Molly O'Keefe's Blog, page 65
February 10, 2011
It's a Love/Hate thing...
So in preparation for the Oscars I'm trying to cram in all the movies that I've wanted to see all year but are now just finally getting to. I finally saw Black Swan but because of all the "mystery" surrounding what it was really about … I ended up totally over thinking it. I will say though that Natalie Portman did an amazing job.
Then I watched Social Network. For those of you who don't know I'm a former West Wing fanatic. I can wax poetic for hours on the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin. I was so excited to "hear" him again in the writing and in truth he didn't disappoint. SN sounds like the Aaron I know. Nobody does "brilliant" like he does.
But here was my problem with the movie. I didn't like the protagonist. And sadly that's a pretty big downside. I get that in this version of the telling of the story we're probably not supposed to like Zuckerberg, but it still stopped me from falling in love with the movie.
I can think of so many times where an editor has commented… I just didn't feel for the heroine or hero. I didn't like them. This used to frustrate me… but I do get it.
Now it might make people (writers) think that all heroes or heroines have to ultimately be "nice" or else the audience won't like them. But we know that's not true. I just read a book where the heroine is very nice. Super nice. Pleasing in all ways. Any person would want to know this very nice person. I couldn't stand her as a character. Nice isn't what it's about.
With Zuckerberg (movie version) I didn't have a problem with him not being nice. But I was looking for something more than a spoiled genius, left out of the cool kid club, who was condescending and rude to everyone around him. One moment of real friendship or a truly sincere gesture from him to anyone and that might have helped.
Ultimately I couldn't root for him. In truth I didn't really root for anyone in this movie… except maybe the roommate a little and the ex-girlfriend. Who delivered the best line of the movie in my opinion.
We, the audience, need to "like" the protagonist. We need to empathize, sympathize, appreciate… whatever. We need to get them. Whether they be nice or (as Eileen would say) they be asshats we need to see the story from their prospective so that we're connected.
At least I do. HBO shows excel at this. Omar – the Robin Hood of Drug dealers from the Wire. Niki – the bitchy spoiled 2nd wife from Big Love who can also fix a washing machine and hang shingles on a roof. The FBI guy from Boardwalk Empire… (forgot his name.) Who is crazy and insane but so damn passionate about his work. The Widow Schroeder who knows her boyfriend had her husband killed and seems okay with that even though we also see her as a loving and kind mother.
Anybody else you wanted to love but ended up hating? Wanted to hate but ended up loving?
Then I watched Social Network. For those of you who don't know I'm a former West Wing fanatic. I can wax poetic for hours on the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin. I was so excited to "hear" him again in the writing and in truth he didn't disappoint. SN sounds like the Aaron I know. Nobody does "brilliant" like he does.
But here was my problem with the movie. I didn't like the protagonist. And sadly that's a pretty big downside. I get that in this version of the telling of the story we're probably not supposed to like Zuckerberg, but it still stopped me from falling in love with the movie.
I can think of so many times where an editor has commented… I just didn't feel for the heroine or hero. I didn't like them. This used to frustrate me… but I do get it.
Now it might make people (writers) think that all heroes or heroines have to ultimately be "nice" or else the audience won't like them. But we know that's not true. I just read a book where the heroine is very nice. Super nice. Pleasing in all ways. Any person would want to know this very nice person. I couldn't stand her as a character. Nice isn't what it's about.
With Zuckerberg (movie version) I didn't have a problem with him not being nice. But I was looking for something more than a spoiled genius, left out of the cool kid club, who was condescending and rude to everyone around him. One moment of real friendship or a truly sincere gesture from him to anyone and that might have helped.
Ultimately I couldn't root for him. In truth I didn't really root for anyone in this movie… except maybe the roommate a little and the ex-girlfriend. Who delivered the best line of the movie in my opinion.
We, the audience, need to "like" the protagonist. We need to empathize, sympathize, appreciate… whatever. We need to get them. Whether they be nice or (as Eileen would say) they be asshats we need to see the story from their prospective so that we're connected.
At least I do. HBO shows excel at this. Omar – the Robin Hood of Drug dealers from the Wire. Niki – the bitchy spoiled 2nd wife from Big Love who can also fix a washing machine and hang shingles on a roof. The FBI guy from Boardwalk Empire… (forgot his name.) Who is crazy and insane but so damn passionate about his work. The Widow Schroeder who knows her boyfriend had her husband killed and seems okay with that even though we also see her as a loving and kind mother.
Anybody else you wanted to love but ended up hating? Wanted to hate but ended up loving?
February 9, 2011
Torture (and porn)
Clearly I'm doing blog titles to get hits from people who will have zero interest in our blog. Sue me. :)
We've talked here before about torturing our characters, how we need to throw the germiphobe into the dumpster, etc.
But doing that in real life, purposefully setting people up for pain, is cruel.
And, of course, I'm talking about The Bachelor. Yes, after SWEARING I'd never watch again (many seasons ago) I have again been sucked back into the busty-and-overly-made-up vortex. One of the times I swore I'd never watch again, I blogged about it, and called the show emotional porn. I stand by that.
And this season they've sunk to new lows. Yes, they always make sure the one who's afraid of flying ends up on plane, and the one who's afraid of heights ends up jumping off something high, but this season there have been two episodes that really made me angry.
One was last night. One of the girls, one of the more sane ones, actually, is deathly afraid of bugs. I mean, she seriously needs some psychological help. And clearly the producers knew this. So where do they send her and the bachelor on the only date she ever gets with him? Into a cave in Costa Rica. With lots of bugs. Nice.
But even more egregious was the Las Vegas episode. One of the contestants lost her Nascar-racer-fiancé in plane crash when she was only 18. Then she found out 3 days after he died she was pregnant. She hadn't been on a plane or anywhere near car racing since he died. Nor has she had a relationship. (and this girl is scary-beautiful. I thought she looked old for early twenties, but they've now shown her a few times without all the make up and my god. It's unfair for one woman to get so much beauty.)
And what do they do???? First put her on a small plane with the bachelor -- presumably similar to the type her fiancé died in. Then, they take her to a Nascar race track. Oh, and the exact same racetrack that her fiancé had a bad crash at when he was racing. Nice.
Sometimes reality TV is a good lesson in how to put your characters in difficult situations. But I ask... should it be?
The movie Stranger Than Fiction suddenly pops to mind, which explored the ethics of torturing fictional characters. But these women on The Bachelor are (at least partially) real. How do the producers sleep at night? Imagine the bad karma.
We've talked here before about torturing our characters, how we need to throw the germiphobe into the dumpster, etc.
But doing that in real life, purposefully setting people up for pain, is cruel.
And, of course, I'm talking about The Bachelor. Yes, after SWEARING I'd never watch again (many seasons ago) I have again been sucked back into the busty-and-overly-made-up vortex. One of the times I swore I'd never watch again, I blogged about it, and called the show emotional porn. I stand by that.
And this season they've sunk to new lows. Yes, they always make sure the one who's afraid of flying ends up on plane, and the one who's afraid of heights ends up jumping off something high, but this season there have been two episodes that really made me angry.
One was last night. One of the girls, one of the more sane ones, actually, is deathly afraid of bugs. I mean, she seriously needs some psychological help. And clearly the producers knew this. So where do they send her and the bachelor on the only date she ever gets with him? Into a cave in Costa Rica. With lots of bugs. Nice.
But even more egregious was the Las Vegas episode. One of the contestants lost her Nascar-racer-fiancé in plane crash when she was only 18. Then she found out 3 days after he died she was pregnant. She hadn't been on a plane or anywhere near car racing since he died. Nor has she had a relationship. (and this girl is scary-beautiful. I thought she looked old for early twenties, but they've now shown her a few times without all the make up and my god. It's unfair for one woman to get so much beauty.)
And what do they do???? First put her on a small plane with the bachelor -- presumably similar to the type her fiancé died in. Then, they take her to a Nascar race track. Oh, and the exact same racetrack that her fiancé had a bad crash at when he was racing. Nice.
Sometimes reality TV is a good lesson in how to put your characters in difficult situations. But I ask... should it be?
The movie Stranger Than Fiction suddenly pops to mind, which explored the ethics of torturing fictional characters. But these women on The Bachelor are (at least partially) real. How do the producers sleep at night? Imagine the bad karma.
February 7, 2011
How revealing should we be?
No, I'm not reprising Nipplegate in honor of the Super Bowl. I'm worried about how much to reveal to my reader and when to reveal it.
I know we've talked about this before, but I'm in the middle of revising a suspense novel where I made the very interesting decision to tell the reader everything that every bad guy was doing as he was doing it and what he was thinking while he was doing it. It has created a book that my editor described as being like watching a chess game.
I've now pulled every scene from the bad guys' points of view and put them in a separate file. I'm going to print everything out and figure out what goes back in and when and where it goes back in. I spent a lot of time and thought on these bad guys. I know a lot about them. I'm thinking the reader doesn't have to know quite as much.
The whole question is how much to reveal and when to reveal it. Do I keep their identities secret? Do I obfuscate who does what? Or why they're doing it? I don't know. I hope my exercise in separating out the threads works because this puppy is due Friday and that's just not that far away.
I know we've talked about this before, but I'm in the middle of revising a suspense novel where I made the very interesting decision to tell the reader everything that every bad guy was doing as he was doing it and what he was thinking while he was doing it. It has created a book that my editor described as being like watching a chess game.
I've now pulled every scene from the bad guys' points of view and put them in a separate file. I'm going to print everything out and figure out what goes back in and when and where it goes back in. I spent a lot of time and thought on these bad guys. I know a lot about them. I'm thinking the reader doesn't have to know quite as much.
The whole question is how much to reveal and when to reveal it. Do I keep their identities secret? Do I obfuscate who does what? Or why they're doing it? I don't know. I hope my exercise in separating out the threads works because this puppy is due Friday and that's just not that far away.
Momentum
Last night's Super Bowl was fantastic - even though we don't get the ads up here in Canada (except for the Eminem one, which only fed my love for the man) I couldn't have enjoyed that game more. Even though I'm a Pittsburgh fan by birth I have to admit the Steelers simply didn't deserve to win. All those interceptions? Green Bay dropped the ball a few times, but Rodgers never threw an interception. And he's squeaky clean. No rape charges, no pictures of his ding dong on the internet, no dog fighting. Just work. If games were decided on that sort of thing - it all worked out just fine.
But I've been thinking a lot about momentum. I feel stalled out in my book right now because I can't put together three working days in a row. Remember some of the first advice you heard about writing - write every day even if it's for twenty minutes. I'm not arguing with that advice, it's still good. But those twenty minute days screw me up more than help me. I feel lost in my story, spinning my wheels.
Last nights game was about momentum. About getting it, but not being able to capitalize on it. Favor would swing one way and that time would spin thier wheels trying to make something miraculous happen. Sometimes it did, but most of the time things would fall apart.
My foot ball analogy falls apart there because I can't squash the forces working against me (children - unsquashable) but I have decided that it's time to get my head out of my own behind and sacrifice some stuff to get this book done. No more afternoon naps. Yes, I admit it, I nap. Goodbye bad television tht I watch for no good reason. Hello Crock Pot. Hello babysitter and Goodbye Saturday Spinning class. For the first time this weekend I woke up early to do some work (5:30!) and I can safely say that's not a habit I'm ready to commit to.
What sorts of things do you do to create your own momentum? Any advice would help at this point
But I've been thinking a lot about momentum. I feel stalled out in my book right now because I can't put together three working days in a row. Remember some of the first advice you heard about writing - write every day even if it's for twenty minutes. I'm not arguing with that advice, it's still good. But those twenty minute days screw me up more than help me. I feel lost in my story, spinning my wheels.
Last nights game was about momentum. About getting it, but not being able to capitalize on it. Favor would swing one way and that time would spin thier wheels trying to make something miraculous happen. Sometimes it did, but most of the time things would fall apart.
My foot ball analogy falls apart there because I can't squash the forces working against me (children - unsquashable) but I have decided that it's time to get my head out of my own behind and sacrifice some stuff to get this book done. No more afternoon naps. Yes, I admit it, I nap. Goodbye bad television tht I watch for no good reason. Hello Crock Pot. Hello babysitter and Goodbye Saturday Spinning class. For the first time this weekend I woke up early to do some work (5:30!) and I can safely say that's not a habit I'm ready to commit to.
What sorts of things do you do to create your own momentum? Any advice would help at this point
February 3, 2011
Criticism... it's tough
I did a post the other week about a book and author I was disappointed in because she happened to be a long time favorite. I made the comment that of course I wouldn't name names, because well… no one wants to say out loud that kind of thing.
My reasons for this are simple.
1. You never know how your comments will be taken.
2. I don't want to leave myself open for attack… the old "who are you to say…"
3. The romance community is a small one and you don't want to make enemies.
4. And I hate to admit this… I really do… but is it because the romance community is mostly female and women by and large are more sensitive to public criticism?
I've read blogs on this before and I've always just shrugged them off, but in thinking about how reluctant I was to actually call out this author (and so many agreed that I had done the right thing) I wondered if all genre publishing is like this or specifically romance?
The truth is I would never be "mean" in my criticism. I have too much respect for authors. Even Stephanie Myers, who I have named publicly as not being a fan of her work, I still respect that millions of people love her books for their own reasons. I have my opinion – and it's just that. An opinion. And any criticism I would point out is usually based more on a "learning" experience. I didn't think *this* worked. I thought *this* part took me out of the story. It's part of the dissecting process to understand what makes books successful.
Once you're published one of the things you have to face is your books are going to be reviewed. There will be negative ones. Not maybe. Not possibly. There will be. Someone will post something on Amazon. Someone will have something to say on some review site.
Some authors choose to ignore all reviews, but then you also miss the good ones. Some laugh them off. Some are irritated. Some are deeply hurt. See my reason 1. Since I don't know how the author takes criticism I don't want to risk hurting someone's feelings. There's no point when I can avoid it.
As for 2 - "who am I to say…" I always based this on the fact that I'm not a NYT bestseller. But it makes me think – are only NYT bestsellers able to critique books? No. The truth is I'm an avid reader and have been for 30+ years. I read across genres within romance and out. I've taken classes on craft. I've read books on writing and I've published my own work. I'm not a chump. But even if I were – the truth is I still get an opinion. Sad but true.
Enemies – I don't want enemies! Okay, but then it makes me think if someone makes me her enemy just because I happened to say her book didn't work for me… what does that say about the author. If your attitude is that every person who critiques your work publicly is an enemy… well then you're going to rack up a bunch. And truly – if you're not listening to other people's criticism then you're not
growing as an author.
Which leads us to 4. Are we too sensitive? Is it a woman thing? A writer thing? Or is it completely individual? If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. That's like Golden Rule # 3.
But we're talking about books for mass consumption. What if we called the authors out? What if we said – the plot fell apart. The emotion wasn't there. There is too much exposition. All tell, no show.
These are the things new authors are told ALL the time. Send in a manuscript to a contest that critiques and the feedback is usually going to be pretty intense. Why? It's anonymous. People feel free to say what they think.
So why can't we say it to these "big" authors who knew all this at some point but have since forgot or just don't care. Who does it fall to, to tap them on the shoulder and point out where the mistakes were made? The agent? The editor? Definitely not a publisher who is on a tight schedule and needs those profits. But a blog reviewer? A peer?
As a writer I've read reviews that said my books were horrible, stupid and that they were thrown across the room. I've made people's eyes roll and have made people hate my heroes or heroines with such passion they felt compelled to write about it in a public forum. I accept all of it. The good, the bad and even the really awful.
I don't think anyone's ever been intentionally malicious – although I hear stories about that happening all the time. Reviewer A out to destroy Author B. But to date I have never called out anyone as being my enemy. Do I wish everything came up roses, sure. Do I question some people's reviews – sometimes. Obviously I'm going to defend my work.
But I wonder have we all just gotten too sensitive when it comes to people in a public forum pointing out our mistakes? And if the prevailing thought is to never say anything if it isn't nice are we putting at risk our genre by not calling out the really bad books.
What do you'all think? Do you prefer public forums to keep things positive? Do you think review sites and blogs can offer criticism without being mean or is it too fine of a line to walk?
My reasons for this are simple.
1. You never know how your comments will be taken.
2. I don't want to leave myself open for attack… the old "who are you to say…"
3. The romance community is a small one and you don't want to make enemies.
4. And I hate to admit this… I really do… but is it because the romance community is mostly female and women by and large are more sensitive to public criticism?
I've read blogs on this before and I've always just shrugged them off, but in thinking about how reluctant I was to actually call out this author (and so many agreed that I had done the right thing) I wondered if all genre publishing is like this or specifically romance?
The truth is I would never be "mean" in my criticism. I have too much respect for authors. Even Stephanie Myers, who I have named publicly as not being a fan of her work, I still respect that millions of people love her books for their own reasons. I have my opinion – and it's just that. An opinion. And any criticism I would point out is usually based more on a "learning" experience. I didn't think *this* worked. I thought *this* part took me out of the story. It's part of the dissecting process to understand what makes books successful.
Once you're published one of the things you have to face is your books are going to be reviewed. There will be negative ones. Not maybe. Not possibly. There will be. Someone will post something on Amazon. Someone will have something to say on some review site.
Some authors choose to ignore all reviews, but then you also miss the good ones. Some laugh them off. Some are irritated. Some are deeply hurt. See my reason 1. Since I don't know how the author takes criticism I don't want to risk hurting someone's feelings. There's no point when I can avoid it.
As for 2 - "who am I to say…" I always based this on the fact that I'm not a NYT bestseller. But it makes me think – are only NYT bestsellers able to critique books? No. The truth is I'm an avid reader and have been for 30+ years. I read across genres within romance and out. I've taken classes on craft. I've read books on writing and I've published my own work. I'm not a chump. But even if I were – the truth is I still get an opinion. Sad but true.
Enemies – I don't want enemies! Okay, but then it makes me think if someone makes me her enemy just because I happened to say her book didn't work for me… what does that say about the author. If your attitude is that every person who critiques your work publicly is an enemy… well then you're going to rack up a bunch. And truly – if you're not listening to other people's criticism then you're not
growing as an author.
Which leads us to 4. Are we too sensitive? Is it a woman thing? A writer thing? Or is it completely individual? If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. That's like Golden Rule # 3.
But we're talking about books for mass consumption. What if we called the authors out? What if we said – the plot fell apart. The emotion wasn't there. There is too much exposition. All tell, no show.
These are the things new authors are told ALL the time. Send in a manuscript to a contest that critiques and the feedback is usually going to be pretty intense. Why? It's anonymous. People feel free to say what they think.
So why can't we say it to these "big" authors who knew all this at some point but have since forgot or just don't care. Who does it fall to, to tap them on the shoulder and point out where the mistakes were made? The agent? The editor? Definitely not a publisher who is on a tight schedule and needs those profits. But a blog reviewer? A peer?
As a writer I've read reviews that said my books were horrible, stupid and that they were thrown across the room. I've made people's eyes roll and have made people hate my heroes or heroines with such passion they felt compelled to write about it in a public forum. I accept all of it. The good, the bad and even the really awful.
I don't think anyone's ever been intentionally malicious – although I hear stories about that happening all the time. Reviewer A out to destroy Author B. But to date I have never called out anyone as being my enemy. Do I wish everything came up roses, sure. Do I question some people's reviews – sometimes. Obviously I'm going to defend my work.
But I wonder have we all just gotten too sensitive when it comes to people in a public forum pointing out our mistakes? And if the prevailing thought is to never say anything if it isn't nice are we putting at risk our genre by not calling out the really bad books.
What do you'all think? Do you prefer public forums to keep things positive? Do you think review sites and blogs can offer criticism without being mean or is it too fine of a line to walk?
January 31, 2011
Ah, the Joy of Revising
I got my revision letter for Vanished in the Night, my next Eileen Carr book. I actually kind of groove on the revision letter. My editor always starts with like a page of how fabulous I am and how wonderful the book is and the general terrificosity of the whole situation.
She then proceeds to write 3 to 6 pages of what needs to be changed. It can be a little daunting and a little scary, but she's right more often than she's wrong, IMHO, and I know it will make the book stronger.
This time, there's been a fairly large time gap between my turning the book in and getting my revision letter so I basically have not touched this puppy since October. I barely remember my characters' names, much less their motivations. One of the first things that needed to be revised that my editor mentioned was that there was too much banter.
How can there be too much banter? I love banter. I will watch really stupid TV shows with bad plots and ridiculous characters as long as there's some banter. But, lo and behold. There is too much banter in this book. Everyone banters with everyone else. My detective hero banters with his partner about lunch plans, for Pete's sake. It's bad banter. Pointless banter. And what's worse, it makes my hero look like some namby-pamby arugula-eater with a touchy stomach. How not hot is that, I ask you?
She also mentioned some repetition in internal monologue sections. Ha! I thought. No way.
Oh, yes way. For some reason completely unknown to me, I have a scene where the heroine leaves one place thinking about something. There are then two scenes from other characters' POVs. Then I return to her as she arrives where she's going STILL THINKING ABOUT THE SAME F*CKING THING!!! Was I on crack? Drunk? Just out of my mind?
This is where the revising thing falls apart for me. When I look back what I've written and can't imagine what I was trying to accomplish as I wrote it. I know it's going to be okay. I can be ruthless during revisions. Still, where was my head?
Do you ever read things you've written and wondered what the you were thinking?
Missing Opportunities
Last week's critique group was a real eye-opener for me and gave me a whole new thing worry and obsess over. Missed opportunities. In one of my scenes the heroine had to come to this big, sort of left field realization. My heroine goes from passive to active in her life. So, I was very wrapped up in making sure that she came to this decision in a methodical way. I took my time with the scene - I had her getting drunk. It was a pretty static scene and not that I put thought into that, but I was so worried about the internal conflict and changes that were happening and making sure those were believable.
Everyone can relate, right? We've all had those scenes, hell, those books.
Feedback was good until Sinead opens her mouth and says the scene felt like a missed opportunity. For a moment, I was like - No. Sinead. No.
But then, of course I realized she was right. How dynamic is it to show a character going from passive to active in her life, while sitting down? While being passive? In an effort to up my game I'm trying to push scenes and characters as far as I can go - trying to get all the juice out of them as I can in my own feeble-minded way. I can't miss opportunities to SHOW my characters changing or failing. I have to combine plot with character as much as possible - and then add all the other crap - voice, mood, tone, humor, sexy sex - all of it. Previous to that night, I was a little stunted in my progress, I was obsessing about all the juice I was trying to get out of things, and then for a while I was convinced every scene was a missed opportunity.
It's not like I know I'm missing the opportunity while I'm stumbling right past it. It's not like I'm being lazy, it's that my brain is so small.
But then I realized I have a safety net. If my own writer's sixth sense doesn't see what I'm doing wrong - Sinead will. So, thanks Sinead.
Everyone can relate, right? We've all had those scenes, hell, those books.
Feedback was good until Sinead opens her mouth and says the scene felt like a missed opportunity. For a moment, I was like - No. Sinead. No.
But then, of course I realized she was right. How dynamic is it to show a character going from passive to active in her life, while sitting down? While being passive? In an effort to up my game I'm trying to push scenes and characters as far as I can go - trying to get all the juice out of them as I can in my own feeble-minded way. I can't miss opportunities to SHOW my characters changing or failing. I have to combine plot with character as much as possible - and then add all the other crap - voice, mood, tone, humor, sexy sex - all of it. Previous to that night, I was a little stunted in my progress, I was obsessing about all the juice I was trying to get out of things, and then for a while I was convinced every scene was a missed opportunity.
It's not like I know I'm missing the opportunity while I'm stumbling right past it. It's not like I'm being lazy, it's that my brain is so small.
But then I realized I have a safety net. If my own writer's sixth sense doesn't see what I'm doing wrong - Sinead will. So, thanks Sinead.
January 28, 2011
Fine, I'll be upbeat too.
I'm crusty this week, annoyed at stuff I shouldn't be annoyed at, and really should have a sign on my forehead, 'approach at your own risk'. Don't know why, but I think lack of sleep has something to do with it.
But I'm going to focus on what is perking me up these days.
1) There is cider and wine in the world and I will be partaking later.
2) I have some truly amazing books on my nightstand. The maze runner, Matched, Archangel's kiss and room all waiting to be read.
3) slow progress on my current WIP, but progress is progress.
4) the vampire diaries came back on last night.
5) Molly, Maureen and Stephanie all have books coming out, and I've read three of them and they are amazing, and so looking forward to reading Stephanie's 4 1/2 star rated book.
That's all I have, but it's something.. now I'm going back to looking at the glass half empty.
But I'm going to focus on what is perking me up these days.
1) There is cider and wine in the world and I will be partaking later.
2) I have some truly amazing books on my nightstand. The maze runner, Matched, Archangel's kiss and room all waiting to be read.
3) slow progress on my current WIP, but progress is progress.
4) the vampire diaries came back on last night.
5) Molly, Maureen and Stephanie all have books coming out, and I've read three of them and they are amazing, and so looking forward to reading Stephanie's 4 1/2 star rated book.
That's all I have, but it's something.. now I'm going back to looking at the glass half empty.
January 27, 2011
Uplifting and inspirational... sort of?
Okay – I had a post that was really negative. It was written, it was scheduled and it was all set to go. I was just going to spew away! Then I read Maureen's really great post yesterday and I just couldn't do it. I would have been the all time Deputy Downer.
I had to remember that she's right. The flipside to saying that every good thing in publishing is followed by a something bad is to say that everything bad in publishing is followed by something good. If we don't ever enjoy the good when it comes it can make for a really depressing career.
Letting ourselves dwell on the negatives only brings us down. And in the middle of winter, when it's cold and snowy do we really need anything else to do that?
So here is to my list of good things that I WILL focus on.
1. I plan to start on my new book. It finally all came raining down from the skies. And new books are always fun (unless you're scared of them like Eileen said – but we're not going to be scared because this is a POSTIVE POST).
2. I've lost six pounds on my new diet. Only 14 more to go before I have to start my 2nd 20. (Doesn't 2nd 20 sound much better than 40!)
3. I got 4 ½ stars in RT for my Romantic Suspense due out next month. Which is good because it might be the last book I ever publish… (Slaps hand! No negativity here!).
4. Maureen has two books coming out and Molly has a book coming out and Eileen has a book coming out … and I like to read really good books.
That's my list for right now. And it's pretty decent.
And although we're not dwelling - venting can also be okay in little spurts. And since Maureen asked everyone about the good stuff yesterday - I'm giving everyone license to vent a little.
I'll start... I MISS WINE!!!!! Why oh why can't it be calorie free?
Now you go.
I had to remember that she's right. The flipside to saying that every good thing in publishing is followed by a something bad is to say that everything bad in publishing is followed by something good. If we don't ever enjoy the good when it comes it can make for a really depressing career.
Letting ourselves dwell on the negatives only brings us down. And in the middle of winter, when it's cold and snowy do we really need anything else to do that?
So here is to my list of good things that I WILL focus on.
1. I plan to start on my new book. It finally all came raining down from the skies. And new books are always fun (unless you're scared of them like Eileen said – but we're not going to be scared because this is a POSTIVE POST).
2. I've lost six pounds on my new diet. Only 14 more to go before I have to start my 2nd 20. (Doesn't 2nd 20 sound much better than 40!)
3. I got 4 ½ stars in RT for my Romantic Suspense due out next month. Which is good because it might be the last book I ever publish… (Slaps hand! No negativity here!).
4. Maureen has two books coming out and Molly has a book coming out and Eileen has a book coming out … and I like to read really good books.
That's my list for right now. And it's pretty decent.
And although we're not dwelling - venting can also be okay in little spurts. And since Maureen asked everyone about the good stuff yesterday - I'm giving everyone license to vent a little.
I'll start... I MISS WINE!!!!! Why oh why can't it be calorie free?
Now you go.
