a more natural Urban Fantasy writer since that genre seems largely heroine centered. The problem is that what interests me about the world is how it affects the characters; I don't have a great deal of fascination with the world by itself. In Fantasy, the focus is on the world more than the characters.
This isn't to say I have no interest in the world or world building. I do and I spend a lot of time making notes, but what usually happens is this: I get, The Gineal shun those who turn to dark magic. It's a weakness. Then my brain goes, ooh! That's why Ryne is a loner. They think she's gone over to the dark. If I was a fantasy writer, I'd probably go, ooh! What happened in this world to make the dark side so reviled? That question is one I could answer vaguely, but not with the kind of thought someone more interested in every facet of the world could provide.
What I know is that dark magic and the suspicion of dark magic use has affected my heroine from the time she was twelve and it shaped Ryne into the woman she is today. I know how it impacts her growth arc, how she has to learn to accept that she's not destined to fall into the dark arts and to trust herself.
I'm not sure I stayed 100% on topic, but I love action, adventure, and suspense with my romance, and if this makes me a genre blender, so be it.
August 2, 2011
Change Happens
Change is inevitable. I've talked about my views on characters and how they deal with this. It's my position that few people embrace change, and that in fact, many resist it as long as possible. I have my characters do this as well, and generally try to put them in situations where they have no choice about it.
Recently, I had a refresher course on just how real people react to big change, and I can safely say that I'm dead-on in my characters' reactions. Dead on.
About six weeks ago, we were told our jobs are being relocated to Atlanta. Many of you know that I work for an airline. It used to be Northwest, but Delta bought us out and they're headquartered in Georgia. The decision was made to close the building I work in and get rid of it. Everyone here--about 400 people--was suddenly faced with enormous change. Either move to Atlanta or find a new job. We were given until July 31st to make our decision.
This wasn't a fork in the path where one side continued on in sort of the status quo and the other had change. This was a T in the road. There is no path remotely similar to the current one.
One of the interesting side effects of being a writer is being able to observe. Although I was reeling myself from this unexpected announcement (or maybe because of it), I was able to step back and watch others. It's actually pretty incredible to see how strenuously people have resisted. Now, six weeks after the bombshell, most of my coworkers have adjusted, but there are some who are still resisting.
So yes, in my stories when I have characters who cling to the status quo past the point where they should move on, it's realistic. In fact, even the most stubborn of my heroes and heroines have adjusted more quickly than many of my coworkers.
And how did I react to this change? I was too numb to go into resistance--my choice was denial. At first. Then I began researching Atlanta--housing, crime rates, traffic patterns. I reached out to friends who live in the south (although not Atlanta) and found people online who could answer questions for me.
I waffled a lot at first, but within a week, I was leaning one direction. A couple of days later, I read something that made me 90% certain which choice I was going to make. I stayed at that 90% level for a really long time. Last week, the week I had to make my decision, I was 99% sure what I was going to do, but I didn't make my official decision because I wanted to be 100% certain when I did. It's August, the decision day has come and gone, I did give my notification on my decision, but I'm still not at 100%.
If your curious about what I decided to do--I'm moving to Atlanta. My report date to my new office is January 9th.
Recently, I had a refresher course on just how real people react to big change, and I can safely say that I'm dead-on in my characters' reactions. Dead on.
About six weeks ago, we were told our jobs are being relocated to Atlanta. Many of you know that I work for an airline. It used to be Northwest, but Delta bought us out and they're headquartered in Georgia. The decision was made to close the building I work in and get rid of it. Everyone here--about 400 people--was suddenly faced with enormous change. Either move to Atlanta or find a new job. We were given until July 31st to make our decision.
This wasn't a fork in the path where one side continued on in sort of the status quo and the other had change. This was a T in the road. There is no path remotely similar to the current one.
One of the interesting side effects of being a writer is being able to observe. Although I was reeling myself from this unexpected announcement (or maybe because of it), I was able to step back and watch others. It's actually pretty incredible to see how strenuously people have resisted. Now, six weeks after the bombshell, most of my coworkers have adjusted, but there are some who are still resisting.
So yes, in my stories when I have characters who cling to the status quo past the point where they should move on, it's realistic. In fact, even the most stubborn of my heroes and heroines have adjusted more quickly than many of my coworkers.
And how did I react to this change? I was too numb to go into resistance--my choice was denial. At first. Then I began researching Atlanta--housing, crime rates, traffic patterns. I reached out to friends who live in the south (although not Atlanta) and found people online who could answer questions for me.
I waffled a lot at first, but within a week, I was leaning one direction. A couple of days later, I read something that made me 90% certain which choice I was going to make. I stayed at that 90% level for a really long time. Last week, the week I had to make my decision, I was 99% sure what I was going to do, but I didn't make my official decision because I wanted to be 100% certain when I did. It's August, the decision day has come and gone, I did give my notification on my decision, but I'm still not at 100%.
If your curious about what I decided to do--I'm moving to Atlanta. My report date to my new office is January 9th.
July 31, 2011
Archaeological Myths and Mysteries
I've been listening to an audio lecture series called Myths and Mysteries In Archaeology. It's given by a professor of archaeology at George Washington University and promised to look at things like Stonehenge, Atlantis, and whether or not aliens King Arthur really existed as well as other topics. The lecture series was a total of 8 hours. Most lectures were about half an hour long, so there were good breaking points in the audio.
The opening lectures covered archaeology in a general sense, giving basic information about the field. I found this part fascinating and picked up a lot of things I didn't know. For a year while I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an archaeologist, but I never bothered to learn much about it and moved on to other dreams.
I think the general information was the first three lectures and then each subsequent lecture covered a different myth or mystery of archaeology. This was also interesting...to a degree.
To say the professor was a skeptic was putting it mildly. She shot down pretty much everything, although she did concede that King Arthur probably was a real person, but maybe just a military leader who became a folk hero or something.
TBH, I didn't expect her to believe much in any of these myths. Traditional archaeology strikes me as very conservative and staid. The professor also did make an effort to include information used by the supporters of these more exciting theories. Unfortunately, though, even as she offered the details, her skepticism came through clearly and it made her attempt to offer both sides seem pointless.
I'll admit that I enjoy some of these outlandish ideas. Hey, I write fiction! And I find them exciting even if they're not true. The professor clearly did not share my sense of wonder as she debunked myth after myth. Her arguments were largely compelling, but it disappointed me anyway.
The professor clearly knew her stuff and laid things out concisely, so that even people who were unfamiliar with archaeology could follow easily. I did listen to the entire 8 hours and it held my interest, although by the last couple of lectures, I was almost able to cite the phrase she used right before she shot holes in any theory that didn't adhere to the status quo in the field. Overall, though, I liked the lecture series and I'd definitely check into more along these lines.
The opening lectures covered archaeology in a general sense, giving basic information about the field. I found this part fascinating and picked up a lot of things I didn't know. For a year while I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an archaeologist, but I never bothered to learn much about it and moved on to other dreams.
I think the general information was the first three lectures and then each subsequent lecture covered a different myth or mystery of archaeology. This was also interesting...to a degree.
To say the professor was a skeptic was putting it mildly. She shot down pretty much everything, although she did concede that King Arthur probably was a real person, but maybe just a military leader who became a folk hero or something.
TBH, I didn't expect her to believe much in any of these myths. Traditional archaeology strikes me as very conservative and staid. The professor also did make an effort to include information used by the supporters of these more exciting theories. Unfortunately, though, even as she offered the details, her skepticism came through clearly and it made her attempt to offer both sides seem pointless.
I'll admit that I enjoy some of these outlandish ideas. Hey, I write fiction! And I find them exciting even if they're not true. The professor clearly did not share my sense of wonder as she debunked myth after myth. Her arguments were largely compelling, but it disappointed me anyway.
The professor clearly knew her stuff and laid things out concisely, so that even people who were unfamiliar with archaeology could follow easily. I did listen to the entire 8 hours and it held my interest, although by the last couple of lectures, I was almost able to cite the phrase she used right before she shot holes in any theory that didn't adhere to the status quo in the field. Overall, though, I liked the lecture series and I'd definitely check into more along these lines.
