Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 60

This is a Good Book Thursday, February 9, 2023

No reading, but I’m working my way through Penn and Teller’s Masterclass on Magic and it’s FINALLY solving my problem with Rose. I’ve got a Penn and Teller book somewhere in the living room, so that’s where I’m heading next.

What did you read this week?

ETA: Just saw that the audio book of Welcome to Temptation is on sale for $2.99.

Working Wednesday, February 8, 2023

I’m behind on everything, including working, but I’m sure you all have been doing marvelous things. So, give.

What did you work on this week?

Happiness is a Warm Puppy. Or Two. And a Cat.

It’s been cold as hell this weekend, but I’ve had two small dogs and a large cat snuggled up to me for most of it. SO much better than a heating pad.

What made you happy this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday, February 2023

This week I didn’t read much of anything. I know, I’m no help at all, but everybody here is, so have at it in the comments. Argh people know good books.

So what good book did you read this week?

Working Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Welp, we made it through January. One more month of winter blahs and we can start climbing out, assuming you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. Things continue to go awry here–one of my medications gave me hallucinations, so that was interesting–and Bob and I stopped moving forward on the current book because I’d borked my heroine so badly, but we’re back on track now (see below). And I’m thinking about just taking everything in this house outside and lighting a match. How did I accumulate so much STUFF?

Enough about me, what did you work on this week?

And now we’re at the point where I can’t ignore the sex scene any longer:

Happiness is Having A Writing Partner Who Doesn’t Blame You When You Screw Up The Book You’re Collaborating On

This week, I have not been happy, just grateful to Bob who isn’t saying, “How long have you been writing?”I’ve screwed up so many things, not just the book, and I’m trying desperately to fix them and it’s a miracle this whole post isn’t one big scream. So you guys are going to have to bring the happy this week.

What made you happy this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday, January 26, 2023

I am done with winter, which is unfortunately not done with me. The only thing to do at this point is make cocoa and read a good book.

In other news, Martha Wells has a new Murderbot novel out on Nov. 14, 2023: System Collapse.

What good book(s) did you read this week?

Working Wednesday, January 25, 2023

We’re almost out of January, and we’re finally getting a grasp on the book. We ended up slicing and dicing what we had, moving scenes around to fix the pacing.

Now we’re having to fix all the discrepancies for time and cause and effect. Bob got more than half way through it and started to scream and sent it to me, and I’m trying to get the rest lined up, but it’s a lot better, and we’ve got a much better grasp on the plot although we won’t know for sure until the first draft is done. I am still driving Bob nuts with that two-spaces-after-a-period thing, but he’s coping.

What did you work on this week?

Happiness is Finding a Good Book

I’ve been reading a lot of romance lately, trying to keep up with the genre, but so much of it is banal, the same tropes used over and over, so when I find a good one, it makes me so happy. Same thing with film. Finding a story that can take you away for awhile is just bliss.

What makes you happy?

State of Collaboration: Character Argument

So Bob has the master and he’s telling me the scenes he’s adding (which is good) and then he tells me he’s put Rose in a scene when I had her asleep, and it was important that she sleep late.

I may have lost my cool a little bit. It was one of those man vs woman things. There was something about Bob asking me why she isn’t fixing him breakfast that set me off. Bob, as always was patient. And answered with zombies.

As he would say, “Sigh.”

Usually, we’re in sync, but every now and then one of us hits a nerve and the other one gets snarky. It’s a process.